So, idk if I posted about this here, but I did start a brocedes fest?? Just thought you should all know in case you want to join it.
The prompting closes on July 31st, but that may be moved back a little bit until mid-August because I have done a horrible job at prompting this thing and there is like no prompts made lmao
i asked you a bit ago about ships you liked and here is what i wrote (heart-related): https://archiveofourown.org/works/88696306
it was supposed to be a lot lighter and fluffier and smuttier than it ended up oops. it's kind of dark and sad and scary but i hope you still like it!!
I'm going to be honest, I got a bit scared when I saw the eating disorder tag, because while I don't have it, I try not to read stories that focus on it because it makes me uncomfortable, and reading is a source of comfort for me so the two doesn't go well together.
But I still gave it a go, because, you know, cardiophilia, and I could just stop if I felt like I needed to. But I didn't need to, it wasn't as strongly focusing on it as I was afraid it would. I think there was a good balance.
Also, anxiety is a bitch. Because it's so relatable that he had negative results but still couldn't stop worrying. It's like when friends tell me it's okay and I didn't do anything wrong a million times but I still can't stop worrying. It's very easy to spiral.
I loved the heart moments even though they came from anxiety. I loved that Lewis let Nico listen and that Jenson was also there for him. It's hard to, you know, fangirl over heart/pulse moments when the whole story is anxiety based, because it makes me feel bad to say that I loved the pulse checks and stuff like that when it wasn't for fun. If you know what I mean. So it's hard to give my usual reaction, but I really liked the story even if this “comment” isn't like my usual, really intense, “I let out my inner cardiophile” type of comments.
Also, I loved the happy end. I'm glad Nico finally realized he needed to rest. ❤
It's a really great story, thank you so much for writing it and exploring these topics. 😊
We're doing Brocedes today which makes me feel exactly like that meme of the monkey side eye-ing the screen. Because this ship is absolutely insane. This is what really got me into F1 rpf because of the sheer insanity of the lore there is with these two.
DISCLAIMER: This is my opinion only, I'm just presenting the way I see this ship and discuss some of my favourite things about it.
When I think about Brocedes I just think hey. Hey. What the fuck. What the actual fuck. If you asked me, gun to my head, to say one rpf ship that is the most likely to be true, I would say Brocedes in a heartbeat.
I think what makes it so appealing is their very real friendship falling apart while all of those little moments were being broadcasted live. Add to it the romanticism of being childhood best friends and you have the perfect formula to make me cry at 3am watching tiktok edits.
Let's unpack (some of) the things that I like about Brocedes and how they make me lose my mind.
Colour: Teal and Silver
This is pretty self-explanatory, these were thee Mercedes colours back in the 2010-2016 era which is prime Brocedes. I will argue that there are two distinct colour pallettes to this ship: teal and silver for that era and red/blue for the earlier days (that orange-ish vodafone red and the deep williams blue of the 2000s) and red/blue for the present as well (ferrari red - in which lewis looks amazing btw - and nico just gives off blue vibes generally)
Song I associate it with
You already know what I'm going to say here. Silver Springs live in 1997 by Fleetwood Mac. I mean this is just a fact. The amount of edits I have seen of them with this song...the lyrics being so spot on for this ship...it's just perfect. You will never get away from the sound of the woman that loves you!!!!
Top 3 iconic moments that come to mind
There are so many and they are so painful but these are my favourites:
That damn picture after Lewis won the 2014 title and they are in the cooldown room holding eachother and they look like they have to try really hard not to start making out in front of the cameras. But for real now, wtf is that hand placement? Also Toto clapping in the background is sending me.
"Are you a better driver than in 2016?" "Yes. And teammate." This interview shot me in the head 30 times then took me out back and left me out for the vultures to eat. WHAT DO YOU MEAN AND TEAMMATE. I know Nico wanted to jump out of that chair and strangle him. The live Jenson reaction too😭
The cursed "We're not friends" "We've always been friends" interviews which are taken back to back. Brocedes thesis right here. Insane to see on television. Bring back the lack of PR training these people used to have and let them start saying unhinged stuff like this again!!! I know Toto Wolff was ripping out his hair. I think the people at Netflix saw this and decided to make DTS hoping for another drama like this except there is no other drama like 2014-2016 Brocedes.
SPECIAL MENTION: Nico haunting the narrative which just means that Nico Rosberg cannot and will not shut up about Lewis Hamilton and I'm all here for it. Him showing ul out of nowhere to interview him for his first Ferrari win 10 years after the 2016 Barcelona crash? Absolute cinema. That man knows how to smell these opportunities, somehow he is always there at the right time. 10/10 I love you Nico Rosberg never change
And even more moments which are simply too iconic not to mention: Nico throwing the cap, their first podium together, the matching helmets, vacationing together in Greece, "do you think Lewis should be dominating you more", Happy birthday Britney video, all of those damn Mercedes commercials from the 2010s, the apology letter, THEM LIVING IN THE SAME BUILDING??, Lewis keeping his safe at Nico's apartment, the Roscoe name conspiracy, the Grill the Grid video, the F1 movie being just Lewis projecting Brocedes onto Brad Pitt, that fucking beach honeymoon photoshoot etc etc there are a million more like this it's not even funny
The Dynamic
There are so many things to say here. Starting off, obviously they were childhood best friends, I 100% believe this, at least in the karting/competition context they were definitely close, as proven by the many pictures (you can look them up) and stories people have told in interviews over the years. The breaking the bed story, the being menaces in the paddock and Nico's dad making a karting team just for them are other insane pieces of lore we have going on here. Then, coming into F1, obviously Nico is a nepo baby and Lewis is the first and only black person in this sport, so you can imagine they had different experiences with that. But their friendship continuing on the grid is so sweet, you can see how they are still friends beyond pretending to get along (like they are geniuenly clips of them just looking confortable around eachother etc). Plus, ofc the media knew they were childhood friends and there was a story to tell so they milked it as much as was possible in the late 2000s.
I'm going to skip to them being teammates now because if I start talking about every single Brocedes moment I'm never going to stop, there are that many. 2014-2016 is the downfall of their friendship, it's so tense, you can see their relationship deteriorating live and I think it must have certainly been an experience watching it happen. The thing I think a lot of people overlook is that in that particular era, Nico was much more media trained or at least aware of how to interact with the media than Lewis, who I'm not saying that he wasn't aware, but in some interviews it looks to me like he lets his emotions get the best of him. (See "we're not friends" "We've always been friends.") I'm sure they were both equally horrible with eachother behind the scenes but Nico just had the advantage of the media (which is a whole other subject to unpack). So we have things like throwing the cap and not looking at eachother during podiums and other drivers aknowledging the Brocedes divorce (thank you Sebastian Vettel).
Then of course, 2016, the crashing, those pictured of them in press confrences looking close to crying, the brokeback mountain picture of them on the podium, this has been talked about so many times. It ended with Nico winning the championship and immediatley retiring (my goat) and Lewis refusing to mention him by name in the next 10 years. (Love the clip where he is asked about his teammates over the years and conveniently forgets about Nico as if he never existed) while Nico never stopped talking about him. Now we are in the peak divorce era, avoiding eachother in the paddock, stilted answers in interviews, actively avoiding eye contact etc. Honestly this is peak.
Now. In my own opinion, which is based on all of this + the fact that I have accumulated an alarming amount of brainworms by being on this site since i was 16, you cannot tell me these two have not kissed at least once. They have, I just can't prove it. Something was going on there for sure, even if it was just a very deep friendship or a very weird situationship, gun to my head, I think Brocedes was real in some capacity and we will probably never know the whole story. You can't act like this if you're not petty about something and also incredibly immature. (Saying stuff like "We're not friends" after being mad about qualifying is not a mature thing to do let's be real)
Favourite Tropes
This being such a tragic ship and a sad real life story, I honestly prefer reading light hearted fanfiction of them, because I can't handle the angst (sue me). Some of my favourite more light hearted tropes of them are:
them living in the same building and walking up and down the stairs to confront eachother, knocking on the door in the middle of the night and ignoring eachother on the elevator (ik i said light hearted but this is Brocedes)
Being teammates but unable to stop coming back to eachother even when they are fighting (ouch)
Them being the background power couple in a lot of other fics like it's just a fact of life that they were married and divorced and then got back together at some point
The whole getting back together aspect, going back to a certain spot they used to go to where they were younger and remembering what it was like (this is so general i'm sorry). Making a drunk mistake and ending up waking up together in the morning because they yearn to be together but they have so much stuff between them and it's not that simple even though they want to.
Toto Wolff getting traumatized by their shenanigans
Ok almost none of those were light hearted😭😭😭 But this is the nature of Brocedes after all.
Conclusion
I'll keep it simple. Something was going on and when I watch moments of them I feel like I'm witnessing something private I should definitely not be seeing and it gives me secondhand embarassment. Like guys, please sort out whatever the fuck is going on and stop acting like this because you are not helping your case. Brocedes is definitely the ship that has the strongest evidence to me. Like sure, I ship other things for fun, but I don't actually believe them. But deep down I fully 100% believe Brocedes.
