#August 27 | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

stripedstarsblueflags · 2 months ago

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goodbye to a world

reading between the lines of the various goodbyes and dismissals to logan sargeant

Pt. 3: Oscar (press conference)

full series

not a goodbye (in the traditional sense of the word) but a fucking statement. obviously. because piastri.

the loscar dynamic is absolutely FASCINATING. out of all the friendships in the grid, this one plays a special role: it reminds the audience that there’s so much more than formula 1, there’s so much more to f1 drivers than this stage of their career. most of us (spectators) have a broad conception of the “typical” driver backstory; rich kid with rich parents, got in a go kart at age 4, karting and then single-seater and junior series was their whole life and they climbed up the ranks like rungs on a ladder. i think a lot of people who only watch f1 (myself included) tend to focus so much more on the Pinnacle of MotorsportTM that everything else just seems like prep. even though most if not all of the drivers grew up either 1) racing each other 2) watching each other on tv, we don’t really think of these relationships beyond and BEFORE f1.

until loscar. because what draws them together? they’re not teammates. they’re not rivals. williams is so far behind that they’re not even competitors. in many way, logan is entirely “out of oscar’s league”.

and yet they have this endearing, sweet, playful friendship that’s exactly what it seems like: people who have known each other since they were kids, grown up together, watched each other become the person they are today. there’s a casual, domestic intimacy neither of them have with their teammates, even if those relationships are also going well, because there’s this history element.

which is recalled no more vividly than when oscar and logan are compared. as they are too often.

total polar opposites. f1 stories practically the inverse of each other. one was a promising young talent who f1 teams had been keeping an eye on for years that, once thrown in the car at that “wait! isn’t he just a kid??” age, immediately proved his worth as a future superstar. Future World Champion, to quote the official moniker. “look at him go! look at OSCAR PIASTRI!” he’s a prodigy, he’s a social enigma, he’s a raw force of pure and driven talent.

then you have the other promising young talent who one f1 team had been keeping a loose eye on for years. who’s never done any free practices or tests. who’s barely even dipped his toe into the waters of f2. who’s shown a lot of raw potential but more noticeably, glittering fancy sponsors. who gets chucked into a car as a last-minute, scrapping underprepared and thrown-together plan B after the previous f2 graduate fails to keep his seat. and, while oscar soared off into the stratosphere, logan flops IMMEDIATELY.

go fucking figure. it’s almost like people like max verstappen and lewis hamilton are exceptions to the rule, not the rule itself, and an underprepared rushed overwhelmed rookie is actually NOT in a position to achieve immediate stardom! in fact, maybe that’s the OPPOSITE of what they need! so, in loscar, we have the exception to the rule (oscar) and the rule (logan). but that’s not the solidified narrative; the story, how history will remember the two of them, is that logan was nothing but a pale and washed-out shadow. always. open and shut case.

what does oscar have to say about it, though?

this was said to gp blog (great website); the full quotes from him are:

I sent him a text yesterday. He seemed okay. Obviously a little bit of a shock. Obviously it wasn't an easy time for him in F1. It was much more difficult for him than maybe I expected it to be going into F1. I think for me, his potential was much greater than what was on show in F1, for whatever reason it might be.

I know firsthand, being his teammate in the junior categories, racing him in basically everything, I know how quick he is. I don't think the change was completely unexpected...

Best of luck to him. Just a shame that, for whatever reason, he wasn't able to show everything that he's got. Because in the junior categories, he was genuinely one of the quickest guys I went up against. I think his potential is much greater than what some people have seen.

first of all, some BEAUTIFUL toeing-the-line from oscar here. he’s even more subtle than alex in that none of his words imply any sort of passive aggression or ill intent; the only emotion that’s really conveyed, in understated tones, is a mild perplexity about logan’s career and failure in general as opposed to its gut-wrenching end in question. the implications in his wording imply nothing more than a personal opinion, but the ambiguity itself is some massive shade. let’s take a closer look:

much more difficult for him than maybe i expected it to be- this is masterful. “yeah, that’s right. i’m the next-gen prodigal superstar talent with my future as a world champion pretty much written for me, and i’ve shown the skill to back it up, and not only did i know logan before the catastrophe of f1 but i regarded him with so much respect that i had actual expectations. his skill had become such an intertwined part of his character in my eyes that i just assumed things would go so much better. because i believed in him.”

his potential was much greater than what was on show in f1…- toeing the line again. balance. acknowledging both the reality and all the roads not taken. “i’m not making false claims. i’m not making excuses for him. i’m not blaming the car or the team or the lack of support or the disgrace or the mistreatment and i’m not challenging the results. i’m not talking about what happened, i’m talking about what could’ve happened. potential. i’m talking about everything that wasn’t on show– and by not on show i mean that his potential, his skill, his pace, him as a person was not seen or understood or respected or prioritized by anyone. i’m not saying ‘oh, one point in 36 starts is all anyone could do with x/y/z excuse’ i’m saying ‘you guys missed the point’.”

for whatever reason that might be/just a shame that, for whatever reason- fucking hell, this is harsh. this is practically an attack. “i’m not gonna make excuses, but i’m gonna leave this open. i’m not gonna call this bad luck or the way it goes sometimes or a bad break, i’m saying that Whatever Reason This Happened is not what should have happened. not a matter of chance or objective misfortune; this situation could have and should have worked out better and whatever obstacle got in the way of that was a matter of misjudgment.”

I know firsthand, being his teammate in the junior categories, racing him in basically everything, I know how quick he is- alex said something similar, about pace. “raw speed” he calls it. and it’s really interesting that his teammates, who learn firsthand about him as a racer, his driving style, his strengths, his weaknesses (whether they’ve been teammates for months or years) identify a specific trait/skill about logan rather than just making the empty claim that “he’s good” or “he’s better than this”. and this is very interesting coming from oscar in particular given his current teammate. lando isn’t the best starter or the best defender or the most coordinated overtaker, but even with all the areas he needs to work on he can still compensate for it by being really fucking fast. his pace is his defense; he gets clean air and boom, he’s fucking gone. obviously that’s an oversimplification but oscar directly competing against that and observing/absorbing that and bringing up the same category of skill in logan– even in flashback– can’t be overlooked. in addition: “yeah, i’ve raced against him in basically everything. you’ve watched him on tv in a backmarker team for a season or so? i’ve known him for YEARS. i know. i don’t care what you’re seeing, i’m the expert on this and i know.”

I think his potential is much greater than what some people have seen- shit, this is as close to passive aggression as he gets, but it’s still done so precisely and subtly that it’s almost an art form. i mean, leave it to oscar piastri to use the phrase “some people” and NOT make it sound like a straight up, poorly-veiled callout. try to use that in a sentence without seeming like you’re shit-talking someone, potentially in the room. this is part of the lovely passive-aggression classic: “….unlike SOME people” (sometimes while staring at them directly, depending on how passive you want the passive aggression to really be. so, he’s (in unofficial terms) calling out who– anyone who hasn’t seen logan’s potential. who have underestimated him. who have invalidated his situation and him as an athlete. this could be any category of haters– negative fans, petty journalists, the horrid type of reports who will ask questions like “what does it feel like to be the slowest driver in formula 1…”. and that would make perfect sense. almost perfect. if we thought oscar piastri paid any attention to the haters, his own or anyone else’s. if it was ever on his mind. so, people who haven’t seen his potential… what, like, team principals? the ambiguity in itself is simultaneously a direct implication and oscar piastri’s intelligence needs to be studied because it is sometimes terrifying.

oscar doesn’t make a statement on social media, doesn’t bring it up further, doesn’t make any sort of personal goodbye available to the media– of course he wouldn’t, not just because that’s incredibly private but also because he’s oscar and he’s basically kimi raikkonen (in this analogy lando is sunshine boy seb but that’s an idea for another post). oscar’s whole public image is that he doesn’t want to have a public image. he doesn’t give the media any more parts of himself than he’s contractually obligated to. what he does give is concise, serious, the strongest points in the fewest words. and because of the enigmatic, tantalizing nature of that approach paired with the fact that he’s a fucking brilliant driver, people listen to what he has to say.

so oscar has a lot more weight to throw around than alex. alex’s image is that he’s a cuddly sunshiney cat dad who is a living anomaly in that he’s a good driver and a total sweetheart at once. whether or not what he says comes from the heart (it does. he’s alex) the reaction can always be “awww look at alex he’s such a nice guy :)” and the focus is on the kindness of the gesture/praise/respect itself rather than what alex is actually saying. so if alex says logan had more potential, that’s alex being alex.

if oscar says logan had more potential, that’s a fucking statement. and if the media wasn’t coming for JV’s head at this point, oscar just gave them a diagram for how to build a guillotine.

beautiful.

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lulublack90 · 3 months ago

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Prompt 27 - Open

@jegulus-microfic August 27, Word count 810

Previous part First Wolfstar part

“Flitsy!” Sirius cheered, scooping the little elf up into his arms and twirling her about. “I’ve missed you, you beautiful elf!” He kissed her cheek wetly.

“Master Sirius put Flitsy down!” Flitsy screeched, brandishing the wooden spoon in her hand. Sirius promptly put her down after she’d got a few good whacks in.

“Master James, you is back already and with more guests!” She cried out, exasperated.

“Sorry Flitsy but it’s important.” James apologised and walked past her, leading the small group towards the library.

“Flitsy has put Master Regulus’s bunny slippers by his usual desk!” Flitsy called after them and Regulus definitely heard her cackle before she disappeared. Why was she picking on him? He hadn’t done anything to her. He shook the annoyance from his head and followed the others to the library.

“Damn, James, you live like a king,” Marcus exclaimed as they neared the top of the stairs.

“I don’t,” James muttered. “It’s my parent’s house, I have a flat in London.”

“Oh, alright. So where are they, your parents?” Marcus asked.

“Dead,” James said gruffly before flinging both of the double doors into the library open.

“How was I supposed to know?” Marcus hissed under his breath to Remus.

“Just try to keep your mouth shut, Marcus.” Remus sighed as he followed James into the library. Regulus and Sirius walked in together, leaving Marcus to sulk.

Regulus went up to James and rested his head against his arm. He knew James would probably need some comfort, but he wasn’t sure what to do. It seemed to be enough though, as James leant his head over on top of Regulus's and sighed.

“Sorry,” James said. Regulus leant in harder.

“You’ve nothing to be sorry about,” He told him. James moved away, only to wrap his arms around Regulus and draw him in as close as he could get him.

“I’ve never had a boyfriend like you before, you just seem to know what I need,” James said, burying his head in Regulus’s shoulder. Regulus swallowed and blinked hard. Had James Potter just called him his boyfriend?!

“I found it!” Sirius cried out, waving a bit of yellowed parchment about before Regulus could respond to James’s words. Sirius skimmed through the long text and began reading aloud from the bit that interested him.

‘So the Ministry called upon Morfin. They did not need to question him, to use Veritaserum or Legilimency. He admitted to the murder on the spot, giving details only the murderer could know. He was proud, he said, to have killed the Muggles, had been awaiting his chance all these years. He handed over his wand, which was proved at once to have been used to kill the Riddles. And he permitted himself to be led off to Azkaban without a fight.’

“Holy shit, that’s it!” Sirius grinned at the others. “There’s a connection somewhere between the Riddles and the Gaunts.”

‘Morfin was arrested and convicted previously for assaulting the head of the magical law enforcement squad, Bob Ogden, while he was trying to prevent Marvolo Gaunt from attacking his own daughter Merope Gaunt,’

“James, do you have a pureblood families book? The one with the family trees in it?” Sirius asked, already looking at the shelves behind him.

“Er, yeah, it’s on one of those over there,” James pointed at a set of shelves in an alcove and Sirius raced to it. James took Regulus’s hand and led him over to Sirius as he pulled the heavy tomb from the shelf.

He dropped it onto one of the tables and began flicking through the pages until he got to Gaunt. He continued to flick until he hit Greengrass and then flipped back a few pages to the end of the Gaunt family tree.

Regulus peered over his brother’s shoulder and there it was. Merope Gaunt married Tom Riddle and below it connected with a black line. Tom Marvolo Riddle.

“Sirius, you’re a genius!” James cheered, picking him up like Sirius had done to Flitsy when they arrived and spun him around.

“Ahhh, Prongs put me down!” Sirius yelped. James eventually put him down and grinned broadly at him. “Thank Merlin, that you have a knack for remembering useless information that turns out to be very useful.”

“I think I’m going to be sick,” Sirius mumbled, sticking his hand out and fumbling for Remus’s hand.

“Not so funny now is it!” Flitsy appeared in the doorway and stuck her tongue out at Sirius. Regulus felt a warmth for the highly stung little elf that he hadn’t before as she told them she’d set out snacks in the drawing room for them for after they’d finished messing up the library. James lifted Regulus's hand to his lips and kissed his knuckles. Regulus swallowed as the words James had said to him came flooding back. Boyfriend.

Next part

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