#all of this is becaus of you you know

[lvebug]

i have seen you rp since day one, i have proofed maybe a hundred threads by now so believe me when i say that i feel i have some authority on speaking on your portrayal and your writing. dee, you have grown in brilliant color and fashion in your writing and andie as a whole. she started as this little brilliant spark of yours and she has become so real and so incredible and you embody that in every aspect about her. you're very technical when it comes to her life and the other verses and i admire what you give to it all. more than anything, i've just loved watching you get more comfortable. the fact that you're even exploring other muses, be them small guys from dnd games or silly canons is a true testament of one thing: your growth. i don't know if you know that, but i know that. i know that you've grown and to have seen it and been a part of it has been so exciting. whenever you come to me with anything or do something new i feel like jumping and screaming for you.

i think maybe it's good that i have an eye drs appointment next week bc i can't read this the letters are all blurry that's so weird . im squeezing this post i literally dont know what to say

[dykedvonte]

Can you talk about trans!Curly a little bit more? I'm curios if you have any headcanons and the like

-💀

It's just such a thing in my mind because it adds a truthful sadness and differing aspect to mouthwashing.

If Curly was trans it adds the horror of the horribly selfish thought he could have easily been in Anya's situation. It could've been him but it wasn't and he so conflicted on the pit it put in his stomach that brings and the shameful relief it wasn't. In this scenario he is friends with Jimmy for a long time still. Jimmy likely knew him pretransition. Maybe he gave Curly weird looks then, maybe they never stopped after, maybe they seemed meaner. They are guys now, bros, both of them are. He doesn't really have to worry what those looks mean anymore, Jimmy just has that face with him sometimes. It's recontextualizing a lot of things for him that he was in denial about or too ashamed to admit. How naive he was being and how he let that get another person hurt.

Specifically with Anya, it's he knows the dread and fear she's feeling. He can understand it because he had to live with it for a good portion of his life, he knows it cause he still does, just in a slightly different way. It makes him think of all the times he's been alone with Jimmy, all the times he's been way more drunk off his ass and not remember the night, Jimmy was always with him the next day. Makes him think of the comments he would laugh off both because that's what guys do but because that part of being a girl says to laugh so Jimmy doesn't do something. It's the selfish realization that he was never safe and he's uncertain now too. Mad at himself for forgeting that feeling, espcially since for a long time he would've been considered the only woman on a crew (with all that implies) for a long time.

He should've taken those blinders off, step back into that position for just a moment and it's so much more painful that Anya likely came to him because he should've gotten it. Those thoughts don't leave his mind after the crash when he's in an even more vulnerable position than she was...

[stranger-theory]

Can we all give Mike Wheeler some understanding, please? I don't wanna hear your whiny ass say that Mike Wheeler isn't good enough for Will one more time, I WILL find your home address. (Directed)

"Will isn't 'head over heels' for Mike, he just has a crush" I'm sorry but did you have your eyes closed in the interview in which his actor explains how he's been in love with Mike since the first season?? Hello???

Mike Wheeler is a gay boy in the '80s. Mike Wheeler is dating a girl he doesn't love romantically to appear "normal". Mike Wheeler has seen several people brutally die in front of him. Mike Wheeler had to witness the disappearance and possession of his best friend. Mike Wheeler has dealt with thinking two people he cares about have died. Mike Wheeler is a boy who went through homophobic bullying. Mike Wheeler is a boy who had to save the world four times already.

MIKE WHEELER IS A BOY.

He dealt with all this bullshit at the VERY young age that is 12-15. You want to tell this kid he's a bad person for being stressed? He has so much on his mind at such a young age from literally all of that and you expect him to act rational? Peaceful? "Correct"??😭

You are literally stupid if you think that's the proper opinion. He is going through the same shit as the other characters, the only reason you don't get pissed at Will is because he internalizes his feelings, rather than kind of exploding (which is what Mike does). These are just different responses to trauma, dumbass. Sorry it doesn't look pretty for you, but that's not how it works.

Erm, have the day you deserve, I guess. Bye, chat.

[xxplastic-cubexx]

i really wanna see movieverse james's charles cry during sex..... and well krakoa charles too... i just think charles in general cries during sex but erik too idk maybe they just have sex and then both just stop at some moment and start crying

fam i think you just wanna see someone cry ..... thats ok ...... cryins good ..... let the feelins out and whatever ...

[smallidarityfan]

GEM CLICKBAITED SMALLIDARITY GGHAAHAAAHSHSBSB IM DYINGGGG HAVE WE REALLY REACHED THAT POINT BROTHERS.......?

[macchiatosdumptruck]

.

[daily-amber]

day 156: amber but the reference picture is a picture of me

[dootznbootz]

Hiiiiiii I just saw the character ask thing :))))

Can you tell me about your NOTP, random headcanon and unpopular opinion about Helen of Sparta?

Thank you so much!!!

I'll save the one that'll get me crucified last! 👍

Random headcanon: Both Odysseus and Penelope were given a "photographic memory" by Athena. When Athena had "forsaken" Odysseus it was taken away. Makes it nice because a lot of the more fucked up parts of the Odyssey are a bit more "fuzzy" for him. And he hates feeling "so out of sorts". He gets it back though.

Also Athena technically took Penelope under her "wing" like, one month before Odysseus.

Unpopular Helen Opinion: In MY FICS, (It's okay if you don't agree!) She is built like Rose Quartz from Steven Universe. She doesn't have a perfect "hourglass figure". She's got some pudge on her tummy. Girl is TALL (Demigod) and CHUBBY. One of the important components of Helen and Menelaus' relationship is that they are both strong enough to lift each other. Also she's the most beautiful woman in the world and chubby women are hot af lskdjf She also SUCKS at singing. She's good at wrestling and spear work. (Sparta. I also love athletic women. Plenty of chubby women are also athletic af. If you think otherwise, literally look up women's Olympic sports participants.)

Homies, know that my NOTP can be YOUR OTP and that's okay! We can still love each other and be friends! Ignore the rest if you just don't want to see that, but know that while it kind of will be in my fics, it's probably not in the way you want it to be.

Please don't hate me and know I don't hate you or think I'm "correct"!

It's OdyDio.

These are the reasons why so avoid them if you don't want to read that! :'D This is the only time I will ever be on the "Odysseus hate train" because he's such an asshole to Diomedes.

I feel so bad about it. 😭 I'm a freak who likes Odysseus/Menelaus (Big BROTP) I think it's because Odysseus is just... SO MEAN to Diomedes. And when he's not mean, he's just neutral. There is not really any "Diomedes, you're the best guy!". Especially when have Sthenelus and Diomedes saying I love you to each other To ME, they are like co-workers who work GREAT together on the battlefield and on missions, but never do anything outside of that.

When Diomedes asks for help, Odysseus sprints away from battle. When Diomedes compliments him before the night raid, Odysseus literally is like "Dude, you're not the only person who knows I'm good at stealing. Let's go."

Odysseus, that long-suffering, godlike man, replied: “Son of Tydeus, don’t over-praise me, or censure me. You’re speaking to the Argives,                           who know everything about me. Let’s go. Night is passing quickly. Dawn approaches. The stars have shifted forward. Most of the night                   has passed, two thirds of it, with one third left.”

(Ian Johnston, Book 10)

Odysseus is an asshole but he's still so mean to Diomedes! 😭 ESPECIALLY WHEN DIOMEDES IS SO FUCKING NICE TO ODYSSEUS!!! I know that's what probably makes them so compelling to so many lovely folks but I love fluff BECAUSE I'm so tired of toxic relationships irl. I don't...I don't see how I can make OdyDio fluffy 😥 With OdyDio, I feel like I'm watching my bestie (Diomedes) get back with their toxic ex who mistreats them (Odysseus). Diomedes is actually quite polite to the others. Even when Agamemnon scolds him, he tells Sthenelus to think nothing of it. He compliments Odysseus! He listens to the gods when they tell him "Hey stop fighting!" and listens to Athena! Like he's violent and a killing machine but he's respectful! He's a traumatized, respectful, killing machine! He bitches at Paris but everyone has done that! That's something everyone partakes in /j

It bothers me even more because when Odysseus is with Penelope, he's so wonderful and loving? And that the Odyssey, literally Odysseus' story/Epic, doesn't even really mention Diomedes? That goes to show how little Diomedes means to Odysseus.

And since Odysseus runs away from Diomedes when he asks for help, it boggles my mind that books earlier, he goes into a rage when his friend gets killed!

[...]but hit Leucus, a brave companion of Odysseus, in the groin,                                           as he was dragging Simoeisius away. His hands let go. He fell down on the corpse. Enraged at Leucus’ slaughter, Odysseus strode up, through the front ranks, armed in gleaming bronze. Going in close, he took his stand. Looking round, he hurled his glittering spear. As he threw, Trojans moved back, but the spear found a mark. It hit Democoön, Priam’s bastard son, who had come from Abydos, where he bred horses for their speed.                                    Angry for his friend, Odysseus speared him in the temple.

(Ian Johnston, Book 4)

Odysseus, you prick!!! You go on a rampage when your buddy gets killed but sprint away when your STILL ALIVE BUDDY asks you for help?! ASSHOLE

They ARE kind of friends/frenemies during the end of the war but it's a weird thing where Diomedes cares about Odysseus but Odysseus tolerates him. Like he left him to die. I love Odysseus. He's my special little guy but he treats Diomedes, another special little guy, like shit 😞

They also have a fairly large agegap, (Odysseus being one of the older kings while Diomedes is the youngest. If you bring up pederasty, you will be smited.) and have very little in common other than them both being Athena's pets. Odysseus is a fucked up lil warrior trickster who loves his wife and child more than life itself while Diomedes is a young child soldier boy who is incredibly duty bound and war is where he feels most comfortable.

Also just...Most of anything about OdyDio (fanart/fanfic/etc.) it's of them fighting or bickering or betraying each other or being very sexual. Even OdyPenDio STILL feels very "OdyDio... + Penelope in the footnotes". I already plan to write Odysseus (and Penelope) as Aspec CODED and so I...just really don't care for that??? There's barely ANYTHING of them being soft. BECAUSE THEM TWO TOGETHER just aren't soft... I personally don't like couples that are mean to each other 😭 (I'm not even including the whole "betrayal with the Pallidium" because it makes me sad to think about. I don't consider it canon.)

Menelaus though?

I have plans 😌 These two bring me comfort and are a special brotp

[headphonemouse]

Follow up to this post brought to you by @forgetme-eternally-blissfully, in fanfic snippet format because I gave up on drawing the comic (the fanfic was supposed to be a comic draft but I added too many details)

Kim Dokja lays on the ground among the rubble of a ruined building. He twitches a little before his eyes open. The world is blurry. In the distance, he can see a dark blur fluttering around his surroundings. As his vision comes into focus, he can recognize Yoo Joonghyuk searching through the debris.

A sharp pain coming from his side causes Kim Dokja to let out a groan as he struggles to push himself up to a sitting position. The sound catches Yoo Joonghyuk's attention and immediately he starts making a beeline in Kim Dokja's direction.

As Yoo Joonghyuk approaches, Kim Dokja takes note of Yoo Joonghyuk's tattered coat, his bloodstained body, the wounds on his face, hands, legs. None too serious though some deep enough to inevitably leave scars later.

Yoo Joonghyuk is getting closer, kneeling down, reaching his hand out towards Kim Dokja's face, making a move to pull Kim Dokja in when Kim Dokja decides to open his mouth.

"You're not losing your balance and having trouble standing are you? I'm not going to carry you on my back this time."

"Shut up," is all Yoo Joonghyuk says as he wraps his arms around Kim Dokja's shoulders. His grip is tight, one hand on the back of Kim Dokja's head, the other circled around his upper back.

There is a gash in Kim Dokja's side that throbs with pain. Blood loss has his head spinning and his vision blurring again. From where his face is pressed into Yoo Joonghyuk's shoulder, Kim Dokja can smell blood, sweat, smoke. Buildings continue to crumple in the background and the sound of something falling pitters in his ears. His hands tense and untense, relax and remain by his sides.

Kim Dokja lets out a breath and leans into Yoo Joonghyuk, just slightly. Just enough so that Yoo Joonghyuk can tighten his hold by a hair.

----------

Author's notes (what would normally be my image caption):

I said in the referenced post that Kim Dokja has no trouble reciprocating affection once someone else initiates, but I think Yoo Joonghyuk is the exception. Always exceptional, that one. At least during the Scenarios.

Kim Dokja can read his movements, see what Yoo Joonghyuk is aiming to do, can read his mind, dammit. But he can't comprehend his actions. Yoo Joonghyuk acting in a way that Kim Dokja doesn't know about is something that happens more and more often as time goes on, and serves as a reminder of the wall that exists between a protagonist and a reader, but also the wall that exists between two normal people. Because at this moment, Kim Dokja is still struggling to see Yoo Joonghyuk as his own person instead of a protagonist or a 1863x-regressor-to-be. He's blinded by what he knows and has seen in his own past, which he assumes will be Yoo Joonghyuk's future. When he looks at him, does he see those ghosts of the future flickering superimposed over the shape of the man before him? This is the sort of wall that exists between them.

So when Yoo Joonghyuk acts outside of Kim Dokja's expectations, Kim Dokja tries to push them back on course with banter. "Yoo Joonghyuk is getting closer, kneeling down, reaching his hand out towards Kim Dokja's face, making a move to pull Kim Dokja in-" Kim Dokja sees all of this, takes note of all of this, knows what's to come of it. Doesn't understand it one bit. He's not oblivious. It's more like, "Why? Why me? Why would someone feel this way about and want to do these things with me?" He KNOWS the effect he has on people. He intentionally calculates how much he interacts with Jung Heewon and Lee Hyunsung to ensure their loyalty towards him in the early scenarios (not so much so after like Scenario 5-ish so we're talking early-early scenarios. After that point he more supports them in the direction they want to go (when that direction is the direction he already wanted them to go anyways. something something picking teammates because he knew they were already loyal and righteous by nature, nurturing them so that they would be able to carry out their justice no matter the adversary. He chose them because he knew they were loyal and strong, but they weren't loyal or strong at the time. But they would be in the future. But they wouldn't have been without him. But in another time where he didn't exist they were strong anyways see this is how he is able to have ultimate faith in his party members and know the kind of support he has given them while still being unable to recognize his own value in the grand scheme of things. Because they would have been fine without him, he's SEEN it. This is another wall between him and other people, another future ghost)). So he knows how much influence he has in other peoples' lives. But he values himself so little that he is blind to the emotional, sentimental weight he has to these people. No matter how much he knows he's done for them, he won't see himself as worthy of genuine praise or recognition, affection, love.

So this lack of self recognition extends to his perception of all of his companions, but especially so to Yoo Joonghyuk. Yoo Joonghyuk is probably the person whom Kim Dokja is the most strict about characterization with. Kim Dokja knows him the best, it's true, but he also doesn't know a damn thing about him as a person instead of a character and that makes him feel a certain way. Vulnerable, I think. Lonely. That childish feeling of betrayal when the characters walk off the page without him. There are sides to people and characters that you will never know simply because they weren't observed. And there are sides of people that you have no right to know. It is by becoming a person instead of a reader that you must abide by those rules and give up omniscience. Part of being a person and recognizing another's personhood is to willingly not know everything about them.

Anyways. He's not there yet. Not by Hug Attempt #2. This was supposed to have 3 parts with the last one set after the epilogue but we'll see if I ever get to it.

[canisvesperus]

Are we going to talk about the thinly veiled ableism towards high support needs autistic adults who frequent websites like deviantart for their hyperspecific non-fandomizable special interests, infrequent hygiene practices, “weird fetishes”, that are all clearly shaped by an experience with neurodiversity that is foreign to all y’all rebranded Asperger’s supremacists

[elizabeth-karenina]

So….guess who’s going to see Nosferatu on Christmas Day with her brother?

Take a wild guess.

[ashmp3]

fashion moodboard for @nietopesz

[xxplastic-cubexx]

well that one comic panel with baby erik activated the sleeper agent in my brain that goes feral for de-aging angst... if you had the choice between erik protecting a suddenly de-aged charles or vice versa, which would it be and how how many years are they losing?

are you trying to killme. this amya very well kil me

[batsplat]

I just saw your post abt looking forward to the wta the most for 2025 and if u feel like it i was wondering if u cld share what ur looking forward to? like what narratives ur following or how u think the season will go or what ur hoping will happen. i kind of want to get back into watching tennis next yr (very influenced by ur tennis posting btw, rlly made me miss the feeling of watching tennis) but i kinda didnt watch any tennis post-ao this yr which ok was probably very unfair to the wta because it was rlly only the atp that ruined things for me and i actually rlly like sabalenka and thus rlly enjoyed the wta results but its just a large part of how i used to engage in tennis was through tennis twt and there were/are just so many sinner fans even in the wta subsection and i just at that point post-ao cld not see his face w/o going grrr so i simply chose to totally clock out lol. but i watched a bit of wta finals on my own and i was like yeah ifl i cld watch tennis on its own w/o having to follow stuff on social media and maybe along w/ watching some bigger matches w/ irl friends so yeah. idk where this is going (trust i will go on an unrelated tangent on a simple ask) but just if u ever have time/feel like it i wld be super keen to read abt ur thoughts on wta happenings next season and like stuff/developments to look out for!

oh yeah, I am ALWAYS up for proselytising women's tennis. extremely up for doing free marketing work to get the people invested. here's a rundown of where the biggest names are at headed into this year:

sabalenka as the hunted not the hunter - first time aryna has secured year end number one, she's had a fantastic season securing two slams and is to me currently the only top player without major question marks surrounding her. she has unambiguously been the best performer on hard courts for the past two years... and now she's finally started to pick up her title count again outside of slams. from her pov, this coming year wimbledon has got to be THE priority. she was banned from competing in 2022 due to geopolitical happenings, lost to ons in one of her habitual semifinal chokes in 2023, and then in 2024 couldn't play due to injury. honestly, I used to think wimbledon would be the first slam she wins - and if she'd been fully fit this year, she would've been the favourite. given how aryna has generally been known for her... um, mental fragility, especially on the biggest of stages, the turnaround on that front has been massive for her. it's been almost two years now, but the way she had so completely conquered her serving yips when she was en route to the 2023 australian open still needs to be regularly mentioned. she didn't flinch at all under the pressure of defending the title at this year's ao, she was imperious on the way to the uso title... but. who knows if it'll be different now!! she is THE player now, the talisman of women's tennis, and that brings its own pressure with it. as of right now, honestly my guess would be that she's still number one in a year's time... but it really is very far from certain

swiatek's comeback year? - this is a big year coming up for iga. to address the elephant in the room: the provisional doping ban. while she's said she's putting it behind her, obviously the rest of the tennis world might have other ideas. australia will be the first time the press can properly grill her about it... and all her colleagues get to be asked about it too, which does make it quite likely there'll be a bit of a cloud still hanging over her for january at the least. beyond that... well. iga had one big goal in 2024: to win gold at the olympics on her favourite court in the whole world. she failed. she won roland garros, but did not make any real progress at any of the non-clay slams. the us open 2022 looks like it might be a one-off... my line with iga for the past year is that she could easily end up being one of those players who wins 7-8 slams but everyone feels has underperformed on their potential. which is still obviously an excellent career!! but surely it could be better... it feels like she has run into some serious roadblocks recently, in her game and in her mind. a sign of hope on this front is that after a very long time, she has made a coaching switch - partnering with wim fissette, a well-regarded coach with an illustrious resume on the women's tour who tends to stay with his players for 1-3 years. biggest success stories are coaching clijsters in her uniquely successful post-pregnancy return to tour and coaching osaka to two slams. he's very much a problem-solver coach, one who comes in and makes adjustments... but maybe isn't known to be the type to form long-lasting relationships. now, I know what EYE would do to fix iga's game (starting with firing her weird ass psychologist into the sun) - a lot of it's about trusting her skills as a retriever more, not feeling compelled to outgun the biggest hitters, STEPPING BACK FOR RETURNS I'M BEGGING YOU. she needs to be more tactically flexible!! my sense is fissette agrees on some of these points, so there IS cause for hope. but also, if (as is likely) she doesn't win ao, then my god will she be under a lot of pressure headed into rg. three time defending champion who the field now knows is still beatable on that court after zheng defeated her at the olympics this year, with the knowledge that if she doesn't win there she could easily go without a slam the entire year. it's a lot for iga to deal with... like I said, big year

igatha/sublanko rivalry - well, first off, they need to play more matches. they have played back-to-back classics at madrid in 2023-24, the only thing of worth that shitty tournament has given us during that time - 2023 is already available on youtube and I would very much recommend checking it out. but like. let's face it. they need to play in a bloody slam final. obviously, it's mainly been iga who has been letting down the side on this front... she probably WOULD have made it to the 2023 uso final if penko hadn't done her thing and taken her out. but they need to get their act together here. it's become such a compelling rivalry - iga currently leads the h2h 8-4, though aryna won their last meeting. their matches are so intriguing not just because of the lovely stylistic contrast but also because... they both have this brittleness to them, this slight sense of unease and mental fragility, where they're both such ferocious competitors but we all know how often they're fighting demons. they both show it in completely different ways, sabalenka screaming her soul out while swiatek stalks around the court in silent distress - but what matters both is that they're both desperate to beat each other. they live and breathe every point, they need it so so badly that sometimes they trip themselves up. they're both so intense and they're both such brilliant players but they also bring such a... humanity to their rivalry, one that makes it easy to root for both of them. I want to see them hash it out on the biggest of stages

the gauff conundrum - idk what we're getting from this girl next year and tbh at this stage I'm cautious making any predictions. in all honesty, I've long been a gauff... sceptic is maybe a bit harsh, but certainly I'd say I've been cautious about buying into the hype too much. and it really does just come back to the gauff forehand. if you have one wing that's letting you down so badly, especially the forehand, it's always going to make me a bit careful about predicting great things for you. but the thing about gauff is that the expectations with her have always been out of whack - she's won one slam, which is already a MASSIVE achievement, but plenty of people are predicting double digits for her. and then on the flip side, obviously she also has plenty of critics who make apocalyptic predictions about how she'll never win again (racism as ever a major feature of that particular discourse). I don't really vibe with child prodigies except under specific circumstances, but she's sort of accidentally become crazy compelling to me because her game has these massive, glaring deficiencies that she's incredibly tenacious in figuring out ways to overcome. when it's not the forehand (which has actually looked pretty good in the post-uso stretch), it's the serve that is imploding to sabalenka-levels of yips. what's interesting about all this (as I myself can attest to lol) is that if you can't rely on your firepower and some of your shots straight-up suck and the main think you've got going for you is your ability to chase down balls, everything becomes so TOUGH for you. you need to be doing so much thinking to figure out how best to work around your worst shot, how to calibrate your tactics perfectly to somehow scam the win... the tennis might make me wince at times (though crucially I am a massive fan of ugly tennis and she sure has been delivering on that front), but my god is she a fighter. I don't think she'll win a slam next year but what do I know!! ALSO massively intriguing match-ups with both sublanko and igatha now - is she going to actually going to escape being iga's pigeon? and the sabalenka match-up has become easily one of the most intriguing on tour. talk about stylistic contrast

zheng's next step - qinwen has had a very positive 2024. she benefited from the draw at ao falling apart - but it's not easy to reach your first slam final when everyone's expecting you to. after that she had a bit of a lull... but then she won olympic gold, and has followed it up with some impressive performances towards the end of this year (albeit she kinda should have won the wta finals final). there's still question marks about the consistency... the confidence has given her an impressive mental fortitude, cf her olympics run, but there's still one too many big matches for my liking where she doesn't really show up. also, she is currently being massively pigeonised by sabalenka (0-5 h2h). if you want to win big titles, that's going to be a problem!! obviously her first priority next year will be winning her maiden slam, which... idk, I'd give it under 50% likelihood of happening but I think it's very plausible? being elite on both hard and clay will help her cause here... if for instance iga wobbles at rg then zheng would be like,, a top three contender for me. but the second priority has got to be to get a win over sabalenka - you cannot allow yourself to get monfils'd by the current best player in the world. I also have to say I'm not completely sold on her as a surefire top player going forward, she's definitely been in very good form but you never know how things go after the off-season after a breakout season, and the first three names featured in this post are the only ones I'm close to 100% confident will feature at the top of the game next season (barring any injuries). but no reason to be too sceptical!! the other big zheng storyline is... the drama!! second half of this year and it's now a few players she's seemingly locked horns with, has spoken openly about her stance she has zero interest in befriending other players, gives some fantastically chilly handshakes. it's healthy for the wta ecosystem to have someone like that close to the top of the game, someone who's just quite abrasive and self-assured and doesn't really fw her competitors. sometimes u just gotta make the locker room vibes worse. obviously it'd be fun if things got proper ugly between her and another big name... just sort of curious about how that whole situation will develop

the rybakina situation - rybakina has slipped from her perch as one of the wta ''''''big three'''''' of like. 2023. and has felt quite absent from the game for much of 2024, outside of some impressive runs at 500 level. she couldn't secure a slam at wimbledon, even though she was very much the favourite headed into the semifinals stage. she's had so many illnesses and injuries that you just sort of worry that'll end up being the story of her career. the big change headed into the coming season is, of course, dumping her long-time coach vukov. I want to be careful in discussing that relationship since we've all been relying on the rumour mill for a long time, but I think it's fair to say there won't be many fans unhappy to see that split. there were reports that vukov had been sacked for constantly insulting her, that he'd subjected her to immense psychological pressure, even that he'd been removed from the wta list of approved coaches - but to be clear, we don't know exactly what happened and she herself said at the wta finals it had been a normal coach/player split. put a gun to my head and I'd say I - like everyone else - have felt for a long time this isn't a healthy relationship, but. again! being cautious here. anyway, I think it's good for her, and she's now working with goran ivanisevic in his first coaching gig since ending his long-term partnership with djokovic. now THAT is a very intriguing coach/player pairing. I reckon it has promise!! idk, it'd be nice to see her bounce back, but at this stage you do also just need to see if she can stay healthy for more than a couple of weeks at a time - which might end up being helped by this coaching switch too. who knows. everyone knows that rybakina's best is beyond lethal, and she has managed to dominate both swiatek and sabalenka in some of their encounters in the last couple years in a way basically nobody else can. it's all the other stuff she's got to figure out

paolini revolution to continue? - I just checked the rankings and realised I've kinda done paolini dirty with her placement in this list, given she ended the year as a ridiculous number four in the world. her transformation in the last twelve months... I've never seen something quite like it. she was in good form back end of last year!! there was a Vibe where I felt like she was on a good trajectory and might have a good year!! nothing like THIS. just such a cool story of a journeywoman-type player as the quintessential late bloomer who suddenly becomes a consistent factor at the top of the game. no big weapons, not a lot in the height department going for her, no obvious x factor beyond a willingness to grind and a lot of fighting spirit. she's come out of this season with a 1000 title, two slam finals, a doubles gold medal, wta finals qualification in both singles and doubles, and the bjk cup title which... yeah, not bad. I'm glad that after the b2b slam final losses, she does have something substantive to show for her efforts this year. icl given how unexpected her rise was, I'm not really sure what we'll get from her next year. sophomore seasons post-breakout can be rough, though then again this is very late to be breaking out... maybe she'll be able to deal with it better. maybe this season was a bit of a flash in the pan, maybe she'll remain a fixture at the top of the game for longer. I do have my concerns that her game just fundamentally does not have enough to it to really trouble the absolute elite but also... who knows!! it'd be cool to see her grab a win against one of swiatek, sabalenka or gauff. she did beat rybakina twice this year!! including very memorably at roland garros on her run to the final. in any case, she's been such a fun new presence at the top of the game... would be lovely if she can figure out a way to stick around

and those are the biggest names!! those are the ones who will definitely be stories at the start of the season though... who knows, sometimes you do just need to wait and see what australia brings to get a sense of what the vibes will be like. plenty of players who could be major players, but they're less of a surefire thing than the ones on this list

just to give a few examples... jpeg mostly wasn't a factor this year except for a rich haul of points in the north american hard court swing, winning canada and then losing back to back finals to sublanko in cincy and us open. she was a perma slam quarterfinalist before that run, can she build on this new milestone?? .... probably not, but she's stuck around the top ten longer than I would've thought. mother krej is destined to remain a mystery - and she really didn't do much this year except for, you know, win wimbledon. what does she have in store for us this time round?? was that ridiculously good round two at rg against igatha as good as this osaka comeback will get, or will everything finally come together for her again? can she string enough results and form together to become a feature at the top of the game again? what of vekic with her wimbledon semis run followed by the olympics silver medal - a complicated career with many highs and lows, can she still become a late bloomer star herself in the paolini mould? danyell collins cancelled her retirement - and while iga fans might still be calling for her blood after the olympics drama, but it does tie into her continued health struggles and what seems to be unexpected roadblocks in her desire to start a family. will she play the whole year, can she replicate her form from early this season, and will she start any more major drama? is badosa going to build on her recent form and return to the top of the game? can muchova stay healthy for more than ten minutes? and so on, and so on

it's a really promising outlook because I do feel like we have a cohort of top players right now we can kinda rely on to continue to be relevant, but we also still have more spontaneity than *gestures* the horrors of the atp tour. plenty of storylines we KNOW we'll see more of, plus the guarantee that there's going to be at least one major storyline involving a player I never even thought to include in this post. on a personal note, I've been all over the place with iga these last few years. quite honestly, I wasn't a massive fan in 2022 when she was winning everything (often at the expense of my actual faves - now thankfully irrelevant, but players who iga fans did have a tendency to be quite cruel about). but because I am a broken person, having seen her struggle and fall from her perch at the top of the sport means I am now fully invested. I'm compelled by how rigid she is, by how mentally inflexible she's become, by how terrified she seems to be of her own shadow despite all her fierce intensity. how she constantly feels like she's walking on the edge of a cliff, even though she really shouldn't be with her game. I want her to play so many matches against sabalenka, I want them to both peak at the same time. I want to see if aryna can continue to conquer her demons or if she'll slide back or if she'll slide back and conquer them anyway. I want to see matches deep in slams and 1000 tournaments between them and gauff and rybakina and zheng... I want good matches. I want them to continue building on their budding rivalries. we've ended up with such a lovely little range of playstyles at the top of the sport - sabalenka, swiatek and gauff all play completely different tennis - that I just kinda want to keep mashing them together like dolls. throw them into the ring a hundred times and see what happens. see them fail and fail again and watch them grow. it's a great era of women's tennis we're in, and I think we could be in for a cracking season in 2025

[swagging-back-to]

first thing my housemate does when she gets back is literally scream at me because i didn't get any of her calls -- because i don't have an activated phone --- while i was driving back from putting my mouse to sleep.

and then continue to slam doors

[iknowwhereyousleepatnight]

could really go for some blunt force trauma a concussion three broken ribs health insurance and a doctors note that gets me an extra week on deadlines rn