#I'm not tagging all these people sorry lmao

[ropebunnykant]

#liz im gonna be so real. as interesting as this is i think this is the first time i actually disagree w u#not even necessarily on the religious stuff but more on the bison stuff. bc i get a completely different read on him tbh#like i just don't think i would ever describe him as someone who enjoys killing ppl. 100% he has a violent streak in him#but imo that's not bc he has some inherent penchant towards violence that brings him joy but rather as a result of his upbringing#under lilly's roof. and also bc he's unstable as hell but i think that's also bc of lilly and probably what happened to his parents too#but i don't at all think he enjoys killing ppl. like one of the first things we're told abt him is that he wants out! he's so vocal abt it!#like he always wants to get things over and done with and get out asap! it's fadel who's meticulous and concerned! bison has always seemed#completely detached from the killing to me. the only time we saw emotion that kinda leans that way was in that first honeypot scene#but that imo that was a power thing and not a violence thing. and i think the fact that he FANTASIZES abt doing all these violent things#but in actuality does none of them proves that. he was angry and hurt and defaulted to extreme violence bc that's all he knows atp#but the reality is he did none of it. he easily could have. but he didn't bc he's NOT inherently violent in that way. he just doesn't know#how else to process his hurt. violence is all he HAS. like i don't think he was delighting in it at all i think he's just fucked up lmao#and while i agree that fadel is suspicious of lilly imo bison has always been presented as the thorn in her side#he's the one who questions her. who gets annoyed w her. who doesn't seem to give much of a fuck if the job gets done or not#he's the one who wants to get away and VOICES it. to her face. and while i do think that fadel probably KNOWS more#he's lowkey completely under her thumb in a way bison isn't. he doesn't wanna question her or doubt her and he doesn't want bison to either#now that could be bc he KNOWS she's crazy but either way i just completely disagree w the implication that bison is closer w lilly!#i think she KEEPS him close and butters him up more precisely BECAUSE she knows if she doesn't keep him docile he could be#a v big problem for her. fadel can be trusted to stay in line. bison can't be. so she HAS to give him extra attention. does that make sense#so while i do agree that bison believes what she says and takes what she tells them abt these 'bad people' at face value#imo that's more of a symptom of him just. not caring enough to question it than it is him wholeheartedly believing she's 100% honest#i'm so sorry 😞 u know i love u but this post was just not it for me </3

tags by @sunsetsover

first of all NEVER apologize for disagreeing with me, we're allowed to have varying opinions as long as we can be respectful about it which you very much were and i appreciate and adore the additions because i think you bring up some good points, even if we do clearly disagree. i'm gonna explain my personal reasoning for thinking the way i do, but my intention isn't necessarily to change your mind, just to back up my own thoughts on this because obviously i have reasons for viewing bison the way i do.

first of all, i absolutely agree that bison's violent streak is a result of his upbringing - and i actually would argue that his upbringing is also what led him to have a delight in it, which i do still stand by. because while i agree the instance we see in the first episode is very much also about power, i think it is also about the act of killing. to me, he has always seemed to be in a pretty positive state of mind when they're on the job, and while maybe that is just his way of detaching from it, i don't think he would involve himself so heavily in certain instances if that was the case. i've had this belief about him since episode one tbh, but i think what truly cemented it for me that bison enjoys it, was strangely enough, this gif that antania @riggerbison made from episode six.

to me, this gif is a PERFECT representation of how both fadel and bison cope with the killing and violence they enact (and yes, i know they don't actually kill these guys, but the point stands!). because on the one hand we have fadel, standing straight up, detaching himself from it, not looking at the guy at all. and then we have bison, cradling his guy to his chest, looking right at him, even looking like he's making those soft, sarcastic "hey it's okay" noises you see so often in this kind of media. and to your point, i think you can totally view this as bison also enjoying the power in it as well, but i also think the two are linked in a lot of ways. especially because canonically, bison is a sadist! we know, in great detail, the fact that he gets off on hurting someone else. and while obviously there's a difference between hurting someone in a safe and controlled environment and hurting them to kill them or inflict real damage, i don't think (SPECIFICALLY IN BISON'S CASE!) that the two are entirely divorced from one another, either.

i also don't think this is negated by the fact that bison wants to get out, either. antania and i actually talked about this back just after episode two, but bison's desire to get out is less about not finding enjoyment in the violence and the killing, it's the fact that he has no freedom. bison is someone that has never had control and he desperately, desperately craves it, so of course he wants to get out from under the thumb of someone who forces him into a life of isolation. because that has ALWAYS been bison's main complaint. if memory serves me correctly, he actually only directly states he doesn't want to kill people anymore once, and that's in his outburst to fadel in episode three. and i'm not saying that he's lying there, but i think the fact that the sentence is almost immediately followed "i want a boyfriend!" tells us that it's not actually because he doesn't like the killing aspect, and far more about the fact that he wants a social life. he wants friends, he wants a boyfriend, he wants to be open and honest with those people in his life. but those two things directly contradict each other and while maybe bison does enjoy the killing aspect, it's certainly not enough to rid him of his desire to have a community.

and i do agree bison is the thorn in lilly's side! but i don't think that comes from suspicion, i think it comes from again, a desire for freedom. i don't think bison views lilly as evil or doesn't believe the things she tells him, i think it again comes from his desire for control. i also think he's ALLOWED to be the thorn in her side because again, he's portrayed (at least from the limited scenes we've seen) as her favorite. like she has a soft spot for him. and i actually agree, like you said, i think it likely comes off that way BECAUSE she knows she has to butter him up so he won't make the wrong moves. but i also think it gives him more leeway than say, fadel, who while more visibly obedient, is also the one that will openly lie to her, will make sure bison keeps things from her, and he's the one that we suspect has already disobeyed her once before. i think the difference isn't so much who's more under her thumb so much as it is who is more strategic about her. and i think the fact that fadel is more strategic about his approach, while bison is willing to be vocal, does show which one of them actually trusts her more. if bison didn't have some level of respect and trust for her, he wouldn't be willing to speak up at all - he'd go behind her back more readily in the same way fadel does. because fadel is the one going behind her back and around her - and that's infinitely more dangerous than the person letting her know upfront what he thinks.

obviously i don't expect you to suddenly change your opinion, but i do hope this explains my thoughts on it all better :)

just woke up in a cold sweat because i think i’ve realized exactly what all the fucking religious symbolism is actually pointing out and like hoooooly shit. holy shit.

the fact that bison wears a jesus shirt in his fantasies of killing kant has been nagging me since the moment i realized it and i think i’ve realized why it is - and the reason for all of the things pointing towards and symbolizing bison as jesus.

it’s because that’s how bison views himself. not as actually jesus and the second coming, no, but he views himself as righteous, as a reckoning for all these people that they kill. he believes their mother when he says they only kill bad people, and that’s why he gets so much enjoyment out of it, why he involves himself far more in it than fadel, who always detaches himself. it’s why he delights in the idea of killing kant now, fantasizes about it, because he thinks that’s what’s right. kant betrayed him, and he’s a good person. he’s righteous. so that means kant deserves to die for it.

and that’s why kant is judas the betrayer AND john the beloved. because when bison knows it’s coming and turns a blind eye, he views himself the same way as jesus turning a blind eye to judas’s betrayal. and he’s the one the makes kant into john the beloved finding the tomb empty first because he hides from him (notably after kant had confessed to not wanting to lie to bison anymore)!

bison views himself as righteous. as jesus.

but he’s not. because jesus would never take joy in killing anyone. jesus would never have fun with it, in the same way bison does. and even if he did, jesus wouldn’t want to stop to date.

but you know who doesn’t take joy in any of it? who detaches himself from it? who seems, in the very least, suspicious of their mother?

you know who’s birthday is on christmas?

fadel. and if fadel is jesus… then bison can’t be. actually, i think that might make bison far closer to judas the betrayer. and that’s just awfully poetic, isn’t it? because didn’t judas think he was doing the right thing, too, when he sold jesus out? when he took money in exchange for telling the soldiers which one jesus was? just like bison thought he was doing the right thing when he told kant to get fadel off his back. just like he exchanged his brother for a lover and took them both down in the process.

[thewickwheat]

hey its a bunch of folks!!

Standalone designs I created for the tag charms

-

charms available for pre-order here

[sebille]

Oh the little change in his expression

[becausebuckley]

michelle's buddie fic recs: week 33

i've been reading so many brilliant fics lately and decided i wanted to share some of my favourites in a little rec list! i'm hoping to make this a weekly thing to share some extra love for the amazing authors of the 911 fandom <3

this is a mix of fics with all ratings, so some include NSFW content. please take a look at both the ratings and the fic tags before reading!

if you come across something you like in this list, remember to show some love to the author by leaving kudos and a comment! and with that, here's a small peek at my ao3 history this week <3

it hurts to hope for more | 42hrb/@exhuastedpigeon | 15.7k | M

Buck wants to be a dad, it takes a couple break-ups and a major non-romantic heartbreak for him to figure out that maybe he already is. definitely take a peek at the tags before reading but this is the most beautiful exploration of buck's desire to be a father + his relationship with eddie and chris!!

kindred spirits | Inell/@inell | 52.1k, ongoing | E

Eddie has been a member of Paranormal Research Group for nearly four years after being recruited during one of their investigations. During that time, he’s found a job he enjoys, created a family that cares about him, become an unwilling reality TV star, and fallen in love with his best friend and partner, Buck. okay so admittedly i am a chapter behind on this one but i'm so excited to read it like literally the tab is open i am ready!! i'm so intrigued by the paranormal research part of this fic and the buddie is just brilliant!

meet me where the tide comes in | iinryer/@iinryer | 4.2k | GA

a 3+1 fic about eddie getting kissed on the head i will never not love a head kiss fic tbh it's one of my biggest weaknesses, and this is no exception!

pivot tables | rainbowninja167/@rainbowtitania | 10.2k, ongoing | E

Buck learns that Eddie's never had a prostate orgasm. Clipboard sex ensues. this is funny and hot and sweet and so very them. it's ongoing and the two chapters that are up rn are absolute gems! the google form bit is my favourite <3

something to hold onto | foxwatson/@eddiediazes | 5.2k | T

the one where frank tells eddie he should work on letting himself want things, and eddie starts by cuddling with buck the absolute softest fluffiest cuddling fic. an immediate favourite!!

somewhere to stand and stay | teaspoon/@standback | 8.3k | E

in which buck accidentally passes his eddie-mentionitis to jee-yun, eddie grows a mustache, and buck realizes he wants to have eddie's babies. there's the cutest jee-yun ever, eddie's stache, a feelings realisation, and a breeding kink?? literally what else could i ask for. it's nothing the answer is nothing this fic is everything

waking the witch | lesbianrobin/@lesbianrobin | 7.8k | T

According to historians, seiðr was a traditionally feminine religious practice among the Old Norse. According to Eddie’s mother, seiðr is the birthright of a woman and a woman only, and Eddie is an aberration. i am such a sucker for magical realism fics it's honestly not even funny. but can you really blame me when the magic elements are incorporated as brilliantly as it's done here? just. the floating <3

[genericpuff]

every now and then i get folks asking me "puff do you have any opinions on hazbin hotel"

and i know why they're asking because if there's any fandom that puts LO to shame, it's hazbin hotel / helluva boss and surely i must have some Very Strong Opinions(tm) about the show

but i seriously have never watched a single episode of that show and despite all the controversy and drama i've seen come from the discussion of both the show and its creator, the only thing that really bugs me out of the blue when i'm reminded HH exists are those exclusive playbills that people pre-ordered months ago and still haven't arrived

that is it, that is literally the extent of my engagement with the HH fandom, there will be no further questions about what i think regarding HH because i literally have no idea, they are best asked to whoever comes close to being the generic-puff equivalent of the HH fandom

[hailsatanacab]

Your Favourite Author's Favourite Fic

in no way is this me sneakily trying to get fic recs out of people, but here's my new tag game!

Rules! When tagged, reblog with the fic you've written that you love the most

Not the fic with the most kudos, or the most comments, or the most hits, but the fic that you're the most proud of. I'm talking about the story that kept you up at night, the one that you still think about, the one that you wish more people would read

So, it's time to show off! I strongly encourage - in fact, I demand - that you give yourself some compliments, a well-deserved pat on the back, and tell us all the reasons why it's your favourite!

Then tag five people and make them go through it, too 🥰🩷

I'll tag @wolfjackle, @tourettesdog, @gilbirda, @die-erlkonigin6083, and @thewritingowl to get us started, please and thank you!!

[namchyoon]

CC WRAPPED 2024

tagged by @cordiallyfuturedwight @jinstronaut @heybaetae @yooboobies @rjshope and @kimtaegis! thank you guys <3

another year gone, this one certainly did not fly though. i can't believe i've been on here for as long as i have, especially been active as long as i have either. i made a lot of sets this year (for obvious reasons) but i don't think any of them have been memorable to me at all. however, while thinking about it and discussing it with friends, i realized that i could make them do my work for me. <3 hence, this year's wrapped has a feature from people who have been around for me this year in various ways, most of them have heard me cry about why i did this to myself at least once, and all of them have been so so supportive i genuinely would not have even made it halfway through daily joon without them. i probably also would not have made it through Life without them. through this, i also realized i talk to a lot of people. somehow.

i am very grateful for every single person listed here, not only for the past year or past few years of friendship but also because when i texted them with no context right before christmas asking them to choose their favourite gif set and just assigned a month, all of them were like okay cool, no questions asked. you guys are all too cool to be my friends (except shivi <3 i'm kidding) but i'm glad i have all of you fooled into thinking i'm fun. :D thank you all of you i love you guys even if me saying it is an annual event. <3

JANUARY

@sugajimin's favorite - grammys joon ("coloring")

most popular - love wins all mv (also chosen by soph)

FEBRUARY 

@youngke's favorite - mma 2019 joon ("platinum joon, red light, insane angle"), joon about bangtan

most popular - joon during run bts rehearsal for ytc

MARCH 

@sopekooks' favorite - yoongi 👍👍 ("to no one’s surprise this is my #1, but it’s was very close with my #2. the only reason this made it to #1 is because of the background being purple 🥹"), smiley joon ("this is my #2 because he looks extremely good and his smile makes me want to eat bricks <333 sometimes i’m just a girl"), break the silence joon ("this is my number #3 because he looks extremely pretty and your coloring did so much justice to his skin tone. i’m once again in awe of ur coloring <3")

most popular - 171225 not today platinum yoongi

APRIL 

@magicshop's favorite - rpwprpwprpwp reel ("i love this one <3333 the vibes are immaculate, the layout/gif size is perfect for the mood and you managed to make the coloring so consistent!!")

most popular - yoongi ly answer jacket making film for andi (i did not plan it this way i promise i chose the months and friends randomly)

MAY 

@kookjinnies' favorite - listed here because she really went above and beyond for this 😭

most popular - mini & moni music teaser

JUNE

@jimimn's favorite - cutie jimin and fond joon, joon reacting to 2seok, message from jin, platinum joon, silly namkook

most popular - jin yeeting the bouquet (also was on shivi's neverending list)

JULY 

@taee's favorite - face yourself taejoon, funny joon, joontriever

most popular - do you know bts?

AUGUST

@joonie's favorite - kisses from joon ("ur asking the impossible there's so many great joon sets here")

most popular - smiley dynamite era joon

SEPTEMBER 

@jung-koook's favorite - rm vlog, dimples joon ("namjoon's long and black hair is one of my weaknesses 😩 but I also love this clip sooo much")

most popular - smiley rpwp joon (bday set not even cracking top 5 rip)

OCTOBER 

@bisexualrapline's favorite - i'll be there teaser ("the clarity is crazy btw i think it's clearer than the actual teaser is on my laptop wtf")

most popular - jin shoulder

NOVEMBER

@bubmyg's favorite - namseok hearts

most popular - a dog and a plane trailer

DECEMBER 

my favorite - around the world in a day mv - gave me back my urge to gif truly and i love the mv so much <3

most popular (tentative) - around the world in a day mv clip

okay, now that my friends have gotten their attention quota for the year (i'm once again joking <3), i also want to thank everyone who has liked/rbed/not yet unfollowed me despite those phases i have where i spam drama sets onto your dashboards, especially the ones who at midnight kst are the first few to rb without fail every single day. i really appreciate you all and the fact that i've been giffing on here for nearly 5 years (in like 4 months omg) is definitely because everyone here has been so lovely to me <3 NEXT YEAR WE WILL BE SO FUCKING BACK BTW! IN A COUPLE OF DAYS LITERALLY! okay, now i'm going to shut up i feel like i've made up for not spamming the dash much the entire year with this post.

tagging everyone i've mentioned to post their wrapped as well, text posts or photo posts or gifs, doesn't matter hehe <3

[moralcandy]

take a bite! 🩸(close-up under the cut ↓)

[yuriyuruandyuraart]

Hi? Gosh how do I even start with this :'D

I know it's been ages since I've last popped up on here. I've been debating when to post this for a while, but I kept adding to my draft more and more and now it's the end of JULY omgg I felt so guilty disappearing with zero updates but then thought my birthday would be the best day to finally address this considering it'll feel less random? idk but Ive always celebrated my bday with you guys and I'd feel so bad answering your kind asks without me at least explaining why I was gone for months.

Truth be told, I was dealing with a lot of stuff irl. health issues and sudden declining grades that left me stumped and drained for months now- along with technical issues like having to replace some parts of my computer that took a while for me to find to even draw digitally, which I didn't have the time for anyway with how tired and weary I felt every day.

I'm frankly shaken up by a lot of shit rn and I don't know how to be active online with this burden on my chest- Especially as it's been a while since I've even looked at utmv related content and my motivation dwindled. I swear I'd hype myself up to post or reblog something- but I'd see just how much I've missed or the overwhelming amount of posts I'd need to go through and I'd feel so swamped with exhaustion and most importantly guilt, for not clearing the air up sooner to reassure you guys that I'm, y'know, alive, and not dead in a ditch somewhere. And I'd procrastinate cause typing it all out is hard and I'd give up halfway every time and it's just not fair to you all!

I thought I was handling it well when I started going out and socializing more, instead of staying cooped up at home on my computer all day. and in the first draft of this post I made months ago I was gonna detail some of the fun plans I had, for my life and for this blog :D but relaxing my strict study schedule and letting go a bit of my tight routine, thinking it was better than wringing myself dry to keep it up, backfired horribly, to say the least.

I know right?? so silly to be hung up on stupid shit like studies of all things! but this is a very important thing for me considering my career plans and the competitivity encouraged by everyone I'm surrounded by, the pressure of keeping up adding to my already stressful days. I had to fix myself up first and I couldn't handle the strain nor interact with people and thinking of jobs and exams sapped my energy so much it's frankly embarrassing. writing this feels so cheesy too and it frustrates me to know I could've come back a month earlier if it weren't for that, but I also know putting all of this into words then would just sound like incoherent venting (not that this is very different tbf) and I wasn't in the right headspace to address my absence, or anything really- I didn't want everyone to see me return when I couldn't muster up a genuinely positive message, let alone talk to anyone with a shadow of my usual cheer

I feel like a complete mess and It drives me up the wall how depressed I've gotten. I debated deleting this blog so many times 'cause the fear of disappointing my audience and my friends, for lack of a more fitting sentiment, made me feel even shittier. I'm constantly thinking if this wall of text is worth posting, or if it's better not to burden you all with all my sappy troubles as if it's the end of the world. Trust me, I'll be fine. I'm not trying to dramatize this situation, but I don't think I'm up to pretending I'm all sunshine and enthusiasm you're all accustomed to.

So sorry for worrying you all! I'll try to catch up, deliver some missed birthday gifts, and answer some asks while I'm at it! Again, I can't state how much I appreciate your support throughout the years. It's frankly a miracle I kept any of you around with how much I keep popping and leaving at random with no warning. I definitely can't promise for my stay to be without a hitch, and if you don't mind an inconsistent schedule you're free to stay of course, but I'm afraid I can't sustain the pace I had when I first started this blog. I'll keep posting art, but lower my activity in the fandom sphere to reduce the strain on my mental health. so fewer rants and walls of text, more art, and less stress overall. Love you all and thanks for waiting for this long <3

[cuteniarose]

Personally I find it absolutely hilarious that when it comes to LoK villains, my opinion of them can be summed up more or less like this:

Vaatu? The skrunkliest skrunkly!! I adore him, he deserved so much better. Wasted potential to the max, even the creators contradict themselves when it comes to him. Spirits can’t be evil, and yet a spirit is the ultimate evil?? Raava and Vaatu represent Ying and Yang, a.k.a the natural balance of all things, and yet it’s okay for Vaatu to be destroyed and/or locked away for an immeasurable amount of time??? Okay, sure Bryke, sure. I can name at least two people (@katkastrofa and @shadelorde) who would handle that story arc much, much better with a grand total budget of 0

The Red Lotus? THE ULTIMATE BLORBOS!!! Took up residence in my head almost 6 years ago and have refused to leave ever since. Every fandom related thing I indulge in is at least somewhat related to them. Actually had a point but the creators realised they couldn't show the bad guys having a point so suddenly we go from wanting to make the world a better place for the lower classes to genocide and torturing a teenager. Because that's what anarchism is, duh. And also they will all die horrific on-screen deaths at the end which may or may not have traumatised 12yo Nia so much they cannot even think of the Book 3 finale without having a panic attack. Can I sue Bryke for emotional damages??

Kuvira? My poor little meow meow who I will defend from the world. Yet another victim of Bryke realising stabilizing the Earth Kingdom and taking back colonized land was in fact a noble and righteous goal, and we can't have that, so let's make her a totalitarian dictator trying to create an ethnostate, commiting ecoterrorism and sending people to fucking concentration camps. Because that makes all the bloody sense. I would straight up fight every last Beifong for her and not because she's hot, I'm aroace I don't care what she looks like, but because if I was told that I'm part of a family only for then to be excluded from the family portrait and called a stray dog that nobody wanted I too would rip a hole in space and time

Amon and Tarrlok? Well..... they sure do exist ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[buttercup-barf]

Red is the colour of willpower, energy, warmth, enthusiasm, leadership, strength, determination, passion, and, of course... Love. And children's hospital floors. /ref

Happy Valentine's Day, @peachypizzicato, @toasty-self-shipping, @dingdongitmustbelove, and @askthelovenest! I hope I did your beautiful S/I's, and your malewifebabygirlboyfriends justice!

[literatebly]

Love the way you're running out of life (T+; 1,352)

Draco Malfoy / Harry Potter

Read here on AO3

Part of DCC Holiday Exchange, written for the loveliest @bicholsdrarrysideblog 😚

Tags:

Werewolf Draco Malfoy, Angst, Creature Fic, Obsession, Light Stalking

Summary:

Potter smells of pure magic, and Draco is teetering on the edge of sanity

A lil snippet:

The Forbidden Forest. Stonehenge. Dragons and thestrals and the Whomping Willow.  That is what Potter smells like. Like frozen pine sap. Like heated metal. Like every phase of the moon.  And it calls to Draco — to his bones, to his blood, to his essence. The call is a million hooks pulling him apart, towards something that isn’t there — or is there, sometimes, when Draco is subjected to existing in the same space as Potter. The scent of him is almost corporeal, then, as it always is on the mornings after a full moon. 

[marshmellowtea]

i change my mind aleheather can be yaoi too cuz if alejandro is a gay man then heather is a trans guy/transmasc in the same way that if heather is a lesbian alejandro is a trans girl/transfem. Do Not Separate Them

[batsplat]

wait, is there a dovi/jorge feud???? i didn't know this!! also thank you so much for all you do for this community ❤️

not the only ask I've gotten about this and... look, rather than doing a proper write up that would take forever, I'm just gonna give my top ten fun... facts? bits of trivia. tidbits related to the two of them. quite long tidbits, on second glance. the highlight reel, if you will

(1) that time andrea dovizioso made 14 year old jorge lorenzo cry

the two of them already raced each other before the start of their grand prix careers, competing for the first time in 2001 in the cev when dovi was around 15 and jorge around 14. in riveras tobia's biography, here's jorge talking about their first fight:

I led the way at the start and Dovizioso and I escaped. It was our first head-to-head encounter, the first time we raced each other. My dad had heard that Dovi was a really clever rider and he warned me before the race. But just like in 1998 at Jerez, with Olive, I acted like a dummy and pushed for the whole race. I kept looking behind me to see the bastard still there! It was impossible to shake him off, he was watching me the whole race until the last lap. Three comers from the end I could hear his engine getting closer and I saw his shadow to my left, but he didn't come past. I thought to myself "This guy is going to try something in a second!" I decided I had to on a tighter line and close the door. Sure enough, Dovi went wider through that comer and then dived up the inside. I didn't close the door in time and tried to get in his slipstream, desperately hoping I could get him the next corner, but I ran wide and he won. I came back in tears, I didn't even want to go to the podium, I felt so cheated. I'd been on the limit for the whole race and I felt like I deserved the win more than he did.

so that's a nice and positive start! there's something charming about how even fifteen year old dovi was an absolute menace on last laps

also about that race:

'Jorge beat Dovi in Braga but in the previous race at Most, what a tantrum!' recalls Juanito, laughing. 'He didn't even want to go to the podium, he was crying like a baby! I can still see Dani (Antatriain) talking to him, trying to convince him. In the end he went but he didn't want to look at anybody.'

(2) the photo finish

in 2004, they were rivals in 125cc - a year in which dovi claimed the title and jorge was p4 in the standings. in the very first grand prix ever at the lusail circuit (pretty eventful weekend, you have to say), jorge and dovi crossed the line at the exact same moment

(3) dovi's top three favourite career win

dovi and jorge progressed through the categories at the exact same rate, and after their 125cc rivalry they continued fighting in 250cc. they were title rivals in both 2006 and 2007, with jorge's aprilia winning out both times against dovi's underpowered honda. (the general pattern was that dovi clawed back a bunch of points from jorge in the wet - jorge, with perhaps the exception of a few years in the premier class until around 2013, has never been much of a wet weather racers, while it's always been one of dovi's strongest traits.) for dovi's 300th career start in 2019, he was asked what his top three wins were - and one of his picks was from way back when in 2007

I'd recommend the race! which... well, I did in the race rec post - and I can only reiterate that these two kids do not acknowledge each other, not good vibes at all

(4) jorge's thoughts on young dovi from 2008

Jorge has a lot of respect for Andrea Dovizioso and feels that his two 250cc world titles have even more prestige because he had to beat the Italian to win them. 'You wouldn't label Dovizioso as fast, particularly, but he's much faster than he looks. He doesn't set many pole positions but he is always up front in a race, fighting to win. He is very intelligent and you can't trust him an inch on the last lap. He has been faithful to Honda, he has great belief in them. His negative side is that he tends to play the victim too much. He'll say that if his bike had a better engine or if it was a bit faster he would win. He's even said that if he was on the same bike as me he'd give me a hiding. I think he looks for excuses too often sometimes, but as a rider and a person I don't have a bad word to say about him.'

some dovi traits read as very familiar, from how he's a better racer than qualifier to the intelligence to the last lap prowess. as for jorge saying dovi plays victim too much? well

also this:

ER: Don't you think that Dovizioso wanted to be World Champion too in 2006 and 2007? Don't you think he gave everything to achieve it? JL: He will think he gave his maximum but he will be lying to himself because nobody does that. Nobody gets close to their maximum, not even me. He will think that he didn't win because he was riding a Honda. There are very few sportsmen who will say, I deserve what happened to me and there are no excuses. I didn't know how to do any better and I've done things wrong.' That is the only way to be the best, the only way. People who make excuses don't get to the top. I know riders who haven't made it for just that reason.

plus ça change

(5) jorge's thoughts on young dovi from 2018

when they were doing their thing as ducati teammates (bickering), here is one of the things jorge said about dovi:

dovi's been trying to undermine jorge's morale his WHOLE career... even when they were but teenagers... love it when you can really tell someone's been sitting on something for over a decade

(6) "also lorenzo is not my friend"

both of them moved up to motogp in 2008, jorge with factory yamaha and dovi with satellite honda. dovi had a very strong rookie season and finished in p5, only sixteen points behind jorge in p4 (who after a promising first few races had spent a lot of time that season crashing). after that, their fortunes diverged. dovi did not have a particularly happy time in the factory honda team and needed to do some shrewd negotiating to be retained by them for 2011 in that three-man squad, while jorge of course won the championship in 2010

here's a deep cut from 2011, a season where much of the excitement and drama was caused by marco simoncelli alone. jorge had exchanged tense words with sic in estoril, one race before simoncelli was responsible for a crash where dani broke his collarbone. the crash and sic's subsequent penalty meant that the three-way fight between jorge, dovi and valentino became one for the podium, with dovi and valentino eventually grabbing the two remaining spots behind casey. but during the race, jorge had executed a... questionable manoeuvre on dovi, one that did have some similarities to the sic/dani incident. given jorge's strong previous comments on racing standards, unsurprisingly the journalists pounced on this incident in the post-race presser and ask the podium sitters about it. here is the clip:

in this clip, dovi essentially says it was a dangerous move from jorge, but he wasn't sure what jorge's intent had been and he needs to watch the footage again. valentino (who had been the most outspokenly critical of sic of the three of them earlier in the presser) takes the opportunity presented to him to have a bit of a potshot at jorge. he says that dovi doesn't have the best relationship with sic but jorge had done something pretty similar in the race... at which point dovi goes "also lorenzo is not my friend"

which, you know. not exactly a major incident, but I find it very charming dovi felt the need to clarify that, actually, he doesn't like either of them. valentino also adds that by jorge's own standards, surely he too should have gotten a penalty. not exactly a meeting of jorge's biggest fans hm

(7) mapping eight-gate

well I can't leave it out, can I

so in 2017 jorge switches from yamaha to ducati and does not have a great time of it. a lot of weekends, he's just too slow, other times he shoots to the front of a race at the start (typically not great news for the rest of the field in his yamaha days) and then chews up his tyres before gradually dropping like a stone back through the field. at some point that year it became a bit of a running gag - especially when you saw he was the only big name to be picking a soft tyre and just went... buddy we ALL know how this is gonna end....

while this was happening, his teammate dovi was for the first time in his premier class career in championship contention. an extremely close title fight throughout the year with five protagonists until pretty late in the season, it eventually went to a title decider in valencia between dovi and marc. you know, the kind of year where every point counts. the race where marc put a bit of daylight between himself and dovi was phillip island, with marc winning a great dogfight out front while dovi had a bit of a horror show of a weekend. this meant that a lot would have to go right for dovi to have a chance of still winning the title... and sepang was already a match point race for marc

ducati had not won a championship since their 2007 title, courtesy of one casey stoner. after that year, their bike became steadily less competitive every season, reaching a nadir around the 2011-13-ish period. so by the time 2017 rolled around, they wanted this so so badly - even if they wouldn't have expected dovi to lead the charge. dovi had only narrowly beaten out iannone in the 'who's going to be fired for our shiny new lorenzo hire' contest of 2016, and really it was supposed to be jorge who was carrying ducati's dreams on his shoulders. but, never mind, they were throwing everything behind dovi now... no stone left unturned

which brings us, of course, to the subject of team orders. this discourse really took off at the penultimate race of the season at sepang, but was already brewing before that - and in phillip island, satellite ducati rider redding had been told early in the race to let dovi past

here from marc at sepang:

dovi had been in great form all weekend at sepang - and with his wet weather prowess being what it was, really there shouldn't have been any need for team orders at all. but he got a sluggish start, and the race unfolded from there... until eventually jorge was in first, dovi was in second and marc in fourth. in those positions, marc would have clinched the title there

and then, jorge got a message on his dashboard. suggested mapping: mapping 8. pit boards and dashboards and all sorts of boards will feature various codes during races, most of them completely innocuous - but of course they are a healthy source of all sorts of conspiracies. the timing of this one was certainly... notable, and speculation immediately started about how it might be a way of telling jorge that he should swap positions with dovi

jorge didn't end up letting dovi pass - it is questionable whether he really would have done so with what would have been his first ducati win on the line. in the end, he made a mistake that let dovi through so that dovi claimed the win anyway, keeping himself in mathematical contention in valencia. and jorge did say afterwards he was keeping dovi's title hopes in mind, kind of

jorge also said he hadn't gotten any message indicating team orders, and of course nobody at ducati confirmed that mapping eight did have anything to do with team orders

for what it's worth, this is what dovi said about their relationship at this stage:

lovely! let's see what the vibes are like a few months later

anyway, onto valencia. this race was pretty boring despite being a title decider, but the jorge/dovi bits were just unequivocally the weekend's most enjoyable aspect and rather nicely spiced up the whole thing. dovi's chances were always slim going in, given he'd have to win the race and marc would have to barely get any points at all... but still, you never know, right? marc could always crash (narrator: he did almost crash). jorge plays coy early in the weekend about the whole 'helping dovi out thing', and basically just started putting in place...? ... very specific conditions...? under which he'd help:

so during the actual race, dovi got stuck behind jorge in p5, with marc ahead of both of them. valencia is traditionally not a fantastic track to overtake at... so even if dovi had been faster, it's not like he'd have an easy time clearing jorge and cracking on. but they were beginning to drift further away from dani in p3 as ducati watched on, increasingly unamused by what was happening - and the tv cameras were of course kind enough to repeatedly show the ducati box looking deeply unamused. again, they went for the good old mapping eight message, which, hey, that could mean anything! they sure did keep showing it to jorge though, almost like he wasn't paying attention to it

eventually, they abandon all subtlety and go for a pit board message that does just straight-up tell jorge to swap positions. jorge kept ignoring the messages, lap after lap, and he never ended up letting dovi past. eventually they both crashed and marc claimed the title with a p3 finish, so it wouldn't have mattered anyway, but... still. the feeling was that this might things rather awkward inside of ducati

publicly, ducati was extremely keen to smooth over the whole controversy, saying they totally weren't mad at jorge blatantly ignoring team orders. jorge had, after all, explained to them (and the media, repeatedly) that he had totally been intending to help dovi by dragging him closer to dani

Giving his take on events, Lorenzo acknowledged that he ignored Ducati’s instruction because he felt Dovizioso’s chances would be boosted by having him directly ahead. “Even looking at this [dashboard] suggestion, I keep pushing until the end, because I knew it was the best thing for me, for Ducati and for Dovi,” said Lorenzo. “I helped him to improve his pace by one or two tenths, to be as close as possible to the first group. My intention was, and it was the case, that we arrive at the first group. If he had the option to win, I would have gone wide and let him pass. But unfortunately it was not like that. Maybe in some corners Dovi was close and I slow down a little bit his pace, but in general terms, having my wheel in front of him made him improve slightly his pace. I helped him stayed closer to the front group. “I knew Dovi was struggling, I knew his pace during all the weekend, and I knew he was making the best pace of the weekend just in the race. It was [because of the] help from my wheel. I’m happy because I was not wrong. If I was wrong and slowing him, I would be very sorry. But it’s not like that, my feeling was true.”

which, you know. is it really that easy to tell how much faster you are than someone who's sitting on your rear tyre? who's to say. dovi did certainly seem rather keen to get past

anyhow, of course there were plenty of fun dramatics post-race:

'our rider ignored team suggestions not team orders' is a great line, fairs. there's plenty more of this from ducati, some excellent spin doctoring - and dovi was extremely magnanimous about what had happened:

the whole thing was pretty undignified from all non-dovi parties, but it was also very funny so who's to say if it was bad or not

(8) runner-up-gate

let's check in on them in 2018, the second and ultimately last year in which they were teammates. remember that 'undermining morale' quote from above? those are from early 2018, after dovi says he wouldn't be surprised to see jorge elsewhere the following season. so, once jorge has complained that dovi had been trying to put him down his entire career, comes this:

so that's something. jorge, dovi and dani have a three-in-one crash in jerez, after which some fingers are pointed but it all remains fairly civil, and a bit later dovi says that jorge's approach doesn't work at ducati:

by the summer break, jorge's results had gotten better, but it was already too late to save the relationship with ducati and they parted ways. anyway, here's dovi and jorge having another go at it:

And while a rough patch for Dovizioso coupled with breakthrough back-to-back wins for Lorenzo in Mugello and Barcelona have now left the pair just three points apart in the standings, Dovizioso refused to back down from his claim when speaking to Spanish sports daily Marca ahead of the upcoming Brno race. “He’s won two races,” Dovizioso said. “Winning two races does not solve the problem of a year and a half. Lorenzo was not signed to win two races. Therefore I do not change my mind.” When the comments were put to Lorenzo, the three-time champion offered an ardent retort, stating that Dovizioso's rhetoric was proof of the claim he'd made back in April. “I'm a bit fed up with this situation, mainly because when I had trouble and he was winning, I was down there applauding,” Lorenzo told Spanish broadcaster Movistar. “What I said in Argentina - and the comments caused a big surprise - you can see that I was right. “He tried to undermine me, or downplay what I achieve or just attack me. As you can see, I wasn't lying. He's still doing it and now he says my method is not good, according to him.” Lorenzo intimated that Dovizioso was in no position to criticise him, as the Italian could do no better than runner-up to Marc Marquez in a 'perfect' 2017 season. He said: “I think my method has not worked too bad in my career. I've won three MotoGP titles and have 46 wins.” “In my second year in Ducati I'm usually faster than him, but maybe I should look at his method closer if in his best season, with everything going perfectly, he was second. Otherwise he's fourth or seventh usually. I'd tell him to leave me to go my way and to focus on his own and everything will be better, because when you have an angry Lorenzo it's usually worse for you.” 

fair to say that by this point the pretence at civility has mostly been dropped. I'm rather fond of the "lorenzo was not signed to win two races" line, though "when you have an angry lorenzo it's usually worse for you" is also really strong stuff. dovi tries to restore a little bit of peace:

Responding in turn to Lorenzo's tirade, Dovizioso sought to play down the conflict. “Jorge has his ideas and I think they are based on particular things. I don't think like him, but it's not a problem,” he told Movistar. “Everybody creates their own ideas based on what they see and how they live. “I don't think he has everything clear in his head about what's happened, but we continue the relationship that we started last year with respect, there's no particular problem. If he thinks this way, that's his problem."

so basically the classic 'idk what he's on about but it's not my problem' approach to attempting to defuse feuds

(9) twitter-gate

there's a few more on-track battles where it's nicely obvious how badly they want to beat each other, with jorge beating marc just ahead of dovi in austria and then dovi beating jorge in brno. jorge's season is increasingly derailed by injuries, which sets the stage for their next big spat:

The row was sparked by Dovizioso's comments to Sky Italia after qualifying at Sepang on Saturday, as he was asked what he thought of Lorenzo having to pull out of the Malaysian GP weekend with injury. "I don't know the details, I don't want to get into this, it's a bit of a strange situation," said Dovizioso."It happens often in Ducati or to certain riders, but I don't understand the details and I don't want to get into it and give my opinion." When it was put to him he was offering 'cryptic words', he added: "I leave things there, it's not my problem."

pretty vague, yeah. but anyway, I'm sure jorge had a proportionate response to this

Dovizioso's comments prompted a series of irate posts from Lorenzo on Twitter, with his first reaction being "Thank you very much @AndreaDovizioso! You are a real gentleman!". In his next post, he went on to call Dovizioso "an exemplary teammate", adding: "You applaud him under the podium when he wins and then... (That's right, he does not give his opinion, it's not his problem)." After that, Lorenzo labelled Dovizioso "envious" and described him as "a world champion... in 125cc."

the podium thing really bothered him, don't you think. their ducati in-fighting follows that general pattern where dovi says something... a little shady, a little ambiguous, where his intentions aren't entirely obvious... at which point jorge goes all in at fighting back and has a go at dovi - often not as much for what dovi is actually saying, but what jorge thinks dovi is implying. which is based on his understanding of dovi, the image of dovi he's built up in his head over the years, so that he is... predisposed to think ill of the intentions of the 'intelligent' dovi who always knows exactly what he's saying

again, dovi tried to downplay the argument, while simultaneously not exhibiting much patience for jorge's stance:

After the Malaysian GP, Dovizioso was asked about Lorenzo's responses to his comments, and the Italian accused his teammate of reading too much into headlines. He said: “Why should I talk to Lorenzo? I do not waste time on these things. He makes the usual mistake of giving too much importance to what is written, even without the context. "I have not pointed my finger at anyone and I have no problem with Jorge."

if I were ducati, I probably would've let the whole thing blow over given jorge was off soon anyway. but they decided the whole thing was so bad they had to organise a peace summit

Asked about the situation, Ducati sporting director Paolo Ciabatti admitted to Motorsport.com that the Bologna marque has already planned to sit its two riders on Tuesday in Milan to make it clear what its priorities are. Ciabatti said: “It is clear that the interests of Ducati come before personal problems between riders. On Tuesday we will be together in Milan, for the EICMA [motorcycle show] and we have in mind to spend half an hour to sit and talk to Jorge and Andrea. "We want to avoid similar things to what happened last weekend. "I understand that these kinds of situations can happen. Sometimes riders get nervous during a Grand Prix weekend and on a rainy day, with tricky conditions, sometimes they say things they shouldn’t have said."

god knows how that turned out

(10) wow, you guys aren't gonna let this go, huh

late 2020 and jorge's career is already over, while dovi's looks like it will be... paused, at the very least. which is always a good time to check in with riders on how they feel about their rivals - if they're still being nasty you know that shit was personal. from december:

some quality petty material here. "I can't understand his somewhat peculiar mind" vs "he was envious of me since 250cc, but I wanted to give our relationship a chance". note too jorge talking again about how generous he had been in the face of dovi's 2017 successes, and how he feels like this was not reciprocated at all. jorge's complaints don't stop there:

merry christmas!

not the only rider jorge has beefed with post-retirement, but compare and contrast with how he really hasn't been doing any of that with some of his biggest career rivals. valentino, marc, dani - sure, he still talks about the controversies he's had with them pretty regularly (to put it lightly), and he's hardly free of complaints... but mostly it's a distinctly nostalgic tone he's adopting with these guys. admittedly, it helps that none of those three have gone out of their way to say anything particularly inflammatory about jorge. still, the absolute lack of any sort of rapprochement with dovi of all people is pretty funny

bonus: that time when jorge skittled all of marc's rivals

you know how in catalunya 2019, jorge took out like? all of marc's major rivals in that era including himself in one go? with half a decade of hindsight, this was kind of hilarious, and it did also feature jorge having to eat a hell of a lot of humble pie and go to the three other blokes to apologise. anyway I have a lovingly assembled set of screenshots of all three of them emoting in their boxes after the incident, all suffering some form of an existential crisis. here is dovi contemplating the bleak realities of our brief lives on this planet:

truly one of the world's least enthusiastic waves

bonus 2: another one for old time's sake

already posted this elsewhere, but this from late 2023 made me laugh

"jorge came to ducati and thought he was going to beat everything, but in the end he didn't" uh huh

[viridian-house]

Do you have any favorite naruto fics you’d recommend? Any pairing, complete or not, on-hiatus, gen, oneshots, anything is fine lol

I was legitimately just pruning my bookmarks the other day!! thank you so much for asking.

I don't read too much fanfic these days, and I'm picky when I do--only about grammar/punctuation and immersion though. I ship a LOT of stuff (I guess The Youth would call me a proshipper) and although I never read darkfic, I don't shy away from weirder kinks and unhealthy relationship stuff.

categorizing by pairing, if applicable. some of them are smutty, and please note that the first 3 come from FFN which doesn't have a tagging system, but there is some SA CW I'll give in advance.

KAKASAKU | my first OTP! formative fics that totally reshaped my understanding of what fanfiction could be, and how well-written chemistry can make it or break it

HOUSE OF CROWS is the quintessential kakasaku fanfic. it was written during shippuden and so is canon divergent because of that, but also tells a comprehensive story of its own right that is intriguing and well planned. excellent characterization and world building. leaves me gutted in the best way on my yearly reread.

DUTY BEFORE HONOR is another silvershine classic. I don't reread is as often as House of Crows but they are just about equal in quality. again, the chemistry between them is off the charts, and the world feels so alive.

WILL OF FIRE for me is up there with House of Crows in being essential kakasaku reading. cynchick is a multisaku champion and a wonderful storyteller. the stakes in this one are stressful, the romance tense and believable, and we once again get lovely world building and great chemistry.

ITAKISA | a pairing near and dear to me, because men who do everything wrong are so deeply relatable. they both know they don't deserve anything good ever again but they found each other!!!! ARE YOU GUYS SEEING THIS--

A SHARK HIDDEN INN THE LEAVES doesn't have my favorite version of Kisame, but he's plenty close enough. it's a lengthy oneshot that got me into certain *ahem* kinks. it is a very fun and wild fic that is entirely self-aware of how absurd it's being, and manages to have nothing but sincerity at the same time (and I highly recommend the author's other stories as well)

AN ORCHESTRA PLAYING ON, INSANE is a modern AU (extremely rare in my bookmarks) that absolutely tore my heart out. god is it SO much to ask for these losers to be happy?! yes, it is, and I love every moment of it

MADAMITO | a rarepair I am SUCH a sucker for that has some of the most talented authors writing for it. lots of them have ot3 elements between them and hashirama, often angsty, but stuff like that is part of the appeal for me, lol

A HANDFUL OF SKY is an unfinished fic that I genuinely think about like once a week. if it ever updates then I will be over the moon. technically hashimadamito but it hadn't quite gotten there yet

LIKE ALTARS is just such a beautiful piece of writing, mostly on madara. it is everything, that is all

BLOOD AND RIVER WATER is more mito-centric but has one of my favorite madaras of all time

YOURS ARE RATTLED BONES is another short, mito-centric but gut-wrenching piece featuring the opposite type of madara from the last one

OTHER | character-centric stuff that isn't necessarily shippy but also doesn't have a very "gen" vibe either?

A SERPENT IN THE RICE is a little series about orochimaru that makes me feel so so so many things. highly recommended

HERETIC is such a love letter to kushina, and kurama too. cannot stress enough how much I adore this one

there's a few others that I probably won't link on tumblr, mostly unhealthy and/or "problematic" smut hhfhdj but maybe I'll make a public rec list on ao3 for these different categories and stuff like that.

but yeah that's pretty much it!!! I know it's not a huge list with a lot of variety but it's what I've enjoyed over the last 15+ years in the naruto fandom.

[deoidesign]

just wanted to say that I absolutely LOVE your comic I am so inspired by it and it’s so lovely and I wanna buy the physical books (I’ve never done that before) I just AUGGHHH EVERYTHING ABOUT IT IS SO 💙💙💙

do you allow fanart? And is there anything not allowed? I wanna draw adam and steve so bad 😭

Of course it's allowed! Fanart fanfic fan music fan dubs whatever!

I like to think I'm sort of "building a playground" when I make a story, have fun on it! I made it for you!

In my general opinion, it's not my business what my "fandom" does... It's on you and also me to curate our own spaces! If you're inspired by my work in any way, that's the greatest honor I could imagine and I want you to feel fully free to explore that. If someone is being weird, I know where the block button is and they can keep being weird where I don't have to see it haha

Just don't like... sell it... it's messy legally with webtoon and I'm one person making the story and it's my whole income so the few sales I get are kind of huge for me ;_;