#emotional retirement

[blorbocedes]

when I got into f1 a few years ago, im pretty sure the friends who had introduced me to it hadn't expected how much I'd get into it. I certainly never expected it. but wow. max was my guy before I even knew who he or f1 was, and then I was so privileged to watch him win and win and win. the literal peak of his career. 4 championships in a row. this season was extremely enjoyable as a racing fan, I had full belief max would win the championship so it was a matter of how and not if. and he proved me right! but such a competitive season, so many other teams getting their foot in, so many new first wins, surprise upsets. from next year it'll be a completely new f1, half the grid is gonna be freshmen, lewis in ferrari which I still haven't digested. ultimately in a way im glad this final race was a lando win and ferrari podium because it showed how much the status quo has shifted. max nowhere near the podium and how redbull are going into next year no longer the favourites to win. and unlike the last 3 years where I watched every single race I realized I can't do that anymore. At times f1 was a wonderful distraction when irl got really hard, but at some point - like the drivers going thru radical transformation, lewis leaving merc, nico leaving monaco, max becoming a dad! before this season lando had never won a race and now he's ready to fight for a championship crazyyy - I had to wonder if putting away time and cancelling plans for 24 weekends keeps me stuck in the same place. change is hard and scary. having a routine, of f1 to go back to is nice. but when does it become a crutch? was something I was thinking of this year. that's why I chose to enjoy watching every race to the fullest, and I honestly had a blast. because I knew I couldn't be doing that anymore. my favourite part about f1 is the community and the friends. I love you guys, I love writing, I love digging up lore, I love reading fics, I love the drama of silly season, I love the funny talented interesting people, sometimes even the fan wars are entertaining. and I don't want to lose that. so when I say my last full season, I mean I don't think I'll be making time for all 24 races next year. but I plan on sticking around and being here, for a while at least. I mean, we have this whole season to now digest and go crazy over and that part is done best with community. I have entire fics left to post!!! I don't know how much I'll be around next year, maybe I'll miss f1 too much by March, maybe redbull will be really fast. I know I'll always cherish this year as the best entire f1 season I followed, and im happy to end it at that. sorry 2 the haters who thought I was leaving for good 😁

tldr: this isn't the last you'll see of me. still here. this isn't the end. it's the slow start of the long goodbye

[christiangeistdorfer]

MICHÈLE MOUTON receiving the FIA Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2024 FIA AWARDS

[rafole]

forever young

[dinemunyu]

He has sold his life away for a coin, or half of it, which makes him something a little (a lot) lower than Judas. His role is to give a brother so that he can take back his own.

anddddd we're back with vw angst featuring this line that has HAUNTED me since I read this fic last July.

i lost my draft because i accidentally posted it last night and in my panic, i deleted the post soo guess this is staying spoiler-free from my ramblings

[moonlightseve]

I’m thinking about the role Yakov must have played in Viktor’s life. With the cancellation of Ice Adolescence, we won’t ever know for sure, but I always insert hints of familial familiarity into their interactions — Yakov’s yelling at an unbothered Viktor, Viktor’s unshaken belief that Yakov would be able to be there for a nervous and unsure Yuuri, the lack of a biological family we see in Viktor’s mysterious past.

A Yakov Feltsman who is more of a father to Viktor than anyone else ever was — their journey together from Viktor’s childhood onto the podium. He handles Viktor’s drama in a practiced manner, and despite his frustrations with Viktor’s impromptu trip to Hasetsu and abandonment of his career, is there for him when it matters anyway. There is an unbreakable sort of trust between them that speaks to the depth of their bond.

When Yuuri and Viktor get married, I’m never sure what kind of wedding I imagine for them. Something small and private, only their closest friends and family? A relatively public affair meant to show-off the love they have for one another, given Yuuri’s pride in having Viktor by his side and Viktor’s love of the spotlight?

Or maybe something even quieter — eloping. Yuuri, for all of the confidence he tries to project on the ice, is a fairly private person, and I can’t help but think Viktor may desperately want to have something that can only be his.

No matter the scenario, I always see Yakov’s gruff approval at the joy on Vitya’s face. His satisfaction at a job well-done in raising the boy who proved to be one of his greatest students and his son in everything but blood. While we see the rough, explosive Yakov throughout the show, we also see the importance of love when it comes to skating, and I doubt he could be as successful as he is without having it in endless supply.

[ho-ho-honeyryder]

The numbers of magnitude of the Sebastian Vettel Event Scale

for @guillaumerocquelin - ranging from category 1 to category 5 seb event

[dearmyloveleys]

Zhao Yuanzhou, if you really feel remorse, you should do something that truly makes amends.

大梦归离 (Fangs of Fortune) 2024 ; Ep 17 (1/?)

[bonksoundeffect]

I want to quit my fucking job so fucking bad

[topnotchquark]

I need all of you to look at Vale's Misano 2020 helmet real quick.

Yep. That little blue pill is Viagra. With one pill already missing from the blister pack.

Apparently the "La Doppia" refers to the double header San Marino GP that took place due to the pandemic regulations, and also just a reference to "second rounds" I suppose. Aldo Drudi, Vale's long time collaborator and helmet designer said that the viagra was a reference to how he was an old man at 40 and would need some extra energy for the double race.

Apparently when Vale set the fastest lap during FP3 of the Misano GP, the commentators talked about how he was "riding hard".

Also because he's a cheeky little fuck he posted on his ig about how his Mugello 2021 helmet announcing Francesca's pregnancy with their daughter was a natural progression of the Misano 2020 Viagra helmet. It's stupid but who else would dare to do something like this.

[petoskeystones]

MCCARTY MONDAY ❤️🙏🔥👊

[thistledropkick]

I didn't follow Tag League at all this year (for reasons unrelated to wrestling) but I just read the news about Naito planning to get a fourth eye surgery - in his good eye this time! - so he can fight Hiromu at the Dome for Wrestle Kingdom.

I see a lot of people talk or joke about Naito's bad knees, and it's true that they aren't in great shape, but since 2019 he's also been dealing with an injury he says is worse - superior oblique palsy in his right eye, which causes double vision and a lack of depth perception.

Naito has already had three surgeries in his right eye for this issue, the maximum that surgeons are willing to do. Since they can't operate on his right eye any more, this time they'll be operating on his good left eye instead, to make it align better with his right eye in order to mitigate his vision problems.

I've been hoping all year that Hiromu and Naito would get their singles match at the Dome. I'm grateful they'll be able to wrestle this match. Frankly, I hope it's the main event.

[the-broken-pen]

How about a hero who accidentally kills a cat and feels bad about it so they bury it but villain finds them? Love your writing!

The hero was thoroughly, miserably, soaked and shivering on the ground. Dirt coated their palms, under their fingernails and on their knees.

They dragged a hand down their face. Fought off a wretched sob.

Their fingers shook as they set the flower down on the tiny mound.

Behind them, the sirens on an ambulance cut off, plunging them into silence. If they thought about it, they could feel the blood seeping from their side. They could hear the sound of rubble shattering to the ground echo in their ears.

And the screaming.

They could hear that, too.

They didn’t think about it.

A sob worked it’s way out of their chest, painful in their throat as they tried to swallow it.

“I’m sorry,” they choked. Their voice cracked. “It was—an accident, and I know that doesn’t…”

They had to bite their lip to stop another sob.

“Praying?” the villain questioned from behind, voice gentle.

The hero shrugged one bruised shoulder.

“No.”

The villain stepped around, facing them. Their eyes dropped to the flower, the fresh dug dirt on the hero’s hands. The grave.

Their expression softened.

“Ah.”

“You can leave now.”

“Praying for forgiveness, or praying for salvation.”

“I said you can leave now,” the hero snapped. They swiped away an angry tear, dirt smearing on their cheek.

The villain didn’t move.

“Why are you still here?” They bared their teeth in something they hoped was enough of a message to get the villain to leave. They had a feeling it was something pathetic, instead.

“You were crying,” the villain said it like it was an answer.

If the hero thought about it too hard, it was.

They didn’t think about it.

“Burst water line,” they gestured haphazardly to the demolition behind them, the half-flooded street. “No tears, no praying, and certainly no need for you—”

The villain’s expression shifted. “I told you that you needed to microdose your power.”

The hero froze.

“Shut up,” they hissed. “Shut up—“

“You wanted to quit, and I respected that. You have enough scars for a lifetime, we both do. But I warned you. I told you that if you didn’t use your power, it would use you, and it would be an ugly, violent thing.”

The hero shook their head mutely, words stuck under their tongue.

“And you thought you knew better,” the villain continued like it wasn’t breaking the hero’s heart. “You thought you could go through life and keep it bottled inside you and ignore the pressure.”

Their gaze flicked to the wreckage the hero knew lay behind them.

“Did you know better, hero?” Their voice was soft and dangerous. “Did you?”

“I said I was sorry!” It clawed its way out of the hero, and it wasn’t a scream, but it was close. “Okay? I know I messed up. You don’t need to taunt me with it, I already—“

The hero’s gaze settled onto the grave once more.

“I already regret it,” they whispered. “You can’t make me any more sorry than I already am.”

“I’m not trying to make you feel bad.”

“Then you’re failing spectacularly,” the hero snorted derisively.

The villain’s jaw ground.

“I’m trying to make you understand that this would have happened regardless of what you did. And that it’s not your fault.”

The hero blinked.

“You just said that I—“

“I said you thought you could fight your power and win. And you were,” the villain conceded. “You might have made it another month. Maybe two.”

The hero had never seen the villain so angry. “But then someone shot you, off duty and in civilian clothes,” they seethed. “The fallout is on them, not you.”

“I killed a cat,” the hero managed roughly. They blinked back tears.

The villain shook their head.

“You were off-duty. A civilian.”

“I could never be just a civilian, you know that.”

“Just because you were the bullet does not mean you were the one who pulled the trigger.”

“You aren’t making any sense.”

“I am,” the villain corrected. “But you’re grieving, and bleeding, and suffering from a massive energy drop, so you can’t see it yet.”

The hero let the villain pull them to their feet, dirt smearing between their two hands.

“You want forgiveness?” The villain ducked their head to meet the hero’s eyes. “I forgive you.”

The hero forgot how to breathe.

“You can’t just do that.”

“I can do whatever I want. And what I want is for you to stop crying.”

The hero snorted again, but it was lighter this time.

“You’re an ass.”

“And you’re a civilian.”

The hero shook their legs out. When they went to turn back to the grave, the villain caught their chin, turning them away with soft fingers.

“I forgive you,” they said solemnly, as if they had never said anything so important. “They do, too.” They inclined their head just slightly towards the grave.

For once, as their chest collapsed in on itself, the hero believed them

[damiannasworld]

An interesting but also kind of sad interview. 🥲

Behind is an incredible year which threw Käärijä or Vantaa's Jere Pöyhönen to the stars and an artist loved by the entire nation. Along with the huge popularity came the loss of privacy which Käärijä tries to protect.

"If I drive into the yard I try to make sure that no one sees that I have entered the building. I've tried to play life so that it wouldn't be known where I live. It's surprisingly hard when people are shouting outside the house and it feels like there's no space of your own at home anymore."

Käärijä and Häärijä also have a Christmas calendar on the OnlyFans site where they fool around flashing their buttocks.

"It could have gone better if it had been put in earlier but there was no time. But Häärijä will buy a convertible with it."

Käärijä opened up about his future plans.

"My goal is that in five years I can go to my own little apartment in Thailand and not have to do a single day of honest work. That's my goal but we'll see if anything comes of it. I make music as long as it's fun and I enjoy it."

What has the year taught him?

"That family is the most important."

[mayasdeluca]

Makes me so happy to see so much love and support on Ali's post of the billboard in NYC in celebration of her retirement. Seeing so many people ranging from family, friends, teammates, former teammates, players around the league all showing their support and acknowledging that she deserves this just shows how big of an impact she's had on this sport on and off the field. Hope she's enjoying every minute of it and able to celebrate to the best of her ability ❤️