#maxiel parallels

[yesloulou]

Two kids trying to act grown up and two grown-ups forgetting about being one

#daniel ricciardo #max verstappen #maxiel #f1 #* #*** #ad 22 #am very emotional about them today (last race of the season and all) #parallels

[123pixieaod]

Tried to write a fun little fic about why Daniel unfollowed on Instagram Zak, Michael, Fernando, and Nicki, the most random quartet possible, only to end up with this lol

Daniel finally answers a call at just gone 4.30am, Max's time. It's 5.30am, Daniel's time, which admittedly is only marginally better, but maybe the hospital he's in has some crazy Get-Up-And-Seize-The-Day sort of ethos. Although from what Christian has told him, Daniel might not be seizing anything, metaphorically or otherwise, for some time.

"Daniel," Max says as soon as he hears the line clicking through. "How are you? How do you feel? Is your wrist alright? Do the doctors and nurses take care of you, do they speak English, or did Red Bull send a Spanish translator and I hope I have not woken you up and-"

He cuts himself off. There's a sort of stunned silence on the other side of the line. Sometimes, Max thinks his need for Daniel is a bottomless pit, something that has hollowed him out and leaves an ache echoing through him.

"Max?" Daniel says, incredulous. High, drugged up, gone on pain medication. "How did you get into my phone?!"

Max squeezes his eyes shut. His mouth is twisted, making some shape. A smile, a frown? He doesn't know, nobody can see him in his old childhood bedroom.

He wants to be with Daniel. He wants to brush a hand through his curls and run his fingertips along the lines of his faded tattoos like how a child would first begin to trace letters and numbers.

I miss you, he wants to say

I want you

I need you

"I'm not in your phone," he says instead, tone light and soft. "I called you. I am in the Netherlands."

"Oh," Daniel says, as if the fact Max had not been magically transformed into his phone is mildly disappointing. "What are you doing there?"

"We had a race, remember?" Max says. He's stretched out on his old bed. His feet dangle just slightly off the edge, and each year, he's promised a new one, bigger and larger and finally a grown-up bed. But it never materialises and Max has stopped bringing it up now.

The room is unchanged. Around him, the faces of former racing legends watch him, tapped to his wall. Above, stars look down, stuck to his ceiling in haphazard patterns. The day his father got to play God and created universes and cosmos splayed above his head.

"Of course," Daniel huffs good naturedly. "You won, Maxy."

"I know," Max replies softly.

"It was your ninth consecutive win," Daniel continues, his tone strong and proud, as if it's Daniel who has achieved it. Maybe he's so high on meds he thinks it is, that him and Max are some sort of Jeckyl and Hyde being, two sides of the same life. Max doesn't know. A headache is building behind his eyes. He hasn't really slept since Friday, three days previous.

"You're now equalling Sebastian Vettle. If you win the next race, you'll beat the record." Daniel continues before pausing, as if realisation is only just dawning. "I don't think I'll be there."

"No," Max murmurs. "I don't think you will be either."

"My wrist is really fucked," Daniel goes back to his jubilant tone, like a child with the best show and tell in school. "I have a metal plate in it, isn't that neat?"

He laughs. Max closes his eyes, just listening to the sound. "Imagine if it goes off at every airport security, Maxy? How annoying with that be?" He laughs again, the prospect sounding delightful to him in that very moment.

Max hums softly, and then shifts on the bed, turning away from the stars his father hung up for him. Instead, he moves to his side, facing a giant poster of Micheal Schumacher celebrating one of his championships. At the bottom, Max, to great things! MS. He was six. It was one of the best Christmas presents his dad had ever gotten him.

"How do you feel?" He asks. Daniel is humming a tune under his breath, the theme song to some gameshome Max barely recognises. He stops at Max's question.

"Good," he says happily. "I have gained deep clarity."

That shocks a laugh out of Max, as only Daniel, even doped, drugged Daniel, can do. The longing feels physical, the hole never ending in his chest. He closes his eyes, blocking out the stars and racing legends whose shine has faded and whose records he's now beating.

In another life, he thinks, he would be there. He'd be the first face Daniel would see, the first hand he'd get to hold, the first for nearly everything, just like Daniel had been for Max.

But instead they're a time zone apart and Daniel is alone in a country where he can't even speak the language and Max is in his childhood bedroom, surrounded by his family who are fast sleep and utterly oblivious to the fact he's gay, let alone in a relationship with Daniel Ricciardo.

"Clarity," Max forces his mind back on track. "How so?"

"Oh you know," Daniel says with ease. "Cleared my mental space."

Max huffs another laugh. His chest aches, empty. He wonders does Daniel know how hollowed out he is without him.

"Go on."

"Well, I deleted a shit ton of apps. That wellness app you made me download last year? Sorry Maxy, but that went," Daniel makes a popping noise. "And the fertility tracking app Scotty downloaded at his bachelor's party."

"Presumably he just got his and your phones mixed up, right?"

"No Maxy, it was a prank because I -" Daniel breaks away, finally understanding, laughing as if Max has made the funniest joke possible.

"Okay so you cleared up some space on your phone," Max prompts him.

"Oh yes, and then deleted twitter and went to WhatsApp and left about a billion groups and then I went to Instagram, and went through who I followed, and unfollowed tons of people."

"Oh? Did I make the cut?"

Daniel tutts as if Max is being purposefully dense.

"Naturally Maxy. In fact, I sort of debated unfollowing everyone except you, but then figured you might've been pissed at me."

Max can't tell if Daniel is joking or not. He doesn't know which he wants it to be.

"So firstly I unfollowed a bunch of people I had met years ago at business deals and stuff, and then Craig and Rebecca from school because I never really liked them anyway and they definitely never liked me and then Zak because the vibes were Not It and then my high-school teacher who I definitely only ended up following on a dare and -"

"Zak," Max says, picking out the familiar name in the sea of chatter. "As in Zak Brown?"

Daniel hums. "Yeah, the vibes were Not It. And then I also unfollowed Fernando -"

"Alonso?" Max splutters out another laugh of disbelief. "What on earth did he do to you?"

"I don't like how he acts around you."

"Me?!" Max voice goes up an octave. "What? But he's always nice to me Daniel. I like him."

"I know Max, that's the point," Daniel says, and before Max can even begin to comprehend what he means, he's continuing. "And then also Richard, from McLaren because I swear he used to tell Zak everything I did and then Michael, and then Sam, this old hookup, and -"

"Michael," Max cuts in, sure he's mistaken, "as in ..."

"Yeah," Daniel says after a beat. "That Michael."

Max swallows. Michael has been a constant strain on their relationship, the fly in the otherwise smooth ointment. Max had told Daniel he wasn't good for him, he wasn't looking after him. That friendship and business rarely mixed, and that in this case, it had congealed into something of neither, a strange, interdependent relationship which drained them both.

Daniel had said Max hadn't understood it, hadn't gotten how much Michael helped him, how good it was to have a physico who was also his mate. Max replied by saying that as far as he was concerned, Michael was proving himself to be neither.

Jealousy. That was what Daniel had pinned to him, had washed all rationality away with. Max was jealous.

He remembers feeling like he had been slapped. Jealousy. Fucking jealousy.

He never mentioned Michael again.

"But," Max begins slowly, mind whirling. "You had lunch with him last week." Even though you never mentioned it, even though I had to find out through fans' blurry photos.

"Yeah," Daniel draws the syllable out. "But... the vibes were not immaculate."

"Right," Max says, hating how terse the single word sounds. And the vibes were fine when he encouraged you to do that fucked up intermittent fasting? When he recommended yoga and gym sessions instead of therapy?

"And then I unfollowed Nicky Latifi, because unfortunately, he's going to do a masters in London, and following him online will simply remind me of all the missed possibilities I had in the academic world," he goes on.

"Daniel," Max says, trying to force his mind to move on, Daniel has unfollowed Michael Daniel has unfollowed Michael. "You dropped out of school when you were seventeen. In the most loving of ways, I would hardly call you an up and coming scholar."

"Details, Maxy," he says, but then goes quiet, and so does Max. He opens his eyes. His room is painted in shadows, sunrise still distant. The trophies he won as a child are carefully displayed in neat rows, their plaques opaque with dust, now thick and heavy. He remembers winning them, young and already starving for more, remembers the weight of plastic, the way sugary pop soda dried sticky on his skin.

"I think you were right," Daniel says softly. Max nods, face pressed against his pillow.

"I mean about him. Michael."

"I know who you meant," Max murmurs.

"Okay good, because you're definitely not write about my academic prowess, I was one hundred percent on track to be this world's Stephen Hawkens."

Max laughs softly. "It's Hawking not Hawken."

"Once again Maxy, details."

There's another exhale of quiet between them, and outside Max hears the world beginning to rise. Birds waking, their whistles winding their way through the crack in his window.

"I miss you," he says softly, as if the words are barely permitted to be spoken aloud.

"I love you too Maxy," Daniel replies with ease. Then - "you should come. I think it would be nice. If you were here too."

"I think so too," Max says. The longing grows. The trophies are dusty on his shelf, forgotten. His feet hang off his childhood bed. Birds begin to sing.

"So will you?" Daniel persists. Max squeezes his eyes shut.

"I don't know. I do not think you would be saying this if you weren't off your head on pain meds," he tries to joke. His chest aches. Hollowed out, always wanting more than he's allowed.

"Of course I would," Daniel says confidently, even though he ends it with a yawn. "I anyways want you around."

Max keeps his eyes still tightly shut. He tucks his knees up, bringing them to his chest. When he was very young and his parents were still together, he'd do this. Curl up on the bed with his eyes squeezed closed. The door shut, their shouts muffled; as distant as the bird song is to him now.

"Maxy?"

His sister said the same. Maxy? Climbing on his bed, tugging at his arms. What are they talking about? Nothing, nothing, it doesn't matter.

"How's your wrist?" Max asks. He opens his eyes - the room has grown lighter, dawn finally creeping in.

"Good," Daniel says, already forgotten what he said. Like a butterfly, moving onto the next topic, nothing permanent. "Sore. I'm on some strong shit though." He laughs. It sounds so near.

Max imagines it. He could do it. Book the ticket to Spain. It wouldn't even be that bad. People know him and Daniel are mates, and mates visit each other in hospital. And that's if it even comes out, which it might not. Nobody has to know.

"I love you," he blurts out, cheeks warm. Daniel laughs again, soft and delighted.

"Good, because my right hand is currently out of action, so I might need help over the next few weeks with a few particular things."

Max laughs, cheeks warm. He's not being quiet any more. His family can probably hear him through the walls, just like he could hear his parents all those years ago.

He can imagine his sister asking him, echoing their childhood as she questions him on words she's grasped through walls. This time, though, he thinks he will tell her the truth.

"I've heard Spain is very beautiful at the end of August," he says.

Daniel hums, "I've heard something similar, Maxy."

Outside, birds sing. The dawn continues on, filling the emptiness of night.

#shhhh nobody mention the fact the time zones are back to front please #i only realised while editing and I'm too tired to try and fix it #big thanks to Isabel and Lily for talking all about Maxiel longing with me! #lotsa longing here #believe it or not this was meant to be a fun fluffy piece #but apparently I am incapable of not writing angst #parallels! #max unable to differentiate longing for a stable upbringing with longing for Daniel #and so the merging of childhood trauma is occurring with the loving of Daniel #indistinguishable and Max can't figure out which longing is good and which is bad #because as a child he wasn't allowed to want more from his parents #and not Daniel had so much more to give him #but Max had to accept the fact he's allowed to want it before he can have it #jealous dan lol #my fic #my writing

[downinmalibu]

#crumbs #parallels #max verstappen #daniel ricciardo #maxiel #f1 #miami gp 2022

[regulus-lantsov]

Once again Tedtalk

Why are wolfstar and Landoscar variant of each other ??

Like we have Oscar and Remus who are calm ( kinda ), that can swear ( remember cold as f*ck ), are tall, with strawberry fluffy hair, that are calm and the fucking parallel about how we says that Oscar is a sunshine and remus is literally the *moon*. They study hard and doesn't show their emotions. + they are bisexual

Then we have Sirius and Lando who are energetic, not straight at all ( Lando and Sirius are straight as how they sit ), following they're tall boyfriend everywhere, get attached very quickly, drama queens and very fashionable in a rock way

So yes. This two couples are veryyyyy similar and that's my ted talk.

++++ they're now my fancasts of each other ! I finally found someone who match them.

Clearly thinking about writing and hogwarts Landoscar + Piarles + Maxiel + Galex matched with teachers Simi and Brocedes.

#maraudeurs #remus x sirius #galex #piarles #pierre gasly #the marauders era #marauders era #the marauders #sirius black #hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry #fanfic #fancast #wolfstar #landoscar #lando norris #oscar piastri #so similar #ted talks #it's 3 in the morning

[f1uckinghell]

Mini Summer VV Event, Part 1 🩵

I have several oneshots for the event prepared, and I will drop them throughout the week I've decided! Remember: the event has been extended until the 22nd of July!

Enjoy!

Maxiel parenting//angst with a happy ending//tw: mentions of violence

🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵

Max lets out a slow breath when the screen of his phone says “school”. Again.

“Good morning, this is Ms. Bailey.” She doesn't sound urgent, so nobody is hurt. Probably.

“Good morning, Ms. Bailey,” Max says, leaning against the counter, rolling his eyes to the heavens. “Which one is it?”

By now he should be on a first name basis with her, to be honest.

“I'm afraid it's Flynn,” she sighs, and the “again” is implied.

Max narrowly bites back an exasperated “fuck”. “What happened?”

“He got into another fight,” Ms. Bailey says, her voice neutral, “With the same boy from his parallel class again. During homeroom.”

“Anyone seriously hurt?” Max asks. There is a stain on the sink opposite of him that needs cleaning.

“No, no, a teacher pulled them apart, thankfully. Before anyone could get hurt. But you know how it is, I have to inform you-”

“Yeah, yeah,” Max replies. He's a pro at this by now. “We'll talk to him later. My husband is coming to pick the kids up today, if you want to talk to him-”

“It's really not necessary,” Ms Bailey tells him. She sounds as routined at this as he is. With so many mid-puberty alpha students, Max wonders how many of these calls she has to make weekly. “Just make sure you talk to him… you know we have a very tolerant policy around here, but Flynn’s been getting into so many fights lately that I'm concerned he might get suspended at some point.”

“Yeah, of course.” Max pinches the bridge of his nose. “Sorry. Thank you.”

“Thank you,” Ms Bailey echoes.

“Ugh, fuck,” is the first thing Max says after hanging up.

Teenage alphas get into fights, it's normal and somewhat expected. They're full of hormones, they're trying to find their own identity, they're starting to feel territorial and they have a lack of self-control. But lately, at least once a week, Max gets one of these calls.

Isabel was never like this; she did get into her fair share of fights and tussles, but they very rarely ended with calls home from school.

But Flynn…

He's not a violent kid, at least not at home. He's gentle, actually, with all of the animals which he loves so much, with little Jasper, with his siblings and packlings (mostly) and with them; lets Luna braid his hair and lets Jasper use him as a climbing gym. Sometimes he's still just like a little boy and wants cuddles and to sleep with his head in Max's lap or for Daniel to spend time with him and tell him he's proud of him.

But ever since he's turned fourteen a year ago, he’s been coming home with split lips and black eyes and bloody knuckles at least once a week.

At first, Daniel reassured Max that it's normal, that young alphas just need to fight sometimes. But when it became more and more frequent, both of them started getting concerned.

When he told his mother about it, her expression softened. “...like your dad,” she said, regret heavy in her voice.

Max hates that thought. He doesn't want to be like his father, and he especially doesn't want his kids to be like Jos.

But it's undeniable. For as much as Flynn looks like Daniel, his broad frame and his face shape make it undeniable who his grandfather is.

Max takes a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. Then he calls Daniel, and tells him what happened.

-

Flynn looks like a sad puppy, and Max already feels bad for the scolding he's about to receive.

They're sat around the dining room table, Daniel, Flynn and him. The doors are closed; Daniel shooed the other pups away when they tried to eavesdrop.

Daniel has his arms crossed, looking as strict as he can (which is, to be honest, not very strict). It's enough to make Flynn duck his head.

“Tell us what happened,” Daniel tells him.

“This is the third call in two weeks, Flynn,” Max adds softly.

Flynn sniffles and Max's heart almost breaks.

“I'm sorry,” he says, looking up at Max through his curls. “I didn't mean to get into another fight.”

“Then what happened?” Daniel urges, leaning forward. He doesn't sound unfriendly, just… well, like a Dad who needs to make sure his kid is okay. „The same boy again?! What’s your deal with him?“

Flynn sniffs, scrunching up his nose. Like I do, Max thinks.

“...he was being mean,” he eventually says.

“To you?” Max prompts. He wants to reach across the table and grab Flynn’s hand, he looks so miserable.

Flynn shakes his head. “No, to Jakob.”

Daniel and Max exchange a quick glance, heavy with meaning in a way only couples who have been together for a long time can.

“What did he do?” Daniel asks.

“Keeps saying he's weird and stupid,” Flynn grumbles, “And called him the r-word.”

Max looks at Daniel again, clenching his jaw. Daniel lets out a slow, controlled breath, meeting his eyes. They've been dealing with this for fifteen years now; it's just how things are when one of your kids is different. It never gets any less infuriating.

“So you hit him?” Daniel asks.

Flynn is staring at the tabletop, nodding. “I know I shouldn't, but… it just made me so… so mad!” Finally, he looks up, and there's a fire in his eyes. On the table, his fists are clenched. “Jakob isn't stupid or weird! He's the smartest person I know! …well, him and Luna. But the point is, he's not stupid!”

They can tell he's getting heated over this, and Max is so, so proud of him.

“Did you tell anyone what that boy said?” Daniel asks.

Flynn bites his lip and shakes his head. “...no, I didn't… I didn't want to get Jakob involved. He doesn't need to know someone… said that. And I didn’t want to get Evie involved, either.“ Evie, the only person even more protective over Jakob than Flynn.

Daniel and Max exchange a long glance, and then they both exhale simultaneously. Max can feel the tension fall away from his heart.

Flynn looks up at them, eyes darting between them in surprise as Daniel starts laughing and Max hurries around the table, wrapping his arms around him.

“You're so…!” Max holds him close, and Flynn, albeit confused, gives a sweet little pup-like whimper and cuddles close.

“Sorry, Mama,” he mumbles, voice muffled against Max's shoulder.

Daniel gives a friendly little growl, reaches between them and grabs Flynn by the scruff of his neck, in an affectionate way, the way he used to when Flynn was little and got too wild. „You’ll be the death of me at some point, boy.“

„Sorry, Daddy,“ Flynn says, but there’s a smile in his voice.

„It’s okay, champ.“ When Max has stepped away, Daniel ruffles Flynn’s hair. Then, his expression becomes more serious. „But you can’t solve all your problems with violence, yeah?“

Flynn ducks his head again, the sheepish expression back on his face. „Yes, Dad, I know… but sometimes I just get so… so mad when someone is being mean!“

Max is overcome with love for him. „You’ll learn to control it.“

„When?“ Flynn throws up his hands.

„Once you’ve presented,“ Dan tells him with a sorry little smile.

Flynn grumbles. „That could take ages!“

Max runs his fingers through Flynn’s curls. „It won’t, I promise.“

„You’re already so chock-full of hormones, it can’t take that much longer,“ Dan comments, and the noise Flynn makes in reply is peak embarrassed teenager. It makes Max laugh.

They’ll talk to the school, set things right. It’ll be okay. They’ve gotten through worse.

For now, Max can’t believe that he ever thought Flynn’s behavior was caused by aggression, instead of Daniel’s pure, protective, and maybe somewhat impulsive streak.

When he goes to open the door to the kitchen, he hears Daniel say in a sotto voice: „You know, some bullies do need punching, though.“

#virtues verse #writing tag #vv!maxiel #vv!event #vv!flynn #Angst Tag #fluff tag #pup tag

[blorbocedes]

there’s some kind of parallel to be drawn between george and daniel and their like hyper performed pr personalities? both very obviously playing the character they think they need to play to be liked? is that why they’re friends now?? some like mutual understanding of how exhausting it is to be faking it so hard so much of the time???? you can then draw some kind of interesting conclusion about galex/maxiel with alex and max both refusing to do that - max honest and himself in media always, even when it’s detrimental to him and alex extremely open about how much he despises media duties??? idk i just come to your ask box to work out my own thoughts sometimes

omg I've never thought of that 😲 that's so interesting and my anons are truly cleverer than me

Daniel is so performative but he's SO liked and naturally charismatic that it feels authentic, where George's is so curated and anyone with a discerning eye can tell how Hard he's trying. their friendship during localised in soho houses (exclusive members only rich people social club) is soooooo indicative that when they're hanging out, with each other, and can see thru the other's act the friendship is predicated on maintaining it. wearing DR's merch as public support~ then DR going to Merc hospitality to hand deliver

and then the parallel of their closest blorbos refusing to put on the act that they wear like armour. max is very open that he won't play the game, and when you're world champion you sort of don't need to.

alex has all this charm~ where him not wanting to do media duties has Become media duty making him come across as more #relatable and personable. compare it with GR co-opting the "George Russell is the type of guy..." memes and it feeling so corporate and inorganic.......

I'm also working out my thoughts in your replies but thank you for giving me something to chew on

#George Russell #Daniel Ricciardo #persona non grata #blorbocedes ask #ricrussell and their opposites

[yesloulou]

US GP 2018 💫 Australian GP 2023

#daniel ricciardo #max verstappen #maxiel #f1 #australian gp 2023 #us gp 2018 #* #** #*** #ive been posting wayyyy too much today but i keep having ideas 😵‍💫 #even the way max likes his jacket open collared and daniel likes his zipped all the way up #parallels

[chubbydino]

I never read wips but after reading the amnesia fic I needed to read hook line and sinker, and it's sooo good. I never read maxiel either but I had to know Max's backstory. Thank you for this great piece of angst and the regular updates. In the past three days I've reread all of them like three times (I haven't slept much but keep finding new lil parallels each reread). The way you write Pierre's pov is so convincing, and my heart bleeds for Charles (I would love a Charles pov at some point cause that man is enduring a lot, but piecing his thoughts together through Pierre's lil flashbacks is so fun (would also love to read the prequel before Pierre's accident but I would read anything set in this universe)). If Pierre really gets his memory sorted I'm really interested how Charles will deal with it, he has endured so much from Pierre which he couldn't really talk to him about, but if he finally can??? Omg the drama

Max's decent into depression is so recognizable, at the same time I just want to reach through the screen and shake him till he snaps out of it, which I reckon is a testament to your writing. And how Daniel talks?? So on point.

The parallel with Pierre and Max is wonderful. They hate each other and can't accept themselves and see the other as the monster but really they are so alike. I hope they get the opportunity to talk it out if they get their heads in order.

Lastly, Theo is so well written as a child, which is really hard to do.

Keep up the good work and thanks for helping me through the exam season.

thank you for the kind words. HLS kind of writes itself in a lot of ways--i just let it flow so it gets away from me sometimes, but oh well. i kind of enjoy the slice of life aspect to it. the most recent chapter felt WAY long for what it was, but it didn't feel write to chop up an important therapy session.

and thanks for the comment on theo--i joke that he purposely doesn't have an age because i write him however i see fit lol. he's loosely based on some of the little kids in my family. i think my favorite scenes with him so far are the one with mon moth and the burbulence. ❤️

#HLS #PAPM #HLS spoilers #asks #tw depression #tw sui ideation

[reigningmax]

Just discovered Danielle Van Donk (who is AMAZING and plays for Lyon and the Dutch women’s national team) is dating her Australian Lyon teammate?? I just feel like she and Max must be friends since they have so much common 😂

first of all, absolutely love that for these girlies and I hope they go on to dominate the world of football as they should.

second of all, the maxiel parallels i feel insane

third of all!!!!!! maxiel footie au WHEN!!!! the absolute layers it can have. the nuances of European top level football. the struggles that come along with the pressures. starts with max making his debut. he's young and ruthless and SO good. daniel is the established attacker who has broken goal scoring records. max is a midfielder/ false 9 type. they develop a partnership of dreams. when max first starts, they butt heads, they're both stubborn and wanna bask in the glory. by the end of the first season, they are the dream team. the ultimate duo. leading their team to the highest places. they kind of struggle in their national teams cause they don't have each other but. god though. by the end of that first season, they are definitely pinning?? it would be pinning and longing looks and touches and almosts and what ifs!!! probably start fucking and pretending it's definitely Nothing but they both know that it's a lie. it's slow burn but once they're in, they're IN :')

#i can go on about this forever #footie aus my beloved #asks #anonymous #ray's rambles #maxiel

[bsaka7]

I can guess given ur maxiel answer perhaps but lestappen? 😈

see my maxiel answer here... Ok I'll put my answer under the cut

yeah lmao so you can see my thoughts on writing max. Not super positive. But I feel like i GET the fundamental appeal and conflict of maxiel. like. i see what's interesting there!!!! I can't say that about lestappen. literally i don't get it at all. I don't think Charles likes max. I don't think max particularly cares about charles except as "some guy i can talk to at work." I really don't think Charles likes being constantly compared to max - there's maybe a frustration there but it doesn't seem active about max but more about the surrounding perceptions, and that goes all the way back to childhood (and i think is applicable of a number of those childhood Karting names. like u get este frustrated that he beats max in f3 and max goes straight to F1 and he doesn't even have a drive for gp3 til Toto wolff comes through). besides the point. they weren't childhood friends. mostly I don't get the fundamental conflict. like. to me they're not enemies. I don't think they've truly been rivals this season because max clearly drove away with the championship pretty early.

Idk I always think there's some way that most pairings can be done convincingly. There's obv the parallel destinies with rbr/ferrari. i think an argument could be made about fate. I could see a gen fic working about them - not together, necessarily, but parallel. However i truly do not get the predominant characterization at all. they are not a "sweet" pairing. they would not be good to each other. max is not that much bigger than Charles and Charles will not roll over and take it. it feels to me like they've been slotted into a classic fandom archetype that takes away literally everything interesting about who they are as people. the fact that they are insanely competitive. insanely driven. to the point of brutality, even. i also hate most the tropes i see commonly used with them (esp abo sorry) so there's that as well. Also I like charles way more than i like max so even tho i like to make him suffer and have read it done well in a few fics, for the most part, it doesn't work for me. i would say this is one of my least favorite pairings, partially because I don't get it and partially because it grates due to its popularity.

i will end on a more positive note (or try to). My third most popular (though much lower if you sort by comments lol) and first ever F1 fic is lestappen. why? God knows. i agree with my own characterizations about 0% hence why it has been on anon forever. as always i am deeply grateful for the response i got to that fic as it encouraged me to write more!

#In tetrapod life updates. Made banger parmesan Brussel sprouts #And I don't even like Brussel sprouts much #Ask game #Ask #Ship ask game #Thanks anon for opening this can of worms lmao #I'm sure I'm missing stuff. But you've got an essay on your hands.