#all's well chat ends well | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

batsplat · 3 months

Note

new casey podcast have you seen it

https://m.youtube.com/watch?si=ye8wNfrvaPDjtpDV&v=IuwZN6aP8sg&feature=youtu.be

(link to the podcast) yeah I did, cheers!

there's not that much 'new information' per se within this podcast, though there's a bunch of nice tidbits about teenage casey. what stood out to me is how the framing of his journey to becoming a racer is... well, it's kinda new? it's not exactly surprising, because you could get a lot of this stuff from reading between the lines in his autobiography. the question of 'is this your dream or your parents' dream' is a very common one with athletes, and it's often a thin line... but, y'know, this podcast interview in particular is quite a noticeable shift in how casey himself talks about this issue. it's a shift in how he portrays his 'dream' of becoming a professional rider back when he was formulating his autobiography, versus how he's answering questions in this episode. his autobiography isn't free from criticism of his parents - but casey is always stressing his own desire to race. so you do get stuff like this (from the autobiography):

At this point things were getting serious. Dad used to say, 'If you want to become World Champion you can't be that much better than local competition,' holding his finger and thumb an inch apart. 'You have to be this much better,' he'd say, holding his arms wide open. Dad confirms this feeling still today: 'I know it's a harsh way to look at things but that's the difference between a champion and the rest. Just look at the careers of Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo. Dani had Alberto Puig and Jorge had his old man, both of them hard as nails. If you want to make it to the top I think it takes somebody with an unforgiving view on life to help get you there. So I said those things to Casey, particularly when we went to the UK, because to keep moving up a level he couldn't just be happy with winning a race. If he wasn't winning by a margin that represented his maximum performance then he wasn't showing people how much better he was than the rest.' There's no denying that Dani, Jorge and I became successful with that kind of upbringing and sometimes you probably do need it. As far as I'm concerned Alberto was nowhere near as tough on Dani as my dad was on me or Jorge's dad was on him. That kind of intensity and expectation puts a lot of extra pressure on a father-son relationship that isn't always healthy. We definitely had our moments and there were a few major blow-ups to come. But at the time, rightly or wrongly, it was proving to be a good system for us and I was eager to continue impressing my dad and others with my performances on the track.

(quick reminder, jorge's review of his father's style of parenting was describing him as "a kind of hitler")

but in general the emphasis is very much on how much casey enjoyed racing, on how single-minded casey was when it came to racing. he might have been isolated by his racing (again this is from the autobiography, in the context of discussing being bullied by kids in school until he got 'protection' from his dirt track friends):

School life was a whole lot better after that but I still hated it. All my real friends were from dirt-track; they were the only people I had anything in common with.

and he's talked about how other parents misinterpreted his shyness as him not actually wanting to race, which meant they were judging casey's parents as a result (autobiography):

Mum tells me that the other parents thought she and Dad were awful because I cried as I lined up on the start line. She remembers: 'I was putting his gloves on his hands and pushing his helmet over his head. The thing was, I knew Casey wasn't crying because he didn't want to ride or because he was scared. He just didn't like the attention of being stared at by all these people!'

but like. overall racing for him was still something he portrayed as a very positive aspect of his childhood. something he always clung onto, something that was his choice to pursue

so... let's play compare and contrast with some specific passages of the autobiography and this podcast, you decide for yourself. take this from his autobiography:

After I started winning more times than not, and it was obvious my passion for bikes wasn't wavering, Mum and Dad decided that seeking out sponsors could be a great idea to help offset some of the costs of travelling to meets and keeping the bikes in good order.

and here, in a longer excerpt about what a sickly child casey was, what his mother said (autobiography):

'They tested him for cystic fibrosis and he was on all kinds of medication; you name it, he was on it. But Casey still raced, we couldn't stop him.' I know I was sick but Mum was right, I wasn't going to let that stop me.

versus this from the podcast, when he's responding to a completely open question about how he got into riding:

To be honest, I don't know if I was allowed to have any other attraction to be honest. I think it was, you know, you're going to be a bike rider from when I was a very very young age - and I'm not the only one to think that. I think my parents have stated that enough times to certain people and you know I was sort of pushed in that direction. My elder sister who's six and a half years older than me, she actually raced a little bit of dirt bikes and dirt track before I was born and when I was very young, so it was sort of a natural progression to go and do a little bit more of that and I think because at the time road racing was a lot more similar to dirt track. That was our sort of way in.

this was one of the very first questions in the interview, it basically just consisted of asking casey how he got into biking in the first place - whether it had come through his family or whatever. casey chose to take the response in that direction... it's not an answer that is just about his own internal passion, how he loved riding the second he touched a bike, how he loved it throughout his childhood etc etc (which is how it's framed in the autobiography) - but instead he says he wasn't allowed to do anything else. he says that he was pushed in that direction, that his parents have openly said as much to others. that he feels vindicated in the belief he was never given another choice

let's play another round. here from the autobiography:

Mum and Dad used to stand at the side for hours on end watching me practise at different tracks. They'd sometimes clock laps with a stopwatch as I went round and round. Other parents couldn't see the point in taking it so seriously but they didn't realise it was what I wanted. I was having fun. Working out how to go faster was how I got my kicks and I couldn't stop until I had taken a tenth or two of a second off my best time on any day. If another kid came out onto the track with me I would be all over them, practising passing them in different ways and in different corners, but most of the time they avoided riding with me and I would be out there on my own, racing the clock.

and this (autobiography):

I enjoyed racing so much that even when I was at home riding on my own I would set up different track configurations to challenge myself. I'd find myself a rock here, a tree there, a gatepost over there and maybe move a branch and that would be my track.

versus here, in the podcast:

Q: And did you realise at the time that you were - not groomed, is not the word but well you were being groomed to be a professional motorcycle racer, or obviously that was your only one reference point, that was the norm. Did that just feel the norm or did you think actually this feels a bit intense or how did you feel about it? A: I think it's hard, it's not until I sort of reached my mid teens where I started to have a bit of a reality check on what I was actually doing. Before then, you know I was competitive. I'm not as competitive as people think, I'm a lot more competitive internally rather than externally versus other people. I always challenge myself to things, so all those younger years was just getting the job done that I was expected to do. I enjoyed winning, I loved it, but you know I enjoyed perfect laps, perfect races, as close as I could get to that and you know from a young age I always sort of challenged myself constantly to be better. So I didn't just win races, I tried to win them - you know, if I won races by five seconds in a [...] race I'd try and win, you know I'd try and get to double that by the end of the day if I could. So you know that always kept me sharp and it stopped me from being sort of, you know, complacent in the position I was at. And it wasn't until sort of you know 16, 17, 18 that reality kicked in. I'd had a couple years road racing in the UK and Spain, been rather successful and then you get to world championships and you know maybe an engineer that was sort of - didn't have your best interests at hear. And, you know, I nearly finished my career right there after my first year of world championships just because of the reality of how hard it was in comparison to everything else I'd experienced up to that point. And, you know, it was a real reality check for me and I think it was then that I started to - you know consider everything around me and consider how and why I got to the position that I was in and that's when the mind started to change a little bit and realise that you know I really was being groomed my whole life just to sort of be here and be put on a track and try and win. And, you know, that was my seemingly most of my existence.

in all the excerpts, he stresses how much he enjoys his perfect laps, how much he enjoys riding, how there is genuine passion there, how dedicated he is to this pursuit... but then in the podcast, he's adding something else - how he'd been groomed his whole life into that role of 'professional bike racer'. that it was only in his late teens (when he was in 125cc/250cc) where he had this moment of 'man I never really had a choice in all this'

and another round. here's him talking in the autobiography about how all the money he got through racing went back into racing - but it was fine because it was the only thing he cared about anyway:

I don't remember seeing any of the money I earned because it all went back into my racing, although I guess at the time that's all I really cared about anyway. I didn't know anything else. Mum and Dad always said to me: 'If you put in the effort, we'll put in the effort.'

and here in the autobiography on how he just wanted to ride all day:

I couldn't ride my bike all day, though, as much as I would have liked to.

and him talking in the autobiography about his parents encouraging him and his sister to 'chase their dreams':

Mum and Dad encouraged both Kelly and me to follow our passions and work hard to chase our dreams. That might sound strange when you are talking about a seven-year-old but I don't think you are never too young to know that if you want something you have to earn it.

versus this in the podcast:

Q: And I've never asked you this before, but did you want to? A: Um... I think I'd been convinced of a dream I suppose. You know, yes I loved riding bikes and you know I really did enjoy racing... but there was lots of other things that I - I really enjoyed as well but just never had the opportunity or never was allowed to do anything else, so... You know, motorbikes for our budget everything fortunately dirt track was probably the cheapest way that you could go motorbike racing. You could survive on very very little in dirt track and show your potential in other ways. You know, yes, having good bikes and good tyres and all that sort of thing made a difference but it wasn't the be all end all, you could always make a difference in other ways, so... I think it was, you know - the best thing we could have done, racing through that. Like I said I enjoyed it, it wasn't until late teens, early 20s where I sort of was like, I don't know if I would have been a bike racer had I actually had a choice.

was riding really all he cared about? or were there other things he was interested in, things he just never had the opportunity to pursue? things he wasn't allowed to pursue? from the autobiography, you get the sense that his parents always deliberately portrayed it as casey's dream, something he was expected to work hard for in order to be allowed to fulfil. in the podcast, casey says it was a dream he was 'convinced' of. without wanting to speak too much on the specifics of this parenting relationship we only have limited knowledge of, this kinda does all sound like athlete parent 101: getting it into their kids' heads that this is the dream of the child, not the parent, before holding it over them when they fail to perform when their parents have invested so so much in their child's success. casey's family was financially completely dependent on his racing results when they moved to the uk - he was fourteen at the time. he was painfully conscious of his parents' 'sacrifice' to make 'his dream' possible. can you imagine what kind of pressure that must be for a teenager?

to be clear, this isn't supposed to be a gotcha, I'm not trying to uncover contradictions between what casey said back then and what he's saying now. obviously, this is all very... thorny, complicated stuff, and casey has had to figure out for himself how he feels about it, how he feels about how his parents approached his upbringing. but it is worth pointing out that this isn't necessarily just a question of his feelings changing over time - if the internal timeline he provides in the podcast is correct, he was really having that realisation in his late teens, early 20s, so on the verge of joining the premier class. that is when he says he had the thought "I don't know if I would have been a bike racer had I actually had a choice"... which is a pretty major admission, you have to say, especially given how rough those premier class years often ended up being on him. but then that realisation would have already come years and years before he wrote his autobiography, it would've been something he carried with him for most of his career. given that, you do look at his autobiography and think that he did make the decision to frame things pretty differently back then, that he decided to exclude certain things from his narrative. if this really is already something that's been festering within him for years, if he does feel like he wants to be a bit more open about all of that now than back then... well, hopefully it shows he's been able to work through all of it a bit more in the intervening years

(this is somehow an even thornier topic than his relationship with parents, but relatedly there is a bit of a discrepancy between how bullish he is in his autobiography about how mentally unaffected he was by his results, versus how he's since opened up since then about his anxiety. again, I want to stress, this is not a gotcha, he's under no obligation to share this stuff with the world - especially given the amount of discourse during his career about his supposed 'mental weakness'. it is still important in understanding him, though, how he consciously decided to tell his own story in the autobiography and how he's somewhat changed his approach in the subsequent years)

this is the rest of his answer to that podcast question I relayed above:

But at the same time you know I felt that no matter what I would have done, I sort of have a - my mentality of self-punishment, you know, of never being good enough that always drove me to try and be better and any single thing that I did, I didn't like it when I wasn't not perfect. I don't believe in the word perfect but I really didn't enjoy when I wasn't, you know, in my own terms considered a good enough level at anything I did so I would always sort of try to get up as high as I could regardless of what for.

at which point hodgson says exactly what I was thinking and goes 'god what a line' about the "mentality of self-punishment" thing. it is one hell of a line!

what's really interesting about this podcast is how these two big themes of 'this wasn't my choice' and 'self-punishment' end up kinda being linked together when casey talks about how the motogp world reacted to him... so again I'm gonna quickly toss in a bit from the autobiography (where he's talking about casual motorcycling events he went to as a kid), because it does read similarly in how for him the joy and competitive aspects of riding are closely linked:

It was a competition but it wasn't highly competitive; it was just for fun, really. Of course, I didn't see it that way, though, and I had dirt and stones flying everywhere. I don't think anyone expected the park to be shredded like it was. When I was on my bike, if I wasn't competing to my maximum level then I wasn't having as much fun.

and back to the podcast:

And also because people truly didn't understand me, that I'm not there just to enjoy the racing. As we're explaining, before that, you know it was sort of a road paved for me... And so the results were all important, not the enjoyment of it. And then you cop the flak for everything you do. I'm also very self-punishing, so it was kind of a - just a lose lose lose and it was all very very heavy on myself, so... It, you know, it took me till my later years to realise I could take the pressure off myself a little bit and go look you've done all the work you've done everything you can, you got to be proud of what you've done, so... Not necessarily go out there and enjoy it, because I don't believe you should just be going out in a sport where you're paid as much as we are expect to get results and just - you know - oh I'm just going to go and have fun it's like... yeah, nah, if you're just going to go and have fun then you're not putting in the work. And that's when we see inconsistencies etc. So I was very very harsh on myself and so even when I won races, if I made mistakes or I wasn't happy with the way I rode, well then yeah I'm happy I won but there's work to do. There was more to get out of myself and so that's where I copped a lot of bad... um, let's say bad press because of those kind of things and then they sort of attack you even more because they didn't like the fact that you didn't celebrate these wins like they wanted you to they expect you to I suppose treat every victory like almost a championship and you know it's not that I expected these wins but I expected more of myself and therefore maybe I didn't celebrate them as much as you know other people do.

kind of brings together a lot of different things, doesn't it? this whole profession was a path that was chosen for him... which he links here to how the results were 'all important' for him, how it just couldn't ever be about enjoyment. he always punished himself for his mistakes, he was under constant pressure, which also affected how he communicated with the outside world... he was so committed to self-flagellation that he made it tough for himself to actually celebrate his victories, which in turn wasn't appreciated by the fans or the press. so on the one hand, casey's obviously still not particularly thrilled about how much of a hard time he was given over his particular approach to being a rider. but on the other hand, he's also describing how all of this can be traced back to how becoming a rider was never actually his 'choice'. he's detailed his perfectionism before, including in his autobiography, including in discussing his anxiety disorder more recently - but this is explicitly establishing that link between the pressure he'd felt during his childhood to how he'd been pushed into this direction to how he then had to perform. he couldn't afford to be anything less than perfect, so he wasn't, and at times he made his own life even tougher as a result of his own exacting standards. this just wasn't stuff he's said in such straightforward, explicit terms before... and now he is

my general thing with casey is that his reputation as a straight shooter or whatever means people aren't really paying enough attention to how he's telling his own story. like, I kinda feel the perception is 'oh he used to be more closed off because the media ragged on him but since retirement he's been able to tell it like it really is' or whatever. and I'm not saying that's necessarily wrong, but it's not quite as simple as that. because he's not a natural at dealing with the media, he's put a fair bit of thought into how to communicate better with them (which he does also say in the podcast), and he's explicitly acknowledged this is something he looked to valentino for in order to learn how to better handle. because casey has felt misunderstood for quite a long time, he's quite invested in selling his story in certain ways - and it's interesting how what he's chosen to reveal or emphasise or conceal or downplay has changed over time. which means there will be plenty of slight discrepancies that pop up over time that will be as revealing as anything he explicitly says... and it tells you something, what his own idea of what 'his story' is at any given time. this podcast isn't just interesting as a sort of, y'know, one to one, 'this is casey telling the truth' or whatever - it's reflecting where his mind is at currently, what he wants to share and in what way, and how that compares to his past outlook. the framing of his childhood was really something that popped out about this particular interview... it's not like it's exactly surprising that this is how he feels, but more that he decided to say all of this so openly. some pretty heavy stuff in there! hope the years really have helped him... man, I don't know. figure it all out, for himself. something like that

#hodgson is a far better interview than that bloody australian who keeps getting retired riders on his show #on a one man crusade against that youtube channel after the sete episode. listened to it at 1.5 speed but it was still horrendous #idk whether they screened potential q's but if not then hodgson followed up well on that initial casey response about not having a choice #icl I thought this would be a ducati puff piece but they do discuss self loathing for like half an hour #I do treat all athletes' parents with a base level of suspicion. guilty until proven innocent. don't trust any of them #ducati uk posted it on twitter right before I went grocery shopping so I was like 'oh well I'll put it on! that'll be nice!'#and it ended up kinda depressing me icl. super talented at the bike anything thing I get it but low key he should've done something else #I don't follow ducati uk on twitter... I did add them to my motogp list when I saw the podcast announcement. just to be clear #//#casey stoner #cs27 #batsplat responds #still don't entirely get what the concept for the podcast is. does he just chat to people related to ducati. I mean I liked it but #fifty minutes in they go 'yeah remember when you won a title with ducati. that was nice wasn't it'#going on the ducati podast complaining about how new tech has made racing worse like 'we're all trying to find the guy who did this'#heretic tag

19 notes · View notes

malulurivers · 1 year

Note

I don't know if you do crossovers, but if you do, how would viktor react to a spider-person S/O? Spidersonas have been blowing up again since across the spiderverse so it made me curious

when it comes to spiderverse i absolutely do, anon! i've seen some fantastic art of jayce and viktor in the style of spiderverse, i think i reblogged it somewhere, so to say 'i love this idea' and 'i've had a little think about it already' would be two big understatements!

i'll try to keep it succinct though XD

☾ ₊ ˚ ✩ ˚ ｡ ☽

How Viktor would react to having a spider-person SO

honestly, the word 'fascinated' could tldr this entire post

Viktor is quite a private person, who would absolutely treasure communication and trust in a relationship

so as the Spider of the Runeterran universe, as soon as you had made your relationship official, you knew you had to tell him of your secret identity sooner rather than later

you'd been surprised neither he nor Jayce had worked it out yet, being incredibly intelligent inventors and all

but you'd figured they'd be safer not knowing, so you'd tried to subtly keep it from them anyway, and directed the conversation away from your Spider-alter ego whenever they occasionally came up

so you had it planned out.

you were going to tell Viktor next time he was at home, when you got him in a break day, and it was going to be the just the two of you. somewhere private, somewhere safe.

you would explain everything gently. you'd reassure him that if he wasn't comfortable with being with you because of it, then you'd have no resentment towards him

there were plenty of good reasons to be wary after all

then one night you had a particularly long escapade

trying to uncover a deeply-rooted crime circle, you'd ended up rescuing a group of young people who had gotten in trouble with enforcers for frankly ridiculous reasons

you'd then had to outsmart and deal with said enforcers (who were undoubtedly the worst part) to escape, and they head nothing back in their chase

you'd decided to head to the lab instead of home for safety, as at least that wasn't as incriminating. also there was more spaces to hide

it was so late that it was morning, and even you expected that Viktor had gone home by now

but he had, in fact, not

so you'd entered the lab by climbing through the Jana-knows-what storey window, blood rushing with adrenaline, levering yourself down to the floor cleanly with a web

right beside Viktor's desk, where he was sat, eyes wide and frozen

it hurt to see his expression focused on you. he was hiding it well but there was fear in how he swallowed, in how he clenched his fist on the handle of his cane

it hurt until you remembered that 1. he did not know it was you, and 2. he had just witnessed you crawling on glass, spinning on webs and moving way too fast for a normal human

also 3. you bore a striking resemblance to the description given of a 'criminal' (as described by enforcers) that had recently been reported to be involved in the explosion of a factory in the Undercity

sure, you knew it had been for good: that you had apprehended your target, and there had been no casualties

but it dawned at you that Viktor remaining as calm as he did was inherently a miracle

"can I... help...? you...?"

his thoughts were rushing at 100mph compared to their normal 50, and you could see it in his searching stare, watching and waiting for you to move, speak, do anything

luckily, after a few seconds of stumbled words and a hasty removal of your mask, he was back down to earth, heaving a sigh and almost laughing in relief

"I cannot believe—I thought you were...!"

for a moment anyhow, before the reality sunk in further and you were bombarded with questions

"wait, you are the Spider? the masked vigilante?"

"where did you just come from? were you fighting someone?"

"are you alright? are you hurt? did anyone follow you?"

after some explanation and reassurance, he relaxes a lot

honestly he takes the news very well! despite the unplanned nature of its reveal

he's very pragmatic as a person and very loyal

despite the obvious exhaustion on his face, he perks up with intrigue as you tell him everything—how you got bitten, how you got hold of your current suit, how you chose your identity, what you've been keeping tabs on, who you've fought, what you've lost.

however, he is a scientist first and foremost after all, so even after the basics are out of the way, his curiosity is never going to be quite sated

so later on, he's asking more specifics

he's always very polite when requesting to see your abilities, very gentle and never overwhelming you. he wants to see all of them, if you'll allow him to

the webs, the wall-climbing, the increased agility and strength, the spider sense, no matter what it is, you always leave him amazed

and your abilities quickly become a source of inspiration for his own trajectories into science

he's particularly fascinated with the possibilities of your webs, regardless of whether they're organic or mechanical

he sees this as an opportunity to work with you and that makes him very happy indeed

on top of inspiring him scientifically, your passion for helping others reminds him what he's doing his work for, as well as how much he loves you

he adores your heart, your compassion, even if it worries him that you're putting yourself in harms way

this likely leads to him putting time aside for side projects, where he invents things to help you

he may be more of a pacifist, but he's surprisingly down with vigilante justice

he wants to help and protect people with his own technology, he'd be a hypocrite with his head in the sand if he believed that never fighting was truly an option

just as long as you're careful

because of this, he's not going to make you weapons. not that you would ever ask him to. that's not your style, and you'd much rather have the tools he creates to help you escape extra sticky situations

his main focus first and foremost is to help upgrade your suit, particularly providing more safety for your mask so you can breathe in the Undercity

however, whatever upgrade or mechanism it is as time goes on, he always lets you take the lead. you're the hero, not him, and he just wants to support you as best he can

for what it's worth, he'll talk positively of your secret identity to Jayce, hoping it'll get through to Mel

he would even defend you publicly if he was in the council room and the Spider came up

much to your chagrin, as you're worried for his safety just as much as he's worried about yours

when you move in together particularly, you're aware of the danger you're putting him in

you regularly frequent the Undercity and have dealings down there, so returning to live Topside by day has its innate dangers

especially when you're constantly avoiding villains and enforcers alike

but also your identity must stay a secret for his sake as well as yours

he'd be ruined if the fact that he's in a committed relationship with a a vigilante became known

unsurprisingly, Viktor overlooks this part

but as long as the two of you look out for each other, you're certain nothing can go wrong

overall Viktor is a caring and loyal partner, and this wouldn't change in the slightest if his S/O was a vigilante spider-person

he'd be incredibly supportive, though likely wouldn't be able to keep from getting a little excited over the capabilities of your powers. and from asking a ton of questions

you'd become a muse of sorts for him in some of his inventions, and a close partner in his technology in other ways

although, if you have access to the Spiderverse? poor man's going to start fizzing internally

the prospect of portals? already functioning across dimensions? universes?!

he's a reserved kind of person, but I don't think he'd be able to stop himself from trying to weasel his way into meeting someone who knew a lot about how it worked

aka, if you don't know how the Arachnoid Humanoid Poly-Multiverse's teleporting mechanics work, then he's going to try and talk to someone who does

with your permission of course

I think that Viktor would get along very well with Miguel...!

...until he very much doesn't.

☾ ₊ ˚ ✩ ˚ ｡ ☽

masterlist | buy me a hot chocolate <3

#viktor x reader #arcane x reader #spidersona #arcane x spiderverse #viktor fluff #arcane fluff #spiderverse arcane #arcane spiderverse #just imagining miguel and viktor chatting now #theyd get along so well! discussing science and being all broody together #until it all flies out of the window with the inevitable morals discussion and #idk i feel like they would just inevitably start bickering about *something* and it just wouldnt end well #this has reminded me that i wanted to write a somewhat crossover fic where the science bros ran into someone who could actually do magic #it would basically be me shamelessly theorising on how the magic system in arcane runeterra works #or just flinging it out and going full crossover #but that other crossover universe would be my own original work #bc your girl loves to keep busy and has too many projects on at once of course #and is working on a worldbuild as well #technically #god help me i feel like my understanding of the lore is wrong--runeterra is the realm's name right? could indicate the universe?

85 notes · View notes