#he misses battling with charles so bad

[countingstars-17]

Q: Moving to Silverstone in 2019, your awesome battle that you had with Charles. How it felt racing someone like Leclerc who've had a lot more moments with since?

It was a good and cool battle. There was a lot of fighting going on. Tough to pass but I think Silverstone is a great track for battling because it's really wide and there's a lot of long corners but you can actually drive a bit off line. It was an aggressive battle, but I think everyone enjoyed that. We were fighting for a lot of different corners. [...] It was good, it was really enjoyable.

+ Max smiling when he sees Charles forcing him off the track 😭

[norrisainz33]

Champ || MV33

☆ summary: Max is chasing down another wdc while his partner is competing for gold at the olympics

☆ pairing: max verstappen x olympian!reader

☆ fc: ilona maher

☆ warnings: some haters and mildly suggestive but other than that none

୨୧┈୨୧

ynuser made a post

liked by maxverstappen1, usarugby, redbullracing, yourbff, and 65,123 others

ynuser: i’m on the road to paris 💙🏅🏉

view all 143 comments

user1: yes y/n/n!!! you are THAT girl

yourbff: THATS MY BEST FRIEND

maxverstappen1: an unstoppable force 💪🏻

verstappencom: try not to say goat challenge failed

user2: y/n master class incoming

yoursibling: beauty, brawn AND brains 😫

user4: every 4 years i get possessed by a bald eagle and find the patriotism i never had. USA USA USA LETS GO Y/N

maxverstappen1 made a post

liked by redbullracing, verstappencom, ynuser, danielricciardo, and 345,123 others

maxverstappen1: the grind never stops! getting in some final reps before y/n heads off to paris 💪🏻🏅

view all 345 comments

redbullracing: good luck at the olympics y/n!

user3: the way she’s lifting more than him,, iconic

user4: i’m foaming at the mouth something about the max gym pics get me

danielricciardo: hot

maxverstappen1: mate don’t talk about my partner like that

danielricciardo: max im talking about you

maxverstappen1: oh 🤭

ynuser: am i interrupting something?

user18: MAXIEL MAXIEL MAXIEL

ynuser: i’m going to miss you

maxverstappen1: bring me back that medal baby

ynuser: on it 💪🏻

redbullracing posted a video

view all comments

user14: max melts every time someone mentions y/n

user5: notice how his face lights up, oh he’s so down bad

user6: MAX IS SO WIFEY MATERIAL

user8: wife? what is he.. a girl?? like ik his gf looks like a man but? this is ridiculous redbullracing

user6: did you see the part where max got offended?? yeah i didn’t either gtfo of here

user9: user8 just because she’s strong doesn’t make her less feminine. good bye loser

user10: a man can be a wife stfu!! also y/n is perfect do not even try me

user12: MAX AND Y/N ARE BOTH GOING TO WIN TODAY I JUST KNOW IT

redbullracing: that’s the spirit! 💪🏻

user14: making one of these for my partner rn

user99: whoever made this - i love you

maxverstappen1 has made a post

liked by ynuser, redbullracing, charlesleclerc, verstappencom, and 674,441 others

maxverstappen1: great job today by the team and everyone back at the factory. huge win on the board to close out the first half of the season (featuring a very important radio conversation). see you all in zandvoort!

view all 894 comments

user24: max emilian the man that you are

charlesleclerc: congrats on p1 and for being the best olympic wife

maxverstappen1: thank you, i take my duties very seriously

user88: CHARLES

user55: lestappen crumbs

redbullracing: congrats on p1 max! that’s our world champion 💪🏻

landonorris: great race mate! we’ll keep up the battle in the second half 😉

maxverstappen1: we’ll see about that

ynuser: max 😭😭 you’re crazy i love you

maxverstappen1: i love you more

ynuser: not possible!

maxverstappen1 has made a post

liked by danielricciardo, charlesleclerc, carmenmundt, ynuser, redbullracing, logansargeant and 879,057 others

maxverstappen1: y/n y/l/n - olympic gold medalist, best player in the world, love of my life and soon to be wife

view all 1,435 comments

user44: WIFE RED ALEET WHAG DID HE HUST SAY

user99: THEY GOT ENGAGED?!?!

user65: Y/NMAX GIRLIES WE RISE

user88: when her teammates pointed him out in the stands and she almost fell to her knees (i’m sleeping in the road tonight)

redbullracing: congratulations on a hard fought win y/n 💙 the red bull fam is so proud

ynuser: my maxie, my world champ and my future husband 🤍

maxverstappen1: i love it when you’re possessive

landonorris: there are kids on this app

danielricciardo: YESSSS Y/N!! that’s our girl!

danielricciardo: p.s you gotta warn a man before you publicly announce things like this

charlesleclerc: no really max when were you going to tell us?

maxverstappen1: if you checked the group chat you would know

landonorris: daniel & charles there’s even photos in the gc 🤦‍♂️

user22: quick leak the photos lando im begging

ynuser made a post

liked by iamrebeccad, maxverstappen1, redbullracing, usarugby, danielricciardo, and 101,432 others

ynuser: i won gold in more ways than one! truly an unforgettable experience - congrats to the team and thank you to everyone who supported us on our journey. it looks like next olympic games i’ll be competing as y/n verstappen 🫶🏻🏅🇺🇸

view all 783 comments

iamrebeccad: making history!! so glad we got to celebrate with you 💙

ynuser: my love , i’m so glad you made it to paris 💙

redbullracing: we’ve got two world champions now 💪🏻

user22: and one of them is not named checo LOL

user53: i know that’s right!

maxverstappen1: incredible team and an incredible effort!

maxverstappen1: you have inspired me in more ways than i can even express, congratulations mrs. verstappen 😍🤍

ynuser: thank you for the endless support mr. verstappen 🥹

ynuser made a post

liked by maxverstappen1, iamrebeccad, carmenmundt, georgerussell63, yourbff, and 87,980 others

ynuser: when he flies out all the girlies to celebrate your success and your engagement 💅🏻🏅

tagged: carmenmundt, iamrebeccad, alexandrasaintmleux, lilymhe, lilyzneimer and maxverstappen1

view all 345 comments

user20: the most iconic girl group im so jealous

user22: i want to be their friend so bad 😭

alexandrasaintmleux: so happy for you mon coeur

iamrebbeccad: there’s no place i’d have rather been

lilymhe: i am your biggest fan

lilyzneimer: i love love and you

carmenmundt: thanks for inviting us maxverstappen1

user99: max flying out all her friends omg

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a/n: another installment of olympic reader. love the olympics, love rugby so had to put them together and i v much feel like max would support tf out of his strong olympic girly.

୨୧┈୨୧

© norrisainz33: please do not rewrite, translate, or copy any of my works posted here on to any other platform

[dumbseee]

Request if your requests are open

Singer!Reader x (driver of your choice)

After their break up she seems fine, takes a 3-day break up off social media but otherwise she's the same as before, so people keep judging her for not being sad enough :(. cuz the driver seems sad and isn't doing well in races but she doesn't show anything and they attack her etc.(not a BIG hate campaign but ppl just make assumptions abt it)

Thanks in advance

Then BOOM she releases "hits different" (by taylor swift) and the fans connect the dots between her relationship and the song

happy face.

charles leclerc x singer!reader.

fc: madison beer.

note: thanks for the request! i really like your idea i hope you don’t mind that i used charles as the driver!

liked by selenagomez, kaiagerber, kyliejenner and 2 891 009 others.

y/n: mother is back.

_

fan1: YEEESSSSSS

fan2: she broke up with charles after three years together and took just three days off social media? that girl is so weird…

fan3: right? while charles is miserable and all sad

fan4: omg y’all are so ANNOYING let my girl enjoy her single life

theweeknd: 🔥

fan5: even if she decided to come back after one minute, that’s her choice

fan6: y’all just love to hate on pretty girls

fan7: charles saw the gold digger in her and left lmao

fan8: gold digger where? homegirl was a billionaire before she was even born LMAO

fan9: don’t come for my girl

fan10: charles’s fans back at it again

fan11: at least she’ll be free from the vultures

fan12: i never liked her tbh

fan13: how can she party and smile like that after a break up?

fan14: i feel so bad for charles…

fan15: charles deserves so much more

view all comments.

liked by arianagrande, zendaya, zayn and 3 910 009 others.

y/n: ‘hits different’ is now out :) ps: reminder to be kind to people.

_

comments have been disabled.

liked by hunterschaffer, arthur_leclerc, carla.brocker and 4 819 009 others.

y/n: thanks you so much for the love ‘hits different’ received! it is my most vulnerable piece of work and putting it out there was hard, but i knew i had to. break ups are never easy, no matter how happy someone can be on the outside, they may be battling their hardest battles inside. but i’ll get better, like they say, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.

_

fan1: i’m crying while reading this because it hits so hard, i’m in the middle of a break up and it hurt so bad, thank you y/n.

liked by y/n.

fan2: with one song she managed to put the whole world on pause

fan3: this woman’s lyrics are INSANE they never miss

fan4: she wrote it with her heart it hits so hard

fan5: the way the internet bullied her because she wasn’t « sad enough » is insane to me like wtf??

fan6: you never know what someone is going through behind closed doors, let’s be nicer to each other guys

fan7: i’m sorry but these people are just dumb, she stayed with that guy for YEARS ofc she’s going to be sad

fan8: nah but she clearly confirmed that charles is the one who ended the relationship, so why isn’t he receiving hate?

fan9: i feel so bad for her

fan10: QUEEN

taylorswift: genius!

view all comments.

taglist: @ferrariloverr

[scarltzwitch]

UNEXPECTED CONFESSIONS — WADE W. WILSON.

PAIRING: Wade Wilson x Howlett!OFC.

SUMMARY: After an overwhelming battle against Cassandra Nova, the Howlett family tries to settle into Wade's universe. You feel pressured by your sister, Laura, to talk to him. Overwhelmed, you step out onto the balcony, where Wade follows you and, in a moment of sincerity, confesses his feelings for you. Surprised, you realize that you feel the same way. The encounter ends in a kiss, marking the beginning of an unexpected and special relationship, observed and supported by your small family.

WARNINGS: Bad jokes. Amateur writer.

So, here’s the problem. You feel something for Wade Wilson, the best friend of the variant of your real father, Logan Howlett. Just like the rest of your small family (both Laura and Logan), you were an experiment called "X-15," created through Logan's DNA. After Charles and Logan died, you were left in Laura's care, but that didn’t stop the TVA from taking you both to the Void once they saw you were no longer useful. You had lost all hope, but thanks to Laura's long walks through the woods, you found a new reason to climb out of that dark place.

Now, you were in Wade's small apartment, where you had decided to organize a little family reunion after a long trip to what would be your new home. You were grateful for the new opportunity Wade was giving you in his universe. You were so deep in thought that you didn’t hear Laura calling your name.

“Hey, are you listening, or are you thinking about Wade again?” your younger sister whispered in your right ear, hoping that her father or Wade himself wouldn’t hear her. But that ended up being in vain because both of them looked up at you.

“Me? Thinking about Wade? You're crazy,” you replied nervously. “Why? Why do you ask?” you said, trying to relax while holding Dogpool in your arms, who was playing on your lap.

“It’s obvious on your face that you want to talk to him, why don’t you try?” Laura whispered to her older sister while grabbing Dogpool's paws.

“Just shut up, will you?”

Fed up with Laura’s insistence that you talk to Wade, who was happily chatting with Vanessa, his ex, you turned to her with a serious expression. “I’m going to get some fresh air, don’t get in the way,” you said quietly, leaving the puppy with her, grabbing your coat, and heading out to the balcony of the apartment, ignoring the others’ stares, looking for a bit of peace away from Laura’s tormenting questions.

You leaned on the railing, enjoying the fresh air as it brushed your face while you tried to calm your thoughts. You were so lost in your reflections that, despite your ability to hear the slightest sound, you didn’t catch the approaching footsteps. Feeling a presence behind you, purely by instinct, you turned around, revealing your sharp claws in defense mode, ready to protect yourself.

You turned so quickly that you barely had time to process who was there before your claws gleamed in the sunset light. Wade stopped in his tracks, raising his hands in surrender, with that mischievous smile you couldn’t help but find charming, though you wouldn’t want to admit it.

“Whoa, whoa! Easy, Tigress,” he said, slowly lowering his hands. “It’s just me, the handsome guy who was in there chatting with his new friends. It’s not a big deal, right?”

You lowered your claws and looked at him with a mix of surprise and annoyance. “What are you doing here, Wade? I thought you were busy with Vanessa.”

Wade took a step closer, his gaze softening as he observed the unease in your eyes. “And miss the chance to be alone with you in a romantic scene that the readers would enjoy? Even I’m not that dumb.”

You rolled your eyes, but you couldn’t help a small smile. “Always so dramatic.”

“It’s one of my charms,” he replied, tapping his chest. Then his tone changed, becoming more serious. “Listen, I know Laura’s been bugging you to talk to me, and I know I’m not the ideal guy. But… I don’t want you to keep thinking that everything is a joke to me.”

The sincerity in his words surprised you, a side of Wade he rarely showed. You didn’t know what to say, so you just looked at him, waiting for him to continue.

“What I’m trying to say,” he continued, nervously scratching his neck, “is that… I care about you. More than I thought possible for a fool like me. And I know I’m a mess, but when I’m with you, everything seems to make more sense.”

Your heart skipped a beat. It wasn’t common for Wade to be so open with his feelings, and the tenderness in his voice made you lower your guard completely. Before you could think of a response, he took another step closer, narrowing the space between you.

“What I’m trying to say, and I’m doing it horribly, is that I like you. A lot. And I’d love to know if maybe, just maybe, you feel the same.”

The vulnerability in his gaze disarmed you. You took a deep breath, stepping toward him, closing the remaining space between you. “Wade… I feel the same way,” you admitted, your voice soft but firm.

He smiled, that radiant smile he rarely showed, reserved only for special moments. Without saying another word, he leaned in, and you closed your eyes, feeling his lips meet yours in a kiss that was sweet, tender, and full of all the emotions you both had been holding back.

The world seemed to stop for a moment, leaving the two of you lost in that instant, where nothing else existed but the warmth of one in the other’s arms. When you finally pulled away, Wade rested his forehead against yours, whispering softly, “I never thought someone like you could like someone like me. Thanks for proving me wrong.”

You smiled, feeling a warmth in your chest that you hadn’t experienced in a long time. “I think we have a lot to learn from each other, Wade. But I’m willing to try.”

He nodded, and in that moment, you knew that things between you were changing, for the better. Wade took your hand and intertwined his fingers with yours, both of you enjoying the shared silence, knowing there was no rush for what came next.

You were so focused on each other that you barely noticed the soft click of a shutter. A sudden flash surprised you both, and you turned your heads to see your small family group gathered at the window, smiling and holding a camera.

“That’s going straight to the familiar album!” Yukio commented with a knowing smile, clearly delighted for her friends.

Wade let out a soft laugh, not letting go of your hand, while you couldn’t help but blush a little. “Well, I guess it’s not a secret anymore,” he murmured, looking at Yukio with a mix of amusement and gratitude. But instead of being upset, the presence of your friends and their support made you feel more secure, as if that moment was even more special, shared with those who mattered the most to you.

“Why don’t we make that picture worth it?” you said, turning your attention back to Wade, your eyes sparkling with complicity. He smiled, understanding the invitation, and kissed you again, this time with a little more confidence, knowing that, whatever happens, you weren’t alone in this anymore.

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

[ @nikkicloudie ]

Hi, hi! I'm really, really sorry for the delay, but here’s the Wade Wilson x Howlett!Reader one-shot. I hope you enjoy it!

— XOXO, LILY.

[thyln4gf]

Polaroid

✞ You're the love of Charle's life, and he hates not having you around... This time, he missed you a little too much.

✞ A short one - 847 words.

✞ I have synesthesia! Here's 5 songs that I associate with this fic: "Older" and "I'm yours (sped up)" - Isabel LaRosa, "Unpunishable" - Ethel Cain, "Trust issues" - Drake, "Masterpiece" - Motionless In White.

✞ Warnings - sexual content, male masturbation.

✞ Charles x reader (Charles POV)

The days that Charles spent away from you were definitely a torture. And not for him alone - but also Carlos. He'd talk the poor lads ears off. You'd attend the races more often, but studies stopped you. What a shame, right?

Charles was down bad for you. If you have ever seen a guy simp for his girl? Charles was all that and more, multiplied atleast 7 times.

He loved everything about you, but one of his favourite things were... your tits. Yes, thats right. He liked them, maybe a little too much even. He liked to touch them, lick them, leave trails of kisses over them, sleep on them, just look at them in general. All of it. If you ever sat on his lap? You better have prepared to have his hands use your tits as his stress balls (they genuinely helped him relax after a long day). You never complained though - his hands were always warm, and felt pleasantly tingly against your colder skin. So whenever he was away from home for longer periods of time... What he experienced could be described the best as withdrawals - he was addicted to them. And the fact that they were attached to you? It made it all even better.

Charles was in his hotel room after a race, as per usual. But he couldn't sleep - his "withdrawals" today were stronger, and the thoughts about the absence of you and your tits kept him awake. He turned to his other side, again, letting out a frustrated groan. He was even starting to think of asking you to send him something, but he quickly shook the thought off. You were never the one to send nudes over text, but so was he. But suddenly...

He got reminded of something that completely vanished from his mind - something that could offer him a quick fix for his current problem.

He doesnt even have to leave the bed to grab his wallet - it was in the drawer of the bedside table. He starts to open it up, with slightly shaky hands. His fingers find the polaroid that he keeps in it, almost dropping the wallet in the process. He looks at it, and sucks in a breath. You see, the polaroid... was of your tits. It was a beautiful sight - you were laying down on the bed, clearly battling a hangover. Your arms were stretched over your head, covering your eyes from the golden hour sunshine coming through the window. The sheets were messy - a reminder of a fun night for both of you. And your tits were exposed. Charles thought of that moment atleast three times a day - you could definitely call it his "roman empire".

He stares at the polaroid for another 10 seconds, and it takes him maybe 5 to get hard. He wastes no time, because he knows that it would happen eventually. He reaches down into his underwear, his fingers gently teasing along his hard dick, and he breathes in quickly. He then wraps his hand around it, and thinks for a second. He felt a little ashamed, but he was getting rather desperate. He wishes that you were here, doing this for him - but this will also do, for now.

He starts stroking it, and a few soft moans already escape his throat uncontrollably. He is looking at the polaroid, thinking of you and your voice, the way you... feel, and even the way you smell, while getting himself off at the same time. He already knew that he wouldnt last that long, a few minutes at best - but he didnt care.

The stroking picked up pace in a few seconds, him getting more and more desperate to get the release - the thought of you felt way too good, teasing him in a way. More involuntary moans slip from his mouth. Oh, what he would give to hear some of your own right now.

He could finally feel himself getting very close, and he closes his eyes, picking up more pace - to reach his orgasm faster. And he succeeds - a few seconds later his hips are already moving up on their own, shaking slightly - just like the rest of his body. He collapses into the bed completely right after.

The hand that just finished pleasuring himself returns back up, to be able to grip the polaroid with both hands, as he opens his eyes again. The sight of one of his favourite things ever greet him, and he cant help but let a smile appear on his face. The time periods that you spend away from each other didnt matter to him - he was beyond lucky to have you, and wondered what the reason might be almost every day.

The relief hit him, but now the exhaustion followed. His eyes were already starting to close - but the thought of having to clean himself up woke him up again. He groans.

Fuck, chérie... The things that you make me do...

-----

Authors note: dedicated to a lovely human. Thank you darling<3 (you know who you are.)

[imperiuswrecked]

pssst can i please ask you to spoiler the raven baby reveal to me...?

So the summary of X-Men Blue: Origins (2023) Mystique is wandering around New York acting crazy and mumbling about her lost baby, Kurt catches up with her and tries to talk her into calming down.

Kurt gives Raven his sword which breaks the mental barriers and it's revealed that while Raven was married to Baron Wagner, she and Irene were an on again, off again, couple who would hook up with other people whenever it helped their goals.

Raven had hired Irene to be the housemaid so she could stay close while Raven was married to Wagner, using his money/influence as they wanted and having a torrid love affair with Irene in private. Azazel shows up and Irene encouraged Raven to have an affair with him as well, because she had visions of the future.

Basically Irene wanted a love child with Raven, but needed Azazel to believe he was the father because she knew that unless Kurt was set on a path to be his constant foe/destroyer of his plans then Azazel would rise to power.

Irene's visions aren't something she can stop and she lives her life according to how to bring about her visions but she doesn't tell Raven any of this until 5 years after Kurt's birth. So she and Raven have a child, Kurt, and from my understanding of the reading, Mystique can copy the genes down to a molecular level and took the gene patterns from Azazel and Baron Wagner and impregnated Irene. So Kurt doesn't have 2 parents, he has 4, well 5 including Margali Szardos who was his adopted mom. Kurt is now battling for the #1 spot for "most parents and most confusing parental origin in comics" and he's up against the Maximoff twins who have gone through 3 sets of parents.

Back to the story, Raven dumps Azazel who is such a pathetic loser, I love that lol. Raven fakes being pregnant by shapeshifting to look like she is pregnant as the months go by. Baron Wagner discovers his wife's affairs, and being the homophobe he is, is stabbed by Raven who then spends the next few months switching between forms to make people believe that the Baron and his wife are both still around, waiting until Irene gives birth. I'm guessing because Raven intended to use the Baron's money/pretending to be him so she and Irene could live in comfort or until they wanted to move on.

Irene is the one who gives birth to Kurt, and Raven overcome with joy/love for Kurt doesn't want his first sight of her to be human so she reveals herself.

The townspeople are of course in an uproar, want to kill the demon woman and her demon child, Irene tells Raven to get to safety and that she would be ok, but Raven fears for Irene so she leaves Kurt under a tree and rushes back to kill the people who would hurt her wife and discovers Irene is missing, she runs back to find Kurt and he's gone too.

Five years pass and she finds Irene again, this time watching a young Rogue, Irene reveals everything to Raven, the Azazel vision, Irene needed Kurt to be raised as an outcast etc. Raven and Irene both know they are in a toxic relationship, but they love each other too much so they went to the one man who can make everything worse, Charles Xavier. Of course Xavier does what he does best, erases people's memories and implants new ones.

So now Kurt has 2 deadbeat mutant moms, 1 deadbeat demonic mutant father, 1 dead human father, and 1 adopted mother and they all give him the most drama & trauma that you will ever see in comics! Love wins (?)

I am currently taking donations to hire Kurt a therapist (who isn't Professor X), save an elf's sanity and donate /jk

I will say that this origin, though very messy, does at least confirm that Irene is just as messy/toxic as Raven, so I hope they continue to be totally bad for each other and 100% in love, which is very refreshing to see in wlw couples and I really hope they do not try to soften their edges, especially Raven's, I do not want a "good mother Raven", but time will tell. Also finally Kurt is Baron Wagner's son technically due to partially copied genetics so it finally makes sense for why Kurt has the Wagner last name, which is something that always bugged me, because imo if he had zero connection to the Baron then he wouldn't have the Wagner last name. Also this doesn't invalidate the Azazel retcon from before because again technically Azazel believes Kurt is his son, and Kurt does have partially copied genetics from Azazel.

I think it was a really tough balancing act to have to write, I wish it could have been written a bit better or the thoughts of Rogue actually being Irene/Raven's daughter would have worked better. Like imagine if Raven and Irene were both pregnant, Irene had Rogue and Raven had Nightcrawler or Irene had them both as twins, then they wouldn't just be foster/adopted siblings but also bio siblings, and it could have opened up the door for more stories involving them as brother and sister trying to deal with their mothers. Marvel constantly ignores the potential for Rogue and Kurt's sibling dynamic and I wish we got more of it in the comics. I get that the writer was trying to keep to the old canon while creating the new canon and using the original plan for Kurt's parentage, so while I feel it's way too complicated this is also comics where complicated plots and retcons have been a long standing tradition meant to torment us readers.

[vroomvroomvroommf]

Okay I have some thoughts now that I’ve had some time to digest the Austrian GP

#1 congrats to Haas they really seem to be the biggest winner out of this weekend. 12 points is a giant haul for them. Nico passing Perez ON MERIT is absolutely crazy

George drove a great race- congrats to him on being there and bagging Mercedes first win of the season (calling it now it won’t be the last 🤞🏻Lewis cmon)

OSCAR P2!!! absolutely sucks he started p7 but he drove so well!!! That overtake around the outside of Perez was so well done. The move on Sainz was also 😘👌🏼

Carlos also did very well this weekend. I really hope Ferrari can figure out what the hell is going on with that car cause I love having Charles and Carlos up front (except for when Carlos and Oscar decide to give me heart attacks)

okay… onto Max and Lando. I’m a very big fan of both of these drivers so I find it hard to have clear thoughts and opinions on what happened. I think in the end I’ve decided to just be disappointed (maybe not the best word- but all my brain can come up with) in both of them-and their teams respectively for different reasons over how the race went. I think the whole weekend Mclaren/Lando were just missing a bit when it came to Max’s pace and it was clear Lando wasn’t super comfortable in the car especially in the first stint of the race. The only reason we got a fight for p1 was because RB made some mistakes- that extremely slow pit stop being the main one. As for the actual battle I think it was extremely hard racing. I can’t say for sure if Max was moving under braking or not. An easy way to tell is to look at the telemetry data- which I don’t have. Max is an extremely hard driver to pass especially if you are passing to take the lead from him. I do think he is sometimes (2021 cough cough) guilty of pulling moves that shouldn’t be allowed- but again I am not a steward or a racing driver so I wouldn’t be able to say if this was one of those instances. I am extremely proud of Lando for absolutely going for it when the opportunity arose and showing that aggression that some people think he lacks. I do think some of his moves were a little ambitious but I can’t say I wouldn’t have done the same if I was in his position. I understand why he was going for the pass- but w/ that black and white warning flag I wouldn’t have risked so much- but again I’m not a racing driver and Lando (nor Max) are there to get p2. They want to win. Overall I think all penalties that were given were deserved (although I’m surprised it was a 10sec penalty and not a 20) and I just want to move on to Silverstone. Hopefully going forward races can be a little more clean and they can continue to fight at the front- preferably without bad blood between them.

Final Thoughts- Austria is a great track that I always look forward to

[effervescentdragon]

More mean pierre/charles/danny i fucking love those ficlets

Speaking of, you need to send them all to me so i can save them because they’re great

J’taime baby 🐶💕

anything for you baby @mssr-monagato 💕

"Vegas baby!" Daniel hears himself yell, and the people around him laugh. The interviewer shakes her head fondly, and Daniel feels good. He is back, and it's all good. "That's what I'm most looking forward, but I think everyone knows that."

He looks at Yuki, sitting next to him, and finds him already looking back. "And showing little Yuki here the ropes, of course!"

Yuki blinks at him. "Oh yes, like with Charles that one time," Yuki says, smiling. "Pierre told me about that, showed me the pictures too." He turns back to the interviewer. "I like American food, so Vegas should be good."

Daniel's smile doesn't falter. He's a professional, and he's older and more experienced and better than Yuki, who probably has no idea what he's saying. Not that there is something bad in what he's saying, or anything that will.. unsettle Daniel.

He's back in the saddle, and he's ready to ride, and that's not going away anytime soon. He'll be driving in Vegas, and he'll show them all what he can do.

The interview wraps up, and the make-up girls come over to fix whatever they have to fix in the heat. Yuki chats with his girl, but Daniel keeps quiet. They're not supposed to move anyway, Yuki should know that already. He just doesn't look like he cares.

"Ready for another round?" he hears himself asking. Yuki lifts his head from the phone, that little smile still on his face.

"Of course," he replies. "By the way, Pierre says hello."

Daniel grips the armrests of his chair.

"Tell him hi back."

Yuki laughs, and Daniel doesn't know what that laugh means. "Oh, I will."

-

"Congratulations, Daniel!"

He turns, and Charles steps up in his space and hugs him briefly. He smells like Armani, and like summer, and a bit like the racetrack. He moves away before Daniel can make himself enjoy the hug.

"Yes, congratulations," comes a voice from behind Charles. "Back home, huh?" Pierre grins that wolfish smile of his, and doesn't even bother pretending he wants to hug Daniel. "What's the saying, prodigal son returns?"

Daniel... dislikes Pierre Gasly with a passion he rarely affords anything in his life most of the time. He dislikes him the most when he's like this, though; relaxed and happy, his hand resting on the fence behind Charles, his fingers just brushing the edge of Charles' red shirt. Renault - Alpine colours look good on him, though not as good as Alpha Tauri white did.

He looks happier than he ever did in Toro Rosso, or Red Bull, or Alpha Tauri.

Because he was weak, Daniel thinks. Because he couldn't handle it. Not everyone can handle being in a top team. That's why he's stuck in midfield now, instead of battling in the front with Red Bull, or McLaren, or -

"Good to be back." Daniel grins. "And just in time for Vegas!"

Charles laughs, and he is beautiful when he does anything, but he is most beautiful when he's happy.

"I don't know how it will be, the track, but I'm looking forward to driving there," he says, and that's Daniel's ooening right there.

"Come on, calamar," Pierre says before Daniel even manages to open his mouth. "Think about something besides racing. We are going to Las Vegas, Charles," he drawls, and the look he gives Charles makes Daniel uncomfortable. "Just imagine. Casinos you can actually go in, and parties in City of the Light, with beautiful boys and girls. It's going to be wonderful."

Charles' cheeks heat up, and Daniel knows there's something there he's missing. He should probably step away, but they came to greet Daniel, so they should be aware of what they're saying and that they have an audience.

"Yes... yes, the party after should be good," Charles replies. He hasn't taken his eyes off Pierre for even a second. "I can't wait."

"And just inagine, you can even get married by an Elvis priest in the end," Pierre says. Daniel lowers his eyes for a second, and sees that Pierre's finger is trailing the ring on Charles' hand. The same ring Pierre wears on his thumb.

"Not if you're drunk," Charles says softly.

Pierre hums. "Then we better not get too drunk, huh."

Daniel... grips the railing of the paddock and leans on it fully.

"That's a stupid rule," he says, aware that he's interrupting and not caring about it much. "We should be allowed to get drunk and do stupid shit."

He is aiming to alleviate the tension, but it builds even higher when Charles turns to him, frowning.

"I don't think marriage is shit," he says. "And I don't think it should be done drunk."

Daniel opens his mouth to reply, then catches a glimpse of satisfied smirk on Pierre's lips. He swallows around the lump in his throat and nods. "Yeah, you're right," is all he manages to say before Charles interrupts him.

"I need to go, media duties. Congratulations again," he smiles, but this time it doesn't reach his eyes at all until he turns to Pierre. "I'll find tou later, okay?"

Pierre just nods, and Charles leaves without another word, his phone already in his hand. Daniel doesn't know how to leave without making a big deal out of it, without having it look like a snub. Both his and Pierre's smiles stay on in case there's cameras.

They don't speak. There's nothing to speak about, not really. They're not the same, not even close. They never were, no matter that they were bkth Red Bull boys at their core.

"Enjoy your race, Danny," Pierre finally says, the light in his eyes making his smile seem harsh. "And welcome back home."

"Thanks, man," Daniel says, because there's nothing more to say. Pierre scoffs, then, "I'll catch you later, Yukino," he says with a small wave, and pushes himself off the fence in one graceful move, and leaves.

Daniel turns to his left, and there Yuki is, not looking up from his phone. He's playing some game and Daniel forgot that he was there the moment he saw Charles. The moment Charles hugged him.

Daniel should have mentioned Vegas, their Vegas. His and Charles' trio there. He could have offered another, better trip. Second chances don't come often enough for him to blow it like this. He could've - he could've shown Charles the real party, and maybe this tike they would drink less and maybe - maybe things would end up differently. He can still offer, though. Vegas isn't for a little while, and by then Daniel will show what he can do and -

"I can't wait for Vegas," Yuki says a propos nothing. "Too bad Red Bull has us on a fast schedule. Pierre and Charles are staying in some very fancy hotel for another day, and they promised to take me to a restaurant that has five Michelin stars." He scrunches his nose. It makes him look even younger than he is. "Although it is America, so it probabky sucks. It was very nice of them to offer, though. Charles hates fancy restaurants, but he gies because Pierre loves them." He finally looks up at Daniel with a bland smile. "Isn't that nice of him?"

A moment passes, then two. Daniel finally nods, slowly. "Yeah. Charles is... he's a nice guy."

Yuki grins.

"One of them has to be," he says, and goes back to his phone game without another word.

Daniel mumbles an excuse, puts on his sunglasses, and goes to find Michael.

[charles-leclerc-official]

Charles let Carlos pass because he was faster in Japan. Carlos does not do the same. It is this kind of thing coming from Carlos that is a prime example of why Ferrari did not re-new his contract.

sorry, I am a newcomer and this is a stupid question, but between teammates what exactly determines which one has the better pace on race day? in this case, i was thinking it's due to Carlos' fresher tyres right, but are there more factors that contribute to having better race pace even in the same machinery between teammates, particularly skill-related ones?

I was reading articles about Charles and they all talk about how fast he is over one lap, or raw pace, if those two mean the same. I know you can't drive on race day the way you drive on quali, but that's about it..

You are correct there are a lot of factors that go into this. (for context the quote anon sent is from my China Sprint 2024 analysis) And discussing some issues that his on track battle with Charles during that sprint presented.

So in Suzuka Carlos was faster, but his race pace was not better than Charles. He was faster because of his fresher tyres. That race in particular was very different for them because they were on completely different tyre strategy.

One thing to remember is that there is a difference between pace and speed.

Speed = being fast over a single lap Race pace = being consistently fast over multiple laps

So a teammate can have one really good fast lap in a race, but their pace could have been not great compared to a teammate.

Skill related factors that lead to better pace:

Corner management: hitting the apex correctly, braking technique Race pace: setting consistent fast laps Tyre management: not burning out tyre too quickly. It's easy to go fast on one lap if you don't care about tyres, going fast while also driving to preserve tyres is harder and a skill that comes down to driving style Throttle: again having fine control over fuel usage to get speed when it matters Finding the grip in the track: this is a thing based on feel, some drivers have better instinct for this than others. Top speed: managing tyres properly can also enable a driver to achieve better top speeds. There are other things as well. But the biggest is taking those corners correctly and getting it right consistently. This also is a factor in tyres and deg. So it's all connected. Which is why of a driver is better at one they are usually better at the others as well.

You can also see how these things are all connected. Tyre management is tied to speed and also race pace. Throttle is tied to speed management which is tied to tyres etc. Balancing all of these things correctly for race pace is hard and why there is so much skill involved.

So to answer your question the difference between teammates does comes down to skill, especially over the course of a race we usually see that gap. And even more so over a season. Now there are always races where one driver has a bad weekend and another is better.

I also will add that there can be a lot of factors outside of a driver's control that lead to something not being suited for them a particular weekend. Sometimes it's track conditions, sometimes they and the team missed the mark on car setup.

[thetallowman]

More side media - this time the girls' notes on the ritual. They covered a lot of the same ground as I did, but with a few more details. (Lucy wrote them, which makes sense - she seems like she would like having her thoughts out on paper, easier to review and reference.)

The trio really doesn't like Charles. Most of their criticisms reference his appearance/vibes, rather than concerns over the forsworn thing, so I'm still chalking this up to karma. (Has anyone explained karma to them? It's less of a concern when your family isn't ontologically evil, I guess.) They do point out that he can lie now, which is not something I had considered.

Matthew's last name is Moss, and he's a "Host." No real clues as to what the means - maybe some sort of inward-focused shamanism? Pulling in specific spirits, one at a time, and using them? Similar to Evan's firebird routine?

Edith's last name is James, and she's called the "Girl by Candlelight." Not much to go on here either. The specific title and the fact that she's "complex spirit" make me think she's a unique case, not falling neatly into any category - though the eyes and the hat remind me some of the Little Match Girl? Could be a ghost or ghost-adjacent along those lines.

Guttermuck girl is named Alpeana, and she's a "Mare" - a nightmare, presumably? I think there was one of those in Pact, in the interlude with the interview about master/familiar relationships. No clue what that shakes out as, theme-wise.

Big guy and winged woman are both Faeries, which I was not expecting. Winged woman is Maricica, of Dark Autumn, and big guy is Guilherme, of Summer Above. Those are presumably Courts? They sound pretentious enough. (Strange that they seem to get along, if so. Also, there's no mention of them being exiles - so why are they in nowheresville Kenneth?)

John (last name Stiles) is a "Dog of War." Gave Lucy bad vibes, but the other two seem less effected. Does he work for an Incarnation of War? (My gut says no, as that would be too similar to Conquest for Wildbow to want to retread that territory.) Is it a practice style, then? Conflict, battles, contests - victory and triumph feeding a ever-hungry fire? Magic war profiteering?

The singing kids are officially "The Hungry Choir," and they're a "Ritual Incarnate." Still no more details on their physical appearance, which makes me think it's not important - they're not zombies. All damage seems to be to the mouths and teeth, which would fit with them being "hungry." Are they like piranhas then, smelling blood and descending in a frenzy? The result of a successful ritual, or one interrupted, left unfinished?

Miss - unknown. Still the suspicion there is a red herring. Her unknown nature might indicate that she was around even before Matthew/Edith entered the scene?

Base on this information alone, my top suspects would be Guilherme (because Faeries suck, and he seems like he might be a Hunter) or John (if outsiders are drawn in by the murder, and bring conflict with them, he might stand to gain).

[bwoahtastic]

Okay but Arthur asking if he can make a nest for Max while he’s out of it? He hasn’t seen his sister in days and knows this must be so stressful. And he just wants to help, and maybe a nest will bring Max some extra comfort? Arthur even goes to general Dan for some of his clothes? He’s very shy and nervous but of course Dan will do anything for his bestie. Charles is still a bit weary about Daniel and Max and having alphas around Max now. But she knows Dan pulled Max away from battle and made sure to look after him after the incident. He’s the reason Max made it to the castle. So she pushes Daniel down into the nest and bites down a small growl. Arthur builds such a beautiful nest filled with the softest blankets and pillows. And they are all relieved when Max relaxes into it and the softest purrs come from Max’s sleeping figure. Charles cries, she knows Max will be okay now

Oh plss! Sweet Arthur misses Charles and is so worried about Max! He wants to help so bad but isn't sure he will be allowed at first, but his lil omega instincts tell him max will do better in a nest thst smells like the people he loves.

Arthur going to Dan to ask for his cloak and Dan helps him carry all the supplies he has gathered cos you can barely see the Prince behind the pile lol!

Charles grumbles a little at Dan but allows him close because she is grateful Dan got Max to safety, and because Arthur is pouting a bit.

Max letting out the softest sweet purr when he feels them all laying down around him, Arthur doing his best to make the nest around him and Dan just gently rubbing his back while Charles strokes his cheeks. They all get a little.emotional hearing Max purr, he will be okay!

[formulaford2022]

Alex Albon and Franco Colopinto P10 and P9 tomorrow! Oscar Piastri P2! Christian Mansell reverse pole position on his first ever f2 race! Joshua Duerksen, Jak Crawford, and Gabriele Mini on the podium in the F2 sprint! I don't particularly pay much attention to Duerksen, but I love when he does well because it makes me happy when someone who is very vocal about their faith does well. Kyle Kirkwood pole! Alex Palou is starting P24 and Will Power is starting P4 which means the championship battle is gonna be intense tomorrow.

Wow okay so going backwards lol, COLTON HERTA'S FIRST OVAL WIN!!!! Nashville was a good race, lots of good leaders, Pato P2, Alex Palou is a 3 time champ wow. Sad for Will Power, but my goodness that was quite the finale. Congrats to Louis Foster on his race win and his championship, I hope he gets a seat next year. Yuven Sundaramoorthy P2, I am so happy for him. Rip Callum Hedge and Jamie Chadwicks race, not a fan of that. Also lets talk about how Christian Brooks has not finished outside of the top 10 since starting this season, like that's crazy, I hope he gets a seat next year and shows them what he can do with a full season. I'm gonna miss Indycar and Indy NXT so much, like I love it so much oh my gosh. Can't wait for silly season though, lol. These posts are gonna be so small with just F1 from here on out lol.

That F2 crash was so bad I am so glad everyone else is okay. I'm happy about Christian Mansell and Luke Browning getting points on their first feature race. Kimi Antonelli on the podium is cool. It took me so long to watch the f1 race lol, but it was actually so good. Congrats to Baku for being the first like actually good and interesting race I've seen from F1 in a long time. OSCAR WON!!!!! LET'S GO!!!! Williams double points was amazing. I loved seeing Alex up towards the front even if it was just because he hadn't pit yet. Ollie Bearman scored points as well that was exciting. Oscar's pass on Charles Leclerc was beautiful. That last lap crash was crazy. Overall, I really good race.

[sistermclarens]

Hungarian GP 24 Part 4: Hungary-ing for a fight

When we last left off in lap 53, Oscar was slowly gaining ground on Lando after pitting second. We skip a few laps because nothing relevant happened and pick back up in lap 56, where the atomic bomb that McLaren have been building at their pit wall finally explodes.

Laps 1-32 | Laps 33-41 | Laps 42-55 | Laps 56-70

Lap 56 aka shit hits the fan: WJ: “We need to save more tyres please, and we do want to let Oscar through.” LN: “Well you should have boxed him first then, surely no?” WJ: “Doesn’t matter.” LN: “I mean, it does. To me maybe.” Again I don’t have full radio so I don’t know what might have been said that I’m missing, but as far as I can tell, this is the first reminder that Lando has gotten about swapping since lap 48 “at your convenience.” At some points between 53-56 the broadcast wasn’t showing timing gaps, but it looks like from lap 54 on Oscar was pretty consistently around 3.4 to 3.8 secs behind Lando. He’s stuck behind lapped p17 and Lando behind p16, so they’re both in traffic. Lando hasn’t set a fastest lap since 48. Honestly what part of these last 8 laps would have been “at Lando’s convenience” for him to swap? Given the circumstances, I definitely understand his point that a McLaren 1-2 with Lando in p1 might actually be more of a benefit for the team in terms of championship points since Lando is closer to catching Max. Even if you cut it to lap 51 when Oscar got told to play catch up, he hasn’t been anywhere near close enough to Lando to make a swap without Lando slowing A LOT which Oscar specifically was told the team didn’t want to do. At this point the team should have changed strategy somehow because it’s pretty clear Oscar was not going to catch Lando unless Lando got enough tire degradation by the very end of the race. Assuming that everything has been unchanged up to this hypothetical, I think I’d argue for forcing the swap immediately since Oscar has an 8+ second lead over Lewis in p3, and Lewis is caught up in a 3 way battle with Max and Charles.

Former colony solidarity against the British and all but Oscar my dude where is your drive to survive

Lap 57 Lando’s radio: “And Lando, we still think you’re using the tyres too much at Turns 4 and 11 and the rears at exit Turn 6 and Turn 9. Oscar is 3.5 [behind] – I know you’ll do the right thing.” There is a very strong emotional message here—do the right thing for the team by letting Oscar past. Again I can understand why Lando disagrees since all of the above ^^ remains true afaik. Oscar has been hovering between 3.1 and 3.5 since the last radio to Lando. The gap from Oscar to Lewis is ~9.5. What IS the right thing for the team in this moment, teamwork or championship points? They come at the expense of the other. In my view, this is not a decision that the driver should have to make during the race—the team should be making that and just bringing the hammer down. In this case what we see is the team repeatedly signaling for teamwork, so they should just make it an order.

Lap 58, I had to look up Multi 21 to understand the reference the commentators made, but it sounds like Oscar’s mentor was famously overtaken by a teammate who disobeyed team orders to stay behind. Is the bad luck contagious or what. Lando is just ahead lapped 14 and Oscar just behind 14 so they’re slowly making their way through traffic. Lando gets another tire warning over the radio. Oscar is… running between 3.8 and 4.3 my dude you’re making it so hard to root for you 😭 commentators say Oscar needs the position or there will be a “breach of trust” in the team. Both have been willing to swap positions in the past

Lap 59 Lando radio: “Turn 4, Turn 11 – it’s going to get boring.” McLarens on either side of lapped p13 now. Commentators pretty firmly on Oscar’s side now. Oscar is losing ground to Lando pretty steadily across laps 59 and 60 but with hindsight I think this is pretty clearly Lando speeding up rather than Oscar slowing down. Based on the time gaps, I think Lando went 🖕 to the strategy and decided to make his point about being faster after the radio in lap 57. He did NOT like being told to “do the right thing”. The gap to Lewis is still ~9.4 so at least the dick measuring contest isn’t getting in the way of the race

Lap 60 commentators say McLaren team principal is cracking jokes apparently. His leadership philosophy is to monitor and observe rather than give orders. Through to lap 61 Oscar is continuously losing ground to Lando, ending up in the 4.7 range by Lando’s lap 61 radio: WJ: “OK Lando, 10 laps to go – we think both cars are using their tyres too much. Just remember every single Sunday morning meeting we’ve had.” At first I would have thought the Sunday morning comment was about future Sundays—as in, we all have to work together in the future and it’s going to suck if we hate each other. But actually based on one of those Lando interview clips you sent, I think this is a reference to PAST Sundays. Lando in interview said something about how every team meeting they reaffirm their trust in each other and in the team, so I think THAT is the reminder he’s getting here, that they have all repeatedly committed themselves to each other. McLaren team polygamy wedding vows every Sunday morning 💍 Not to say that it isn’t also a warning about future Sundays being awful, just that it is equally an appeal to Lando’s prior knowledge of and commitment to team loyalty, both carrot and stick. Of course Lando says fuck off anyways: LN: “Yeah, well tell him to catch up please.” This again in the context of both his prior radios and his later interviews makes sort of sense as “Isn’t Oscar supposed to catch me rather than me let him go?” but also as I said previously he clearly decided around lap 57 to make a show out of the whole situation. Both cars are blowing out their tires which does, unfortunately, make the message more effective: Oscar IS racing Lando AND losing to Lando. 1st confirmation since lap 56 that Oscar is in fact Driving but is still not Surviving. I fucking hate the title of that show it’s so stupid if they wanted to survive they would have a better chance if they didn’t drive

Lap 61 cis male commentators finally picked up on the fact that there are emotions involved in this discussion… ffs. Debate is whether or not this is a moment for Lando to be a team player vs Be A Man by refusing orders. All the comparisons are to previous world champs, tho, not regular teammates, so I don’t know how effective it really was as a comparison. Lando’s 1 win doesn’t really put him that far ahead of Oscar in terms of successful teammate superiority. By lap 62 Lewis is more than 11 seconds behind Oscar; Oscar more than 5 behind Lando and 5.2 by the end of the lap

Lap 63 what we've all been waiting for, Max Crashstappen does it again 😂 Anyways at the end of this Oscar is still 5.2 behind Lando and we get another Lando radio: WJ: “Lando, he can’t catch you up. You’ve proved your point and it really doesn’t matter.” LN: “He’s on much quicker tires. I mean, I would have tried to undercut anyway. If I did, I would have got more.” WJ: “Mate, we did the stop sequence in this order for the good of the team.” LN: “And I am fighting for a world championship, am I not?” WJ: “I’m trying to protect you mate, I promise, I’m trying to protect you.” Here we see what I discussed back in laps 56/57 come full circle. What IS the right thing for the team? Radio clearly thinks it’s teamwork; Lando clearly thinks it’s the championship points. They both have a fair point. What is the WRONG thing for the team is leaving Lando to make that decision by himself at 200 mph. Not making it explicit earlier that swapping is an order not a choice is biting them in the butt here. By framing it as a “lando you choose” he’s been put in an artificially bad place because from his perspective he’s being forced to choose something that’s not in his own best interest on incomplete and constantly shifting information in some kind of fucked up trust fall exercise.

Lap 64 of course the iconic “It’s childish on the radio Max”. Commentators referring to Max and Lando as pot and kettle for their attitudes. By lap 65 Oscar is down 5.7… Lando really said “I’m NOT done making my point actually” Commentators make the 1st mention of Lando possibly making a point out of turning over p1 very late in the race. By lap 66 Oscar is down 6 seconds. Genuinely a miracle that Lando’s tires survived to the end of the race given the way he’s been driving on them.

Lap 66 Lando radio: “And Lando, there are five laps to go. The way to win a championship is not by yourself, it’s with the team. You’re going to need Oscar, and you’re going to need the team.” For the first time Lando gets an explicit call from the team on WHY they’re prioritizing teamwork over the championship, because the team sees teamwork as a foundation for a championship. Of course in interviews he makes it clear that he already knew that but this I think is the first moment that he begins to recontextualize the prior instructions he’s been given during the race. Oscar radio: OP: “The longer we leave this, the riskier it gets.” TS: “Understood, Oscar, we’re managing it.” Managing it 👀 The gap to Lewis is now 14+ seconds so I’m not sure what Oscar thinks is risky about this. Risky because they’re both killing their tires? Crash potential? Lol the shot of mechanics laughing in Oscar’s garage like calm down boy your go carts are not that serious. This is the first lap in a while that we’ve gotten race shots of them; it looks like they’re back to back with not a lot of other cars around so this would be Oscar’s best chance to make up some time now that he has escaped traffic.

If I’m right about Lando starting to speed around lap 57, then based on the times there’s very much no way Oscar can pass him at this point nor in fact has there been for a while now. Lando has added about 2.5-3 seconds to his lead over Oscar since lap 57 and even before that Oscar never got closer than about 3 seconds. Yes he had a good race at the start, yes if they had pit him first he would have Lando’s original 3 second lead and could just coast on that to the finish. Yes he is allegedly killing his tires. On the other hand, both of them have been navigating through the same traffic throughout these laps but Lando has managed to double his lead. Lando you made your point 😭 the horse is already dead you can stop beating it 😭

Lap 67 track shots Lando is behind p11 and Oscar is (far) behind him. Lando radio: "A potential Safety Car now would make this very awkward. Please do it. Now.” To Oscar’s credit he has shaved off a full second of Lando’s lead in this lap alone. His tires might be in slightly better condition at this point but I don’t think it would have been enough to catch Lando if he hadn’t conceded the position. I wish they showed the lap pace of p1, that would make it easier to tell if Oscar is catching up or if Lando is just already slowing down before he reaches the straight

Lap 68 dramatic slow down in front of the grandstands 😭 making Oscar swerve out of the racing line and onto the dirty part of the track 😭 “Yeah, you don’t need to say anything.” 😭 stop stop he’s already dead 😭

In all seriousness it’s pretty clear on a that Lando obeyed the team order when it came AS AN ORDER. “at your convenience” and “we still want him to pass you” are not even close to “please do it now.” From the outside looking in it seems very much like Lando thought he was being given the leeway to make a choice, which he backs up in his interview comments. Once it was clearly Not A Choice he did follow instructions. All of the drama for both drivers could have been avoided if the team had just been clear at the pit stop that the undercut was temporary.

Lap 68 the mechanics literally biting their nails 😂 Commentators note prior team orders to race the papayas but are not sure if they still stand; understandable given that we have just had 20 laps of racing papayas. Lando between .5 and 1 sec behind through 68 and 69

Last lap Oscar finally decided to show up and got up to 2 seconds ahead of Lando. Commentators note that Lando was now in the bad air off the back of Oscar’s car. Lewis 12 seconds behind 😂 I don’t think cars have to stay in order after they pass the finish line but I definitely didn’t miss Lando moving to get RIGHT in front of Oscar as he passed after the flag

Lol comparing Charles screaming his head off at Monaco with “Well done Oscar” “Ahyup”

“Sorry I made the swap a little bit more painful than it needed to be.” Do you think this reflects his actual thoughts or is this just a line to try to ease tensions? He does have a lot of reasons to feel like his win was threatened by team miscommunication and then cheapened by Lando’s antics. At the same time, he was basically 3-4 seconds away from Lando from leaving the pit in lap 48 to lap 57 where Lando really hit the accelerator. In those laps he didn’t show significantly better driving than Lando and between laps 57-67 he didn’t even keep up with Lando. This is despite both of them being in similarly bad track conditions (slower traffic, bad air streams). I don’t really think I have an answer to this other than he’s undercooked, put him back in the oven and let him finish baking or something and then he’ll be better next year

Anyways, sincerely and in conclusion,

[cityoftheangelllls]

Soooooo the Mario movie was awesome! Definitely the best movie-going experience I've had since Spiderman No Way Home! Illumination really outdid themselves and I think that this has to be the best movie they've done, even more so than the first two Despicable Me movies and Sing! And I can tell they and Nintendo put so much effort into this and making it a giant fan to Mario fans everywhere, from the kids to those who have been there from the beginning. It wasn't perfect (I mean, what movie is, and is there really such a thing as perfection?) but it was still a lot of fun!!!!

Below is what I loved about the movie and what I felt could have been better! Just a heads-up, there ARE spoilers. Even though it has pretty much the typical storyline of most Mario games and is therefore somewhat predictable, I don't want those who haven't seen it yet to miss out on being blown away as I was about it.

*********************************************************************

The Ups:

MARIO. HE IS THE BIGGEST SWEETHEART. HE LOVES HIS BROTHER SO SO MUCH. HE WOULD FETCH A STAR FROM SPACE FOR HIS BROTHER IF HE COULD. I WOULD DIE FOR HIM AND THE LOVE HE HAS FOR HIS BABY BRO. And from the beginning, he's so determined and motivated and never gives up! And it's his brother that motivates him to do most of what he does! I also liked the little details they added to his character that we never got to see before, such as the fact that he initially hates mushrooms.

Peach was amazing! At first I thought that they girlbossed her a bit too much to the point where she was a carbon copy of Daisy, but now I see her as a kind, maternal, and feminine young woman who fights when she needs to and is just doing her job protecting her kingdom. I hate how people are bashing her characterization here, like, have they forgotten how she was in the DIC cartoons, the 1986 anime, and SUPER PRINCESS PEACH? I also like her backstory and she's so cute as a baby! Also, since I HC that she and Daisy are super close, maybe she learned a thing or two from her!

Toad was so silly and chaotic, and he stole every scene he was in!

Luigi was precious and Charlie Day was perfect for his voice, as I predicted! I can tell that he was totally channeling Tony Rosato at times. I loved so many of his moments on screen, especially when he protects his brother during the final battle!

Jack Black KILLED IT as Bowser! He made him a villain who's hilarious but intimidating and ferocious at the same time and not many people can pull that off effectively!

Donkey Kong was a bit annoying and Illumination-y but they did a good job with him here. Also HE DID THE SETH ROGEN LAUGH TWICE FACK YES

The voice cast in general was fantastic! Charlie Day, Kevin Michael Richardson, and Jack Black were literal perfection in particular, Fred Armisen as Cranky Kong was lit, and Keegan Michael Key was great for Toad, as I predicted! He's a very versatile comedian and voice actor, after all! Also, Chris Pratt's Mario has grown on me in a good way. Although I vastly prefer Charles Martinet, as well as Lou Albano (who has my favorite Mario voice ever), Chris really didn't do that bad of a job! He DID TOO put effort into voicing him, and his "Wahoo!"s and cries of delight and triumph were on point! The only voice that I still feel like I have to get used to is Anya Taylor-Joy as Peach. She's a talented actress but I don't think she entirely suited Peach's soft, feminine, and maternal nature, but that's just me.

Mario and Luigi's parents are so precious! In fact, their whole family is so cute and hilarious! They remind me of my own proudly Italian (mostly) family. And Charles Martinet voicing their dad was the icing on the cake! I'm just so glad we finally got to see their family in general.

I also like how the boys' situation of still living with their parents, (presumably) not pursuing college and working blue-collar jobs while in their 20s-30s wasn't portrayed in a negative way. It's a great way of telling audiences that it's okay if you haven't gone off on your own yet in adulthood or attended college, that life isn't a sequence of steps that everyone has to follow exactly and at the same time, and that patience, hard work, and a positive attitude will lead you to great opportunities in life when you least expect them, like with what happened to the bros.

THE BROS' REUNION HUG OH MY GOD!!!!!! THE FOREHEAD TOUCH AND MARIO LIFTING LUIGI OFF THE GROUND DURING THEIR SECOND EMBRACE, I ALMOST CHOKED ON MY ICEE AND BECAME A SOBBING MESS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE THEATER MY GOD

And then them teaming up together to defeat Bowser and his forces, AS IT SHOULD BE.

I mean seriously this movie was a slap to the face of everyone who thought Mario hates his brother

Mario and Luigi getting their own little house in the Mushroom Kingdom! AND COFFEE CUPS THAT MATCH THEIR HATS!!!!

Mario and Peach's relationship thus far! I love how close they are by the end of the movie, even though they haven't developed a romance yet, and how Mario was telling her all about Brooklyn and how he'll get her a pet turtle once he gets to take her there. D'awwwwwww.

Peach completing the trainer course ALL WHILE WEARING A FULL LENGTH BALL GOWN AND HEELS. AND her admitting that she didn't master doing it until she had tried multiple, multiple times was such a great addition to character, proof that while she may be more of a girlboss here she still has more character development than Rey in the Star Wars sequels.

Peach telling Luigi that he's brave was so sweet :3 Even though they didn't really have a proper meeting scene like I hoped, I'm glad they got to at least interact a little.

Although I wish they would have used the wedding dress from Odyssey or even Paper Mario, Peach's wedding dress here is so pretty!

Donkey Kong becoming an ally of Mario and them helping each other get to the Mushroom Kingdom was super nice, although I do feel their friendship could have been built on a little more and that DK should have apologized to Mario for insulting his brother.

THE MUSIC!!!!! Brian Tyler NAILED the orchestrations of all those iconic themes! I especially got so happy when I heard the SNES Rainbow Road theme, the DK rap, and Toad's House from SMB3! I can only imagine how Koji Kondo, the man who composed so many of these melodies for chiptune almost 40 years ago and is STILL composing music for the games, is feeling now that they have these epic, sweeping orchestral renditions.

They outdid themselves with the animation and visuals as well! ESPECIALLY the visuals. They're so colorful and whimsical and just scenery p0rn all around, from the Mushroom Kingdom giving off major Alice in Wonderland vibes and Bowser's incredible floating lava castle to the Jungle Kingdom and the rainbow road! And I can't think of a single character (re)design that I didn't like! They all look so good!

The slo mo bits were SO funny. Especially "MMMMMAAAAAAAAMMMAAAAA MMMMIIIIIIIAAAAAA!" and "PPPPPRRRRRIIIIIIINNNNNCCCCEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!"

Bringing back such an obscure and relatively forgotten character as Foreman Spike was awesome!

Every time that Diddy Kong was onscreen was so funny!

ALL THE EASTER EGGS, GOOD GOLLY. From the references to the SUPER SHOW OF ALL THINGS to the guy who's supposed to resemble Jumpman (Mario's first incarnation) at the beginning!

That one bit where Mario is sitting in his room playing a video game also felt really reminiscent of the beginning of The Great Mission to Rescue Princess Peach (1986). If Nintendo was going for that I'm so glad they acknowledged such an obscure piece of Mario media!

The Downs:

Goddammit, you SERIOUSLY had to include minions in the Illumination logo.

It honestly felt a bit rushed in places and I wish more scenes could have had more time devoted to them. Some characters, ESPECIALLY Luigi, didn't really get as much screen time as I felt they needed, and that kind of sucked.

I was really hoping for Bowser to have a hard rock-style villain song, as that really suits his aesthetic and Jack Black could totally have done it! I mean he was in School of Rock for crying out loud and he's proven afterwards that he can really belt out classic rock tunes! Despite that, I'm glad he got to at least sing in the movie, and his song dedicated to Peach was hilarious.

I'm bummed that the movie wasn't really a musical as I had heard around the net so many times; only two characters sang (Bowser and Toad, even though the latter's wasn't really an actual song) and there were a bunch of pop/rock hits from the past few decades sandwiched in. They were still good songs that I like though, such as Thunderstruck, Take on Me, and Holding Out for a Hero (although I wish it could have been the original Bonnie Tyler version). I was ESPECIALLY pumped to hear Mr. Blue Sky!! But still, a lack of songs sung by characters bummed me out.

I don't like how some lines were changed (such as Bowser's "NOW WHO'S GONNA STOP ME?!?!") or cut entirely (e.g. Mario's "I'm not afraid! I'll do anything for my brother!") I'm especially bitter about the latter, since hearing that line in the final trailer made me super emotional and cutting it meant less devotion to how much Mario loves and misses his brother.

It was kind of a wasted opportunity to not see Mario and Luigi's family (and the rest of Brooklyn for that matter) bewildered over their sons bringing back a princess in a wedding gown, a little mushroom man, and an ape wearing a necktie. I bet their dad would have been wondering what someone put in his coffee, and their mom would have taken one look at Peach and been all like, "OMG IS ONE OF MY SONS GETTING MARRIED ALREADY??" It just would have been nice for them to interact a little.

The blue star/Luma was honestly so annoying and gave me an unsettling identity crisis, I just thought that was not fitting for a family friendly movie. Also, why was he/she in Bowser's dungeon in the first place?

As Donkey Kong should have apologized to Mario for fighting with him, Spike should have apologized to Mario and Luigi for doubting them. It didn't really make sense for him to just abruptly cheering for them.

Part of me kind of wishes it had taken place in the 1980s. It kind of makes sense, given that the Mario and Luigi characters formally debuted in 1983 and this is an origin story for how they came to be.

But despite all this, there were way more ups than downs, and the "downs" are just little nitpicks from me that don't take away from the movie being one hell of a ride. It was fantastic, and definitely one of the best animated movies I've seen in a while. 9/10 from me!!.

Some of my several VERY high hopes for the sequel:

YOSHI CUTENESS!!!

Also, if I have to predict a voice actor for Yoshi, it would have to be either Frank Welker or Kazumi Totaka reprising his role.

Luigi getting more screen time and also getting to share in his bro's adventures! Dude deserves way better!

Mario having second thoughts about Luigi accompanying him in dangerous situations because he's terrified of losing him again, and Luigi reminding him that "nothing will harm them as long as they're together"

PLEASE just more brotherly love!

Mario and Peach developing a romance and vowing to protect each other!

At least one callback to the "Mama Luigi" episode of the Super Mario World cartoon series. I mean, it would only seem right now that Yoshi is joining the gang, right?

Heck, I bet it's going to be chock full of references to the Super Mario World game, the Yoshi's Island games, and the Super Mario World cartoon.

DAISY AND/OR ROSALINA PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE

Bowser's backstory (and possibly redemption)! It's clear to me that he's just a big softie that needs love and friendship in his life. And, since he's really their friend who likes to engage in role play just for fun according to word of mouth, I wonder how they will incorporate that into the Mario Cinematic Universe.

Some evidence that Mario and Luigi alternating between their lives in Brooklyn (probably just so that they can spend time with their family) and the Mushroom Kingdom

"I HOPE SHE MADE LOTSA SPAGHETTI!"

[pullakori]

Cherikweek 2023

Day 5. Gladiators

The crowd's wild cheering was only partly muffled by the heavy doors that led to the arena. It was almost time to fight. Erik cheked the arrows in his quiver, the shortswords on belt hips and the daggers strapped to his thighs. Each one in its place and ready to see some action. All in all, he was confident that this fight was going to be, if not easy, then at least not life threatening.

At least for him.

Erik turned to look at Charles, who was leafing through his spell book and muttering to himself. Erik could tell he was nervous about the upcoming battle. And for a good reason, he wasn't even supposed to be here, but their party's innitial plans hadn't gone as they had hoped for, so now the wizard was stuck here with Erik.

"At least they let you keep your spell book." Erik tried to encourage the half-elf. If Charles had been forced to fight without his magic, the situation would have been much more dire.

"And my circlet, as without it, half of my spells wouldn't work." Charles chuckled, but it sounded incredibly forced.

"Well, just let me know when you need me to back away from our opponents so you won't hit me with your fireballs or whatever you have in there." He half-joked, pointing at the book. He had heard stories about adventurers who had gotten in the way of spelcasters' powerful spells, and the results were usually devastating. They hadn't travelled together for long, but Erik had gathered that Charles was very skilled arcane mage and no doubt could keep himself safe in the arena.

"Ummm..." Charles wasn't meeting Erik's eyes as he licked his lips, seemingly trying to find his words. Suddenly Erik had a very bad feeling about this. "Is this a bed time to tell you that I don't have any offensive spells?" Charles finally managed to ask and finally turning to look at Erik with a pained smile.

"WHAT!?" Erik's shout made Charles flinch and the slightly pointed tips of his ears turned red with his cheeks. "Please tell me you're joking right now." Erik pleaded, but from Charles' expression, he could tell that wasn't the case. "Why don't you know any offensive spells?!" The question came out like an angry snarl.

"I'm just not very good with violence." Charles uttered and Erik pinched the bridge of his nose. He tried to keep his frustration at bay, but it was becoming more difficult every second. Charles was, to say it simply, squishy. He wasn't dexterious like Mystique or Erik, nor was he strong like Moira or Hank. He didn't even have an armor. Magic was all he had and it started to look like even that wasn't enough.

"Why haven't you told us this before?" Erik managed to ask. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't seen Charles attack with his spells, but this felt like something that should have been said aloud at some point of their travels.

"It has never come up. And I wasn't even supposed to be here." Charles tried to explain.

"But why would you become an adventurer without knowing how to fight?" It must have been his sheltered life, Erik decided. No one who knew anything about the real world would go out there without some ability to defend themselves.

"I have a dagger." Charles protested, almost sounding offended. "And not everything has to be solved with violence."

"But some things have to be." Erik retorted and for a moment the two of them just stood there, staring at each other in stalemate.

Finally, Erik let out a sigh.

"Well, there is nothing we can do about the situation now." He said as the sound of fanfare sounded outside. They were out of time. "Just stay close to me. Mystique and Moira will have my head if you die on my watch." He didn't mention, that he would likely miss the other man too. They hadn't known each other more than few weeks, but somehow the half-elf had managed to get way closer to him than anyone for a long time.

"I know how to take care of myself, my friend." Charles assured him as their doors opened and for a moment the sunlight blinded them.

"Sure you can, Lord Xavier." Erik remarkes as he walked into the arena, looking at the other fighters and studying them.

"Don't call me that." Charles grumpled, but stayed close to Erik, murmuring a spell and for a moment the saphire and the runes on his circlet glowed faintly. Charles touched his own chest and and from that point a soft magical force surrounded his whole body, before vanishing from sight along with the glow from his circlet.

"Fighters, prepare your weapons!" The announcer shouted and Erik pulled his longbow off his back. None of the other fighters was so close that he would need to use his short swords yet. He glanced at Charles, who had his spell book on one hand and his dagger on other.

Erik was going to do evweything in his power to make sure that Charles wouldn't need to use it.

[positivelybeastly]

Plot Wishlist

General:

Any X-characters, but especially Storm, Shadowkat, Cyclops, Iceman, Jean Grey, Abigail Brand, Havok, Dazzler, Colossus, Mr. Sinister, Charles Xavier, Magneto, Sabretooth, et al.

Verse specific plots below.

Feline Hank:

Decimation/Utopia-era plots, perhaps including a PTSD recovery arc for Hank after his torture at the hands of Norman Osborn. Poor guy was literally having flashbacks at the drop of a hat and the best he got was a 'you're the rock, so idk just cope better' speech - would love to dive into this.

Fun, shippy things! Hank is a loveable fella, but utterly bereft of actual self-esteem - tons of ego and bluster, but self-esteem? Wrong house, miss - and I love to see him reconcile the often inflated mental portrait he has of others with his diabolical self-image.

Mutant cure. Hank has a vial of it just sitting in a freezer. All it takes is one particularly bad day.

Post-Intervention Hank:

Anything with any X-character, diving into the period of time between All-New X-Men and Krakoa. Hank screwed up, majorly, and his emotional state is ridiculously fractious - engage with him on this! Force him to change! Or let's have blazing arguments! Let's do both, fuck it!

Inhuman + Kang interactions! Hank was only with them for a short period of time in the grand scheme of things, but I dearly love that he made friends during his time here, and it breaks my heart that he felt like he couldn't go back after Inhumans vs. X-Men.

Avengers:

Defenders interactions! Especially Isaac Christians (Gargoyle), Patsy Walker (Hellcat) and Heather Douglas (Moondragon). I love this team - they're such a weird, kooky team of misfists and emotionally damaged individuals.

Threnody. I'm tired of talking about her as the first brick in the wall for Hank's downfall - let's talk about her as a character, let's engage with the situation, let's call Hank out, let's let him off the hook, let's do something with it!

X-Force:

Any and all members of the Quiet Council, perhaps a thread making sense of Beast's numerous karma houdinis. My portrayal of X-Force Beast diverges from the cartoon character you've seen in Percy's books, but I still want to engage with the situations he must've found himself in and write them like an adult. Let's get political, let's get complicated, let's get cruel, why not?

Any and all interactions where an old friend asks Beast what the hell he's doing and what happened to him. I just want someone to care that Beast has hollowed out his soul and decided it's easier to not care.

Irredeemable Beast:

Pretty much anything, but the tone of this verse suits Fall of X-themed plots and character development over all else. I have an in-progress fic about this verse that I'm working on - I can't tell you how overjoyed I'd be to talk about it with someone. Let's talk redemption, let's talk punishment, let's talk justice, let's talk masochism, let's talk death wishes!

Dark Beast:

Any Age of Apocalypse characters.

A duplicate Hank, tbh!

The guy's a stinker, abuse him, please.

Battle of the Atom:

Any of the time displaced X-Men, future X-Men, or members of the Jean Grey and Charles Xavier School faculty. This version of Hank is so broken and so tragic and so pitiable. Let's engage with that. Let's talk about the future, let's talk about optimism, let's talk about broken faith and mind control and hatred.

President Blaire. If you know, you know.

And obviously, all of the X-characters mentioned above, or hell, any member of the extended X-family, would be much loved as an intersection with all of these plots!

And keep in mind, if you aren't one of these characters, that doesn't mean any of this plot material is off limits to you! Message me, ask me, let's work something out. I crave good character dynamics, hmu. I want to write with you, or I wouldn't be here.