#because that's what got me to this point haha

[5sospenguinqueen]

Growing Pains | Oscar Piastri x Reader

Summary: When fans begin commenting about your future plans, Oscar begins to worry that your long-term relationship is preventing you from truly experiencing life. 

Warnings: Swearing. Angst. Self-sacrificing Oscar haha. Childhood sweethearts

Female reader with various faceclaims. Pics found on Pinterest.

2023 season

Less baby-fever, more baby panic haha. I'm so sorry if these aren't as baby-centered as the others. I've been trying to make them a little different.

Main Masterlist

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YourUserName just posted

liked by alexandrasaintmleux, danielricciardo and others

YourUserName i love weekends off with you <3

978 comments

oscarpiastri you didn’t post the one of me with my face in the water? that is the sweetest thing you’ve ever done for me

→ YourUserName only because your ass was in the air and i’m the only one allowed to see that 

→ oscarpiastri oh

→ User1 we would like to see this photo please and thanks - and not just for the ass

landonorris @ oscarpiastri well, now you’ve told the internet that it exists, we need to see it

→ User2 lando is one of us 

danielricciardo i’m still your favourite australian though, right? 

→ YourUserName no. i’m my own favourite australian

→ oscarpiastri you tell ‘em, sweetheart 

→ User3 SWEETHEART!!!

User4 i know they’re only young but when can we expect a wedding

→ User5 they’ve been together for long enough. they’re practically already married at this point

→ User6 their wedding would be so cute

→ User7 can you imagine all the f1 appearances we would get? 

→ User8 mark webber in a tux 🤤

mclaren our favourite young couple

→ landonorris hey! 

→ mclaren you and daniel don’t count anymore

→ danielricciardo hey! 

User9 papaya wedding when? 

logansargeant did oscar pay you to make it look like he was good at other sports?

→ YourUserName i thought we decided you weren’t allowed to bully him anymore

→ logansargeant we decided nothing! 

→ oscarpiastri at least i know what a kilometer is

→ User10 RAHHH 🦅🦅

User11 how can someone look so good after being in the water? i look like a drowned rat

→ User12 she literally takes the yummiest pics of oscar

→ User13 oh, i was talking about y/n. he’s just ken

→ User14 his job is beach

oscarpiastri just posted

liked by mclaren, charles_leclerc and others

oscarpiastri my favourite girl 💕

2,664 comments

YourUserName don’t let suzie hear you say that. she’ll be distraught

→ oscarpaistri maybe you should drive her more and she’ll love me less

→ YourUserName whoa, i thought this was an appreciation post for me, why are you throwing shade

→ landonorris why would she drive her own car when she has you to do it for her?

→ YourUserName exactly! 

→ User15 wait, suzie is a car? i was hoping they had a pet or something we didn’t know about 

→ User16 their family includes them and a car, apparently 

→ YourUserName be realistic. there’s more than one car in this relationship 

User17 in the paddock wearing a lando shirt?

User18 the disrespect to have lando’s # on her back but be stood in front of oscar’s garage 

logansargeant yet i suggest she support driver #2 and i had holes poked in all my juice boxes 

→ oscarpiastri you can never prove that was me

→ YourUserName i have video footage

landonorris everyone can relax, she’s wearing the shirt because she lost a bet. oscar was a good sport about it 

→ YourUserName i got soooo many dirty looks that day. the fans did not like me

→ oscarpiastri i still think you’re beautiful. not as beautiful with MY number splashed only our back but

→ YourUserName you know 81 is my favourite number

→ YourUserName (and sometimes 16)

→ charles_leclerc forza ferrari

→ User19 everyone is a ferrari fan

→ User20 everyone wants to know what the bet was

→ arthur_leclerc @ YourUserName whoa, hey. you once told me i was your favourite leclerc

User21 these two are literally my favourite couple in the world 

User22 the fact that they fell in love during the most awkward years of a person’s life and have continued to love each other when they got hot

→ User23 they saw the potential in each other 

User24 the fact that he’s loved you since you were 14 and continues to love you more each day 🥹

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YourUserName just posted

liked by racerbia, alex_albon and others 

YourUserName i’m so proud of you, osc. another podium in a long-line of many. thank you for sharing your joy and success with me. 🧡🧡

when i befriended the nerdy 12 year old who wouldn’t stop talking about engines, i never imagined that you would be dragging me around the world. don’t get me wrong, i always believed you would make it this far. i just thought i would’ve managed to break free from you before then 😂 however, i’m so glad i didn’t because you are my favouritest guy in the whole world, and seeing you on that podium made me cry more than watching the supernatural series finale 

1,220 comments

YourUserName oh, and well done to lando on P3, i guess

→ landonorris you guess???

User1 time for another round of: is he looking at lando or y/n in the 3rd pic?

→ landonorris it was y/n this time :( 

→ YourUserName you get loads of pics of him looking at you like this, let me have my moment

→ User2 girl, the fact that you got lando AND y/n to respond to your comment

→ User1 dying!

oscarpiastri thank you for coming with me around the world and supporting me no matter what. you’ve been one of my biggest supporters these past 8 years and i don’t think i could’ve done it without you by my side. i love you so much, even if i come second to dean winchester 🧡🤍

→ User3 P2 in your relationship as well

→ oscarpiastri only because y/n is p1

→ YourUserName stop making me love you more and more each day. i might explodeeeee

User4 my parents. i need them to adopt me because they’re just so cute 

mclaren we’re so proud of our aussies

→ danielricciardo you used plural?

→ mclaren oscar and y/n

→ danielricciardo she doesn’t even race!

→ YourUserName and yet i replaced you 

→ danielricciardo everyone says you’re so nice but i see you for who you really are

→ YourUserName which is better than you! 

→ User5 y/n y/l/n for alphatauri 2024

→ danielricciardo no.

User6 drenched in champagne is a good look for piastri 

User7 the pirelli cap needs to stay on during sex 

→ User8 is this y/n’s secret account 

landonorris this is so cute. excuse me whilst i puke

→ User9 just admit you’re jealous and move on

logansargeant i can confirm that they’re this mushy about each other in public as well

→ YourUserName and i can confirm that logan cried with me watching supernatural, and seeing osc on the podium 

→ logansargeant dude! 

→ YourUserName you forget, i’ve also known you for years and have many embarrassing memories of you

→ logansargeant y/n y/l/n is the best person i know

User10 when people ask me if f1 is a serious sport, i just show them their comment sections

aussiegrit so proud of our boy

                   liked by YourUserName

maxverstappen1 a delight to share the podium with your boyfriend for the 2nd time

→ User11 y/n’s boyfriend and y/n’s boyfriend’s boyfriend on the podium with max 2x in a row 

→ YourUserName omg max verstappen commented on my post! you’re like my favourite driver ever

→ oscarpiastri you agreed not to mention this in public

→ User12 i don’t think this is a joke considering there’s a redbull in the background of one of these pics 

→ charles_leclerc @ YourUserName i thought it was me

→ landonorris i thought it was me

→ fernandoalo_official jokes on all of you, she told me it was me

→ aussiegrit you're all wrong. it's me

User13 if you guys are after a third, i’m free?

→ User14 how could you say this to the cutest couple on the grid

→ User15 because y/n has said worse and is more unhinged than we think but oscar’s pr manager has gotten to her recently 

User1 i’m gonna have to agree with @ OscarPastryyy just because they’ve been together forever doesn’t change the fact that they’re still young

→ User2 they probably just wanna focus on being together and travelling the world

User3 agreed. yeah they’ve been together for a while but that doesn’t mean that having children is their only option. they’re still technically children themselves 

NicolePiastri he doesn’t know how to do his own washing. trust me, he’s not ready for children. Y/N on the other hand, has been keeping that boy alive since they were 12

→ User4 omg we love you 

→ User5 nobody humbles an f1 racer more than mama piastri 

→ User6 he may have 2m followers on insta but he’s not too old to be embarrassed by his mother 

User7 @ CHICKEN!! is so real for that. max is only 4 years old than them and yet everyone talks about him, kelly and P being a family and when are him and kelly getting married, but y/n and oscar have been together for longer than kelly has been a mother so… 

User8 i think people only focus on their age and forget about their experience. i went to school with them and they still act just as infatuated with each other now as they did when they were 14.

→ User9 but they’ve also only been with each other. perhaps they should try dating other people before committing to the rest of their lives 

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YourUserName just posted

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YourUserName quando a Roma 🇮🇹❤️ tagged: YourBFF, YourBFF2

1,009 comments

YourBFF i told you that pic of you by the fountain would look amazing

→ YourBFF2 i think if we pumped another cocktail in her, she’d have gone swimming in it

→ YourUserName stop making me sound like a sloppy drunk

→ YourBFF you were sloppy anyway 

→ YourUserName bitch

→ YourBFF2 it’s part of being in your 20s. welcome! 

→ YourUserName not funny. 

User1 guys, oscar hasn’t commented. he always comments on posts with her in, even if they’re posted by friends/family 

→ User2 he did like though?

mclaren orange drinks to support your favourite f1 team this weekend?

→ YourUserName you know it. papaya pride! 

→ YourBFF2 she actually said that to herself when she took the pic. you’ve indoctrinated her

lilymhe cute post but you’re coming to sichuan with me next

→ YourUserName just name a date and time, and i’m yours

→ alex_albon what is it with you and stealing f1 drivers’ partners 

→ YourUserName i think that just means i have the most rizz 

User3 you mean to tell me that she’s in rome the weekend that oscar is all the way in america? so, she’s not going to be at the race 🤔

→ User4 she doesn’t have to go to every one

→ User5 i know but she’s said loads of times that she tries to make all of them

→ User6 yeah but she’s on a girls holiday. this might have been the only time that y/n and her friends were all free at the same time? 

User7 how are you so pretty 

User8 all of you calling y/n a bad girlfriend but are we forgetting that they’ve already been together for 8 years, and have known each for 10. they’re at the point where they don’t have to be glued to the hip all the time

→ User9 literally. like they’ve been together longer than some of the married couples on the grid 

→ User10 yeah but it’s just unlike them. how do they go from being infatuated with each other to distancing within 2 weeks without there being some cause? it wasn’t a natural progression

User11 you look so beautiful in that dress. White is definitely your colour 

logansargeant i can’t believe you didn’t bring me back a gift.. you said you would

→ YourUserName i also said i’d wear a williams t-shirt one race but we all know that ain’t happening

→ User12 is this logan shooting his shot? 

alexandrasaintmleux i knew that would dress would look good on you. you look radiant 

→ YourUserName my favourite shopping partner 

→ charles_leclerc my girl has good taste

→ YourUserName not if she’s dating you 

→ charles_leclerc you have hurted my feelings 

User13 y/n hasn’t been able to terrorise oscar on social media and it’s showing because sis has been dragging the grid in their comments haha

→ User14 she’s so funny. i bet they’re fearful anytime her name pops up in their notifs 

User15 i love how we all sound insane to other people but us oscy/n stans know we’re right because they’ve been a constant media presence since his f2 days 

User16 we may not sound crazy but i sure hope we are because they are the only reason i believe in love 

User17 i hate to say it but what if we’re the reason they broke up? we couldn't stop talking about them getting married and having kids lately, and what if it freaked them out… 

User18 i can’t imagine oscar piastri without y/n y/l/n. i only really follow f1, not f2 but he’s always been oscar and y/n since he started. it would be akin to not seeing him in mclaren 

mclaren just posted

liked by YourUserName, ln4 and others 

mclaren get you a teammate who looks at you the way these two look at each other #unitedstatesgp

1,559 comments

oscarpiastri 🧡

racerbia team papaya! 🧡

User1 so exciting to see lando on the podium again

User2 poor oscar, such a shame he had to retire after minimal contact

User3 not to be that person but it was defo because y/n wasn’t there. she’s his good luck charm 

YourUserName well done lando! 

User4 anyone else getting more and more confused by oscar and y/n’s relationship purely because of their media presence

→ User4 for info, she posts that she’s in rome the weekend he is in america, proving that she isn't attending the race. oscar likes the post but doesn’t comment despite y/n looking beautiful in that post (1/4)

→ User4 then she’s not spotted in the paddock, further proving that she’s defo not at the race. plus, whenever oscar was asked about her during interviews, lando quickly changed the topic for him (2/4)

→ User4 then oscar crashes and y/n doesn’t post ANYTHING about the race but when he dnf’d in bahrain and belgium, she put numerous posts on her story about how proud of him she was (3/4)

→ User4 and now she congratulates lando on the mclaren post but doesn’t even mention her long-term boyfriend?? (4/4)

→ User5 you have too much time on your hands and are reading too much into things. i’m sure she’s facetimed him to see how he’s doing and told him she’s proud of him 

User6 okay but if a man looked at me the way oscar and lando look at each other, i would marry him on the spot 

User7 the way lando and oscar are always smiling/laughing when they’re together 

User8 oscar has such golden retriever energy 

danielricciardo @ oscarpiastri first your girlfriend tries stealing my seat, and now you’re stealing my lando. you two are giving aussie's a bad name

→ landonorris you’re the only for me, boo

→ danielricciardo don’t lie. the pictures show everything 

User9 looking forward to a better result for oscar next weekend

User10 i miss y/n and oscar. we’ve only been without them for two weeks. i don’t know how i’m going to cope with the rest of our lives 

maxfewtrell lando used to look at me like that :( 

User11 i miss when we couldn't tell if he was looking at lando or y/n like that. now we know it’s lando because y/n isn’t in the paddock 

Note: Their texts at the end kinda resolve things (and, yes, he crumbled after just one race without y/n) so let me know if you want a Part 2 showing their future? As he doesn't really need a redemption so no Part 2 planned as of yet.

As always, requests are welcome!

GUESS WHAT’S COMING NEXT WEEK!!

A Lando x Plus Size Reader

I’m kidding. (I’m not. I am actually releasing that) but also Danny Ric Baby Fever Part2!!!!

Baby Fever Angst

Daniel's Version | Max's Version | Lando's Version

Lance's Version | Charles' Version

Tag list

@bibissparkles @barcelonaloverf1life @rlalliehayes @dullypully @softtina @callsignwidow @lav3nder-haze @minkyungseokie @luvrrish @fall-bambi @evans-dejong @sadsierra2 @justdreamersdream @spookystitchery @dark-night-sky-99 @majusialikesfastcars @luckyladycreator2 @bborra @mrosales16 @reguluscrystals @tvdtw4ever @alwaysclassyeagle @gigicisneros @spanishcorndogs @thecubanator2 @goldenharrysworld @awritingtree @jxnellat @sbrn0905 @hc-dutch @buckybarnessweetheart @ironmaiden1313 @dreamercrowd @yourbane @reguluscrystals @peachiicherries

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for sharing mr beast’s credit card info?

Okay so for context this happened like MONTHSSS ago and everything is all chill now, but I’m very curious what the tumblr masses here will think of this.

So I, 17NB, shared Mr beast’s credit card info (via a screenshot from a video) in a relatively small (was significantly smaller at the time of the incident) discord server I’m in. I shared it because I thought it was funny because haha rich man money for people to use.

I had this info because of a Ryan Trahan video I had watched that day where he flashed mr beast’s credit card on screen, on purpose, for a second for the viewers. This was done as a whole bit with Mr beast’s involvement with the bit itself.

So in the server people got really mad at me for sharing it because it had personal info like mr beast’s name and credit card number in it. Which normally I’d understand because that’s never okay to share. But you can google mr beast and his name will pop up and the credit card was also a part of a bit with mr beast (and also was likely not even functional, as another friend pointed out later)

I tried explaining why I shared it but I don’t think I did a good job of it and I just kinda let it go. Everything’s chill now though. As I said this was months and months ago.

But yeah. Was I the asshole for sharing mr beast’s credit card info?

[bloggingboutburgers]

Hey there's something you might wanna know

George Cubbins/Karim from Lockwood and Co. is aroace :D

It's not openly stated or anything but like c'mon its obvious as shit

For example, in the last episode of the show George is helping Lockwood walk after he got injured and says "This is so touchy-feely." And you might think thats just his autism or something BUT THEN Lockwood replies "It's a medical necessity, George, it doesnt mean a thing."

:DDDDDD

Hey! Thank you so much for the recommendation^^

Personally, I haven't touched upon it much in my latest post but I'm pretty strict with what I consider rep and if asexuality or aromanticism isn't explicitly named in the story, or at the very least laid on very very very veeeeeeery thick with no possibility AT ALL to interpret it any other way (but really mostly... Yeah explicitly named), I don't consider it actual representation. (On that note, no, mere Twitter-or-Tumblr-confirmations don't count as proper representation to me either, if you have to go to a social medium to know about more things that "are in the show" then they're not really "in the show", are they.)

The reason is I think a- people who watch the series and don't know what asexuals or aromantics are won't know any better if it's not named, and b- I actually trust society on that so little that I doubt most writers even know what asexuals or aromantics are, OR if they do, CARE about representing them at all, so unless it's actually named, I'll mostly come to the conclusion that it's done by accident. In short... Maybe it's obvious to US who recognize ourselves in that orientation but to the average person, characters that only exhibit traits of asexuality and aromanticism without it being explicitly named are "haha so quirky" and kinda nothing more.

Basically we're at a point where asexuality and aromanticism are not public knowledge enough yet for mere hints to count as rep imo. Which is tricky because mere hints are enough for most orientations, but... I don't think the knowledge about us is there yet to the point that it'd be enough.

But... Yeah that's my take on it, and I AM pretty strict about those things, so I don't mean to ruin that for others if that's enough for them TwT Cus regardless it can be pretty great to recognize oneself in a character. So this is pretty good to know for people who don't need the orientation being named for it to count as rep in their book! So thank you for that^^

[fereldanwench]

⚠️ do not reupload or edit my shots without my permission ⚠️

At the beginning of 2023, I started working on this story set following Valerie and Goro doing a gig for Wako. The premise is that Goro and Valerie are looking into an unsanctioned Tyger Claw weapon manufacturer trying to cut Wako out of a deal and they have to find proof of that betrayal, but shit kinda goes badly when the place goes boom. And of course, there was supposed to be plenty of bonding and banter between the blorbos.

Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons, I never got around to finishing it. -_-

Mostly thanks to technical issues: this era was pre-custom poses (well, widely available custom poses + public knowledge of how to make them) and before I had started using PMU, but right after AMM updated to give us the ability to select poses right from the menu. I wanted so badly to make the new pose function work with my process because it seemed like it should have been easier (raise your hand if you remember the dark days of having to reload the game pretty much every time you wanted to change an NPC pose!!!), but the way characters would reset the pose anytime you moved them made it really time-consuming and frustrating for me.

It was a very good learning experience, though, because a lot of the hiccups I dealt with here made it easier for me to do this big story set just a couple of months later.

By the time I was able to return to this one, I could not find my notes for the main beats and dialogue (still no idea what I did with them) and I was like, fine, whatever. My workflow and style had also evolved by that point. It was time to move on, haha. But I shot probably 85% of what I wanted to shoot for it, and not sharing it at all just kind of seemed like a waste. So under the cut are 40 panels of Goro and Valerie being badasses and starting to fall for each other. Enjoy!

[thermodynamic-comedian]

I think that Lena and Sam need to celebrate Christmas together and give each other gifts (Alice gave people stickers and Gwen would probably not bother OR give people interesting rocks. Just because. Rocks. She'd also include an infographic on the origins of the rocks she got because she can't let it get TOO unprofessional in the creepy monster night job

absolutely. sam would give lena one of his own sweaters and be all apologetic about it like "haha sorry i didn't know what you wanted and i know clothes are a bit boring but um well you only ever wear that suit and it can't be comfortable and-" and lena would just be holding the sweater in complete shock like. "you got this. for me. why. what's the point of it? what's its purpose?" and then she'd actually put it on and probably tear up a bit because she didn't know clothes could feel like That. and she wouldn't really know how to deal with that, so she'd just get really quiet and whisper "...thank you, sam."

lena would get sam a mechanical pen. a clean, completely new, black and silver one. it seems like an impersonal gift, and a predictably use-focused one, but it's actually surprisingly sentimental for lena. mechanical pens and pencils mean a lot to her, and no one really knows why, but sam has definitely noticed. he takes a second to consider what it means, and then pulls lena into a hug.

[emblazons]

I'm the last anon. I forgot to point something.

Do you think Henry stating that Brenner wasn't a monster but just an ordinary man seeking for special things in other people can make El realize Mike isn't her savior but just an ordinary boy who admire others for what make them different?

Not trying to say Mike and Brenner are the same, but they do have been paralleling/contrasting each other. Mike is a good person and has good intentions, but his insistence in seeing El as superior is not good for her nor to their relationship.

!!! okay I finally got a chance to answer this—and yes, I absolutely think those two ideas are meant to be connected for her (though I'm not sure she's parsed them out yet). Its one of the first thoughts I had watching part ii as a little-deeper than GA way back in July of 2022, so...its not even my ongoing analysis brain that brought it up (though its definitely expanded since then lol). Let me see if I can explain.

forewarning: this is really long and probably the most brutal anti-mlvn post I've ever written. It is not intended to be cruel to Mike in the slightest, but. In order to talk through the narrative, I must address what is going on in El's mind, and tbh...it's not all that pleasant in anyone's direction but Max's & maybe Hopper's at this point.

The entirety of S4, El is repeatedly presented with people attempting to challenge her oversimplified and depressed sense of self and others, given that, in the time since she's lost Hopper, her first home, her friends and her powers, she's been desperately trying (and failing) to sort through her place in the world.

Please note that the depression part is absolutely critical...because it's how Vecna can so easily influence her thinking, both via what she sees in NINA memories and during his monologue to her in Piggyback scenes.

We see her do it with Mike:

We see her do it with Brenner:

And we see her do with with Henry/Vecna:

—and as she goes along learning from each, we watch her come in contact with more nuanced (potential) self-concepts each time.

With Mike, she gets a fellow 14 year old with no framework for powers trying to navigate El's complex existential crisis he's spent several months unaware of and has no equivalent context for—which is why he pulls on her being a "superhero" so much. Its how he understands her, and what has been most obvious to him over the years; she's saved him, saved Will, and saved Hawkins in just the few years he's known her, and that (in his very nerd-oriented mind) is something worth celebrating and being excited about, even in people who don't have superpowers.

For him, El is not a "tool" necessarily...but the oversimple "superhero" side of her certainly overshadows the rest for him. Its why they struggle so hard in a "normal" romantic relationship—interpersonal closeness and emotional intimacy isn't what their bond is built on, though they do care for and want to protect one another.

With Brenner, she gets a more mature (and yet still power-focused) person who is familiar with her powers and past enough to give more nuanced insight, but who is also 1) abusive, manipulative and selfish and 2) has never looked at El, Henry or the other numbers as human beings, but rather tools to accomplish goals. Even so, Brenner is an adult, and therefore understands that El cannot move forward understanding herself so simply because his own actions require complex jumps and justification to make sense to himself—

—and also because, as anyone who has see themselves change over time knows, we do not keep the same oversimple self-concept of ourselves as we age, make mistakes, and grow. Brenner sees the girl with powers, and knows what she's capable of...just like he (and Owens, honestly) knows that she is not truly evil or monstrous despite having great destructive capability. The "monster" in him though is very human-oriented...which is why El so often finds herself associating Mike's insecurities within Brenner's manipulation.

Disclaimer: that last sounded bad for Mike, but: he is literally 14, and not trying to manipulate or abuse El in any way, shape, or form. Mike Wheeler is really just insecure kid who makes mistakes thrust into an extremely unusual situation, trying to do his best with the knowledge he has. Even so...immature and under-informed people often do things that mirror mature people with legitimately cruel intentions—one is just an adult aware & intentional about the tactic, where the other is a boy who isn't.

With Henry/Vecna though, El finds an true equal, but as a foil—the actual "monster" to her "superhero," though we spend the entire season realizing that even Henry cannot be parsed down to something so remedial or one-note as "monster" either.

Henry is someone who is almost exactly like El, down her powers and being abused/manipulated by Brenner—though she's made different choices, which is the radical difference between the two of them (and one I think will be core for her to learn as we move into S5).

While Henry and El are in fact quite identical in many ways, its the choice El made to say "no" to Henry when he asked her to join her + her resistance of his desire to overpower others (which he himself notes)—on top of her desire to protect others' lives and autonomy in a way he does not that makes her good!different, rather than the bad!different Henry is.

Even so...the similarities of experience and struggle they've had at Brenner's hands make what he says resonate with Eleven—because, as we all know, some of the best villains are the ones whose concept has clear mirroring within the protagonist, only a shade off (think Killmonger and Black Panther).

Its pretty clear then, why this long lead up through Mike, Brenner and Henry presenting her with increasingly complex concepts of self & humanity would make her reflect on Mike (+ their relationship).

From the beginning, Mike' finding El and taking her in first fits him (for better or worse) squarely into the "males whose presence in my life has been formative" corner—which is why we get Mike/Hopper, Hopper/Brenner and Mike/Brenner comparisons/parallels throughout course of the show this paragraph deserves a whole post on its own, but I'm trying to stay on track here lmfao.

Its also why this line in particular (and, finally, to your point) serves as a brutal reminder that El and Mike are incompatible—not because Mike himself is doing anything to harm El, but because Mike, like Brenner for her and Henry, 1) focuses on her powers and 2) has no framework for understanding her feeling different the way she wants (and needs) to be understood.

Given that El has already confronted Papa (and left him to die for what he's done to her) and she believes Hopper is already dead—

the only person left (truly guilty or not) in the line of people who 1) were integral to forming El's understanding the world; 2) tried to tell her how she should use her powers; 3) put up resistance to her autonomy; 4) lied to her and 5) could not understand her in her difference...is Mike Wheeler—

—who she already disappointed with, who is entirely unaware any of this shit is happening within her, and who is also being encouraged by an only slightly less unaware (and in love) Will Byers to "be the heart" and lead the party like he would a campaign.

...these are also the circumstances we get this supposedly "romantic monologue" in...and where we see him reference (and remind El) not only the moment he took her in (aka ended up in one of the inadvertent authority positions she's currently rebelling against), but also the fact that he thinks she's a "superhero," (which she doesn't believe about herself after Henry's monologue).

It's no wonder then, why she seemed uncomfortable af with all he said during the entire monologue...or why she ignored him the rest of the season (except, we learn, to say to Mike that Brenner—someone she can't stand, and who she's now spent a solid chunk of this season internally associating him with—was right).

Basically: the fact that a deeply conflicted and depressed El found kinship with a manipulative Henry (while simultaneously feeling rage at Brenner...and Mike by PTSD association) means that the displeasure she feels at Brenner and everything is gonna come out at another figure who has mirrored the things she is rebelling against—her very unaware boyfriend, Mike.

Hopper isn't there to balance as a "positive" adult male perception for her either...which leaves Mike in the wildly unfair position of being the "last man standing" for the parallel sadness & rage El feels about being different, much like Henry.

That is why Vecna saying that Brenner was an "ordinary, mediocre man" now has an immediate association with Mike in El's mind...one that is just another nail in the coffin of their romance, and that she will have to pull out of her perception if they're going to heal even on a friend level from the disaster this season has created in S5.

—I will say that the presence of Max as contrast through all of these moments is critical, as Max is the one person who has asked her who she is and what she wants, as well as who parallels El signs of internal conundrum about how she sees herself (that El overhears when she enters the void). Max is also the one who reminds El of the autonomy and positive human identity that El so wants for herself.

Hopper coming back and reclaiming the spot as a positive (actual) father figure that El has been projecting onto Mike in his absence is critical as well, considering his presence (and knowledge of Mike) will likely temper the brutality El is directs at Mike in her weakest moments of the season too). But...that is a whole other post, and I've already written (another) novel.

[foxgirlmoth]

So F1nnster just came out as genderfluid but still I super fucking hate him. Making trap content and constantly making money off of a performance of being a fake girl, getting a name change and gender marker change and posting about going through that all while basically shoving it in the faces of trans women who have struggled over years and years. You've been a performance and you've gained wealth essentially making fun of us and enforcing horrible stereotypes, and saying "Yeah I just don't care about gender" Does Not Make Me Fucking Forgive Any Of That. What fucking hatred you've tossed onto your channel towards trans women will not go away easily, and Fuck You.

[zebratimw]

Spirit animal SQH

[sysig]

Stop bringing your own couch just so you can crash here (Patreon)

[averlym]

whshdfhfjf.,,,

[svtskneecaps]

friends and fiends if this truly spells the Over for the qsmp i may let the brainworms that have been festering in me for MONTHS--A YEAR, EVEN--win.

i may summarize the goddamn fucking lore.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for unfriending somebody because she got a girlfriend?

💋💋💋

I [21F] was good friends with “Amy” [21F]. We’d been acquaintances for a while and didn’t talk much until one day we went to a bar and started flirting while drunk. Nothing came of that directly but ever since then we had a very flirtatious relationship, constantly talking about cuddling, making out, and even having sex. (Note this was mostly over text haha) We never fully sexted but we came close enough.

It was to the point that pretty much every time we interacted we were flirting with each other or talking about how we wanted to fuck. We also both acknowledged that we had feelings for each other but neither of us asked the other out. I don’t know exactly why she didn’t (I know a few possible reasons but not the exact), but I personally didn’t because I’m terrible in relationships and am not ready for commitment. I was pretty much fine just flirting, I kind of wanted to date her but I knew it wouldn’t be a good idea.

Anyway, after a few months of us flirting, she tells me she started dating one of her best friends. I was pretty upset but doing my best not to show it because it’s not her fault that I didn’t want to commit. She also added that she didn’t want to flirt with me anymore but she still wanted to be friends.

I told her I didn’t really have interest in staying friends. After all, the majority of our friendship was just us flirting with each other, so if she’s no longer willing to do that (which obviously I understand why), what was the point of us staying friends? We didn’t have a lot in common, I mean there’s a reason we didn’t become close until after the bar incident. So I knew we probably wouldn’t talk much now that we weren’t flirting.

I tried to make it clear that I still liked her (platonically) and I had nothing against her and I fully understood why we couldn’t flirt anymore, but she still got really upset with me. Which… I can understand why, but I also thought she’d understand why I didn’t think our friendship was going to last now that she was in a relationship.

My friends were all shocked when they found out me and Amy weren’t talking anymore, and when I explained why they all thought I was a total AH. I thought I was being reasonable but they told me I was probably just jealous and lashing out. And I mean. Yeah I’m pretty jealous but I wouldn’t purposefully lash out because of that when I know it’s irrational — I just genuinely didn’t think we’d have anything to talk about anymore.

Am I the Asshole???

[storytellering]

the moment I see someone unironically make a "deadweight" nero joke or seriously refer to him as "deadweight" i know i can't trust them

[seilon]

every newer gen kpoppy who calls it revolutionary every time a big name bg member wears something vaguely skirt-like should be required to watch lee sungjong of infinite putting his whole pussy into performing coming of age ceremony by park jiyoon wearing the song's classic form-fitting black side-slitted dress with zero gimmicks way back in 2012

[ssreeder]

bro i swear ara might be one of my Favorite characters she makes me so sad but i also like girly get a grip 😭 i love the way u write everbody especially sokka because hes so different but still has his yk quirks and tbh when ppl write him romantically they kinda leave it out

heres ara cuz i am this 🤏🏻 Close to just giving her a playlist since shes so ..woman. yk what i mean??

anyway i kinda Imagine her cut to be simliar to zuko and very uneven cuz bro Zhao will not acutally give a fuck to at least make it nice

this is just a fall from grace even tho its Basically the best thing right now since shes away from all that crazy shit

OMG ITS THE GIRL! The one & only Ara!!! I love how you did a before and after, girl thought she had her shit handled! Only to have her shit handed to her. She has serious sad girl energy but you’re so right she needs to handle it haha.

Thank you so much for this I am squealing with joy you’re amazing!!!

[firestorm09890]

if you were wondering how that batshit video game crossover rp I mention intermittently is going, right now Beat twewy (neo era) is actively pursuing the friendship of Zexion because he's smart and, quote, "so cool dawg", which has included Beat stealing a kill from him and then winking at him, so. it sure is going. btw i highly recommend doing batshit rps with your friends featuring your respective favorite fictional weirdos, it's been doing wonders for my mental health