#if i see something is pierre pov immediately click out lol thats my toxic reader trait

[thepavementsings]

you think pierre will be forgotten about next year?

This has been sitting in my inbox for a HOT minute, I think based on some tags I may have made a few weeks ago? And now that i'm done finals I'm finally answering it lol what a treat for me.

I think the thing about Pierre is that in the larger fandom, he's already served his big narrative purpose™. The whole narrative arc of getting beat down and shoved away by Red Bull, and pushing through that? Persevering despite everyone telling him "you're as good as done"? Becoming lost in all of the personal and professional tragedy of 2019 and then finding himself again? Becoming a fantastic teammate and someone trusted to lead and then finally finally breaking out of the mold that has shaped him for so long? He's had his little hero's journey already.

Even this year, I think so much of him got... maybe flattened out is not the right word. But I think there was something genuinely SO interesting about the way Pierre rubbed up against everything this past season that was TOTALLY missed under the media-pushed Yukierre and shit car of it all. IMO it was HARD to dig into the meat of it when so much of it was presented like, candy coated rotten apples lol. Especially if you aren't like... in it like the Pierries are. A lot of it got missed (like that 5-10 minutes before people realized what was actually happening in Japan was a perfect microcosm for this season w Pierre LOL but but let's not get into that). I also just think how Pierre was this year hit less of the broad strokes big dynamic and character interests of the fandom than he did in 2020/2021 maybe!

So I think the popularity of him as a character continues to go down at Alpine too, yeah. Because the new story is about chipping away at a new thing. It's not as sexy for him alone: people who don't care about Pierre's story and only care about the narrative will watch for it to blow up with Esteban and thats about it. So much of I think the actual compelling stuff for him happens behind the scenes now, in these next few months before the season starts. It'll be about someone who is so strict and used to routine and one structure and has pre-existing expectations for a lot of usually goes on around him being thrust into a completely new environment and having to figure out how to swim after so long. It's the "Red Bull is the longest relationship I've ever had", and now what? Have you really learned have you really grown etc etc? But so much of that we wont be able to see!!

He's never really been main character compelling to people, which I get. Cause I think his typecast is harder to get into or even figure than the Maxes Or Charleses or Daniels of it all for example. He's often a useful secondary character to a slash or a gen pairing but a hard primary!! God gives his hardest tests etc etc.

The question is really what is the next big arc? And I dont know if there is one thats super clear. Which is fine for me because unfortunately I like it better when less people talk about the people I like because they dont know the lore! or whatever lol you know what I mean. But anyways I think he's just filled his narrative purpose in wider fandom. I am ok with him being put back on the proverbial doll shelf for now though!