#i just can't stop thinking about the two of them navigating two entirely separate childhoods without ever knowing how

[inchidentally]

“Of course, we want to go out and beat each other every weekend, but we're never going to cross that line that's going to cause damage that can't be repaired."

this line messes with my brain chemistry so hard, cause they've both talked about wanting to become world champions with mclaren and they know things are going to get heated at some point, but it's the resolute they have in wanting to maintain the relationship they currently have that makes them so special to me

they've been asked by the media if they see a nico and lewis type situation forming and they've just said we'll have to see, but i like to believe internally they've both talked and come to the same conclusion- we're not gonna end up like the others, we're not gonna end up at point where we stop talking to each other or can't even say the other's name

it's all so aksdhkjhkjg

honestly it's so telling the way they've just started joking that they're gonna recreate 2007 etc that they're both so tired of the Lewis/Nico comparisons

as someone who l o v e s the drama of br0cedes and and even loved getting the lore posts about Esteban and Pierre it is wiiiiild how landoscar keep getting classed with these legacy unique angst ships. now ! carland0 would've been the closest recent example that would've end up like them bc the recipe for those big dramatic fall outs is that the two drivers form a big friendship and bond that involves a childhood bond. Carlos literally raised Lando the rest of the way and would call him a moody teenager and 'you need to mature' and roughhouse with him like a little kid etc. those are the relationships where they just don't bother thinking about what competing might do and convince themselves they'll be fine. and bam then the first battle happens and all that innocent trusting friendship collides with real life racing for wins and championships and it flips over into hurt feelings, angry words and not even attempts like the fix-it golf dates of 2022 working.

and Lando's battles with Max last season got close to that level of we've been friends and rivals since childhood and now we're clawing past eo for wins - but they weren't teammates so they could still get past even the bitterest on track moments and remain friends. and Carlos said that he and Lando are better off not teammates bc their on track rivalry can be easier and less complicated.

but Lando and Oscar didn't push or force any kind of bond or friendship at all and focused their early relationship entirely on this new open-door policy between the garages (except for during races ofc) and discovered they want the same things from the car and have always had their separate little debriefs even back when they spent minimal time together - and since end of 2023 they've talked about battling each other for championships and not wanting to ruin their relationship and not wanting to let the team down by prioritizing the WDC over the team's hard work.

so that's why I say yea we're fully gonna see contact, probably crashes (hopefully not too many and not too bad) and periods where they don't talk etc. but unlike teammates who are in denial or who just assume they'll be fine, none of this is going to take them by surprise. they're never just assuming they'll be okay, they're actively talking about how to deal with it when they have to make those split second decisions and it makes the difference between one getting the championship over the other. and even if they weren't, they've got the whole of fandom and the media telling them this fallout WILL happen and asking them to answer for fights that haven't even happened yet aslfgasjfgsal

and I totally agree anon, it's one of the things I think that makes them so compelling is the open honestly they have about all of this. that we've been able to watch them slowly become closer while they've also been openly navigating how them being "the strongest" !! teammate pairing and hoping to be one of the longest lived pairings is what's propelled themselves and McLaren back to the front after decades languishing BUT also brings with it the most crucial and fiercest battles being between each other.

we got no PR dates or content to smooth over Hungary or Monza. nobody made them fake anything for the sake of fans and McLaren isn't even as invested in landoscar as a pairing as they are still with carland0 salfgslajfgljsa. and ignoring the usual staged content on DTS, we got the authenticity of Lando's reaction to Hungary as well as Oscar not putting a PR front when asked if he'd be okay with being number 2. but none of it was over the top or melodramatic. they never swing wildly from fan-forward friendship to unhinged angry media pen quotes.

they never feel like they're playing catch up at all and there's this level of maturity and mutual agreement and discussion that is getting completely missed by media and most of fandom simply bc everyone can't wait for the drama to finally pay off big.

but fr the thing that makes them unique is how long and how mutually they've been preparing for this and how honest they're allowing themselves to be with each other and with the media/fans. it's one thing for teammates to talk up not wanting to fall out which is the usual line that's taken. but I love that Lando and Oscar are admitting that all they can do is hope to do right by the team and stay on the same page as much as possible. it's not about pretending that everything will all work itself out just fine, it's them wanting to to establish how they'll react to things get truly difficult.

[manic-pixie-fever-dream]

I don’t think I have ever owned a key in my entire life.

RWRB Parallels series: Part 5

In this series, I will write about the parallels within the movie, in no particular order.

Alex wears a key on a necklace around his neck all the time. It’s the key to his childhood home back in Austin, TX. Its his anchor as he navigates his life as the First Son. It reminds him of simpler days when he was an anonymous child of two working class parents. He says that he was once an anonymous person to Henry at the NYE party under the Linden tree. The key is a reminder of his roots, where he came from and how far he has come.

(This gif is here just to show the key. Nothing else. Please believe me. 👀)

Henry sees the key during their hook-up and asks Alex about it. Alex tells him about its significance. Henry suddenly realizes that he has never owned a key in his life till date. He lives in a palace filled with people to open and close doors for him. Alex jokingly says...”No such thing as a locked door when you are a prince.” It’s a heart-breaking thing for Henry to realize. A key represents privacy. His life is so public that he can’t even have a key to his own room in the palace. He has absolutely no agency in his life.

Cut to the airstrip scene after the V&A museum visit. The Storming of the Kensington Palace has happened, and the lovers have reconciled to the fact that they are in this together. Henry asks for patience from Alex. They are saying their goodbyes and they don’t know what the future holds for them both. They only know that they both love each other. Is love enough? Neither of them knows.

Henry is anxious af and he feels the oppressive weight of his royal life in the form of his signet the ring weighing heavily on his finger and soul. He can’t bear to take it anymore. He wants its weight off his finger. The weight of years of history bearing down on him as he says in Kensington palace.

He removes it and gives it to Alex. “I want you to have some part of me, till you can have all of me again.” It’s a promise to Alex. Henry wants Alex to have something tangible from him to anchor Alex when an ocean and uncertainty separates them, to remind Alex of his love that requires great patience from him.

Alex doesn’t hesitate to remove the necklace with the key and give it to Henry. Its symbolic of the key to his heart, his very essence. They are giving each other integral parts of themselves for safekeeping till they can have the whole of each other. And Henry finally owns a key, the key to his soulmate's heart. He couldn't have asked for a better first key.

I spliced the scenes discussed into this video.

Note on Nicholas Galitzine:

Nick is the effing king of micro expressions. He shines in this scene(and every other emotional scene) at the airstrip. Alex hugs him and wants to kiss him goodbye. It's a public place and they aren't out yet. Henry can't afford that kiss. He stops Alex with just a slight shift in his expression, a tight smile to let Alex knows that he wants it but can't have it. Yet. Watch it again if you missed it.

Nicholas Galitzine, I shall forever bow down at thy feet for bringing my tortured and angsty Henry on screen.

Part 1: I need to get out of here!

Part 2: I can’t believe how wrong I was about you.

Part 3: I'm also a world-class insomniac.

Part 4: Sometimes I wonder if what we do has any meaningful impact on people’s lives.

Part 6: One meeting years ago has occupied such a vast mental and emotional space in your head?!

Part 7: Who I am and not who you want me to be!

Part 8: You need to figure out if you feel forever about him.

[mrcspectr]

Sometimes I think we forget the gravity of the choices Marc made for Steven. We say it and we write about it but we see it through the lens of an adult, from the perspective of a man who had a very specific understanding of his world and his place in it, however flawed that may have been. In his mind, his worth and what that means to him were set in stone, the only part of his identity that felt.. concrete. A man that carried his childhood like an anchor, letting it drag him down to a depth that no one could truly follow.

But what about the boys?

We see them as children for a very short amount of time, and we connect to that innocence because we were all children once. We were all naïve to the world before we were taught how to live in it. But there was no one to teach them how to share a life, a body, a place in that world. It was something they were forced to navigate together, but in tandem, somehow, alone.

How afraid Marc must have been, how his hurt grew into anger and a disobedience that explodes out from him, that drew more violence to him. That enraged Wendy and made her worse, made her a cruel specter still. How Steven must’ve stirred in the night, looking around to wonder where he was, what day it had been, why he didn’t recognize the posters on his wall or the toys on his floor. The way Marc would shrink back at his father’s expression, his concern and fear so clear-cut and raw each time he came to with a start, the sound of Steven’s voice still rattling against his skull until it ached.

All either one of them ever wanted was for someone to hold them close and tell them they were alright, that they were real and loved. Two boys, two brothers who shared the same life but knew nothing of each other. Backs pressed against a mirror, calling out to nothing but silence in return.

How many times did Steven believe he was only sleeping, watching this boy who looked just like him behave practically his opposite? How long was his list of questions, if only the next night they’d finally meet, in a different dream, and he got the chance to ask? How many times did Marc find himself beating his tiny fists against a mirror, reaching out without really knowing how, seeing a boy so familiar and wanting desperately, more than anything, just to be his friend?