#the ferrari lore continues

[waterbendingwaves]

sebastian grandfather allegations confirmed

[harrysfolklore]

i’ve always loved the piastri sis lore because the sibling dynamic is so healthy but just to switch it up a little bit in the tiny verstappen!sis universe i can imagine her skipping out on the WDC celebrations with max and be with charles instead and max is a little mad at her at qatar until kelly knocks sense into him 🥰

verstappen!sister was one of the first f1 fics i ever posted 🥺🥺 its kinda heartwarming that you guys still remember it and want to read more about them! it was nice to take a dip into that little world agai, i hope you like this!

READ VERSTAPPEN!YN HERE

The neon lights of Las Vegas blurred through as you rushed through the paddock, your heart torn between two directions. Behind you, the thunderous celebration at Red Bull's garage continued – your brother Max had just sealed his fourth world championship. Any other day, you'd be right there, spraying champagne and screaming until your voice gave out.

But right now, all you could think about was Charles.

You found him in the Ferrari cooldown room, still in his race suit, head in his hands. He looked up when you entered, those green eyes stormy with frustration.

"Mon coeur," he whispered, and despite his evident pain, his lips curved into a small smile at the sight of you. "You're here."

You crossed the room quickly, wrapping your arms around him. He buried his face in your neck, breathing deeply. "Of course I'm here. Always."

"I had it," he mumbled against your skin. "I had the pace, the position... everything. Then they called me in at the worst possible moment—" His voice cracked slightly.

You ran your fingers through his hair soothingly. "I know, baby. I watched the whole thing."

Charles pulled back slightly, cupping your face with both hands. "You should be celebrating with Max, though. It's his championship. I don't want to take you away from that."

"You're not taking me anywhere," you said firmly, pressing your forehead to his. "I choose to be here."

He kissed you softly, gratefully. "Je t'aime. What did I do to deserve you?"

"Existed," you smiled against his lips. "Come on, let's get you out of here."

As you were leaving the cooldown room, hand in hand with Charles, you nearly collided with Max in the corridor. Your brother was still in his race suit, championship cap askew, smelling of champagne and victory.

"YN?" His voice was smaller than usual. "Where were you? Everyone was asking... we were all celebrating and you just disappeared."

Guilt twisted in your stomach. "Max, I'm so sorry, I—"

"She was with me," Charles said quietly, squeezing your hand.

Max's face fell slightly, though he tried to hide it. "Oh." He looked between you both, jaw working like he was trying to find the right words. "I thought... it's the championship, YN. Our fourth championship."

"I know," you said, stepping forward to hug him tightly. "And I'm so, so proud of you. You were incredible out there. But Charles needed me."

Max returned the hug, but you could feel the tension in his shoulders. When he pulled back, his expression was complicated – hurt mixed with resignation.

"Sure, whatever. Stay with your boyfriend." He shook his head, jaw clenched. "It's fine. Not like it's my fourth world championship or anything."

The sarcasm in his voice cut deep. Before you could respond, he turned on his heel and walked away, leaving you and Charles standing in the corridor.

The next morning, you found Max in the hotel gym, pounding away at a treadmill despite probably being hungover from the celebrations. You knew your brother well enough to recognize when he was working out his frustrations physically.

"Max," you called out softly.

He didn't look at you, just kept running. "Shouldn't you be with Charles?"

"Can we talk? Please?"

He jabbed at the treadmill controls, slowing to a stop. When he finally turned to face you, his expression was guarded. "About what? About how you ditched your own brother's championship celebration to comfort your boyfriend? Because he finished P4?" He grabbed his towel, wiping his face roughly. "Real nice, sister."

"That's not fair and you know it."

"Kelly already gave me the whole speech last night, you know," he said, "Something about 'understanding love' and 'being supportive' and how she'd do the same for me."

"And?"

"And I told her she's supposed to be on my side," he said, but there was less heat in his voice than before. "She just laughed at me."

You sat down on a nearby bench, and after a moment, he joined you. "I'm still mad," he admitted. "And it's still weird as hell that my sister is dating Charles bloody Leclerc of all people."

"Could be worse," you tried. "Could've been Lewis."

"Don't even joke about that," he groaned, but you caught the tiny smile he tried to hide. His face turned serious again. "Kelly made some good points though. About how she'd choose to be with me if I was struggling after a race, even if it meant missing something important. Still doesn't mean I like it."

"I really am sorry about disappearing like that."

"I wanted my sister there," Max's voice cracked slightly. "You've been there for every important moment in my career. Every single one. Until yesterday. It's like ever since you started dating him, I'm losing my little sister bit by bit."

"You're not losing me, Max. You're my brother, nothing will ever change that. But Charles...I love him."

Max was quiet for a long moment. "You really love him that much? It's that serious?"

"Yeah," you whispered. "It is."

He sighed deeply, running a hand through his hair. "I still don't like it. And I'm still mad about yesterday." He paused, then added grudgingly, "But I guess I need to get used to sharing you. Just... don't disappear on me like that again, okay? I had to listen to Helmut asking if you were sick or something. Do you know how awkward it was explaining that my sister was too busy consoling a Ferrari driver to celebrate with us?"

"Did you actually tell him that?"

"No, I told him you had a headache. You're welcome, by the way." He paused. "But seriously, YN. I get that you love him or whatever—" he made a face at the words, "—but you're still my sister."

"And you're still my annoying big brother," you leaned against his shoulder. "So... fourth championship, huh? Getting a bit boring now, isn't it?"

"Never," he grinned, then added more seriously, "Would've been better with you there though."

"I'll make it up to you. Plus, there's still family dinner tonight."

"Yeah, about that..." Max's expression turned mischievous. "I might have told Mom to make that really spicy Indonesian dish Charles couldn't handle last time."

"Max!"

"What? If he's going to be family, he needs to build up his tolerance," he said innocently. "Besides, it's payback for making me miss my sister at my championship celebration."

"You're impossible."

"Yeah, but I'm a four-time world champion impossible brother," he smirked, pulling you into a headlock like when you were kids. "And don't you forget it."

[pampushky]

cling to his chest

Alpha! Lando Norris/Omega! Lauda! Reader - chapter 6 - 2.9k words

Woooooo done with this chapter sorry it's late shorter, but stocked with some good lore shit! as I am wriitng this, my dog is throwing a tantrum that i'm not in bed yet.

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Late-Mid March 2006. Selangor, Malaysia

An hour after qualifying, you’re asleep on Nico while he quietly talks with Fernando. You’re drooling on him, your mouth parted to reveal your missing milk teeth, the big gap where you’ve lost your two front teeth. It’s looking to be a promising day for the young, German omega, and he’s preening under Fernando’s praise and attention. You shift a bit in your nap, making a high-pitched whine as you do so, mouth opened in a yawn. Both Omegas coo at the sight of you yawning, looking so adorable as you snuggle into Nico further. 

“Oh, little mouse, you’re so perfect.” Nico purrs, as you fall deeper into your nap. Niki is off at Ferrari, working with Micheal and Felipe for their complaints about the car. It had been a less than stellar season for them. As much as he adored you, doting on you with every breath he took, he still had a job to do. So he would leave you with the Prime Omega as your guardian for that time, or another German driver if he couldn’t take you with him.

The first race you’d attended had been the previous one, the opener for the season. The Bahrain GP. It was almost bad enough that it had been the one year anniversary of your dam’s death. You hadn’t realized that, actually. You were only five, and while the concept of time’s passage was something you could understand, it could still be a bit wonky for you to truly grasp. You still asked for your Dam in the first few months, laying in your hospital bed. That had been the first thing you asked of Niki. Asking where your mother was. 

Had you been bad? Was that why she didn’t want you anymore? Or was it your Gran? Gran never seemed to like you. Did Gran tell your Momma to give you up?

All of these said with tears in your eyes, so certain that you’d been abandoned, no memories of how your Dam had pushed you under the bed to save you. That her last act had been saving you. 

Oh, how that had broken Niki’s heart, and then Micheal’s when he’d learned. 

You still asked for her. Still whimpered for her, when in your deepest sleep. Hugging the little bunny with her scent close. But now you’re snuggled into Nico’s embrace as he carries you to the pack home— a large motorhome for the grid that came to every race. If the pack didn’t all sleep in a specialized suite, they slept in the motorhome. 

Just as Nico and Fernando pass the threshold of the motorhome, you stir, waking up and crooning softly. You squirm in his arms, stretching out and looking around sleepily, little ears twitching. Jenson starts to laugh, seeing how you squirm in Nico’s arms, and even Kimi cracks a rare smile, offering to take you. You stare suspiciously at the Finn, and after a moment’s pause, let out a shrill squeal to be put down. 

“Words, use your words.” Nico chides, looking unamused when a flailing hand smacks into his cheek. “Okay, yes, I’ll put you down.”

When you’re put down, you continue to stare at Kimi. Kimi stares back. A test of wills seems to occur just within the entrance of the motorhome, not even within the nesting room. This was pretty standard for your behavior. The spoiled and beloved pup of the F1 pack. Adored beyond measure by every single member of it— except, seemingly, Kimi. 

Which was actually quite incorrect. Kimi, if anything, spoiled you the most. He was the closest thing to Niki, actually, in your mind. Quiet and serious, with the same death stare as Niki. It was quite adorable, really, to see all three of you together, staring at something that had annoyed one of you. 

“Kimi.” You state bluntly. Arms out and held expectantly, as if you want to be picked up. 

“Use your words.” Kimi folds his arms. You stamp your foot, making you slightly off balance with your bad leg holding all your weight. The Finn darts forward, eyes wide with panic when you wobble a little. Your hands dart out to balance yourself. Fernando’s breath catches, and Nico’s eyebrows almost look like they’re crawling up his forehead. You steady yourself, as the three drivers hold their breath. 

“M’okay,” You mumble, arms still out. Kimi scoops you up, hugging you tight, while Fernando fuses over you. Nico has a hand to his chest, taking in a deep breath. Robert Kubica pokes his head out of the door to the main room, brows furrowed as he takes in the scene. “Didn’t fall!”

“What happened?” Robert asks, as you squirm in Kimi’s arms. 

“She was being a brat,” Nico sighs, wilting slightly. “And stamped on the wrong foot.”

“Ah, balance issues. David watched her do that the other day.” 

“Did not!” You hiss, puffing out your cheeks. The southern twang that had mostly disappeared thickens your voice again. “He didn’ see nuthin’!”’

“At least you’re using your words now,” Nico ruffles your hair, as you get set down again. Shuffling to the pack room to nest with the other pack members who are present. When Niki, Felipe, and Micheal enter the room, they’re met with the adorable sight of you in the middle of the nest, positively preening as Fernando grooms you in his canine form, licking your face and making sure your hair is smoothed to your head. You beam up at the trio, grinning widely. 

6 Days to First Race, 2024. London, England. 

Sleep had been refusing your company as of late. 

You’re not entirely sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. It’s more of an annoyance. Logan and Oscar dote on you constantly, when you finally get back from Abu Dhabi. Worried about the reaction you’d had to Will, and overall the public attention heaped on you. It’s meant to be nice, to show how much they care about you, but it feels stifling at times.

Your ceiling has the little glow-in-the-dark stars that you’d had in your room as a child. You vaguely recall a memory of Mattias sitting on top of Lukas’s shoulders to try and balance so he could place them like constellations on your ceiling. 

They were uneven and a bit wonky. But they were made from a place of love, to try and make you feel comfortable in your new room. They had been painstakingly arranged by Marlene and Niki, and you could smell it on the sheets and quilts heaped on top of the mattress. It was the softest thing you’d ever laid on, and you felt as though you were going to sink into it and drown in the sheets. This had resulted in you crying out and latching onto Niki for help, wailing and grabbing at his arm so he could pull you from the nest. 

The bed was too soft, and much too large for you. In the end, you’d slept sharing the bed with your Sire and littermates for two months, whimpering and crying when one of them was away. 

Now, you were laid in your own nest, on your back, looking up at the ceiling. The glow-in-the-dark stars on your ceiling aren’t as wonky. They’re too accurate and clean. Put up by Logan, bless him and his efforts to make you feel safe and at home in your new apartment. 

“Maus, are you in there?” 

Speak of the devil, and he shall appear, you think as you shift in your nest, making a sleepy growl at the American as he nudges the door open. Heaped on your plate is a frankly giant pile of white rice and crispy, perfectly fried pork with a barbeque sauce that makes your mouth water. 

Damn Oscar and his resources, getting the names and recipes of your favorite meal and somehow being able to cook them perfectly for you. You can practically smell how proud of Oscar that Logan is, preening as he sets the plate on the nightstand on the side of your nest. The food is tempting you. 

Rice and pork. That’s the one thing you could remember about your mother’s cooking. Rice was cheap and bountiful, and pork was a less expensive cut of meat due to the farms in the area. Pork and steamed rice, with the pork pounded thin, coated in breadcrumbs, and friend in a cast iron pan while you were held on her hip. It would get coated in a tangy barbeque sauce that still made your mouth water— even to this day. 

You need to eat. This you know. Your sulking will get you nowhere, and you will do nothing if you just continue to grumble about your rotten luck with teams and the people around you. 

The scent continues to waft in your nose. Logan chuffs grumpily when you continue to just lounge in your nest, reaching over to cuff your ear like a grumpy littermate, which is accurate to your relationship with him. Always bickering with each other, even before you were both promoted to F1 together.

Oscar pokes his head in the room, the perfect omega, with his doey eyes and unblemished skin. You can’t help it but feel a bit jealous of him. He’d always been a natural at everything, and now it just seemed to be being rubbed in your face. Especially with how easily he made food for you, and took care of you after everything. Unwittingly, you croon at him, allowing the other omega to enter your nest. Oscar does so happily, chirping for you and smiling in a way that would surprise the media with just how emotive he is. 

He’s a completely different person in private, every bit the perfect and beautiful omega as he smoothes your hair to your head gently, scenting you. He’s only a little older than you are, but it feels like a lifetime more. Always put together, always organized, with a plan in place. Oscar knew that Logan was his mate the moment he met him, when they were still pups, racing karts against each other. Oscar didn’t care when he presented as an omega first, and everyone assumed that Logan would be an omega. He was his mate, that was it. 

Now, as he takes care of you, during the pseudo-heat triggered by the way Will had reacted to you, with Logan watching over you. Oscar huffs at Logan, and the Alpha relents, making a soft chirping noise before leaving, closing the door behind him. Trying to urge you to sleep, pulling the phone from your hands as you mindlessly scroll. 

“Silly rodent,” Oscar teases, no venom in his words, only affection. “Still on TikToK?”

“It’s always that damn phone,” you deadpan, wordlessly. Teasing. Mocking how the older pack members treated the three of you as pups still, even when you’d all presented years before. And in your case, a decade before, a month after you’d turned seven. Still freakishly early, but not as freakishly early as four and a half. The doctors had taken you off the presentation-blocking meds for the sake of your liver. 

“Liberals, and whatever your Dam’s side would say,” Oscar lets you curl further into him. Feeling the slight roughness of the scarred side of your face on his cheek. “You’re clingier than normal.” 

“Sorry,” but you don’t move your face away. “False heats. You know.” 

“I know.”

The silence is comforting. Just the two of you, laying in the nest you’d made the moment you’d gotten back to London. False heats were an unfortunately common event with your… unique circumstances. To you, they were hell. Normally, an omega would have a true heat once every three months. But with you, and the strong suppressants and scent blockers you were on, you had a true heat once a year, meant to keep you from becoming infertile.

As annoying as it was to be prevented a treatment that totally stopped your heats  because of some hypothetical situation that was likely to never come true (you’d seen how pups shied away from you, and how many people struggled to not flinch when you turn to look at them, without the usual, skin-leveling makeup that hid the worst of your scarring). 

Besides, true heats had always been terrible for you. More uncomfortable than anything pleasurable, like they’d always been shown to be— days of passion between an omega and their mate, heartfelt whispers of having pups— what a lie. 

What was romantic about you having a fever while also having the chills, curled up in your nest and sweating. Cramping, unable to eat anything without throwing up— you’d happily forget that and never experience it again after your last true heat. 

When he had attempted to force a bond with you, he’d attempted to use a heat inducer on you, which was one of two ways to force a heat to occur. To use a heat inducer was risky. They were volatile at best, being measured in milligrams and even smaller, and never anything more than twenty milligrams at the absolute most. He had managed to get you with around thirty, and had planned to use double that, had you not fought him so much when he had initially tried. Had it not been for your mangled leg, the same one that had stopped you from running away from him, it would have triggered your heat within the hour. 

Instead, it took three, which was enough for you to get to a locked heat room, while your Sire dealt with the legal side of things. 

According to Lukas, Niki had nearly ripped James Vowles head from his body when the team principal had asked if you would still be willing to act as a race engineer at Williams if he was dismissed. That’s when things had started to get a bit ugly between Logan and Williams. You were out of it at that point, and for some reason, the FIA thought it would be a good idea to try and question you then. 

Micheal nearly came to Abu Dhabi himself when he’d learned about that little tidbit. 

But the fury of Prime Alpha, regardless of if he was in power or not, wasn't something to be taken as lightly as the FIA had tried to. (And besides, it wasn’t as if the current FIA president could fine Niki—  he wasn’t even a consulting member of a team anymore! To try and ban him from any race would be equally as impossible— especially with a reputation like the Niki Lauda.)

But why had Will acted in such a way? You were blunt, yes, but that’s why you’d been hired and why he’d been let go. Clearly, what he’d been doing wasn’t working. 

“Do you wanna talk about it?” 

“I don’t want to talk about anything.” You mumble. Rolling so that your back was to Oscar. 

“I’m here if you do.”

“I know you are.” 

“I just don’t….” Oscar trails off, his voice uncertain. Something left unsaid and waiting for you to answer, to let him say what he wants. 

“Don’t what?” You sound grumpier than you mean to. “Hide things?”

“I didn’t mean it like that,” Oscar huffs. He sounds like he’s wincing. And maybe you feel a little bad about it. But just because he’s older doesn’t mean he gets to treat you like a pup. “I just… worry. Especially with—”

“Don’t.”

“Okay, okay, I won’t, but,”

“The ‘but’ part of that implies you’re about to say something,” You groan, rubbing your face. “And it’s gonna be something I’ll be annoyed at, right?” You roll over to look at him. Scowling. 

Oscar looks like he’s just tried a lemon for the first time, with the face he’s making. Cheeks pink. Eyes darting anywhere but yours. 

“Don’t get mad,” He starts. 

“Oh for fucks sake,”

“Zak and Andrea wanted me to keep an eye on you. They’re both worried you’re about to quit, because of everything that’s happened in the first month.”

Oh. 

That’s not what you expected. So you reach over and pinch Oscar’s nose, making him whine like a pup being lectured for eating too much sugar. 

“Snitch.” Your scowl gets more pronounced. Oscar whines, bowing his head. “I’m a grown ass woman. I don’t need you to babysit me.”

“But they have a right to be worried!”

You try to ignore how he technically has a good point. The past two and a half months have not been…. Ideal, yes, but you were on the up-and-up! Sure, Lando being a prick and the Will incident had been annoying, but you were fine. You’d seen tougher. You’d been through worse. You’d worked at Williams with Nicholas Latifi. It could not get any worse than that. 

Maybe it wasn’t perfect. That was fine. You didn’t need it to be perfect. You just needed it to be anything else. 

“Whatever, I’m fine,” You lay on your back. Oscar makes an annoyed huffing noise, but doesn’t say anything else. SIlence lapses once again. Awkward. Tiring. Not as comfortable. So you do what you normally do. Check your social media, scrolling through your burners on everything but your LinkedIn. 

Which makes you gasp. 

Because you’re still awake at 12:27am, London time, which is also 1:27am, Monaco time. And Lando, for whatever reason, as of two minutes ago, has viewed your page. 

tags: @charlesgirl16 @boo8008 @the-holy-trinity-l @laura-naruto-fan1998 @amalialeclerc @vellicora @st0rmzi3 @poppyflower-22 @hiireadstuff @seonghwaexile @mrsmelinda @actuallyazriel @noam-rosier-icr

[cazzyf1]

Some information and lore about Gilles Villeneuve

During the driver's strike, Gilles played some joyful tunes, like music by Scott Joplin, he knew on the piano before it was used to barricade the door

He also played romantic music on the piano for Didier Pironi when Didier took some ladies out on a date

Alain Prost and Gilles Villeneuve shared a bed together during the driver's strike, and Patrick Tambay said if a baby came because of this, the rest of them might as well give up

Someone was snoring so loudly during the drivers sleepover that Gilles put a blanket over them to muffle it

Gilles once flew his helicopter near Niki Lauda's window at a hotel as he tried to land it. It woke Niki up from his sleep and Niki glared at him through the window

Enzo Ferrari saw Gilles like a son, and there were only a few drivers that Enzo was particularly close to

Gilles Villeneuve was discovered by James Hunt when Gilles raced against him. James and Gilles became quite close

He got nicknamed the 'Prince of destruction' at one point

Gilles Villeneuve and Didier Pironi got up to lots of fun together, including a game where they competed to see who could crash their rental car the best. They even got Alain Prost involved

Once, Gilles was giving Jody Scheckter a lift back home in his helicopter, Jody noticed a red blinking light, but Gilles told him not to worry. Every so often, suddenly, the aircraft would free fall (as Jody put it), freaking Jody out before Gilles got it under control again. Jody grabbed the manual for the helicopter and looked up what the red light meant. It meant that the battery was overheating. He then realised Gilles was purposely shutting down the engine to let the helicopter battery cool and then carry on flying

"During the flight between Montreal and Milan, Villeneuve had told Parent that he wanted permission to continue doing risky activities like skiing, driving his 4x4, boating and the like. "I told Mr. Ferrari that Gilles wanted to be the owner of his body. You have to believe that I used unusual words! Because Ferrari looked at me and asked me if I was a lawyer. I told him no. Then he asked Gilles if he was a lawyer. No. Ferrari asked me to repeat my question, which I did using the same words. And he accepted. In fact, Ferrari understood, by mistake, that Gilles wanted to be the owner of his body, in fact of his racing suit! That Gilles wanted to negotiate his own personal contracts. This is not what we had in mind, but that we got by mistake!" Parent exclaimed

Quebec rock and pop band 'The Box' made a song 'Live on TV' inspired by Gilles televised death. A Italian rock band 'The Rock Alchemist' wrote the song '27' as tribute to Gilles Villeneuve #27 f1 Ferrari

A film based on Gerland Donaldson's book about Gilles Villeneuve, directed by Daniel Roby reportedly entered production in 2023. However there hasn't been much information on it since.

Feel free to reblog with any other information you know about Gilles Villeneuve <3

[blairdii]

sooooo i was thinking thoughts

and i was thinking of how lando has said that he uses the hate he receives as fuel to do better. 2024 was obviously very negative in terms of how lando was perceived, but otherwise a very positive year for lando overall.

i was thinking of how lando had gotten pole in the past five races or something and lost the position at lap 1, and then he performed singapore. and then i was thinking of how everyone wanted ferrari to win and mclaren to lose, and when lando was on pole, everyone acted like ferrari had basically won, and then he performed abu dhabi.

if lando uses the hate as a fuel, it would be good to a certain extent. but, you add the overthinking habit of his, and thats where it all goes down. cause, then, you need to be careful of that fine line of where he can use it as a motivator and where it starts to bring him down.

like, before brazil, the usual comments about him were about his starts, about his teammate being better than him, about his ego. after brazil, it became about losing six positions, and the out of context quote, and the championship slipping away completely.

and then i was thinking and connecting it to andrea. about how he never praises lando and maybe that makes lando want to work even harder, do even better. i dont remember if mclaren did a post race debrief on instagram, so i can't tell for sure if andrea said anything about lando then. but, what i do remember is the interview that lando did with the telegraph after his birthday, the painful one, the one where he was talking about how he hadn't slept for 48 hours. i remember lando mentioning in that interview that andrea did help him out of that spiral.

im not praising andrea in this, i promise. he may have gotten us the wcc win, but he, in no way or form, backed lando for the wdc when it mattered. i honestly dont even know the point of this rant, i was just thinking thoughts and im telling you cause we're married now so you have no choice but to read all of these.

i remember reading about interviews and general norrussell lore about how george would jokingly make fun of lando and his races, and lando would use that as a motivator. i remember reading about how george had made a joke in sochi, and lando had taken it harder than george thought he would, so he checked on lando himself and made sure that lando understood that he didn't mean it in a malicious intent, but rather in their usual banter way.

this did not have a point. im sorry. i was thinking thoughts. i guess, the end whatever of this is that lando needs to play jumprope with that line between motivation and overthinking.

but yknow what the thing is. if (read as: when) starts winning every race or every other race, its not like the hate comments are going to stop. theyre going to continue, and as long as theyre about the usual things (ego, pia>nor, blah blah blah), lando can very well use it as a motivator and win more.

also, praying that mcl fixes their starts issue, because we know lando's gonna have a lot of poles this season, and we need that start issue FIXED.

i think it's a veryyyy big risk take to use hate as fuel sometimes, but then when i do think about it, the more lando's gonna win, the more hate he will get (i guess that's just how it is in sports, notwithstanding the unnecessary, quite immature vitriol tho). and, you see, when that does happen, i hope he uses it more as a 'i'm too good and they still can't accept that' instead of a 'what am i doing wrong?'

unfortunately he'll never be everybody's cup of tea (that is the case for all drivers, however, more evidently for lando than anybody sadly), but that doesn't mean he's nobody's cup of tea, and i do hope it gets to a point where he uses his support as his catalyst, than just the hate. i mean, at the end of the day, lando has absolutely nothing to prove. he finished almost 100 points ahead of his teammate, went from 0 wins to 4 in a matter of one season, out-qualified oscar 20-4, helped mclaren really take that wcc for themselves— it's all there for people to see. fans who have rocks for brains can still spew the whole 'oscar is better than lando', and whether they truly believe that or not, i don't care, but it's simply not true. perhaps they say it out of spite, just so they have something against lando, but i'll be damned if someone who finished that far behind their teammate... is better than them? yeah okay. (also perceive this how you want, but i am far from an oscar hater, and the truth is gonna be the truth no matter how you interpret this.)

anyways anyways i'm going off track. lando can certainly use the 'who's better?' debate as a motivator, absolutely. as for andrea... i need that italian hobbit to pattern up and show support to the driver who completely deserves it, instead of being apathetic in public, and consoling in private. it does nothing but fuel the antis, that even his own team principal isn't backing him. and it'll continue to push the pia>nor rhetoric no matter how good lando performs.

[starset21]

Ok here’s my final thoughts I guess?

First of all congrats to McLaren fans, your team worked hard. I was rooting for Ferrari and they gave it their absolute all, Charles, Carlos and the team.

Some race reactions:

- The start of the race was just 😮

- The collision between Bottas and Perez and Perez having to park it 😬

- Charles moving to 6th by like lap 10

- Colapinto retiring from the race 🥺

- Bottas and Magnussen’s collision😒

- Leclerc in 3rd!!

- Lawson out?

- Lewis!!! that run up to 4th was just wow!!

Reflection on the year for me personally: (I’m gonna yap)

If someone would have told me 8 months ago that I would have fallen in love with formula one I genuinely would have laughed in their face. In fact last summer I was teasing my friend’s (now ex) boyfriend about him watching it and the weird times for American fans. I’ve made no shortage of referencing that I am a nascar girlie, it’s what I grew up with. One night near then end of March after my dad had watched the nascar Netflix docuseries (without me 😓) I saw Drive to Survive and suggested maybe that be our next watch together (despite the fact that my dad had always said formula one was boring). From the first episode and Danny Rics iconic personality I was hooked. I watched more and more, fascinated by the things that go into building and racing these formula one cars.

In the beginning of April this year I was in a hotel room and bored looking for something to watch on tv. It just so happened that it was free practice 2 of the Japan GP. I watched until the end of the session and then went to bed, didn’t think much about it. Continued watching DTS and learning more (knowing that it was exaggerated). Then Miami in May. My first time watching a full qualifying and a race. And what a race it was. I had bugged my cousin to watch it with me and from then on she was hooked too. Some of the races I couldn’t watch due to them being when I had other time commitments in the mornings but I was checking my phone for the timings, others I swore I wasn’t gonna wake up early (like 3 am) but my body had other plans and woke me up anyways 😂. I learned some f1 lore, watched more of the drivers interactions with each other, became a Max fan after starting off as Charles fan, stopped being afraid to yap about it to just about anyone who will listen to me, I guess to sum up everything is what a season!

Formula one is kind of the first sport I’ve gotten into for my own personal enjoyment and I’m so grateful for all the people I’ve interacted with here on tumblr and the laughter from other peoples reactions to things that have happened this season <3

[w1ld-wr1t3r]

lestappen with no 49? ❤️💙

I almost did yet another on-a-whim AU with this one, since the song comes from the game Death Stranding, but the lore of the game is super complicated and I don't feel like tackling it when I've already recently committed to another new AU. (yeah, I'm committing to the Creator AU. I got some chat messages asking some great questions about it, and it encouraged me to clarify and flesh out the lore a bit more!) Luckily, I found a way to make this one work as a normal drabble too.

49. Death Stranding by CHVRCHES

"Let's make a toast, yeah?"

Charles sighed but raised his glass, smiling at Max. He was glad that the long, grueling season he'd had was finally behind him, but he was more glad that Max was here with him.

"What are we toasting, exactly?" he asked. For him, there wasn't really much to toast. This season had been aggravating from day one. He'd gotten into more on-track incidents than he could count, had multiple bad pit stops (including two in one race - how did Ferrari fuck up that badly?), and had nearly had to resort to tearing his own hair out so he didn't jump on the drivers who had angered him all year.

It felt like he had to beg the universe sometimes for even a hint of a win. Why did things have to be so aggravating?

And he and Max had nearly had trouble this year, too. He still wondered what would have become of them if they had let things continue to fester before talking them out. Would they have fallen apart? Would they have still been able to hold it together?

Thankfully, he didn't have to worry about the answer to that question. Because Max was still here.

"To us," Max said, smiling and giving Charles' hand a squeeze. "To the light and happiness we fought to keep."

This time, Charles' smile was more authentic. He thought about the darkness they'd avoided, keeping their relationship strong. Maybe someday, they could make their mark in the stars together.

He clinked his glass with Max's. "To us."

[phoenixisobsessed]

Does your black and red oc (Night Runner I think?) have any lore? Like I see you post them sometimes but I don't know much bout them

Also I've seen multiple designs, what continuity are those each from? Or are they all redesigns? I assume the big one is from prime because it looks really detailed??

Oh bro somebody actually asked me about this holy fuck. You better be SO READY.

So all of the different versions are from different generations yes. My ultimate goal is to make one for each continuity but yk.

So this would be Nightrunner animated ^

That’s Nightrunner IDW ^

Then there’s Transformers Prime ^

And of course, generation 1. ^

And y’all better be ready to hear extremely self indulgent “I don’t give a shit what other people think” cringe levels of lore.

So, I created Nightrunner with the thought in mind that he (and his twin brother, Nightmare) are made using Megatron’s genetical code. Which MEAAANS yes they are in fact sons of Megatron. Yaaaaaayyy!!!! Off to a great start guys. Basically they were created like mid-war, and heavily modified as sparklings to become weapons, and were experimented on to see just how efficient you could artificially make a Cybertronian, especially at a younger age. Imma be focusing on Nightrunner rn though.

(EXTRA NOTE: This is mostly within an AU I have so universe facts and shit may be different. 🔥 This is what I have made for funsies.)

(Blue text is gonna just be a bunch of fun facts of his systems/functions)

His pain sensors were turned way down, but to counter that bis system scanners are extremely sensitive and constantly activated, so he’ll immediately get alerted if ANYTHING is wrong. But, it means he can handle more abuse and last longer in battle. He’s a slight bit taller than your average bot at around 6-7m (depending on continuity I guess) and stands at 8 meters of height. He is in no way the biggest bot though, since he is specifically designed for stealth and speed. (He is surprisingly light for his size as well!!) He is also a triple changer, being both a jet and Ferrari GT3 296. (Don’t ask me how his designs make sense with that, they don’t and I don’t CARE.) So he lacks a bit in strength, but he makes up for all of that in speed. His morals have been turned all the way down as well, again having been designed as an actual weapon, and 99% of his life has been combat training and stealth missions. Like his dad is a warlord, what do you want. But he actually doesn’t get to spend that much time with his dad as a sparkling since, he is a warlord and is busy af. So instead he gets sent around to different Decepticon commanders for training and such. Or he’s forced to stick around his brother so he won’t run off and cause trouble. In his later years though, (post-sparklinghood I guess) he’s a great spy/assassin, who usually goes on high-profile or more dangerous stealth missions. He often does infiltration, or outpost-takedowns. Intel gathering is his main thing. He does though struggle with extremely horrible nightmares due to his difficult upbringing, and the war, but he’s usually nocturnal, going on missions after dark. Again, depending on continuity he very much enjoys spending time with Skywarp, or Knock Out. Some people he can gossip with. And he usually uses charm to get out of trouble if ever finds himself in deep shit. Horribly desensitised to violence and death. I’d say that’s mostly his lore though.

TLDR; Megatron’s son, created in the middle of the war, experimented on and made into a weapon, now a very successful spy with some kind of PTSD.

I don’t have any very specific stories of him really I guess. He’s just a silly little guy. I guess I have a few stories where they used him as an undercover spy before the Autobots found out about his existence, where he used the name Blacknova. That’s a kinda silly thing.

[moonvisi0n]

🗣️ Continue watching...

Been watching races from 2015 & 2022!

Initially bc Ferrari's F175 genuinely made me laugh. Look at the sides, every overhead shot kills me. It's even worse when they DNF cause it's in the gravel or or the engine blew yet the car is comically that shape :D 2022 szn is kind of 2019 championship reborn so love it

At first I stopped watching the 2015 season cause they announced Bianchi's passing, which stressed me too much to continue. Wanted to watch a modern race (?) and since Redbull were insane 2023, I picked 2022 cause Mick ! (2015 Silver war lore ruining me however--

Also watched the 2018 German Grand Prix...

Knew that angle looked familiar :( sigh 2019 Charles Don't you know you're Vettel, Alonso, Massa, Räikkönen, Prost? The hand beckons ?

Also 2022 was the porpoising chaos szn & it hurts watchin' the goat have back issues

[skitskatdacat63]

ask game: 10 why did you pick this specific pairing???

specific: generally love the Vettonso world but also your time swap artwork 🥰

but also generally Vettonso!!! For the why thsi pairing plsss pretty plssss

ask me about my art or fics(masterpost here!)

OMG that art is so old now atp 🤧 I wrote about why I ship vettonso here, which I think is better to link than me writing all that down again but worse LOL. Basically it's inherently tied to two things. One. They're my two favorite drivers so it's obviously a match made in heaven!(or hell, considering it's them) Two. Boy King AU, because they're intertwined; I wouldn't be into vettonso if not for the real life history behind the AU and I wouldn't have created the AU if not for them fitting so well!

I also talked here about why their lore and why I love them so much!!!! But truly I think I could forever wax poetic. I also just like the rarepairness of it, because I like I have more "freedom" cause they feel like my little guys who I can put in various situations. It's already niche enough, let me make it nicher!!!(totally a word.) I think what really solidified them in my mind was Japan '23, where we miraculously got a really good moment of them. Not that I wouldn't ship them if we didn't get that moment, but the fact that there's that tiny chance we might get one every time they're at a race together is so fun for me! But overall I like their equality/mirrorness, narrative and how underrated they are as a pairing, it makes it very fun for me to engage in, especially the propagandizing and campaigning!(I am deranged)

As for that drawing, I always love the idea of older/younger versions of ships or even just characters in general meeting each other/themselves! I explained it in that post, but I feel like the older versions of them have definitely softened towards each other, and if they got to meet the younger version of each other again, maybe they'd actually understand each other and not continue to villainize each other. Older Fernando could appreciate younger Seb's enthusiasm rather than seeing him as an eventual usurper, and Seb, having gone through Ferrari himself, could understand where younger Fernando was coming from and why he was so tense/bitter. Also the idea for my vettonso picrew came from this drawing, cause after drawing it, I wanted to draw EVERY version of them together. And then realized, oh hey wait can't I just make a picrew!? But yeah, basically I think very deeply about how all the different combinations of them would interact with each other(and I love that the nature of F1 with the team swapping allows for clear delineations of eras!) I'd love to draw more of this sometime >:)

[dystini]

Indycar Driver Lore

Indycar Driver Lore Masterlist

Callum Benjamin Ilott

Birthdate: Nov. 11, 1998 Hometown: Cambridge, England Residence: Indianapolis, Indiana Height/Weight: 5’10”/136lbs

Rookie Year: 2022

Team: Super Sub (The first driver teams call when they need a substitute driver.)

Follow him on: Instagram Twitter Twitch YouTube

Career Stats

2021: 3 races with Juncos Hollinger Racing - 38th Overall 2022: Juncos Hollinger Racing - 20th Overall 2023: Juncos Hollinger Racing - 16th Overall

The Side Pod (with Marcus Armstrong) You Tube

WEC 2024 Hertz Team Jota Hypercar

Callum and Tatiana Calderón were team mates in 2015 with George Russell in European F3. Felix Rosenqvist was the series champion that year

Felix worked with the Prema F3 team in 2017 which was the year Callum raced with Prema in F3

he went to the same school as Devlin DeFrancesco and Enaam Ahmed who drives with Juncos in Indy pro 200 (for anyone interested in F1/F2 Oscar Piastri, Jehan Daruvala and Clem Novalak went there too)

He first met Conor Daly in 2013

he was meant to drive Romain’s Haas car during an FP1 session in 2020 but it was rained off

at the end of April 2022 he was asked on twitch who his friends in IndyCar were and he could only name Conor and Christian Lundgaard

he was karting rivals with Alex Palou

Competing in his second full season in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES with Juncos Hollinger Racing.

Member of the Ferrari Driver Academy who served as Scuderia Ferrari’s test driver and one of Alfa Romeo’s reserve drivers in 2021. Also raced in the 2021 GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup with Iron Lynx and co-drove an Iron Lynx Ferrari 488 to LM GTE AM class podium at 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Finished second in FIA Formula 2 in 2020 with three wins and five pole positions.

Enjoys swimming, climbing, building remote-controlled cars and video games.

Looking forward to learning American sports.

Favorites - TV Show: "Money Heist;" Movie Star: Chris Hemsworth

Says racing heroes are Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher.

Allergic to cats

Iconic/memorable moments 2022 INSIDE THE RACE // CALLUM ILOTT AT MID-OHIO 'It was a CHAOTIC race!' | Sky IndyCar Vodcast: Callum Ilott Indy 500 Open Test Day 1 Report with Callum Ilott Calum Ilott INDY 500 CRASH - 2022 Indianapolis 500 Screaming Meals - Episode 002 - Callum Ilott Screaming Meals - INDYCAR! ft. Callum Ilott St.Pete IndyCar Race Recap with Callum Illott and Marshall Pruett TRACK WALK // GRAND PRIX OF PORTLAND CALLUM ILOTT GIVES PACERS DRAFT PICKS TOUR OF IMS CALLUM ILOTT: The F2 Star Talks F1, Indy, and Rolling w/the Punches | THE RED FLAGS PODCAST Interview with INDYCAR Driver Callum Ilott from Juncos Hollinger Racing Aeroscreen saves Callum Ilott from debris! | Onboard IndyCar Texas 2022 Callum Ilott Talks About His Indy500 Debut | KC Happy Hour Callum Ilott Interview After Topping Final Practice | 2022 NTT IndyCar Series at Barber ‘How do racing drivers wee?’: Watch IndyCar Ace Callum Ilott Answer Your Questions Callum Ilott becomes friends with a frog…

Callum is easygoing and happy, with a ready grin. He’s one of the friendliest people in the paddock with fans and other drivers alike. He’s got the typical dry British sense of humor and can be self-depreciating, except when it comes to his racing. In that area, he is analytical, confident in his own abilities and ready to offer constructive criticism to his team every time he gets out of the car. He built his team up from scratch in 2022, often finishing races higher than his car was capable of and with the addition of a second car and driver, is continuing to lead the way. Rumors abound that he is headed for a bigger and better team in the near future. While his current contract is for several years, only 2023 is guaranteed and there are likely several different options available to him and the team concerning where he will drive.

Fanfic Lore

Paired with Kyle Kirkwood. Ship name kirklott Paired with Marcus Armstrong due to their time together as roommates and in F2. Members of the Ferrari Acadamy together.

Paired with Mick Schumacher (F1). They raced together in F2. Members of the Ferrari Acadamy together.

[enam3l]

Oooh while your requests are open what about Eddie buying reader the first big purchase after the band goes big

Eddie and reader had discussed being tight with the money he makes, still not used to their new life, but what if Eddie buys her a new car she desperately needs and it’s not just any car its a super car 😭 like she goes to work in her beat up beetle with the wobbly tailpipe and no air and comes out to a ferrari 😭😭😭😭😭😭

This is so cute! I'm gonna change it a lil if that's okay to fit the storyline so far. Basically, when reader and Eddie meet, Corroded Coffin have already released their debut album so he's pretty set for cash. Although he is still shook he has money but loves spending it on reader (like in their first holiday fic.) Check the comments for theeee car.

driving mrs munson (rockstar eddie x reader) ficlet / fluff

you can see all rockstar eddie x reader stories and lore at #enam3ls rockstar eddie or the masterlist! and check out my new series love, lola

Once you were married, you and Eddie both decided to make Hawkins your permanent residence. Your house had been one that Eddie went past everyday when growing up, always admiring how it stood out from the other suburban cookie cutter houses. Once the band had been signed, as if by magic, for the first time ever the house was for sale. Eddie used the check to buy the house for himself, a reminder of his ultimate goal in life -  to fall in love and build a life and family with someone. Now that is exactly what was happening. 

Moving to Hawkins marked a the start of something you'd both always dreamed; creating a loving and safe family that you'd both grown up dreaming of. Although you and Eddie had both loved living in New York where you had spent your five years together getting into mischief, it was absent of the people you loved the most. The pair of you wanted the kids you longed for to grow up around their makeshift family. At night you'd hold each other and plan it all. How your kids would only know Wayne as Grandpa (regardless of biology, he was Eddie's father) and have sleepovers at his house. Or how they could walk down the road to play with Steve and Marissa's kids. And how they'd been spoilt rotten on birthdays and christmases by all their adoptive aunties and uncles. 

Whilst Eddie had always been back and forth between New York and Hawkins, it had been a very long time since you'd lived anywhere but a bustling city. So long that you'd forgotten about one issue - transport. It took a week before you were clutching your hair in frustration at a small town's answer to public transport. No subways or frequent buses to take you anywhere you desired. Eddie had to hide the smirk on his face watching you attempt to resurrect the battered white (and splattered with rust) Mustang you'd owned since before he knew you. Although he was grateful the old car was literally what brought into his life in February 89, Eddie wasn't keen about letting you continue to drive it. It was unreliable and was beginning to feel like sitting in the Flintstone's car, and whilst he loved being your personal chauffeur, it just wasn't feasible. So Eddie had a solution. 

One thing Eddie had found about being a rockstar was people were always trying to sell him things like cars. Ridiculous extravagant and expensive things that no human actually needs. Many parties and events he'd listen to other celebrities boast and croon over their latest purchase. Eddie had always thought it was surreal, looking round the room waiting for someone to reveal it was a prank. These people were buying cars that cost five times the trailer he'd grown up in with Wayne, and they dropped the cash so casually like it was a packet of cigarettes. But all of this did mean Eddie knew where to buy a good car from. 

Even before you'd gotten married and moved, Eddie had an inkling you'd be in need of a car once you moved. Therefore, he was thoroughly prepared for the moment. For months when you were out he dropped careful questions when you went past a car. 

'That one is cool, hey sweetheart?'

'Could you imagine driving a car that big?'

'I never knew you could get cars that colour...'

So with the help with some very eager salesmen, he'd whittled down the options to one he thought was perfect for you. And for the last month Eddie was waiting on the call to say they'd tracked down the exact car he wanted to you. 

As he watched you in the drive away flipping the bird and your old banger, Eddie struggled not to chuckle down the phone to the salesman. The car was ready for him to collect, finally. Eddie grabbed his jacket and keys and went to offer his chauffeur services one last time. 

'Want me to drop you off sweetheart?' 

Your frustrated little face turned to him and gave a small little nod. 

'Okay, get in Miss Daisy,' he chuckled giving a playful smack to your ass. 

Eddie dropped you off at Marissa and Steve's with a kiss. Then, sped off to pick up Wayne who would drive the van back for him as Eddie took your new car home. 

As he stood in the driveway admiring the beautiful vehicle, Eddie couldn't believe how perfectly the plan had come together. Steve was on his way to drop you home and everything was ready for your arrival. Even though the showroom had it perfect, Eddie had to make sure it was sparkling and had polished it himself. Then, he finished it off with a comically large bow he'd been hiding for weeks just for the occasion. Finally, Steve pulled up (still loyal to the BMW brand). Artfully, he was distracting you with chatter so you had yet to notice the new toy in front of your house. 

'Thank you Stevie! See you guys at the weekend!' You shouted through the open window before he sped off. What you didn't notice was the cheeky wink Steve gave Eddie before he left. You walked towards the house, totally oblivious as you fished for your keys until a cough from the the voice you'd recognise anywhere, caught your attention. 

'Jesus Ed you near-' your jaw dropped, along with your keys to the floor when you looked up. 

There stood your husband leaning like a model against the nicest car you'd ever seen. A Porsche 964. 

'Who? What? Whose is that?' you gawped, taking in the lush metallic paintwork. The sporty car was the colour of a glittery purple grape. 

'Yours, hot stuff,' Eddie's grin spread right across his face as he threw a set of keys your way. You stood shell shocked, only just managing to scramble to catch the keys before they pelted you in the head. 

The keys jangled as you analysed them, he was right - they were yours. Indicated by a keyring with a photo of you and Eddie from a photobooth on your honeymoon as well as another keyring with your new initials on. 

Y/I M

When you finally found your voice you scolded him. 

'Edward! What the fuck! You got this... for me?'

'Don't full name me, baby! I just bought you a badass car. Couldn't let you out in the death trap anymore,' he frowned. 

Of course, that was so Eddie, always looking at for you and putting you first. Your face crumpled, overwhelmed by his extravagant thoughtfulness. 

'Eds,' you gasped, 'you shouldn't have! You've just given me my dream wedding and honeymoon and hou-'

You're silenced by Eddie pinching your lips closed, a boyish grin on his face. 

'Sweetheart, I'd pay for that all again and more. Consider it a late wedding present or early birthday present. Look, where's my thank you kiss?' He pursed his soft lips. 

You launched yourself at him, arms and legs wrapping around him. Mouth pressed to his, then peppering the rest of his pretty face in misses. Eddie's hands tucked under your ass, fingers gripping your soft thighs as he deepened your kiss. He went to rest you on the bonnet until you pulled away, tutting. 

'Ah ah ah, don't muss my paintwork!' 

'Sorry sweetheart! Do you like it?' he asked so earnestly, as if you'd ever disliked anything he ever gave you. 

'Are you kidding, baby? It's perfect,' you squealed, fingers skating delicately over the car. 'Can we go for a drive?' 

Eddie's heart swelled watching your eyes wide with excitement, bouncing like a giddy child on the spot. 

'Of course! Let's go!'

Your hands lay intertwined with Eddie's on the centre console as you ventured down the winding Hawkins roads. Never in your life had you driven a car this spectacular, let alone owned one. The car glided effortlessly up the off-road path let led to Lovers Lake and you pulled to a stop. Eddie raised his eyebrow in confusion. 

'Whatcha doing sweetheart?'

Noticing your wicked smile. Your free hand inched up his chest until you reached his collar, pulling him close towards you. 

'Wanna see if this cars big enough to make out in?' your breath warm on Eddie's mouth. 

'Fuck yeah,' he gasps before latching onto your mouth. 

The pair of you grunted into each others mouths, tongues intertwining as both your hands wondered, tugging each other closer. Eventually you break for air. 

'Don't think it's quite big enough for car sexy anymore, will have to bend you over the bonnet,' Eddie smirks nipping at your neck. 

You swat him, feigning annoyance but his shamelessness never fails to make you laugh. 

'Behave... I don't want to ruin my paint job.'

The pair of your grin at each other, completely smitten. Eddie looks over his shoulder, straight out the rear window due to the absence of backseats. 

'We'll have to upgrade you once you're pregnant though,' his face is still cheeky but Eddie speaks with a slightly timid tone. His hand instinctively reaching out, warm and gentle on your soft tummy. You both look down at where his hand rests, butterflies in both your stomachs at the thought of what could be. 

my taglist angels: @whoahoney @lukewearingbeanies @esme-viridian @elysian-chaos @munsonology @mseddiemunson @kreepja

[sweetsmellosuccess]

The Best (and Worst) Films of 2019

In many ways, 2019 served as a crucible, and no more so, at least cinematically, than with the venerable superhero flick. After a deluge of big studio films on the subject of capes and spandex (the MCU includes 22 films since the 2008 release of Iron Man; the nascent DCU, running it fits and starts has seven), we saw the explosive close-out of the previous “phases” with Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame; as well as the rise of pseudo art-house comic book film, Joker, in the same bloody year.

The talk on Film Twitter  —  the living definition of ‘tempest in a teacup’ —  was all about those films, and Martin Scorsese’s now legendary take down of the genre by referring to the super hero films, collectively, as  “theme parks.” But in truth, there were many, many other films that came out during the year, some of them utterly brilliant, some of them ridiculously awful. Here are my picks for both, with some of what I wrote about them at the time in my review.

10. Avengers: Endgame

“There are so many small but noteworthy details -- opening the film with Traffic's "Dear Mr. Fantasy"; the name drops, and special shout-outs to comics' fans; the small character beats that allow each protagonist more than just a quip or two; the closing credits, which give singular notice to the stars who have been there from the beginning, and wisely do not use the signature Marvel trick of teasing out the next film, which gives the series, at last, a sense of real closure, if only temporary -- the film feels as if it has been created and calibrated with the utmost care. For a film destined to break the bank no matter how shoddy they might have made it, Marvel has poured enough genuine soul into it to earn its inevitable bounty.”

Full Review

9. Her Smell

“In some ways, the film takes on a sort of Raging Bull aspect, Martin Scorsese's classic film about a boxer's rise and fall, only to turn the ending on its head. In Scorsese's picture, we see Jake LaMotta, now fat and retired, attempt to break into showbiz as a comedian, the scenes draped in cutting sardonicism. Perry gives Becky a much less punishingly ironic turn, but instead a hero's journey, venturing away from the abyss into something a good deal less grandiose and realized.”

Full Review

8. The Last Black Man in San Francisco

“It's also a film about the versions of the stories whose ideas lend depth and valor to our otherwise nondescript lives, the things we hope make us the heroes of our own narratives. In this way, Jimmie's story is conflated with that of the city itself, and the palpable sense of loss he feels about his family's house is mirrored in the city's own loss of identity.”

Full Review

7. Under the Silver Lake

“Mitchell fairly stuffs the film with portents, symbols, and runes, some real, some imagined. Squirrels mysteriously fall dead at Sam's feet, a parrot in his courtyard keeps calling out something he can't decipher, a dog killer stalks the neighborhood, and graffiti strewn about the area calls out to him. Films are always encoded with symbolic meaning, utilizing visual language to instill emotion and establish significance for the audience (think of Spielberg's girl with the red coat in Schindler's List, or James Dean's red windbreaker in Rebel Without a Cause), Mitchell's film gives us so many options, almost everything can be read symbolically, which perfectly captures the paranoia his character feels, and the pointlessness of trying to make sense of it at all.”

Full Review

6. Marriage Story

“Noah Baumbach’s latest film, about the dissolution of married couple – played extraordinarily well by Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson – will no doubt get comparisons made to Bergman’s brilliant Scenes From a Marriage. But whereas that 1972 film concerned the relationship itself, its highs and lows and metamorphoses, Baumbach’s film is much more about the logistics, legal and otherwise, of ending a very much shared life together.”

Capsule Review

5. Midsommar

“Viewing Aster's films is a bit like walking into an art installation -- quite literally, as he populates his frame with stunning compositions and art-focused mise en scene, as with the beautifully designed wooden structures of the compound, or the exquisite murals and art displayed on the building's walls (a huge shout-out to his production designer, Henrik Svensson, and the art directing crew) -- but, as with Hereditary, behind all the sumptuous, hand-crafted beauty, there is a cruel, brutal core of humanity's continued savagery. If art represents the best sort of impulses of humankind, in Aster's hands, it becomes yet another facade, hiding -- or in this case, exemplifying -- our instinct for vicious barbarity.”

Full Review

4. Parasite

“By the end, as it swerves inexorably into blood-soaked violence, the film reveals to be a bit of a con itself, drawing us in with its enticing humor, then opening up into a much darker vision, before ending on an emotional note of surprising vulnerability. Through it all, Bong shows a mastery of odd tones, from the opening comedic salvo, to the final emotional beats.”

Capsule Review

3. Uncut Gems

“It’s one of those pressure-cooker films, where the steam builds more and more intense as Howard gets in and out of trouble through his ability to constantly shift the playing board. There’s a scene about midway through, with various aggrieved characters coalescing at once in his office, as he’s trying to have a speaker phone conversation with his doctor, that’s so stressful, you will want to avert your eyes and remind yourself of the exit signs.”

Capsule Review

2. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

“It's also an unexpected joy to watch the nonchalant swagger of Pitt match up with DiCaprio's more high-strung ministrations. Two of the biggest film stars alive playing mostly washed up TV actors may stack the irony, but both of them settle in so well into their characters, you can't help but admire the result. Rick is a dude whose ego has gone from tumescent to shriveled -- he parks his car miserably in front of one of his own old movie posters -- but beneath all his hubris and despair, he actually has a lot of talent. As always, it's pure joy to watch Pitt smoke up a screen, a middle-aged Redford speaking every line with a sinfully breezy smile, whose confidence extends around him like the golden hue of his deep suntan.”

Full Review

1. Knives Out

“More than the plot itself, an ingenious and kinetic thing that's as satisfying as a hot bowl of soup on a raw and windy day, there's the sense of joyous chaos from the cast. Those scenes where the family is all together, in the drawing room and continually at each other's throats are so delicious, they should come with a napkin. The interplay between vets like Shannon, Johnson, Curtis and Collette is filled with fractious energy, the characters revisiting age-old disagreements ("Your kid's a brat!" -- "Your kid is a Nazi!") with sadistic glee. Even when they band together, in moments, against what they believe to be a common enemy, it's clear the harmony between them is more Iggy and the Stooges than Beach Boys. In short, Johnson has devised a perfect ensemble of dreadful characters and set them all against one another in a narrative fishbowl filled with lye.”

Full Review

Other Worthy Mentions:

Amazing Grace, American Factory, Apollo 11, Bacurau, Birds of Passage, Charlie Says, Cold Case Hammarskjöld, Dark Suns, Dark Waters, Ford v Ferrari, Greener Grass, In Fabric, John Wick 3, Jojo Rabbit, Luce, Midnight Traveler, Ms. Purple, Pain and Glory, Rewind, Something Else, Terminator: Dark Fate, The Farewell, The Hole in the Ground, The Irishman, The Lighthouse, The Nightingale, The Report, The Souvenir, The Vast of Night, This is Not Berlin, Us, Varda by Agnes, Vitalina Varella

Best Upcoming Releases of 2019

The Personal History of David Copperfield

The Burnt Orange Heresy

Bad Education

First Cow

The Worst Films of 2019

5. Greta

“In short, Jordan turns Greta into a Michael Myers-esque boogeyman, everywhere and no place at once, almost a phantom, but for her high heels and French condemnation. In this way, the filmmaker loses his grip on his material.”

Full Review

4. Ma

“Apart from a truly absurd script, director Tate Taylor's film performs ungainly political gyrations -- asking us to root against a survivor of sexual abuse and humiliation for trying to gain (albeit misplaced) revenge on her attacker. Sort of a rape-revenge thriller set upside down, such that nothing makes any ethical (or emotional) sense. It quickly becomes an awkward mishmash of impulses, wanting to provide cheap scares while fostering a deeply schizoid sense of sympathy, while managing to fail mightily at both.”

Full Review

3. The Dead Don’t Die

“Jarmusch's proclivities have always leaned toward such lightly affecting material -- as if the act of actually generating emotion is somehow vulgar and unseemly -- which has also endeared him to his faction of fans. For everyone else, though, it doesn't leave much to look at. Filmed without fanfare (albeit with a few more special effects than usual, and a kind of cool splattering of sand-like mist when the zombies are beheaded), and with the intensity knobs all turned down to their lowest setting, he continues his sous vide-style of filmmaking. Whether you like the dish he's serving, or want to throw your hands in the air and go somewhere else for dinner is all in your temperament. Whatever you choose, you can be certain the same menu will be available the next time you venture back.”

Full Review

2. Dark Phoenix

“The clearest loss, however, is with the story itself -- its legacy struck deep in Marvel lore -- once again being studio nitpicked, and focus-grouped to within an inch of its life. If Endgame audaciously proved a superhero movie could rise toward an emotionally satisfying arc, this failed attempt proves the opposite is also true: Chronic incoherence, even if spread out among a multitude of titles over 20 years, just feels like a soulless money grab. Adding to the sense of this film's slapdashery, the trailer features lines and moments unused in the actual cut, which is never a good sign.”

Full Review

1. Lucy in the Sky

“The film is meandering and pretty much pointless, a major flaw that Hawley himself indicated in his introduction (“we work as hard on the bad ones as we do the good ones,” he told the audience in an example of supreme foreshadowing. Portman does her best, but the film sputters pretty hard, and is never able to justify itself.”

Capsule Review

Other Dishonorable Entries:

The Aftermath, The Curse of La Llorona, Gemini Man, Glass, Hellboy, Joker

Inexplicably Overrated: Joker, The Dead Don’t Die

Biggest Welcome Surprise(s): Ford v Ferrari, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Most Bitter Disappointment(s): The Lodge, Wounds

Film That Critics Got Wrong: Waves

Best Film I Saw Last Year, Period: Scenes From a Marriage

[cherrynika]

I just have a question. How many people who believe this were fans in the TR and RB years? Because I’ve followed him since 2008 (took a break for much of the Ferrari years so I’m not well-versed in the Charles/Seb lore)

He’s not really as bad as many people: he wasn’t racist or anything, but he was a lot of things! And I think that a big part of why I continue to be a fan is because he’s changed and grown. I take this attitude towards a lot of the younger drivers as well: it’s ok to admit that someone is a prick or a racist. Let him change and grow. It’s really normal and healthy for someone to become a different person between 18 and 34. It is admirable when they take steps to be a better person.

THIS

[orbemnews]

Jaguar’s Dynamic Duo, the E-Type Coupe and Convertible, Gets One Last Parade Jaguar’s E-Type has been a showstopper from the start. Specifically the 1961 Geneva International Motor Show, when Jaguar took the wraps off its coupe and convertible concepts. No less of an expert than Enzo Ferrari instantly judged the E-Type the most beautiful car in the world. Many car connoisseurs still hold this view. Jaguar had intended to remember that introduction 60 years ago at the Geneva show originally set for March, but pandemic lockdowns iced those plans. So Jaguar came up with a new way to celebrate. But first, a little more history. Back in early March 1961, Jaguar’s new cars barely arrived in time for their much-anticipated introductions — after a couple of epic drives that are part of E-Type lore. The company had decided to preview the coupe for magazine journalists with early deadlines, and some mischievous journalists had gotten it up to 150 m.p.h. on back roads — a racecar-worthy, and prison-worthy, speed at the time. So after that joy ride, the coupe was still drawing attention at Jaguar’s headquarters in Coventry, England, long after it was supposed to have left for Geneva. Too late to transport it, a public relations manager, Bob Berry, decided to drive it, catching the midnight ferry from Dover. But he ran into fog that lasted until Reims, in France. Now critically late, to make up for lost time Berry set out on the drive of his life. He arrived just 20 minutes before the scheduled unveiling on Geneva’s waterfront, against the backdrop of its famous water jet fountain. There was barely time for the steaming coupe to be wiped down. William Lyons, the company president, said, “Good God, Berry, I thought you weren’t going to get here.” “It was the only car I actually drove flat out from one end to the other of a journey,” Berry recalled years later, according to a Jaguar history. “It was the most incredible journey of my life, and I’ve never forgotten it.” An even more hair-raising journey was in store for Norman Dewis, Jaguar’s estimable test driver, who was still back in Coventry with the E-Type convertible. Lyons hadn’t planned to introduce both cars in Geneva, but the response to the coupe was so staggering he changed his mind. He phoned Dewis and told him: “Drop everything. Bring the open-top E-Type here immediately.” Dewis did, completing his trip in about half the time it had taken Berry. Today in Business Updated  April 14, 2021, 3:30 p.m. ET Dewis, who died two years ago at age 98, vividly recalled the story of his journey, shortly before his death. “It was in the days before motorways in the U.K., or the autoroute in France,” Dewis said in an interview at a concours event in Amelia Island, Fla. “It was mostly two-lane roads, through small towns, all the way. Across customs checks and through border crossings. I averaged 68 m.p.h., including the ferry crossing.” He added, “As soon as Bob Berry saw me, he came over and said: ‘Thank God you’ve made it. Look at the size of these queues.’” Indeed, the smitten crowd placed orders for 500 E-Types. When the two cars returned to England, they had covered a total of 3,400 miles — not bad for preproduction prototypes not intended for that kind of hard use. Impressively, both vehicles are still with us; the coupe, with the license plate 9600 HP, is in private hands; the convertible, tagged 77 RW, is still in Jaguar’s collection and is scheduled to be exhibited in the British Museum. Had the cars not made it to Geneva 60 years ago, it certainly would have been a world-class embarrassment, and might have dampened the enthusiasm. But they made it, and that storied introduction helped propel the E-Types to a production run that lasted a completely unanticipated 13 years. A couple of years back, Jaguar announced that it would produce a few “continuation” replicas of its most famous cars (as Aston Martin has done so successfully). Those models, including a few E-Types, have sold quite well. But this year, the company decided that the E-Type had earned its own special remembrance. As a commemoration, Jaguar is offering six pairs — a coupe and a convertible — in the same livery as the Geneva show cars, for sale to the public. The catch is they are sold only in pairs. No pricing has been revealed, but the continuation cars’ base prices were $440,000 each. Here’s something else that will be special about the so-called E-Type 60 Collection: The pairs are Series 1 E-Types from the early 1960s, not replicas. They are being completely rebuilt, and the engines, gauges, electrical systems and more will be modernized. Their paint jobs — Flat Out Grey and Drop Everything Green, in honor of their hasty journeys to Geneva — are exact recreations of the colors of the show cars. Jaguar further promises that those colors will never be used again on any Jags. The delay for the 2021 Geneva show has given Jaguar extra time to add a new wrinkle to the whole project: It will wait a year, allowing time to finish all 12 cars, and hopefully to sell them all. (Some are already finished and sold, Jaguar has announced.) And come 2022, they will all be driven from Coventry to Geneva for a grand event, via the same route as the prototypes — this time obeying the speed limits. Source link Orbem News #Convertible #Coupe #Duo #Dynamic #EType #Jaguars #parade

[mechanicsden-blog]

The Risky Business of Skirting Trademarks (re-publish)

Due to shutdown of Pretend Race Cars blog (since the admin, under the pen name “James”, although the sim racing community knows who’s him), where I originally submitted this, I’ve archived one of my reader submissions here. This post was originally published on April 6, 2016, at the height of Automobilista F1 livery controversy that led the game being delisted from Steam for a while. Unfortunately, I am unable to restore any of the pictures, although every pictures there are just taken from the interwebs.

James’ thoughts are in italics. (except for italicizing of game titles) My commentary/fixes are in [italics in brackets]. 

A snapshot of the original is here.

As the debacle surrounding Reiza Studios and their battle with Formula One Management continues into its second week – with Automobilista still failing to appear on the Steam marketplace – avid PRC.net reader FMecha has sent in a beautiful Reader Submission chronicling the long list of copyright claims across various driving games. A great entry that is well worth your time to read on this otherwise quiet Friday afternoon, the piece goes to show that Reiza Studios weren’t the first developer team to run afoul of copyright technicalities, and they certainly won’t be the last.

Hello PRC! I would like to discuss the issue and examples of skirting trademarks in racing games, in light of a recent controversy – what allegedly forced Steam to de-list Automobilista.

Dodging, evading, or skirting trademarks – whatever you want to call it – just like the alleged reason behind the de-listing of Reiza Studios’ Automobilista is nothing new. Other racing game developers, just like Reiza, when they are unable to afford license(s) for something they want to represent in their racing games, may chose to take shortcut and attempt to thinly disguise it. There are three types of skirting trademarks I have witnessed in racing games:

The first kind involved deliberate misspelling of trademarks, like it was a counterfeit brand or something. This was prevalent in Japanese racing games around the 80’s and the 90’s. [Supposedly because Japan at the time do not really protect trademarks.] Examples of games using this technique include Video System’s (best known for the Aero Fighters arcade shmup series) Tail to Nose (based on the 1988 F1 season and also known as Super Formula in Japan), and Visco’s Drift Out. Of note, both games had sequels with licensed vehicles – Video System would later create licensed F1 games based on early and late 90s seasons, while Visco’s Drift Out was followed with Drift Out ’94: The Hard Order, that had licenses for all manufacturers (except Ford) and Neo Drift Out, the best known of all three due to the fact it was one of few racing games for the Neo-Geo platform and had licenses for all three Japanese WRC racers featured in the game.

This method was not free of repercussions. Tobacco giant Phillip Morris sued Sega because of the “Marlbobo” logos in early revisions of the arcade version of Super Monaco GP, primarily on grounds it was seen as marketing cigarettes to the youth. Sega was forced to issue a revised version of the game with many of the fake “sponsors” edited out; the title screen, which featured a Marlboro-sponsored McLaren car and a partially visible Marlboro ad, had to be edited as well.

The second method involved changing everything that belongs to the original cars (usually race car sponsors) with something original, and invented by the developer, while keeping the livery intact – this is usually done only on the race cars. This tactic was probably as closest I can to describe what Reiza did; apart from that, a small, obscure developer, Prism Arts, released two arcade rally racers, Rally de Africa and Rally de Europe, both for PlayStation and only in Japan. Both games featured various rally cars that have the body and the livery of the original cars, but all sponsor decals have been changed to those invented by the developer. (For example, the Diac logos on the Renault Megane Maxi were changed to Juno, etc). A similar act was done in Grand Prix Legends, after Sierra/Papyrus’ inability to secure Honda and Cooper licenses forced them to thinly disguise both teams as Murasama and Conventry, respectively.

I don’t know if this belongs to the first or the second method I described, but BATracer did something similar after the debacle with Ferrari that lead to the birth of Team Wales; every other manufacturer and team names were changed, most of them were play of the name of the originals. For instance, McLaren became McLewis, Red Bull became Red Bell, Toro Rosso became Roro Torso, Lotus became Sotul, etc.

Japanese racing games that deal with JDM cars, such as Shutokou Battle (Tokyo Xtreme Racer) series, play it differently. Most of them opt to just put the chassis codes of the car directly in their games, since every car nerd – their target audience – practically knew them and under assumption that those are not trademarked. AE86, BNR34, NA1, CE9A, GC8, FD3S, JZA80, EK9, S14, you name it. The risks were displayed when Crave, the company that localized the PS2 Shutokou Battle/Tokyo Xtreme Racer series (Genki developed them), was asked by Honda – a manufacturer that [at the time] has a flip-flopping stance against street racing (they were absent in Tokyo Xtreme Racer 3/Shutokou Battle 01, the first game in the series with licensed cars – as well in the Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune series, yet appearing in Need for Speed Underground games, as well as the latest NFS title [NFS 2015], albeit late in the development) to rename their cars’ chassis codes to something unrecognizable, as well as redrawing the front box art of the game (recycled from TXR2 for Dreamcast; fitting since TXR0 is retelling of TXR2’s story) so that one of cover cars’ front fascia resembled the NSX less. (Unfortunately, not only the disc art went unchanged, they left a Honda chassis code unchanged: RF2, for Honda Stepwgn, a Japan-only MPV. Yes, you can play as an MPV in TXR0).

Yes, I mentioned lots of obscure racing games and yes, thinly disguising things when a developer doesn’t have the license is nothing new, and a carries a high legal risk.

A great write-up, and I can’t say I have much more to add. Any time a developer tries to interpret copyright laws in their own way, it turns into a giant game of roulette. Either they get away with it and it becomes a part of the game’s lore – as seen with Tokyo Xtreme Racer – or it gets a developer in deep shit, which is what most likely happened to Reiza Studios.

Retrospective Commentary

I forgot to mention one method of trademark skirting (or actually, one variation of the method) when road cars are involved: developers would take a car exactly it is and slap a made-up name on it. That’s what happened when the Honda chassis codes got renamed in TXR0, actually. Many cheaply developed racing games on Steam and mobile platforms go this route (as well as many Chinese developed arcade racing games). Look at the incident where the Mercedes Vision GT sneaks into to Dubai Drift.

Something to note, several months/years after I wrote this, Honda officially joined Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune’s car list in 5DX+ along with Lamborghini, although their appearance is currently restricted to NSX old and new.

Also in the end, Automobilista ended up recoloring some of the F1 cars (the not-McLarens now wear the Madonna colors from Super Monaco GP, probably since Brazilians love that game, for instance). And it’s actually easy to go back to old liveries... provided you keep backup of old liveries, or knew someone who uploads it.

Maybe next I can make a rogue’s gallery of those trademark skirtings...