#‘last q3 of the year’ i see what you did there :(

[iguessricciardo]

@.danielricciardo we made it to the last q3 of the year. was worth a smile 🙃

[astonmartinii]

it's got to be time travel | charles leclerc social media au

pairing: charles leclerc x fem footballer!reader

face claim: jessie fleming (i'm a chelsea fan and i'm sad she left :()

they've got all the time in the world for each other, don't ask them where they got that time from though

note: we're also gonna pretend that the women's football and f1 seasons line up here lol

MASTERLIST | TIP JAR | MY SMALL BUSINESS

charles_leclerc

liked by landonorris, lewishamilton and 1,203,784 others

tagged: yourusername

charles_leclerc: last sunday lunch before we both have to go back to work :(

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user1: ffs why do their ACTUAL jobs have to get in the way of my regularly scheduled charles x y/n content???

user2: i personally think that the fia should just give charles the championship and y/n the WSL title so they can just chill together :)

maxverstappen1: not on my watch

charles_leclerc: you don't even follow me? get out of my comments

maxverstappen1: you can't just get given the championship because you have attachment issues WE ALL HAVE ATTACHMENT ISSUES

charles_leclerc: me i get, but y/n doesn't deserve to win?

maxverstappen1: i never said that. y/n is girlboss slay queen

yourusername: too right i am

charles_leclerc: why are you peace and love with her and not me?

maxverstappen1: she's cool, you aren't

yourusername: can't disagree with that babe soz

user3: i have a feeling that these spats might get worse the longer charles is separated from y/n

user4: waa waa we're all sad their being separated but all i'm thinking is UP THE CHELS

user5: i need the treble right fucking now, a charles championship would be a bonus i guess

lewishamilton: will i get a formal introduction to y/n before we're teammates?

yourusername: YES, YES YOU WILL

charles_leclerc: i guess that answers that

lewishamilton: don't hate the player, hate the game

yourusername: i better see your ass at kingsmeadow at some point, it's fun, even if others think they're too good for it

lewishamilton: i'll be there 🫡

user7: can 2025 come quick.... PLEASE

user8: lol does this mean that charles has offered to take carlos to a game but he didn't go?

user9: ugh what a bore

yourusername

liked by charles_leclerc, oscarpiastri and 1,402,667 others

tagged: chelseafcw

yourusername: excited for the new season back with the girlypops :))))))

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user10: treble or nothing I BEG

user11: it's their year for the champions league i've seen the script

alexalbon: no seatbelt ? way to set dangerous examples to your young audience

yourusername: if you're not careful i'm gonna teach my audience how to put their foot up the ass of those annoying her

alexalbon: ugh i hope you lose :P

yourusername: i don't have to hope, i know your ass ain't gonna be in q3

alexalbon: that's TOO far @charles_leclerc does our years of friendship mean nothing?

charles_leclerc: sorry buddy, i am y/n stan first, human being second

yourusername: as he should.

user12: so like... will we see charles in a y/n jersey again in the paddock?

user13: @ferrari stop being so annoying and let him wear what he wants

user14: i think i tasted paradise when they actually let him wear a y/n canada jersey in montreal

charles_leclerc: never seen someone make blue look so good

maxverstappen1: i'm right here?

sebastianvettel: did the homoeroticism of our challenge videos mean nothing?

danielricciardo: do not lie to yourself

yourusername: sorry sluts, you wish you looked this good

charles_leclerc: they'll never be you 🫶🏻

user15: i know the cfcw admin and pr department have a heart attack every time y/n posts

user16: the way she's out here calling three f1 drivers sluts with no repercussions

yourusername: can't be told off for telling the TRUTH

f1

liked by lewishamilton, fernandoalo_oficial and 1,205,489 others

tagged: charles_leclerc & yourusername

f1: couple goals! charles leclerc takes pole in bahrain while his girlfriend, y/n y/ln, scored the winner for chelsea women!

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user19: okay but i've never been in a relationship and am currently rotting on my couch... so who is the real winner here x

yourusername: my handsome boy is so talented :3

charles_leclerc: not as talented as you, pretty girl

yourusername: nuh uh at least my team is competent

charles_leclerc: errrrr

samkerr20: i think you broke him lol

yourusername: sometimes i think he's more loyal to ferrari than me

charles_leclerc: no!

scuderiaferrari: huh?

charles_leclerc: wait...

yourusername: i see :(

charles_leclerc: i'm LOGGING OUT

user20: charles is so lover boy stuck in his tortured poets department (ferrari formula one team)

user21: the way he's probably yelling down the phone to y/n about how much he loves her right now

samkerr20: he is and it's so loud the whole locker room can hear it

yourusername: but he's so sweet isn't he

niamhcharles17: i guess?

alexalbon: we heard it from his side... barf

yourusername: @lilymunhe are you being starved of romance?

lilymunhe: compared to you and charles YES

alexalbon: ummmm get out of my business y/ln

yourusername: you're ALWAYS in my business buster 🤨

alexalbon: NO! i am just passing down the ancient skill of communication?

yourusername: you're such a gossip girl alex

user21: i know they bicker like siblings, but i know deep down that there have been double dates

charles_leclerc: yes, but y/n and i are much better (no offence lily)

yourusername: did you log back in to restart the argument with alex

charles_leclerc: yes!

alexalbon: boo you whore

yourusername: don't talk to him like that 🤨

samkerr20

liked by yourusername, charles_leclerc and 303,445 others

tagged: yourusername & charles_leclerc

samkerr20: forced to hang out with the straights... they're actually kind of cute

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user22: you know the couple has to be real cute when even the gays think they're cute

user23: no one can resist the charms of y/n and charles

yourusername: these photos make me think that we are cuter

samkerr20: we are but i didn't want to hurt charles' feelings

charles_leclerc: consider them hurt

samkerr20: boo hoo

yourusername: noooooo i love you xxx

charles_leclerc: hehehehehehehe i love you too xxx

yourusername: i miss you, hurry up and win and come home to me

charles_leclerc: i'm doing my best :(

yourusername: you are the bestest boy

samkerr20: STOP THAT MAKES HIM SOUND LIKE A DOG

oscarpiastri: when will australians stop being victims of this relationship

danielricciardo: this is your first season dealing with them properly, buckle up

oscarpiastri: i'm in a relationship but they make me feel so lonely

maxverstappen1: you get used to it after a while

yourusername: we're right here

landonorris: let us commiserate in peace

charles_leclerc: ??? do you or do you not get free football tickets out of it?

landonorris: yeha but when we go we just have to watch you cry when y/n inevitably wins another trophy

charles_leclerc: I'M PROUD OF HER AND YOU WON'T SHAME ME FOR THAT

user24: chelsea women players must be so confused when these grown men start arguments in the comments of THEIR posts

yourusername

liked by alexalbon, charles_leclerc and 1,529,556 others

tagged: charles_leclerc

yourusername: weekend off... you know what that means

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user25: i know there's over 1.5 million likes but how can i gatekeep y/n?

user26: for real

charles_leclerc: the best weekends are with you here

yourusername: i may have a love/hate relationship with this team, but the catering is banging (i may have to move to italy)

chelseafcw: NO MENTIONS OF LEAVING CHELSEA, NOT EVEN A JOKE - NOTHING!

yourusername: okay, sorry guys (the pasta was so good though)

charles_leclerc: not even for me?

chelseafcw: DEFINITELY NOT FOR YOU, WATCH OUT OR WE'LL BLACKLIST YOU FROM KINGSMEADOW

yourusername: okay, let's pedal this back. i'm not leaving london and we all still love charles, right admin?

chelseafcw: .... yes

user27: when you're in a who has attachment issues with y/n y/ln and your competition is the chelseafcw admin and charles leclerc

user28: no point even showing up

maxverstappen1: i for one am glad when y/n is in the paddock because it means i can sneak in without the cameras seeing me

yourusername: i am a woman of the people

charles_leclerc: she's such a star, everyone wants to see her

maxverstappen1: yeah i'll give you that

yourusername: we're also hot

charles_leclerc: don't you dare respond to that one max

maxverstappen1: 🫡🫡🫡

user29: patiently waiting for the hq photos of them 😚

user30: gonna print them out and put them in my heart locket

charles_leclerc

liked by landonorris, yourusername and 1,398,452 others

tagged: yourusername

charles_leclerc: babe is top of the league (and top scorer)

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user33: get yourself a guy who flexes your achievements as much as charles does

user34: setting the example tbf

yourusername: my lucky charm, that hat-trick was for you xx

charles_leclerc: would mean more if you didn't score them every week 😭

yourusername: they hate to see a girlboss winning

charles_leclerc: wanna share some wins with me?

yourusername: you're doing great this season babe, not your fault that nasa decided to rebrand to red bull racing

redbullracing: adrian says thanks 😊

charles_leclerc: DON'T SAY IT Y/N

yourusername: you don't even know what i was going to say

charles_leclerc: ....

yourusername: @redbullracing you got a seat???

charles_leclerc: Y/N!!!!!!!!!!

yourusername: whoops

user35: y/n really out here trying to get charles that damn seat

yourusername: i'll stop when the horse team makes a championship worthy car that they don't break halfway through the season...

user36: add ferrari to the group of people who shudder in fear when y/n posts

chelseafcw: fine... we hope you enjoyed (no more italy jokes)

charles_leclerc: i had a great time, i always do when i watch y/n do what she loves (slay)

yourusername: awwwwwwwwww i love you charlie

chelseafcw: okay no need to make admin feel that lonely, damn

yourusername

liked by charles_leclerc, alexalbon and 1,782,309 others

yourusername: finishing my best ever season with a big trophy haul :) now time to support my trophy husband in his day job

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user41: she really be out here doing it all

user42: i need her to win the Ballon d'Or Féminin PLEASE IT IS TIME

user43: with charles in attendance, first couples red carpet appearance YES, YES RUN IT TO ME PLEASE

charles_leclerc: unbelievably proud of you, mon amour, constantly inspired by you

yourusername: i love you so much, thank you for being there to support me through it all

charles_leclerc: it's the biggest pleasure in the world

yourusername: i'm all out of winning this season, your turn next weekend?

charles_leclerc: for you, i'll do anything

user44: PLEASE I NEED HIM TO WIN GOOD PLEASE

alexalbon: congrats i guess, you're pretty good

yourusername: thanks, since my boyf is so supportive, it's only natural that you have to try and humble me at every turn

alexalbon: you're more famous than us now, we need to keep you grounded

lilymunhe: don't worry y/n he cried nearly just as much as charles when you won the WSL

yourusername: I KNEW IT

charles_leclerc: i still cried more

alexalbon: it's not a competition bro, we all know you're both helplessly in love

yourusername: that we are

charles_leclerc

liked by maxverstappen1, yourusername and 1,309,855 others

tagged: yourusername

charles_leclerc: happiest when i'm with you (and whoever has decided to tag along), oh and winning a race helps as well i guess

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user45: CHARLES WIN I REPEAT A CHARLES WIN WE WON?

user46: the way y/n went just as mental as us, her and zecira jumping around the garage (and starting the champagne shower after the podium)

user47: really proving that y/n and charles really are each other's biggest fans

user48: thank the lord the WSL season finished when it did so y/n could be there for this win

user49: y/n would've ran to austria to be there i'm sure

yourusername: you know it 🫡

maxverstappen1: had to let you win so you could look cool in front of your infinitely cooler girlfriend

charles_leclerc: not even gonna bite, i'm too happy to care

yourusername: i'll bite - HIS TALENTED BEHIND SCHOOLED YOUR ASS

maxverstappen1: but i called you cool?

yourusername: i'll accept the compliment now, i had to defend charles' honour first

charles_leclerc: heheheehe i'm blushing

maxverstappen1: gross

user50: i need y/n to permanently be in the ferrari garage, they were on it today (i think out of fear)

landonorris: damn i thought i thirdwheeling lestappen was bad, but y/n and charles is a different beast

yourusername: we're both athletes, need to savour the time we have together when we can

charles_leclerc: sorry not sorry you'll get it when you're in love

landonorris: .... i guess i'll die then

fin.

note: i hope you enjoyed !!!! one last WIP to go and good lord the writers block is kicking my ass. but f1 being back should help!!! + f1 academy, much enjoyed it so far.

[andcars]

# 𝗙𝗖𝟰𝟯 ─── MAKE IT UP OFF-TRACK MASTERLIST . . . REQUEST ME . . . TAGLIST . . . AO3

YOU'VE RACED WITH HIM AND you've been under him. still, it hurts you when he outqualifies you. it almost hurts as much when you both still think you're just fuck buddies. ────── original prompt req.

PROMPTED DIALOGUE . . . # “You’ve been staring for a while” PROMPTED TAGS . . . # praise kink, rivalry, friends with benefits, jealousy ADD. TAGS . . . # quickie vibes, sex in the hospitality, author has a language kink, but also deepl translations WORD COUNT. . . # 1.6k

────── AO3 VERSION

P11. Fucking P11.

Everyone else is in the garage as you come in, all angry and disappointed. You were tenth of a second behind P10 and you weren't able to push it on the last lap because you went off track limits.

What’s done is done. You can’t work with a car that clearly doesn't wanna work with you. The better part of you wants to let this go and simply rest for tomorrow. Call it a day. Think of how to dominate tomorrow. Sleep it off.

But Franco walks to the garage at P7 and proceeding into Q3. The plan gets thrown away immediately.

You don’t hate the guy, of course not. You’ve met him times before when he was still in F2. If, of course, meeting him included hotel rooms and secluded bathrooms. You met him a lot, if so.

It’s not his fault that he’s better than you, as of now. You should be happy, really. But fuck, it should hurt how some rookie is better than you in a car you’ve driven for a year.

Despite all of this anger bubbling in you, you can’t stay mad at him. You could never stay mad at him, you think. Yet it hurts all the same.

You look away as your eyes meet. Not giving him a chance to even confront you or attempt to comfort you, you leave.

It’s pivotal now to talk with your strategist. He’s expecting you, unfortunately. Knowing damn well that your next duty was to come to him to see how to improve your performance, he already had your data pulled up.

Your, and their, wrongs are being talked into your ear and out the other. The farthest screen turns black, and you see Franco in the reflection. His blurred figure is towards you, his panting from the race still evident on him.

It’s difficult to pretend to care about racing right now. It’s not like they say anything different anyway. The rear wings are fucked, the tyres are fucked, the wheel can’t turn, and your head is just in the wrong direction. All the same things said before.

To the driver’s room you go. Q3 starts and you don’t do anything. The TV screen shows the delayed race as the crowd cheers from the opposite sides of the wall. Franco is in danger, with Mercedes finally coming out from the pit—you don’t expect anything more.

After the stretched minutes alone in your room, a knock comes on your door.

You say, “I’ll be out soon, tell James to get some patience,” with your head in your phone. No fucking way you’re going to be dealing with them while you’re still pissed.

The door opened and you grunt. Looking up, Franco was grinning at you.

“I’m also hiding from Jego,” he says, the grin on his face annoying, “can I come in?”

“And we both get caught?” It doesn’t matter what you think, he puts his feet in anyway.

The couch is uncomfortable. If they aren’t spending money on the car, they might as well spend it on the seats. With you laying across the couch, he kneels between your legs. You raise an eyebrow at him as he undresses his fireproof suit.

You ask, “You seriously wanna fuck?” and he laughs.

“¿Me dirás que no? (Will you tell me no?)” he murmurs, getting on top of you with his hips pressing against your ass. “Did you know I placed 6th today?”

“Mhm.”

“No?” He places a kiss on your cheek. “Didn’t watch me? What were you doing in here?”

His lips ghost over your neck, the warmth of his breath sending a small shiver down your fine. You know he felt it when he chuckles in your skin.

“Getting fucked my brains out,” your voice is flat. “What were you doing out there?”

“Ah, amor (love), you won’t get me like that,” he whines and kisses you once in one side. Then twice the other. He says, “You are so mean though, telling me things like this. Do you wish you were with someone else? Hm? ¿No me querés más? (You don’t want me any more?)”

Franco comes up to part your lips open with his tongue. You gasp a little, your arm limp over his back. His mouth wide open, chest pressed against yours, tongue just brushing against your lips, he says—

“Quiero coger. Te quiero comer a besos. Quiero que me hagas tuyo, mi amor. Don’t go making me jealous because you are.” (I want to fuck you. I want to lavish you with kisses. I want you to make me yours, my love)

His hand is gentle on yours, playing on the hem of your pants as his kisses turn wet. Desperate. Loving. It hurts you how careful he is with you when you spent the past hour hating him in your head.

And he’s always so gentle. He always used to ask you if you liked it, his words almost always in Spanish. As if he’s lost in you, he doesn’t know what words to use.

He no longer needs your permission now. A finger rubs between your clothed cunt as his hand pushes your shirt up to hold your tits. He moans more than you, in love with your body.

“So good,” he murmurs, “don’t ever look for anyone else. For me, please?” You moan against his cheek as he focuses on rubbing your clit through your pants. “I can make you feel so good. Amor, I can be yours.”

In moments like this, he’s too drunk on sex to know the words he’s spewing. He reaches for the lube and condom hidden in your desk. His movements are sloppy. You swear he struggles a little in opening the cap up.

He asks you something in Spanish. It’s out of your vocabulary, so you tilt your head.

“I don’t need to prepare you, right? You’re still loose?” You can see his hips grinding against the palm of his hand. His cheeks are flushed, and you see drool coming down his chin. It’s pitiful.

You nod. “Yeah, just give me a bit to adjust if you wanna—fucking hell.” It’s out of your control when you laugh. Franco eagerly shoves his pants down alongside yours.

“What has gotten you so eager?” you ask.

“I got P6,” he smirks. That little fucker.

His cock is rubbered and wet when it enters you. He moans loud as your hand comes to his cheek. It’s catlike, the way he goes soft against your hold.

Shifting slowly, he grinds inside of you. The soft rubbing inside your walls almost has you mewling. But you keep your eyes on him, ignoring the pooling pleasure between your legs.

Telling him, “You’ve been looking at me,” has his lips pouting. “If I didn’t know better, I would say you were in love with me.”

“I am in love with you,” your cheeks flush, and you’re not sure if it’s the sudden thrust of his cock or his words. “I’m in love with the way you race, how you over-perform a dying car, how you move.”

His eyes drop to where you two meet, jittering his hips a little. With the quick thrusts, you’re caught off guard and moaning out his name. He looks very satisfied with it.

“Oh, amor—” his words turn gibberish to you as he starts to move. His pace is uneven, driven by the thought to take you carefully and the urge to bring the both of you to climax. Not a single word is getting into your head.

But his voice is so loving. He’s panting between every other word, lips pouted and eyebrows furrowed. His voice is getting louder, and you put your hand against his mouth.

“Shut - oh, God… Shut up,” you whine, feeling the cockhead rub against your g-spot. “You’re so fucking… good. Just like that, fuck me.”

He shuts up when he goes down to kiss you. Both his arms wrap around you, embracing you as he finds the right angle to make sure you’re still getting stimulated. His hair is rubbing against your clit, the little tickle in them getting you to moan a little louder.

You feel dizzy. It’s not the lack of air during the kiss, you know it. He’s just holding you close to him while he takes you like you’re his lover. Your heart curls in itself, punishing itself for its own stupidity.

But fuck, you want to focus on the now. The way his hands are going up and down your back, soothing you as you get lost in the pace of his thrusts. The way his body towers over you, completely enveloping you in his hold. 

“I’m gonna—” he gasps, his pace barely slowing as you assume he cums inside of you. You whine when he bottoms inside.

Franco knows you. He knows you too well. He grinds inside of you before pulling out. Still, he doesn’t let you think another thought before he’s flicking your clit.

“Shit, fuck, Franco!” he smiles under your silent praise as his other fingers tease at your hole. “I’m gonna cum too. Just like that. Don’t fucking stop.”

He only leans down to spit on your pussy, easing the rub as you’re moving your hips along him. You cum with your back arched and your hips off the couch. His hand stills on your clit as his eyes are fixated on the way cum leaves your pussy.

You drop back down when he places your hips on his lap. “Don’t get it dirty,” he reminds you, tying the condom and throwing it in the bin. “It’s embarrassing to explain to the cleaners.”

His humour comes in at the worst moments. You grunt and he only laughs. “It’s not even funny. You’re just telling the truth.”

“It’s funnier in Spanish,” he promises.

You think about how it probably sounds just about the same.

🗒 𝗣𝗔𝗣𝗘𝗥 𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗜𝗟 . . . first time writing for bro ! i'm so open to writing more of him so i added him in my taglist options, so if you wanna be tagged for future fics of him 👀 you know what to do . if you already sent me a form before , you can resend another with him included ! anyways , fixing up the next few fics soon . ˎˊ˗ ᝰ. ──── 📨 @delululeclerc @hiireadstuff

you support me best on tumblr with reblogs and comments ! ── by andcars ⟡

[graciewrote]

♡ Forever and Always

♡ LS2 x Vowels!Reader

♡ Inspired by the lovely @pucksandpower ly!!

♡ Likes and reblogs appreciated!

♡Reqs open!

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Staring at her screen in shock, Y/N looks at the signing announcement. Glancing at Logan, sat with a smile on his face, she frowns.

"Darling, did something happen?"

Turning to her boyfriend, "They signed Carlos, but-"

"Oh."

"Oh baby, he didnt tell you? Bastard."

"He's your father. He just probably didn't want to upset you."

"To hell with that, Logan. He was discussing a contract with you and fuckings signs Sainz! It's not fair. To play with someones dreams, their life, like that. He's an ass, my dad or not, he's an ass for that."

Looking at each other now, the pain in Logan's eyes is obvious.

She moves to comfort her love, the man she's loved for years.

He didn't tell her when he signed for Williams, or even when his contract was extended. He knew no matter what, she'd be there. A singular tear slips down his face. His girl more upset than him. He thought he was going to be getting another shot to prove himself, but alas the cards did not play that way.

Phone chiming as Oscar texts, asking if the couple are okay. One single message from her father. 'I'm sorry' is all he wrote.

She knows its a business at the end of the day, but how can one be expected to perform against a grid of 2024 cars, when he is racing one from 2023. When his own boss, future father-in-law is saying how much he wants to replace him. He never stood a chance, he was only a seat warmer. Logan's head is a mess. All that's running through his mind is how much he failed, every fuck up, every DNF, Australia, and the only light he sees is her. His Y/N.

No matter what his future holds, he has his girl.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Logan has all of summer break to wallow in sadness. Cuddled with Y/N, watching trashy TV. As quick as ever, Zandvoort rolls around, and he is dreading facing the media.

Luck is not on Logan's side, forced to be on the press conference with Carlos. However Oscar's there too!

Most of the press don't bother to ask him anything, just assuming he won't have a seat and has nothing to add.

Logan's heard things about team principles shitting on Vowels, and the way he's treating Logan.

"And to Logan-" shocks him out of his daydream, "How did your girlfriend react when she found out you hadn't resigned with Williams?"

Logan chuckled, "Uhm, actually, we found out at the same time, James and I had been discussing a contract, and discussing my performance. I had no idea he'd signed Carlos. So yeah, bit of a shock to us both."

"And did you know, Carlos, that James was discussing with Logan?" Everyone looks at Carlos now. His respone is immediate.

"At first yes, I knew Logan was still a contender, but then he'd said that it was just me. So I didn't sign knowing Logan was still discussing contracts"

"And what does everyone think of Andretti appealing the FOM desicion and winning, now they'll be joining the grid for the 2025 season?" Everyone looka shocked at the interviewers question. Everyone but Logan.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Qatar. Hot. Humid. Sweaty. That's what Y/N feels standing in the Williams garage. Still, she's there to support Logan. And that's what matters. However, she is suspicious. Hiding phone calls, changing his phone password which used to be their anniversary. Logan's become really skittish since Carlos' signing was announced. He won't be cheating on her, she's sure of that. She has two thoughts, he's either joining Mick in the second Andretti Porsche seat, or he's proposing soon. Focusing back on qualifying, she notices all purple sectors for a Williams, her Logan's Williams.

Last minute of Q1. P13. He's done it.

The garage cheers and she just beams with pride.

Logan makes it to Q3, ending up P6.

He's happy with it.

~~~~~~~~

December rolls around with no news on Andretti's other driver. It's a hot topic in the media. Some think it'll be a rookie, some say Kimi or Seb will come back.

Logan grins going into the media pen after his best quali yet. This is his moment. He has a point to make.

"Logan! P5! How're you feeling?" Logan loves being interviewed by Natalie Pinkham.

"Feeling good, car is handling well, I always love racing here. It feels even better knowing next year I got a new team behind me." Smirking, he knows Natalie will pick up what he means. He just needs her to ask.

"New team?" Bingo!

"Yeah, Andretti reached out to me after

Monza, and well, yeah I just had to take the offer! Racing with Mick, and along side him will be fun! He's a good driver. We both had a rough two seasons to start, but the only way is up!"

" Thank you Logan! And good luck!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sitting down, he glances at his phone.

Over 50 missed calls from his love.

"LOGAN HUNTER SARGEANT! I MIGHT JUST KILL YOU YET!" He knows she's not angry, upset he didn't tell her, but not angry.

"You know gold washes me out!"

He laughs, of course she makes a joke.

That's why he loves her, she knows him better than anyone.

"Marry me"

Shit. He had a whole plan. He was gonna take her to Venice. They love Venice.

"Yes. I found the ring, two weeks ago, but I know you Lo, you have a whole plan. So my answer is yes. When you ask me properly. It's yes."

Giggling they embrace and share a tender kiss. "I'm so proud of you. I love you Lo, forever and always"

"Forever and always baby, me and you against the world"

[moon-brain-90]

I'm really struggling to understand the hate towards the Monaco circuit these past few days. I see a lot of comments that it's boring and yet I was fully invested and nervous this race, just like last year.

I don't think Monaco has to be about the overtakes and the battles, which is what people seem to be wanting from this track. But just to clarify we did have overtakes 2(I think) from Lance, one from Valtteri, and one from Logan! And we saw Ollie do one in F2. What makes this such a good track is the technical aspect, yes the cars are a bit big for the track, but that doesn't take away from the fact that any lap has the opportunity for a crash due to how focused you must be because of all the intricate turns.

The drivers love this track, we've heard it before, Monaco is a track where the driver makes the difference! Qualifying is always great because anyone can make it into Q3 it's not just determined by how fast the car itself goes but how the driver can navigate the track most effectively. I hope Monaco stays on the calendar it's such a wonderful track to watch them race and qualify at

[wovenstarlight]

I got an interesting anonymous ask on the SFS Tumblr asking about the reasoning behind a bunch of Yoohyun's decisions that had… less-than-stellar outcomes, let's say? (LMAO.) and I'd like to keep the TL blog clean so I'm answering Anon here. I'm gonna post their ask in full for reference, because the answers to each individual question overlap:

Hi, thank you very much for your time, energy and effort. What you are doing is really amazing and admirable. I know you are busy enough and I shouldn't trouble you, but after reading the manhwa, I had questions about Yoohyun's logic and sentiment, and I became more confused after reading the novel and I don't know who to ask. Please ignore my message if it's to much trouble. 1: Why doesn't Yoohyun spend the last years of his life on earth peacefully with Yoojin, even though he knows that the world will end soon? 2: What did Yoohyun accomplish by leaving and humiliating Yoojin that he was persistent to do it for so many years? 3: Why instead of using his forces and technologies to protect Yoojin, he announces to the world that it is open season on him and he is worthless? (Normaly no one dares to harm the family of an S class but Yoohyun expose Yoojin to danger by abandoning him.) 4: Why does Yoohyun stop protecting Yoojin when the most dangerous part of Yoojin's life as an F class hunter begins? (Using his influence he could easily ban Yoojin from entering dungeons. Or he could have secretly formed a group of the most powerful hunters to go with Yoojin to dungeons. This way he could have provided him with everything he needed and keep him safe. That is, if he had any intention of protecting him.) 5: Why would Yoohyun gain all that resources, power, wealth and connections and he sit around and does nothing so that Yoojin would face death every day and rot in the basement? He gain all that for what, if not for protecting Yoojin? 6: Why doesn't he ever change his procedure or provide new options for Yoojin to stop going to dungeons? (Yoojin has no chance for a peaceful life due to not having a degree and being a notorious person. And he doesn't know about that cult.) Yoojin got to see his 30 years old birthday cause the cult didn't feel like killing him and he took care of himself in dungeons and was lucky that only his legs broke. So why would Yoohyun identify as a doting brother? The more I think about it the less I understand.

(crossposted on AO3, if you'd prefer to read there)

Okay, so, I'm really prone to rambling at length and this is a subject I have strong feelings on, so I'll give you a very short version of my answer in bullet points, and then a longer version with proper chapter-specific references and full explanations of what I think was going on.

Yoohyun wants to repay Yoojin for all the care and love he's given him, but as a 17-year-old, he doesn't have much social power

Yoohyun's Awakening puts himself and anyone he loves (i.e. Yoojin) in a dangerous position, because while he has individual physical power as an S-rank, he still lacks social power and also can't singlehandedly protect Yoojin 24/7

Yoohyun, in all his rash 17-year-old glory, takes the drastic action of cutting off Yoojin, planning to build up enough power to protect Yoojin and then reunite with him. Yoojin, as just your ordinary everyday 22-year-old, faces no risks other than people targeting him in order to hurt Yoohyun (I don't agree that no one would dare to harm the family of an S-rank, for reasons I'll elaborate on later in the long answer), so if Yoohyun's not close to Yoojin, then that cuts it down to "no risks at all", right…? So tell the media, tell the world, that no, Han Yoohyun doesn't give a shit about Han Yoojin. Yoohyun assumes he'll be able to explain it all to Yoojin one day and that he'll understand. (This should answer your Question 2 and Q3.)

But it doesn't work out as expected. Yoohyun thought it'd take much less time to establish his position than it does in reality (the assumed 4-ish years ended up as 6+ years). Also, Yoojin's gone from trying to make up with Yoohyun in a way that'll let them be together again (not going to happen, because Yoohyun's still not ready to bring Yoojin back into the fold) to being in his own terrible situation, so he's started lashing out at Yoohyun. So even if Yoohyun was in a stable enough situation to try reconciling with him, Yoojin might not be open to it by this point

Somewhere along the way, Yoohyun learns from the filial duty addict Diarma the world is going to end. He doesn't drop everything and go to live with Yoojin because even now, there's still the concern that maybe Yoohyun won't be able to protect Yoojin from everything, and maybe Yoojin doesn't want Yoohyun around, anyway. There's no use in going to live with Yoojin if it'll just end up getting Yoojin killed through Yoohyun's inaction (Q1).

So Yoohyun keeps maintaining his guild and his power so he can keep protecting Yoojin from what he thinks are the Real Threats. (Because the worlds of low- and high-rank Hunters are VERY different. Yoohyun probably assumes that because Yoojin's not facing the high-rank Hunter dangers, he's facing no dangers—a stupid but understandable mistake, given that Yoojin also assumed the exact same thing in reverse about Yoohyun! It sucks, it really does, but I really do think Yoohyun just… didn't realize just how bad it was.) (Q5) And the world can end whenever it wants; if there's no challenging it, then at least Yoohyun's kept Yoojin safe in the meantime.

And the one danger they have in common, dungeons—you suggest Yoohyun banning Yoojin from entering any, but Yoohyun's cut himself off from Yoojin entirely, remember. Trying to interfere in his life would be met with (a) STRONG rejection by a deeply hurt Yoojin who doesn't understand why Yoohyun thinks he has any say in Yoojin's life anymore, and (b) interest by Yoohyun's rivals, who'd wonder why he's trying to keep his hyung away from dangers when he says he doesn't care about that hyung's wellbeing, putting Yoojin right back in their crosshairs. (Q4)

Also, the immoral people have been killing Caregivers of S-ranks. Diarma might have told Yoohyun about this. If he did, then Yoohyun's goals would definitely have gone from "stay strong and one day reconcile with hyung" to "NEVER get close to hyung, because there are beings outside this world, much more powerful than anything I can match in a reasonable timespan, who will 100% kill him". At which point, even if Yoohyun had wanted to reconcile with him, or compromise by just adjusting his plan and talking to Yoojin a little more, or literally anything past making a show of total and complete indifference, he couldn't have without knowingly risking Yoojin's life. (Q6)

You and I and all the other S-Ranks readers, removed from this situation as we are, can think of half a dozen ways Yoohyun could probably have gotten around things. But the simple fact is that in that situation, under that much pressure, with that much emotional attachment to his brother and literally everything that mattered to him at stake if he fucked up in the tiniest of ways—forget making perfect decisions, there was absolutely no way Yoohyun was going to do anything other than what seemed least risky. Because to do otherwise would be risking Yoojin’s life and therefore his own. And the choices you’ve already mades, the path you’re already on—no matter how bad it is for you, no matter how bad it is for the people you love, no matter how much it hurts—will always, always be less risky than the unknown path, because at least this way, you know what dangers to expect and brace for. At the core of the matter, it’s just that… the path that was best for Yoojin's happiness wasn't the path that was best for Yoojin's life expectancy, you see? And Yoojin can't be happy if he's dead. Yoohyun can't be alive if Yoojin's dead. That's all it came down to.

……oh my god that was so long actually. And that was supposed to be the TL;DR. The long version is going to be SO long. I hope you like reading 50-page passionate essays. There's a poll at the end, you can look forward to that!!!

(Also, okay, before we jump into the Deep End. Two disclaimers.

Anon, you said you read the manhwa and novel, but I read only the novel, so some of my chapter references might be unfamiliar. I know they shuffled events around a little in the webtoon, too, so I'll try and describe the general events so you can find any webtoon parallels.

Yoojin's a REALLY unreliable narrator and definitely doesn't know a lot of what Yoohyun's gone through. Part of that is because there's things he has no way to pick up on or deduce; part of that is because he wants to not think about Yoohyun going through bad shit; part of that is because Yoohyun doesn't want Yoojin worrying about him and has actively hidden the worse parts of his life from him. So a fair part of what I'm talking about is going to be reading between the lines and extrapolating.

Okay, disclaimers done!) Now on to the long version with references. Let's go point-by-point based on the TL;DR.

#1: Yoohyun wanting to repay Yoojin

I mean, the skill's called Last/Final Repayment! Isn't that enough? Where did you think that came from? There certainly wasn't anything Yoojin wanted to repay Yoohyun for.

Okay, no, more seriously. Yoohyun and Yoojin have grown up with only each other to depend on. Yoohyun has watched Yoojin take care of him alone their whole lives, with no outside support, keeping a roof over their head and their stomachs filled. For Yoohyun's sake, Yoojin has given up:

A complete education, with Yoojin having "dropped out of school to take care of his little brother", as mentioned in chapter 1.

A proper social life. In chapter 25, Yoojin says his friends in his early 20s were "middle-aged factory workers" instead of people his own age.

Hobbies. He says to Yerim and Myeongwoo in chapter 45 that one of his "few hobbies" is taking spam calls, but his character profile from the E-books volume 1 confirms it's his only hobby, and one that's now fading… which leaves him with zero personal interests. (The spam calling thing is almost certainly something that sprouted from loneliness in the years that the brothers were separated, by the way. After all, why would Yoojin waste time listening to some stranger on the phone talk to him about something he doesn’t care about? Most likely because there isn’t—wasn’t—really anyone else who’s willing to talk to him, anymore.)

The sole birthday present of "a 10,000 won bill to buy something tasty to have with his friends" he got from their parents, which "would be used for Han Yoohyun’s birthday. As [it was] every year", as mentioned in chapter 239, during Yoohyun’s flashback to childhood.

And Yoohyun, a helpless child, could only watch as Yoojin gave up all of that, to no real benefit of his own, just to focus all his attention and resources on supporting Yoohyun.

By the time he was in middle school, Yoohyun was already talking about becoming a doctor since it'd be "advantageous in a lot of aspects"; he says he "just wanted to make it so you [Yoojin] could live comfortably" (chapter 258). Yoojin wouldn't have to be the sole earner, and would've been able to pursue his own happiness as well as Yoohyun's. Yoohyun wants very badly for Yoojin to not have to worry about him anymore. It makes sense that that sentiment would remain even after he Awakened.

#2: Yoohyun's Awakening

And boy what an Awakening it was! Straight from a random orphaned kid with zero social life and decent grades to one of the world's most desirable and dangerous individuals, basically overnight. He has none of the social sway that the rich and well-connected Sung Hyunjae or the professional athletes Moon Hyuna and Choi Sukwon do, and he refuses to get the help of big corporations like Choi Sukwon and Bak Mingyu (and Yoon Kyeongsoo? I forget if Soodam was also a corp-backed guild). So he's got no power, but he's also declared his intent to create a guild, and that combined with his nature as a born S-rank makes people perceive him as a threat. Maybe not so much in the early days, when people think he's just an arrogant, stupid kid who's going to crash and burn, but definitely more so as time passed, which Sung Hyunjae confirms in chapter 152:

“Wasn’t [Han Yoohyun] at the age where one faces a lot of problems, starting out living alone?” […] “He wasn’t even alone, strictly speaking. I heard Team Head Seok and the others joined Haeyeon early on.” I heard that Seok Simyeong had visited Yoohyun-ie even before Haeyeon was founded. He was still annoying, but I had to give him his share of the credit for Haeyeon. Sung Hyunjae gave a small nod at my words. “Even so, it isn’t easy for a latecomer to find his place.” “That’s… You’re right.” “For the first year or so, it was easier. Since most of them said Haeyeon wouldn’t be able to properly establish itself.” Sung Hyunjae also said he hadn’t been interested in Haeyeon—in Yoohyun-ie—at the time, either. “The problem arose when it started to become a major guild.”

The second the initial "LOL, this has got to be a joke, right?" blinders come off, he's at risk. And he would've known that this would happen right from the start—Yoohyun's smart enough that he would've understood the lack of attacks was just because they didn't see him as a real threat yet.

So, again: a latecomer on the scene with no power and no experience to his name, and seen as a threat to deal with. No social connections means he has no one to rely on to help him with Yoojin's protection: it's up to him alone. And even S-ranks have to eat and sleep and use the bathroom and do half a dozen other things that would pull him away from Yoojin's side, not to mention the all-important requirement of raiding dungeons, which Yoohyun himself admits in chapter 71 was one of his main concerns:

“Once I start a raid on an S-rank dungeon, I’ll be gone for a week […]. Me… avoiding you… was also largely due to the S-rank dungeon raid time. Since, obviously, I can’t look after you once I go into the dungeon.”

So Yoohyun himself can't just stay by Yoojin's side as his bodyguard 24/7. He'd have to leave him unattended for, at minimum, whole weeks. Which means he doesn't have a reliable, sure way to keep his hyung safe.

#3: Cutting off Yoojin, and the risks to an S-rank's family

And that's not even mentioning his own safety. What happens when Yoohyun's hurt and can't help with guarding Yoojin? And he will be hurt, either by dungeon raids or other people. If you don't think that second one is a concern, as early as chapter 6, when Yoojin and Yoohyun are having their first meal together, Yoojin asks about Yoohyun's ability to cook, and he says he taught himself:

“I’ve got items for detoxification and de-cursing, now, but I didn’t have them before. So making my own food felt safer. Even now, when I enter dungeons, I bring dried rations I made myself. Since it’s most dangerous inside dungeons.” “…Detoxification? De-cursing?” What was I hearing right now? As in, there were bastards who’d poison and curse his food, so he had to make it himself… that sort of thing?

Yoohyun himself, a strong, healthy S-rank with a good constitution and one hell of a temper, was at risk of being poisoned and cursed through something as everyday as food. You said that normally, no one would dare attack the family of an S-rank—but if people are willing to attack the S-rank himself, knowing that he'll kill them for sure if it fails and he learns they're behind it, then what's stopping them from attacking the S-rank's family?

There's two points you could argue:

Yoohyun says in the chapter 6 conversation that "It’s a major crime for an Awakened person to target an Unawakened person, so I made them think it wasn’t worth it to risk going after you." But that'd only last for the 3 years up until Yoojin Awakened, and honestly, there's a real risk that anyone targeting Yoojin before that time would just be rich or socially connected enough that they could make the charges go away.

The other argument that if they attack an S-rank's beloved family and that fails, now the S-rank is coming after them with a vengeance, and he's not even suffering from the aftermath of poisoning or a curse to weaken him in the slightest, so that might scare them off. But, like… people do stupid things when they're desperate. In that kidnapping where Yoojin met the Krecke Blackie (chapters 46–49), sure, Yoojin had his own special skills that made him valuable, but he also had five major guilds and the Association all dedicated to his protection. That's several times the protection a single S-rank could offer, and some idiots who weren't even in a desperate situation still tried to go after him for benefits similar to what you'd get from having leverage over an S-rank. So I really don't think anything would stop people from threatening Yoojin. If anything, the combined facts of Yoohyun starting out from a weak position, Yoohyun obviously caring about Yoojin, and Yoojin being so much weaker than Yoohyun would make that the best option by far, if you wanted to hurt Yoohyun. After all, it’s not like Unawakened F-rank Yoojin can fight back himself, and again, Yoohyun isn’t going to fight you if it would risk Yoojin’s life.

So, Yoohyun goes "if I distance myself from hyung and make people think it WON'T hurt me for him to be hurt, then people have no reason to target him!" and follows through. I do think this was a stupid move on his part, even if he intended to explain it all to Yoojin eventually, because by not letting him in on the secret right from the start, he guaranteed that Yoojin would be hurt and upset by his sole remaining family member seemingly abandoning him for better prospects. Which leads Yoojin to start making his own stupid moves, which snowballs into a series of bad decisions on both their parts, and so on… but we'll get to that in a minute. The problem, I think, is that this plan could've worked, if only Yoohyun had told Yoojin at the start, so that Yoojin knew not to draw attention to himself. Maybe they could've done regular calls on burner phones or something, to stay in touch, and they'd have been happier that way.

Unfortunately that didn't happen. Why? Because, as Yoohyun states in that same conversation in chapter 6, he "didn’t want to burden" Yoojin. Yoohyun's desire to protect Yoojin is not just physical, but also mental/emotional—he doesn't want Yoojin to know that Yoohyun's going through all this trouble of leaving home and dealing with threats to his life and making big decisions, because he doesn't want Yoojin to worry.

[EDIT: And actually, thinking back over this, do you realize—Yoojin always talks about how Yoohyun was a delight of a child to raise, never complaining, never throwing tantrums, wonderfully behaved and always doing as he was told. Enough so that Moon Hyuna has to tell him, explicitly, in Chapter 43, that that’s not normal, in those exact words:

“He was a good younger brother who never needed to be scolded. Ever since he was little, he listened well and didn’t worry me…….” “You said you were the one to raise him, right? After you lost your parents early. That’s not normal.” She clicked her tongue and continued. “A good, obedient little brother from a poor family without parents. That sort of thing doesn’t even appear in children’s fairy tales these days. Because it’s not realistic.” “I mean, to go that far—” “Kids are kids. They get frustrated and angry if there’s something lacking, they make trouble to get attention, they compare themselves with others, and beyond begging their parents to buy them something they want, they might even resent them. Parents might still think their kids are cute, but brothers? To them, they’re just enemy bastards; I also have a younger sibling, so I know. Of course, there are brothers and sisters who get along. In peaceful households where their parents take good care of them. Even then, it’s not like they never fight. Younger brothers in particular are a type that need to be put in their place; older siblings the world across would probably agree.”

This suggests that Yoohyun and Yoojin have never, ever, EVER experienced conflict on major life decisions. Not once have they argued about Yoohyun making choices that Yoojin wouldn’t like. Which means Yoohyun approached cutting off Yoojin with a very particular mindset, and I have some guesses as to what exactly that mindset was. Do you think he hoped Yoojin would understand that his perennially well-behaved brother would have some reason for leaving home? Do you think he just… didn’t know how to approach telling Yoojin about his choice, knowing it’d upset him so much, so he simply didn’t and hoped for the best? Or was it something else entirely?

Either way: Yoohyun absolutely did not know what would come of this choice. He definitely did not expect just how hard it would be on Yoojin. At the time, he was probably just wanting to spare Yoojin the heartache of their first major argument about Yoohyun’s life choices.] And it's that very desire to not bother him with the knowledge of how much Yoohyun's suffering that eventually makes things go wrong and both of them suffer for it.

#4: Yoohyun's strategy failing

What do we know about Yoohyun's plan going wrong? We know that Yoohyun intended to wipe out his enemies before even thinking about allowing Yoojin into danger. In that conversation in chapter 6, he tells Yoojin to wait "just 1 year" and to basically live in confinement, locked up safe inside Haeyeon, until Yoohyun's done. Combined with the 3 years since the dungeons appearing and Yoohyun Awakening, that means he thought it'd take maybe 4 years in total, with hurrying at the end to accommodate Yoojin already being involved with him again. Yoojin says in narration that pre-regression, it took him 3 years instead of the 1 he's proposing, which puts us at a total of 6 years minimum before Yoohyun could even think about reuniting with Yoojin.

But, of course, a lot can and did happen in those 6 years. Within the first 3, the brothers' relationship had deteriorated enough that Yoojin blocked Yoohyun's number, as mentioned in chapter 32 by Yoohyun to Yoojin during novice Hunter training:

“You got angry and told me not to call, remember? You even blocked my number.”

Why was Yoojin angry? See chapter 158, when Yoohyun was temporarily amnesiac due to Jellyfish's fog:

“I’m certain I told you not to come near me.” …I remembered. When I’d heard that, I’d blocked Yoohyun’s number, telling him not to call me back.

Yoohyun's repeated refusal to tell Yoojin about his plans, just telling him they had to stay apart, only worsened their relationship. And while Yoohyun did attempt to reach out and help Yoojin in ways such as sending him money to cover living expenses (probably hoping to repair their rapidly deteriorating relationship), that also made it worse, with Yoojin rejecting all of those attempts. As he explains in chapter 274, during the flashbacks induced by Jellyfish in their fight:

Gritting my teeth, I sent back the money Yoohyun-ie sent me without even laying a finger on it. To the me of that time, it was horrible money that my young brother had as good as traded his life for. Yoohyun-ie wanted me to accept living expenses and stay safe, but I believed my brother was being sent to his own death and could never accept it.

It isn't like Yoohyun didn't try to reach out. He did. The problem was that all of his attempts were undercut by his continued refusal to tell Yoojin why he had distanced himself, such that all those attempts at staying in touch only rubbed salt in the wound of being abandoned. And as early as 3 years in, by his own admission in chapter 6, Yoohyun starts to think that things have gotten so bad that even if he tries to confess everything now, Yoojin might not "be understanding". He might not be willing to let go of his hurt and resentment to reconcile with him.

So should he stop reaching out, then? Surely there's still hope that they can reconcile in the future. Someday, maybe, when Yoohyun's sure he can protect Yoojin, even if Yoojin doesn't want to be with/near him.

#5: Learning about the world ending

Only, there's a deadline imposed by the end of the world, which Yoohyun learns about from filial duty addict Diarma. Part of the contract with the filial duty addicts, as Sung Hyunjae explains in chapter 102, is not interfering with said end of the world. Actually, the contractors have to give "their word that they’ll eliminate obstacles" i.e. other people fighting against the end of the world, so Yoohyun can't do anything about this deadline. This gives him a limited amount of time in which he can "eventually" reconcile with Yoojin.

So, as you ask, Anon, why not spend that limited time with his brother? Well, just because there's an end of the world approaching—which Yoohyun can't even talk about! L-rank contract, remember—doesn't mean that Yoojin is 🌟magically🌟 going to get any less mad about Yoohyun abandoning him for several years than before. Yoohyun still doesn't want to explain, so that argument is absolutely not getting resolved.

Even if he tries to explain vaguely that there's some threat and that he'd like Yoojin to live with him or at least accept his offers of protection and security, what happens if Yoojin refuses? Yoohyun clearly isn't willing to violate Yoojin's desires too far, since the most certain way to keep him safe would be to lock him up in a vault somewhere inside Haeyeon and never let anyone else see him, but that would trample all over his free will and happiness, not to mention it'd ruin Yoohyun's "live normally and happily with hyung" goals. So he'll have to let Yoojin stay out in the world, while all of Yoohyun's rivals and enemies are still out there, watching the Haeyeon Guild Leader reach out to his brother and wondering if they've reconciled. At that point, it doesn't matter if they actually have made up or not. If someone even suspects that Yoojin is close to Yoohyun, then they'll target him on the off-chance that it's true. And if Yoojin did refuse Yoohyun's offers, which he's almost certain to, then he's defenseless against whatever attacks come. And they will come. In chapter 6, Yoohyun admitted that a single visit to Haeyeon Guild by Yoojin, willing or unwilling, would be enough to get attention on him:

“But if I directly give orders for you to be brought in and allowed to live within Haeyeon Guild, my enemies will start to actively target you. Even with you just being here right now, I’m sure they’ll already have started keeping an eye on you.”

Think of it from Yoohyun's enemies' perspective. If Yoohyun cares about Yoojin, attacking Yoojin gives you leverage over Yoohyun. If Yoohyun doesn't care about Yoojin, then he won't care if you're attacking Yoojin, so you'll face no retaliation from him. Yoohyun's enemies have nothing to lose from this, while Yoohyun has everything to lose. So, in this situation, it'd be better to take the least risky path: just don't engage with Yoojin at all.

And, also, even if he'd decided to take that risk, there's a different one when it comes to actually figuring out a system to guard Yoojin. This point is more speculation, but I do think Yoohyun might have struggled with deciding when he'd done enough for Yoojin's protection. Because the reality is that Yoojin was never, ever going to be 100% safe from all dangers ever. Again, the vault method is the only way Yoohyun could achieve that. Yoohyun could've put together any amount of high-rank Hunters as Yoojin's exclusive security detail, and he'd still have to leave him alone with these potentially corruptible strangers for a full week at a time during every S-rank dungeon raid. I suspect there was a real risk of Yoohyun continuously going "I just need to get a bit stronger and a bit more established" indefinitely, without ever reaching a point where he was actually satisfied. (Which, if this was indeed a risk in canon, would be overridden in the post-regression timeline by Yoojin's keyword usage making Yoohyun's desire to live with him again and uncertainty about Yoojin's response win out over the urge to keep obsessing over safeguards.)

#6: What counts as a "real" threat

When it comes to Yoohyun's need to defend Yoojin against threats, there's also an important aspect you need to consider, which is: what threats? You see, the worlds of low-rank and high-rank Hunters are very different, to the point where Yoohyun seems to completely overlook some aspects of what Yoojin's used to dealing with, while Yoojin explicitly notes on multiple occasions that he didn't even realize Yoohyun faced certain dangers. As always, we come back to the poisoning attempts mentioned in chapter 6, the first time Yoojin realizes Yoohyun was suffering his own ordeals. This sort of sneaky threat gets reiterated in chapter 11, after Yoojin's trip to the Hunter Mall, when Yoohyun tells him he can't even take a simple drink from any public vendor because it might be poisoned (not something that'd work on Yoohyun himself, but it certainly would on those lower-ranked people around him who he cares about). No, not even in a government-sponsored location like the Association, because even these locations are filled with other guilds' spies and informants. Yoojin's internal response is essentially "what sort of underhanded bullshit is this", and out loud he questions Yoohyun about it:

“But would they do that sort of thing in none other than the Association? If they get caught, the backlash will be huge.” And if Awakened people couldn’t trust the Association, it’d end up hurting the guilds, too. “Of course they wouldn’t make trouble inside the Association. But it’s possible to have their target sent away in an ambulance or police car.” “…And then that ambulance or police car goes missing?” “You’re getting it.”

And Yoojin literally thinks, not a paragraph later, that this is maybe too much even for him:

Somehow, the further things went, the more I felt like I should stop being involved with this brat Yoohyun-ie and go off to live on my own.

Better the dangers you know than the ones you don't, but in Yoojin's words.

Everyone in the high-rank sphere is, well, high-rank. Strong and resilient even when they don't have defensive skills, to say nothing of when they do. They face threats, yes, Real Threats that pose danger to them and risk their safety and status, including threats from other people—Song Taewon mentions to Yoojin in chapter 83 that he's investigated Yoohyun for murder multiple times a year—but because they're so strong, those threats come in the form of dungeon monsters or social attacks, not actual physical harm. Especially not physical harm from other people; like, chapter 75 mentions there's laws against S-rank Hunters going into dungeons together for fear that they might hurt or kill each other, so unless they encounter each other in a dungeon break region where combat is expected (or pick fights with Chief Song, an S-rank duty-bound to fight other S-ranks), they're never really going to encounter personal threats from other Hunters.

Take all that through the lens of protecting Yoojin: he's just some guy, he's not involved in the social/political Hunter Hunger Games, so he's probably fine on that front, right? And otherwise, Yoohyun just needs to protect him from dungeons (keep Yoojin out of them when possible, prevent breaks in his area), and maybe just some general watching out for Yoojin getting himself into anything risky, since he's so weak as an F-rank. That's all the threats Yoohyun sees on a daily basis, so that's probably it, right?

Wrong. Low-rank Hunters have their own set of threats they face, and while a part of that is dungeons and monsters, a very large part of that is also just… being easy to kill, in a community of people very ready to kill. Low-rank Hunters murder each other a hell of a lot more than high-rank Hunters get to even hurt, let alone kill, each other. Think about how easily the knowledge of dungeons being good body disposal spots comes to Yoojin (chapter 19, when threatening Yerim's uncle). Think about the way Yoojin talks about being pressured into slave contracts and miner guilds, and how common it seems to be for low-rank Hunters to be maimed and disabled and left in the lurch (chapters 21 and 22, saving Yoo Myeongwoo from Hope Resources Guild). Think about chapter 49, where Yoohyun claims there's strong camaraderie among high-rank Hunters, and Yoojin responds with this:

Comradeship, huh. There was no such concept in low-rank Hunter teams. Of course, it wasn’t like there were no good people around. The problem was that they all died before long. There were fixed low-rank teams united through trust and friendship, but it was very rare that they lasted. With how strongly they banded together, if one of them died, they couldn’t endure the shock and would fall apart; and even if that didn’t happen, if they were doing well for themselves, they’d be attacked from the outside by the many Hunters who’d find them unpleasant. But a high-rank dungeon raiding team that suffered few such accidents could form a sense of comradeship and keep staying together.

Low-rank Hunters will get killed by monsters, or survive only to get killed by the loss of their teams, or find good teams only to get killed by other jealous low-ranks, or (in Yoojin's experience) survive multiple team-wide killings only to get ostracized and distrusted for being suspiciously good at surviving (almost like you're the one setting up your teams to fail! really makes you wonder, doesn't it?), or, or, or…

High-rank Hunters just… survive. That's it.

Of course Yoohyun wouldn't know to protect Yoojin from these threats. He's never faced them. To him, fighting other people is a fun, challenging pastime, where no one being allowed to kill each other is an unspoken rule that goes implicitly understood. He wouldn't realize how it was very much not fun for Yoojin; maybe he'd know it intellectually, but I don't think he'd understand, not without getting up close and personal to see Yoojin struggle with it, which he can't do himself. If he tries to send someone to spy on or just generally help out his brother, Yoojin's primed by his experiences to distrust the people around him, so spies won't get anything out of him, and any strong Hunter handpicked by Yoohyun to help his hyung might simply be unable to gain Yoojin's trust. (Picking out a whole team of strong Hunters? Even if Yoojin trusts them, they'd probably end up victimized by jealous Hunters. Rinse and repeat.) You must also take into account that Yoojin's been made enough of a target by society that he's hiding every weakness someone could potentially exploit. Hell, if he's hiding well enough, you might think he's doing just fine.

And in the time period where it would be blatantly obvious that Yoojin was not fine, that early period right when he Awakened and turned into society's scapegoat overnight? That was when Yoohyun and Haeyeon were also being targeted, and wouldn't have been able to spare the kind of attention and help Yoojin would've needed, not with all the scrutiny they were all being subjected to. Actually, when Yoojin's reminiscing about these times in chapter 59, he hypothesizes it might've been Yoohyun's rivals themselves who were behind the scapegoating:

At that time, it would’ve been hard for that guy to look out for me. Public opinion wasn’t good in many ways, and there were too many scrutinizing eyes for him to secretly look after me. Now that I thought about it, I wondered if there wasn’t some sort of operation targeting me. The response was too excessive to have simply been the work of a few trash journalists. It was a matter that could be packaged excitingly, I was an F-rank which made me easy to use, and at that time, it could drag down Haeyeon Guild in the public opinion. Whether it was the government, the Association, or rival guilds, they’d have been fools not to use me.

If it was Yoohyun's rivals behind it, then by fighting on the Haeyeon front, Yoohyun might actually have been keeping Yoojin safe, too. How do we know he didn't actually mitigate the suffering to some degree? We haven't heard from Yoohyun about his side of things during this time, so we don't have a definite answer one way or another.

Certainly, Seok Simyeong didn't help at all by making a public statement denouncing Yoojin, especially not when it was so bad Yoojin admits to almost being suicidal over it (chapter 19)! But, well, it was a busy time. We don't know whether Yoohyun was consulted on that one, or if it was something they rushed in order to get ahead of the situation. It might also be that Yoohyun was consulted and made the choice that they'd publicly denounce Yoojin but privately offer him support, only for Yoojin to reject it as he did before with the money Yoohyun sent. Yoojin's done this before, where he conveniently doesn't mention a detail about a scenario until it becomes immediately relevant!

I cannot emphasize enough that we don't have Yoohyun's perspective on this. We don't know what he was doing or not doing to help. But we know, from his love for Yoojin, from his desperate desire to keep him safe at all costs, that he must've been doing something. Was that something effective? Was it useful to Yoojin's immediate life? Who knows. But he was trying.

#7: Banning Yoojin from dungeons

…Keyword being trying. Because, uh. To be honest, how well do you think any direct attempts at "helping" went over? The very first moment that Yoojin regresses to is when Yoohyun got him out of a meeting with an Awakening broker. And Yoojin himself says that ended so badly that "after listening to Yoohyun-ie’s nagging, I’d become furious and stormed off, shouting that I could take care of myself and to quit bothering me" (chapter 5). So if Yoohyun tries to openly keep Yoojin out of danger, then Yoojin is going to have a screaming fit of anger at his life being controlled by someone who apparently isn't even interested in being in it.

And that's before Yoojin Awakened. Once he had an actual, legal, government-assigned license saying he could go into dungeons? Yoohyun had zero standing. Zero chance he was ever going to be able to stop him from going into dungeons, short of breaking down and crying and begging for him to not do it, which (to successfully convince Yoojin he wasn't just putting on a show or trying to guilt trip him) would also require Yoohyun to admit he still cared about Yoojin and reveal his 3- uh, 4- I mean, 5- 6(!!)-Year Master Plan To Keeping Hyung Safe Forever And Ever.

Yeah. Never gonna happen.

And even that one (1) attempt at keeping Yoojin away from dungeons and Hunters and everything related could've gone really badly, because as Yoohyun himself admits in their chapter 6 conversation, his enemies will "already have started keeping an eye on you [Yoojin]". Just from one single show of apparent concern for Yoojin's wellbeing! Can you imagine what would've happened if Yoohyun kept stopping Yoojin every time he tried to go into a dungeon? Setting Yoojin's own frustration and anger aside, can you picture the kind of attention that would've gotten Yoojin? No, this was one battle Yoohyun had to lose in order to win the overall war.

Anon, you mention providing "new options for Yoojin to stop going to dungeons". Okay, sure, we're starting with Yoojin being society's black sheep and probably rejected out of hand from most positions he applies to, and Yoohyun's only leverage in society being in dungeon- and Hunter-related fields. What options would he have provided for Yoojin? A dungeon- or Hunter-related job, probably at Haeyeon or one of its affiliates? That's precisely what we're trying to avoid, and also visible enough that Yoohyun might as well not have even fucking bothered with the 6-Year Master Plan etc. etc. Okay, so then something at one of Haeyeon's sponsors-? Except Haeyeon famously doesn't have backers, and any connections they have through business deals will be glaringly obvious to Yoohyun's rivals if leveraged. Oh, Han Yoojin, the man who no one wants to hire, got a job at a company whose products Han Yoohyun sponsored just a while ago! Absolutely no one is wondering how this could've happened. Also, funny how Han Yoohyun's helping Han Yoojin find work, it's almost like he cares about him… (And so the end begins.)

Remember, all of Yoohyun's efforts at separating himself from Yoojin require actually being separate from Yoojin and the choices he makes. Yoojin's life is—unfortunately enough for Yoohyun—his own to live… and his own to ruin.

#8: The transcendent threat

And all of that—every single one of these environmental factors that make it so Yoohyun has a billion and one concerns to consider before he can so much as talk to Yoojin—all of that comes before we take into account one more fact:

God Hates Caregivers Personally.

Or, in a non-joking manner, and in the fashion Yoohyun might have learned about it from Diarma, as is strongly suggested in the virtual reality dungeon arc during chapter 246:

There are beings out there, outside your world, stronger than anything you know, and this is acknowledging the fact that you are among the strongest existences humankind will ever produce. These beings rule your entire world, are the children of the very power that created the dungeons terrorizing your planet, are themselves so powerful that they can predict dungeons and manipulate the system in their favor, that they can manipulate the circumstances of individual humans as long as they're inside dungeons. In allying with any one of their number, you make an enemy out of half of the entire population of these transcendental existences. You have already made an enemy of them. And these people, these all-powerful creatures, who you've painted yourself a rival of? These same people have a known track record of killing the loved ones of people like you.

Your brother goes into dungeons every week as part of his job. He's already at immense risk. If you go near him, if you make it seem even slightly like you're interested in him personally, you make him an out-and-out target for these transcendents, and they'll smite him. He dies, and you die, and it's game over.

Option one: You can grow to their level, meet them with equal strength, certainly, but will you get the time to grow that far before they kill your brother? Is his natural lifespan even long enough that he'd survive the time it took for your growth? He dies. You die. Game over.

Option two: Don't pose a threat. It's too late for you to never get on their radar in the first place, but if you can keep from seeming any more dangerous, maybe they won't give him any attention. Secure a favor that will let you help him when he needs it, at most, but otherwise never use your transcendent connections to your own advantage.

Option two, taken to its conclusion: If you die before your brother does—if you die calling in that favor and saving his life—you never have to see him be killed.

(Option two, on the flip side: You will not expect it to be your own ally who set the stage for your loved one to be killed.)

So, basically, every single concern Yoohyun's had about protecting his brother that made him distance himself and not tell him anything so far? All of that is taken and cranked up to difficulty level Maximum. "If I show interest in hyung, one of my rivals or enemies might choose to hurt or kill him!" The transcendents WILL kill him with NO known incentive. Yoohyun might assume it's because he poses a threat to their side, but he can't be absolutely certain that's it. In fact, he doesn't know anything about this opposing transcendent faction, since he was blocked from contacting them by the very fact of having chosen a side in the first place, as Water Droplet explains when discussing the born S-ranks in chapter 106:

“We don’t know for sure either. The filial duty addicts contacted them first, so their information is obscured. We only know that there are five, and about the ones that are in contact with you.”

And while Yoohyun-as-Alpha knows the reasons behind the immoral people killing Caregivers—namely, that they want to remove distractions for S-ranks, so that they focus on combating dungeons and monsters—if Diarma had told Yoohyun about this, and if he'd thought to apply the bare minimum of intelligence to his delivery (a disclaimer that must be made, with this transcendent in particular), I really don't think he would've told him why. No, he would've wanted the immoral people to seem like a dangerous threat, so he would just have said that they might kill Yoohyun's family, without giving him their reasoning.

Which means Yoohyun knew nothing about the immoral people's motives, nothing about their goals, nothing about what they'd see as aggression. Which meant, hypothetically, that any and every action he took could trigger them to smoothly and efficiently eliminate the only person he loved in all the world. It would be so easy, too; Yoojin's entering their turf multiple times a month as part of his daily job, a fact which we've already established Yoohyun couldn't do anything about. The only thing he knew for sure is that they hadn't killed Yoojin so far.

Remember what I said before, about the known path being safer? Because you know the dangers you'll face on it? Yoohyun knows doing what he's doing right now is keeping Yoojin alive. He can't control a single other thing outside of that. And the danger posed by not doing what he's doing just got shifted to a level he is not prepared on any level to respond to. Before, he might've thought Yoojin was safe at least inside dungeons with his chosen teams; from his perspective, "dungeons with only guild members inside are actually safer than the outside world" (chapter 134), while the outside world was more of a risk because of all of Yoohyun's enemies. But now? There is danger all the time and in every location Yoojin goes, even those outside of this world, on an insane, unrivaled level. He is never, never safe, and any single unexpected action Yoohyun takes puts that at risk. If doing anything at all is dangerous, then it's better to do nothing.

So, yeah, that's the crux of it, isn't it. Yoohyun needs to protect Yoojin every day, every single time. Everything else in the whole world only needs to kill Yoojin once. In such a situation, how would Yoohyun ever dare to risk making either of them vulnerable?

…The end! I hope that this explanation, long as it is, has given you at least some additional insight into Why Yoohyun Did All That, and helped serve as a reminder of just how little we actually know about Yoohyun's perspective of the events pre-regression.

By the way, this entire post is pulling only from information we get up to chapter 272; there’s more information revealed up to chapter 350—actually, even just in the next few chapters after that, up to 275—that sheds more light on Yoohyun’s decision-making process in the pre-regression timeline. Maybe I’ll come back and post a part 2 to this analysis someday using the additional information we get as time goes on, but right now, this much will have to be enough.

In any case—thanks for reading this far. And of course, as promised, here's the poll!

[gayf1hoe]

Behind the Pit Wall

Scenario - Y/N is a new race engineer for Williams but he never expected to become a race engineer straight away, bit following the resignation of Logan's race engineer he receives a very prompt promotion. The two quickly hit it off professionally but their relationship quickly exceeds professional.

Race 1 - Spa 

Nervously and full of anticipation I take my seat on the pit wall for the first time as a race engineer for Williams.

Ever since graduating University I have been working in F1 for the past 2 years, last year I was with Sauber as a junior race engineer and I applied to Williams on the off chance they would actually agree to take me but to my genuine surprise they did. 

When I first met with James he said I would be a secondary Engineer in other words I was just there to assist the main engineer. However when I walked in this morning I was told I would be Logan Sargeant's permanent race engineer after his engineer resigned unexpectedly. 

As I'm sitting in the pit wall looking at all the data, it's starting to set in. I'm a driver's race engineer with just a year's experience, talk about being thrown in the deep end. 

Logan hasn't got the best track record but he's a great person with a great sense of humour and undeniable charm so I am honoured I get to work with him. 

After qualifying yesterday we are in P11 and we missed out on Q3 by 0.012 so it's a little frustrating but the way things go in F1. 

“Logan radio check” 

“Yep, your voice sounds great, and mine” 

“even better, 30 seconds to lights out maintain focus and be clinical” 

When the lights go out my heart pounds faster and my palms sweat a little. 

We don't have the best start as Logan ends up in P15 and with the weather conditions around Spa showing no signs of improving cars are spinning left, right and centre. The strategists and I decide to bring Logan in now for the inters before everyone else 

“Logan box, box” 

As he comes in I see a train of cars following behind him but our crew do a fantastic job at fitting the new tyres that will stay on until the chequered flag.

Logan emerges back on the track at P11 which is a great advantage for us and I coach him through every lap telling him where he can improve and with that he manages to overtake a few people, and by the final lap he's probably sick of my voice. 

“Logan that's P7 really good job today, do your cool down lap and we will see you in Parc Fermé”

“Yeah good job, thanks for all your guidance today we did great today, we will continue to improve”. 

“Absolutely, sorry if my voice became annoying”

“Never I loved hearing your voice every second, and that's not sarcasm”. 

After the race I am interviewed by a reporter about what I think of my first race as a lead race engineer.

Reporter: Y/N great result for your first race. How did it feel to be thrown right in at the deep end and get such a great result?

Y/N: Yeah of course it was stressful being thrown in at the deep end, I arrived in the paddock this morning and was told I'm Logan's new race engineer so it was a little stressful but we did really well despite the conditions and it's a good start for Logan.

Reporter: We saw you too having lets say some ‘flirtatious moment's’ . Is there a relationship brewing?

Y/N: Haha me and Logan are just naturally flirtatious people and I think we have a good work relationship together.

As I'm answering questions Logan comes from behind me and jump scares me and the reporter turns her attention to him.

Reporter: Logan what do you think of your new race engineer?

Logan:  He's amazing and he really helped me out there today so I'm grateful I have got him

Reporter: You complimented his voice a few times, is there something going on there? 

Logan: Well yes he has a naturally calming voice and it's great to hear in stressful situations. 

Race 24 - Abu Dhabi 

As my second season in F1 comes to an end I am extremely happy where Logan is at P8 in the championship with only 1 point separating him and Stroll. 

Coming into this season we could never have predicted that me or him would do this well this season and since Logan has been performing so well this season consistently he is on the move to Mercedes next year but what he doesn't know is that I am also moving to Mercedes. 

Additionally since the season exposition mine and Logan's relationship has well let's say developed. It is sort of unconfirmed knowledge that we are dating but neither of us confirmed it but our constant flirting and physical contact has confirmed it for us.

“Logan 30 seconds to lights out I want a great finish from you today” 

Logan starts from P6 which is his best starting position in his career so I'm anticipating a good race. 

He gets a good start and quickly takes P5 from Norris and maintains a good pace. 

When he comes in for his first and only pit of the race and he drops down to P10, one of Logan's biggest problems is that after a pit stop and he loses positions he thinks it's all over so we have been working on his

resilience and as he was the first car to pit I know that the cars in front will pit soon and he will be bumped up a few places. 

With 15 laps to go Logan has made his way up to P5 and is chasing Lance for P4 and heading along the DRS straight he manages to get past and we now set our eyes on Oscar Piastri.

“Alright Logan it's Piastri ahead 2.1 seconds they are having mechanical issues with their brakes” 

For 14 laps straight Logan is tailing Oscar and it's painful and nerve wracking to watch but in the final lap in the final DRS zone Logan squeezes past him and whilst it's a good move the team doesn't celebrate just yet. But when he crosses the line there is a roar of cheers from the garage behind me.

And my normal angelic radio voice turns into a coarse shout 

“Logan that is P3, well done, I'm so proud of you and the improvements you have made and those 15 points put you in P6 in the standings”

“Y/N thank you for all your hardwork and dedication this year you have really helped me achieve great things and I will really miss hearing your voice”

“Well, do you want another piece of good news?” 

“Of course” 

“You aren't going to Mercedes alone, I'm coming along as well as your race engineer” 

“Holy shit that's the best thing I have been told, I would have missed your voice on the radio. I love you Y/N”

“I love you to Logan”

For the first time Logan is on the podium and the entire team is here watching him and cheering him on. 

It's a great sight to see him smiling and finally believing in himself. 

[umlewis]

lewis hamilton, p3, is interviewed during the post-qualifying press conference, singapore - september 21, 2024 (transcript under the cut)

Interviewer: "Lewis, let's come to you. You weren't that positive about your car yesterday after practice. Is P3 a bit of a surprise in qualifying?" Lewis: "I'm not saying it's a surprise, but through the weekend so far we were looking… I was looking particularly very poor. I mean, this morning and all of yesterday we were 1.2 seconds off these guys, so… We arrived with a car that was massively understeer-y and we just couldn't dial any in, no matter what we did just nothing changed. And made changes overnight, came here today, pretty much the same thing, and I was really, definitely shocked to see that we were still 1.2 seconds behind [laughs] Lando again. And then we just kept our heads down, kept not giving up, and we made some more changes, and got into this session and it was like night and day. Such a big difference. Car was all of a sudden alive and I was able to go where I wanted to go. So it was looking really strong throughout qualifying. And I think obviously with the crash in Q3 it made it difficult for all of us to put that final lap together. I think my lap was also nothing special. Very difficult to get the tires perfect and not overslide them; I had a lot of snaps. So I think with a better job maybe we could have been front row with this guy, but I don't know whether or not we could have beaten him today. But still really, really happy." Interviewer: "How rewarding is it? Because you've had some struggles with qualifying. You've been very open about that this year. So does that make this that much more satisfying?" Lewis: "Oh yeah. I mean, just to be up here with these guys, great drivers. I've not been up here for a while. And yeah, qualifying has been a nightmare for quite a long time, so it feels great to be up here. I feel very, very grateful and very, very happy. George and I are on the second row, so hopefully from here we can apply pressure to these two. And to even to be ahead of another McLaren and another Red Bull and also the Ferraris is mega, considering how fast the Ferraris, particularly, are here. So yeah, I hope that we can hold on to these guys tomorrow."

[time jump] NOT SHOWN: Journalist: "Andrew Benson, BBC Sport. One for Max and then one for Lando and Lewis. Max, will you talk to us outside the room? Because technically there's not... Yeah, okay. And then Lando and Lewis, what do you think about Max being given community service, effectively, for what he said on Thursday?" Lewis: "Yeah, I think it's a bit of a joke, to be honest. This is the pinnacle of the sport. Mistakes are made. I certainly wouldn't be doing it, and I hope Max doesn't do it." [time jump] Journalist: "Zuhrah Beevi, Vavel.com. Lewis, your car looked much stronger today than it did on Friday. How confident are you that you can get a podium like last year for tomorrow's race?" Lewis: "It's very hard to say, 'cause it was such a nightmare the past day-and-a-half. I think our long run pace was so-so. Nowhere near these guys, or at least the McLarens. But we have now put the car in a much different window, so we have to also anticipate a different balance tomorrow, compared to the past every other session. And yeah, I think here is really about managing tire temps, so that's gonna have to be key tomorrow. So doing absolutely everything we can to keep the temperatures out of the rears, basically. I hope, in our attempt to do that, we're somehow able to hold on to at least one of these guys. But yeah, we'll find out tomorrow. I feel confident, though, that we might be able to do that." [laughs]

[bunnytalksf1]

McLaren are fastest. So why do they keep losing out?

The general consensus for the duration of the triple header (since Monaco, for some people, who aruged that Piastri's fastest sectors proved that he could have taken pole with an "ideal" lap). For the purposes of this post I'm going to count Barcelona as the first race they were fastest.

So, what unravelled them? For the most part, it's Norris. He just can't seem to shake up under pressure, and it's costing them results bigtime. He started on pole in Barcelona, and a stupid, overly defensive move that pushed Verstappen onto the grass cost him two places when George Russell jumped down the outside and kamikaze'd his way into the lead. This was Norris' fault, he drove desperately, and made a very difficult job for himself to catch up later in the race, and ultimately couldn't do it. The gap to Verstappen was still two seconds, in the end.

I don't want to stoop to the lows of the stuff I'm seeing online about Norris, but what I will say is this: he seems to really struggle under pressure. This isn't just when he's in a championship fight, it was making the difference in the stint of races last year where McLaren had a competitive car. Qatar, where Piastri won the sprint, Lando had issues with track limits. The inability to keep cool under pressure really affects him in quali, and he tends to underdeliver. He's not a Leclerc, or a Verstappen in quali, where they push and push. I can handle a mediocre qualifier. His racecraft is more than enough to make up for it, and his overtakes are usually smooth and calculated.

Then we go to Austria. Verstappen is making the difference this whole weekend and starts the sprint from pole, Norris from P2. The McLaren is faster and by lap five, Norris was brave and lunged down the inside, but he got worse traction. He came from very far back, and his acceleration out of the corner was sub-optimal, allowing Verstappen AND Piastri to collect him in the next corner where he also ran wide. And then after that he got stuck behind Piastri, who is typically slower in race trim, and Verstappen checked out, losing the win. I do think in the sprint it was less of a indicator of Norris' lack of quality and more so an indicator of the quality of the racers around him in PIA and VER.

Same order for the GP. Norris started P2. Honestly, I turned the race off as Verstappen checked out and my ferrari heart couldn't handle the race after charles' lap one contact (lol, if only i knew about today!!) and then my friend turned around and showed me the george russell graphic, so I didn't watch this live. Clumsy racing from both VER and NOR cost both of their races, VER moving under braking and NOR with divebombs that were never going to work or stick.

The issue for me in Austria is that the damage to Norris' car was manageable to go back out and fight for points, which he sorely needed. He made the call to retire, as far as I'm aware. If I'm correct, he did have to pit twice regardless though, so I'm not sure if that was an influence. The decision to DNF cost them valuable points (even if the max was only two or four, he should've gone back out) and extended Verstappen's lead.

Now we go to Silverstone.

Honestly. A brilliant race. You can argue that Norris and Piastri both underdelivered slightly in quali, but Mercedes were rapid, and Hamilton (at Silverstone, at least, lol) and GR are phenomenal qualifiers. P3 for Norris, P5 for Piastri (after they screwed him with timings on his last Q3 run).

Here's where I'm going to criticise McLaren. Both Lando and Oscar did a phenomenal job today. By the time it was time to pit for inters, Lando and Oscar were P1 and P2, after mistakes from both Mercedes drivers. They then pitted Lando for inters from the lead and left Oscar out, and he lost position to both Mercs, Verstappen and Sainz. Working up to the last stint on slicks, oscar managed to pull back past Sainz, but Norris led the race.

Hamilton pit first, and went to the soft, with twelve laps left to go. The McLaren pit wall had already put Piastri onto the mediums at this stage and the team had all the data, and a new set of mediums. They then asked Norris which tyre he thought was best, and went on a used soft to "cover Hamilton". This, as most of the pundits have already pointed out, was the wrong call, and probably lost McLaren the race win. Norris blamed himself in the post-race media, but it's much less a driver issue here than it has been in previous race weekends.

McLaren has a long standing issue where they seem to over-rely on driver feedback rather than the data that they collect, which is frustrating to look at. The internet at large can be incredibly cruel, and its trendy to hate on Norris right now. Whilst I don't like him, nor rate him as highly as I do LEC/VER/HAM, he's definitely earnt his place on this grid and he's got some very good racecraft. Onto my point: Sochi 21 was NOT HIS FAULT. Controversial opinion, I'm aware. But as a team, you don't trust your drivers, particularly when your driver is a 20-year-old under immense pressure for his first race win in F1. The team had the data, it shouldn't have been a discussion. Pit for inters, pit for wets. Yes, Norris' attitude was awful, but Verstappen is similar with his engineer, and I can't blame him when he wanted it that badly. The team needs to take unequivocal responsibilty for its strategy, and rely less on dialogue with their drivers. They don't have the data. And today was a prime example of that.

Norris would have won today on the mediums. Piastri also could've been in the hunt had they double-stacked. But this is a problem that has existed for a long time and needs to be changed fundementally: the team has the data. Make the strategy decisions, and let them drive. It doesn't always cause them problems, but neither driver is used to fighting at the front and they need their team to lean on. That's the point of a strategy department.

Although Andrea Stella acknowledged much of this, so hopefully the only way is up?

[flyingcakeee]

Little thing I wrote before I passed out yesterday

Can be interpreted as a friendship or ship, your choice really.

Yeah so what if Max was hard on himself and Logan had only recently learned how harmful it is to be super hard on yourself?

Max has never been the one to truly understand and respect motivational talks. Just say you're going to do it, no need to truly hype yourself up like you're in a zombie apocalypse movie and you need to make some seemingly impossible jump to get away from said zombies. Max has lived by one motto and one motto only since ‘23 Baku, don't let anyone else win. Yeah, sure, some rookie got a sprint win, but that's not the real deal. Max wasn't given the right car in Singapore, he'll never let Singapore again. His teammate took two wins from him, Max won't let him win ever again.

Max promised his dad “I'm the only winner” and he would stand by it. That was all the motivation Max ever needed, “only winner”.

>~<

Monaco, May 25th, 2024

Max fucked it all up.

Monaco is all about precision, being exact and never more or less, no mistakes allowed. Qualifying had started 8 minutes prior when Max finally got out to do his flying lap that would no doubt put him into Q3 if it worked as such.

No heroics into Saint Devote, the wall is spared from any touch of the RB20. Beau Rivage treats Max with kindness, a breeze to fly through. Massante doesn't hold any hidden traffic, nothing to ruin Max’s lap. Casino is as simple as ever and the Mirabeau hairpin yields to Max’s power. Portier is fine, the tunnel after is simple as it can be. Max flies through the Nouvelle Chicane, a spectacle to all the fans who watch. Tabac, Max run’s wide. A quick correction fixes him for that turn, runs him into the wall at Swimming Pool, taking his front left tyre off and ending his quali before he can even set a time.

Max couldn't set a time.

Red flags were waved and Max opted to walk the track back to the pitlane, hanging his head in embarrassment and anguish as he did so. It was a slow walk, marshals long since giving up to stop him. The Monegasque streets have never seemed so quite to Max until now, nor have they seemed this long.

When Max returned to the pitlane, crews looked at him with utter pity, all stepping away as he slowly trudged his way towards the RedBull garage. All but one person.

A flash of white and dark blue stopped Max in his tracks, the white, red, and blue helmet stopping in front of Max and the hands of the man gently grasping his shoulders. Max looked up into the eyes of the North American, unsure where this extremely reserved and quiet rookie got the courage to stop him, the Max Verstappen.

“Pick yourself up, Max,” the American started, the only noise Max could hear for miles on end.

Of course, it was a motivational speech but he couldn't bring it in himself to push the young driver away.

“Don't let one bad qualifying session define you. Trust me, I've let every session I've ever done define me and you see where I've ended up, nearly losing my seat and only getting as high as P11. If the race doesn't go well either, it's fucking Monaco. Anything can happen, Monaco can be unforgiving to any driver. Just pick yourself back up for the race tomorrow and then pick yourself up more for Canada. Don't be too rough, we're human. We can't be perfect, that includes you. Who cares if you lose one race and win the rest, it's better than your record last year still.”

Max felt himself completely focused on the Williams driver. Somehow, he felt he could listen to this motivational speech. Maybe it was the fact that Logan quite literally put his own problem into it and told Max to not be him. Maybe it was the fact that it, indeed, was Monaco, an unforgiving track to even the best drivers. Maybe it was Logan’s hands on his shoulders grounding him, keeping Max there with Logan and not wallowing in self pity.

“You'll be fine, don't let your name get to you. Don't be Max Verstappen all the time, you need to just be Max as well.”

The Floridian removed his hands, a quick pat and smile to the Dutchman before he moved over, allowing Max to finish his walk to the garage. Max gave a small smile back and continued on his way, the message replaying in his mind for quite a bit of time.

>~<

Monaco, May 26th, 2024

Max forgave Monaco, Monaco forgave him back. The top step of the podium became Max’s home, only he could be standing on the top step at all this year. He distinctly remembers seeing Logan give him a curt thumbs up when he was about to do his interview, not actually walking over to talk on the contrary.

“Fantastic recovery performance from you, Max!” the reporter said with excitement, wanting to hear how Max would agree.

“Yeah, it's been a while since I started that low down,” Max joked. “I have to thank my crew for repairing my car so quickly. Couldn't be up here if they weren't working so hard.” The ‘thanks to Logan for giving me a little motivational speech yesterday when he saw I was upset’ went unsaid, Max unsure if he should be thanking another driver in this condition.

“You and another driver, Sargeant, exchanged words after your crash yesterday. Any chance you can tell us what was said there?”

Max laughed, “That's between Logan and I, it was a very private conversation.”

>~<

This time, Max promised to listen to Logan’s motivational spews and not promise his father an always Q3 quali result promise. Plus, Max did Alex a favor and made Logan socialize more.

[loveforlandonorris]

🎤 Lando at the Drivers' Press Conference before the Chinese GP:

(The video is from F1Fever on YouTube)

Transcript:

Interviewer: And Lando, what about your expectations coming into the weekend?

Lando: Probably not as high as Suzuka. I think that's our opinion. But still in a good position. I think we've been happy with how the season started. I think we're in a good qualifying battle with Aston, Mercedes, it’s very close and even last weekend ahead of Ferrari, but I think the order is still clear.

And I think in the racing we've done a good job. Not as good as Red Bull but and Ferrari, but I'm a head of Aston and Mercedes. So I think we're in a good spot. This wasn't a great circuit for us in 2019 but many things have changed since then. So I'm so optimistic we can have a good weekend.

Interviewer: What is it about this layout that gives you less confidence?

Lando: The long corners. Just, like, Turn 1. Yeah, this type of corner is just not good for us. Similar to, say, Zandvoort, that kind of experience for us. So yeah, we've got some things to try. And we're constantly trying to improve these areas. But it's an area we know is one of our biggest weaknesses, and maybe we kind of get away with it in qualifying but especially into the race becomes a bigger problem for us.

Interviewer: There were some race day frustrations for you in Japan, but afterwards, your boss Andrea Stella, said that the team can win this year. How quickly do you think you can do that?

Lando: Not anytime soon, that's for sure. I think we can. Right place, right time, if we improve the car how we need to. Honestly, there weren't too many frustrations with Suzuka. I think everything went pretty much as expected. I don't think we did a perfect job and I think we probably should have finished one place higher up, potentially. But I don't think it was far off. We've been the same place all season. We've been behind Red Bull, we've been behind Ferrari and we've been a bit of a step ahead of the other two teams come the race. And that's exactly how last weekend went.

So I don't think there's too many frustrations. But we know the issues, we know what we have to improve. And if we can improve them. I think Andrea is right. I think we can win races this year. And we can be competitive with these other two teams ahead of us. But that's an if. And you know, we have to work hard to improve the car in some of these certain areas, which have been a big challenge for us over the last many years, not just for years, but last many years. But if we can, then I'm confident we can have some good races.

Journalist Questions:

Q1 (Ian Parkes – New York Times):. I don't know if any of you drivers have had an opportunity to inspect the track as yet. But Charles mentioned it earlier, and a couple of other drivers have mentioned it in their media sessions earlier today, that the track has been painted. What does that means pecifically? Do you know? Does it cause any concerns? What issues are you expecting from such a track?

Lando: I have no idea. So I think we have to wait and see honestly, I think that's something new, something we don't think we've seen before, so hard to predict exactly what's going to happen. So I honestly have no idea. So I'll see you tomorrow.

Q2 (Michael Butterworth – Xinhua News Agency) To all the drivers briefly. It's been a while since we've been to the Shanghai circuit. Just keen to hear your thoughts on it. And any particular features that make it especially challenging or memorable for you?

Lando: I always raced here once, but I didn't finish the race. So not the best memories. But yeah, it was still in my first season. So everything was new back then. But it's always been a cool track to drive. Definitely was not my back then. But excited to give it another crack and see what we can do this weekend.

Q3 (Henry Clark – Daily Mail) I was wondering, obviously a lot of tracks that we come to, it's only been a year or so since you've last been here. But for everyone here there has been no race for at least five years. I was wondering what are the unique challenges that brings? Does that make this weekend particularly exciting? Or are there extra worries that come with that?

Lando: I guess just excited. Always excited for every weekend, but especially when you haven't been to a place for a while. For me, I didn't get a proper experience of it back in 2019. So things have changed. I'm a very different driver to what I was back then.

So I'm excited to see what it brings and how the whole weekend pans out I think anyway being a Sprint race and having two opportunities to try and nail the set-up for the first quali and then the set-up for the second quali. I think also there is plenty of opportunity. So I don't think it’s not going to be exciting for anyone. I think there's a lot of opportunities on the table, there's a lot of things that can go wrong at the same time, so excited for all of it.

Q4 (Henry Clark – Daily Mail) With all due respect to some of the more senior drivers, a question to a couple of the younger guys on the panel. When you see Fernando committing his future to racing well into his 40s, how impressive is that dedication? How much does it take to keep doing that? And also, do you see yourselves wanting to race for as long as that in your own careers?

Lando: I’d better be careful what I say. I think it takes a lot of dedication. I don't think anyone thinks Fernando lacks that in any way. I think he shows that with everything that he does in life. Whether it's at the track or away from the track, you know, in different sports or whatever. So it depends what you want to do. Everyone is different.

It's rare that you see someone commit for so long in any sport, you know, he's probably one of the oldest guys competing at the top of any sport in the world and I think to be able to do that at the level that he has done and continues to do, you're probably never going to potentially see it again, you know within Formula 1 and if you do, it's going be extremely rare.

So yeah, I think a lot of respect for that kind of thing. I have no idea if I want to do it in 20 years’ time, if I'm still going strong, but I love where I am now and I continue to do such a thing. Yeah, we'll see.

[lestappenforever]

What Williams is doing is actually unserious. How, as a team, and as a team principal, do you come with the decision to allow a driver to race instead of the other, just because he’s more experienced.

It’s not Logan’s fault that Alex crashed his car beyond repair, and it should not be his fault that he’s not allowed to race.

This is clearly stating that you don’t have faith in him. What Williams is doing rn is breaking what they have been building since the USGP, Logan’s confidence and performance has been on the rise since COTA, since scoring his first ever points. This has improved his performance, confidence and possibly even his mental health. Granted, he didn’t score in any other races, but he’s been performing. Consistently trying to improve his position on the grid, working hard on getting into Q2s and Q3s. And if you want him to continue on this high, well, you should have allowed him to race.

Looking at it, it wasn’t Logan who crashed his car beyond repair. Hell, Logan did NOT crash his car like this last year as a rookie, he started all his races. Alex is the one, and he should suffer the consequences of his actions.

What James has stated that it is because of the “greater good” of the team means absolutely shit. Because simply it is not guaranteed that Alex would score points and Logan wouldn’t have. Hell, Logan could have been Williams’ first point scorer this season, with how he is performing, and Saudi was a testament to that, because yes, he started p19, but gained a lot and finished p14. He’s working hard, so that decision should have not happen. Alex should not race on his expense.

I really do hope that he is good, because, best believe. I will be a Logan Sargeant defender for the rest of my life, and I want to see him perform and do well, as well as not lose his confidence. If its for the best, I really do hope he performs and is signed by another team who trusts him more that Williams who just say they trust him, but go on and fuck him over

As much as I like Alex: Justice for Logan.

Like fuck, the fact that Logan is forced to deal with the consequences of Alex's crash is just... Incredible, in the worst possible way.

[0zzysaurus]

Okay so here’s our schedule fellas. Let me walk you through it in beginner talk.

Fun and important adventure below :]]

NFL is broken into two organisations — The AFC and the NFC. They are then broken down into four regional divisions — each division has four teams. Teams from both the AFC and NFC will play each other throughout the season, but we also have divisional games, where you play the other teams within your division.

Bengals are in AFC North — AFC North consists of, the Cincinnati Bengals, the Cleveland Browns, the Baltimore Ravens, and the Shittsburgh Steelers. We play each of our divisional rivals twice in order to make a ranking within the division, which — on top of overall ranking — determines placement in the play-offs (which not every team gets into, as the season comes to a close, teams with lowest wins are eliminated.)

We always tend to struggle divisionally, so it’s good to have a preliminary look at the non-divisional teams we’ll play, be they other AFC teams or NFC teams. Some of the teams we have this season (i.e. Carolina Panthers, Denver Broncos, Tennessee Titans, etc.) are DOG ASS TEAMS ‼️‼️‼️ We should be able to cinch easy wins from those teams — but never say that out loud, because the Bengals have a habit of ‘bungling’ things up.

On the other hand, we also have some absolutely cracked teams in our schedule (i.e. Philly Eagles, Dallas Cowboys, and regrettably, the Kansas City Chiefs). These will be hard teams to beat, especially the Chiefs, because they’re the NFL’s baby pretty princess special boo boo ga ga team who can do no wrong. The game is scripted in their favour I swear to God. BUT it’s been done. We’ve been known to give those skanks a thrashing.

See, the Bengals are a bipolar team if ever there was one. We either wipe the floor with ‘em, or get absolutely barebacked and humiliated on live television for several weeks straight. We always start bad with even records but tend to climb up the winning ladder the closer to the end we get. Joe Burrow — our Quarterback — also has this cute little habit of getting season-ending injuries every fucking season. He also got a big pay check last year so he’s been playing like total ass. Jake Browning is our second Quarterback and he did an ace job last year for it being his first professional season. Evan McPhearson is our kicker and he’s my favourite. I want him.

If u would like to be a Bengal Freak like me, here are three tenants to follow to keep the spirit of the game alive in your soul:

1. KEEP THAT WHO DEY KITTY IN YOUR HEART !! (Who Dey is both our mascot and our signature chant) When you got the Who Dey on a Game Dey? You can conquer the world. First tenant — Be glad that we’re here.

2. Never say you think we’re going to win a game. It attaches some evil Pharaoh’s curse onto that week of football and we will lose. Even if it’s Q3 and the game only has 15 minutes of playtime left and we are up by multiple TD’s, do not say that we have it in the bag. Do not say we are gonna thrash their hides. Second tenant — If the Bengals can Bungle it, assume that they will.

3. We have enemies. But we also have friends. But more importantly we have enemies. The Chiefs — despite not being a division rival — are a team we are sworn against. Fuck those guys, we all hate ‘em no matter what team you support. Remember them as the key villain of the sport, and revel in their downfall whenever you can, just know that it never lasts long. Division teams are sworn to hatred — the Ravens, Browns, and Steelers all suck — but especially the Steelers. Remember to save all your hatred for those towel-wiping shit squealing Steelers. On the brighter side, the Buffalo Bills are our friends. We have done good things for each other over the past half-a-decade. We’ve got each other into play-offs via score manipulation, we’ve respected one another through very serious injuries, and we send each other food when our teams win. You will see Bengals fans touting them as our friends forever. We love the Bills Mafia. We are in a romantic relationship with the Bills Mafia. The Dolphins, Lions, and 49ers are also our chums! Third Tenant — Root for our rivals, and kill our enemies.

This has been Joey’s introductory guide to being a Bengals Buddy in 2024 — watch out for August when my entire account turns orange ^^ who dey!! 🐯🏈

[mithrilhearts]

Ten Questions for Writers

Tagged by @conkers-thecosy! Thank you so much!

Q1. how many works do you have on ao3?

Currently sitting at 30, though hoping to change that very soon with new stories!

Q2. what's your total ao3 word count?

714,567

Q3. what fandoms do you write for?

Just Tolkien, atm, primarily Bagginshield.

Q4. do you respond to comments? why or why not?

I try to reply to comments as much as possible - even if it's just an emoji reply to show the commenter I saw it and appreciated what they said! Some may slip beneath the radar, and I do get delayed in how long it takes me, but I do see them!

Q5. have you ever had a fic stolen?

No? I don't think so. At least not that I know of.

Q6. have you ever cowritten a fic before?

I have! Sunnyrose and I co-wrote a fic for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Collaboration event last year!

Q7. what's your all-time favorite ship?

Bagginshield, hands down!

Q8. what are your writing strengths?

I don't really know what I would call my own personal writing strengths, but maybe like...fluffy stuff? Sometimes dialogue? It really just depends. Someone else answer this for me please lol

Q9. what are your writing weaknesses?

Fight scenes? Run-on sentences? Angst? Self-criticism? Reception? There are a lot of things I could put here that may or may not apply to the question lol

Q10. first fandom you wrote for?

For fanfiction, Tolkien! I was a long-term roleplayer before that, but since we're talking about fic, that's the answer you get!

Non-obligatory tags for @mirkwood @elvain @chaoticangel666 @itsthemxze @i-did-not-mean-to @cilil

[the-xenogender-survey]

Xenogender Usage Survey Results

At long last, the results of the Xeno survey have been published! Out of about 160 entries, about 120 were usable! Some of these results will be varying as certain questions were optional.

Results under the cut, because this is a long post and includes graphics. Enjoy!

Q1. Do you have a main/primary gender identity?

Q2. What is your main/primary gender identity (if yes)?

The top 5 most common 'main/primary' gender identities of respondents to this question were as follows: 5. Trans Man [4] 4. Genderfluid [4] 3. Agender [4] 2. Genderqueer [6] 1. Nonbinary [7]

See the full list of all 'main/primary' gender identities HERE.

Q3. What Xenogenders do you identify with/as?

As this was the BIG ONE, I encouraged folks to give their whole lists, no matter how long they may have been. The top 11 most common xenogender identities of respondents to this question were as follows:

11. Staticgender [x5] 10. Demongender [x5] 9. Chaosgender [x5] 8. Bungender [x5] 7. Xenogender (Standalone) [x6] 6. Glitchgender [x6] 5. Stargender [x7] 4. Pupgender [x7] 3. Autigender [x8] 2. Fictogender [x14] 1. Catgender [x19]

See the full list of all Xenogenders HERE. There are 1,346 genders on this list.

These results were particularly interesting to me, because despite the high amount of respondents, only 2 xenogenders went over 10 responses at all despite the massive overall number. Xenogenders are a very vast 'type' of gender with usually very personalized meanings.

Q4. Do you identify with any non-xenogender identities in addition to the xenogender identities you have?

Q5. What non-xenogender identities do you have (if yes)?

The top 11 most common non-xenogender identities of respondents to this question were as follows:

11. Gendervoid [6] 10. Demigirl [6] 9. Male [7] 8. Boyflux [7] 7. Bigender [7] 6. Transgender [11] 5. Genderqueer [13] 4. Genderfluid [15] 3. Agender [21] 2. Transmasc [25] 1. Nonbinary [33]

See the full list of non-xenogenders HERE. I did include neogenders and "cusp" genders in these results. Maybe I'll do a survey on neogenders in the future...

Q6. When talking about your gender(s) ONLINE, do you put more emphasis on your xenogender or non-xenogender identities?

Q7. When talking about your gender(s) OFFLINE/IRL, do you put more emphasis on your xenogender or non-xenogender identities?

Q8. When thinking about your gender(s) PRIVATELY/PERSONALLY, do you put more emphasis on your xenogender or non-xenogender identities?

The extreme variance in these charts is really interesting as well. I want to make this survey an annual thing, I'm curious to know if this will change at all over the years.

Q9. Do you use neopronouns? For the purposes of this survey, 'neopronouns' was defined as any pronoun that was not he/him, she/her, they/them, or a combo of them such as she/they.

Q10. What type of neopronouns do you use (if yes)?

Q11. Do you prefer if people refer to you with your neopronouns or your non-neopronoun pronouns?

Q12. Do you have any additional comments about your xenogenders or neopronouns?

These will be held to the end of the survey as it is the longest section. Q13. Are you Neurodivergent?

Q13. Do you feel as if your neurodivergence has an impact on your xenogender(s)?

Q14. What types of neurodivergency do you have?

The top 5 most common neurodivergencies of respondents to this question were as follows:

5. C-PTSD [39] 4. ADHD [58] 3. Depression [63] 2. Anxiety [66] 1. Autism [93]

See the full list of neurodivergencies HERE.

I do think these results support my hypothesis that there is a strong intersection of neurodivergency, as well as specifically with autism.

That is the end of the results section! Below are participant comments. I removed comments that clarified on their personal identities or comments directed specifically to me. I found a lot of these very insightful, so even though this section is long, I do recommend reading through them. Thank you to everyone who participated!

COMMENTS ABOUT XENOGENDERS:

>> I believe that there is a huge problem in Xenos where the coiners end up deleting their blogs or presence online so it makes it impossible almost to trace back the gender, as well as there not being a well documented enough place for people to access info on Xenos. The best I found that is specifically only for Xenos is a Wikidot but it doesn't have a lot in terms of some genders imo. There's a weird sort of sense where genders and pronouns become their own lost media, and it's sad. I wish we had a way to properly catalog them as best we could but it's nigh impossible as MOGAI and Xenos were intended to be made where anything could be a Xeno (which is good!) but in the wake, double-coining happens and we lose the ones we did coin in the end. Sorry to ramble oops

>>I think the fact that im otherkin influences my gender identity in major wayss

>>I love my xenos and my genders and i think id like to talk more about it irl.

>>i identify as [gender, removed for privacy] privately and do not share it anywhere outside of my close group of friends. i also only identify with it with my own definition, as every one i've seen online includes concepts (aligning with masculinity/femininity, including european concepts such as royalty, etc) that i either feel uncomfortable with or feel defeat the entire purpose of a xenogender to begin with.

>>We identify the body as sushigender for this reason: Sushi comes in many different styles and fillings, but it's still sushi. Therefore, we can present however we want and it's still us. (It's basically putting a xenogender to describe unlabeled/not caring too much about labels)

>>i wish people (both queer & not) were more accepting that gender expression can be silly and you can have fun with it! sometimes labels are goofy. sometimes pronouns are silly. it doesn't make them any less valid. end the sillyphobia!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

>>i barely attach my xenogenders to my actual gender and its mostly a representation of my entire identity , or some sort of fashion statement or something

>>Most of my xenogenders are private- I do not talk about them other than fairy and livia gender. This is because they are for me and not others, and most people do not need to know about them! :> however, though I will not admit this everywhere, my non-xenogender labels mostly only exist for other people. I am fairygender before I am trans, before I am bigender. I am liviagender before I am trans.

>>Sometimes I like to label, sometimes not, the xenogenders and other genders I identify with are all loose and fluid categories for me.

>>i only use xenogenders and neopronouns with other queer people.

>>i love love love the community this is so cool and i think everyone being able to express themselves is the most important thing in the world

>>I am satisfied with identifying with 'xenogender' as an umbrella term, rather than trying to find and list specific xenogenders I identify with. At least for now. Going to the effort of finding specific xenogenders has not been worth it to me so far.

>>Neurodivergence doesn't intersect with this as much as my alterhumanity does! I am a fairy and a pigeon. Neither has a concept of gender the way humans do. In an ideal world I would not have to fit myself into that system at all! Neurodivergence intersects because it intersects with everything. I am my brain. What it is is what I am. I can't run away from that.

COMMENTS ABOUT NEOPRONOUNS:

>>Most people don't use the neopronouns so it feels wrong to say I prefer them, sense they're never used

>>Honestly I only use my neos with close friends I'm sometimes public abt it but I'm too afraid of backlash sometimes

>>i sort of prefer folks to use my neopronouns purely as a result of most people NOT using them. if people actually used them equally, i would not feel that need to even things out.

>>We do notice people only using the first pronouns you list and ignoring the others (using exclusively she/her when the pronouns are she/they/xe/gem)

>>No one uses them and it makes me really dysphoria but I feel I can't enforce it because there so weird

COMMENTS ABOUT THE INTERSECTION OF NEURODIVERGENCY AND XENOGENDERS:

>>I do genuinely believe a lot of the xenogenders I have are related very specifically to my autism and how I perceive things around me, especially the sound / music related ones.

>>A lot of my overlap comes from perceiving the world around me differently, including my genders and the fluidity of my identity. I feel closer to sounds, concepts, objects, feelings, etc., than I do "typical" and "traditional" gender identities. I understand things more closely and easily in abstracts and metaphors when it comes to my own feelings, so things like "boy" and "girl" don't make much sense to me as a personal experience.

>>Autism affects that indirectly by being a major reason for my alterhumanity

>>My autism effects how I identify myself more than anything most of my xenogenders have to do with my special interests or stuff I feel like due to my autism

>>i have more genders than "usual" because of my multiplicity

>>The intersection most prominently comes from the autism. Being autistic has heavily impacted how I view my role in society and is influenced by a lot of that + my interests

>>autism is the Big one, because it makes me see and literally feel my gender differently to an allistic person. and OSDD-1b affects it only because it's a weird experience being transfem in an afab body, so my gender experience is quite different to singlets who are transfem

>>i think i likely would still experience xenogenders if i was neurotypical, but the fact that i am neurodivergent makes me experience them much more intensely

>>My dissociative disorder (OSDD) and autism majorly effect the way I view gender. It's almost entirely unimportant to me and I see it as more of a form of expression than anything and don't understand why so much stock is put into gender.

>>considering how alienated and disconnected i am from my identity and everyone else, i feel that using xenogenders that feel unclear or 'strange' gives me a sense of identity. i enjoy coming off as strange or offputting to others and like using queerness and nonconformity to express that.

>>my nonhumanity and my aroaceness are a lot more relevant to my gender than my neurodivergencies are.

>>I am not sure if my neurodivergence affects my xenogenders or not, but I know that it affects my overall gender identity, and that is why I label myself as interestfluid.

>>my concept of gender is just weird

>>It’s definitely interesting how a neurodivergency can allow someone to view gender in so many different ways. As an Autistic person, I genuinely do not understand the binary and construct that society has laid out. This in turn affects how I try to conceptualize something that I honestly don’t think *can* be conceptualized. It’s so unique to each person

>>Our autism causes us to see gender from a different perspective so to say. And being a system, other alters also have other perspectives and preferences and identities

[silentreigns]

Random thoughts about this current F1 season that I have been meaning to write about but I keep forgetting so I am just gonna make this long post

Carlos has been the most consistent qualifier on the entire grid this season but this gets overshadowed by Ferrari finding creative ways to screw him and Charles over. I wish his consistency was praised more

Valterri has got to retire like there is not much else for him to do in this sport. He was in a top team for 5 years but Zhou has been out-performing him for a while now. I feel like it's time for someone else to start their F1 career. Like look at this graphic 😭😭😭

The lack of safety cars and all 20 cars finishing the races is simultaneously a good and bad thing. Good because it means the cars are more reliable, bad because race outcomes are way more predictable. Once Max builds a 20s+ gap it will be virtually impossible to close it.

I will be very surprised if Checo is still in F1 after 2024. He ain't doing so bad when it comes to points, but if your teammate has been in first place for more than half of the laps in this entire season and you can't come close to it, then you look even worse. He built a 50+ point gap to you , and at one stage y'all were just 1 point apart in the driver's standings. I would be shaking crying screaming throwing up

If they put Daniel in the RedBull seat after Checo's contract is up instead of Yuki I am going to be extremely salty. Yuki has been putting that car with no breaks in the points consistently like quit playing with him

Monza 2022 really tricked people because they thought Nyck de Vries would be more of a leader in Alpha Tauri. I ain't forger how he was shown in Drive to Survive. However, I don't agree with how people bully him like some people do too much

They should consider raising the cost cap because I know these teams know what the problem is with their cars, they just don't have the ~money~. And we all saw how useless the cost cap was last season

What is it going to take for Xavi to get fired like bro basically cost Charles a podium in Monaco. And he's just overall bad at communicating compared to the other race engineers.

Lando being stuck in McLaren and not even being able to fight for points consistently is heartbreaking. 😔. He is way too talented to be finishing like P17 all the time

Britcedes won't ever implode like Brocedes did but if George tries to suggest team orders for him and Lewis to swap places again I'm gonna cry. There's only so much I can take

Alex just might be the greatest driver of all time for being able to get the current Williams car a point and into Q3 in Austrailia. Out of straight line speed the car really doesn't have much going for it. I was gagged at how simple to floor is

I don't really have any huge observations about Aston Martin and Alpine but I do think it's cool to see how much their cars have developed and I hope they get to consistently fight for higher positions