“I got a call early this morning from Mercedes," his manager tells him. "Lewis is retiring at the end of this season, and they want you to take the seat.”
The words take a few seconds to register with Pierre, but when they do, he’s not quite sure what to make of them. Out of everything he had been expecting, it had never been anything like this.
Shaking his head, Pierre stutters, “I- I can’t. I’m still contracted with Red Bull for another year, no?”
“They will buy it out. They really want you in this seat, Pierre.”
Pierre has never finished anywhere higher than seventh and has only one race win to his name. But now he’s being poised for a team that fights for podiums every race weekend and collects trophies like they’re going out of style. A team with expectations he hopes he can live up to without any bias in any way or form.
He shrugs with his response, an incredulous smile in place. “I mean, it’s a Mercedes seat. Who turns down a Mercedes seat?”
Hello fellow Piarlies ❤️💙 We are back with another winter fic exchange centred around our French and French-adjacent boys! All arrangements, sign-up details and explanations for the exchange can be found beneath the cut.
How does the exchange work?
Exactly the same as the previous Winter Fic Exchanges! We are approaching the winter break again, and we thought it would be cool if we could inspire another flood of Piarles-flavoured content to lift our spirits and make us miss F1 a little less over the break. Besides, who doesn’t love a present? Especially if that present is a fanfiction written just for you.
So how this works is: you sign up, submit your prompts for what you’d like to read in a gift fic, and then after sign-ups close, we’ll assign you a partner to write for. Someone else will have been assigned to write for you, so on the due date, you’ll post a gift fic and receive a gift fic of your own. 🎁
When are the deadlines and due dates?
Sign-ups are open as of now, and will remain open until the 20th of November 2024 - AKA, the day before the Vegas race weekend officially starts. After that point, we will close sign-ups and collect everyone’s prompts.
Assignments will be sent out by the 25th of November - AKA, the Monday right after Vegas - roll the dice in Vegas to reveal your giftee! 🎲🎲 You will then have almost two full months to work on your gift fics. (The sign-up period is a little shorter this year to give everyone a bit more time for the actual writing of the gift fics).
Gift fics are due to be posted on the 16th of January 2025, though we do want this to be a fun and no-real-pressure exchange for everyone, so if we notice that people are struggling to finish in time for the deadline, we will simply delay it by a week, and/or implement a staggered reveals system. We can do this as many times as necessary for everyone to finish comfortably and produce a fic you know your giftee will enjoy. 💙
What are the posting instructions for the gift fics?
There aren’t a whole lot of really specific or strict rules in this exchange, but the two we would like people to take note of are the following:
This is a Piarles fic exchange, so the main focus of your fanfiction should be the romantic relationship between Pierre Gasly and Charles Leclerc. Background pairings are allowed as long as the primary focus of your fic is still the dynamic between Charles and Pierre. (There will be a space in the sign-up form to indicate which background pairings you do and don’t like. Please note, however, that there is no requirement to write any background pairings if you don’t want to.)
The minimum word count for this exchange is 2k (2000) words. There is no cut-off or maximum word count, but we do ask that you try and write a one-shot instead of a multi-chapter if at all possible (unless you are posting a multi-chapter fic which is already complete at the time of posting.)
We will do a more detailed post with AO3 collection details and final deadline/timezone instructions closer to the actual deadline. ❄
Is this a fic-only exchange, or can we create art as well?
This is indeed a fic-focused exchange, so in order to participate, we do request that everyone creates a fic that meets the 2k minimum. If you’re inspired to create art of any kind to go along with your fic, though, then you are more than welcome to do so! In fact, you’d be the MVP if you did. 🎁
How does prompting work in this exchange?
There will be a space in the sign-up form for you to submit two different prompts. Prompts can be anything from AU ideas (eg. coffee shop AU) to dialogue (eg. “Shut up” // “Make me”) to tropes or themes (eg. enemies to lovers). Anything goes, pretty much! Our only request is that you submit two completely different prompts - this is just to give your gift writer options.
As a gift writer, you can write either of the two prompts, or even go for some sort of creative combination of them both. It’s completely up to you!
There will be a space where you can provide an explicit/smutty prompt if you want, but please note that your gift writer is not required to include any explicit content in their fic unless they’re comfortable with doing so. 💙
What if I get prompts I really can’t write?
Not to worry - if you really don’t vibe with any of the prompts you have been given, you can get in touch with one of the mods and we will reach out to your giftee to provide an additional prompt or two. If things are still not working, we might reach out to someone else and have you swap giftees entirely. We want everyone to have a great time in this exchange, both in the writing and receiving parts of it!
We understand that sometimes life gets in the way, though, and you might not be able to fulfill your prompts for other reasons. We hope it doesn’t happen, but if you need to drop out of the exchange for any reason, please just let one of our mods know so we can arrange a pinch-hitter to step in and write your giftee’s fic in your place. ❄
Who are the mods for this exchange?
We have the wonderful team of @singsweetmelodies, @welightitup, @duquesademiel, and @yukierres running things for this exchange! 💙
Where and how do I sign up?
All you have to do is fill out this Google form! Additional relevant information will be shared on the Calamars Club Discord server, so if you are not already part of that server, please message a mod for the invite link.
@ Pierre/Charles shippers across Discord, Tumblr and AO3: we hope that this exchange will make you all smile over the winter break! We are so excited to share this with you all 🎁
Hello all Piarles fans!! We Calamar Club server mods have something very exciting planned for the most special week of the year - 1016 Week! ❤️ 💙
Running from Thursday the 10th to Wednesday the 16th of October on the Calamars Club Discord server, we will be hosting themed trivia nights covering different aspects of Piarles, past and present. But don't worry - we'll make sure to have numerous sessions at different timings to cover the many timezones to ensure all of our amazing Piarlies can participate! (And yes, there will be prizes! ☺️😉)
In addition to the trivia nights, we will also be holding a WIP Weekend from Saturday the 12th to Sunday the 13th of October. For all of you writers who would like to get some words down for their fics but have been struggling lately, this weekend is for you! With multiple sprint and brainstorming sessions through the weekend, you might find it hard to stop writing after ✍️
If you'd like to join in and aren't a member of the server yet, just send us an ask or a DM, and we'll change that immediately 🫶
by @welightitup & @boxboxbrioche, for our darling @singsweetmelodies on her birthday ❤️
It starts when Pierre turns fifteen and fails to see the red string.
Two years later, it begins again when Charles turns fifteen and sees his red string immediately.
Coming Soon to AO3!
hi katie ❤️❤️❤️ happy birthday!!! we are hard at work writing this for you - it will be with you as soon as possible ❤️❤️❤️ thank you for being the most incredible friend - you have made both of our fandom experiences so much richer just for being you. we love you!!!! tia & briony xxx
Hiii fellow Piarlies, and welcome to the CC server's Summer of Piarles! This summer break, we're going to be bringing you a series of Piarles-focused events to keep us all from missing our boys too much while there's no F1.
First up, we have a writing challenge for our lovely writers: the Choose Your Own Adventure fic fest! For this event, we will provide you with a 3-level prompt diagram, and then you choose whichever prompts/tropes you like best in each level, and build your own fic from that.
You can find the prompt diagram below the cut:
(If you would like an image description of this diagram, please feel free to contact any of the mods - we will be happy to provide this for you ❤️)
If you're still not quite sure how this diagram works, we came up with this example choose-your-own-adventure fic:
So this fic would be a strangers-to-lovers historical AU, with elements of forced proximity, secret identity, and the "oh. oh" moment. (Sounds like a pretty fun fic, right? 👀) But there are many, many options, and we can't wait to see what you all come up with!!
Some Logistics:
The Choose Your Own Adventure challenge is open as of now, and will remain open until the 22nd of August.
You can post your fic(s) to the AO3 collection at any time during this period. They will all be revealed on the 23rd of August (the beginning of the next race weekend, so that we can all enjoy a weekend of racing and reading when F1 starts up again!)
You can find the AO3 collection here: Summer of Piarles: Choose Your Own Adventure (Summer_of_Piarles_2024).
The minimum word count for this event is 2k words, and there is no maximum 😉 You are also welcome to post multi-chapter fics for this challenge - just pinky promise us that you're planning to finish them someday xD
You do not have to fill in any Google Forms or anything to sign up - this is a very low-pressure, if-you-can-when-you-can type of challenge. This challenge is hosted by the Calamars Club Discord server, so all you need to do is join us there! (You can message any of the mods for an invite link to join the server.)
Your mods for this event are the fantastic team of @singsweetmelodies, @welightitup, @duquesademiel, @nolanseagull and @pinkierre ❤️
If you have any questions about any part of the event, please don't hesitate to message one of the mods. We are always happy to help!
But for now... happy summer break, and happy writing!! ❤️💙
Hello everyone! We wanted to let you all know that we are now going to be having two separate sets of fic reveals for this challenge:
The first set of fics will be revealed on the 1st of September, with fics being due in the collection by 31 August.
The next set of fics will be revealed on the 10th of September, with fics being due in the collection by 9 September.
The AO3 collection will remain open for another month after the 10th of September, so if you wanted to participate but you couldn't make it by either of the new reveal dates, you are still welcome to add your fic to the collection later.
We want this to be a fun and stress-free event for all, and we hope the deadline extension will help keep it that way for everyone ❤️
Thank you for understanding, and we will see you all on the 31st!
Hiii fellow Piarlies, and welcome to the CC server's Summer of Piarles! This summer break, we're going to be bringing you a series of Piarles-focused events to keep us all from missing our boys too much while there's no F1.
First up, we have a writing challenge for our lovely writers: the Choose Your Own Adventure fic fest! For this event, we will provide you with a 3-level prompt diagram, and then you choose whichever prompts/tropes you like best in each level, and build your own fic from that.
You can find the prompt diagram below the cut:
(If you would like an image description of this diagram, please feel free to contact any of the mods - we will be happy to provide this for you ❤️)
If you're still not quite sure how this diagram works, we came up with this example choose-your-own-adventure fic:
So this fic would be a strangers-to-lovers historical AU, with elements of forced proximity, secret identity, and the "oh. oh" moment. (Sounds like a pretty fun fic, right? 👀) But there are many, many options, and we can't wait to see what you all come up with!!
Some Logistics:
The Choose Your Own Adventure challenge is open as of now, and will remain open until the 22nd of August.
You can post your fic(s) to the AO3 collection at any time during this period. They will all be revealed on the 23rd of August (the beginning of the next race weekend, so that we can all enjoy a weekend of racing and reading when F1 starts up again!)
You can find the AO3 collection here: Summer of Piarles: Choose Your Own Adventure (Summer_of_Piarles_2024).
The minimum word count for this event is 2k words, and there is no maximum 😉 You are also welcome to post multi-chapter fics for this challenge - just pinky promise us that you're planning to finish them someday xD
You do not have to fill in any Google Forms or anything to sign up - this is a very low-pressure, if-you-can-when-you-can type of challenge. This challenge is hosted by the Calamars Club Discord server, so all you need to do is join us there! (You can message any of the mods for an invite link to join the server.)
Your mods for this event are the fantastic team of @singsweetmelodies, @welightitup, @duquesademiel, @nolanseagull and @pinkierre ❤️
If you have any questions about any part of the event, please don't hesitate to message one of the mods. We are always happy to help!
But for now... happy summer break, and happy writing!! ❤️💙
a little while ago, i got this ask asking me if i could make some sort of introduction to the pierre/charles ship and all its lore. and since they are, without question, my f1 rpf OTP, my answer was oh my god yes of course. it's taken me a little while to compile all that lore - because boy, is there a lot - but it's been one of the happiest research projects of my life, without question. and i think it's finally ready to go!! so, with no further ado...
ABOUT PIARLES: a (not-so-brief) introduction to f1 rpf's french friends to lovers ship
so the first thing you need to know about piarles is that they're childhood best friends. not that uncommon in a sport like f1, to be fair - most of the drivers grew up together, racing against each other in karting. but pierre and charles are a little different in that they aren't just karting acquaintances: the two of them (and their entire families) are genuinely good friends.
in fact, if you ask either pierre or charles about the other (and interviewers often do) one of the first things they'll probably say is "we've known each other for a long time," quickly followed by "we used to go on holiday together when we were kids." and they ALWAYS say this with the fondest expressions 🥰 even if you take shipping completely out of the equation, it's clear that these two have a very long-standing and very close friendship, with many fond memories which both of them seem to treasure very much.
in charles' own words:
"Pierre! We know each other since... a long, long time. We used to go on holidays together when we were children with our parents, and uh... we did quite a bit of mess together when we were children, but (laughs) very good memories. And the relationship never really changed throughout the years, even though we have taken different paths, because he was a bit older, so we weren't always in the same categories. But we would always call each other, text each other, go on holidays together... and yeah, I just have so many memories." (source - watch from timestamp 2:06)
pierre tells a very similar story:
"He's definitely one of my best friends. Charles is a very nice person and an incredible driver. We met when we were 9 years old and created a very strong bond. Our parents are very close, and we went on vacations from when we were 10, so we created lots of memories. We were teammates in karting when we were 12, and today we find ourselves in Formula 1. It's a pretty incredible story. But for me the most important part is to see the person he's become, and he hasn't changed since he was young." (source)
i think it's important to note that these aren't the only times pierre and charles have spoken about each other in glowing terms like this - no, it happens quite frequently. pretty much every time they're asked about each other, tbh. (i'm not going to add quotes from every single time here, though, because we would be here for the rest of the month if i tried. 😅) the point is, piarles are pretty damn close, and think very highly of each other.
but it's not just them that are close: like i mentioned in the first paragraphs of this post, their families are close, too. they really are childhood friends in that "your family is practically my second family" sense, which i think is something really special.
here, for example, is pierre's father jean-jacques talking about charles:
Charles is part of the family. We've known him since he was nine and when he started in karting with Pierre. (...) When the races were in England Charles was sleeping at our place, and when the races were in Italy, Pierre was sleeping at Charles's place. Then Pierre moved to F4. I don't think there have ever been a big rivalry between them even though their careers were similar. Charles is part of the family probably even more since Hervé passed away. Our door will always be open for him and he knows.” (source)
🥹
what's more, charles has also said numerous times that it's hard to maintain true friendships in f1 - but his bond with pierre is one of those rare exceptions:
It’s rare I think, it’s very rare to have a sincere friendship in F1, because there’s a lot of competition. So yes there’s friendship, but it’s not always entirely sincere - but with Pierre it really is, and it has always been. (source)
they're friends. they really are friends, not just friendly coworkers, like many of the other f1 drivers are. pierre and charles genuinely like and appreciate each other's company very much - which, even if you put shipping completely aside, is just such a wonderful thing, and always makes me smile so much.
one of my personal favourite moments was when pierre talked about charles on the beyond the grid podcast in 2023:
"That's why I really like these chats that I can have with Charles, because I know with Charles, discussing about both our lives, we won't judge each other... because we know what it's like and we just speak very openly about various things. And I know it's almost like a happy place or a comfortable place where you really feel you can open up. He'll understand, I'll understand him..." (source - listen from timestamp 32:01)
if that doesn't make your heart melt at least a little bit, then i don't know what to say to you.
... no, actually, i do. if this kind of sentimentality won't do it for you, how about a bit of silliness and humour?
that's right. like any good childhood friends, pierre and charles also have an embarrassing nickname for each other: "calamar," which is french for "squid." (we know that they call each other that courtesy of charles' insta).
what on earth is the origin of this nickname, you may be wondering? well, according to pierre...
"It goes back to a long time ago when we were kids, like... nine, ten years old. We would go on holidays together and spend more time. I don't know. It just came, like one day we decided to call each other calamar, which is not really such a beautiful nickname, but yeah it was just for fun. We were kids and we were laughing. And actually, we have many other nicknames because we were teammates also in karting and we spent a lot, a lot of time together. So, a lot of nicknames came alongside all this time. And this kind of stayed with us." (source)
as pierre said in this quote, "calamar" is not even the only nickname they have - pierre sometimes calls charles "charlito" and also "charlo," while charles calls pierre "mon petit."
and as if that's not enough, they're also that pair of boyfriends friends who always have to bring each other up in conversation. if there's ever an interview question along the lines of "which f1 driver would you...." then you can pretty much bet pierre will answer "charles," and charles will answer "pierre."
for example, here is pierre choosing charles as the one f1 driver he'd take for a drink. and here is charles naming pierre as his best friend in the paddock. oh, and here is pierre saying he'd choose charles as one driver to take with him to a desert island. there's more, but i think you get the idea 😆❤️
so yeah! that's a quick(ish) overview of the background/context of piarles - AKA the french (yes, i know charles is monégasque, but he SPEAKS french) friends/boyfriends on the grid.
(if you'd like to know more details about their friendship, especially about their pre-f1 years, then i recommend this post and its follow-up compiled by the incredible @vegasgrandprix. these posts really are a treasure trove for piarles history & lore!)
but now that i've painted a pretty clear picture of their friendship, let's move on to some more shippy moments, shall we? the "lovers" part of friends to lovers <3333
believe it or not, eveything up till now was just the background information about piarles. it's more than enough to build an OTP on already, i'd say - but wait, there's more!
the thing with pierre and charles is that along with being friends, they are also french (or....french-adjacent. close enough) which means that they have absolutely zero problem with being very openly affectionate with each other.
this has given us some very delicious shipping moments, which i will now try and give an overview of. (my fellow piarlies: if i've left out one of your favourite moments, please forgive me - they have so many moments with each other, and tumblr has a post character limit, so there was just no way for me to include everything, much as i wanted to. but i do think this is a good introduction!)
let's start with perhaps the most iconic piarles moment of them all: monza 2020, aka pierre gasly's first win in f1.
that was a crazy, wonderful day in so many ways - first of all, the race itself was insane. pierre started 10th on the grid, and with a lot of luck + a safety car that really worked out for him, ended up leading the race and defended from carlos sainz with DRS to get his maiden win. this was almost exactly a year after he'd been dropped from red bull, so the win was pretty much the biggest fuck-you to everyone @ RBR and comeback moment for pierre that was possible. it was also a dream come true (every f1 driver dreams about winning a race!) and you only need to look at any interview pierre did afterwards to see how much it meant to him.
what makes it even more insane, though, is that charles was right there to congratulate him and watch his podium. keep in mind that, in the same race, charles crashed out - both ferraris did, in monza of all places. i don't think anyone would've been surprised, or held it against him at all, if charles just kept his head down for the rest of that day.
but no. even though he wasn't medically cleared after the crash yet (!!) charles went to parc fermé anyway to congratulate pierre. remember that thing i said about them being french and very open with affection? well:
here are some pictures of the monza piarles congratulations hug. (am i the only one who thinks it looks like charles wants to kiss pierre in that second pic?! god....) here and here are some more angles of the hug to go insane over, if you like.
you can also watch it in video format here - and yes, charles really did pull pierre out of his hug with romain so that he could congratulate him himself. i know. (also, yes, pierre does pat charles' ass just before they go their separate ways. what can i say? french.)
as if that's not already insane enough, charles also stayed to watch pierre's podium despite not being medically cleared yet after his crash. (we have to thank netflix FOREVER for providing us with that specific behind-the-scenes shot 🙏 drive to survive - you did well that time, you really did.)
and afterwards, charles said:
It was just a dream for one of us to get into F1 one day. In the end we’re both in F1, we’ve both won a GP, both of us in Monza. (...) I was really happy that day, even if my race went wrong, his win made it a good day. (source)
your honour. who says that about another driver's win, especially on a day where you yourself had an awful race? if that's not love in a sport like f1, i don't know what is!
i really could talk about monza 2020 and how much it means for a very long time, but i will rein myself in to just one final comment: isn't it rather beautiful to think that pierre & charles' names will always be next to each other in the monza winners list? charles won there in 2019, and then pierre won there in 2020. talk about soulmatism ❤️💙
now, moving on to another absolutely iconic (and delightfully gay) piarles moment: baku 2021, aka that time pierre and charles had an awesome last-lap battle for the P3 podium spot.
it was very close racing, with them swapping positions several times down the straight - but they kept it clean. in fact, they kept it so clean that someone remarked it's like they know each other by heart. yup. totally a normal thing to say about two men racing.
equally normal was charles' comments after the race:
"The last lap was my favourite part of the race. It was crazy and had a lot of actions. With Pierre it was hot. I'm happy for him for his podium." (source)
and as if that's not enough, he also GRABBED pierre into a hug in parc fermé, and then held him incredibly close while congratulating him.
you can watch this hug in video format here and gif format here, if you want - and i really recommend doing so, because it's insane to see how charles quite literally crashes into pierre's personal space and yanks him into a hug. (here is a close-up of their helmets during said hug - and you can just say it with me. GAY.)
that's still not all, though: charles congratulated pierre twice after the race. once on the outlap (with a thumbs-up and a middle finger as pierre's car drove past his, LMAO) and then on social media as well (with a nickname and a kiss emoji).
he ALSO commented on pierre's instagram post about the race with another kiss emoji:
so, apparently, charles was thinking about kissing pierre quite a lot in baku 2021. 🤭 an iconic day all around!
and as it happens, 2021 brought us another iconic piarles moment - though this one is a whole less happy. i'm talking about styria 2021, aka that time pierre and charles had contact in a race, and pierre had to retire from that grand prix.
here is the official f1 news article about the incident - the long and the short of it is that charles misjudged on lap 1 and crashed into the side of pierre's car, ending pierre's race. naturally, pierre was furious and upset, especially because the alphatauri was actually a good car in 2021, and he'd stood to score really good points that sunday.
now, for most f1 girlies, an incident like this between childhood friends immediately brings up vivid brocedes flashbacks. and, to be honest, it wouldn't have been that much of a surprise if this had indeed soured pierre and charles' friendship - we saw exactly this happen with pierre and esteban, after all.
but no. charles went to see pierre post-race to clear the air between them, and although pierre was furious with him, he didn't let it ruin their friendship. in fact, when he was asked how the incident affected their friendship, pierre had the following to say:
"Yeah... I was really sad to end 15 years of friendship. He is no more my friend (laughs). No, no, it's... honestly, it was really painful, you know, you work so hard the whole weekend for Sunday to score points, and then after literally like 20 seconds, the whole race was over. So, quite a difficult one to swallow, but, you know, we know each other, with Charles, we have a lot of respect for each other. He came to see me after the race - I was still pretty pissed off with him, but, uh, we knew before last Sunday, nothing ever happened between us on the race-track, and we knew one day it would happen. Unfortunately I paid the price more than him, but yeah, it's racing, unfortunately. (...) It's painful, it's racing, it happens sometimes - I just told him to make sure it doesn't happen another time, and... we're fine." (source - watch from 17:01)
i think that styria 2021 is vital piarles lore not because it's a fun shippy moment, but rather because it shows the strength of their connection. an incident like this could easily have destroyed their friendship, but they didn't let it. they mean enough to each other that they let what happens on-track stay on-track and not affect their closeness off-track. and that, i think, is something truly special - they were tested in a way which has destroyed f1 friendships before, and yet they still came out stronger.
iconic indeed.
on a happier note again, now, there is also montreal 2022, which many piarles fans consider one of THE seminal piarles moments. the race itself was not so memorable for our boys this time, but what they did off-track is.
that is to say: pierre and charles went on a dinner date. then, they were spotted driving around the streets of montreal in a white ferrari. and THEN, as if that's not mind-blowing enough already... charles posted, to his public instagram story, a video of pierre wearing his charles-leclerc-16 branded ferrari hat.
these screenshots are peanut quality, i'm sorry, lmao... but all of montreal 2022 feels a bit like a fever dream in the best way, so i think the blurriness just captures the vibes, tbh.
we're not quite done with montreal 2022 yet, though - earlier on the same day, charles also had a very sweet hello with pierre's parents. you can just SEE how much pierre's parents love charles, and isn't that just the most heartwarming thing 😭❤️
now, one final thing about montreal 2022: pierre never posted his infamous photo dump after that race. that might not seem particularly important, but... this is the only race of 2022 for which pierre DIDN'T post a photo dump.
there are a thousand and one theories about why he didn't - maybe he just forgot, maybe he had a busy weekend, maybe he didn't have any photos he wanted to share. or, in a more shippy interpretation... maybe he does have photos, especially photos of charles, but he doesn't want to share them/wants to keep them all to himself. we don't know!
one lucky piarlie got to meet pierre in london in 2022 at an alphatauri event, and actually asked him about the montreal photo dump thing. here is what he said (courtesy of the lovely @they-call-it-traffic 💞)
the descriptions there... you can just picture pierre's expressions & smirks SO perfectly, right? he is insane. they are insane. #investigatemontreal !!
anyways. moving on one year again: 2023 brought us pierre and charles' basketball date:
as well as two tennis dates:
(i call them "dates" because pierre and charles spent a significant time together during them, hanging out & enjoying each other's company and looking at each other with major heart-eyes. obviously, irl, they aren't officially dates - in fact, both pierre and charles had their irl girlfriends along with them when they attended wimbledon. but who cares too much about irl -- this is a rpf post 😉)
i'm not going to spend too long explaining the lore behind these, because i'm already flirting with the tumblr post character limit 🙈 but basically, what happened is that on all 3 these occasions, pierre and charles chose to hang out together at events completely unrelated to f1, simply because they are friends and like each other's company. (that, to me, is always a measure of how much f1 drivers actually like each other - whether or not they choose to spend time with each other when they're not forced into proximity by f1. pierre and charles pass this test with flying colours.)
the basketball date is particularly insane, because that day was actually an event which charles, pierre and esteban attended. but you wouldn't know THAT from charles' post about it. charles fully cropped esteban out of his post - he really said "esteban who? i only spent time with my friend pierre 😌" and he said it with his whole chest.
ALSO, while we're on the subject of the basketball date and social media - pierre and charles co-posted a reel about it on instagram. yes. CO-POSTED. you know, like a couple co-posting about their date.
piarles basketball date, you will always be famous!!
(P.S. - a lot of piarles fans refer to this 2023 basketball date as "basketball date 2.0" - and this is because pierre and charles have actually done this before, in 2021. i really can't talk too much about that date - character limit, my beloathed - but let me just say that pierre draping his arm round the back of charles' chair is something that lives rent free in my mind. rent free.)
another thing that lives in my mind rent-free is charles being interviewed at their first tennis date, and calling pierre his best friend <3333 love is friendship set on fire, etc etc!
... so, okay, when i said i wasn't going to talk too much about the lore behind the tennis & basketball dates, i lied a little bit. but in my defence - they were insane for these, they really were!
anyways. now, let's skip back in time a little - because i would be very remiss if i didn't include pierre and charles' 2016 joint championship celebrations.
in the year 2016, pierre was the GP2 champion and charles the GP3 champion (GP2 and GP3 are the old names for F2 and F3). in a very pretty twist of fate, they both clinched their respective titles at the same circuit, in the final race of their respective series - and then, of course, they celebrated together.
here is an adorable gifset of them celebrating together after the final GP2 race. and here are some more pictures from the official Prema photoshoot for the GP2 & GP3 champions (yes, they did a joint photoshoot together. even Prema ships it, apparently!)
actually, while we're on the subject of celebrating together: pierre and charles almost always congratulate each other for their significant achievements in f1. see: charles making a point to congratulate pierre on his podium in baku, as i discussed earlier in this post, and again in zandvoort 2023. (both times with a kiss emoji, mind you). similarly, check out pierre seeking charles out in parc fermé to congratulate him for his bahrain 2022 season-opener pole, and then congratulating him for his win twice over on social media. (and these are just a few examples out of many!)
this is one of those things that sets them apart from many other f1 rpf pairings: they both seem genuinely happy when the other does well. and like. they are COMPETITORS - but they're good enough friends that they can still celebrate each other's achievements genuinely and happily. that is insane!!
yes, sure, it's good sportsmanship to congratulate other drivers for wins/podiums - but that is usually done with a handshake in person or a copy-paste "congrats to XYZ" in the post-race interview, or something like that. one rarely gets the sense that it comes from a place of genuine, deep happiness for the other driver being congratulated.
pierre and charles are just on a whole different level. they specifically seek each other out in parc fermé, hug each other with so much enthusiasm that it looks suspiciously gay, and also post about each other's achievements very fondly on social media.
again, this is something you might see a driver do for their teammate - for example, charles congratulating "carlos and the team" for a win in singapore - but almost never with a freaking KISS EMOJI. and a pet name. and so much genuine joy.
just... yeah. they care about each other so much, and are each other's biggest supporters ❤️
it's not just in good times that they're there for each other, either: 2019 was a truly difficult year for both pierre and charles (pierre especially) but they were still there for each other when it mattered.
the prime example of this is monza 2019, which was one race after pierre's demotion from red bull, and also one race after anthoine hubert's death. because the fia has no sense of basic kindness or decency, naturally they put pierre into a press conference that very weekend.
the video of that press conference is very hard to watch - every time pierre is asked a question, you can hear how much he is struggling to hold it together. honestly, the sole good thing from this presscon is that at least pierre had charles beside him.
here is a post i made where i discuss this in a bit more detail, but essentially: charles sat as close as possible to pierre for the entirety of that conference - close enough that their shoulders were practically touching - as a non-verbal gesture of support. you can see the difference in space between charles & pierre vs all the other drivers, and there's no way that was accidental. charles might not have been able to voice his support for pierre out loud right then, but it's there in every part of his body language.
another very meaningful moment is also from 2019, when pierre went up to charles pre-race in spa:
"I told Charles before the race, please win this race for Anthoine." (source)
and charles did. 💙
then later in 2019, when pierre got his first podium in brazil, guess who was right there to hug and congratulate him? that's right.
this was another case where charles' own race fell apart - he had a crash with his teammate, in fact - but he still made a point of going to hug pierre after his P2, and going on social media to tell pierre and also the whole world that pierre deserved that podium. that's what i call supporting your best friend.
now, at this point, you might be thinking... well, pierre and charles have it all. whether you're looking for happy moments or deep emotional moments or suspiciously gay moments to fuel your shipping fire, it's all there.
and you'd be right! they do have it all. though i will say this - one of the complaints i've heard whispered around this fandom is that piarles is a fun ship, but they don't have any content videos together like teammates do. so it's harder to ship them, because you don't get to see them actually interact with each other aside from like 5-second video clips...
to that i say: well. they might not have any teammate videos together, but oh boy. as of 2023, they do have something else: the squeezie video.
i could talk about the squeezie video for MONTHS, i really could - but let me try and keep it brief. so, squeezie is this french youtuber who has this "who's the impostor?" video series in which he gets a couple of celebrities to join him on the show, plus some people from a certain profession, and then they have to guess who actually does that profession and who's the impostor.
the day that pierre and charles were guests on the show, the professions were "firefighter," "midwife," "flight attendant" and "school counselor." this resulted in absolute chaos of the best kind - ah, man, i cannot even begin to describe to you what a glorious mess it was. that video had everything from charles & pierre cradling fake babies, to charles & pierre extremely dramatically accusing each other of lying, to pierre making dirty hand gestures while charles blushes profusely, to charles & pierre play-acting being naughty schoolkids (feat. charles saying he fell asleep in class and woke up from a nightmare screaming "box box" 😭)
here are some screenshots of some of my favourite moments:
the way they LOOK at each other... GOD.
anyways! you can watch the video here. my recommendation is to watch it with the original french sound track - there is an english dub available, but it sounds incredibly strange to hear american accents coming out of pierre & charles' mouths, off-sync with what they're actually saying. it's a MUCH better experience to watch in french, so you can hear what they actually said, and enjoy how they interact with each other. (english subtitles are available!) alternatively, you can find some translated highlights here, courtesy of the incredible @sedicii <3333
aside from all the still-can't-believe-they-actually-did-this-on-camera content, one of the things that makes me feel the most insane is that pierre and charles both chose to appear on this video. there was no contractual PR requirement saying they both had to participate in it, like with teammate challenges - no, they did it in their free time, because they wanted to.
i mean, sure, that video was definitely good for PR for both of them, but the point stands that they didn't have to do it, and they certainly didn't have to do it together. they CHOSE to - and what's more, they said at the end of the video that they'd do it again.
that's so central to pierre and charles, i think: they choose each other, time and time again. they freely choose to spend time with each other, because they genuinely like each other and enjoy each other's company. so much so that you will find them together at least once on almost every race weekend.
no, seriously. it's a very unusual race weekend if pierre and charles aren't spotted together at least one time. whether it's being glued to each other's sides on driver's parades, or chatting in the background of some or other interview, or just walking through the paddock together... they will find each other.
there are SO many instances where this happens that i would be here for over a month if i tried to list them all - and i'd still probably miss some. but here are some of my personal highlights!
pierre and charles finding each other pre-race in jeddah
pierre and charles chatting in the media pen in the background of one of alex's interviews
pierre and charles walking together in vegas (feat. fond smiles)
pierre and charles being baby gossip girls in 2018
more baby piarles in 2018
even more baby pierre and charles chatting in 2017
and just to round things off: most recently, pierre and charles walking together in jeddah 2024
and many, many more... including a whole bunch of moments we'll probably never know about.
that's another thing that makes me more than a little insane about these two: pierre has actually said, in so many words, that they'll never share everything about their friendship.
In the end we have the same life, we grew up together. We've done many things together, but you won't hear about all of it. (source)
all these moments that we see, that we go insane over... that's probably not even the half of what they've actually done together. and that makes me feel some type of way. if this is just the small pieces of their lives & interactions that they choose to share with the public, then just imagine what else there could be...
....buuuuut that'll start becoming a fanfic if i let myself carry on with that line of thinking too long. (can i just say one thing about that, though? the piarles fanfic community is absolutely INCREDIBLE. such talented writers, such wonderful people... just, chef's kiss all around!!) but, yeah! i think this post has gone on for more than long enough now, haha.
so, to conclude: pierre and charles really are the epitome of a friends to lovers ship: they get along famously, they genuinely seem to love each other's company and are always laughing together - and they can very often be found giving each other the heart-eyes/looking at each other like they're in love. if it's warmth, joy and friends to lovers feels that you're after, then look no further <3333
thank you so much for reading! and i do hope that after all this, you're at least a little bit in love with piarles, too ❤️
The team at @f1crecs are very proud to share that we are very nearly at our first milestone - 500 followers! 🥳🎊🥂🎉
We are so incredibly grateful to every single one of you for all your support: requesting rec lists, sharing our posts, giving our featured authors love, including us in your blogs to follow lists, and generally being the most amazing community ever. You're all incredible.
To celebrate this milestone, we will be:
✨ Sharing a special, 500-themed rec list;
✨️ Giving our 500th follower the chance to choose the next rec list;
and
✨️ Giving someone who interacts with this post the opportunity to choose a rec list for us to work on!
Want to choose a list for the blog?
✔️ Interact with this post. Liking this post will give you one entry, and reblogging it will give you two 👀
✔️ We will then spin the wheel, and choose someone once we've hit 500 followers.
✔️ The list you request could be as specific (fics featuring Nico Hulkenburg as a barista) or as general (enemies to lovers fics) as you'd like!
✔️ We will work on pretty much any list you ask for, but please note that if your ask is super specific, we may not be able to accommodate it.
Hello fellow Piarlies ❤️💙 Thank you so much for your interest in the idea of a second winter fic exchange centred around our French and French-adjacent boys. All arrangements, sign-up details and explanations for the exchange can be found beneath the cut!
How does the exchange work?
Exactly the same as last year’s Winter Fic Exchange! We are heading into the winter break again, and we thought it would be cool if we could inspire another flood of Piarles-flavoured content to lift our spirits and make us miss F1 a little less over the break. Besides, who doesn’t love a present? Especially if that present is a fanfiction written just for you.
So how this works is: you sign up, submit your prompts for what you’d like to read in a gift fic, and then after sign-ups close, we’ll assign you a partner to write for. Someone else will have been assigned to write for you, so on the due date, you’ll post a gift fic and receive a gift fic of your own. 🎁
When are the deadlines and due dates?
Sign-ups are open as of now, and will remain open until the 23rd of November 2023 (AKA, the Thursday before the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.) After that point, we will close sign-ups and collect everyone’s prompts.
Assignments will be sent out by the 27th of November (AKA, the Monday right after the final F1 race on the 2023 calendar.) You will then have all of December and half of January to work on your gift fics.
Gift fics are due to be posted on the 16th of January 2023, though we do want this to be a fun and no-real-pressure exchange for everyone, so if we notice that people are struggling to finish in time for the deadline, we will simply shift it up by a week. We can do this as many times as necessary for everyone to finish comfortably and produce a fic you know your giftee will enjoy. 💙
What are the posting instructions for the gift fics?
There aren’t a whole lot of really specific or strict rules in this exchange, but the two we would like people to take note of are the following:
This is a Piarles fic exchange, so the main focus of your fanfiction should be the romantic relationship between Pierre Gasly and Charles Leclerc. Background pairings are allowed as long as the primary focus of your fic is still the dynamic between Charles and Pierre. (There will be a space in the sign-up form to indicate which background pairings you do and don’t like. Please note, however, that there is no requirement to write any background pairings if you don’t want to.)
The minimum word count for this exchange is 2k (2000) words. There is no cut-off or maximum word count, but we do ask that you try and write a one-shot instead of a multi-chapter if at all possible (unless you are posting a multi-chapter fic which is already complete by the time of posting.)
We will do a more detailed post with AO3 collection details and final deadline/timezone instructions closer to the actual deadline. ❄
Is this a fic-only exchange, or can we create art as well?
This is indeed a fic-focused exchange, so in order to participate, we do request that everyone creates a fic that meets the 2k minimum. If you’re inspired to create art of any kind to go along with your fic, though, then you are more than welcome to do so! In fact, you’d be the MVP if you did. 🎁
How does prompting work in this exchange?
There will be a space in the sign-up form for you to submit two different prompts. Prompts can be anything from AU ideas (eg. coffee shop AU) to dialogue (eg. “Shut up” // “Make me”) to tropes or themes (eg. enemies to lovers). Anything goes, pretty much! Our only request is that you submit two completely different prompts - this is just to give your gift writer options.
As a gift writer, you can write either of the two prompts, or even go for some sort of creative combination of them both. It’s completely up to you!
There will be a space where you can provide an explicit/smutty prompt if you want, but please note that your gift writer is not required to include any explicit content in their fic unless they’re comfortable with doing so. 💙
What if I get prompts I really can’t write?
Not to worry - if you really don’t vibe with any of the prompts you have been given, you can get in touch with one of the mods and we will reach out to your giftee to provide an additional prompt or two. If things are still not working, we might reach out to someone else and have you swap giftees entirely. We want everyone to have a great time in this exchange, both in the writing and receiving parts of it!
We understand that sometimes life gets in the way, though, and you might not be able to fulfill your prompts for other reasons. We hope it doesn’t happen, but if you need to drop out of the exchange for any reason, please just let one of our mods know so we can arrange a pinch-hitter to step in and write your giftee’s fic in your place. ❄
Who are the mods for this exchange?
We have the wonderful team of @singsweetmelodies, @boxboxbrioche, @welightitup, @duquesademiel, @wolfiemcwolferson and @river-ocean running things for this exchange! 💙
Where and how do I sign up?
All you have to do is fill out this Google form! Additional relevant information will be shared on the Calamars Club Discord server, so if you are not already part of that server, please message a mod for the invite link.
@ Pierre/Charles shippers across Discord, Tumblr and AO3: we hope that this exchange will make you all smile over the winter break! We are so excited to share this with you all 🎁
As you may remember, a couple of weeks ago I put out a post asking for volunteers to help me collate recs for the lists and maintain the blog. I am so very happy to introduce them all to you now - and we will all be sharing our favourite fics, too. 🤍
thank you so much to everyone who put their name forward for this - I am so grateful.
click here to hear their #1 favourite f1c, and continue below the cut to learn more about them.
I hope you will all join me in welcoming them!
Briony x
Alison - @lydia-petze
favourite pairings: I am very unfussy but some of my favourite pairings are galex, carlando, piarles, yukierre, loscar, charlos and martian.
favourite tropes: again, very unfussy but coffee shop, fake dating/marriage of convenience and bodyguard fic is all up there.
about me: Hi, I'm Alison, lydia_petze on AO3. I'm very old in fandom years, having started back in the 90s when The X Files was the fandom du jour. I manage a rail station in my spare time, my number one job is cat servant, I like folk music and folklore and I can do the occasional Aussie-pick when it's needed
Briony - @boxboxbrioche
favourite pairings: piarles, galex, martian... but I truly will read most pairings. favourite tropes: childhood best friends to lovers. second chances. historical au's. soulmate au's!!
about me: hi! it's nice to meet you. this fandom is so incredibly talented, and i started this blog in 2023 in order to shout it from the rooftops. i enjoy reading, walking, and esteban ocon
Caroleen - @blueballsracing
favourite pairings: love Lestappen, Brocedes, Galex, Loscar, Landoscar
favourite tropes: enemies to lovers, magical realism, roommates, friends with benefits
about me: Hi! I’m Caroleen, caroleen on ao3 and blueballsracing on tumblr! I’m a big cat lover, huge Taylor Swift stan, and am a huge nerd!
Clara - @frickinsweet
favourite pairings: Piarles, Lestappen, Galex, Brocedes – but I’m a Charles-girly first and foremost so I will read most things that involve him ❤️
favourite tropes: Enemies-to-lovers, mutual pining, magical realism, soulmates
about me: Hiya, I’m Clara, frickinsweet on tumblr (and on AO3 where you can find me commenting on fics mostly). Eternally tired girl that wishes she could be a cat mom but god has cursed me with allergies. Fanartist (in theory only so far). Due to work related damages I have too many opinions on peoples teeth 🙈.
Katie - @singsweetmelodies
favourite pairings: Pierre/Charles, Seb/Lewis, Nico/Jenson
favourite tropes: fake dating baby!!! but also, friends to lovers, mutual pining, idiots in love <3
about me: Hiii! I'm Katie, ohmygasly on AO3 and singsweetmelodies on Tumblr! in the words of a dear friend, my 3 personality traits are doctorate, taylor swift, and f1 (not necessarily in that order)
Leaf - @ocontraire
favourite pairings: I'm not very particular about pairings, though i gravitate towards those including lando, alonso, or esteban.
favourite tropes: pining, fantasy settings, and moderately unreliable narrators
about me: hello! i'm leaf, leafmeal0ne on ao3 and ocontraire on tumblr! i love poetry, country music, and far too many sports to be reasonable. i crochet frequently and am very bad at it.
Hello and happy Monza weekend, fellow Piarlies! ❤️💙 It's with great love and excitement that we're sharing with you the idea behind our next Pierre/Charles event: 1016 Week! We chose Monza to do the grand reveal because we couldn't think of any place that has better Piarles history - and that's what this fanweek is going to be all about. Celebrating Piarles, and all their gorgeous history, and everything that they are. ❤️
You can find all the details and arrangements for the event below the cut! <3
How is this event going to work?
If you've ever participated in a ship week/fanweek before, then this will work exactly the same as that! We've created a list of seven Piarles-themed prompts, one for each day of the event, and the idea is that everyone creates a little something inspired by each prompt to post on its specific day.
1016 Week will run from the 10th to the 16th (🥰) October 2023. Creation time starts as soon as you've got your prompts - which is to say, as soon as you finish reading this post!
We'd like this to be a fun and stress-free challenge for everyone, so we've tried to build in plenty of creation time for you all. Furthermore, we will not be enforcing deadlines very strictly at all - so if you do happen to miss a day or two, absolutely no worries! We will keep reblogging 1016 Week content to this blog right through to the end of the year. 💙
What kinds of content can I create for this event?
Any and all types of creative fanwork - fic, art, gifsets, photo edits, video edits, playlists and more - are welcomed in this fanweek! The only criterion is that its main focus must be the relationship between Pierre Gasly and Charles Leclerc.
Furthermore, there are no content restrictions for this challenge - NSFW, dark, or otherwise uncomfortable topics are accepted. However, we require any such content to be clearly identified in your title/summary/blurb and placed under a read-more cut, so that those who aren’t comfortable with seeing it can avoid it.
Prompts are general, and creators are free to interpret them however you want! As long as it's about Pierre Gasly and Charles Leclerc, and has something of the prompt's general theme in it, anything goes. ❤️
Do I have to complete all 7 days to be allowed to participate?
Not at all! You are free to complete as few or as many of the prompts as you want, and you can submit as many or as few creations per day as the muse inspires. 😁
When you've finished your creation and you're ready to share it with the Pierre/Charles world, @ this blog and use #1016 week 2023 in your first five tags so we can find and reblog your work. Don't forget to add what day of the prompt week your creation is fulfilling!
For our writers and artists who'd like to add your work to AO3: we've created an AO3 Collection where you can post all your creations for this event! You can find it on the Archive as 1016 Week 2023 (1016Week_2023). Be sure to post to Tumblr as well, because we'll be reblogging all 1016week content to this blog too! 💙
Where and how do I sign up?
This is a super low-pressure event, so there's no need to worry about an official sign-up! You can just like or reblog this post (& give this blog a follow!) to show your support <3
It's our honour and pleasure to host this fanweek over at the Calamars Club Discord server. If you're not a part of the server and you'd like to be, just message a mod for the invite link. Your mods for this event are the epic team of @singsweetmelodies, @boxboxbrioche, @welightitup, @duquesademiel, @wolfiemcwolferson and @river-ocean!
@ Pierre/Charles shippers across Tumblr and AO3: we hope that this event will make you smile this September and October <333 We are so excited to share this with you all! ❤️💙
One year ago today (ish 😬😬😬), the best thing ever happened to me, and I want to celebrate the occasion by making a post.
I have a confession.... 😭 I am a few days late with this. And the reason is this: I am a scatterbrain. Tia knows this, and loves me anyway, and that perhaps makes me the luckiest girl in the world.
A year later, and Tia, @welightitup, you are so very dear to me. All that we have done together - the birthday fics, the servers, the exchanges, the laughter and the love. I love you so much. Here, to celebrate our friendship, is a historical retelling of our first meeting. Enjoy. 😌
1. The story begins....
About a year ago, I read the most wonderful Piarles fic - Charles is a driver, and Pierre is his sexy engineer. If you haven't already read it, do that now!!! You won't regret it.
It changed my life a little bit; it was so beautifully written, and the author seemed SO COOL, and I decided then and there that I was going to befriend them, no matter what it took. (Sorry Tia, you didn't stand a chance. 🥹)
I decided to play it cool in my comment, as you can see below:
2. I tell my friends about you
Deciding to continue 'playing it cool', I share your fic in a group chat. They, of course, also play it cool. 😎
3. The first contact
I decide that enough is enough - I need you in my life, like a Pierre needs a Charles. I initiate contact, and, as cool as ever, invite you to join a server.
You accept...
4. I relay the good news to the group chat
As cool as a cucumber, me. 🥒
5. The server isn't enough. We need you in the group chat.
It was a unanimous yes. We loved you so much, even after only - [checks notes] - twelve hours.
6. I play it cool (again)
You were so funny and kind and smart and I was so happy that you'd joined us. I played it cool, hoping to impress, even as @singsweetmelodies tried to embarrass me (by telling you I was from Milton Keynes😬).
7. The love affair begins...
You fit in to the group chat immediately. We always knew you would 😭😭😭😭🥺😚 You were like the last piece of the jigsaw puzzle, and you completed us. Within hours of you joining, we'd already created an in-depth and expansive AU, that, if published, the fandom would not survive ❗️ I think I speak for all of us - me, Katie, Jaylin, everyone who has ever had the pleasure of talking with you - when I say that we fell head over heels in love with you, VERY FAST !!!
8. We WRITE A WHOLE FIC TOGETHER 😭😭
Literally only a couple of weeks or so later, and I loved you so much already. Enough that we decide to write a fic together , along with our dear friend Jaylin❗️❗️❗️❗️❗️
It was one of the most fun processes of my life - we clicked immediately, not just our writing styles but also just US. Sometimes I feel like we share a brain - it is so validating that someone as wonderful as you thinks in such a similar way to me. You are truly one of my best friends, and I will never stop telling you how much you mean to me.
Thank you for loving me, even though I literally threw myself at you 🥹 Thank you for all that you do for us; for the support and the laughter and the Piarles spirals. You and Katie are the loves of my fandom life, and I feel so truly blessed to know you.
I hope you enjoyed this walk down memory lane. BIG KISS. HAPPY (BELATED) ANNIVERSARY ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❗️❗️❗️❗️
Briony 🥰🥹❤️😍 You are the sweetest! Thank you so much for this wonderful post and thank you even more for inviting me to the server and kicking off our friendship! And Katie, thank you for inviting me into the GC ❤️ I’m so glad my Enginerre fic led me to you both. To think it’s only been a year! We have come up with and done so much in that time. The endless fic ideas, GCs, birthday fics, and events! Even servers 🥹 Thank you both for letting me be a part of it all and your little third wheel.
(The gif is the three of us even these days, a year later 🤭)
Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let's spread the self-love 💞
Hello, Dees <3 Thank you for this lovely ask. This was a doozy cos at first I was like 'I don't even have five fics to choose from' but apparently I do! I still cannot believe its been just over a year since I posted my first Piarles fic, and the number of fics I have written since.
Also, thank you to @singsweetmelodies who also sent me the same ask :)
So my top five fics I've written are:
Love Like This - my enginierre AU, which was the first Piarles fic I posted it. I loved writing this one so much, and I'm tempted to go back and look at my notes for the sequel because there is one planned out!
Uneasy Lies the Head - my Mercierre AU, which was the first Piarles fic I started writing. It's a big one at 34k but I loved every second of writing it.
Whispers Can Echo - my fake dating AU, written for a fic exchange, this was such a fun fic to write. I never thought I would write a fake dating AU but this one fan away from me. Obvs, they're just idiots in love and needed that gentle push to realise it!
(I Want) Something Just Like This - my only 5+1 with fashion student Charles. Another exchange fic that was such a blast to write, and being able to use a Coldplay title for it really made it for me.
And Time is Frozen - my short-ish fic at 5k, a collection of snapshots throughout the evolution of the Piarles relationship with the growing collection of Charles' charm bracelet thanks to Pierre. It was just so sweet to write them like this, taking little bits of their lives together, and being able to dip into my headcanons along the way.
The more time they all spend together, the more his roommates are slowly starting to drive him insane. It's not because Charles and George turned out to be assholes after the first few weeks. No, they're both still as nice as ever. They're just… pining, which is much worse, in Yuki's eyes.
What makes it even worse is that Charles and George aren't even pining for each other. Oh no. They are pining for Pierre and Alex, respectively – but Pierre and Alex don't seem to realise that. They just pine right back, because they for some reason believe that Charles and George are dating.
How they are missing the obvious longing looks, Yuki has no idea. All he knows is that something has got to change around here, or all four of his flatmates are in danger of being thrown head-first into the Seine.
AKA: misunderstandings in the loft are at an all-time high. What will it take for it all to be sorted out?
Part 2 of the Who's That Guy? series!
written for our most darling birthday princess @boxboxbrioche: Briony, I love you ridiculous amounts. Sitcom amounts, in fact! I hope you have had the best birthday/birthday week 🤭❤️💙💚 I a 🚪 you!!
Biggest hugs and kisses and thank-you's to my beloved @welightitup for being the BEST partner in crime giggles and jinxes for this series!! It has been an absolute ball writing this one with you - and here's to many many more 🤗❤️💙💚
