#really doesn't help with the vibe

[dafukdidiwatch]

Oh shit, she also just moved in too. We see her day to day before being eaten by a whack ass cannibal. Just a typical tuesday

[owlheartt]

Something I really like about timebomb is that Ekko actually knows what he's getting into.

I'm not really seeing it get talked about but in season 1 they mention that Ekko and the firelights help people addicted to shimmer get off it and lead more fulfilling lives within the community. I should probably rewatch the scene for the exact wording (might be misremembering tbh) but that comment implies A LOT.

First: Ekko's mission is helping people where he can, he would probably try and help Jinx even if he wasn't in love with her

Second: He has experience dealing with severe mental illness as that often goes hand in hand with drug abuse, namely depression/suicidal ideation like what Jinx was exhibiting

Third: He's probably mapped out best course of action FOR dealing with this and has already figured out his own limits/boundaries. Meaning he knew what he was getting into trying to talk Jinx out of suicide, and was thus more equipped to deal with the aftermath

Fourth: He's probably helped ex members of Silco's gang. The firelights seem to have a theme of healing and repairing and recovering, so they've probably also learned to forgive. If they're mission is to rebuild the lanes into a safe space, they can't exclude people they don't like, they have to make room for them. I think they fought Silco out of necessity, and I doubt Jinx would be the first person they help who's killed one of them.

These all might be a bit of a stretch but I think it really fits. Beyond that, it shows that Ekko can ACTUALLY help Jinx. As much as unconditional love can do, Ekko has the tools for Jinx's recovery and a path ready for her. He also probably knows that her "healthy" will look different from AU Powder's "healthy." On top of that, I expect he knows how to respect her even in the middle of psychotic breaks and won't agitate her already frail mental state

[royalarchivist]

Pac: It was really cool to see Baghera too, man. Baghera and Fit, it was really cool. Then Tubbo, I only met him in spirit, but Baghera was great to see, man.

Pac: Baghera and Fit– ah, it's always great to see the QSMP people. I consider everyone from QSMP as if they were family, you know? They are great friends that I made during one very cool stage in my life, and I will take them with me like this forever. It's the kind of friendship where you pick up exactly where you left off, you know? I see them, we exchange ideas, we talk, it's super cool, we say goodbye, and if we see each other again, it seems like we come back exactly where we left off, you know? It's really cool– because like, even if we spend a long time without talking, we still have that affinity, that friendship and affection for each other, you know? And that is something I can say about all of the QSMP members, it’s just that I specifically met these two this time. But anyone from QSMP I have that same affection for, you know? It's really cool, man, really cool.

Pac: Anyways, this photo is Fit and me in Minas Gerais.

[lovecolibri]

"Jesus, I'm so sorry. I'm rolling very well and I don't necessarily want to be." 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Compare this vibe to every time he gleefully tried to kill his besties 🤣

Truly, DaDQ has such a sweet and nurturing vibe as a table full of newbies, and I love it so much!

[mumblesplash]

see the interesting thing is that while 'Al art' continues to improve aesthetically it also continues to be made by and for people who don't actually *create* art, just *look* at it. and it's been so interesting to watch, because it's such a wild insight into what people who don't draw are seeing when they look at pictures, what they care about, what they don't notice.

some things (faces, eyes, lighting, hands) have been pretty much perfected, or at least reached a point where they don't 'look wrong' upon first glance, but i still have yet to be surprised to find out an image was Al-generated because there's such a clear lack of artistic process behind any of it. if you look at any part of the 'art' and ask yourself 'why and how would someone draw this like that' there's never an answer. there's nothing there.

[softquietsteadylove]

How about something we probably haven't had before? The Eternals in ancient Egypt. While the Egyptians were busy treating cats like gods, Thena is trying to secretly populate the Domo with lizards.

"You busy mopin' in here too?"

"I do not mope," Thena corrected as Druig walked in, his black robes dragging behind him. She turned with a frown, "why do you have so many of them with you?"

"Don't ask me, they just-" he gestured, trying to dispel the cats swarming his feet. "Off with ye, y'bastards!"

The cats scattered, off to find their worship elsewhere. The Warrior Eternal couldn't believe how many of them populated the grounds of Egypt's reign. And the creatures were revered--walking signs of godly luck and prosperity, or some such.

"You've made a friend of your own, I see."

Thena looked down at the lizard snoozing in her palm. It was a small thing, but it had slithered up onto her knee without a hint of hesitation. Cold blooded creatures had none of the cautiousness mammals tended to show her. "Perhaps he can sense my distaste for the felines as well."

Druig chuckled, observing the procession from the edge of the pyramid concealing the Domo. "You sure they're not enjoyin' things a li'l too much down 'ere?"

Thena had to smile. "I cannot speak for Makkari. I believe she is thriving, getting the attention she does."

The Goddess herself was being paraded on a dais of all things, despite being able to circle the continent in the time it took the holders to take one collective step. But she waved to her adoring fans, showering her with praise. And of course, the tributes they brought her were her favourite part of their stay in Egypt thus far.

Ajak had ordered her to return everything, or at least leave it in the official treasury so it was available for the peoples' benefit come the time.

"Yeah, she's glowin' like a streak'a lightning," Druig mused, although he had quite a smile on his face as he observed. No matter how bereft of her company he was, he wasn't the type to drag her away from her time of thriving, either.

Thena could sympathise. Gilgamesh wasn't quite as prone to soaking up the attention as the Speedster, and he absolutely couldn't fathom letting mortals carry him instead of walking. But he was also waved to with enthusiasm, praised and adored. His hands held the gift of Ra himself, after all.

Ajak had also ordered Gilgamesh to humour the public, to a degree. Despite his discomfort, she thought that if they wanted to recognise him and Makkari as the beacons of their team this time around then so be it. Makkari and Gilgamesh were warm and mirthful, and perhaps that would encourage this to be a peaceful time for the development of the humans.

"Thena, Druig, what are you doing up here?"

The two Eternals shared a look, as if they were being caught by their mother skipping school. Druig dragged himself to a standing position, arms crossed and hunching as if the gold collar of his robes were weighing him down.

"You should be down there with everyone else," Ajak pointed at the procession. Sersi and Phastos were talking with various leaders of Egypt's developments. "I want this visit to be social for us--and that means everyone."

"I don't see Sprite down there," Thena pointed out with deadly accuracy, even getting a certain look from their Prime.

But Ajak clipped her unruly daughter's statement short, "she's down there. You may not see her, but she is."

"And Kingo?" Druig added, always happy to get himself out of something he didn't want to do.

"Making sure Sprite doesn't wander too far," Ajak elaborated, her voice growing higher as her annoyance increased. She put her hands on her hips, glaring at the two belligerent Eternals. "It's a happy occasion, and we haven't had an attack for days."

Ikaris was on watch regardless. And it wasn't at all because - for once - the humans had no interest in him or his powers, relegating him to 'one who accompanies the holders of Ra'.

Thena found it hilarious that he was acting like a dejected child.

"It's awfully hot," Druig shrugged. "We're still part'a the festivities. Just, y'know, from the comfort of home."

Thena petted her new friend between the prickly peaks atop its head. "He was seeking the shade."

Ajak eyed the Warrior Eternal. "You cannot bring any more of those things onto the Domo."

"I haven't-"

"It can't possibly be anyone else, Thena," Ajak pointed out, and accurately, at that. "They flock to you. And you know they scare Phastos."

"Everything scares Phastos," Druig murmured, although he got a finger snapped in his face for it. He made a face, even leaning back and swaying on his lazy knees. "Fine, fine, we'll go out there and humor the masses, aye?"

"That's all I'm asking," Ajak insisted in her most matronly way. "I finally got Phastos to leave the ship more often, I can't have you two taking over that role."

Thena and Druig both smiled and nodded (the picture of innocence).

Ajak didn't buy it. "Just go."

Druig dropped his smile but did shuffle past her towards the stairs. Ajak looked at Thena, who chose the faster route, turning and leaping off the side of the structure so tall they could see well into the horizon. Ajak rolled her eyes at her most difficult children.

Thena landed steadily, the sand below absorbing much of the shock. It was a high drop, even for an Eternal, but walking the stairs of the temples here took time even one of their lifespan didn't want to waste.

"Why did we build stairs at all if you were just gonna jump out of the windows every time?"

She smiled as the man with Ra in the palm of his hands broke away from the crowd. The farce of a parade continued on without him. "What of your adoring fans?"

"Ah, come on," he fussed, already embarrassed enough. He turned to face them with her, watching Sersi touch the various offerings held out to her, turning them to gold in the blink of an eye. "Ajak told her not to."

"I think she can't help it," Thena laughed faintly. "Ever since we first arrived; she loves the sparkle in their eyes when they see it."

"Who's this guy?" Gilgamesh asked as he slung his arm around her shoulder, leaning against her faintly. He was tired.

"A friend who sought the solace of shade with me," she sufficed to say, still massaging the reptile's spine from side to side.

"Kept her company?" Gil asked the cold blooded creature, who allowed him to tap the top of his head.

"He did." She looked up at him. The sun in Egypt was even more ceaseless here than in their previous homes, she found. And not just ceaseless, but intense.

Gilgamesh blinked as the back of her hand pressed to his cheek. He leaned into it, though. "You feel nice and cool."

"You shouldn't be under the sun for so long," she frowned, feeling his cheek, then his temple and his forehead. "And after you spent all morning breaking and hauling limestone for them."

He shrugged, though. He really was tired; his shoulders looked heavy, like it took great effort for him to raise them. "There's a lot of work to do."

Egypt was evolving rapidly. Of the many civilizations they had seen rise and fall in their time on Earth already, Egypt was likely to prosper and endure. Thena looked at their passing teammates again. "Sersi and Phastos are more than capable of sharing your workload for a day or two."

They were all helping, but Sersi and Phastos were by far having the easiest time with it. Phastos had powers that did the heavy lifting for him, and Sersi could simply turn the slabs of stone into one big seed pod, carry it, and then turn it back to rock once it was placed.

"Maybe."

Thena rubbed Gilgamesh's back, between his weary shoulder blades. "Perhaps you should retire. I'm sure Ajak would understand."

He gave her a smirk. "You mean you want to escort me and my 'injury' back to the Domo so you don't have to be out here for the party?"

"Absurd." Gilgamesh laughed, and so loudly that many turned back to look at them, including their fellow Eternals. But they continued on without him, and Thena smiled at the way his laughter warmed her shade cooled body.

"Y'know, now that you mention it," he postulated, putting his hand to his chin and everything. But there was no containing his bright grin. "I am feeling a bit...whoa!"

Thena laughed as well as Gilgamesh feigned slumping against her shoulder. A human may not have been able to hold him, but he would never drop his full body weight on her without warning, either. "Gilgamesh!"

"Thena, is that you?" he gasped as she started helping him hobble away from the crowd and into the temple. "So weak...I can see the light..."

"You are a terrible actor," she informed him as she got him into the shade.

"Really?" he asked as soon as they were out of sight. "Kingo gave me some tips."

"That was your first mistake."

He chuckled, still with his arm around her as they began walking back to their mothership. "You know Ajak is gonna find him."

Thena looked down at their guest, still lazing in her hand. "If Phastos were not so averse I don't see why I couldn't have one or two. They scurry in of their own accord at least once a day regardless."

"Yeah, and then Phastos gets freaked out, or Sersi thinks it's a rat, and then we have to sweep them out." Gil looked at the little creature again, which opened both layers of eyelids to blink at him.

Thena purred faintly as Gil pressed his lips to the spot where her tiara disappeared into her hair.

"Keep him in my room. Ajak won't think to check there. I'll bring him snacks and stuff."

She angled her head, catching the edge of his jaw with her lips. "Ever a champion of the people."

"Nice try," he brushed off in modesty. His arm drifted from her shoulder to resting his hand at her back. "You are way more important than 'the people' to me."

"You two are bloody disgustin'."

Thena let Druig drag himself past them towards the edge of daylight. "The procession has already passed."

"Well, nothin' I can do 'bout that. Guess I'll head back up-"

"Druig, get outside. You're mingling, and that's that."

Ajak also hustled past them, her deep blue robes breezing behind her petite figure as she all but dragged Druig out with her by the arm. Perhaps in her mission to make Druig more acclimatized to human socializing she had forgotten Thena had also been ordered to 'mingle'.

Gilgamesh nuzzled her hair again, whispering, "I think we got away with it."

Thena hummed, starting up the stairs towards the Domo with him, and their new friend. "Seeing that you both get some rest is more important in this moment."

Gil cupped her hands in one of his, adding to the bed of luxury for the humble lizard. "I think we'll both rest better if you join us."

[good-wine-and-cheese]

There exists in my brain a collection of characters that belongs to a loose, cross-fandom polycule/adventuring party and this is the current roster

[batsplat]

wait, is there a dovi/jorge feud???? i didn't know this!! also thank you so much for all you do for this community ❤️

not the only ask I've gotten about this and... look, rather than doing a proper write up that would take forever, I'm just gonna give my top ten fun... facts? bits of trivia. tidbits related to the two of them. quite long tidbits, on second glance. the highlight reel, if you will

(1) that time andrea dovizioso made 14 year old jorge lorenzo cry

the two of them already raced each other before the start of their grand prix careers, competing for the first time in 2001 in the cev when dovi was around 15 and jorge around 14. in riveras tobia's biography, here's jorge talking about their first fight:

I led the way at the start and Dovizioso and I escaped. It was our first head-to-head encounter, the first time we raced each other. My dad had heard that Dovi was a really clever rider and he warned me before the race. But just like in 1998 at Jerez, with Olive, I acted like a dummy and pushed for the whole race. I kept looking behind me to see the bastard still there! It was impossible to shake him off, he was watching me the whole race until the last lap. Three comers from the end I could hear his engine getting closer and I saw his shadow to my left, but he didn't come past. I thought to myself "This guy is going to try something in a second!" I decided I had to on a tighter line and close the door. Sure enough, Dovi went wider through that comer and then dived up the inside. I didn't close the door in time and tried to get in his slipstream, desperately hoping I could get him the next corner, but I ran wide and he won. I came back in tears, I didn't even want to go to the podium, I felt so cheated. I'd been on the limit for the whole race and I felt like I deserved the win more than he did.

so that's a nice and positive start! there's something charming about how even fifteen year old dovi was an absolute menace on last laps

also about that race:

'Jorge beat Dovi in Braga but in the previous race at Most, what a tantrum!' recalls Juanito, laughing. 'He didn't even want to go to the podium, he was crying like a baby! I can still see Dani (Antatriain) talking to him, trying to convince him. In the end he went but he didn't want to look at anybody.'

(2) the photo finish

in 2004, they were rivals in 125cc - a year in which dovi claimed the title and jorge was p4 in the standings. in the very first grand prix ever at the lusail circuit (pretty eventful weekend, you have to say), jorge and dovi crossed the line at the exact same moment

(3) dovi's top three favourite career win

dovi and jorge progressed through the categories at the exact same rate, and after their 125cc rivalry they continued fighting in 250cc. they were title rivals in both 2006 and 2007, with jorge's aprilia winning out both times against dovi's underpowered honda. (the general pattern was that dovi clawed back a bunch of points from jorge in the wet - jorge, with perhaps the exception of a few years in the premier class until around 2013, has never been much of a wet weather racers, while it's always been one of dovi's strongest traits.) for dovi's 300th career start in 2019, he was asked what his top three wins were - and one of his picks was from way back when in 2007

I'd recommend the race! which... well, I did in the race rec post - and I can only reiterate that these two kids do not acknowledge each other, not good vibes at all

(4) jorge's thoughts on young dovi from 2008

Jorge has a lot of respect for Andrea Dovizioso and feels that his two 250cc world titles have even more prestige because he had to beat the Italian to win them. 'You wouldn't label Dovizioso as fast, particularly, but he's much faster than he looks. He doesn't set many pole positions but he is always up front in a race, fighting to win. He is very intelligent and you can't trust him an inch on the last lap. He has been faithful to Honda, he has great belief in them. His negative side is that he tends to play the victim too much. He'll say that if his bike had a better engine or if it was a bit faster he would win. He's even said that if he was on the same bike as me he'd give me a hiding. I think he looks for excuses too often sometimes, but as a rider and a person I don't have a bad word to say about him.'

some dovi traits read as very familiar, from how he's a better racer than qualifier to the intelligence to the last lap prowess. as for jorge saying dovi plays victim too much? well

also this:

ER: Don't you think that Dovizioso wanted to be World Champion too in 2006 and 2007? Don't you think he gave everything to achieve it? JL: He will think he gave his maximum but he will be lying to himself because nobody does that. Nobody gets close to their maximum, not even me. He will think that he didn't win because he was riding a Honda. There are very few sportsmen who will say, I deserve what happened to me and there are no excuses. I didn't know how to do any better and I've done things wrong.' That is the only way to be the best, the only way. People who make excuses don't get to the top. I know riders who haven't made it for just that reason.

plus ça change

(5) jorge's thoughts on young dovi from 2018

when they were doing their thing as ducati teammates (bickering), here is one of the things jorge said about dovi:

dovi's been trying to undermine jorge's morale his WHOLE career... even when they were but teenagers... love it when you can really tell someone's been sitting on something for over a decade

(6) "also lorenzo is not my friend"

both of them moved up to motogp in 2008, jorge with factory yamaha and dovi with satellite honda. dovi had a very strong rookie season and finished in p5, only sixteen points behind jorge in p4 (who after a promising first few races had spent a lot of time that season crashing). after that, their fortunes diverged. dovi did not have a particularly happy time in the factory honda team and needed to do some shrewd negotiating to be retained by them for 2011 in that three-man squad, while jorge of course won the championship in 2010

here's a deep cut from 2011, a season where much of the excitement and drama was caused by marco simoncelli alone. jorge had exchanged tense words with sic in estoril, one race before simoncelli was responsible for a crash where dani broke his collarbone. the crash and sic's subsequent penalty meant that the three-way fight between jorge, dovi and valentino became one for the podium, with dovi and valentino eventually grabbing the two remaining spots behind casey. but during the race, jorge had executed a... questionable manoeuvre on dovi, one that did have some similarities to the sic/dani incident. given jorge's strong previous comments on racing standards, unsurprisingly the journalists pounced on this incident in the post-race presser and ask the podium sitters about it. here is the clip:

in this clip, dovi essentially says it was a dangerous move from jorge, but he wasn't sure what jorge's intent had been and he needs to watch the footage again. valentino (who had been the most outspokenly critical of sic of the three of them earlier in the presser) takes the opportunity presented to him to have a bit of a potshot at jorge. he says that dovi doesn't have the best relationship with sic but jorge had done something pretty similar in the race... at which point dovi goes "also lorenzo is not my friend"

which, you know. not exactly a major incident, but I find it very charming dovi felt the need to clarify that, actually, he doesn't like either of them. valentino also adds that by jorge's own standards, surely he too should have gotten a penalty. not exactly a meeting of jorge's biggest fans hm

(7) mapping eight-gate

well I can't leave it out, can I

so in 2017 jorge switches from yamaha to ducati and does not have a great time of it. a lot of weekends, he's just too slow, other times he shoots to the front of a race at the start (typically not great news for the rest of the field in his yamaha days) and then chews up his tyres before gradually dropping like a stone back through the field. at some point that year it became a bit of a running gag - especially when you saw he was the only big name to be picking a soft tyre and just went... buddy we ALL know how this is gonna end....

while this was happening, his teammate dovi was for the first time in his premier class career in championship contention. an extremely close title fight throughout the year with five protagonists until pretty late in the season, it eventually went to a title decider in valencia between dovi and marc. you know, the kind of year where every point counts. the race where marc put a bit of daylight between himself and dovi was phillip island, with marc winning a great dogfight out front while dovi had a bit of a horror show of a weekend. this meant that a lot would have to go right for dovi to have a chance of still winning the title... and sepang was already a match point race for marc

ducati had not won a championship since their 2007 title, courtesy of one casey stoner. after that year, their bike became steadily less competitive every season, reaching a nadir around the 2011-13-ish period. so by the time 2017 rolled around, they wanted this so so badly - even if they wouldn't have expected dovi to lead the charge. dovi had only narrowly beaten out iannone in the 'who's going to be fired for our shiny new lorenzo hire' contest of 2016, and really it was supposed to be jorge who was carrying ducati's dreams on his shoulders. but, never mind, they were throwing everything behind dovi now... no stone left unturned

which brings us, of course, to the subject of team orders. this discourse really took off at the penultimate race of the season at sepang, but was already brewing before that - and in phillip island, satellite ducati rider redding had been told early in the race to let dovi past

here from marc at sepang:

dovi had been in great form all weekend at sepang - and with his wet weather prowess being what it was, really there shouldn't have been any need for team orders at all. but he got a sluggish start, and the race unfolded from there... until eventually jorge was in first, dovi was in second and marc in fourth. in those positions, marc would have clinched the title there

and then, jorge got a message on his dashboard. suggested mapping: mapping 8. pit boards and dashboards and all sorts of boards will feature various codes during races, most of them completely innocuous - but of course they are a healthy source of all sorts of conspiracies. the timing of this one was certainly... notable, and speculation immediately started about how it might be a way of telling jorge that he should swap positions with dovi

jorge didn't end up letting dovi pass - it is questionable whether he really would have done so with what would have been his first ducati win on the line. in the end, he made a mistake that let dovi through so that dovi claimed the win anyway, keeping himself in mathematical contention in valencia. and jorge did say afterwards he was keeping dovi's title hopes in mind, kind of

jorge also said he hadn't gotten any message indicating team orders, and of course nobody at ducati confirmed that mapping eight did have anything to do with team orders

for what it's worth, this is what dovi said about their relationship at this stage:

lovely! let's see what the vibes are like a few months later

anyway, onto valencia. this race was pretty boring despite being a title decider, but the jorge/dovi bits were just unequivocally the weekend's most enjoyable aspect and rather nicely spiced up the whole thing. dovi's chances were always slim going in, given he'd have to win the race and marc would have to barely get any points at all... but still, you never know, right? marc could always crash (narrator: he did almost crash). jorge plays coy early in the weekend about the whole 'helping dovi out thing', and basically just started putting in place...? ... very specific conditions...? under which he'd help:

so during the actual race, dovi got stuck behind jorge in p5, with marc ahead of both of them. valencia is traditionally not a fantastic track to overtake at... so even if dovi had been faster, it's not like he'd have an easy time clearing jorge and cracking on. but they were beginning to drift further away from dani in p3 as ducati watched on, increasingly unamused by what was happening - and the tv cameras were of course kind enough to repeatedly show the ducati box looking deeply unamused. again, they went for the good old mapping eight message, which, hey, that could mean anything! they sure did keep showing it to jorge though, almost like he wasn't paying attention to it

eventually, they abandon all subtlety and go for a pit board message that does just straight-up tell jorge to swap positions. jorge kept ignoring the messages, lap after lap, and he never ended up letting dovi past. eventually they both crashed and marc claimed the title with a p3 finish, so it wouldn't have mattered anyway, but... still. the feeling was that this might things rather awkward inside of ducati

publicly, ducati was extremely keen to smooth over the whole controversy, saying they totally weren't mad at jorge blatantly ignoring team orders. jorge had, after all, explained to them (and the media, repeatedly) that he had totally been intending to help dovi by dragging him closer to dani

Giving his take on events, Lorenzo acknowledged that he ignored Ducati’s instruction because he felt Dovizioso’s chances would be boosted by having him directly ahead. “Even looking at this [dashboard] suggestion, I keep pushing until the end, because I knew it was the best thing for me, for Ducati and for Dovi,” said Lorenzo. “I helped him to improve his pace by one or two tenths, to be as close as possible to the first group. My intention was, and it was the case, that we arrive at the first group. If he had the option to win, I would have gone wide and let him pass. But unfortunately it was not like that. Maybe in some corners Dovi was close and I slow down a little bit his pace, but in general terms, having my wheel in front of him made him improve slightly his pace. I helped him stayed closer to the front group. “I knew Dovi was struggling, I knew his pace during all the weekend, and I knew he was making the best pace of the weekend just in the race. It was [because of the] help from my wheel. I’m happy because I was not wrong. If I was wrong and slowing him, I would be very sorry. But it’s not like that, my feeling was true.”

which, you know. is it really that easy to tell how much faster you are than someone who's sitting on your rear tyre? who's to say. dovi did certainly seem rather keen to get past

anyhow, of course there were plenty of fun dramatics post-race:

'our rider ignored team suggestions not team orders' is a great line, fairs. there's plenty more of this from ducati, some excellent spin doctoring - and dovi was extremely magnanimous about what had happened:

the whole thing was pretty undignified from all non-dovi parties, but it was also very funny so who's to say if it was bad or not

(8) runner-up-gate

let's check in on them in 2018, the second and ultimately last year in which they were teammates. remember that 'undermining morale' quote from above? those are from early 2018, after dovi says he wouldn't be surprised to see jorge elsewhere the following season. so, once jorge has complained that dovi had been trying to put him down his entire career, comes this:

so that's something. jorge, dovi and dani have a three-in-one crash in jerez, after which some fingers are pointed but it all remains fairly civil, and a bit later dovi says that jorge's approach doesn't work at ducati:

by the summer break, jorge's results had gotten better, but it was already too late to save the relationship with ducati and they parted ways. anyway, here's dovi and jorge having another go at it:

And while a rough patch for Dovizioso coupled with breakthrough back-to-back wins for Lorenzo in Mugello and Barcelona have now left the pair just three points apart in the standings, Dovizioso refused to back down from his claim when speaking to Spanish sports daily Marca ahead of the upcoming Brno race. “He’s won two races,” Dovizioso said. “Winning two races does not solve the problem of a year and a half. Lorenzo was not signed to win two races. Therefore I do not change my mind.” When the comments were put to Lorenzo, the three-time champion offered an ardent retort, stating that Dovizioso's rhetoric was proof of the claim he'd made back in April. “I'm a bit fed up with this situation, mainly because when I had trouble and he was winning, I was down there applauding,” Lorenzo told Spanish broadcaster Movistar. “What I said in Argentina - and the comments caused a big surprise - you can see that I was right. “He tried to undermine me, or downplay what I achieve or just attack me. As you can see, I wasn't lying. He's still doing it and now he says my method is not good, according to him.” Lorenzo intimated that Dovizioso was in no position to criticise him, as the Italian could do no better than runner-up to Marc Marquez in a 'perfect' 2017 season. He said: “I think my method has not worked too bad in my career. I've won three MotoGP titles and have 46 wins.” “In my second year in Ducati I'm usually faster than him, but maybe I should look at his method closer if in his best season, with everything going perfectly, he was second. Otherwise he's fourth or seventh usually. I'd tell him to leave me to go my way and to focus on his own and everything will be better, because when you have an angry Lorenzo it's usually worse for you.” 

fair to say that by this point the pretence at civility has mostly been dropped. I'm rather fond of the "lorenzo was not signed to win two races" line, though "when you have an angry lorenzo it's usually worse for you" is also really strong stuff. dovi tries to restore a little bit of peace:

Responding in turn to Lorenzo's tirade, Dovizioso sought to play down the conflict. “Jorge has his ideas and I think they are based on particular things. I don't think like him, but it's not a problem,” he told Movistar. “Everybody creates their own ideas based on what they see and how they live. “I don't think he has everything clear in his head about what's happened, but we continue the relationship that we started last year with respect, there's no particular problem. If he thinks this way, that's his problem."

so basically the classic 'idk what he's on about but it's not my problem' approach to attempting to defuse feuds

(9) twitter-gate

there's a few more on-track battles where it's nicely obvious how badly they want to beat each other, with jorge beating marc just ahead of dovi in austria and then dovi beating jorge in brno. jorge's season is increasingly derailed by injuries, which sets the stage for their next big spat:

The row was sparked by Dovizioso's comments to Sky Italia after qualifying at Sepang on Saturday, as he was asked what he thought of Lorenzo having to pull out of the Malaysian GP weekend with injury. "I don't know the details, I don't want to get into this, it's a bit of a strange situation," said Dovizioso."It happens often in Ducati or to certain riders, but I don't understand the details and I don't want to get into it and give my opinion." When it was put to him he was offering 'cryptic words', he added: "I leave things there, it's not my problem."

pretty vague, yeah. but anyway, I'm sure jorge had a proportionate response to this

Dovizioso's comments prompted a series of irate posts from Lorenzo on Twitter, with his first reaction being "Thank you very much @AndreaDovizioso! You are a real gentleman!". In his next post, he went on to call Dovizioso "an exemplary teammate", adding: "You applaud him under the podium when he wins and then... (That's right, he does not give his opinion, it's not his problem)." After that, Lorenzo labelled Dovizioso "envious" and described him as "a world champion... in 125cc."

the podium thing really bothered him, don't you think. their ducati in-fighting follows that general pattern where dovi says something... a little shady, a little ambiguous, where his intentions aren't entirely obvious... at which point jorge goes all in at fighting back and has a go at dovi - often not as much for what dovi is actually saying, but what jorge thinks dovi is implying. which is based on his understanding of dovi, the image of dovi he's built up in his head over the years, so that he is... predisposed to think ill of the intentions of the 'intelligent' dovi who always knows exactly what he's saying

again, dovi tried to downplay the argument, while simultaneously not exhibiting much patience for jorge's stance:

After the Malaysian GP, Dovizioso was asked about Lorenzo's responses to his comments, and the Italian accused his teammate of reading too much into headlines. He said: “Why should I talk to Lorenzo? I do not waste time on these things. He makes the usual mistake of giving too much importance to what is written, even without the context. "I have not pointed my finger at anyone and I have no problem with Jorge."

if I were ducati, I probably would've let the whole thing blow over given jorge was off soon anyway. but they decided the whole thing was so bad they had to organise a peace summit

Asked about the situation, Ducati sporting director Paolo Ciabatti admitted to Motorsport.com that the Bologna marque has already planned to sit its two riders on Tuesday in Milan to make it clear what its priorities are. Ciabatti said: “It is clear that the interests of Ducati come before personal problems between riders. On Tuesday we will be together in Milan, for the EICMA [motorcycle show] and we have in mind to spend half an hour to sit and talk to Jorge and Andrea. "We want to avoid similar things to what happened last weekend. "I understand that these kinds of situations can happen. Sometimes riders get nervous during a Grand Prix weekend and on a rainy day, with tricky conditions, sometimes they say things they shouldn’t have said."

god knows how that turned out

(10) wow, you guys aren't gonna let this go, huh

late 2020 and jorge's career is already over, while dovi's looks like it will be... paused, at the very least. which is always a good time to check in with riders on how they feel about their rivals - if they're still being nasty you know that shit was personal. from december:

some quality petty material here. "I can't understand his somewhat peculiar mind" vs "he was envious of me since 250cc, but I wanted to give our relationship a chance". note too jorge talking again about how generous he had been in the face of dovi's 2017 successes, and how he feels like this was not reciprocated at all. jorge's complaints don't stop there:

merry christmas!

not the only rider jorge has beefed with post-retirement, but compare and contrast with how he really hasn't been doing any of that with some of his biggest career rivals. valentino, marc, dani - sure, he still talks about the controversies he's had with them pretty regularly (to put it lightly), and he's hardly free of complaints... but mostly it's a distinctly nostalgic tone he's adopting with these guys. admittedly, it helps that none of those three have gone out of their way to say anything particularly inflammatory about jorge. still, the absolute lack of any sort of rapprochement with dovi of all people is pretty funny

bonus: that time when jorge skittled all of marc's rivals

you know how in catalunya 2019, jorge took out like? all of marc's major rivals in that era including himself in one go? with half a decade of hindsight, this was kind of hilarious, and it did also feature jorge having to eat a hell of a lot of humble pie and go to the three other blokes to apologise. anyway I have a lovingly assembled set of screenshots of all three of them emoting in their boxes after the incident, all suffering some form of an existential crisis. here is dovi contemplating the bleak realities of our brief lives on this planet:

truly one of the world's least enthusiastic waves

bonus 2: another one for old time's sake

already posted this elsewhere, but this from late 2023 made me laugh

"jorge came to ducati and thought he was going to beat everything, but in the end he didn't" uh huh

[spotaus]

If I have energy I want to draw out some designs for an au I'm spontaneously writing.

(Medieval times, there's a Prophecy. Nightmare rules over this kingdom and is supposed to complete this prophecy, he refuses to because it would harm the people. Dream was sent away and banished by Night because he was dis-illusioned into thinking the prophecy was a Good Thing abd what he was raised to complete. Night collected his Knights (Killer, Dust, Horror, and Cross most recently) and trains them and tells them the truth of the prophecy. They're loyal to him. One day the magic of the prophesy (Apple Magic) leaves Nightmare unexpectedly, returning him to the state he was in before he accepted the mantle. This puts a target on his back and gives Dream a huge advantage in maybe making a comeback. The Knight's decide that their King (newly a young lad and variably scared and frightened) must be protected and they run the kingdom as he normally would, while also ensuring he survives and that the prophecy can't be completed.)

[bigcats-birds-and-books]

NaNo 2024: Victory!!

Hello, world, here's my tidied desk in the aftermath of FINISHING ANOTHER BOOK!!! It took me EXACTLY four (4) pens this year (I was literally writing my wrap-up stats in the back of the notebook when the in on the last one started to go!), on 82 pages across two (2) notebooks, and preliminary* word count is 71,541!! (*subject to change once typed--I count by hand and tweak as I type haha.)

Also featuring: the NaNo Earrings, Volumes 2 and 3 of the Bitch Journal (where I whine about writerly things and also Reflect On My Process--I learned very much this year and got a lot of dopamine from it!!), the tiny watch that kept me company in my tertiary writing space, the earplugs that made working at home Tolerable (mostly), and some of the frantic scribbles on scrap paper (I got a LOT of mileage out of a dead receipt that Panera misprinted for me lol).

Now, onward to TYPING!! I would love for this not to take most of December, so I'll probably have more Unhinged Goals About That (I don't know why I am the way that I am), but! The hard part is done!!

[smoozie]

In desperate need of stardew Gem and Scar fanfics

[red-the-dragon-writes]

Fellow writers who come up with wild and/or complicated as hell worldbuilding! Share some of your highlights!

I'll go first:

Two major systems of currency that dramatically increase and decrease in value across the continent in direct conjunction with which particular major country is closer;

Magical person-eating eels who have their own entire society underneath a particular city that never becomes relevant because they think everyone else is frustrating and terrible, who have exactly one (1) ambassador to interface with the outside world but who decided that everyone else was (still) frustrating and terrible and now works as an assassin for hire instead of doing that and just sends the occasional trade good back home with their stipend;

Pseudo-electricity that works by summoning spirits from outside of the world to come hang out in your batteries

[intercomkris]

🚬i hate you so much sometimes i wish you'd die...

Marcato Scott-Tanaka. age: 27-early 30s ish gender: cis male nationality: american ethnicity: haitian, japanese occupation: drug dealer

[givehimthemedicine]

hot take: I could see it being possible Will picks up smoking, and very unlikely Max picks up smoking, for the same reasons just opposite.

Joyce doesn't hide her smoking but she is conscientious not to smoke in Will's presence (she does smoke right next to Jonathan though). iirc she almost never smokes at home when Will is home, and puts it out before she goes in his room. I'm sure she would advise her boys against the habit, but I don't think it would be terribly ooc if they picked it up as a stress response learned from her. they both probably associate the smell with their mother, who is a positive and loving presence in their lives.

btw I have a crisp $1 bill that says pre-s1 Joyce has caught Jonathan smoking before and that's why she feels ok to do it around him

then you've got Max, with multiple varyingly abusive family members who smoked (and drank) in her presence all the time. she comes and puts out Susan's cigarette when she's asleep even though it's already safely in an ashtray, meaning Max just doesn't want to have to smell the rest of it. she resents her mom for blowing so much of their resources on her addictions. plus there's Billy who smoked (and drank) in front of her all the time, both in their house and in his car, and I don't have to tell you Billy is a negative presence in her life.

in my mind Will and Jon are, at a minimum, at peace with it whereas the smell could be almost triggering for Max

[creachiergh]

anyways. WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT.

[bad-traffic-smp-ideas]

Because of your post from the other day about burnout I was wondering if you would consider a second mod? Someone who could help you with the mass amount of posts on this blog so you don’t get as burnt out?

I've considered this off and on, but the thing about me and this blog is I'm incredibly possessive over it /hj

Like could I benefit from having another person help run it? Sure, but this blog is my baby, and I can't let just anyone get shared custody of my baby... /silly

There may be a point in the future where I change my mind and find someone else to help me, but for now, I think we're good :)