#I've got lots of my stupid fun narrative stuff to write about and catch up on and godddd I am so so sorry to everyone in my inbox

[inchidentally]

I dw to go too deep into it bc the emotions are too high and the extremes are not fun places to stir up etc etc etc

but the way post Monza felt like a joint experience in misery for Lando and Oscar that they then took a joint approach to with the media, followed by a joint sense of relief and exuberance following this race...

and I always bang on about their joint decision to not do the whole joint content/bromance PR stuff or post when they have down time/social time together and asked to have both their drivers rooms accessible to only each other behind a door barring everyone else - this is exactly why. the job they have to do individually and together is far easier when they can keep fans and media - and Netflix - on the outside and just get on with it in private.

bc there have been drivers in their thirties with 10+ years of experience who haven't kept things as mature and balanced as these two and while the extremes of fandoms and media are projecting melodramas and hatred and conspiracy theories onto them, they deserve way more credit than they're given for maintaining such consistent unity and calm considering they've been thrown into the hottest oil fire situations with a team still struggling to get used to being front runners again, all while only having been teammates a season and a half and both under 25.

like I always say, I keep fully expecting them to at some point be normal and take swipes at each other sometimes and be in a funk w each other for a week or so before being buddies again etc etc the usual stuff for teammates who like each other but are also close rivals on track in a front runner team. and that may still happen and it still won't be cause for alarm for me! but goddamn they've faced some hellish situations and held their composure and traveled home laughing and smiling together each time and showing up for work at the races or MTC beaming into each other's faces. all while never once having a typical PR bromance to uphold/maintain for fans or therefore benefit from. they're just... wanting and choosing to respect and like each other when they literally don't need to do any more than tolerate each other - and could've stuck with rooms opposite management's offices like they used to. with the amount of people desperate for them to hate each other and the fact that teammate rivalries actually generate more engagement and headlines than friendly teammates like, they're (currently) choosing to huddle together and discuss and reach agreement so they can get back out and do the best they can with a team that's still strategically trying to learn how to be at the front again.

[revvethasmythh]

in the end with all the problems you saw with cr 3, did you have fun and enjoy it?

I've sat on this question a little, and have been pondering it since the finale. As someone else said, I needed to excise the demons the finale awoke within me before I could circle about around and answer this with the genuine thoughtfulness it deserves.

The answer is complicated. If I may use a visual aide, this is what the campaign was like for me:

At a certain point, it's hard not to get frustrated with the story feeling like it's yanking my chain, making me think we'll jump into something interesting (WE ARE SO BACK) only to then resolve the thing in a half hour so we can get back to doing something bland that will take up too much of our time, such as spending twenty irl minutes trying to catch Ashton from falling (IT'S SO OVER). The narrative culmination is not one I enjoyed or found particularly coherent, and I often found the gameplay in general to be more boring in this campaign. I was always LOCKED IN when the Nein was airing, you know? And I found my attention wandering much, much more throughout this campaign, but also I was watching with friends so that helps and it was a group activity for us, so it was fine until the things that I found boring dragged on and on and inevitably baked themselves into the endgame.

Does that mean I disliked all of it? No! I genuinely enjoyed Dorym quite a lot, I loved the vibe of Imogen's backstory and family relations even if I feel we didn't get to explore them enough. This is, perhaps, the first time I've ever been more invested in some NPCs than PCs, which is a totally new vibe for me but I DO love those NPCs (Relvin and Rashinna, you will always be famous to me). I loved the moon exploration we did and I wish we could have spent more time in Kreviris just exploring and I loved FCG and Braius's arcs and the Solstice split and THE CITY OF YIOS I WANNA GO BACK, and ultimately i feel like it was the failure to dig into all of that stuff in favor of the Moon Plot that was the ultimate detriment of the campaign.

So, did I have fun and enjoy it? Yes and no. Some things I loved, some thing I thought were stupid and boring, some things were hard to enjoy in a fandom context because some people have been so precious over their blorbos they spent most of C3 harassing anyone who doesn't share their opinions! In a timeline where I didn't get harassed and vagued about for weeks over writing ONE 150 word post about Relvin Temult, I probably would not have ultimately stanned him as hard and as loudly as I did. Which in itself is both good and bad because I like him but the way we got here...we never need to do that again. To anyone. It was absurd.

At the end of the campaign, I think my biggest emotion is that I'm relieved. I didn't want to be relived that it's over, but I am. I had huge ups and down this campaign and did love and have fun with parts of it, less so with others, so I suppose I'm leaving it behind with a strongly mixed opinion and experience, but I am also looking forward to what comes next with hope for it to be better for me personally.