#i actually have a hot take about the current season related to this but i cut it out since it's only borderline relevant

[batsplat]

Hi bat!!! I was the motogp beginner anon from a while back... About a month later and working my way thru old races from 2000 I have accidentally developed a deep and profound fondness of Sete Gibernau... is it fair to say he is THE prototype for everything Vale did to his later rivals? Your posts on him and their relationship are everything to me - they have given me much to think about, and also facilitated the brain rot! Any thoughts on their 'reunion & make-up' from 2014 onwards?

hi!! I really hope the race recs tag was useful lol, despite my obvious failure to actually finish answering that ask. and omg a sete convert!! it really is going to be half a dozen people soon, exciting times. I'm going to put a pin in the 'reconciliation' half of the ask because the other half was already long enough... and I decided to focus here on valentino's actual tactics rather than his emotions. I still think the sete rivalry did lay the emotional groundwork for subsequent rivalries - but I don't currently have all that many more thoughts from what I said here, here, here, here, here, here, and here (lol)

so yeah, I think the sete rivalry functions as a mix of a prototype and a warning - and it's the first bit I'll be talking about in this post. valentino does have a few rivals pre-sete who he has at least a little bit of tension with - biaggi most infamously, but also jorge martinez and harada in his 125cc/250cc days. and while all these rivalries are formative in their own right, they also come with a certain... spontaneity. valentino makes a flippant comment about biaggi to some reporters, a feud is born as a result. it's kind of the training wheels feud - valentino's just saying shit really, he's provoking biaggi sometimes deliberately and sometimes less so, it's all very earnest and youthful and unrestrained. while he's already a natural communicator, he's a lot less skilful in actually using the media to his own ends, to pursue an agenda or press home an advantage. he's just reacting to every situation as it occurs, leaving us with a feud that consists of mostly isolated flashpoints. that isn't to say there wasn't a sense of escalation - catalunya 2001 and its fistfight beckons - but it's missing a narrative arc... and the reason for that is that valentino is not quite yet exerting his authorial hand on events. obviously valentino is not, in fact, a god and isn't exerting perfect control how each rivalry unfolds - but it is noticeable how many of them end up having such a scripted feel to them. sometimes, this stage-managing didn't work out for him and he came out second best when the dust had settled - but more often than not, he played it to perfection. hence the nine titles

and it's that narrative autonomy that really becomes a feature of valentino's game during the sete rivalry. at first, this magic touch isn't really maliciously wielded against sete... they're not enemies, they're still going on holidays together, valentino is just using sete as a sounding board to work through some things. the stakes in 2003 aren't as much directly competitive as they are psychological - despite 'only' having a 29 point advantage 9/16 rounds into the season, valentino was probably always going to be fine on that front. he's not worried about losing the title... but he is feeling unhappy at honda, he is frustrated with how much he's being criticised, he hates to lose to sete. and so, he uses the humiliation of his sachsenring loss that immediately preceded the summer break, twisting it so that it becomes an inflection point of that season (and also that rivalry). he does all the mind games hair dyeing and decides to sign for yamaha and all of it, and then he bounces back to claim the victory at brno by .042s. where he does his extremely on the nose prisoner's celebration to perfectly define what that season was all about - he's breaking free and taking control of his own story. zero subtlety whatsoever. and that's the climax of the season... like, he's crowned champion in sepang (where he crucially brings back the prisoner celebration but indicates with the novelty lock that he is now free), and his defining victory that year is probably at phillip island... but essentially, his arc that year is resolved at brno. after that, he's reaping the rewards

this is still valentino playing it on easy mode relatively speaking but it's kinda freak behaviour to just decide he 'won't be taking any more prisoners', as he puts it in his autobiography, and then basically stops losing. uses his fury to drop fifteen seconds on the field in australia. remember this is the first time he wins valencia too, because he needs to say goodbye to his bike the correct way or whatever. okay

sete is a little bit incidental to the narrative that year - they're mostly just setting the stage for what's to come. we do get little hints... suspicions on valentino's part (whether founded or not) that sete was taking this competition business rather seriously after all. valentino's remarkably out of character face of thunder after losing at the sachsenring. how they're both playing off this rivalry as so so different to the valentino/biaggi fiasco... they're different, you see, they're friends! you can be rivals and respect each other. it's all fine. sete mainly functions as a plot device to put pressure on valentino - a new consistent rival emerging, one who wasn't supposed to be the challenger, a little older and smarter and without much of a track record of success. not the guy who should be challenging valentino. valentino is generally very pro the concept of rivals, even when he's obviously attempting to destroy them. he's aware that they're part of the show, that you need a great rival for a great fight, that beating the very best is what it's all about. also, obviously, it's an important way of motivating himself. valentino is made better for that sachsenring defeat, for having to sit with his mistake at the very last corner, for knowing he should have won that race and had allowed it to slip through his fingers. for that first half of 2003, he's all over the place, error prone, emotionally a bit of a mess - he's been winning so much, it really isn't hitting the same way anymore. he hasn't been winning the right way. sete reminds him of just how much valentino hates to lose. and valentino learns the lesson gladly

now, 2004 doesn't have quite so neat a turning point, and instead features multiple moments where valentino acts to take control of the season. the drama starts early, at welkom, featuring a bit of a biaggi cameo appearance at a time where biaggi was no longer valentino's major rival (though he does still feature in that year's title fight). as valentino describes in his autobiography, he knows demanding victory of himself and his team wasn't a realistic expectation for that race - but sometimes, you just have to tell yourself a story, engage in a little self-delusion... and, hey, maybe you can turn that delusion into reality. after that, it looks for a little while like that success might have been illusory, like valentino might be on the back foot on his weaker bike after all, with sete's back-to-back victories at jerez and le mans. and then you get another inflection point - the trio of races, mugello, catalunya and assen, where valentino takes control of the season after duelling with sete for the victory back-to-back-to-back. each race comes with its own special significance, from sete's rain dance comment at mugello and alleged yellow flag infringement, to his defeat on home turf at catalunya, to his inability to successfully play the gracious loser at assen. the cracks are appearing in the friendship, yes, but valentino is also wrenching back momentum to his side in rather a dramatic fashion. from then on, it looks like he might be able to see out the season in a straightforward manner

except, of course, he can't. because then you get qatar. I do increasingly feel like I have a fairly good grasp of what Really happened, but that's for another time... the key point is that it's a humiliating experience for valentino, both the penalty itself and then the crash, and it's one where he completely loses his head in a fairly uncharacteristic manner. plus, he hurt his pinkie finger. valentino could have emerged from that weekend cowed and chastened, having to backpedal on some of the... more creative remarks he'd made about sete. clearly, sete was expecting that valentino would do so - or at the very least not continue to escalate the hostilities. and it is during that sepang 2004 weekend that valentino's stage managerial skills are truly allowed to shine. the high drama of the presser, valentino's refusal to concede any ground to sete as sete had to realise in real time he'd wandered into the wrong genre and his previous close friendship with valentino counted for nothing. valentino's subsequent domination of the weekend, the imperious form as sete buckled when the title was in sight. the cruelty of valentino's celebrations, making sure to properly twist in the knife while he had the chance. title fight back on track

after that, of course, comes the process by which valentino unravels sete entirely. he presses home the advantage at phillip island, taking quite a few risks to snatch the win from sete on the very last lap - he did not have to win the race to win the title, but he did so anyway because he needed to beat sete. call it an investment for the future. the opening round of the following season brings with it the rivalry's single most dramatic moment that... well, it doesn't quite end the rivalry, as discussed in this post sete does still have plenty of chances to win in 2005 - but essentially valentino ensures at jerez that he will have an enduring psychological advantage. a victory that really should never have been dramatic! valentino learned his lesson from the sachsenring, he wasn't trying any dramatic last lap overtakes. he overtook sete with three laps to go at jerez, which should really have been that. as detailed in this post, it's his last lap mistake that even necessitates that dramatic final corner overtake. now, as it happens, everything works out perfectly for valentino. losing a home race like that on the final corner is absolutely brutal, valentino's deftly played post-race theatre and the perception that sete didn't stand up to him only makes things worse. valentino was always going to win the 2005 season, but he ensured in the very first race that there would not even be a title fight. but again! crucially! valentino was not planning this! the last lap of the race was very much not what he was intending to happen - it was an error on his part that could have easily cost him the win in rather painful a fashion that started all of this. valentino is ready to risk a crash when he shoves it up the inside of sete... his desperation is key, but so is his lack of planning

so that's where we're at with the sete rivalry... high drama, all these turning points and on-track and off-track theatre that coalesced into a narrative - of which valentino was the master. it feels different from the biaggi rivalry... this isn't just two guys that hate each other, it's a story. and when you frame it in those terms, when you speak to how it feels like valentino is flexing his authorial hand in helping these events unfold... well, then you do start seeing the blueprint for subsequent rivalries. the 2008 and 2009 seasons have a key similarity: a single race that completely changed the momentum of the season, remembered in part for a single highly memorable overtake that valentino inflicted on his title rivals. so if you take that trio of races - jerez 2005, laguna 2008 and catalunya 2009 - you're in a situation where valentino's three most famous overtakes weren't just fun or memorable in their own right, but fundamentally changed the dynamic of their respective rivalries. which... I mean, that feels unlikely, right? sometimes, dramatic races just happen - there's no guarantee they're going to completely transform the rivalry as well as the season. once can happen to anyone, twice is pretty striking, but three times? bit odd innit

I've already talked about this a bit here:

and I've just posted about this in considerable more depth in the context of the 2008 season, which we'll circle back to later. it's one of the most interesting seasons in terms of how the momentum shifts happen over the course of the year, which is why I've detailed the build-up to laguna in considerable detail on this blog. see posts on mugello, catalunya, donington, assen, sachsenring, and laguna itself. here's a basic overview of how the 2008 season unfolds:

the key turning points are valentino getting to grips with the bridgestones, the post-race catalunya test where ducati finally gets their shit together, and then the race at laguna. I don't think you quite get the sense of how dramatic a turning point laguna was if you just look at the results - it's important to emphasise that despite still being behind in the points, casey was the title favourite headed into that race. the idea was that once casey and ducati got going, we could easily be in for a repeat of 2007. just total domination. casey wins those three pre-laguna races very comfortably, having basically led every single practise session throughout those weekends. by the time you get to laguna, it's his fifth straight pole position. even if valentino comes in second to casey every single time for the rest of this season, the points gap is at this stage still way too small for that to work out for him. if you told someone before the race at laguna that casey would win every remaining race that season - sure, it wouldn't have been likely, but it definitely would've been seen as plausible. quite frankly it would've been seen as plausible even right after the race at laguna itself, as is reflected in the discourse in the immediate aftermath of the race

in 2009, the title fight is looking extremely open headed into catalunya. valentino is actually third in the standings before that race, behind casey and jorge - though of course nobody knew at the time that casey would not be in title contention for much longer. there is again this slight sense of valentino having his back against the wall... horrendous race at le mans, then brings it home to third in a similarly messy race at mugello because he knows he can't afford to be throwing away any more points. which... losing at mugello? the race he'd won seven times in a row? the one race in a season where you could reliably pencil in valentino's name as the winner, even if he often achieved his victories in rather chaotic a manner? the italian press was not happy with him, and even less so when jorge beats him to pole at catalunya. there are several references in the race commentary to the italian press writing valentino off, calling him washed (to paraphrase), which is objectively a teensy bit of an overreaction but. y'know. getting consistently beaten by your younger teammate is just not a good look. valentino needed that win at catalunya, both him and jorge desperately wanted to beat each other in a direct duel - and all in front of jorge's own home crowd

which, again. it all just feels scripted, doesn't it. that's what we're coming back to here - this feeling that from the sete rivalry onwards, valentino somehow manages to control the narrative to such an extent that things just keep perfectly working out for him. he wins both laguna and catalunya, everyone remembers those as two of his greatest victories - not just because he needed the win but because of how he executed them. the corkscrew, catalunya's final corner... these defining images that have outlasted the context of the seasons in which they happened. and crucially - crucially! they actually do manage to completely change the profile of their respective seasons. 2009 is a bit messier, though broadly speaking valentino is in control of that year's title fight post-catalunya. let's bring back 2008's results:

that laguna to motegi run? absolute sicko behaviour. casey is the faster rider at the very least in laguna, brno and misano. motegi is valentino's title-sealing race. valentino isn't really the title favourite anymore headed into laguna, and he literally does not lose another race until he wins the title. competing against prime casey. how does that happen, right

so that's the case for sete being the prototype: it's the authorial intent that's striking in these subsequent title-winning seasons, something that originated with sete. you just have these races where it's like valentino draws a little red circle around the date on the calendar and goes, 'okay, this is my momentum switch race'. like sepang 2004, his back is against the wall and he manages to change the complexion of the title fight in a single weekend. like phillip island 2004, he won't be denied his fairy tale victory. like jerez 2005, a single dramatic overtake permanently changes the rivalry. which is all well and good, but there's an obvious follow-up question. how is valentino doing this? why do his rivals not simply say no to being woven up in his dramatic narratives? why is he being allowed to pick and choose his momentum switch races? how does he keep getting away with this...

and it is at this juncture that I will present my five-step plan to playing god in local motorcycling competition, a foolproof (mostly) way of ensuring that the fates intervene on your side. here goes:

choosing the occasion

going in with a plan

playing the 'joker'

milking the moment

bite harder when the opponent is already bleeding

there you go. that's the lessons he learned from fighting sete that later allowed him to script his rivalries. I've cracked the code

let's go through them one by one. the thing is, valentino really did pick his momentum switch races in both laguna 2008 and catalunya 2009. obviously, he couldn't have predicted things would've worked out quite so perfectly for him, but he wasn't just playing it like any other weekend. and both times, he made a great call. at laguna, it's notable that he tells his confidantes he does not intend to let casey win the eve of the race - aka after qualifying has already taken place. laguna might be a track casey was incredible at the previous year and valentino had a rather mediocre record at, but at least valentino knew he'd be lining up right alongside casey. he still needed to get a decent start, a metric in which casey is exponentially more accomplished than valentino, but at least it was theoretically possible for valentino to be in casey's vicinity (unlike at the sachsenring). the track layout of laguna also lends itself to the kind of race valentino was intending to execute in a way that, for instance, the next race at brno just wouldn't be as suited for. laguna is narrow, fast, scary - not a great track for overtaking. which makes defending against a substantially faster rider a way more feasible proposition than it would be on the considerably wider brno track. laguna was also just before the summer holidays, which is kind of a great time to inflict a humiliating defeat on your opponent - you're making them sit with the defeat for a few weeks, rather than letting them wipe the slate clean a few days later. (some might say it's preferable to immediately have more races so you can strike while the other party is still vulnerable but, well, that kind of summer break gap is fantastic for lasting psychological damage.) plus, the mismatch between casey's and valentino's laguna record was such - the momentum casey had built up was so considerable - that absolutely nobody was expecting valentino to challenge for the victory. more detail on the pre-race chat here

biblical levels of over

so yeah. this is obviously easier said than done, but there's really no better race to win when the pre-race rhetoric reads like that. catalunya 2009 has a similar combination of circumstances that make it the ideal momentum switch race... like laguna, it's when valentino really really needed a win. unlike laguna, it's a circuit where valentino has an excellent record at - and has been known to win quite a few duels in his time (as well as lose a rather memorable one to casey two years ago). it's also a circuit where jorge is strong, and unlike with laguna it's no real surprise that the two of them will be fighting for victory. a good circuit for racing and crucially also one that is good for valentino's racing - obviously, it's the last corner overtake that lives on in everyone's minds, but valentino has made much use in his time of his ability to brake particularly deep into the infamous turn one. and of course, it is jorge's home circuit. after beating valentino at his home track at the last race, there is nothing jorge would have liked more than to win in front of his own fans. he's even got a special livery... his celebrations if he'd won that race would have been something to behold. no better time to beat him... even better that there was a moment when jorge will have thought he already had the race won... like casey, element of surprise - just at a different point of the weekend

so, onto the next step. going in with a plan. again, obviously valentino could not have foreseen either of his infamous overtakes unfolding exactly as they did - but it is a case where you can trace back the overtake itself to his intentions going into the race. it's not just a complete coincidence he happened to pull off these specific overtakes in the most dramatic manner possible in what happened to be very important races... in both cases, the overtakes were a logical consequence of valentino's pre-race planning. at laguna, valentino knew that he could not allow casey to get away in front. the entire race was built around the single principle that he had to discard his preferred approach of shadowing his opponents, and instead had to go all in on disrupting casey from the front. by the time the corkscrew overtake happens, lap four, it's also pretty clear where each rider is strong and where they are weak. for all the fighting between the pair of them, casey doesn't actually cross the line of any single lap in first position. that's because valentino knows that casey cannot be allowed to do so - with the ducati horsepower and casey's own skill, casey is inevitably stronger out of the final bend and into the first corner. if casey is allowed to lead there, it's basically game over. all the overtakes in that race between the pair of them happen in the bits of the track that are at or before the corkscrew - and the corkscrew is the last bit of the track where valentino has an actual edge over casey. so, if you've committed yourself to beating casey whatever happens, if you know that you cannot allow him to lead out of the final bend and you're basically on your last chance to prevent it, if you've committed yourself completely to that strategy... well, you're going to stick it on the inside of your opponent, come what may. obviously it still takes a lot of skill and luck for valentino to survive that off-track excursion, but it is essentially a more dramatic repeat of the overtake he executed on lap one. it's a consequence of actual strategy, not just spur of the moment genius

with catalunya, if anything it's even more straightforward than that - valentino tells reporters afterwards that he'd been visualising that final corner overtake in the week leading up to that race. obviously, he would have preferred not to be behind jorge at this point of the race but... well, he knew he had an ace up his sleeve, if he could just pull it off. and he knew he could pull it off, because he'd executed that exact move on casey two years before - as casey jokes about in the presser - just not on the final lap. obviously this is also a case of dramatic irony very much haunting jorge - who, for reasons that remain mysterious to me, went around the week before that race telling reporters that whoever was leading into that part of the track would have the race won. jorge's mental rigidity and his refusal to defend the line properly headed into a corner he assumed valentino would have no hope of overtaking him in is what cost him that race victory. so again, like with laguna, obviously this could very easily have not come off for valentino, obviously it could've gone pretty disastrously wrong. but also... well, valentino had thought about the possibility of needing that move before the race, he was mentally prepared, he'd already tried it out a couple of years earlier - it didn't just come completely out of nowhere

the next step is pretty simple. 'joker' refers to this clip of valentino talking about having bonuses... these moments each season where you can risk a lot and go beyond your limit. don't try your luck too often, but you've got to have a few times where you go that extra step. this obviously doesn't really make sense in terms of like,, tempting fate, that's not how probability work - but it is useful in terms of the underlying psychology. this way of allowing valentino to let go of any inhibitions, to ignore any considerations for his own safety, and instead make a deal with fate... these are the races where he will do whatever it takes to win and he trusts that fate will have his back. and yeah, various races that have been mentioned in this post must surely fall in this category. phillip island 2004, where he makes daring last lap overtakes in the penultimate round of the championship - if he crashes, he's going to have to try and wrap up the title at his bogey track. catalunya 2009 - that last corner overtake could easily, easily, easily have gone wrong, and left valentino in the extremely awkward position of having taking out both himself and his teammate to leave their chief rival with a cushier championship lead. both valentino and especially jorge have alluded to the risk of that move... yes, it's not discussed in quite the same terms as jerez 2005 or laguna 2008 - there was nothing wrong with the move, no contact, it was completely clean. but but that didn't make it any less risky

and the most obvious example is, of course, laguna 2008. valentino has straight-up admitted he was willing to do whatever it takes to stop casey from winning that race, which could easily have involved taking out both of them at a downright terrifying track. it's part of the reason why casey took so poorly to valentino's conduct - less than the actual moves, it is the mindset behind them that was so objectionable to casey. valentino made a bargain with the universe that he would ride without any fear or caution on a track that generally tended to make him quite nervous (didn't even think the corkscrew was suitable to walk down, mind you) - and it's that bargain that allowed him to throw the bike down a terrifying blind corner into the direct path of his title rival. which is all well and good, but. uh. casey didn't get to sign up for this

then you've got milking the moment, which is such a key element of immortalising these races. at sepang 2004, valentino has his nasty pre-planned sweeping celebrations to make fun of sete. at jerez 2005, it's all spontaneous - he's reacting to the animosity of the crowd and hamming it up with absolutely zero restraint. pumping his fist, waving at the crowd, jabbing his finger around... the drama of parc fermé, the fourth wall break to take the piss out of sete's injury en route to the podium, the performative celebrations to really stick it to the spaniards on the podium. the way valentino makes use of his celebrations as another weapon in the psychological warfare arsenal is discussed a bit in this post, including with a pretty lengthy section on the laguna 2008 celebrations. the key bit is that he already knew the lap four corkscrew overtake would be everyone's defining memory of the race - so that was the thing he immediately paid tribute to

the post also discusses how he behaves around casey in the immediate aftermath - how he just will not leave the poor bloke alone... it's something valentino doesn't really do with rivals who have just lost a race, he's not that type of confrontational character. which partly reflects the specific shape of his relationship with casey, but most importantly comes from an awareness that casey is not doing himself any favours with any of his post-race reactions. like, yes, valentino is clearly having fun teasing casey - but he also knows that casey is going to get shit for this behaviour, and the more of that is caught on camera the better. valentino even gets such a lovely rise out of casey when he interrupts casey's tv interview - giving us casey refusing valentino's handshake with cameras and microphones conveniently at hand - that he deploys the exact same tactic with jorge at catalunya 2009. to jorge's credit, for all that he clearly was very pissed off with valentino's celebrations, he manages to play it cool in front of the cameras and puts in one of his better performances as the gracious loser. which (beyond reflecting how valentino feels towards jorge vs casey) probably also helps to explain why valentino wasn't bothering him for the rest of the podium ceremony - it is jorge who pulls valentino off the podium to give him a proper hug, not vice versa

still, catalunya 2009 is in the same camp - because jorge and his team were pretty vocal in the 2010 title-winning documentary how irritating they found the triumphalism of the celebrations valentino and his team put on. again, it's valentino going full ham - yes, valentino likes his celebrations, but he does generally like to play it a bit more cool and jokey and above it all... not shaking his fist about so ferociously you worry he'll throw himself off the bike. there's also of course the lovely little touch of valentino securing his 99th win at catalunya 2009, a sign that the fates may actually for real be on his side -

- which, like with the corkscrew at laguna, is of course something valentino had the presence of mind to pay attention to. more discussion of this too in the 2008-10 jorge/valentino rivalry post

so yeah, milking the moment. making sure everyone remembers the race - and everyone remembers the best bit of that race. making sure it hurts as much as possible for the opponent, whether that takes the form of consistently hounding them or just being incredibly triumphalist in front of their home crowd. if possible, have a stab at letting them stitch themselves up as publicly as possible

might not be a lesson valentino learnt directly from how sete's reaction at jerez 2005 in parc fermé was seen as inadequate - but it's the kind of thing that does make you understand the importance of The Moment. these immediate reactions matter... valentino could play the gracious winner easily enough, but his rivals might well have been doomed whatever they did. sometimes it's about ensuring your opponents only have bad options, right?

and lastly. all of this would have been completely pointless, just an utter waste of time, if valentino had then gone off to crash in the next three races. this feels like one that's flirting with stating the obvious - yeah, no shit, it's better for you to keep up momentum after your big momentum switch race than to lose it again. but it is key! if you're making such a big fuss about your big dramatic win, then you've got to lock in and actually make them suffer... hurt the opponent when they're already bleeding etc etc. again, the 2004 playbook is instructive here - valentino promises sete won't win another race, and then he locks in to win the next three himself. one pretty comfortably after tormenting sete all weekend, one after a dramatic last lap battle, and the last at his bogey track (the final time he won there in his career). in 2009, this isn't all that spectacular - valentino wins the next race reasonably comfortably, but also... y'know, it's assen, he's good at assen, jorge has a more complicated record there. does allow him to secure his 100th win at the first time of asking. the other key moments that season is pulling off the sachsenring win by 0.099s (a margin he didn't commemorate but I'm sure he noticed), the misano win after the indy flopfest where he did the donkey ears celebrations, and doing such a good job phillip island pre-race that he managed to spook jorge into a first lap error. catalunya is the clear turning point that season, but valentino is also helped out by how casey becomes increasingly competitively irrelevant after that point. who knows how that season would have gone if casey, who obviously had not been psychologically affected by catalunya, had still been healthy. 2008 is more clear cut in that regard... I've just put out a post that discusses in plenty of detail how the immediate post-laguna stretch goes horrendously wrong for casey, but of course it is pretty notable that casey has his first ducati race crash at laguna and then immediately follows it up with another two out of the lead at brno and misano. it is also a span of races that is EXTREMELY relevant to the thesis of this post, since the writing around those races repeatedly pays direct tribute to the idea of valentino the storyteller:

or valentino the witch, whichever you'd prefer

as I repeatedly stressed in that post, there are absolutely other reasons why casey just happened to have that particular string of poor results - ones that have nothing to do with valentino's ability to exert pressure or cook up nasty spells. obviously, a big caveat in this entire discussion is that however you slice or dice it, the way all of this unfolded for valentino still involves a heavy helping of good fortune. but, well, you make your own luck!! valentino built a reputation for breaking his opponents off the back of putting a curse on sete - which means that by the time you get to casey, you've got people speculating about whether valentino is using black magic on the guy. it's a reputation valentino built on merit, but it's still one that acquired a kind of mythical status... and valentino was able to use that in its own right. those infamous skills of putting pressure on his opponents - ones that for a while there had extremely noticeably (and worryingly) not been working on casey. pick your fighter, a voice in your ear whispering to you mid-race or an invisible hand prompting you to make errors

and that, ladies and gentlemen, is how you write your own sports narratives. make your rivals despair in five quick and easy steps

IN CONCLUSION. obviously there's also other ways in which sete served as the prototype for later valentino rivalries - again, plenty of this blog has been dedicated to detailing the emotional repercussions of that feud and how it may have affected valentino's approach going forwards. but!! I wanted to take a different approach in this post and really just focus in on the actual sporting implications... how interesting and intricate momentum is in terms of its sports psychology, how adept valentino is at deliberately picking and choosing his moments to rewrite the narratives of a given season + rivalry. momentum is one of the most important psychological aspects of competition and obviously valentino is hardly the first athlete to be particularly skilled at twisting it to his advantage, but you have to give him credit for doing so in such a dramatic and also fun manner. not everyone can use curses to ruin their rivals

and yes, of course valentino did get lucky for some of these races to go so perfectly for him - you cannot plan the corkscrew overtake or that final corner catalunya drama, and both of them are so risky he would rather have avoided him. but on the other hand, yes, I still think there's enough evidence here to suggest he also made his own luck. very accomplished in using the psychology of competition to his advantage! and a lot of it did start with sete - the first rival against whom valentino wasn't just reacting. what valentino did to sete was more than that... it was about taking control of the narrative. a lot of what valentino did to his subsequent rivals, especially in the context of winning the 2008 and 2009 title fights, can be traced back to tools and tricks he first started wielding against sete. sete was the emotionally fraught trial run - what valentino did in 2008-09 was the actions of a man who had already mastered his craft

[egcdeath]

omg i loved loved loveddd that marriage fic of patrick zweig!! there is a serious shortage of patrick zweig x reader fics, I had a request actually if you could maybe write more of pregnant reader x patrick or maybe even newborn dad patrick (i have a soft spot for that& i loved the ending because of that) tysm!! :)

thank you and that prompt is so cute!! i’m currently super busy, so i really do not have the time/mental capacity for a whole fic so here’s a (long) list of headcanons!

also, i’m imagining the pairing from something old, something new, but you don’t have to read that to get this!

when you first tell patrick that you’re ready for kids, that man is ECSTATIC. in SOSN, they’re just “friends” but he definitely has feelings for her before they address it, so taking the step to start a family together is a huge one.

patrick suddenly starts believing alllll of the old wives tales and superstitions about pregnancy. you have to call him out for it every now and then like, “patrick, wtf??” and he’s always just like “i swear it’s true, i heard it from a friend of my friend’s aunt.” and you just give him a crazy look.

once you finally take a test and find out it’s official, the two of you are SO excited. patrick tries to lift you up and spin you off the ground but that almost instantly triggers your morning sickness.

that man is so excited to be a father. he’s constantly putting his hand on your tiny bump and reading books on parenting (you don’t know that you’d ever seen him read a book before then) and asking you about when you’re free to take baby related classes. you have to remind him that you’re really not that far along and he needs to chill.

he would be so accommodating to you. hold your hair back while you’re having morning sickness. wake up in the middle of the night to get the ingredients and make you a pickle watermelon salad. massage your swollen feet. he already loves and cares about you so much and he wants to be sure to give you and the baby the top tier of treatment ever.

patrick is very much a hot head who loves to argue. and i think in the early stages he might egg on your mood swings A LITTLE BIT. but i think pretty quickly he’d realize he needs to dial it back because arguing with a pregnant person is crazy. but every now and then you just want to argue with him to argue with him or old times sake, and when he ends up being the bigger person, you say something about it and he’ll humor you. i actually think it would be so funny if you and him had like . a safe word to indicate that you were just playing, that way he doesn’t say the wrong thing and make you cry or something.

specifically for the pair from sosn, i think that they would maybe vaguely mention that they were trying to get pregnant to their family, but they wouldn’t tell family until it can’t be hidden anymore. like sometimes you just want something to yourselves, and you know that if your families get involved, things will be WAYYYY blown out of proportion. you tell your friends, who are super happy for you, and you tell your family who are also very happy for you. your families immediately start debating about baby name and whose great grandma is going to be the baby’s namesake. patrick insists that there will be more than one baby to name, then winks at you.

as the baby approaches, he’s coming with you for appointments. it is his final season before he retires, so he is pretty busy, but he’s either flying to meet you or for you to meet him vice versa. he ends up having a tennis event end on the same day as one of your ultrasound appts and you’re SO sure that he isn’t going to be able to make it, but lo and behold. who comes running through the door just as the doctor starts applying that cold gel to your stomach??? you actually cry a few tears of joy. patrick kisses them off your face.

you’re struggling these last few months or pregnancy, but patrick has your back. i can see him being super accommodating during this time period, especially once his tennis commitments end.

he starts tearing through his books and making you come to all of these classes with him. you’re kinda having the time of your life bonding with your man and getting a little less anxious for your baby.

you go into labor in the middle of the night. patrick grabs your birth bag (the two of you have been preparing for this) and holds your hand the whole time that he’s speeding down the highway.

this man is full of theatrics when you get to the hospital. he’s yelling and shit. he’s asking all of the doctors where they went to school and if they’re qualified to take care of you. they’re sick and tired of him immediately. you wish you could be sick and tired of him but you’re actually to scared to care.

you’re in pain. he keeps telling you that he wishes he could take all your pain and give it to him. he’s so dramatic. you love him with all of your being.

your labor is not a short one, but he’s by your side for every single second that he can. he’s telling you stupid stories. he’s talking about things you’re gonna do with the baby when they arrive. he’s trying everything he can to distract you.

when it’s time to start pushing, he holds your hand again. you’re squeezing his hand so hard that it goes a little numb, but he doesn’t mention it. he’s cheering you on like you’re at a sporting event.

suddenly your baby is here. the two of you cry happy tears when you hold her. it’s the best moment of your lives.

adjusting to having a baby at home is definitely… something! the two of you consider hiring a nanny (as all rich people do) but ultimately decide against it. patrick is literally retired so like, stay at home dad era incoming!!

babies really are not glamorous so i’ll skip all the gross stuff and focus on the good.

you guys think the baby is the cutest thing on earth. even though you’re sleep deprived and stressed and still in a good amount of pain, you think that the baby is the best thing either of you have accomplished.

sometimes you watch in the doorway when patrick sings and rocks the baby to sleep. it is the cutest thing you’ve ever witnessed.

patrick lovessss a baby bjorn. he’s walking around the house chatting it up with your baby, just telling her about how much of a tennis legend he was back in the day, flipping pancakes in the kitchen with baby attached to him, etc etc. anything he can do, he swears baby can also do.

patrick is just so cute and sweet and gentle with the baby.

patrick girldad?? idk. just think about it.

patrick loves dressing up your daughter in silly little baby outfits. she loves it. you just shake your head in mock disapprovement while patrick brings the baby over to your face for a little cheek kiss, followed by his own cheek kiss. it’s very hard to be pretend disappointed after that.

once baby is a little older, i think the two of them would try to get her into tennis. maybe see if it’s her calling. it’s not. but she loves dancing, so that’s what she does!

the two of you are at every recital, watching her clumsily tot around. it’s so cute. patrick swears she has star power and is gonna be big some day. you lovingly roll your eyes at him. he insists it’s true.

your families also LOVEEEE the baby. i could see patrick being pretty overprotective from them at times too though, especially when they try to insist that she should be a certain way or do a certain thing.

the three of you are a very happy family. you were a little worried before you asked about how he might be as a father, or scared that he was going to run off at the proposition but he’s definitely taken to it.

i hope you enjoyed reading that as much as i enjoyed writing it! this was super fun to do and i would love to write more hcs for anyone who has any more ideas!!

[alltheboysandgirlsiloved]

ngl at first I thought that season 3 of jwct was going to be the last one but the more I think about it the more inclined I am to believe that maybe we are going to get more seasons?

*bone cracking sound* let's get into it, shall we?

A couple of things that jwct has to cover before the end:

Biosyn facility in Italy

Raptor Handler and Soyona meeting

Red the Atrociraptor reuniting (?) with the rest of Atrociraptors

Brooklynn (eventually) turning her back on Santos

Brooklynn reuniting with Camp Fam for real

Potentially (very high possibility) Malta

Bumpy's baby hatching (+ eventually, Bumpy and baby Bump reunion)

Tension between Sammy and her family explained

Ben's girlfriend reveal

Resolution of the tension between Kenji-Brooklynn-Darius

So this is how I see this playing out. (Head-ups - this is a result of my research but, let's be honest, also kind of a manifestation of my hopes and very much just a fan-theory. So take it easy)

If Brooklynn and Santos are really to reach Biosyn's center in Italy, I doubt it's going to be "in-and-out" type of visit. In Dominion Santos is entrusted with organizing a "transport" for Maise Lockwood; now let's remember that in the past Brooklynn researched the Lockwood mansion, I wouldn't be surprised if that came up at least briefly (perhaps, to even further ensure Soyona's trust, Brooklynn will offer some advice while simultaneously working on how to save the girl). Then, we have the matter of transported eggs – I'm sure that Brooklynn's gonna be very interested in where they are going etc etc. It's all going to take an appropriate amount of time. At the same time, the campers need time to actually reach Italy too, then potentially get to the facility (I think this is where Ben's conspiracy theory-induced knowledge may resurface – in season 1 it is confirmed that he has heard the theory about the mysterious locust).

We know that the Handler and Soyona absolutely have to meet (because both of them are hot). The Handler has three antrociraptors, Soyona only has Red. In Dominion (which takes place a little after current events of jwct) Soyona has all four antrociraptors at her disposal. Now, knowing about the bond between antrociraptors and the Hanlder, to me it kind of implies that eventually the Handler is completely separated from the raptors, and their bond is severed (does she die? does she lose her whistle and the raptors turn against her? I wouldn't put it past the showrunners to kill her tbh. Since her bond with the antrociraptors seems to be something more than just a whistle thing (as opposed to the clicking effect dr Sarr had on the Baryonyx)). I think that Soyona will call for the Handler when she realizes that the rest of Camp Fam are on their tail. Again - that takes time. The Handler has to get to Italy, find the Camp Fam, some sort of fight has to occur, she "loses" (somehow), Soyona gets pissed... All of that takes time.

Then, eventually, at some point, Brooklynn decides that she has gathered enough material to turn her back on Soyona and run away. I doubt it's going to be easy. I don't know if it's going to be a decision she makes on her own, or if it's going to be motivated by the Camp Fam being in danger. Either way, I doubt it's going to happen prior to the fouth/fifth episode.

So after Brooklynn "parts ways" with Soyona, she has to reunite with Camp Fam, and we know that it won't be easy. I think that some of the campers will warm up to her sooner (probably Ben for obvious reasons, Sammy and Darius), others later (Kenji will probably be the last one). I suspect that it may require some sort of "grand gesture" on Brooklynn's side. At first, I thought that maybe I'd be egg-related but I honestly doubt it? I think that she will meet Bumpy's baby post-hatching but that's a shoot in the dark tbh.

My personal theory is that Sammy's parents got somehow involved with Biosyn and Sammy didn't like that and that's what caused their parting. Since Sammy's family owns a ranch, they know a lot about, well, farming and what is the locust attacking? Ranches. So I assume that Biosyn has some sort of "informants". Maybe Sammy instantly figured out that something about Biosyn is off? Who knows. Either way, we need to learn what exactly is the reason behind the crisis within Gutierrez family and resolve it. And the way Sammy phrased that and kind of tip-toes around the topic, I think it will be somehow related to the plot + resolving it is going to take some time.

Then, I think it's safe to assume that eventually, we will end up in Malta since this is also where the events of JW Dominion take place. Remember how jwcc season 3 ended? We got an extra perspective on the events in JW movie - a perspective of campers. I think that with jwct, the showrunners may do a very similar thing (let's remember that JW is a franchise therefore, at least in theory, everything is somehow connected; such perspective would make a nice bridge between the series and the movies).

Now, this is where my own theory kicks in for real. If we look at jwcc and jwct in general, Soyona shapes to be the only villain that the Camp Fam won't ultimately defeat. Or... will they? Both Tiff and Mitch, Kash and even Daniel end up "losing" because of the Camp Fam (either directly or indirectly). Now, I haven't watched Dominion in a while but if I remember correctly the last scene with Soyona shows her as she's about to be arrested. This got me thinking... what if she somehow manages to escape? As far as we know, Soyona seems like the kind of person who always has a backup plan. Remember that she also has connections within DPW (now disbanded ofc) - she knows a lot of people, and a lot of people work for her. All of this is a theory but I wouldn't be surprised if, before the events of Dominion, she didn't have some sort of backup plan; for example Jensen from DPW who's ready to "react if things go south". So Soyona attempts to escape, and she escapes to the States (remember that eventually, the Camp Fam has to get there somehow lol). Who chases after her? The campers obviously because now it's more than just dinosaurs, now it's personal too – fueled by Brooklynn's hatred for Soyona, fueled by the need to see her "locked up" for good. I wouldn't be surprised if the creators of the show decided that it would be more fitting if Soyona was "captured" and brought to justice by the Camp Fam seeing as, ultimately, she plays "bigger villain" in jwct than in Dominion. So depending if the creators decide to do something like that or not - that could potentially be what season 4 would focus on - the final and ultimate defeat of Soyona Santos.

However. If they decide to end Santos plotline at where it ends in Dominion, there's still plenty to explore in a potential season 4. I wouldn't be surprised if Camp Fam ended up in the Biosyn's center again - for example, to recover the rest of eggs/make sure that they are safe, or (knowing Darius) to ensure that the dinosaurs will be safe there. [Ben's gf enters the chat] I strongly suspect that Ben's girlfriend (if she's real) has some sort of connection with Biosyn (the chance of these two meeting through Dark Jurassic is pretty high after all), depending on who she is, there could be a whole new plotline related to the character - making her "someone more" than just a person whose role boils down to being a mysterious girlfriend. If she works for Biosyn (spies?), I wouldn't be surprised if there was some extra secret hidden by this company. It's like... call me crazy, but I think that a huge company like that has a lot of connections. I wouldn't be surprised if it somehow led us back to (thankfully, now deceased) Daniel Kon - after all we know that he was secretly planning to rebuild his company, and still had a lot of money. So this is where I see a potential for another season of mysteries and events. (I also have a tiny theory on the side that Ben's "girlfriend" is actually, a guy aka Ramsay Cole - a head of communications in Biosyn; it would make sense for him to be on Dark Jurassic, knowing this character's plotline in Dominion; his age is not revealed but my guess is that he is around 25 years old. Also, one of the producers of jwct mentioned in an interview that he'd love to bring more characters from Dominion to jwct so... there you go. Idk just a theory, but it lines up. Especially with Ben being half-firm, half-awkward when talking about his partner yk).

I think there are honestly so many ways this show can be developed and... for good reasons too. Not just good reasons plot-wise but also because, well, let's be real jwcc/jwct is extremely popular. And the creators are aware of it. It's safe to assume that initially the show (jwcc) was supposed to be three seasons long but, due to its popularity, they added 2 more seasons and then decided to make a whole spin-off series. And the spin-off too is very popular and generally praised not only by the target audience (kids) but also but "older" jurassic fans. Seeing as Jurassic is a franchise, therefore, something that is supposed to "keep going" (fuel itself), jwcc and jwct are a perfect way to also introduce younger generations to the entire world of jurassic, literally "raising" them to be fans of the series, and a great way to keep other fans entertained as they wait for the next installments of the movie series (after all, a brand new JW trilogy is in plans).

So yeah. I've been meaning to make a post about it for a while but I wanted to make it as detailed and as "canon-aligned" as possible so it took me a while. Honestly, in the end, this is mostly just the hopes and dreams of a devoted jwcc fan who has been suffering from camp fam-brainrot for the past 4 years!

If you read it that far - it's time to touch some grass. I recently started growing my own in a flowerpot and... well, it doesn't really help but it's the thought that matters! if you have any thoughts about the upcoming installment(s?) of jwct - I'd love to hear them. And remember to be nice, we are all just fans after all :D

[finalgilmoregirl]

a Jess fic somehow related to winter/Christmas?

a/n : sorry for basically falling off the face of the earth lol, here’s something small i’ve had in my drafts for almost two years. no gender specified, no y/n

i’ll be home for xmas ☆ jess mariano x reader

there was nothing like the holidays. the cold weather, no school, warm drinks, and the beautiful snow that was soon to cover stars hollow. however this year's winter had been hard to enjoy ever since jess had left to california to visit his dad. you understood why he wanted to leave town of course and had been fully supportive of his plans, but now that he had actually been gone, you felt a void in your life. i mean, calls from payphones could only accomplish so much.

you thought you could handle it. its not like the two of you were completely dependent of each other, you saw each other around town almost every day and if you went a few without talking to each other, it was nothing to worry about. now, you wish you savored your time with him, maybe went on a few more dates with him.

you currently remained laid in bed, relishing in the warmth your countless blankets gave you. it was past 11 in the morning and as you didn't have school and your parents were at work already, you were in no rush to leave your solitude. that was, until your stomach reminded you of its presence and you realized you really couldn't just stay in bed all day without suffering from hunger.

slowly sitting up, you sucked in a breath as the cold air from your bedroom made its way to your body. its now or never, you thought. bracing yourself, you ran to pick up a sweater you had discarded on your desk, quickly putting it on to provide you with some heat. and after finding your slippers, you finally made your way to the kitchen.

as you prepared yourself to make a hot drink, you glanced at the calendar on your family's fridge.

december 22nd.

christmas was just days away. you of course were looking forward to it. good food, presents, classic christmas movies on every channel. but to think that you wouldn't be able to enjoy any of it with jess by your side was a bit of a disappointment. you had only been dating for around eight months, making this your first holiday season together.

what would he have gotten you? you couldn't help but wonder. clothes? cd's? something random, yet thoughtful like a candle of your favorite scent? you chuckled at the thought of jess browsing the candle aisle at a department store.

you took your drink to your room as you looked through your closet, deciding to go for a walk, maybe even picking up a pastry at luke's or the local bakery for breakfast.

picking out some warm layers you quickly got dressed, not wanting to leave your body vulnerable of the low temperature of your home.

as you laced up your winter boots, you spotted something in the corner of your eye. from underneath your bed you saw a book peaking out. as you picked it up you quickly realized that it was one of the many jess had been pushing you to read.

it was the catcher in the rye, a classic, you remember him saying as he handed it to you.

you had gotten only a few chapters in, schoolwork taking too much of your time up for you to actually enjoy it, however now seemed as a perfect time as any to continue.

you placed in in the crook of your arm as you placed the essential wallet and keys into your jacket pockets and prepared to leave your house.

you ultimately decided against going to luke’s as you approached the middle of town, knowing that jess’ absence from the restaurant would feel more prominent. you instead bought hot chocolate at the bakery and sat by the window, so you can take in the beautiful snowy view in the moments you weren’t reading.

you couldn’t help but start thinking of jess again. about how he and luke probably would have came over for christmas dinner. you’re parents were actually quite fond of them, your mother fawning over how sweet jess was to you, and your father surprisingly having a few things in common with your boyfriend’s uncle. maybe next year you thought, sighing as you took another sip.

you were two more chapters into the book before you decided to take a break, your hot chocolate being long empty. a walk sounds nice.

you plan was interrupted however, as the moment you stepped back outside, you saw him.

jess was standing on the frosty lawn of the town’s center with his back turned, looking around, looking for you. you gasped and slowly began walking towards him, maybe you were mistaken. he wasn’t supposed to be back until new years!

“jess?” you called out, and as you approached he turned at the sound of your voice, a smile forming as he saw you. the moment you realized for sure it was him you ran, almost knocking him over with the force you hugged him with.

“hey” he laughed, a small tease in his voice at your dramatic reaction.

“what are you doing here?” you asked him.

"they don't have snow in california." you chuckled at his answer, still trying to wrap your head around his presence.

"and i um", he hesitantly added on, glad your face was buried in his shoulder. "i really missed you."

you stepped back an inch, just enough to see his face and the warm color that began to shade his cheeks. his eyes traveled all over your face, taking in the features he thought about every moment he was away from you.

you smiled widely, "are you blushing?"

"what? no!" he quickly defended, eyebrows furrowing at the laugh you tried to hide at his response. "i'm just not used to the cold anymore!"

you let out a louder laugh at that, softly kissing him before placing your chin back on his shoulder as you resumed your hug.

"yeah, okay." you responded sarcastically. then sincerely, "i really missed you too."

happy holidays ☆

[okkos-ferrum]

Unorganized helluva boss apology tour rant cuz I think I'm going crazy

Disclaimer, cuz I know helluva fans can get defensive: A lot of this is probably my subjective opinion. I'll state my tldr as my actual objective piece of criticism, but otherwise my gripes throughout this could be based on my tastes and expectations. I genuinely don't want to take away anyone's enjoyment of this show nor hate on anyone involved, so if u just want to enjoy helluva, totally skip this :]

I think I'll actually have to give my hot take here and criticize this episode, because everyone has given way too much praise for an episode I think - in the long run - hurts the show

Im not gonna even bother organizing my thoughts I'm just gonna rant, but to start, i think the decision to start the ep right after full moon chronologically wasn't the best move. The full moon episode cliffhanger was an impactful scene and a dramatic way to start the rift between stolas and blitzo. It's where the dam of two-ish seasons finally breaks, where to me, stolas and blitzo have already said everything needed to be said, at least at the emotional maturity they currently are at. Any changes in said conversation about their relationship would require growth from both separately in order to foster a healthy discussion.

So to undercut that tension by IMMIEDTLY having blitzo somehow wiggle his way back into stolas's private property to have both double down on their stance diminishes the weight new moon's finale had. The conversation, while it does add further clarity, feels repetitive and emotionally taxing to watch, because the show has literally zero scenes of either of them reflecting on the previous night. So it's just them starting up the same fight with the same talking points we already know.

Yeah, maybe it is in character for blitzo to demand a conversation after new moon, but it shouldn't have been the path the show took. It should've allowed the story to stew in the feelings brought out in new moon, both in a narrative and meta sense by taking a break from stolatiz.

Cuz honestly I'm a bit drained of it atm. The show sells itself on the premise of blitzo being a "boss" (a hell of a bos-) and him working with imp. But all of s2 has had this obsession with stolatiz ever since the popularity of ozzie's (for good reason that episode was amazing and one of my personal favs still).

Just abt half the eps in s2 carry an emotional weight around the stolitz relationship. (where s1 has stolitz is make out sessions and the occasional threat to their life, s2 takes it up to actual life or death situations and full backstories) . This increased tension and focus draws away from the intial episodic format to become a more serialized (and imo) melodrama abt the status of the stolitz relationship. Rather than concern itself over any of the imp characters and their emotions, helluva has made all of its emotional beats and stakes throughtout the whole season relate to stoltiz in some way (or it's parallel with fizz and Ozzie in ep 7).

To return back to the ep, I also take issue with its writing of verosika. I will admit that this could be subjective, as my partner, who loves verosika and was worried abt her writing going into the ep, enjoyed how the ep integrated her. But idk, I think it is so lame that an ep like full moon, which is marketed to be abt stolitz, is fine wasting its time writing the cherubs for 90% of the episode, while can't bother making verosika a larger character in her own ep.

Like she's a SINGER, but no she's back up for STOLAS'S SONG this ep. And it's not stolas's hasn't had the chance to sing love ballads before, he's got plenty. But no, the host of the party can't even be a duet to stolas, she's gotta be back up. Like it couldve been a way stronger connection between these two if they sang a duet, rather than the show AGAIN prioritizing verbalizing stolas's emotions again.

We get a full flashback to blitzo's relationship with both fizz and stolas, but nothing on his other significant relationship??? Just a line or two of how it went down and that's it??

Side tangent: It gets on my nerves how so many people are realizing now that verosika is not a bad person. Like it's clear from even in her intro ep in s1 ep 3 she's angry rightfully for how blitzo screwed her over. But now that she actually is being nice and forgiving to stolas and blitzo respectively, now she has earned the fandom's respect??? Like the amt of comments of "Oh wow, verosika isn't a villain, she's an anatognist" drives me insane

Like to me, this ep should've stepped away from stolas directly, and focus on blitzo and verosika. Have blitzo go back to ignoring his feelings by jumping back head first into business, now with the asmodeous crystal. Then bump into verosika somehow. However it may happen, verosika and blitzo, either angrily or calmly, reflect on their own past relationship at the end, which might have blitzo making a realization of how he is repeating his past mistakes. Use the episodic format to slowly allow blitzo to mature so the next time he meets stolas, he won't just double down like he did in the beginning of the ep.

I think, personally, the decision to have verosika host the anti blitzo party diminishes her as a character. It chooses to again define her by how blitzo hurt her, rather than touching on the other underdeveloped parts of her character. She has shown to be very petty yes, but to go through all this effort seems too much, since she is a pop star and should have better things to do.

Maybe explore how she, a succubus, who is meant to have primarily sexual relationships, goes abt on her day to day as a celebrity who went to rehab. Or her relationship with maybe knowing barbie. Or the other ways to explore the set ups for her in ep 3. But no, she plays second fiddle to her second focus ep for the stoltiz drama. But yeah sure, let's have full moon be abt the cherubs.

On a final and likely my most pettiest point, this ep made me cringe a lot. I'm sorry, this is very subjective of me, but I need to say it. So much of this ep felt like fanfic. Always hammering in how "he's a prince and you're an imp" kind of deal. Stolas getting overly drunk after taking a swig of one drink to have blitzo handle him being drunk. The million puppy dog eyes by blitzo, like it felt too pitying. The rushed pacing felt like a result of this indulgent kind of writing, where it priotizes creating the cute shipping scenes before thinking about the actual plot and its effect later on. Again, just my taste tho

Alright I think I ranted enough but ...

Tl;dr: Apology tour messes up the pacing and focus of the show by continously centering itself around the stolitz drama rather than allowing time to reflect by themselves

[markantonys]

This is actually really funny but I came across a post a few days ago arguing that the show made the characters more assholes than they were in the books and it was the most baffling post I ever read. Cause like they softened the characters in the show. Everyone is nicer and not as prickly I guess I would say. Which of course helps so much with the EF5 feeling like actual friends!

i feel like i've seen takes like that too and it is SO wild to me haha i guess maaaaaaaybe moiraine is more of an asshole in s2 than she was in the books? but that's because she's undergoing a major trauma she didn't undergo in the books, and also because by moving her from Mysterious Mentor to Actual Protagonist in these first 2 seasons, the show is endeavoring to portray her as a deeper, more layered, and therefore also a more flawed character since she's filling a main role rather than a supporting one.

then as for the kids, i can't imagine why anyone would think they're bigger assholes in the show! early book!nynaeve goes around beating people up with sticks and being an absolute terror to everyone around her, whereas in the show she's still got her fiery nature but it's toned down so that she feels more like someone who is a reasonable adult despite being hot-tempered (......okay, semi-reasonable. bless her <3). and one thing that really strikes me is how caring and tender she is with mat in 1x06 (and vice versa with him being so happy to see her) when in the books the two of them were so weirdly antagonistic to each other for most of the series. changes like that really make the EF5 friendships so much warmer, like you say, and it's especially great with nynaeve to show how fiercely devoted she is to ALL her people, including mat.

meanwhile, book!mat is allergic to admitting he cares about his own best friends, but in the show he's much more openly affectionate, though without losing his jokester nature. book!perrin is a condescending jerk in so much of his internal narration, but in the show he's a total sweetheart and so kind and lovable, and actually IS the gentle giant that book!perrin only claims to be. book!egwene is already flawless in my eyes, but she does seem to genuinely care about and respect her emond's field friends more in the show (in the books she sometimes viewed them as kinda like her cringe friends from home she doesn't want to be affiliated with now that she's moving onto bigger and better things haha tho ofc she did always care about them when push came to shove). i thought her jealousy-of-nynaeve arc in s2 was so well-handled because it was obvious how much love and respect she still has for nynaeve despite being frustrated with her currently, which felt like a realistic representation of a troubled time in a lifelong friendship and made egwene come across as sympathetic and relatable instead of as petty and jealous, as an arc like that could have easily reduced her to if not handled properly.

and rand, i suppose he has rougher edges and a hotter temper in the first 2 seasons than he did in the first 3 books, but that gives his character some much-needed grit and definition since his personality is pretty bland in the early books, and underneath that the show makes it so incredibly clear how much love he has for his friends and how kindhearted a person he is (just like they do with nynaeve despite HER temper)

[spaceorphan18]

So how does the current Bridgerton fandom remind you of the early Glee fandom? 😛

I know that Bridgerton has been around for years at this point, but it still reminds me of a fresh new popular thing.

There are a ton of people in fandom. There are a ton of hot takes. There are a ton of everything everywhere. You kind of can't escape Bridgerton if you tried, really.

(The one sad thing is that I do think all of this will die down in another month, which is kinda sad because omg this would be such a fun show to watch week to week. But that might be why it feels a little new. Because it's only season 3 and it's been two years, so people have to remember how to bridgerton all over again.)

People are passionate in an insane way -- which is sometimes great! In that there's a lot of material to work with. There's a lot of meta out there, and I'm sure people are writing a ton of fic. But with passion also comes a lot of heat.

There aren't shipping wars in the same way as Glee (ooff, those were /times/) but man there's a lot of warring between the main couples. (Actually, mostly just Kanthan and Polin fans -- I really don't see much of Saphne related things)

But people take the show so seriously. And I mean, it's fine to care. It's fine to be passionate. But it's also a TV show -- and people are going to just like varying things. And that is not a slam against your favorite. Those character stanning dynamics remind me a lot of when Glee was on the air.

There's also.. god, i probably shouldn't even bring this up, but it is a parallel that's making me cringe if I'm being honest -- (and I mean this happens a lot with actors in popular ships so it's not surprising) but people are pushing in hard for a romance between Nicola Coughlin and Luke Newton the way they kinda overdid it with Chris Colfer and Darren Criss and I'm having this visceral reaction to it which is... please stop. Please, please stop before you are too far gone and the actors decide to never speak to each other in public again. (Though - Nicola Coughlan, bless her heart, knows how to PR and is handing everything swimmingly -- and Luke Newton seems to be understanding enough to follow her lead on it.)

But I mean, yeah, it's all like new and shiny and people are still trying to figure it all out and the new content means things are fresh. And people are being /people/ about it. But you know, it's fun, too. :)

[f0point5]

Doing this completely anon cause I'm genuinely scared of the backlash that may occur - This is controversial and also contradictory so im willing to be shat on for this hot take.

Charles cannot seriously be hoping to win races and be a world champion. I've got no proof just my own absurd theories but I seriously cannot see him becoming a wc. Lando is the same. They both are so alike. One bad race or bad moment and they shit on themselves and lose control and take a week to bounce back from it. I as much as I have love for them and am starting to think they genuinely believe they will win a dc. Oscar and Carlos are the only ones who could on either team as it currently stands. Unlike merc where George could in the team even tho he is lewis' teamate he actually could. But Charles and lando can't unless they change their mindset and team. And tbh to some extent I see both Charles and lando not nearly serious enough about f1 at the moment. And I know 'social media is fake and only shows so much blah blah blah we dont know them personally' but if they gave a fuck they'd risk the money and try and get into redbull. They'd risk thier paychecks and get the money invested into the team. And again I know I don't know what is happening behind the scenes and I'm whatever for saying this but Charles won't win a dc and neither will lando. Max is by far the most authentic, marketable, talented and most relatable driver and I'm a lewis girl (well more lance than lewis but just showing my bias that typically happens with lewis fans).

- Charles isn't dedicated (I believe)

- lando isn't either

- neither will win a wdc

- this celebrity branding thats going on is fucking ridiculous, lewis and max (although he's not nearly as willing to want the title) are the only ones who truly deserve it

- Daniel while yes is charismatic isn't all that talented anymore and would do better in another series. (I included Daniel cause I thought of the celeb status and him)

- and also drivers can only be so relatable and likeable as long as they stay grounded and don't seem so big for their boots and tbh again as a lewis fan (initally) I'm just not really caring for him and the va va voom of him anymore (that was wierd admitting) and when Charles is getting more 'celeb-like' he becomes more unlikable same with lando...

This was long and I apologise 😭🫶🏻

WOAH. Okay we about to get trashed for this but ya know what, idc, I partially agree with you.

I don’t think Charles, or Lando, will ever win a WDC. I think of the two of them Charles is the one with the real shot, because I think he has a much stronger mentality than Lando. I don’t think the pressure gets to him for pressure’s sake the way it does with Lando. I think where Charles knows he doesn’t have the equipment he gets desperate, and mistakes happen. Whereas Lando just can’t seem to hold it together over a weekend, and I think a lot of what affects Lando happens outside the car, which is why he would crumble in a title fight. That said, I think time will run out for Charles, George, Carlos, Lando, etc. Those teams won’t catch up to Red Bull before ‘26 and by then Oscar, and whoever else has come in from the next generation will be younger and hungrier, and the next cycle will start. For me, they will miss their window. I won’t say for sure but that’s my feeling, and if by the end of next season the Ferrari team is not operating like Red Bull (meaning they have a clear #1 driver, and their strategy and pit stops are where they need to be) it will be clear that not even Fred can change the tide and they are an unserious team where Charles will waste his talent.

I disagree that it would be a smart idea to get into Red Bull. Tbh I don’t think Red Bull would want Charles, but that’s another issue. That team is Max’s and it will be until he leaves (or suddenly can’t drive a car anymore but that won’t happen). As a driver, you have to think you’re the best driver, but I don’t think either Charles or Lando is delulu enough to think that they could beat Max in Max’s Red Bull (and this is not me saying they build the car for Max, I’m saying that when Newey hands you a car and Max is saying “make it faster” and everything you do to the car to make it driveable only makes it slower…you are fighting a losing battle). Red Bull would not only be a waste of time for them, but yes, probably a big financial loss, because they both benefit from marketing themselves as #1 drivers at the moment.

I have to say, I agree that it doesn’t seem to me that Charles is as committed to being WDC as he could be. Disclaimer - this is purely based off vibes, I don’t know the guy. I’m not saying he’s not doing his job, he absolutely is, but the self promotion levels, at a time when the results are not resulting…signals to me he’s branching out. I talked a lot last season about how I think he’s transitioning out of the “Il Predestinato” image, and how I felt part of that is because it is becoming less likely that he will win a WDC. I think it’s clever of him to think about doing other things though, because so much of what it takes to get a dc is out of his control, and he doesn’t even have the bare bones of a team or a car that will let him challenge for a title. There is no point in him waiting around for Ferrari to get it together, if they get it together he can revisit but right now…I think it’s in his best interest to get his bag.

I don’t think there’s many similarities between Charles and Lando’s path here, Lando is a wholeeee other essay 😂

But I disagree that the branding is ridiculous, I think it’s a logical thing to do. Yes these guys make good money from their teams but that won’t last forever, they have pretty short careers. It’s good for them to use their platform to build income streams for themselves that will go beyond their F1 career. Charles previously hadn’t been able to do that and now he is, which is definitely a positive. I will give Max and his team props here because I think he’s sneakily got the best alternative income streams of anyone. Verstappen.com must absolutely be raking it in with those grandstand deals, the merch is consistent, his brand deals are minimal but they’re big and they stick with him. My point is, drivers do need alternative income streams, especially when their brand can’t just be “I win”.

Lewis a master at this, I will admit, I just don’t like his brand. But it is consistent and he has managed to transcend F1 as his own brand which will keep him comfortable for the rest of his life, so good for him. I don’t buy into the brand but the brand is branding, I have to recognise.

I don’t really get Charles’s brand identity yet lol so I can’t tell if how likeable it will be. I mean, currently he is very liked, it’s possible it will stay that way. I really couldn’t say. I think Lando is about to have an unlikeable season but I also think his “babygirl brat” thing is pretty amusing and won’t ultimately alienate his fan base.

It was long but it was fun. The villagers will come for us with pitchforks for this opinion though.

[redbelles]

5, 18, 69, and 76 for the fic writer meme!

5. how many wips do you have? what fandoms/pairings are they for?

yeah i've got wips

kidding! (mostly! not really. but only kind of. it's fine!)

i have just. so many fucking wips. don't wanna talk about how many i have because it's embarrassing, actually! this is absolutely because i consider anything i've written words for/thought about for more than a hot minute a """wip""" but that's a me problem, so here, have semi-comprehensive list of wips i'm determined to finish this year:

the chimneys hardly ever fall down masters of the air; post-war john/gale/marge

gonna stand here in the ache the punisher; post-season one frank/karen

our hands are cold, the moon sets low asoiaf/got; post-season eight jon/sansa

butchered tongue still singing berserk; post-canon guts/casca

something in the night gilmore girls; keg max!au jess/rory

don't you hear me howling, babe? shadow & bone; season one canon divergence darklina au

the second hand unwinds (time after time) stranger things; post-season four hellcheer au

and then, for fun, some wips that aren't top priority atm:

prophetic perfect tense dune; always a girl!paul atreides au

i've walked for miles top gun; post-canon icemav road trip au

more than kin and less than kind hotd; rhaenys flambés the greens at aegon's coronation au

the knife i turn inside myself dune; irulan/feyd post-kanly hatefucking + marriage of convenience au

18. do you enjoy research? which fic of yours required the most research?

yeah! i'm a nerd at heart and also i have a burning need to be canon-compliant with both canon and reality, so i love getting into the research weeds when i'm all in on a fic!

the most """research""" i've done for a fic was, astonishingly, for the fucking,,,,, robert baratheon story (that started life as, and i cannot stress this enough, a joke). i spent so many hours on a wiki of ice and fire i'm pretty sure i made up at least 40% of the site's traffic during the calendar year time it took me to write the damn thing. extremely normal behavior!

anyway! i'm actually in the opposite situation with chimneys, which is super weird. i know a staggering amount of information about the post-wwii usaaf/usaf, and i have to actively stop myself from a) infodumping about things like the development of the american bomber fleet and b) trying to make the timeline accurate, because the entire premise of the fic relies on me Ignoring what was actually going on. anti-research. insane! everyone pour one out for @sluttyhenley— she's spent the last two months taking one for the team and letting me rant at her about curtis lemay so i can get it out of my system and spare everyone who's there for porn instead of a dissertation on strategic bombing doctrine <3

69. what are your favorite fics at the moment?

first of all: nice 😏

second: i feel like i've blathered enough about my own fic today that i'm gonna take this as a question about what i've been enjoying as a reader, so! some recs!

moon's low (can't say no) by @meyerlansky delicious introspective curt pov that nuances an already insanely interesting scene! love this for me! in related news, i am barking and frothing at the mouth as i wait patiently for the follow up to dancing cheek to cheek (to cheek)! tumblr user meyerlansky comin' in hot with THEE definitive curt biddick voice!

never saw the sun shining so bright by @sluttyhenley absolutely shrieking about this series! marge deserves the world! and also both of the buck(y)s! good for her.jpeg! i'm lucky enough to be getting snippets of this as m writes it, and i cannot wait for the next few installments to go live

careful fear and dead devotion by @everyangel another john/gale/marge series i'm currently losing my mind over! the marge voice is so delicious, and i love the pre-war angle that underpins the first fic! cannot wait for more!

enter night by @rhaegang monsterfuckers and barry keoghan enthusiasts rejoice! the writing is top notch, the sex is blisteringly hot, and the tension and pacing are superb. rhaegang truly never misses

nothing safe is worth the drive (follow you home) by @yoursummerfrost i never really had a buffy phase, but i came across this fic the other day and boy howdy does it have me by the throat. deeply emotional, very sexy, and written with so much love it's got me thinking about giving the series more than a cursory "well, it was on when i was home sick from school way back when" watch. also! i've devoured every buffy fic they've written since i found this one and i'm happy to report that they're all incredible!

76. how do you deal with writing pressure, whether internal or external?

mature answer: i try to take a step back and remind myself that this is a hobby i am doing for fun and for free and i should calm the fuck down about it

follow up answer: and if that doesn't work, i whine ceaselessly at my writing buddies until i'm over it

send me some fic writing asks!

[latibvles]

FIC WRITER INTERVIEW

Thank you to @softguarnere , @hesbuckcompton-baby , & @mercurygray for the tags :) let’s get into it

—

HOW MANY WORKS DO YOU HAVE ON AO3?

Nine! I’ve had AO3 for a while, but I was a Wattpad fic writer for a long, long time.

WHAT’S YOUR TOTAL AO3 WORD COUNT?

147,512

WHAT ARE YOUR TOP FIVE FICS BY KUDOS?

Sad, Beautiful, Tragic, its connected works, and then a Ron character study. Can we tell I’ve only been posting on AO3 for a year yet?

DO YOU RESPOND TO COMMENTS? WHY OR WHY NOT?

I try to! If someone’s taking the time out of their day to say something about what I’ve written, commenting back is the least I can do — it’s a good way to say thank you (I’ve also met a lot of my friends through commenting and responding to comments).

WHAT’S THE FIC YOU’VE WRITTEN WITH THE ANGSTIEST ENDING?

…I’m a sucker for happy endings, guys. I can’t think of one off the top of my head. I know I wrote an apocalypse au Vicki/Hoos thing that had a pretty stress-inducing end, but other than that, I can’t think too much on it.

WHAT’S THE FIC YOU’VE WRITTEN WITH THE HAPPIEST ENDING?

I don’t know if this counts but Home For Christmas ends with the Speirs family trying for another kid a-la-fade to black, so I think that’s a pretty decent end

DO YOU WRITE CROSSOVERS?

My secret plan is to actually get all the OFCs to assemble like the power rangers in the final shot of a Nickelodeon film (yes I write crossovers, fandom-related and friend-character related, THEYRE FUN!)

HAVE YOU EVER RECEIVED HATE ON A FIC?

Yes when I was like twelve years old, but otherwise people are very kind. Or maybe my friends are right about me being a little scary [big shrug]

DO YOU WRITE SMUT? IF SO, WHAT KIND?

Yeah, very rarely PWP, but I do write it. It tends to lean towards M/F, but I’m not opposed to trying my hand at other stuff if inspiration strikes. Just don’t expect anything insane over here.

HAVE YOU EVER HAD A FIC STOLEN?

God I hope not.

HAVE YOU EVER HAD A FIC TRANSLATED?

nope!

HAVE YOU EVER CO-WRITTEN A FIC BEFORE?

Nope! But I do tend to wrap all my friends into AU ideas and then we branch off and do our own things with it (hello Sam and the Pacific Band AU)

WHATS YOUR ALL-TIME FAVORITE SHIP?

I never know how to answer this because I just Like Things but it’s probable Percabeth. The couple that raised me.

WHATS A WIP THAT YOU WANT TO FINISH BUT DONT THINK YOU EVER WILL?

Only a Sith deals in absolutes.

WHAT ARE YOUR WRITING STRENGTHS?

I’ve been told I’m good at capturing character voice / making dialogue distinct. I also think I’m pretty good at writing complex family dynamics.

WHAT ARE YOUR WRITING WEAKNESSES?

Inability to stfu and describing settings. No matter how many reference photos I stare at I can never adequately describe a layout of a building to save my life.

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON WRITING DIALOGUE IN OTHER LANGUAGES IN A FIC?

It’s fun! Tragically I don’t speak the languages that would likely be spoken in the fandom I write currently (French, German) but as someone learning Spanish I’ve managed to slip a few Spanish words in there, and then in original work I’ve done it before.

WHAT WAS THE FIRST FANDOM YOU WROTE FOR?

Shoutout Riordanverse

WHAT'S A FANDOM/SHIP YOU HAVEN'T WRITTEN FOR YET BUT WANT TO?

Not too sure to be completely honest. I wanted to write the Ron/Daisy/Nix crack-throuple thing eventually, or just the Daisy/Nix crackship, because I guess I just have a thing for hot messes. And also the 87 MOTA OC ideas / ships I have in the back of my brain

WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE FIC YOU'VE WRITTEN?

Sad Beautiful Tragic is a love letter to a seasonally-depressed college sophomore who felt extremely disconnected from the world around her, and so it is extremely near to my heart. Firstborn AO3 fic privileges.

TAGGING: fairly certain all my go-to tag people have been tagged on this, so if you’re seeing this: I tag you, person on the internet, if you have not done it already.

[adultingcosplaying]

IT'S THEIR FAULT!!!

....sheesh, that was unnecessarily accusatory, but I'm sure it piques the curiosity of anyone to know what (or who) drives anyone to cosplay the characters they... cosplay. It might be an equally unnecessary thing to share, but as someone whose time is now mostly dedicated to being a (somewhat) useful member of society, I will 100000% drop everything to yap about the characters I have (and will) attempt (attempted and/or attempting) to cosplay.

I do have an inclination to prefer male anime characters, given it's relatively easier for me to match my personal fashion tastes with theirs. I find it difficult to do so with female anime characters before (exemption on the seifukus bc that was my favorite) since I actually rejected femininity growing up; viewing it as garish and time-consuming to do. Ofc, it's a different case now, and I am making amends with my little self and healing her by making my current self the prettiest princess ever.

That being said, my initial preference with cosplaying male characters still wins these days, but perhaps a good consolidation to it is that I prefer characters who take more androgynous appearances; ones that can confuse the normal person's eyes when seen strutting around the mall (I think this is the mission God gave me before sending me to Earth.) So characters with long hair are an immediate check for me.

Edward Elric is already a fine choice since I see myself in him physique and personality-wise: short, hot-headed, and unstoppable. These, alongside the fact that he's a great character from a great and beloved franchise, are the reasons why he's in my list.

Perhaps a semi-spoiler to the next few ones you'll see around here will be characters sporting blond hair! You may attribute it to the fact that I currently only have one blond wig to work with and frankly speaking, it can be surprising how many blond characters I know and adore to my core. In the meantime, I have listed many anime characters who are boosting me to continue:

•Grell Sutcliff (and tbh everyone from the Black Butler franchise) - all of them are beautiful to the point I cry every time I rewatch the show.

•Leviathan from Obey Me! - lovable nerd and bc I have a wig that can go well with a fem! version~ though ngl otome fantasy games and their lovely costumes somehow deter me from trying to cosplay them bc it's quite complex, but I really love the Obey Me! cast and I miss Levi

•Hitoshi Shinsou from MHA - idk man, I loved Shinsou's character the moment he appeared in S2. Haven't seen him in the recent seasons, but ik he rocks!

•Caren from Mermaid Melody! Pichi Pichi Pitch - also bc of the wig lmao bUTTT I'M REWATCHING THE SHOW AND I REALLY WANTED TO BE A MERMAID NOW

•Hijikata Toshirou from Gintama - .... I have a short black wig aaaa okay but to be fair, Toshi is like a failure of a man and I totally relate to him being a formidable person but also a nerd so yeah, I will!

•Shinobu Kocho from Demon Slayer - milady deserved so much T^T

wait.....

[victoriouscabaret]

Get to know you - tag game!

I was tagged by @preciouslittlebhaalbae - thank you! <3

Last song you listened to:  Bad Girls - M.I.A.

Favorite color: Green!

Currently watching: Nothing really. If I'm having a bath and don't feel like reading I'm working through Penny Dreadful again, but that's it. I found my ability to sit on the couch and watch things for extended periods went away when I quit smoking for some reason. Probably because being idle = cravings, so the more occupied I keep myself the better. Looking forward to the latest season of The Boys though!

Favorite flavor: Cherry flavored anything is usually a win for me. I crave that red dye. Bequeath unto mine buds the taste of red.

Current obsession: BG3 (Especially Astarion) has bewitched me, body and soul (I just left this from @preciouslittlebhaalbae's answer because it seemed stupid to delete it and re-type basically the exact same thing.) Also currently v obsessed with writing again for the first time in many years. Can I be obsessed with personal growth? Because that too.

Last thing I googled: "Do mosquitos bite more than once?" (I have Type O blood and they LOVE me because of it, but I'm also extremely allergic to their saliva, so the first few bites I get each summer are exceptionally reactive. I also have bed bug related PTSD having had two terrible experiences with them (I'm also very allergic to them), most recently a couple years ago, so like... every bug related itch immediately sends my mind to bed bugs.) If I was bitten by a vampire, I would probably go into anaphylactic shock or something.

Favorite season: Autumn! Summer is too hot, Spring is too unpredictable, and Winter can fuck all the way off. Autumn generally still has warm enough weather to enjoy being outside, the colours are utterly stunning, you get to wear fashionable and cozy clothing, it's spooky season, the air smells amazing, and it just has a vibe about it that makes me feel happy and peaceful.

Skill I’d like to learn: I'd like to explore archery/marksmanship more. I've done some over the years, and I have a bit of a knack for it (full disclosure: most of my "practice" has been in my eventual husband's garage with the fellas, many beers deep, lining up empties on the garage door frame and taking turns taking pot shots with my air soft gun. Ditto archery - just in our backyard years later with my little brother's recurve bow. It's just a really lovely feeling to have a bunch of big, burly mountain men arguing over who wants you around in the event of the apocalypse. I would hate to let them down.)

Best Advice: Don't worry so much about what people think - it's easier said than done, but really most people are actually too wrapped up in their own shit to care, and as long as what you're doing isn't actively harmful to yourself or anyone else, they can get over it (or not, because their feelings aren't your responsibility either :D)

Tags if you'd like to play! : @marlowethebard @scrytpe @myheartismadeofstars @thefallenangelsgang @babblebrain-blog @xxnashiraxx

[ask-shu-todoroki]

Here's your permission to talk about your MLP character hyperfixations

go on now

Do I just rattle off who's on my mind right now? Well, okay, lemme think... XD

King Sombra - Currently the most pressing hyperfixation at the moment because I want to write a redemption arc for him. I honestly think he was done dirty by the series and he should've been given the Discord treatment instead of being revived in Season 9 only to be killed off. Kind of a waste, don't you think? Also he's extremely hot and I cannot help but simp for his majesty aaaaa

No seriously look at him and tell me if you're a man you don't immediately question your sexuality

Soarin - He just has a really cool design and looks like a really cool and chill dude. Can do no wrong and his voice is really cool too. Kind of gives off California surfer dude vibes and although he's second-in-command he's way more chill than Spitfire. I wish he had more speaking roles tbh because we just need more of this man instead of him being a weird side/background character hybrid. Like people know who he is but he only speaks in like, three episodes???

Thunderlane - Okay, he's a background stallion and no one really cares about him and his brother Rumble and I didn't either until "Marks and Recreation." Like, he's a talented flyer but he can also cook? Where has this guy been all my life? His design is awesome and he looks like he'd be a confident boss type but from what I saw of him he's just as sweet as Soarin which is why they belong together don't @ me Idk how these people get his voice down perfectly but his voice fits so well aaaaa

Help his face in this image, just, gay panic

Shining Armor - He's like the only major male character in the series that appears frequently and I'm not mad at it, literally best husband and he probably speaks for all new fathers when he looks like he's losing his sanity in The Crystalling. Wait, does that make him a DILF???

Braeburn - He's not so much in my thoughts as other stallions but maybe he should, like he's a really cool and down to earth character and I can see why so many people in the fandom write him. Basically a Texas cowboy but ponified? How can you not like him hrrrr

Thorax - THE CINNAMON ROLLEST CINNAMON ROLL THERE EVER WAS

No really he's so precious and needs to be protected, can literally do no wrong, he helped take down his own queen like what an icon. He also never gave up on his brother who was kind of being a jerk to him and he's also the only leader who didn't get angry at Neighsay for being a racist. Definition of gentle giant in his metamorphized form

Sunburst - Initially I was kind of "eh" about him when he made his debut but I grew to like him as he made more appearances in the series. Probably the character who I can connect the most with, being socially awkward, wears glasses, and also smart? I can connect with him on a personal level and his wizard vibes despite not actually being a wizard are to die for aaaaa

Flash Sentry - Okay, hear me out, hear me out! I know no one likes him in the fandom but he genuinely seems like a nice dude, if his human form is anything to go by. Also we never really see what it's like to be a royal guard so why not go into more depth with him? He was supposed to play a bigger part in the series but he was axed due to the absolute vitriol that was thrown towards him from what I heard and it's really a shame.

You can't tell me he's not cute in this shot

Flash Magnus - He's as badass as he looks. No seriously he's just such a confident and awesome character that I love him so much. He also looks suspiciously similar to Flash Sentry so I have to wonder, are they related? Is Flash Sentry a descendant of Flash Magnus? Is this a possible fic idea? XD Also his red mane is just, chef's kiss

He looks like he's been through war and he's literally a living legend, what's not to love?

Rockhoof - Okay he gives me Thor vibes and Thor is hot so I think he is hot. The episode of him trying to find his place is the right mix of seriousness and comedy, like nothing in the modern world is made for someone that buff XD He and Thorax are gentle giants and I love them both pretty much, I can't choose between him and Flash as a favorite Pillar of Equestria XD

Okay after writing like a thousand words those are all of my hyperfixations at the moment when it comes to MLP, they live in my head rent free fighting for space with Cars, Planes, Mariah Carey, and Transformers

[authoratmidnight]

Hot take but, I don’t actually think the Harvest Festival arc (in the anime) is dragging that long. Or even that long in general, not with how they’ve been adapting it.

We’re on episode 16 right now, out of 21. The Harvest Festival itself started at episode 4 (the first three were training and set up), and it’s set to end either next ep or the one after that (for the purposes of the arc I’m considering ‘the winners are announced’ to be the end and everything is post HF related stuff). Meaning atm the Festival itself has spanned 13 episodes (and will probably cap out at 14/15 depending).

Which is honestly a lot shorter than I was expecting all things considered given how long the arc is (if you count the training before the Harvest Festival and end it with ch 142 it’s the longest arc so far with 45+ chapters, if not it’s the second longest after Heartbreaker Exam, which has 41).

I don’t know we’ve just been spoiled/ruined with short seasonal anime with short arcs, or if I’m just ruined by having grown up with plenty of long running anime that have MUCH longer arcs. Cause frankly it doesn’t feel like that long an arc to me.

For a comparison, the very first arc in YuGiOh Duel Monsters, the Duelist Kingdom arc, is 40 episodes long. And ok that’s an older series, so what about something more recent?

Well, One Piece is still going and the current arc is. uh. still ongoing and is uh. 156 episodes and counting. And ok, OP is a bit of an outlier so, let’s look at something a bit more reasonable. BNHA. The current arc, which continues from the previous season apparently, is currently 19 episodes long. and still going(and just doing a quick glance shows there’s been a couple arcs into the double digits in length in past seasons so, not unusual in the slightest).

So like, 13 episodes is hardly dragging on. That’s like. a normal length for an arc. Esp for what is objectively a TOURNAMENT ARC. Those are always long arcs.

NOT TO MENTION, the arc IS spanning a timeline of 4+ days (6666 minutes) and bouncing between 6 teams of characters. So like, of course it’s gonna be long??

Tl;dr, despite people complaining that the Harvest Festival arc is dragging it really isn’t that long an anime arc. Be glad you weren’t reading it int he manga. One chapter a week. Took nearly a year to complete. Now that is long.

[searchingfortheuniverse]

Miscellaneous Tag Game (pt. ii)

Tysm for tagging me @onehelluvamarine xxx

A band you don’t like that many others do: Uhhh I can't think of anything at the moment. I'm positive there is one but I cannot for the life of me think of one right now

A childhood memory that you remember vividly: So when I was. I want to say like 5? We went on a big family holiday to France and we stayed in this holiday home on a farm, and instead of getting a bedroom I actually slept on this little bed on a semi-landing thing, and I remember being in that bed and falling asleep with the rest of my family still chatting downstairs

Least favorite animal and why: The only thing coming to mind is spiders. Not little ones, they're fine, and not tarantulas either. But big house spiders. Because I have encountered them in too many places they Should Not Be

Hot fandom take: Umm idek. I guess maybe that crossover pairings need to stop being automatically considered crackships? Like, unless you're hitting me with that Impala/TARDIS shit or something, it might just be a regular old crossover rarepair ship imho

Do you wear any jewelry, if so, what’s your favorite piece: I basically always have a necklace and a ring on, and I love them both but the necklace is definitely my favourite. It's Thor's hammer, and it was a Christmas present

A movie others liked but you didn’t: The Dark Knight. Excellent performances but I just didn't really vibe with the Nolan Batman movies even though I really wanted to because I watched them at the height of my DC phase

Three things you love about yourself: My humour (I'm a pun master to the extent that some of my colleagues still bring up a joke I made when I started about 6 months ago), my hair, and the way I taught myself to paint my own nails and now they basically always look cool and interesting

A place you hope to visit in the future and why: As just a holiday: Crete because it's got some fascinating history. As a place specifically to visit people: if you're reading this and you know, you know >:)

An actor that gets on your nerves and why: If I ever meet Kevin Bacon it is ON SIGHT. I've never seen him in anything but X-Men but he's been in EE ads for so long he's driven me up the wall and I can't look at him any more

Things you’re excited for in the nearby future? I have a week off next week! Thank GOD

Least favorite ship in a fandom you’re in: I've said it on this blog before so I'm hoping I'm not going to get mobbed for it but. Sledgefu. As I've said before I get it but I Do Not Vibe. Glad y'all are having a good time though!

What’s the most toxic fandom you’ve been in? I can't name it because it's tiny and this'll end up somewhere they'll find it. They were entitled and had a whole superiority complex going on. Last I heard they were STILL hung up on something that happened three years ago where they had beef with someone from another related fandom which blew up into a whole thing

List three things you find beautiful about life: My family, I'm so so lucky to have them and they're always so supportive. My friends, and the fact that I can have good friends who are so important in my life when they're so far away from me. And creating things generally, whether I'm doing it or someone else is, and making something that means something in some way

Any dreams for the future? Current, very mundane dream is to get a job that, even if it's not my biggest passion and I love doing it all the time, doesn't make me dread going in every day

How are you really feeling today? Uhh. Worn out. Kinda ill in a very general way. Seasonal depression is kicking my ass. But I managed to do a couple of important chores today so feeling good about that!

Tags: if you feel like it, then @bruin-coll, @noodleblade, @thesunlikehoney, @paperbrds, @hopefulsapphic and @sumquiasum!

[liliavalley]

whats ur hot take currently?

the beginning of s4 e5 tried to set up something with Pigsy and MK and their family dynamic by doing that little "Pigsy's my dad!" "Uh, kid? I'm not exactly your-uhh.." funny haha line about meeting their (jttw/biological) ancestors and Mei thinking MK and SWK are bio related therefore he would see SWK in the scroll. Logically, I'm 99% sure I know what the joke was trying to do. MK says Pigsy's his dad because he was getting annoyed with Mei for calling SWK his dad, and because the context of the scene is jttw/bio ancestors, Pigsy most likely responds the way he does because clearly, he and MK are not bio related and would not have the same ancestor. I don't know why Pigsy would have misinterpreted MK as calling them bio related, but the show jumps between MK acting a little dumb and actually being a little dumb, so other characters can get in their comical "MK.... what a dummy" groan. But here's the thing. To me on first, second, and third watch, it just came off as an "adopted = not your real dad" joke. (Which is really unfortunate, because s4 e4 ended with Pigsy regaining his conscience through a flash flood of memories, all including MK.) And if I'm meant to take it that way, coupled with something Pigsy says at the end of the season, (which I will Get To.) then am I expected to believe that Pigsy -- who the lmk crew in s3 made a point of showing that he gave MK his jacket off-screen because his sweater got ruined -- would have cold feet about calling MK his son? "that's my boy!!" Pigsy? s2 finale "What could have been so important that you leave MK alone to face that-that thing? You're supposed to be his mentor!" Pigsy? pilot episode MK-death-fakeout, "I could have- I SHOULD have protected MK!" Pigsy?

I'll die for them but I think the show was trying to set up some depth for their dynamic through the topic of family, and that is something that they did not have the groundwork for, simply because they decided to wait until season 4 to actually confirm that Pigsy took MK in and raised him as his own. Which, in fairness, may have very well been why they did this set up in the first place! To bring in that depth that they didn't cover before. But, because they couldn't commit early, they didn't have any time left to set anything up properly.

And the thing is, they didn't even really do anything with it either. The joke was just a joke for the audience. MK didn't react to it negatively, he didn't react to it at all. You'd think it would cause a bit of tension. Maybe even result in an tearful argument between the two, maybe MK would wonder aloud if Pigsy ever thought of him as his son. But Pigsy's hesitance is merely foreshadowing to MK finding out he was born from the stone and therefore doesn't have a "real family" (ancestral lineage). And he has a breakdown later, but it's just a secondary issue to his main problem, that being born from the stone means it's one more thing that makes him like SWK, means it's one more thing that could mean he'll make all of SWK's past mistakes/cause even more damage than he did. Despite MK yelling out "I don't have a family", it wasn't really about him and Pigsy. It clearly cuts Pigsy deep, but it's not brought up again until the brief reunion hug they have after retreating from Azure. Which... oh boy.

Pigsy calls MK his son, and emphasizes it heavily. There are two ways to interpret this. Number one is positive, that we were always supposed to have seen Pigsy and MK as father and son, and that it's just a special reassurance because he knows MK was going through it earlier? To make sure he knows he's not alone despite his worries. That is logical. That is safe.

Number two, is... Well, if we're to go off of the beginning of s4 e5, take Pigsy's hesitance to heart, are we supposed to believe it's possibly Pigsy's first time calling MK his son? Because the latter seems to be what quite a few people took from that scene, and if that's the case then it just feels so completely inconsistent with the rest of the show (See again: paragraph 2 examples)

hope all that wasn't completely incoherent but yeah current hot take is that I think lmk writers fumbled the ball trying to give my favourite family dynamic some depth though something that may or may not have been a Not Your Real Dad moment and then never properly talking about it because episodes are only 10 minutes long and they desperately needed to include a macaque version of that tutorial game episode. Hopefully s5 let's the character backstories shine but considering it's an action show, it's so fast paced, and the things that are yet to come, I doubt much more will be done with them so soon.

my real hot take is that they shouldn't have made him embarrassed about his stomach being out. s4 e4 was literally his hottest look i can't believe they took that from me.