#<- not a hot take at all. like that shit is cold

[shushmal]

"Holy shit, Ed," Steve hisses. "We're going to die."

Eddie, teeth chattering, rolls his eyes. "No, we're not, you big baby," he says. Sure, it's January and there's a foot of snow outside and the heater in their little shithole apartment is dead. But they're not going to die. "Go get under the electric blanket."

Steve shuffles off, still complaining. "You won't love me anymore if my toes fall off. You'll call me stump feet and leave me for a man with 10 more toes than me."

"Oh my god," Eddie says, laughing. Steve's lucky he's cute. "I'll love you even if both your legs fall off."

"Will you love me if I'm dead? Because I'm going to die."

"Oh, just you now?" Eddie turns on the burners and the oven, opens the oven door wide, and starts a pot of water boiling.

"I forgot you're indestructible. Unkillable."

"Hell yeah I am. Like a vampire."

"Or a roach."

"Wow, maybe I won't make any hot chocolate afterall."

"Eddie, nooo," Steve whines, instantly pitiful. "Baby, I love you and all your roach qualities. They're my favorite qualities."

"Okay, fuck you, I'm making hot chocolate for myself."

"Nooo," Steve wails. From the couch, Eddie can see him flopping over dramatically, already burritoed in two blankets. "I am forsaken. Left to despair and desolation. Banished into the cold, chocolate-less night."

"Damn, we've really expanded your vocabulary."

"Fuck you," Steve says, before falling back to whining. "Will anyone save me? Will anyone take this cold, weary soul into his arms? Where is my roach prince?"

Eddie, face hurting from grinning, takes over two mugs to the couch. "Here you goof, now quit bitchin.'"

"My prince! In all his gross, buggy glory!"

"Oh my god, shut up!"

[stans-kissing]

Remember that old post u made abt Ford shooting Stan with that crossbow but fucking the wound as an apology? Was Stan's ghost watching or what?

okay i am acually having so many thoughts about this. weird woundfuckers cmere youre gona luke this one. also somnophilia! kind of. technicially noncon. blood as lube lol

i think ford would have some weird wound fucking fantasies especiallt paranoid ford because im So sure he and bill got up to some weird freaky shit ok. so in this world just knowo that ford is canon wound fuckerhere.

OKAY so hear me out: ford accidentally shoots stan's like idfk shoulder.. im thinkign like rifht above one of his boobs or something and because he's like all malnourished and shit he Passes the fuck out and dfords likeOH M YGOD I KIOLLED HIMMMAMM. no you didnt dingbat hes just out cold. so ford lugs him inside and sets him up laying down on his couch/bed and he attempts to take care of the wound. he strips his shirt, not without oggling stans tummy heheh, and pulls the arrow out, and when he moves to wipe n clean it all off he hesitates and like... hhh... pprreetyytytytyy .... his eyes flick to stans face and he gulps nervously, his dingers move closer to the bloody hole, eyes glued to the bright red blood and then he hesitantly dips his fingers into the mess, sinking into the flesh every so slightly and he can feel a shiver run down his spine at the feeling of stan's hot blood surrounding his two fingers. he looks ar stan again, noticing the way his brows furrow and his lip twitches up and he can tell stans in pain, and he really does want to care but. holy fuck this feels so. erotic he cant help himself as he pushes his fingers in ever so deeper, buried two fingers in to his first knuckles and he groans as the flesh around him throbs and fucking hell he's so sick, this is wronf, this is stan, his brother , and he's hurting him., but ohhhggfuck its beem a while for ford ok. his head feels dizzy and he cant think straight when he climbs on top of stan, straddling his chest and spreading the blood around his fingers, he has to fight back the urge to lick his hands clean but his head is too foggy and his dick is too hard to ignore and

i dont wanna get too gross on here. so ill stop. but.he (attempts) to fuck the wound but he can only get the tip in and he Does cum all up inside stan ok thanks

[slaytheusurper]

⭑ Love thy neighbour ⭑

Masterlist

A/N: First Tom Bennett fic team, now why is he so fucking hot!!!

Pairing: Tom Bennett x Neighbour!Reader

Warnings: NSFW, 18+ mdni, dirty talk, kissing/making out, dry humping, Tom hitting from behind, fingering, p in v sex, Tom being a charming bastard.

Summary: Tom needed to hide from his dad after an evening at the pub, surely his pretty neighbour would let him in?

Word count: 3k

The cold draft sweeping through your bedroom kept you awake once again, pulling your sheets up as far as you could didn’t do much either. You cursed the single paned windows for keeping you from your dreams for the third time this week, you had work at the beauty shop as a countergirl tomorrow and you couldn’t afford having no energy. 

It was all smiles and a happy, energised voice while assisting the ladies with any makeup or perfume. It fit you well but it did take a lot out of you, hence why sleeping well was quite important. Then your mind drifted off, a certain blonde haired man clouding your mind. Your neighbours, the Bennetts, were a nice family and you would sometimes even hang out with Lois. 

Lois was one of your good friends and since the two of you lived so close, them living right across the narrow street, you would often spend time with her. She would most of the time talk about Harry, a man you could tell just from Lois’ stories wasn’t quite great but you let her do her thing. 

You had met him once or twice and wasn’t quite impressed. And when you voiced your opinion to your friend she simply stated it was because you just like blonder men. She knew of your crush on her brother and found it quite adorable. 

You were somewhat embarrassed, you were pretty certain he saw you as a friend and as Lois’ friend so you kept it to yourself. However you knew him pretty well and you had been to his rescue a couple of times when the police came down the road, hiding in your house until they left. 

After your dad left to join the army when the war started it had been you and your mum, since she now was the sole income for the family, you decided to get a job as well. So your cousin gave you a recommendation at the beauty shop, hence getting you a job. Which of course you were very thankful for.  

His footsteps were the only sound that echoed through the empty dark street. Everyone was asleep by now, which was obvious as it was the middle of the night. Tom had spent the evening at the pub and even though he wasn’t drunk, he still knew he would be in trouble once he got home.

So he had a choice to make, his feet came to a halt at his front door. Blowing out some smoke from the cigarette he was puffing on before glancing to your window. Your bedroom was at the front of the house, just like his and Lois’ bedroom. 

Would you still be awake? Would you even let him in? And if you did, he would have to be careful not to wake your mum up. Even though the woman liked him, as he was very charming and handsome, your father did not. Of course he wasn’t home now but if he knew he had been in his daughters bedroom, there would be hell to pay.

He had never actually been in your bedroom, just hid in the closet downstairs when the police showed up at his door. He stood there for a minute taking a last drag of his now short cigarette, before stomping it out on the floor. His eyes shifted from his door to your window, he really didn’t want to deal with his nagging dad right now.

Your window it is. He crossed the street and noticed the tiny pebbles on the sidewalk. Picking them up he carefully threw one at your window, he couldn’t be too loud. If his dad heard him inside the house or your mum in yours, he would be in such deep shit.

The tick against the window made you sit up in bed, did you hear that right? Tick...Tick. Now there were two, you definitely heard that right. Throwing the sheets of your body, you got out of bed. Clad in your thin long nightshift, it was new, a gift from Lios for your birthday that was a couple of weeks ago.

As you made your way to your window, you wrapped your arms around yourself to fight the cold. When you peered out, a crooked smile met your eyes. You rolled them at him and he put his hands together in a begging motion as he got on his knees. You stifled a laugh at his stupid gesture and opened your window. 

“What do you think you’re doing?” You whisper yelled at him. “Well I was hopin’ you would rescue me, and here you are.” He whisper yelled back, now getting back on his feet. “Oh really, and how would I do that?” You teased, you knew he wanted to just get inside but why not pester him a bit?

“Please beautiful, can you let me in? I promise I won’t wake up your mum.” His words made your face turn about a hundred shades of red and you contemplated his question. You let out a sigh and fully opened your window. Tom smiled at you and used your, luckily strongly built, drain pipe to get up the wall and into your bedroom. 

He almost tripped and fell into your bedroom when his foot got stuck on the windowsill but you managed to catch him. The pair of you had to keep your laughs in as your mum only slept two rooms down the hall. 

When you let go of him he sneakily glanced at your thinly covered breasts before taking in your small but cosy bedroom. You blushed hard when you caught him staring but sat back down on your bed as he looked around, the moonlight illuminating the room. Then you noticed your pebbled nipples were quite visible through your gown.

You paid it no mind and slightly covered yourself with your arms. “So...your room is nice, I imagined it would be like this. All, well flowery and stuff.” You quirked a brow at him. “You imagined what my bedroom would look like?” He snorted at that and just shrugged. “Dunno just thought it would look like this, can smell your perfume. It’s nice.” 

His charming personality and butterfly inducing words made you completely forget about a very important matter, where would he sleep? “Should I uh… sleep on the ground or?” You smiled softly, “Or?” He scratched the back of his neck and looked around awkwardly. “Or...maybe you wouldn’t mind sharing with me?” 

His words made your face burn and the thought heated your belly. Sleeping next to Tom? In your bed? So incredibly close? Your bed was quite small, since it was just you, so it would be a tight fit. “I don’t know Tom, it’s a very small bed.” He nodded at your words and lowered to the ground, at least the floor was carpeted. 

You sighed, he couldn’t sleep on the ground. There was even less room on the floor and it was incredibly cold with the draft. Maybe it wasn’t so bad to share with him? “Get up.” He smiled and got off the floor waiting for you to get under the sheets so he could join you. But then he started to take off his coat, then his shoes, then his sweater. 

He looked at you hesitantly, “You mind if I take off me pants? They’re not comfortable to sleep in.” He smiled a bit sheepishly. You bit your lip softly and nodded, moving a bit more to the side so he could join you once he was left in his briefs. 

You closed your eyes to give him some privacy and a moment later you felt the mattress dip and his legs brushed yours as he climbed next to you. “You can look y’know?” You softly opened your eyes and was met with his cute smile again. “Did I wake you up?” He whispered. 

You shook your head, “No, the cold was keeping me up so you didn’t.” He nodded and made himself a bit more comfortable. “So you workin tomorrow then?” It was now you who nodded, “Yeah, too bad I won’t have slept much though.” He smiled again at your words and mumbled a sorry.

“It’s fine, cold would’ve kept me up anyway.” He seemed to think for a moment. “If you turn around, I could lie closer to you, keep us both warm.” He once again made your cheeks turn red, but agreed anyway. You turned around, now faced with your flower wallpaper as you felt him inch closer to you.

His front was now pressed to your back and it felt awfully intimate. You could smell the cigarettes he smoked on him and the delicious musk that always clung to him, a mixture of beer, cologne and sweat. Suddenly you felt the draft sweep through the room again and you shivered.

Tom didn’t fail to notice and now wrapped his arm around your waist, the sudden touch making you jolt a bit. “You okay?” He whispered, so close to your ear, his warm breath made you shudder once more. “Y-yeah, it’s warmer this way.” His warm body against yours was the best feeling you had felt in your life.

After a while he shifted again and seemed to cuddle up to you a bit. The sensation made heat pool in your belly again and you could feel yourself throbbing a bit below. The way that this man made you feel was dangerous, and something no other man could make you feel. 

Not much time had gone by when you awoke again but this time it wasn’t because of the draft. Tom shifted again, now seemingly in his sleep. Then you felt it, something hard poking your ass. You weren’t stupid, you knew he was hard. 

You had sex before, mediocre at most but you couldn’t help imagine what it would be like if Tom woke up and just fucked you right on your tiny bed. Your leg started to cramp a bit and this time you moved a bit, getting more comfortable. The movement made your ass graze his covered erection, was it a trick on your ears or did you hear a quiet moan? 

The noise made your core throb harder and so did the feeling of his cock pressing against your ass. He was probably asleep and you wanted to know if you really had this effect on him, so you grinded a bit harder against him this time, under the ruse of getting more comfortable.

“Do that again darling and you would have to do something about it.” The warm whisper against your ear made you gasp. He was awake, fuck. “Or maybe you are doing it on purpose. Maybe you want to do something about it. Hm?” His low voice made the wetness in your underwear worse and all you could do was nod.

“Say it.” You whimpered at his command. “Go on. Tell me what you want.” His hand started to caress your hip. “W-want, want you.” He chuckled. “Yeah? You want me baby? Or my cock?” His words and now tighter grip on your hip made you moan softly. “Both- P-please,  Tommy I need you.” You whined.

You could hear him groan behind you as his hand snaked down to your covered wetness. Two of his fingers carefully caressed the soaked fabric, right on your covered clit. The gentle touch was enough to set your body on fire. 

You pushed your ass against his crotch again and he grunted out a quiet fuck. Before rolling his hips against you in a rougher movement. The action made the both of you moan quietly as your mother was still sleeping in the same house. His hand then skimmed a bit higher against the edge of the fabric. 

His fingers then moved your underwear down, and he started to kiss and lick your neck, earning whimpers from you. The moment he touched your now bare clit, made you moan a bit too loud, stilling both your movements as your eyes widened in fear. But for moments nothing happened and he continued his movements, but not before warning you.

“Be quiet beautiful, don’t want your mother finding your neighbour's fingers deep in your cunt would you?” You gasped once again, words were dangerous coming out of his mouth. The effect he had on you was insane. 

He resumed, his thick fingers circling your clit. Then he also started to hump your ass again from behind. His own soft groans and moans mixed with yours. “You turn me into an animal baby, bet you could make me cum by just letting me grind against your ass.” The words spurred you on even more and you could feel yourself getting close.

The way his fingers perfectly stimulated your clit made you tremble beneath his touch. Sighs and pants left your lips as he rolled his hips against your ass in a stronger rhythm now, his fingers worked faster too, as he listened to your dizzying responses. 

Soon you were clutching his arm, holding your breath as you were so incredibly close. “Tommy- I’m so close- please-” He sucked and kissed your neck once more and sped up his fingers a bit, the way you gripped his arm was starting to hurt but he fucking loved it.

Then with a louder gasp and whine, your entire body spasmed and contracted, waves of ecstasy crashing through your body. Tom’s hand was stuck between your thighs but he wanted nothing more, the fact he did that to you made his cock twitch in his briefs. 

He had edged himself the whole time while pleasuring you, hoping he would be allowed to fuck you as well. Once you seemed to calm from your high, your body relaxed and Tom could move his hand again, but he wasn’t done. 

“Gonna let me fuck your tight cunt baby? Oh, please let me, need you so bad.” He groaned in your ear, showing you how much he needed you with a harsh pump of his hips. You breathed a yes and hiked up your nightgown yourself, tits on display for him. 

He immediately took advantage of it and massaged them with his freed hand, before tugging off his briefs, now fully naked as well. He took both of your clothes and threw them on the ground next to the bed. Then he caressed your skin again.

Kissing your shoulder and neck, and then he turned your head. Kissing your lips fiercely before stroking his cock a bit. “Do you have a condom pretty?” You nodded and gestured to your nightstand, the condoms still in there from when your ex used to visit. He quickly opened the drawer and pulled one out.

Never had you seen a man rip open and put on a condom so fast, it made you giggle a bit. He smiled at you and lovingly kissed your lips before you turned back so he could move his cock over your glistening folds. His tip caught over your hole and he gasped, “Can I?” You nodded again and he carefully slid his tip inside.

He almost fully entered you with how slick you were and the added lube on the condom. But he made sure to treat you delicately, so he slowly buried himself inside. Cursing under his breath at your warm walls hugging his cock. Once he got to the hilt, he let you get used to his size.

You breathed a please, and he got the hint to start moving. He rolled into you from behind and the small old bed started to creak a bit with his movements, somehow making the whole ordeal more intoxicating. “So fucking good baby, your tight little cunt feels so good, might get me addicted.” He grunted from behind. 

You could barely think as his cock pounded into you, mind blank as pleasure consumed you. Then you felt his fingers on your clit again, trying to sloppily match it up to his thrusts. The bed creaked louder when he drove into you harder, skin on skin slapping now also filling the room.

All attempts to be as quiet as possible flew out the window and now you just hoped you were both quiet enough. Each pound into you drew a moan from your lips, his own groans muffled by your neck he was nuzzled against. “Fuck baby, yes, yes, yes- feels so good, my little slut- fuck-” Your cunt squeezed him at his words making him groan even more.

Your cunt started to contract more and more around him, along with your breathless gasps it was a sign for him that you were close. So his fingers now found a good rhythm over your clit and along with his noises, the bed, your colliding skin and his thrusts, euphoria found you again. Your back arched against him and his hand was once again trapped in his favourite place. You twitched against him and your walls contracted around his cock tightly. 

“Yeah- yeah- baby- come for me. You gonna make me cum- you want that? You want me to fuck my cum inside you?” A moan was the only response he needed and he spilled his spend all inside the condom, moans and gasps left his lips as well, as he thrusted a couple more times inside you. 

Curses left his lips as he made sure he completely emptied himself in the condom, pretending he was filling up your pretty cunt instead. His movements stilled as he held onto you. Both of your heavy breaths filled the room, now quite hot enough. 

After a while he carefully slipped his soft cock out of you and removed the condom. Tying it up before leaving you to throw it in your trashcan. He then picked up your nightgown and underwear and gave it to you with a smirk, before pulling on his own briefs again.

He slipped back next to you and you had now turned to face him, an uncontrollable smile on your face. He pecked your lips before doing it again and again, earning a laugh from you. He wrapped his arms protectively around you and then kissed your cheek. 

And so you fell asleep in his arms and when morning came, you were late for work and had a lot of explaining to do to your mother. Who screamed as she entered your room that morning.

[tyrianludaship]

you know, i really dislike how people have little or no empathy over minor pr0shippers and/or harass them because it's obvious they didn't exactly choose to be that. unrestricted internet access at a young age can lead to some really disturbing rabbit holes that the child or the parent - are none the wiser to.

i first got exposed to gore and h3ntai when i was 12 and 11 respectively, and during the time, this was celebrated and encouraged because that was the culture of the spaces i was in (mostly anime and true crime). It takes a village to raise a child, and the parents should not exclusively be to blame; especially when they are illiterate to the online world.

i don't know, i just think people should actually care about minors being in inappropriate circles and put more responsibility on the adults in those circles. saying minor pr0shippers should've been "normal" and treating them terribly instead of giving them guidance doesn't benefit anyone and all it does is make the minor feel more emboldened to stay. it's just victim-blaming at that point and does more harm than good.

[izzystizzys]

Fox tags along on a smuggling bust one (1) time and subsequently wishes he’d never been decanted.

Well, he’s arrested the perp a lot more than just one time, actually, but that very first tackle into a chokehold and electrocuffs more than sufficed to turn the fates against him - the fates, and Cody, the insufferable twat. They’re not actually even batchmates, the lot of them, and going by numbers Fox was decanted long before them (long as in seconds or minutes, no one actually knows), but Seventeen put them all in a training room together and then stupid kriffing Kote looked him up and down, nodded, and hasn’t stopped calling him vod’ika since.

“Why is one of the Republic’s most wanted criminals asking to speak to you, vod’ika?”, Cody asks, without any preamble, almost making Fox cut the holocall on principle. He would, if General Kenobi wasn’t right there next to the little shit. “And why do I not like his tone?”

Fox has to resist the urge to close his eyes and scream, making do with a deep sigh instead. Force curse the day Cody decided to adopt-nap him, and Wolffe following suit immediately. “Weequay, shifty eyes, stupid fucking pirate bandana?”

Cody’s eyes narrow suspiciously, and Kenobi’s eyebrows raise simultaneously. It’s more than a little creepy.

Fox rolls his eyes so hard he sees stars. “Tell him he can go space himself, unless he wants me to do it for him. And then tell him that if he sends me fuzzy fucking socks again I might just hunt him down and do it anyways.”

Past the slide of the door, Thorn’s unmistakable cackle reaches Fox. And Cody, going by the narrowing of his eyes. “Don’t tell him that, ori’vod, he’s probably into that”, Thorn calls out, gleefully, and Force Fox really should’ve kept this to himself in the first place.

He would’ve, actually, but the constant stream of strange presents into Guard headquarters is hard to miss. It was Alderaanian chocolates, last week, which Fox pawned off on the Shinies. A box from a store with a blacked out label before that, which he launched out the window with burning ears before Thire could get a closer look at it.

“Actually”, Thorn continues, happily, “I don’t think it matters much if you do tell him anything - it’s not like the Commander has been the most graceful courtée, and that hasn’t done anything to discourage our favorite smuggler.”

“Marshall Commander”, Fox hisses, because he’s a pissy bitch, and then, because all professionalism has gone out the window anyways, “This is why Stone is my favourite.”

Thorn’s wounded gasp is lost over Kenobi’s thoughtful hum, and Cody’s patented I’m-going-to-do-something-incredibly-stupid-and-you-can’t-stop-me glare. “That would explain why we have Hondo Ohnaka accosting our troopers about your flavour preferences concerning fruit candies. But the one asking to speak to you is Cad Bane, Marshall Commander.”

The string of curses Fox lets out at that is loud enough to have Mauler stick his head in the com room to ask if everything is alright, and Thorn roll on the floor with howling laughter.

Force curse the day he ever slapped electrocuffs on Hondo Ohnaka, and double-curse the one he threw Cad Bane to the floor with a scissor leg takedown.

[triglycercule]

something something mtt and branding (i dont know what i can say here but it just feels right. one of them probably has a brand. it's probably killer. erm.........)

[venusiancarbondioxide]

is this sinus gunk because of weather changes, a headcold, or The Goddamn Plague

[batsplat]

Hello! I have a question about tyre pressure penalties. Why do they pop up so often and why now? It didn't seem to be a big topic a few years ago, what changed? The tyres, the bikes, the rules?

Thank you so much for answering

yeah, the rule was introduced in july of 2023, so it is still a very new thing! and... well, it's basically the bikes and the rules that have changed, whereas the tyres haven't changed as much as they need to. here's the tldr on why the rule was initially introduced:

so I'm afraid the actual explanation is going to be a bit longer and more complicated - but here's the most basic summary. if you don't read anything else, hopefully this will give you a general sense of what is going on here:

last few years: more aero, ride height devices, faster bikes = more stress on the tyres, more heat, higher tyre pressures

when you follow another rider, your tyre pressure may rise very quickly; when you're in clean air it'll get lower

too low tyre pressures = tyre may degrade which can be safety issue

too high tyre pressures = bike buckles under you, makes overtaking harder and crashing more likely (also competitive disadvantage)

controversy in 2022: leaked michelin document showing several riders weren't above minimum tyre pressure level. rules just hadn't been enforced -> teams demanded change

proposed rules in 2023 for minimum tyre pressure: seen as very strict + harsh penalties were criticised. the penalties were reduced, rule when introduced was still controversial

particularly heated discussion when it looked like it might influence the title fight, with both pecco + jorge receiving a warning

rules changed for 2024, made somewhat more lenient than initially proposed, but clearly it remains an issue

okay, that's the short version. let's give a little more context. discussion surrounding this proposed rule introduction really got going in 2022, as a result of a controversy surrounding the lack of enforcement of the existing rule. we've had tyre pressure rules since basically forever... it's just that michelin wasn't actually going to the stewards and saying 'hey, you've got to penalise these riders'. the thing is, all teams are chasing low tyre pressures to gain a performance advantage. you're trying to get the tyres to operate in the ideal window of grip level - if you're setting them low, you're attempting to ensure that you won't be screwed over if your rider ends up in a race situation where the tyre pressure suddenly rises outside of that level. see this from 2022:

so, again, to be clear: the existence of tyre pressure regulations isn't new, it just hasn't been enforced. the article I linked to was from a piece after jerez 2022. it's about how a leaked document from michelin confirmed that several riders, most notably pecco and ducati, had essentially run their tyres in an illegal manner but would not be penalised for it. this had been common practise for years and years, but at last other manufacturers were complaining about this state of affairs - which stemmed from a "gentleman's agreement" between the manufacturers and michelin not to disclose any breaches. for obvious reasons, this is not ideal. it's a) unfair from a competitive standpoint, and b) quite possibly dangerous. which also doesn't really make this bit ideal, does it:

and here's the leaked michelin document:

'only 0 laps' slay

so basically it was the manufacturers themselves that had kinda had enough of the status quo and provided the initial impetus for change (ironic, given where the rest of this post is going). the situation also wasn't helped by how michelin had told journalists like a race earlier that infringements were "very rare", which obviously they were not

which, okay. seems straightforward enough, right? teams are chasing performance advantages - but they should be penalised if they're pushing things too far. tough for them if higher tyre pressures are making them slower! the issue is... well, these fluctuating tyre pressures and how often they end up getting very, very high is actually a massive issue in and of itself. it doesn't just make bike performance worse... it makes the racing worse. from another article at the time, that outlines how few overtakes there had been in recent races and how this was a problem riders up and down the grid had talked about:

basically, the idea is that if you end up following another rider too closely, your tyre pressure might suddenly rise to the stratosphere. (obviously, you saw the reverse of that in assen - marc worrying his tyre pressure was too low and having to fall back behind diggia to try and get it up again.) it's described as quite a radical difference, not just in terms of performance (making it harder to overtake), but also in terms of handling... and ultimately safety, because suddenly rising tyre pressures can make crashes more likely. I'll give a bunch of quotes from riders here, but I'll also summarise them afterwards

and to get slightly more technical with this, here's how bastianini described the issue:

so, tldr for the above quotes:

even tiny changes in tyre pressure can make a massive difference in how the bike handles

following a bike closely can cause the tyre pressure to rise enough to make it start buckling under you, making it a lot easier to crash. specifically, it becomes really hard to brake in a controlled manner

it's easier to lock the front when you're braking in these conditions (with a smaller contact patch between tyre and ground), so you're compensating by pushing more when braking, with less grip - that's what makes you more likely to crash

this makes overtaking harder, essentially relying on bikes in front to make a mistake. unless you have a clear speed advantage, you may be stuck in a pattern where you gain but then have to drop back for tyre pressure reasons

it's very hard for the teams to figure out beforehand how to set the tyre pressures, not least because obviously it depends on what sort of race situation their riders will be in

and that's the problem in a nutshell. low tyre pressures are a problem for safety reasons. high tyre pressures are also a problem for safety reasons, plus come with the added downside that they have contributed to making the racing a lot worse in recent times. it's tough for teams to predict how they should set their tyre pressure, but some teams had been deliberately going high risk (low pressure) for a competitive edge - even if their riders weren't always aware of it. and the rule wasn't being enforced

so, let's tackle the obvious question: why has this become such an issue at all specifically in the last few years? I'm going to basically just summarise the linked article for this, though obviously I'd recommend you go read that in full:

the michelin front slick tyre has always been sensitive, though it's gotten particularly bad these last few years

the racing is both faster and closer now than it used to be, so these small margins have become more important

the out-sized aerodynamics have reduced wheelies and led to greater downforce during braking, which means you have more load on the tyre. to explain a bit more (from here): tyres are being pushed down by weight of bike + rider, the engine generates friction, which determines grip - and also heats the tyre up. more heat = more pressure

rear devices: dropping the rear of the bike on straights for reduced wheelies and to "adjust the angle of the downforce aero". so basically you're sticking the tyres to the ground, you're keeping the bikes super low, there's more weight, you're putting a lot of stress on the front to do the front to do the braking and you're braking from higher speeds. all of this raises the temperatures enough to be a problem

slipstreaming: typically a massive part of racing in motogp, as it gives the rider behind an advantage when following. the problem is if you have aero that's creating such a massive vacuum that it's essentially sucking the rider in... creating a lower-than-atmospheric pressure that makes it super hard to brake. because low pressure = good when you're on the throttle and trying to go fast, by extension low pressure = bad when you're attempting to brake and go slow

I hope this is like... more or less clear - we could get more technical with this and I'd advise you to follow the links I've provided, but I'm trying to keep it relatively straightforward. also, obviously I'm extremely not an expert on this either. basically, it's aero and ride height devices and sheer performance that are putting a lot of load on the tyres. increased stress means more tyre pressure fuckery and threatens the integrity of the tyre. high tyre pressures are dangerous. low tyre pressures are also dangerous. not ideal. these michelin tyres also fundamentally were not designed with aero and ride height devices in mind (they've been working on a new front tyre since 2019). there's a few different reasons why michelin hadn't been able to roll out more suitable tyres, including a) covid-caused delays, b) the reluctance of riders to actually test new tyres (preventing enough data from being collected), and c) the reluctance of motogp to force the issue by having enough testing and bullying riders into using the tyres. all this has meant that now, in 2024, we still don't have a front tyre that's really suitable to the actual bikes we have

so, what to do? now, obviously *casey stoner voice* maybe you should simply ban literally all this shit. strip off every single wing, chuck out everything that even looks like it might be applying for 'device' status, take a hammer to anything that wasn't on these bikes twenty years ago. also, just slow the bikes down! while michelin isn't responsible for most of this and being a tyre supplier in a motorsport is a notoriously thankless job, they are the primary reason why everyone is smashing lap records left right and centre this year. get rid of all of it. racing was better twenty years ago. return to the glory days, bring back the real sport *end casey stoner voice*

given they're not going to change the tech regulations overnight - and the proposed next ruleset (while far from perfect) does include changes that theoretically should help address this problem - it was felt like a more immediate change was needed. so over the course of 2022, there were more and more discussions about how you'd more firmly clamp down on teams playing fast and loose with the existing tyre pressure rules. initially, the new rules for tyre pressures and how strongly they'd be penalised were supposed to be introduced pretty early in 2023, with the introduction of a unified monitoring system that ensured these teams didn't like... just pretend their own problematic numbers were down to their inability to measure their own numbers

these proposals were met with massive backlash - and I think you should be able to guess why. these tyre pressure rules are about mandating a minimum level... but a lot of this post has been about why high tyre pressures are also a massive problem. as we've established, different race situations can also lead to very sudden changes - so if you're setting it higher to begin with, it might end up being so bad you cause a lot of crashes:

the other big complaint was about the harshness of the proposed penalties, which were initially going to be instant disqualification. eventually, once the rule was finally introduced in mid-2023, it was with lighter penalties:

another quirk was that, initially, it was checked through randomised post-race inspections. this is because they didn't want to just rely on the new system they'd installed in the bikes, but also wanted to manually check afterwards - which they didn't have the capacity yet to do on all the bikes. even with this change, the rule wasn't exactly universally popular. one complaint, expressed here by zarco, was with the idea that low front tyre pressures even are as dangerous as they're being portrayed as:

and again, the argument that this is bad for racing:

the more moderate version of this complaint was aired by aleix - the rule itself was fine, but the exact application was too strict:

this situation is the definition of lose-lose-lose. it's bad for riders because they're constantly having to monitor tyre pressures, running the risk of being penalised and also racing in a dangerous manner if their tyres aren't exactly right - plus racing in a dumb manner if they have to adjust how they're conducting their race to what their tyre pressures are doing, for instance by dropping back into the pack to get back to an acceptable level. it's bad for michelin because everybody's constantly complaining about this rule and their tyres - and while this rule they've insisted on doesn't necessarily appear to be the best solution for an imperfect situation... of course they're not the main party to blame for the imperfect situation in the first place. and it's lose for the viewers because, well, it makes the racing processional and at times extremely daft

now, there was obviously plenty more discourse about this, but the controversy really got going again late last year - at the height of the title fight, when both jorge (after thailand) and pecco (after sepang) ended up being slapped with warnings, with a penalty to follow with another infringement. obviously, given how close the title fight was, the idea that it might be decided by something this dumb was appealing to literally nobody. martin was particularly outspoken after sepang about how it was impacting the racing:

it was very visible in the sepang sprint how jorge was adjusting his tactics to this race situation - he just couldn't race normally because of the tyre pressure calculation they'd made not matching to the race situation. on the flip side, bastianini was given a warning after the race for his low tyre pressure... but well, he won that race, and it was obviously worth it for him to low ball it, given the absolute lack of championship implications and how the rules essentially gave him a freebie. which, if this is a safety rule, how is that a reasonable way of regulating it? you're allowed to chew up your tyres in a dangerous manner but just this once, as a treat?

as ever, jorge was backed up in his complaints by aleix:

make engineers less anxious 2k23

also, I do just need to quickly bring in another thing jorge said, because it's still very funny to me

no?? don't do that?? just because pecco also has a warning, that does not mean you can take all the risks you want?? how does that even WORK?? what if pecco plays it sensible and he doesn't get a penalty??

anyway, of course neither of them ended up being penalised - though diggia lost a podium at valencia. with plenty of talk again at valencia, obviously it was a concern going into the next season, especially given the penalties were supposed to be escalated so that a rider would be disqualified at first offence. the organisers ended up changing their mind on this rule last minute - and now we have a mere 16 second time penalty instead. more importantly, the actual threshold was made a little more lenient:

relatively speaking, the situation this year... well, it could be worse. there's been a few penalties here and there, like fabio's in the jerez sprint - which obviously was a complete chaos race where fabio from pee five million on the grid really wouldn't have been expecting to run in clean air. (four other riders were also penalised there.) marc's assen one is particularly memorable, given it included those bizarre moments where marc let other riders ahead of him to get his tyre pressure in an acceptable range. that still wasn't enough and due to (according to marc, anyway) the bastianini contact he ended up just falling afoul of the laps you need within the allowed margins. of course, none of this is ideal. there's a bunch of ways in which it makes racing worse: for safety reasons, by making overtaking harder, by making it harder for riders to adjust to unexpected race situations. there's also not really an easy solution and no party here is 100% blameless. hopefully michelin will at least construct a new tyre that makes all this a little better. hopefully we can one day fire ride height devices into the sun

[chompe-diem]

random insane headcanon but i firmly believe albin takes exclusively cold showers.

[indiiglow]

House doesn't wear the white coat because autism

[cream-and-tea]

pallas in book one is definitely at it-cannot-possibly-get-worse-than-this ABSOLUTE rock bottom but god. there is such a specific flavour to their despair in book two that only happens because of the realization they have at the end of lay me down. like. how do you move on after admitting that everything you believed in was a lie. how do you live with what you’ve done (with what has been done to you). is it possible to pull yourself up out of the pit you’ve dug. what do you do if it isn’t. what do you do if it IS. and once you look at the damage how do you stop looking. past the first layer of hurt there’s just more and more hurt and you were used by the one person who was supposed to keep you safe to cause even MORE pain and no matter how deep you go none of it means anything! it never meant anything at all!! motherfucker your worst sin is that you have destroyed and betrayed yourself for NOTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[prisonpodcast]

.

[abelllia]

going feral over “shit that isn’t even remotely canon and will likely never be confirmed as such” again (barnabas bennett being an almost-anchor to jonah that jonah willingly threw away)

[corpus-incorporated]

the patented “i went outside and now i’m moist and gross” effect of humid regions everywhere

[thediktatortot]

.

[bitegore]

is there like a curse you get put under when you decide that you like cold weather better than hot weather to never ever shut the fuck up when someone expresses a different opinion on the subject, or is that just a choice you are all making