#Link extensions

[kilanihair]

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Take your time to explore the website (www.kilanihair.com) and choose the Virgin bundle that aligns with your preferences and enhances your natural beauty. Remember, investing in high-quality Virgin hair is an investment in confidence and long-lasting style.

[heartorbit]

catch us if you can! ☆

[luna-loveboop]

Oh so he's legally adopting them

They no longer have a choice, he's their dad now

Time's looking at this group with detectives, pranksters, and some having mental or physical health crisis, like yeah I can handle this

Look at this picture and tell me it doesn't look like a group of kids with One clear adult:

The rest of the chain thinking:

Alright Old Man yeah we need to see this through and finish this

Time, internally:

You are my children now. That thing is still out there so you are coming with me, and you will not get hurt. No Malon, it is not abduction it's adoption, they're children at heart-

From @linkeduniverse au :)

[da-janela-lateral]

I can only mistype "MOB" as "MPB" so many times before I start drawing Música Popular Brasileira references. I will do it again.

Have some little Mob and Ritsu as the boys from Milton Nascimento and Lô Borges's Clube da Esquina!

[dunderella]

barnaclive AU commission for crispy from the firestorm discord!!!!

shinryu!barnabas showing his favor for his squire 18!clive... 😳💐

edit: kaede has started posting the fic that this comm was for! go read it!!!

[accio-victuuri]

(8) cql shoot “fake” moments 📼

i am picking certain contributions in this round up made by 泡沫爱恋的晴空. there are different candies in the linked source but this post i’m making are stuff that supposedly happened during filming. if like me, and stories like this are your weakness, then you will enjoy it. maybe you’ve read some of these before or not — even saw some play out in unofficial bts.

1.) My favorite and i wanted an excuse to add an edited clip of GG singing. 🎵🎶 this may not be the actual scenario described in the fake story but fans are speculating it is.

DD's assistant would also bring DD green tea at first, but later she only brought boiled water because he wouldn't drink it. There was a quarrel between the two, gg held the green tea and drank it by himself, while dd stood by and watched Bichen. GG ignored him. dd said, "I'm thirsty.” The assistant thought that dd would be embarrassed to ask gg for green tea, so she took a cup and gave it to him. dd said it’s not green tea, gg didn’t even look at him, and dd said angrily that I don’t want to drink any more.

It's going to be swollen, and it's very embarrassing with dd's assistant next to me (xql quarrel can't help much) , gg just said that they brought it out to you and you didn’t drink it. DD was so angry that he didn’t say anything.

GG gave him the green tea and asked dd's assistant for a drink from dd's water cup. He was very helpless and said that green tea has a grudge against you. He keeps an eye on Green Tea Balabala every day. dd drank half a cup of green tea in one breath. When gg took it, he was shocked. Web, you are poisonous, you won’t give me some. dd said you drink water, zg you won't be swollen. Then the two of them reconciled inexplicably. After gg was called by the director after the show, dd asked the assistant for water. Even if I drink it, I won’t be afraid of swelling. I don’t know and I don’t dare to ask.

I tried my best to rephrase some of the words for it to make more sense but i hope you all get the gist of it. So it’s all about a quarrel they had and reconciling because of green tea. Do friends even do this kind of shit? lol. No. I’m serious. The way they fight and make up — you would think they are high school sweethearts or something. The video shared points to the time they were fighting and ignoring each other. Look at WYB completely ignoring GG while singing — and how GG was glancing at him, looking at his expression. I always thought this scene was sweet cause GG was singing that beautiful love song, now i’m seeing it in a different way. Still sweet of course, but with some edge to it. 🤍🔪

2.) The two are talking about the pokemon character grumpig, this was used by the OP as a starting point to the story but the main point is as follows: There is really too much "trash talk" between them, it's terrifying, and no one else can get in, they just understand it, and if they talk about it, they probably don't need to cut out the highlights.

LOL. There are bts content that will never see the light of day between these two because it’s either too sweet or too savage 😂😂😂😂

3.) When I was on the set before, Xiao laoshi would occasionally pout. I don’t know, maybe it was a subconscious action when he was relaxed. Then Lao Wang would say that Xiao laoshi is so cute and pout, and he would say it every time as a fake. If Xiao laoshi is tired, he will be ignored. If he is not tired, he will say something back to him.

One time I saw Teacher Xiao pouting and he took advantage of it! I drew an ugly picture, look at the picture:

Like this, do you understand? Anyway, after pouting, you put your fingers under his lips and then move them up.

4.) One day there was a scratch on the back of his hand. He said team member asked if it was scratched by someone. He said it was not, pointing to a shallow mark — and said this was scratched by him before.

If there are really scratches on the back of my hand when it is broadcast, I am confused and I don’t know anything.

*** i think this pertains to scratches in WYB’s arms lol. we think it’s jianguo but it could be from someone else 😂😂😂

5.) This next one are bits shared by an OP who allegedly met the boys for the first time a year ago, and we were extremely busy. Allegedly this OP is someone who worked with them during CQL promotions. They said that they didn’t know anything about internal entertainment: I just felt that one person who came was not worldly, and the other person was electric. Now I sincerely wish to be with you, and always listen to my heart.

• One is reserved and mature, the other is childish.

• The venue is large, the air outlet temperature of the stage is low, and all has thick coats and it’s bitingly cold. He silently took off his coat and forced the other party to put it on. He breathed silently into his hand, held the microphone to warm it, and exchanged words. To use your description, it means there are stars in my eyes.

• There are a few lines that we hum along while waiting for the venue. It was vaguely him who taught him. I just remember that he sang a line, and my fingertips were moved by the feeling of midsummer.

• His hands were turning the pair of rings intentionally or unintentionally, taking them off, putting them on, and taking them off again. I caught a glimpse of him from the corner of my eye. As they passed by, they kissed each other.

• After the curtain call, accompanied by the deafening song and shouting, a faint sound drifted through my ears several times “Life comes and goes again... I'll be by your side”

AHHHHHH THAT’S ALL IM GONNA SAY. No wonder a lot of people who worked during CQL or interacted with them became cpfs. 👀

6.) Because two people sleep together during ttysj, the younger one is more accustomed to it, and is not so scared anymore. Later, the younger one went out to film a drama alone and slept by himself at night. He was a little scared and not used to it, so he asked Brother Zhan to call him and sing "Bao" "Baby", "My precious baby, let me give you some sweets so that you can sleep well tonight." Then the younger one will not be afraid to sleep well.

this is the song, allegedly, i mean. come on. i wanna fight yibo 😤😤😤 to have xiao zhan sing you to sleep whenever you want to!!!!!

7.) Not necessarily an incident that happened while filming CQL, but during that era in 2018. Most likely from their Bazaar shoot, there is a video of this too, ZZ playing with a dog.

One time when the two of them got together, there was a staff member backstage who brought a puppy to xx and when he was holding the puppy, the puppy licked xx. The person standing next to him looked at the puppy with cold hatred. The staff member was right. Ask xxx, do you want me to lick you too??? No more follow-up, I have other things to do and I'm going out....Don't believe it's fake...

YIBO 😂😂😂😂 I added it here cause it’s so funny! He is even jealous of a puppy!!!! my favorite is how ZZ notices it too, that means he is attuned to WYB’s emotions.

8.) Guizhou has beautiful natural scenery, but the mountain roads are rugged and there are many insects.There are many people. If you want to see the waterfalls during the wet season, you have to hike. After walking for nearly forty minutes with one foot deep and one foot shallow, I happened to hear the sound of water and called out xxx, do you have a wish? When you see the waterfall and you want your wish to come true, close your eyes. It’s fake, don’t believe it.

OP here was talking about what the two of them couldn’t agree on during this interview p1. to those familiar with it, you know what i’m talking about. One was saying there is a waterfall in Guizhou, then the other said there is but they didn’t go. We know that when stuff like this happens, one of them is covering something up. In this case it’s GG.

The fake rumor explains that they did go, WYB asking XZ to close his eyes for a wish was a scheme for him to kiss XZ ( p2 ). He is right tho, if XZ’s wish was WYB, then if he closes his eyes and WYB kisses him— his wish will come true.

I CAN’T. 🥹🥹🥹🥹

WANG YIBO IS SO SMOOTH. 😤😤😤

-END.

[wayfayrr]

Hello! Congrats on 300 followers!! (your 300 follower event idea is so cute btw omg)

Could i request a soft mulled wine with candy canes to eat in please?

Here's your order - I hope everything is to your tastes <3

it's super fun to see how the same prompt can be done so differently for different characters!!! Wild especially is one of my favourites because he's just soooo - it's hard to put into words but I just love him so much

[Event masterlist]

“I don't think I've seen those plants before, my slate isn't recognising them either…”

“Must be something unique to legends Hyrule then, they must've just vanished before your time.”

He’s still focused on whatever is growing above us, although I could've sworn we were just standing under pines. Ones that are common in his home, is there something I’m missing here? What is he focusing on so intently? Is there somethin- 

“You’re looking at the mistletoe? Does it really not exist in your hyrule… I guess that means the traditions doesn’t exist either then, does it?”

“Tradition?”

“So I’m right then? It doesn’t?”

Why does he seem a little ashamed by that, his ears have drooped and he doesn’t want to look at me. Is he that used to always knowing about plants or is it that he’s worried about having lost his memories about it. 

“to be fair wild, I'm not entirely sure it exists in hyrule anyway. might just be something from my world.”

��what kind of tradition is it, do you miss it at all?”

“hmm, well it's mostly just fun… depends on who you're with really. Want me to show you what it is?”

he's perking up a bit now, still a little down but that should change in a moment seeing as he's nodding. 

“You sure? you don't even know what it is and you wanna go through with it?”

“You’re not making it sound like a good thing… Twi isn’t going to lecture us for this is he?”

“No, no of course not. Not unless he’s got a secret crush on me anyway.”

“Wha-”

Before he had a chance to respond, I already had a hand on his collar pulling him toward me. If he wants to learn about the mistletoe then what could possibly be better than experience. I’ve been wanting to kiss him for a while now too, so it’s a perfect excuse. His lips are so soft, incredible considering how he lives the shrine must’ve had some permanent effects after it all. Kissing him is awkward to say the least, the mixture of him being caught so off guard and the fact he’s frozen solid leads to a very quick attempt at a quick peck on the lips. 

Until it's over, and I've pulled away from him. It'd be a lie if I said I wasn't mildly disappointed by how little he reacted, maybe I was reading all the signs wrong and he simply didn't care for me like that. I should have given him more of a hint to what I was going to do, if he doesn't like me then it was simply cruel to force him to kiss me.

“I - sorry I didn't - I made you uncomfortable I should've told you what it was. I'm sorry link.”

“That’s the tradition then? Pressing your lips to someone elses?”

“Not quite - it’s to kiss whoever you’re standing under it with but I didn’t want to overwhelm you with...hu-!”

The disappointment must’ve shown on my face, or he just… did he just want to kiss me again? This time he’s the one taking the lead, holding my face so gently in his hands sliding his fingers slowly into my hair. The fact that he’s likely never kissed anyone makes it more clumsy, gently and softly he’s trying to find the best way to do it and I’m loving every second of it. Even despite it being the most uncertain kiss I’ve ever had… it’s taking my breath away simply how much care is going into it. Drawing a soft gasp from me too with how he’s biting faintly on my lips. 

Everything has to come to an end eventually though, as he pulls away with a smirk and the cutest blush I’ve ever seen in my entire life. I’ll have to devote a lot more of my time to flustering him from now on, there’s no possible way that I could go without seeing that at least once more in my life. I would rather the shadow simply kill me than be condemned to that fate. 

“That was -”

“Ishouldv’easkedI’msosor-”

“ - It was amazing link. Would you… if I asked would you do it again?” That seemed to be the final thing to fully overwhelm him, with his face going from being softly dusted with blush to being a scorching crimson while he’s trying to shy away in his own hair. If I didn’t think I could go without the one before, then I already know I’ll die if I don’t get to see it more often. It’s a shame he’s trying so hard to hide it, if only I could just…

“[Name]... What are you?”

“Oh! I um… I wasn’t thinking I just. I you look so cute and I just, you don’t need to hide yourself away from me link.”

Just a shaky breath and nuzzling his head on my hand in response. He can’t even look me in the eye. 

“Does this mean that you like the tradition though?”

this is evolving into a proper taglist now, if you'd like to join feel free to ask! - @sketchyspook, @fanfic-fairy-fountain, @mushroomwoods, @glowyskull

[summertimemusician]

Linktober 2024, Day 1, Mirror (Self)

Alright here we go again.

Technically a sneak peak of a bigger thing to come in the future that I'm repurposing, and the result of my final playthrough and readthrough before EoW dropped being Four Swords Adventures and that made me sad about Shadow Link again.

Note that this is for the Four Swords Adventures iteration of Shadow Link that might evolve into an LU Shadow, not Dark Link in either LOZ or LU, I have other plans for him.

This one shot was brought to you by Scars by The Crane Wives, Ribs by The Crane Wives, Ruin by The Amazing Devil and Two Minutes by The Amazing Devil because the author's playlist decided to be incredibly cheeky when they blacked out to write this like an ancient seers being cursed with visions and then called mad and hearing they've been put up for execution.

As always the nature of the relationship can be romantic or platonic, mostly due to the author's time constraints and further plans.

Anyway enjoy the reading!

It was cold.

The sort of cold after a wildfire, when everything's turned back to ash, the sort that left burned your vision white after the flames licked through your veins and left an ache in your bones. He shuddered, coughed black onto the stone floor, shaking with a muffled whimper.

It never got any easier, being dragged from the Dark World and into the Realm of Light, the goddesses' world itself revolting against an intruder, wanting the wound torn asunder into their oh so precious realm cauterized. To purge the intrusion and smite it where it stands.

Too bad for them (and for him), his master didn't particularly care about what the world wanted. Didn't particularly care that he hadn't grow accustomed to the pain or the cold, he had to stand up. There was work to be done.

(Shadow gritted his teeth, willed himself not to think about the prophecy of a golden haired princess- because whether he liked it or not, it was prophecy. As those with divinity running through their veins are wont to spill from their throats so carelessly- of violet eyes and a smile a third moonlight and hands holding a hammer.

It always hurt more, after one of the heroes liberated one of the maidens, or the jewels, the pain lingering for days afterwards and carving a home in his metaphorical bones. But just this once he'd take the cold bite of the Four Swords over the pain in the hole in his chest that Vio's betrayal had left, something that felt so much worse than every other time before.

Just this once he wished that maybe, just maybe, the hurt would be too much to bear, that he wouldn't wake up again-

Why? Why does it hurt so much but he's still here? He already knew the Light was uncompromising and unforgiving, but he thought them at least above curses.)

His ears twitched as soft, almost silent footsteps came up to his side. Someone crouching by his fallen form, setting a cautious hand over his own that Shadow couldn't help but draw away from with a hiss, blinking as his eyes adjusted to the world again, to your face, carefully blank as you guided him to lean against your side, a silver choker with a crimson gem winked mockingly at him, the shade closing his eyes and going boneless against your side.

Shadow was so, so tired.

He heard you quietly sigh, plucking his cap from his head and running your fingers through dark amethyst, smoke and mist made hair. "I told you so."

"Shut up." He grumbled, nuzzling further into the crook of your neck. One clawed hand curling against your free wrist, digging into the skin. Absentmindedly noting there were new scratches just above the metal.

It was routine by now, the warmth of your existence against his own a welcome balm, not quite of the Realm of Light where it's unpleasant, not too close to the Dark World where he felt like melting back into the embrace of the darkness, only to howl in agony at being dragged out.

Memories not quite his own bled into his mind all the time. How you'd shape ice into flowers for the princess in winter with nary a though, of blinking and from one second to the next you'd have whatever sword he had hostage if you though it was time for a break with a smile brighter than the sun.

His master had changed that though. It took months for you to stop trying to claw the collar out and to stop trying to fight Vaati.

(Funny how holding a mage's dragon as a bargaining chip is just as effective as kidnapping a ruler.)

Your gaze flicked to the polished obsidian of the Dark Mirror, to the gold, ornate frame. "The offer is still open, you know. Let me take the suffering from you."

"No." He scowled, leaning back to glare into your eyes, a hint of fangs poking out from a maw struggling to keep the shape of a human jaw, "You helped him. Helped them." Shadow spat, there is that hurt again.

You shrugged, a movement that's just slightly awkward as you flinch, "That I did." You confirmed simply, it almost made Shadow see red as he leaned away, knocking your hand from his head in the process, but if there's anything him and the heroes shared, was a lack of a desire to hurt you. It was a little grating to be honest, "Vio even offered to take me with him, to be honest."

"Then why didn't you leave?" He demanded.

Why did you stick around?

Your eyes shuttered, a hint of conflict in your pursed lips. Before you found your words, they come out softly, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you why. You'll just have to find out yourself."

You tug your wrist from his grasp, and Shadow lets you go.

(Stubbornly pushing down on memories and emotions that arearen'tarenotanymore quite his.)

You stand and turn away, pushing the curtains away from your sight, you turn your tired eyes to Shadow with an emotion he can't put a name to. "Just keep it in mind that there's more than one way to end this. Nothing is truly inevitable."

Shadow watches you go. 'There's nothing that can be done. He tells himself, hand hesitating above the Dark Mirror, briefly, it curls into a fist. The hero's original self stares back at him.

'… Does he really believe that?'

He shakes his head, and focuses on willing the Dark Mirror to show him his counterpart.

His chest still hurts.

[linkito]

I am here to make puppy eyes at you and ask for Cub and Scar tidbits pretty please? <3

-🎀

YES HI RIBBON ANON!!!

Ohhh what to say about Cub and Scar... <3

Both of them are vex hybrids, of course, and I'm not sure how much I've talked about their Past™ before, but... the general idea is that they originally did live with other vex. But the Bad Kind. The kind that the hunters of the other world envisioned all vex hybrids to be.

Cub remembers it, but Scar really doesn't, because one day, Cub took the both of them and ran. This is why Scar doesn't know much about how to handle his vex instincts/magic at the beginning of our story, because it's something he was never really familiar with.

The thing about Cub, too, is, maybe he could have fit in there. It's not like the vex there were Evil, just... brutal. Focused on expanding their magic to its very limits. Strict and aggressive.

It's Scar who did not belong. Scar who had big dreams, a creative mind, and the brightest laugh.

Cub couldn't bear to watch the vex squander that. So one day he grabbed Scar and they fled.

Because of this, they're each other's only family, even if not directly related.

And speaking of family, did you know there are other sorts of vex bites besides the mating ones? The idea is definitely borrowed from omegaverse lore (shhhh), namely the diagram from this post here. It's only a loose similarity though, so don't take all of that info as canon to hhau! But another notable mark is that of a parental/familial bond—

Cub marked Scar when they were young. Scar doesn't even remember it. It's on the back of his neck, almost completely obscured by his hairline. You're never going to see it unless you know what to look for.

And with this little ritual comes a magic-laced bond—nothing too significant really, but it means Cub can always feel a sort of tug toward Scar's presence. It's subtle, almost unnoticeable, just an instinctual sort of thing... but imagine how Cub felt waking up from the destruction of Season 8 to having that feeling suddenly gone.

It's how the rescue team tracks down Scar as well. Scar alone.

And isn't it sad how all of those things Cub tried to protect Scar from happened anyways in that other world? Scar comes back with a white streak in his hair and Cub knows exactly what that means. Scar comes back on edge, claws out, ready to pounce and bare his teeth and it absolutely breaks Cub's heart.

But Scar and Grian also come back together, and that mating mark doesn't escape Cub's knowing eyes.

He's definitely one of the few Hermits to understand that the bond Grian and Scar have together is not something to be concerned about in the slightest. It's natural, really, just maybe not for what the Hermits have come to understand vexes to be like. Because Cub and Scar (up until now) have not been your typical vexes!

It's a little difficult, as a vex himself, to really change the minds of anyone else alone, but what he does do is make sure Scar knows he's there for him. He's still family and Scar is still Scar, despite everything that happened to him.

I actually wrote a mini-fic of sorts about hhau Cub and Scar back in April, but the premise is... very silly. I'm not sure if I'll share the whole thing LOL

buuuuuut you can have this <3 ~

[sweeteastart]

May I suggest Warriors for 3c or 4c?

Hi, here's your warrior dear Anon 🫡

Thank you for the ask ♪♪♪♪

[613teeth]

Ship in a Bottle / The Tulpar

(explanation in tags)

A ship in a bottle

Throttle the neck

And shake back and forth

Put a cork in the mouth

The captain hesitates

The warning signs scream

The screens are all dripping

And glistening red

A ship in a bottle

The air is hissing

Bleeding from seams

While the engine keeps quiet

There's something itching

At the base of the skull

The skin has been flayed

The hull is not breeched

A ship in a bottle

The Rot is a-coming

Clean the wound

And replace the gauze

Take your pills, captain

Swallow them down

I know its not easy

I hope know this hurts

A ship in a bottle

The cargo hold opened

Like an egg cracked

An embryo expelled

Captain, my captain

You knew this would happen

You knew I would falter

On the rungs of the ladder

Ship in a bottle

The crew are all floating

Turn the pistons

Keep feeding the engine

Swallow it, captain

The fuel that I give you

The only thing pure

On this infested vessel

A ship in a bottle

A rotting carcass

Foam, like pus

Leaks through the tissue

It looks at me, captain

The ship, it keeps staring

Unblinking, unmoving

One bloodshot eye, judging

[unproduciblesmackdown]

just in time to spin the prompt / inspiration wheel via @lotrmusical for the 1 year anniversary of watermill theater lotr musical today:

the way louis maskell says "mr gandalf—please" with a laugh in his voice as he kneels next to sam to "protect" him from being turned into anything unnatural

[lizarr7]

The final batch: Ozlem. Salem absolutely slaughtered me with those antlers. Queen of Extra.

[wizardofgoodfortune]

leave me there, dreaming (dreamling d&d au)

Rating: Explicit Chapter: 1/? Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Dungeons & Dragons, Dream is a Sorcerer, Hob is a Fighter, What more can I say?, Violence, Blood, Vomiting, Corpses, BAMF Hob Gadling, Slow Burn, Not Beta Read, Other Additional Tags to Be Added Summary: Hob Gadling, a cavalier of a prestigious order, finds his life turned upside-down when his hometown suddenly disappears from the face of the earth. He was at his lowest when he meets a mysterious, starry-eyed elf, who happens to be the solution to one or more of his problems.

Written for Cara (@staroftheendless) and her prompt, "Dreamling!Knights AU", as part of the @dreamlingnation's winter exchange event!

(read on ao3)

[cinderflower]

Dusk / Dawn (TrinaMal / MalMiq)

[batsplat]

ok, in light of casey and vale’s reunion at the ranch. what are your top 5 or maybe 10 motogp feud developments of the year? could be something like casevale link up or someone saying something insane or it could be some insane fact that you’ve uncovered this year which changed/added to your perception of some rivalry?

excellent ask. obviously I got sent this around the time of the actual ranch visit and prevaricated on answering it, partly because one of my personal top three feud related revelations had not as yet been posted. now it HAS been posted - and while there's other as-yet-unposted material that would probably make this list, I'll have a crack at it with what we've got lol. also, this isn't a particularly balanced list... because obviously 'stuff I've found out this year' is a pretty big caveat. I haven't found out that much stuff this year! generally it's been to do with sete/valentino tbh, and most of it is stuff I've been sent by other people. I've been slacking on doing my own feud research. so as much as I'd like to sneak in a dovi/jorge cameo or whatever, unfortunately there's quite a few feuds where we are currently in a bit of a stagnation period... no real advances in the field I'm afraid. I've decided to go for the nice and round number of six items as nobody's attention will last that long anyway. no need to overdo things

6. casey mentioning valentino's qatar 2007 head rub three times in his autobiography: okay, look, there's a slightly irritating element to this discovery in that... y'know. I could've figured this one out YEARS ago because it literally just relies on reading casey's autobiography closely enough. which you'd think I would have done by now. the process by which I cobbled this one together has been documented here, and now we obviously also have a lovely gif of the moment itself at our disposal. just to refresh everyone's memory, even the bloody photo itself made it to the autobiography:

I love this! casey's so deeply weird about valentino and he's so repressed about it and he lets it slip in such funny ways. such a short moment for it to live so incredibly rent free in casey's mind. as always, it is important to note that casey is not giving an accurate recollection of events. I have little way of knowing whether valentino was still friendly to casey away from the track - but I can use casey's own metric of direct post-race interactions and tell you categorically that valentino continues to warmly congratulate casey after early 2007. there's this fun little technique I use to assess casey's claims called 'the power of my own eyes'

mugello 2009 first time vale lost his home race in a bajillion years and this is how he acts with casey on the podium... let's start a conversation

the underlying reasons for why casey takes such liberties in narrativising the rivalry have been previously discussed in much depth in this parish - and as ever it is fun and neat to note how casey's narrative has become accepted because he has taken advantage of a prevalent narrative about valentino and his affinity for feuding. old tricks used against the teacher!! mainly, though, this kind of thing is a fun little reminder of how rewarding it is to do a lot of reading between the lines where casey is concerned. he does let a lot slip, if you know where to look

5. jerez 2024, the weekend experience: I was thinking about putting something related to the pecco/marc set-up for next year in this post but quite honestly I am increasingly pessimistic about how that will unfold. like,, I do think there's plenty of stuff there and that in this kind of scenario any two of prime jorge, casey and valentino would start stabbing each other, any two of prime jorge and valentino could get something going with pecco, and marc would start a war with any of those three. but I'm just not convinced about this specific combination... and sometimes it's a good idea to set your expectations low. so unfortunately we continue to have to rely on old feuds to keep us fed, which means that valentino's link to pecco somehow remains the most surefire source of narrative tension. I don't particularly like this state of affairs and maybe somebody below the age of 35 should start pulling their weight, but it is what it is. sometimes you just have to contend yourself with archival research. anyway, I really enjoyed jerez!! it was fun having valentino there for all that stuff, the marc/pecco duel was only second to jorge/pecco sepang in terms of on-track thrills, plus repeatedly cutting back on marc does kinda feel like #heritage at this point. grateful that bez moved his ass once this season to get valentino to parc fermé

but above all I really enjoyed that valentino description of marc - how marc attempts to show his superiority over his opponent and that 'when he sees that you are less strong or are already bleeding, he bites harder'. that's lovely stuff. obviously valentino is correct in his assessment of marc... but what makes the whole thing more fun and dramatically juicy is that especially that second part is even more true of valentino himself. valentino sniffing out weakness is basically his entire MO as a rider, including in very practical terms how he likes to study and put pressure on his opponents during races. he's also someone who's always liked to attack from a position of strength - you see this most obviously in the 2008-09 period and it is something jorge himself acknowledges quite explicitly in his biography. idk, something about seeing a little bit of yourself in your enemy... and yeah, 'biting your rival harder when they are already bleeding' is just such a poetic little phrase that I've made heavy use of it since then. old man's still got it

4. what hrc was told at qatar 2004: this is another one of those slightly annoying ones where I suppose I theoretically could have found this out years before I did, but. having finally had the chance to watch the footage from that route 46 route 93 documentary and the bits about sete, twas very much worthwhile. I really enjoyed what valentino said, just a nicely rich text especially given the scarcity of comments he's made since 2004 - but I was particularly interested in the testimony from juan martinez, sete's crew chief. both of which are discussed in some depth here. as far as I can tell, martinez did quite literally say him and sete talked to hrc about the little grid rubber trick valentino's team pulled, which?? he claims it's for 'safety reasons' to try and convince them everybody needed the track cleaned - which is all well and good, but you don't need to be a witch to guess what hrc was going to do with that information

this testimony plus a few more details I've unearthed but haven't posted - primarily relating to the actions of fausto gresini and other honda bigwigs that day - make me increasingly convinced that valentino did have a legitimate grievance at qatar. including directed towards sete. obviously, the manner in which he responded to said grievance was still completely mental... but idk, I'd always had a sneaking suspicion that there had to be something to valentino's accusation. which makes sete's arc throughout that 2004 season and especially from qatar to sepang even more interesting!! I do think he wasn't being entirely honest in that sepang presser, but I also think he panicked a bit for fairly understandable reasons. idk obviously this is just such a fascinating few weeks for everyone involved, so I'm thrilled how I've found out so much more about that time period in such a short amount of time. again, mostly not off the back of my own research!! but I am grateful for what I have been allowed to Divine

3. valentino's podcast adventures: I still haven't talked properly about what valentino said about jorge but I will and I should, because those bits are all pretty enjoyable and fit into the rivalry write-up I did earlier this year. also, the casey stuff was excellent!! more of the valentino ambition vs casey talent theme, plus just some fun descriptions of laguna 2008 I will absolutely integrate into my long post about that race. nothing NEW exactly, but it's always nice having someone confirm your working. and the marc stuff was really fun!! obviously I was particularly keen on the alzamora stuff because I've always felt like there had to be more to his role. the argentina 2015 stuff is just really interesting in relation to what jorge has said (perhaps reflecting paddock gossip at the time question mark) that marc felt valentino deliberately made him crash, so you get into this excellent mutual j'accuse situation. and assen!! obviously valentino's description of marc's attitude isn't particularly novel since it does chime with what we have actual footage of in the presser, but the idea of a private lil confrontation is so much fun. especially paired with marc saying at sachsenring he felt assen was his best race of the season!! 2015 is one of the best puzzle box seasons to try and unravel what 'really happened' and why - and we really haven't gotten new details from one of the two blokes involved that often over the years. always appreciate some additional insight

and obviously the best bit - zero mention of sete. friendships, rivalries, even feuds can fade... curses last forever

2. the 'ciao sete' shirt valentino wore in 2004: which has now been posted here, god bless. this has been living rent free in my mind for weeks at this point, not a day has passed where I haven't thought about it. it has singlehandedly made motogp-blogging on this website worth it because I doubt I would have ever discovered it myself. I love this so so dearly. look at this absolute cunt

a third t-shirt has hit late 2004 feuding towers

first of all, that's a dyke aunt. that is a mother. some deep concentrated evil lesbian energy. I'm not straight but he can get it. second of all, what the FUCK is wrong with you. the best part is that this has been sent to me along with a steady diet of extra details confirming they were like. properly properly friends before all this shit went down, which makes every additional feud-related revelation particularly wild. they were close!! it's so brutal, it's so malicious, it is INCREDIBLY funny and I laugh every time I see those photos. I love the playful edge, the double meaning of 'bye thirst', that marriage of joy and cruelty that is so quintessential to the arc he goes on that year. just having a laff... one dead, dozens injured. I feel like I increasingly have a handle on why valentino went SO far with sete and what it was specifically about losing to sete that drove valentino nuts, which does also leave me with rather a lot of sympathy for poor sete in all this. endless ritual humiliation is one hell of a punishment for your former friend to inflict. that being said, unfortunately it is also hilarious. ah well

1. CASEY VISITED VALENTINO AT THE RANCH: casey!! visited!! valentino!! at!! the!! ranch!! CASEY VISITED VALENTINO AT THE RANCH. out of NOWHERE too, just suddenly opened tumblr to a bunch of asks and messages on a random sunday evening. I'd previously expressed myself sceptical on the vale/casey dinner front, feeling rather safe and secure in the knowledge they had not done so in the twelve years since casey's retirement. which, y'know. fantastic timing, lads. but I still think my reasoning mostly holds up - obviously, this was a more casual 'valentino harassing casey into sticking around' affair and not quite the soul-searching soul-baring exercise in exorcisms casey might be looking for. and idk, just vindicating of my general read of that relationship. casey's feelings towards valentino are extremely complicated - this weird cocktail of how he feels about valentino as a person and then valentino the character and also valentino the literal embodiment of the sport. valentino doesn't hate casey... and crucially, he also does not seem to particularly mind casey's bi-yearly habit of talking shit about valentino. I mean, come on, SOME of that stuff must get back to valentino. I'm consistent in my stance that - while casey obviously has plenty of legitimate grievances - I do also think valentino could reasonably take issue with some of the ways casey has characterised valentino and their rivalry. if valentino has his complaints, he's clearly not about to share with the class - and there's really not any bitterness whatsoever in how he's talked about casey these last few years. he's content to pass the reigns to casey in narrativising their rivalry to the public. pretty interesting, no?

idk, I like how true the entire ranch visit felt to their dynamic... valentino might have done what he needed to do to beat casey, but there was never any real personal animosity on his end - at most their intense bickering during 2010-12, but even there it was never that serious to valentino. and now, that's all done with as far as he's concerned... the door is open, if casey wants it to be. and casey, always just a bit more cautious and wary and far more conflicted, who clearly still has all these grievances relating to valentino he needs to share with the world... but when they're actually face-to-face, those have always had a habit of falling away. valentino in all his boundless enthusiasm and sincere belief that casey is as good a rider as they come, dragging around his erstwhile rival to proudly show him around his precious home. and casey, who once idolised valentino and perhaps even wished they could have been friends, allowing himself to be dragged along. it was sweet... it warmed my cold dead heart. I liked it. and I am going to laugh very hard indeed when casey gives his next interview discussing how valentino taught him about the horrors of the human condition