#because marc had to realise who vale really was. but vale did too

[leoisstillalive]

absolutely life changing stuff that i can and WILL be normal about.

marc doing vale's corkscrew move ON VALE (haha pun intended) and valentino lovehating it more than anything

[formulapookie]

Marc is happy, he won the third race of this season, Pecco is a formidable rival and a just teammate, they had beautiful fights on track but remained normal and friendly off track.

But there was a ghost of something, someone in the ducati box.

Valentino. Lurking in the shadows like a spirit, trying to look without being seen, but Marc could never not feel that pair of eyes on his body. They watched him for too long.

And they were always undecifrable, he still couldnt tell if the sweeteness in some of those gazes was real or a lie, like everything else, if it was ever something more.

For him, it had been everything. Loving Valentino Rossi had been half of his life, even after he was left like a carcass to the mercé of hating fans and media, even after he was ignored, and considered just when Vale wanted to fuck and knew Marc would've been avaiable for him. Because deep down he always hoped that Vale loved him back, he didn't even want the same level of devotion and love he had for the man. Just a tiny bit. A tiny bit not to feel so stupid.

And then, after they stopped talking alltogether, after Vale ignored him, didn't even try to initiate something in a dark alley in a club while drunk, Marc thought about all their moments together.

The "I love you"s whispered during sex felt wrong, cutting, jokes, they were said to keep him near, like a fucking dog.

He treated him like something, not someone, to have near when useful. A toy.

that's what Marc came to realise, the thousandth night spent alone and awake in his room, pain eating him whole, refusing to take painkillers because he wanted to feel it hurt, a reminder of his own mistakes.

And even when he realised Vale had just playied with him, his opionion didn't change. He loved Valentino, not still, maybe, he didn't fucking know.

But Valentino will never touch him like that again, because it burns and he wants to feel good for once.

So when Vale approaches him at the end of the year, after Marc won the championship in Valencia, in the back of the Ducati motorhome Marc doesn't give into the touch.

When Vale takes his aìahnd ans suggests to go somewhere more private Marc freezes.

No. Not anymore. He's not going to have his heart broken again believing that man has some drop of love for him in his heart.

"Let go of me Valentino, I am not coming with you" "What? Playing hard to get? Come on Marc you want it" "No. You want it. You want to feel powerful having me sucking your dick, because you're Valentino Rossi. I don't. I don't want to touch you anymore. Never. You think you can just come to me after THREE YEARS and ask for this? Fuck you Valentino"

Never, never has he called him Valentino when they spoke.

"Marc come on I'm sorry I- We can start again, there's no need to act like a dickhead" "There's no need to- HA! You say this when you were the first to lie and act all nice just to get me in bed with you. You have no right to speak"

And Vale feels something wrong in his chest, where Marc feels pride he feels hollowness.

"Marc I didn't lie back then, I loved you, we can really try again"

Marc stares at the man he once loved. Finally. Once. Now he just doesn't feel. He doesn't even deserve hate for what he did. He deserves no acknowledgement from him.

Vale has a tear in the corner of his eye. It doesn't fall, it stays there, a warning, a reminder of the humanity of the man.

"What's the point of you crying Valentino? It was never even love"

and just like that Marc leaves, the dark alley hiding the shame and pain of a man who was once a God to him, the Love, and now just his Past.

Vale did cry in the end. Quietly, in the same alley that saw him being left by the one person he loved more than anyone but that he never cherished. The one he actually wanted, the one that could endanger his status.

He had fucked up everything. For real this time. There isn't always a comeback. Sometimes it just ends.

Just like it did.

Marc if he has the courage to stand up to Vale when he tries to reconciliate

[piastri]

so I got the motogp videopass thing which is great as you get all the races / press conferences / documentaries going wayy back in 720p and it’s FREE till the 27th. (just make sure to cancel it straightaway so you don’t accidentally forget and it auto renews)

to get the most out of it I’m watching the top 10 races of every season (and highlights of the ones I skipped which I might go back to and watch if I get the time) and I started with 2015. thank you to @dybain for helping me pick some of these and @fabioquartarar0 for convincing me to finally start watching! 💞

this is just a mess of my thoughts as I was going through the season and I wanted to record it

Ratings and Summary:

Qatar - 3.5

vale & dovi looked more like they were doing synchronised skating rather than racing, that’s how often they were side by side

Argentina - 5

rossi vs marquez on diff tyre compounds, tortoise vs hare situation... the ending was explosive to say the least

*jorge wins like 4 in a row from start to finish we STAN*

*mugello & barcelona... me and alex both suffered watching marc being the disaster child that he is 😫

Assen - 5

rossi vs marquez continued. 36yr old vs 22yr old. I swear I will never get enough of these 2, going at it till the very last lap. marc with a last minute lunge (boy never gives up and that’s why I love him). shout out to vale’s lil roly-poly celebration after :’)

British - 4

jorge & vale are tied for points at this stage. we get rosquez in the rain. quite a few crashes. ultimately wet weather master class from vale, how on earth is he STILL this good?

San Marino - 4.5

Mixed conditions, they had to switch bikes 2 times. absolutely fascinating, they don’t have radios so the riders have to make the decisions for themselves. and OH JORGE 😫 some unexpected podiums, imagine crashing and then still ending up on the podium? Scott Redding did THAT.

Aragon - 3.5

crash early on for marc he looked so angry at himself 😩 and SUCH a good duel between Dani & Vale till the last lap 

Japan - 3

wet race.... DANIIIII 🎉

Australia - 5++++

HOLY SHIT there’s a reason this is considered one of the best motogp races ever. overtake overtake overtake OVERTAKE (that one by iannone on rossi and marquez jeeshh) that last lap omg, I was holding my breath, could not call it. top 4 finishing within a second of each other! also poor seagull 😣

Sepang

the pre-race press conference is very important contextually for what happens next. vale accuses marquez of ‘playing’ with him in the last race and wanting to help jorge extend the lead in the championship. all around very awkward affair as jorge and marc are sitting either side of him. to a motogp noob like myself, it didn’t seem like the race was manipulated? but what do I know

bruh how do I even rate this race? I had to stop the race multiple times during the first 6 laps to take a minute because that duel between rosquez, holy shit that got PERSONAL, hand gestures and all. and then of course it all went up in flames, my mouth literally fell open. you NEED to watch this for yourself. in all of the chaos Dani wins ❤️

Valencia - 4

vale starts from the back of the grid after reviewing the penalty, his first lap was insane he overtook like 10 riders and had a great comeback. isolated, the race itself wasn’t that ‘exciting’ not that many overtakes but in the context of the championship it was everything (shout-out to the commentators for really building up the scene and the intensity) I thought for sure marquez was gonna go for a lunge at the end but he didn’t (all the people who say that he stayed behind on purpose can quite frankly fuck right off)

JORGE WINS THE CHAMPIONSHIP. I RESPECT this guy so much you can tell he puts so much into every single race and it takes so much out of him emotionally and physically.

I ADORE the tiny 5’2 spanish man dani pedrosa ❤️ on his day he is incredibly fast and he just comes across really positive.

I LOVE my sometimes overeager, aggressive demon (but also very sweet, humble and incredibly talented) child marc marquez. He sort of reminds me of my favourite f1 drivers (lewis and max) at the start of their careers and I’ve heard he’s matured a lot since 2015 and I’m looking forward to seeing that.

side note - the way marc pronounces victory as bictory 😂🥰

I am in AWE of Valentino Rossi. There’s a reason he’s considered the GOAT. he’s just seems technically so on point as a rider and no one else really comes close in the rain. he’s incredibly passionate about his racing, sometimes maybe even a little too passionate (perhaps if he hadn’t made those comments in the press conference, the outcome of the race in sepang and the championship could’ve been different) but it’s somewhat refreshing to see a guy really wear his heart on his sleeve and say what he actually feels rather than give robotic PR answers. also I’d never realised before just how big the #46 fan base is, every single time he overtakes someone the cheer from the crowd is insane and this is at every race track.

Nick Harris could give Crofty a run for his money with all the shouting, I thought for sure he was gonna lose his voice multiple times 😂 no joke he could commentate on cows grazing in the field and make it sound riveting.

random - I really like how the interviews at the end of the race with the top 3 are short and snappy and straight to the point unlike in f1. and they get to take their helmets up to the podium.

overall this was such a good season of racing, I really picked an amazing season to start with and will defiantly rewatch parts of the season in the future for a serotonin boost.