#because it really is stunning
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teaching pomni how to dance
what type of music would they dance to? i dont even know! but i think dancing with your partner or teaching them how to dance is the peak of wholesomeness!! actually adorable...
astral circus AU belongs to @chelledoggo
#bold assumption on my part because pomni can sing well so maybe she's a great dancer too#who knows#anyway#i really like this au honestly#love ragatha's design#reminds me of my gf ;)#yeah i'm biased#so what??#ragatha looks stunning in that hippie fit regardless!!!#even with canon ragatha i can kind of see her being into some new agey stuff!#also love pomni's design#she looks so cute with the long hair!!#next time i draw these two#ragatha will be brushing pomni's hair#maybe playing with it#styling it#expect ragapom art with ragatha doing something with pomni's hair#they deserve to be happy#...happy together!!#my art#tadc#pomni tadc#the amazing digital circus#tadc fanart#tadc pomni#tadc ragatha#buttonblossom#pomni x ragatha#ragapom#tadc au
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hello! i've written a short little machete fic, and i wanted to share it with you as thanks for all the incredible art and generous question-answering you've been doing these last few months. i hope that if you give it a look, you enjoy it. <3 keep up all your amazing work! archiveofourown [.] org / works / 50945128
✦ A Voi ✦
#wake up honey new fic dropped#feeling blessed#eating this out of your hands like a baby deer#it's so good you guys treat my lads so well#and write so beautifully and vividly and eloquently#I rambled about this in length in the fic's comment section so I won't repeat myself too much here#but in this one Machete has a little breakdown and gets lovingly bathed like the sad and stunned dog he is#really captured his neuroticism and endless uneasiness#excellent Vittorio content augh I adore him#I'll definitely come back to this later and draw proper actual fanart because some of the scenes are so thematically and visually strong#I need to be able to see them with my actual eyes#dangit I forgot the cut on his lip#had a minor crisis over the color of Machete's robe but maybe it'd be white like the rest of his sleepwear#as a contrast to the usual blacks and reds#fic A Voi#doomcountry#own art#own characters#Machete#CanisAlbus#blood#I said this before and I say it again#if you read the thing and like it it would be very kind and appreciated if you left a small comment to doomcountry as a thank you#you don't need an ao3 account and you can do it anonymously
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Had to draw the best glow up in TDP history
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#ethari#the dragon prince#wasn’t really a glow up because he was always stunning#tdp s7#moonshadow elf
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LOKI APPRECIATION WEEK 2023 | for @dailyloki Day 5 : Favorite Loki's clothes : The God of Stories suit
#loki#tom hiddleston#lokiweek2023#mcuedit#lokiedit#marveledit#dailyloki#don't really have the file quality or ability to gif in flashing light this scene requires but i love it so here goes!#one of the most visually stunning moments i've seen in ages#even if my memories of it are forever associated with crying to the point of dehydration lmao#(which because it's me technically started while watching mobius back in the time theater but still 😅)#marvel#dianagifs#flashing cw
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belle of the ball ❄️✨🤍
#ts4#the sims 4#sims 4#sims 4 screenshots#sims 4 gameplay#sims 4 portrait#simblr#alternate caption: merry cerise-mas and happy new year <3#alternate caption 2: belle of the art museum winter fundraiser party#yes girl get those donations for your museum with your stunning fashion sense#hopefully good fashion because i dressed her and i wear only grandpa clothes but if grandpa also bought some t-shirts from hot topic#anyway HEY cerise is back#she's only really appeared on my blog once but she deserves more spotlight#holocene.png#hlcn: story extras#hlcn: cerise
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EVERMORE by taylor swift (feat. bon iver) — “and i was catching my breath, floors of a cabin creaking under my step. and i couldn’t be sure, i had a feeling so peculiar, this pain wouldn’t be forevermore.”
my #swiftiegiftexchange2024 for @lovesickallovermybed!!!! 🫶🏽🫶🏽
#HIII HII HII how are you <3333 SO sorry for being slightly to the party but HII#i saw that you are currently recovering from surgery and i‘m wishing you all the best and =a faster recovery 💗💗 i hope you’re okay and#are feeling and getting much better every day 💗💗💗#i’m your anon swiftie and it was really nice to get to know you!! 🫶🏽 you’re super super talented and your gifs are so so STUNNING#it was such an honor to be your anon for this event and i had such a fun time making this !#i was SO excited when i saw that some of your favorite ts songs are evermore and idsb. really really sorry i didn’t have the time to make#something for both because my laptop went dead for sometime and i ended up only having the time to make this 😭#evermore the song is something i hold and cherish deeply in my heart too and it was something that has seen some of the worst of my days#and so i decided to do this song for your gift instead!#i can’t really gif much and couldn’t even try#because my laptop in which i had installed ps in went rip so i decided to make you this#(slightly messy sorryy) scrapbook of my view of the song! i tried to incorporate some of the descriptive lyrics and the objects mentioned i#the song and i hope you like it 😁!#and because i think evermore is also something that IS meant to be incredibly personal to the people that listen to it#i decided to include some photos (+added highlights on every lyric that has ever touched me which is almost everything as you can see 😭)#of some of my journal pages on which i rewrote the entire lyrics (except bon iver’s addition 😅) in ‘21 when the song meant to me the most!#i hope you're having a great dayy love 🫶🏽🫶🏽#SwiftieGiftExchange2024#taylor swift#tswiftedit#evermore#*my edits#nadine.mp3
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Kingdom Hearts 3 - Olympus
#kingdom hearts 3#kh3#olympus#scenery#my gif#you could tell they wanted to make a good first impression with this world because they went all out#just think about how it used to be nothing but the exterior of the coliseum and the lobby#you can properly explore thebes now even if it is in shambles after the attack#and it's a surprisingly big town#then there's mount olympus and you actually get to climb all the way to the top#the base is so lush with all kinds of flowers and distant waterfalls it's gorgeous#until eventually you reach the rocky and cavernous mountain top during a severe thunderstorm#it feels very bleak and gloomy until you're suddenly greeted by the golden gates leading to the realm of the gods#and wow it's just stunning#really really beautiful world
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the room's not the world; the world is much bigger, and much stranger.
#control#remedy control#my god the last few years have been me finding new design aesthetics i like#bc Oh My God this game is STUPIDLY beautiful#i NEVER mess around with photo modes in games#because i can never quite get things to look right#but control is so goddamn beautiful that any photo you take is immediately museum worthy#so yeah i’m oddly very happy with how these look lol#remedy have a really really good knack for design and visuals and aesthetics in general but control is just. unfair to everyone else. lol#might mess around with AW2's photo mode as well because that game is similarly stunning#but. Man. i fucking love this game#i might end up using some of these as wallpapers at some point bc they're that pretty lol
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my drafts finally ran out and I’ve been too exhausted to go through like 2k worth of drafts to tag so apologies abt break in posting
urgent question: if you have any tips about recognizing undercover cops and ICE agents please write below. I never thought my very liberal state would come to this but I live in an area with a very high level of immigrants + multiple municipalities are basically de facto sanctuary cities since they have extra protections written into local law
I work at a healthcare facility that sees high numbers of new americans (with varying ‘legal’ statuses). there are reports from individuals within the local spanish speaking whatsapp channels that ICE is stopping people on their way to our healthcare facility. I can’t disclose too much without revealing highly identifying information about who I am and where I work, but higher management is not handling this good enough. everyone in my department (social work) is outraged and will do whatever it takes to protect the people we serve regardless of management. they deny it’s happening because it wasn’t happening when they went outside to look but that doesn’t mean shit- they’re 100% making rounds and patrolling. we are likely going to start taking walks during our limited breaks around the neighborhood to keep lookout. I’d much rather have a patient do telehealth or reschedule, or have them wait in my office an extra 20 minutes instead of possibly getting stopped by undercover agents. with the recent executive orders healthcare facilities aren’t even respected as sensitive locations discouraged from being raided anymore.
so yeah. any tips on spotting any undercover cops/ICE would be swell. funnily enough I have been thinking a lot about that one thing eliot said about undercover law enforcement and shoes. I’ve also been researching that already + rights and what to tell patients + everything else I can think of BUT thought I’d float it out here as well
stay safe, everyone in the US and outside. you are cared for, loved, important. you matter and deserve to be treated with humility and respect. look after each other
#so much I want to rant more on tbh#I’m so fucking beyond pissed#I work in social work and my entire job is about helping people connect with supports and resources#helping serve the most vulnerable people in our community#things have been really really really shitty ngl. I’ve been struggling#it’s hard to have my job at risk because of [redacted trump bullshit] AND I CANT EVEN WITH CONFIDENCE HELP PPL ACCESS RESOURCES#SINCE FUNDING FOR GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS IS UNDER THREAT#ALL THR UNGOUSED PEOPLE I SEE I CANT HELP BC ALL THE SHELTERS ARE FILL AND SECTION 8 WAS SLASHED#I JUST WANT TO HELP PEOPLE AND SUPPORT THEM WHEN THEY ARE IN NEED#EVERYTHING FUCKING SUCKS EVERY SINGLE SOCIAL WORKER AND COUNSELOR IS DEPRESSED AND ANGRY#IM SO FUCKING DONE#I JUST WANT TO DO MY JOB AND BE THERE FOR PEOPLE WHO NEED A HAND#BUT I JUST HAVE TO KEEP SAYING THERES NOTHING MORE I CAN DO BECAUSE THERE ARE NO FUNDS#sorry anyway#insert stunned drive thru employee meme here#jackie talks#mine#might delete later#ice raids#also VERY low chance anyone who is directly involved in this and recognizes the info#but if .0000001% chance u know who I am no you don’t#or maybe you do and contact me to rant and organize
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insp by @withered-rose-with-thorns post here
here's my favourite creations from this year (of course limited to fandoms i'm in and what i've come across throughout) happy new year to you all <3
hunger games catching fire by @celine-song beautiful colouring and i love the scenes chosen it's a beautiful capture of the film
from 1.05 / 3.10 by @fromville such a great find, i never would have caught onto this parallel and the contrast between the grey and blue is so pleasing! really makes me wanna rewatch season 1
day 24 horror sequels by @scre6m i love this movie so much and the shading and hue of blue is so so pleasing
day 7 best of 2024 from season 3 by @taiturner i love the layout of this and it captures season 3 so perfectly its brilliant
emily bader as lady jane grey by @connell-waldron emily bader is gorgeous but the lighting and colouring here is simply stunning
doctor who spare part by @igotthecharnelhouse i've never heard of this and seeing the history of the cybermen laid out here is incredible
my lady jane 1.07 by @scinnlaece i absolutely love this scene! and the colouring here is so so pretty i love it so much!!
jade herrera 3.03 by @lukaskyle i loved seeing jade lose his mind this episode and this set bringing out the white and reds is so so so beautiful, its incredible how you coloured this!! its stunning!!
slow horses 4.05 by @acecroft i'm so glad someone giffed this scene, and the colouring is stunning, i love the highlighting of the blues
are you often surprised with yourself by @jennasommers lizzie saltzman my beloved you have captured her perfectly and i can't stop staring at the final gif, it is so painful, so pretty!!
lotrweek - the road goes ever on by @lady-arryn this set is mesmerising from the colouring to the font to the placement of each gif in the set there aren't enough words to describe the way you captured the beauty of this world! magnificent!
i don't understand how i can miss him if i hated him by @shesnake the gasp i let out the first time i saw this set, what a painful parallel and you have laid it out so perfectly
the unquiet dead by @lonelygodinthetardis season 1 of nuwho there's an innocence and radiance there between nine and rose that you've captured so well with this colouring
the hunger games by @buffonia i love screencap edits so much it reminds me of the creations when i first found tumblr i really really love this set it makes me feel so nostalgic
don't be alone doctor by @henley-reeves the scene choices are perfect and i love the rage radiating from the doctor highlighted in these shades of orange! this set feels exactly like the quote "he's like the night and the storm in the heart of the sun" in the best way
notes on self destruction by @sdktrs12 the blending is gorgeous, the quote is perfect, it's a perfect breakdown of shiv in the final season
prompt #2 heartbreak by @graciesabram well break my heart you did with this set! the song choice, the font, the blending, the colouring its stunning
peaky blinders 3x04 by @kittenonpluto i love this scene so much and the colouring here i love the blues you brought out its gorgeous
day 4 favourite family by @alexisrosemullens everytime i look at this i find something new i love! the layout is perfect its so creative i love how we have all the seasons and the colours match them so well
clara oswald under the lake by @doortotomorrow i love the colouring here so much its such a pleasing set with the two faceless shots at each end. its really pretty
thomas shelby peeking through windows by @thomashelbyswife a set i didnt know i needed and i love the colouring here and how it highlights the contrast of the warm and colder tones between shots
rins 1k horror celebration by @gracesledomas this is my favourite set for the movie ever!! its gorgeous! i love every scene choice and i love the colour palette its beautiful
james beaufort and ruby bell by @laurens-german what i love about tumblr is taking a shot, highlighting and capturing it and this set it simply radiates that warmth so well
twelveclara + im your man by @commiebeatle the scene choices, the font, the blending all in this shade of green!! its so incredible and i think the 2nd and 4th gifs are my favourite
merthur week day 3 symbolism by @ughmerlin i love love this set! the overlay of the tarot cards, the blending, the grey and gold colouring its so so beautiful and the middle gif its such a perfect scene choice!
severence 1.05 by @holocrone i love this scene and i especially love the way you played with contrast in this set! its so good
winter in gotham by @simoneashley this is so pretty i love the blend from light to dark there's a great stillness captured in these gifs!
day 5 favourite arena by @jakeperalta i was so ready for this day (because who's favourite arena is anything but) and this set captures the beauty of it so perfectly. i love the layout and the cascade from the light and the orange into the green into the dark and the blues!
and just knowing that everything should end... by @tolerateit this was a perfect way to capture the end of succession! the scene choice is incredible, i love the warm tones and i love how you added in the 'was it underlined or crossed out?' into the writing here
monarch legacy of monsters 1.03 by @brotherconstant i need more past scenes of these three!! what i love so much about this set is the way you played with the layout and highlighting the separation between the characters in these shots! its brilliant!
twelfth doctor 9.01 by @fluffylord the colouring here!! i love it so so much! this is simply a gorgeous set (of the best doctor yes im biased)
too sweet, hozier by @cilly-murphy this set is gorgeous! i love the font choice! i love the orange and grey contrast! choosing to have the grey scenes as a blended gif i love that so much! its simply stunning
charmed 6.05 by @sophsun1 i see piper and chris i love! but especially these gifs with the colouring bringing out the greens from pipers outfit to the background its so satisfying so pretty!
new year, new fonts by @cal-kestis the fonts! i love them so much! the yellow and oranges here are so beautiful but what i love most is the way you blended the gifs its so seemless and i love how that links to the ending of the film and whats to come with btsv
panem's guide to troubled birds by @alinaastarkov this whole set is so intelligent especially with the scene choices. i love the contrast of the coloured gif with the grey rip out uncovering those vulnerabilities. its a really masterful set i love it so much!
twelve and bill by @expelliarmus the colouring of this scene! theres so much warmth radiating from it and the contrast of the greens coming from the light! its like someone took my dream home colour palette and brushed it over this scene! and your tags i agree!!!
eyes: the trio by @indestinatus i love this so much! the colouring and the stillness being captured so you can really take in their eyes! i love the graphic with the fonts overlayed as well. its amazing!
percy jackson and the olympians season 1 by @nataliescatorccio this is such a beautiful set. i love the graphics chosen for each episode. i love the vibrancy and the colours chosen for each episode. the layout with the blending in the main gif really captures the big moments. its amazing and so thoughful.
sunrise by @olympain this is simply stunning! the gradient from one scene to the next! the colouring is gorgeous and it really brings out the warmth of a sunrise!
piper and leo by @futuristicson i'm stunned because of how dark this scene originally is! the colouring is so so amazing how much brightness you have brought to this scene
billy, keiko, lee + hands by @gaal-dornick i love how you played around with gif dimensions and the layout of scenes next to each other! its so thought full to anyone that's watched the show!
this is your legacy... by @gaal-dornick its so impressive when you come across a set that captures the essence of the conflict within a show! the way you've played around with the font style and size and the scene choices it so amazing how you've captured the show in these gifs even down to the colour palette. i love this so much!!
#creator shoutout 2024#usernati#tuserdee#as you can see i only know like 5 adjectives#but i really hope you can all feel the love and appreciation#even with the sets that are just a gif of one scene#i am still so stunned with the colouring because you go back and watch these shows and movies and the lighting is so dull in comparison#and as you can tell i really love my oranges and greens lol#i really appreciate the time and effort it takes when gifmaking#you're all so talented#happy new year to you all
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this is another really nice touch: kara clinging to the last piece of brainiac that survived because even though he was a horrendous father figure, he was still kinda the only father figure she had, so she feels conflicted about having to kill him
#personal crap#my adventures with superman#maws spoilers#maws season 2#yeah all in all i've really liked this finale#the one thing i do find weird (and it might just be because i'm not familiar with superman lore or i missed a plot point)#is how brainiac thought throwing clark and kara into the sun would kill them when they're kryptonians and get their power from the sun#ig either he didn't know or he was just trying to stun them
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kablam
#🐦⬛🐕 .#彡 fittsy!#彡 cherishing.#彡 inbox.#hi fittsy!!! *wipes residual tears and snot* wow this is so amazing *breaks down into a sob again* your art style is so beautiful! *bangs f#fist on the floor and screams in (positive) agony* FITTSY WHAT WAS THE REASON … WHAT WAS THE REASON…… IM PAST A POINT WHERE I CAN THANK U PR#PROPERLY ]: tears combined my poor eyesight = me angrily (positive) wiping my tears so i can actually see this lovely piece of art JENDNXMD#first i think (lip trembles & a sob slips out) we can talk about how stunning your art style is right!! 😭 im shaking dude /gn JEJDJ lets tal#talk about that- i love the way you do faces & your coloring!!! i think it’s coloring right? i want to teleport into your art and live in#this world if that makes sense? your art style is such a good representation of how sweet & bubbly your personality is (whips out entire#roll of paper towels since a tissue isn’t gonna cut it for how much tears there are) i love how you draw hair in specific …. my hair especi#especially!!! you captured my :’) MY LOOK :’) (bangs head against wall repeatedly) fittsy …. im so emotional about it .. what was the reason#im unsure if i am physically capable of talking about how good he looks in your style…. im slamming my eyes shut and typing without even loo#looking because im SO RED EJNCJJCJ fittsy ……. you really drew him blushing …. at ME ??? I DIDNT DO ANYTHING TO INCUR SUCH A REACTION FROM MR#MR MOZE MR SHADOW MR CROW FEATHERED WEIRDO …. im losing my mind …. he looks so squishable …. u could really just— just poke his cheek a bit#and he might explode into little pieces …. but i would put him back together ….. IM LITERALLY LIKE DIZZY LOOKING AT IT IM SO ):#this pic is already on my homepage …… fittsy im gonna drive all the way back home & have this pic on my dash …. im gonna think about it for#the entire 7 hour duration of my trip …. FITTSY IM SO 😭😭😭 T T AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA#THANK U FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART IM GONNA CURL UP INTO A BALL AND GO CRY SOME MORE 😭😭😭😭#U CAN HAVE EVERYTHING I OWN U CAN HAVE ANYTHING AT ALL#evie.ss#god his eyes look SO nice inyour . style#his#he#you#fiyysy
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insane wow i am in love
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#I WAS NOT LOOKING FOR A SECOND AND THEY DROP SUCH AMAZING CARDS WOW#i do not play tho because otome isn’t really my genre but owowowow the quality is stunning#manuplay.
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I have this idea in my head that you can come in Inej’s room in the Slat at any given moment of the day or night and see her bed neatly made, and then go a floor up to Kaz’s attic and see Inej sleeping soundly in Kaz’s bed under like ten blankets, while Kaz looks at you from his desk like he’s about to attack you for entering his room, but at the same time he has this look that says ’wake her up and I’ll kill you’ and it’s terrifying, but at the same time you actually wonder what will happen if you do wake her up…
#Inej has a problem with sleeping in a room alone. she’s afraid that someone will come in and take her#she’s also really cold when she sleeps#so at some point she just started taking naps at Kaz’s office when she had the chance#Kaz was so stunned by it. all he thought of doing was to bring her extra blankets because she was shivering#Kaz doesn’t mind her being there. he can sleep in his chair#he also can’t say no to her so after Nina joined the band it was actually a regular thing when all four of them would a#stay there just to sleep#six of crows#kaz brekker#grishaverse#inej ghafa#inej x kaz#kazzle dazzle#kaz being kaz#kaz soc#kaz and inej#kaz rietveld#kaz six of crows#kaz x inej#inej#soc inej#six of crows inej#inej supremacy#sankta inej#inej my beloved#kanejdaily#kanej has my whole heart#kanej headcanon#*cries in kanej*#kanej
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ive rlly enjoyed reading ur aliens x tennis + vale x tennis posts and i was wondering if u wld be interested in describing what u think the tennis styles/career for some of the other riders on the grid? obvs im partial to all things pecco (and i think he has the neuroses a lot of tennis players also seem to have) buuttt i think something abt fabio evokes the inherent tragedy of the average men's tennis player, and bez for whatever reason feel tennis player-y to me sometimes (mayhaps its the mopey-ness because i can 11/10 picture him sitting at his bench w/ a towel over his head after flopping a match lol) or how luca's tennis is like in relation to vale, also because he plays tennis recreationally i think (motogp riders superior to f1 drivers solely for the fact that they play real tennis its factual) and he's kinda one of the few ppl on the grid who's height doesn't have to be edited in a tennis au lol. Jorge M idk how to describe it but he also kinda tennis player-y to me sometimes, maybe its the chip on the shoulder (he wld be a racket smasher wldnt he lol) or just anyone else on the current grid you wld be interesting in imagining a tennis!alt of.
had a vision
valentino whenever he's watching a current men's match
anyway. yeah this is another fun one! I've vaguely had thoughts about SOME of these before but not all the names you mention so. another neat mental exercise, let's go through them. adding pedro as my one bonus pick but cutting myself off there because this is long enough.... the ones I was thinking of after that ended up being too mean anyway
pecco: realised that pecco's career timeline actually maps onto pretty well onto a certain single slam player currently active on the atp tour, which isn't going to serve as inspiration as far as playstyle is concerned (lol) - or indeed level of success - but is useful orientation in terms of career progression. by atp star standards, pecco is a 'late bloomer'. he makes nextgen finals and has a reasonably promising if not spectacular early career, then spends a couple years in the wilderness - partly due to injury, partly just struggling to make his game work at tour level. the forehand is very much the standout shot, but it is also the most fragile and prone to collapse, to leaking errors. the backhand is underrated, a very compact shot that like... the aesthetes won't go crazy about, but crucially it's solid and he can pick quite big targets with it to consistently go after. dispositionally, he's a baseliner who would prefer to finish points from there - though valentino does not allow a single kid to pass through his academy without insisting they reach a level of 'competent' at minimum at the soft skills. pecco CAN slice, even though he doesn't do a lot of it. he's also capable of finishing points off at the net, though he'd prefer to do so really just when he's already very much on top of the point
pecco has another thing going for him - he's fast. raw foot speed is obviously a great asset to have at your disposal, and it's probably the single quality he's most similar to his mentor to. while his second serve can be a bit too easy to attack and is occasionally liable to confidence issues (not yips-level double faulting, more that it gets pushed in too much), he improves his serve a lot early in his career to become an increasingly adept spot server. it's not the biggest serve, but it's unfailingly precise and helps him execute his preferred point patterns on serve. paired with the high foot speed, he can generally find a good plus one shot after the serve. he generally favours quite a deep return position - and while his game on the whole is offence-oriented, his return strategy is quite conservative, with an emphasis on a high percentage of balls made to help him reset the point to neutral. the basic potential of his offensive game paired with an ability to move well anywhere make him a relatively surface agnostic player, even by modern standards. his ideal court speed is probably in the medium range, so perhaps a bit less suited to your monte carlo's or your wimbledon's (though the former is a way more pronounced weakness than the latter given grass plays slower these days) - but on his day, he can be successful anywhere
generally speaking, while he absolutely has favourite tournaments he performs particularly well at, he's very much a confidence player who can go on hot runs and long winning streaks. more in the positive sense than the negative one - he has a good floor level and doesn't generally suffer from massive absence in confidence, it's just that when it's on it's REALLY on. during those periods, a lot of his wins are crushingly dominant... he's an excellent frontrunner, and even when he encounters resistance from his opponents he can usually dismantle it. that being said, he is also prone to unexpected and rather spectacular collapses from winning positions, as well as the semi-regular shock early upset in a draw. it's just generally a bit of a mixed bag with him... he's perfectly capable of the sort of gritty exercise in perseverance five set win that does his mentor proud, but then he's also got the other stuff. a common fan joke is that you trust pecco more when he's down two sets to love than when he's leading by two sets and a break. the collapses tend to most commonly be linked to confidence in the forehand going away, plus a certain stubbornness over certain strategic components like return position - again, he's a perfectly capable tactician and usually a very cerebral player, but when his head goes it sure does go. valentino spends a lot of time espousing the virtues of winning ugly in his direction, hoping something will stick. absolutely got the neuroticism to be a tennis player, pecco does. definitely needs a good support system, otherwise tennis will very much drive him insane
fabio: hm. well. fabio. my working process with these is that I usually like to have an idea in my head about career progression and like,, how that would work in this fictional tennis context, because I don't really think style of play can be separated out well from that. usually my starting point for that is, unsurprisingly, the riders' actual careers. the problem with fabio is that for all I agree that he is dispositionally very tennis-y, there's two major inflection points of his career - 2019 and 2022 - that make said career so interesting, but also make no sense whatsoever outside of a motogp context. so to some extent he does lose some of that narrative juice in tennis,, but that doesn't mean he can't still make a plenty fun player. very tennis-y
the thing about fabio is that I reckon he would bring back racquet smashing in a big way. of the aliens, my sense is you can broadly divide them into two camps on the racquet-smashing axis - very unlikely to bin a racquet where cameras can see them (valentino, dani, marc) and definitely worked their way through a fair few on court (casey, jorge). given that dovi probably belongs to the first camp, at the very highest level racquet smashing has been a bit underrepresented for a few years. but fabio? oh yeah, he knows how to throw a good tantrum. he's an emotional player! he wears his heart on his sleeve and you can see pretty much every emotion known to man on his face over the course of your average tennis match. has probably yelled at his team a fair bit during matches!! fabio's career is catnip for tennis discourse. the fans who hate him when he has 'feelings' (dangerous thing in tennis circles), the hoards who absolutely adore him and are waiting for him to fulfil his potential way before he wins his first slam... the choking allegations, the mentally fragile allegations. but also the genuine outpouring of joy on his behalf in a lot of quarters when he finally clinches his first slam!! ('finally' in this context does still mean '21'.) the natural talent is obvious from the outset, but the epic highs and lows TM keep people coming back more more
in terms of playstyle, I reckon it's a lot of linear power. he has very smooth, flowing technique, very easy on the eye. one of those swings where it looks like all the body parts are working perfectly with each other. he's from that school of two-handed backhand players who are so adept at taking the ball from low to the ground that they don't really have much use for the slice as a defensive shot. his style incorporates a lot of high margin aggression - it's a power game but one that chooses big targets and doesn't involve a lot of mistakes. his ball has enough spin and height to make sense for clay - which, given where he's from, you'd imagine could get a lot of french people very excited indeed. maybe he chokes away the first covid roland garros but then returns for glory. plays pecco at some point and they have to cancel the curfew because the frenchies refuse to leave. while he does throw in some error-strewn performances early in his career, it's key for him to have confidence in his game; he can't get away with retreating into passivity, and that's what a lot of his coaching focuses on. he gets better at finding that balance. at his best, fabio has no major weaknesses and is both solid and dangerous off both wings, making him a bit of a nightmare to put away. the playbook against him increasingly involves getting him off the baseline, which can work - he's sometimes a little stiff getting forwards - but also has to be executed very well to be effective. he also becomes increasingly tough to unsettle within matches... forces opponents to become increasingly creative in their tactics to throw him off-balance. fun puzzle to try and figure out
bez: yeah, he makes sense as a tennis player. super confidence-dependent. needs a very good support group and coaching team to stave off the loneliness of tour life. I mean,, actually idk if he DOES make sense as a tennis player, I could easily imagine him being MISERABLE in that lifestyle. but well, when's that ever stopped anyone in the sport. hm... I'm about to give another player on this list a one-handed backhand, and I'm trying to figure out whether I feel like I'm exaggerating the ratio of 1hbh's at the top of men's tennis. but no,, I think I'm good. two out of the top twenty two doesn't sound unreasonable, and there's maybe... one other guy I'd consider giving a 1hbh, so hardly egregious. the thought process here is casey's whole schtick about how great bez would've been if they'd simply get rid of all those pesky electronics. given I'd previously already assigned casey a single hander (one that's actually good, tbc), 'outdated elements of the game' do unfortunately make me think of that specific shot. bez has an extreme eastern grip on his backhand, where the racquet face is more closed and tends to involve a higher spin load on the ball. he avoids the most obvious pitfalls like a tendency to struggle with higher balls or a tendency to produce a lot of mishits - but it comes at the expense of power at that wing. he's also not particularly good at flattening the ball out or redirecting. which actually makes it a very strong rally ball, albeit one that still has a propensity to get bullied by serves - it's just as a complete package, it's not the ideal shot for the modern game
the forehand is also a bit of a throwback, but in a good way. it's not a noisy motion, the wrist is extended and the racquet face held high at takeback, allowing for a clean swing that generates power quite nicely. given the eastern grip on this wing, it makes bez one of the rare players who has more spin on his backhand than forehand. the serve, like that of bez's hero for most of his career, has a platform stance - far from unusual, though a little more uncommon than pinpoint. taken together, it gives bez quite a distinctive style on court... one that is also immediately very appealing to journalists and tennis commentators, who are taken by both the distinctive appearance and a game that reminds them of players they grew up watching. nostalgia-core. it is also theoretically a game that has all the basic building blocks to be very successful. bez has plenty of natural ability and a sort of instinctive grasp for the game that is tough to teach. he has the hand skills that for a while there make him look like the most likely heir to valentino's throne of the academy kids - though he has always been more aggressively minded and wants to dictate points with his forehand. it's a very liberated, fun type of play. throwing himself into balls with his whole body, lovely reactive brakes both in his footwork and in his groundstrokes. there are weaknesses to be exploited - especially in his capacity to generate offence and redirect off the backhand, allowing the most skilled players to pin him in that corner and prevent him from using his preferred pattern of running around the backhand to hit an inside out forehand. but the potential is all there, plenty obvious to see
there's plenty of talk in sports about athletes going to 'dark places' - a point that exists beyond natural limits and a certain pain threshold (whether physical or solely psychological), to allow oneself to fully sink into the suffering if that's what it takes to win. the basic idea is that to compete at the very highest level, you need to relinquish various defence mechanisms. to try to the fullest extent and fail nevertheless is inherently humiliating - but if you're too worried about what it'd be like to surrender yourself so completely to the effort and still come up short, then inevitably you cannot push past that limit. again, this is not a concept unique to tennis, but it sure is one relevant to this sport. and it's pretty obvious, even from the outside, that some athletes are more capable of accessing those dark places within themselves than others. some can even revel in the pain (again, physical or psychological), to a certain extent anyway. the most obvious example of that kind of character from the blokes featured in this post is... I mean. it's pecco. obviously it's pecco. I suspect bez exists a little bit too far on the other end of the spectrum, where he doesn't have the same level of comfort with his own suffering. tennis matches when everything is flowing smoothly are lots of fun, but champions need to find a way to win even on their bad days. for a while, bez is flying high, a mixture of glorious runs and valiant defeats that could certainly propel him to a few masters titles. but if the confidence in his game is ever seriously shaken... it could stay shaken. pecco may have choked a few leads away in his time, but he also possesses a near-unrivalled ability to pick himself up immediately afterwards and go again. bez is far more susceptible to downward spirals, which can be lethal in tennis. still needs to prove if he can adapt his game enough to break himself out of that kind of a spiral
luca: sometimes you look at a man and just go 'one-handed backhand'. idk if he has a single hander irl, I don't really care, his tennis pro version would. if luca had been born a decade later, this is probably something his brother would have discouraged, but in the noughties... nah. also, I've given two of valentino's five major rivals (sete and casey) one handed backhands, and for casey at least it's a major weapon. so. a lot of luca's formative memories are watching his older brother win slams and masters and atp finals, sometimes in-person, often on tv. but... idk, it feels right somehow that he ends up with a noticeably different style than his brother. a case of being inspired by valentino but not copying everything about him, also wanting to set himself apart a bit. the backhand is obviously the most easily visible expression of that, but it extends beyond that. luca's whole game is geared towards offence, to figuring out how to use his weapons to finish points off quickly. the forehand is flat and penetrating, the serve designed to create easy plus one putaways. luca's favourite surface to watch growing up is grass, so he does take valentino's slice and volley lessons very seriously. my general rule when trying to imagine a rider's game is to like... add about 15 cm to their height to keep them in similar proportions to each other - except with valentino, who doesn't play like someone that tall. if you did that with luca, you'd be taking him right into servebot territory, which... well... 199 cm by today's standards isn't CRAZY so... yeah sure, why not. it kinda naturally pushes him to a serve-oriented game that prioritises power over movement. (ofc not to the extent of tall men in the past, obviously by now there are several prominent examples of men of that height who are excellent movers.) make serve and volley happen again
given luca's age and because it'd be pleasing to me personally, I imagine a fair bit of valentino's input in helping luca develop his backhand boils down to 'go copy what stoner is doing'. this means luca ends up with a perfectly good backhand - not an extreme grip, compact takeback, heavy on hip rotation and doesn't really use the non-dominant arm as a counterweight. straight arm. it produces quite flat tennis on both wings, and for all that luca was also raised on clay and is perfectly competent at moving on the surface, grass is clearly his best surface. which is a bit of a shame because there's really not much going on with that surface beyond wimbledon. luca's style is a relatively extreme form of first strike tennis, played by somebody completely cognisant of that style's limitations but is attempting to maximise his chances with what he has at his disposal. he's a real student of the game, a proper tennis nerd, the type to make journalists want to propose to him in every other presser. (gets asked to oddly many pressers given his ranking.) for all that he's a top 20-30 staple, I imagine he'd also be invited to do some commentary work... analysis on tennis channel or italian broadcasts, that kind of thing - which he'd be wary of doing too much of, but essentially he'd be welcome any time. not always easy to escape his brother's considerable shadow, and he does get tired of being asked about him, but after a certain point he's mostly allowed to be his own guy. for all that he has his own ambitions and really is incredibly diligent in working on his own game, everybody already agrees he'll make a fantastic coach/commentator/coach + commentator when he retires
jorge m: oh hey, another racquet smasher! jorge probably smashes racquets when he WINS. very fired up type of guy, basically never needs time to work his way into matches. his tennis is THERE from the very first point. sometimes it's there in a very baseball-y aim-for-the-back-fence type of way, but it sure is there. in terms of sheer pace, jorge has the biggest forehand of anyone on this list. it also has a lethal amount of spin. just a lovely, loose explosive shot, a lot of work with that wrist. even by motogp standards, he's on the shorter side - which we're keeping for his tennis version (just plus 15 cm), making him naturally more suited to returning over serving. I'm pro emphasising his similarities with pecco, so I think he should also be particularly high on raw foot speed. looks quite different from pecco doing it, despite his height really goes in for big lunging steps and makes use of his considerable flexibility - he's really fun to watch with his athleticism and dogged determination to hunt down balls. compact backhand good at digging out balls, also not much use for slices. his ability to hit acute angles off both wings while moving is a particular strength and compliments his ability to generate pace from the centre of the court to make him an all-round offensive powerhouse. his volleys are... okay, but also don't necessarily go beyond that, and his transition game can be a bit lacking when it goes beyond 'big forehand go boom into the corner'. in general, he's the type of player who doesn't philosophically agree with the concept of 'defending', and would prefer to attack pretty much every ball from every position. sometimes, it's to his advantage - when he's chasing after balls and just instinctively using the opponent's pace and angle against them, there's less opportunity for the kind of over-exuberance that acquaints balls with the back fence
given his high proficiency at returning and his relative serving weakness (not super pronounced, it's just not the biggest weapon you'll find on tour), a lot of his offence is taking place from relatively neutral positions. this diminishes the margin in his matches - he's perfectly capable of involving himself in matches with lopsided scorelines in either direction. if the weapons are firing, great, if they're misfiring, he doesn't really have free points on serve to bail him out. it gets him a reputation for being a temperamental hot-and-cold player that is... true to some extent, but also maybe not entirely fair. early in his time on the main tour, he gets some big breakout results, before he sustains a career-threatening injury that he does well to bounce back from. it takes him a while to figure out how to reliably win with his game, to maybe get a slightly better sense of risk management within points and within matches. how to manage the rhythms of a match. gets better at learning to extend a rally and actually make better use of that speed - both him and pecco are at times susceptible to a sort of 'they bash you bash harder' mindset, but he has learned to reign it back a bit. maybe even learns how to integrate a teensy bit more variety into his game, gets better at taking out pace from his shots to construct rallies better. work up to his finishing shot rather than bashing until he gets one past his opponent. still a hothead!! and, yup, chip on the shoulder. the type of guy who gets het up about court assignments. bad line calls. his team not giving him adequate support. shitty balls. the weather. the roof. sometimes it's better for him to let out his emotions and have a little tantrum, rather than bottle it all up and stew on it - can be preferable to get it out of his system so he can then move on and keep playing well. for all that he has a temper, he also has a real capacity to deal with adversity. a work in progress, but he sure does keep working
bonus - pedro: counterpunching is back baby. it's good again. awoouuu (wolf howl). all the non-valentino aliens are way more offensively-minded than valentino was - so with the exception of dovi, the pusher-representation on the tour has been a bit lacking. pedro is not a pusher and he does have a fair bit loose, natural power... but his main strengths are explosive lateral movement and a backhand to die for. he also has more... bits to his game, layers, than some of the other players who have come through in recent years. he's quite natural with the slice and can hit a dropshot and takes a pro-volleying stance to his tennis. AND he's very amenable to flexible tactics. the kind of kid who will play one game as a pusher, realise it's not working, and then suddenly switch to bashing. he's got an ability to... play feasible rally shots from any position, like if he's sliding or if he's just reaching for a ball, he has this ability to flick his wrists and twist his hips to somehow dig the ball out. he's clever, very much a student of the game, and WANTS to use the full toolkit to dismantle his opponents. to take them on at their own game and beat them. however, he is still in the 'too many options' stage of development where he has all this Stuff at his disposal and needs to figure out what to do with it. an ability to both grind it out and be offensive will do him good in the long run, but he still needs to figure out when to do what and how to switch from one to the other within rallies
energetic on court, very much a Character who wants to involve the crowd. not necessarily in a nasty way, though he's not opposed to a bit of needle. tends to come across as quite cool and composed in the face of pressure, though it shows when he wants to do too much. another bloke who's more of a natural returner than server. maybe partly because the serve is..... temperamental right now. he can mix up the spins quite nicely, just the reliability and precision that's all over the place. the return strategy can also get a bit questionable, but the basic technical elements are all there. and a chipped return!! it exists!! very high rally tolerance, excellent balance that allows him to slide into balls and consistently recover well. a real deft touch for deceleration, both in terms of his literal movement and the shots he plays, how he's able to both absorb and inject pace at will. and, crucially, he brings with him a real willingness to grind it out. to win by gradually working the ball out of the opponent's range, or by waiting until they make a mistake. problem solve. again, it's the point construction where things are a bit wonky... the building blocks are all there, so. he'll get there
#this is of interest to. literally nobody. but i am ever so slightly annoyed with the player profile i gave sete#not because i don't think it's what best fits him - i do - it's because there's an obvious tactic you'd use against tennis!vale#that i don't really associate in my head with *any* of his fellow aliens. like that's just not how they'd WANT to approach it#and that's to feed valentino absolute junk down the middle of the court and completely starve him of pace to work with#not necessarily the most natural fit with sete's assigned playstyle but i'm making the executive decision that sete did use that tactic#and then everybody else proceeded to mostly ignore how effective it had been for the next decade plus#they occasionally do incorporate it into their tactics but. not necessarily the most natural fit#kid me would've been screaming at the screen for everyone to stop sending him corners don't they SEE that's what he wants#//#brr brr#batsplat responds#//currt#pinkpirellis#uhhhh i said i'd come up with a tag for this collection of posts... hm....#tennisgp tag#sometimes i stun myself with my own creativity#i do actually like bez. idk why i'm constantly taking cheap shots at him. i'm sure he'd be a lovely tennis player#i was like 'wow none of these guys would be slam winners in men's tennis' but the beautiful thing about motogp is nutjobs can win <3
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