#that took a lot of restraint

[sherdnerd]

Failed to exercise self control at the used bookstore today

[hinamie]

'what do u want to draw' 'idk, megumi?'

[on-a-lucky-tide]

Jack I’m afraid you’ve infiltrated my thoughts because I was thinking of bruised up Price, and it turned into Nik finding out he’s obsessed with bruising John up, had no idea about it before, but after their first night together, Nik finds him leaning against the counter with his mug, still buck ass naked, and there are p e r f e c t bruises in the shape of Nik’s fingers on his hips, and John jumps when Nik slowly aligns his fingers, laying his hands there

While is mind is very much malfunctioning

When this came in, Nikki, the sound I made.

Nik likes marking what is his. And John likes being marked.

cw: consensual bruises/hickies, possessive behaviour.

Nik woke up to find a steaming mug of coffee on the bedside table. He had heard footsteps that had carried it there in the background of his subconscious, but it had been the smell - fresh ground coffee beans from Columbia - that had lured him back to the land of the living. He flexed his fingers against the cotton bed sheets and then let the stretch run the full length of his body, vertebrae and joints clicking, as he surfaced from the most restful sleep he'd had in a long time.

No John, obviously. For if there had been a John, then there would have been no coffee.

Last night had been... breathtaking. Years of yearning, of tentative steps back and forth towards an uncertain destination, of circling each other, too nervous to ruin what they already had. It had been by mere chance that Nik had broken the stalemate; a panicked kiss snatched as John exited the Black Hawk for a mission based on bad intel, even by Laswell's standards. Come back to me.

And he had. They had barely stumbled through the front door of John's flat before their hands had started burrowing beneath their clothes, teeth and fingers biting into the firm topography of flushed, eager bodies. Nik had never had sex like it. Sex where he felt like he had burrowed beneath his lover's ribcage and taken refuge in his chest, every gasp, every flex, like it had happened beneath his own skin. He had never wanted to possess, consume, protect, as strongly as he did with John.

Nik gathered John's pillow to his face and took a deep breath, searching for the smell of him deep in the cotton and goose down. It was there, but too faint. John had been awake long enough for the warmth to fade, and his scent along with it. Nik was left with no recourse but to leave the comfort of his bed in search of the source. With any luck, he could coax John back.

It was cold outside and even though John had agreed to turn the heating on, Nik grabbed his dressing gown from the back of the door and threw it on, leaving it to hang open at the front and off one shoulder as he strolled into the living room, otherwise naked. If he happened to pocket the lube on his way out, well...

The television was on, with some innocuous breakfast show host chatting about Storm Darragh on a plastic looking sofa, her too-white too-straight teeth bared in a smile that looked more like a grimace.

But no John.

Nik followed the sound of plates and running water towards the kitchen, and found what he was looking for washing up last night's dishes. The radio was on softly, a background track to the slosh of soap suds and the rattle of cutlery. Nik wasn't really paying attention to the song, because John hadn't seen fit to pull on more than a pair of boxers, leaving the rest of his magnificent body on full display. Nik's eyes dragged down the length of him, lingering just above his waistband.

Dappled across John's freckle-dusted skin, some faint, some vibrant, were blueish-black ovals in the shape of Nik's fingers. They flared over John's hip where Nik had clutched him tightly the night before. The sight of them made Nik's mouth run dry, his cock, hanging thick and heavy between his thighs, twitching against the edge of the dressing gown.

He remembered relishing the way John's body had felt in his hands, how his strong thighs had clamped down hard when Nik had pinned his wrists, how the give of the flesh over his hips, of his full, shapely backside had looked when Nik had turned him to breed him from behind. How every time John's voice had broken into a moan, Nik had held him tighter, held him down until he had come, wailing and begging. How John has felt so tight and so warm around his cock, his body the perfect, eager cock sleeve. Their first time had been just as passionate as he'd always dreamed, and it had left bruises like footsteps on John's skin.

Nik watched John with hungry eyes, lower lip rolling between his teeth. John felt his presence and Nik saw him tense a little, like a prey animal caught in a predator's ambush.

Price had risen early out of habit, leaving Nik to rest after his athletic performance the night before. The only time he ever managed longer than seven hours was after a particularly gruelling op, and even then it took several days for his mind to settle to the point his body could rest. He hadn't bothered showering, but tidied up the flat, checked some emails for anything urgent, and now he was rinsing out last night's beer glasses. He felt Nik's arrival rather than heard him, and his chin tilted down, watching Nik's reflection in the stainless steel of his toaster. He chewed the inside of his cheek when he realised Nik was naked but for his dressing gown, his thick, masculine physique flaunted with mouthwatering confidence that made Price weak.

His skin prickled under Nik's scrutiny, every nerve on tenterhooks as the memory of the night before still echoed through his body, a glorious, bone-deep ache. His body still remembered the shape of Nik's cock, and Price had admired the evidence of his hunger in the bathroom mirror as he'd brushed his teeth; a rainbow of bruises on his neck, his shoulders, his hips and thighs.

And yet, he was desperate for more. Desperate to feel Nik's hands on him again; holding him down, spreading him open. Desperate to latch onto his broad shoulders and huge biceps, to feel his full chest push down against his back, the firm peaks of his nipples contrasted with the softness of his fur. Price stared at the stream of water spilling over the mug in his hands because, other than his sight, every other sense of tuned into Nik.

Nik sipped his coffee more to stop his mouth from watering than anything else, and closed his eyes briefly, if only to focus on the light sting of scratches up his back where John's blunt nails had caught him in his desperate ecstasy. Nik remembered feeling the first graze, but his mouth had been sucking a mark into the arch of John's throat at the time. Just below the beard line so it could be hidden by John's shemagh. Only just.

John was beautiful. His skin, a patchwork of freckles, scars and uneven tan lines, overlaid a trim, muscular body that was narrow and broad in all the right places. His waist was the perfect shape, slotting into Nik's hands like John had been forged with the shape of them in mind, and his muscular back had flexed so beautifully when Nik had thrust into him. He wanted to see it again.

Nik drifted over, leaving his coffee mug on the dining room table as he drew close enough for John to feel his body heat.

"Mornin'," John murmured, the crackle in his voice from a night spent moaning and begging sent a little shiver of pleasure through Nik's core. John was ethereal, ruffled, the morning sun spilling through the kitchen window giving him a soft, warm glow at the edges. The clash of relative innocence with the traces of their debauchery made Nik want to sink his teeth in, to renew his claim on the strong, unyielding body before him.

"Good morning," Nik replied, leaning forward to place his mug on the counter. He had to lean close enough for his breath to ghost over John's skin, his chest hair to perhaps tickle his back, but he didn't touch, not yet. He closed his eyes and leaned in to John's shoulder, inhaling a long, deep hit of the bed-warm scent still lingering on his skin; faded cologne, clean sweat with deodorant, the warm musk of a man that had slept in clean sheets after being fucked into them.

"Surprised ya didn't have a lay in." Price was trying to keep his voice level, but even he could hear the tremor of anticipation, so subtle below his gravelly rasp. Oh, he wanted to be possessed again. John Price, so in command on the battlefield, wanted to be utterly dominated in his bed like he had been last night. The thought might have concerned him in the past, but ever since his romantic feelings for Nikolai had exploded into a ravenous sexual attraction, he had wanted those big hands holding him down, whether to ride his cock or fuck his hole, he hadn't cared. His only desire had been to have Nikolai over him, possessing him.

"The bed is cold without you in it," Nik murmured softly, his face tilting into the side of John's neck, the tip of his nose hovering close as he breathed him in.

Every hair on Price's arms stood on end, goosebumps rushing over his shoulders, the tremor of anticipation running through Price's core. His fingers curled against the counter at the edge of the sink, his nipples hardening, cock thickening in his boxers. Even after just one night, Price was conditioned for Nikolai's attention. He wanted nothing more than for Nik to scruff him and push him down, add more marks to establish his ownership.

Nik's lips touched John before his hands, pressing over the bruise they had marked on the back of his shoulder. He lingered there, sucking the tender flesh gently, the traces of sweat salty on his tongue. John let out a faint, low moan, his arm curling up so he could bury his fingers in Nik's hair. Nik ran his fingers over the bruising on John's hip, pressing down just enough for John to feel the rub of his calluses, John's skin dimpling under the pressure. John startled, and Nik could feel the roll of tension coil up his spine, hear the gasp of bewildered pleasure, so Nik pressed down a little harder, earning a soft, wrecked little moan.

Price's knees shook as Nik pulled him close, his chest pressing to Price's back, hair soft and enticing against his skin from shoulder blades to the base of his spine. He looked down to see that huge hand slope over his waist, encompassing it effortlessly, weathered fingers retracing the path of the bruises on his body with possessive glee. Price felt the shaft of Nik's cock settle in the clothed cleft of his arse and his bare toes curled against the tiles. Nik was so hard, searing heat so close to John's hole, the heavy weight of his sac brushing the undersides of his cheeks. Price tilted his hips up eagerly, lifting onto his tiptoes.

"You were so beautiful last night, and just as beautiful this morning, you drive me crazy..." Nik whispered into bruised skin, running his lips up the side of John's neck in slow, wet kisses. "Did you enjoy last night, detka? Did you like it when I made you spread your legs, take my cock deep?"

"Yeah, Nik... It was good, so fuckin' good," Price rasped, his breathy whisper breaking into another low moan as Nik's hand slid into his boxers to squeeze the length of his prick. Price looked down to watch Nik touch what he wanted, take what he wanted, fondling the fragile heft of his balls before stroking Price's shaft in long, lazy pulls as the other arm slanted over his chest to keep him close.

"You are ravishing, with my marks all over you, like I have claimed you as mine." Nik grazed his teeth against John's neck and felt a thrill when John's head flopped back and to the side. "Do you like them?"

"Like you lookin' at 'em," Price replied, his voice like treacle in his mouth. He rocked his hips a little into Nik's hand, rubbing back against Nik's cock, pinned as it was between his arse and Nik's belly. "Like you touchin' 'em. Wan'..." He trailed off, the intensity of his desire somewhat embarrassing.

"What do you want, John?" Nik squeezed John's glans gently, milking a few thick beads of precum that he smoothed down John's shaft. Listening to John's stuttering gasp, he shifted his hand across to squeeze one full tit, massaging the muscle against his palm as he sucked a deep, possessive kiss into John's neck.

"Hnng, wan' ya... t' make more, Nik. All over. Forever. Mark me up... please." Price's entire body hummed under Nik's hands, his cock twitching and leaking in Nik's grip. Fuck, his hand was so big. Price's prick wasn't small; respectable, perhaps slightly above average, but the way Nik's warm hand enveloped him, Price's wet, drooling cockhead pushing through the tight hollow of his fist, looked obscenely hot.

Nik pulled John away from the sink and turned him towards the centre island dividing the kitchenette from the living room, one hand sliding to his hip while the other took him by the back of his neck and pushed him down. Nik's nails dragged down John's spine, making those strong muscles flex, until his fingers hooked beneath the elastic of his boxers and pulled them down his thighs, leaving them to pull around his ankles. His arse was perfect, two full globes, with tidy whirls of body hair between them that trailed down over the swell of his balls. Nik licked the tip of his thumb and smoothed it around his puffy, pink rim, teasing it into a twitching, sensitive response. "Mm, beautiful."

Price stretched his hands over the wooden surface of the island, his hole, still sore and used from the night before, fluttered greedily under Nik's touch and Price wanted Nik to press inside, demand more. It ached so good. "C'mon, Nik... Fuck me. Please. Need ya so bad."

"Mm, detka. Ya budu tebya yebat' poka ty ne budesh' umolyat' menya ostanovit'sya," Nik whispered, gripping the base of his cock to rub the slick head around John's hole. He watched his pucker stretch and shift around it as he dipped just inside, teeth biting on his lower lip. The tortured little noises that John made sent a thrill up Nik's spine, and he reached into his pocket for the lube.

Price moaned when Nik's slick fingers teased into him, already slack enough for the sensation of being stretched to feel good, and he relaxed effortlessly. He felt filthy in the best way, hollowed out by Nik the night before, ready to be his cock sleeve again. The squelch of his fingers, the soft, approving rumble, the feel of his fingertips circling and stroking over his prostate, made Price's cock flick and leak onto the kitchen floor. It felt like his mind was melting, nothing but putty to be manipulated by Nik's hands and words, just as his body was. Mark me, take me, own me.

"Mm, John. You are so loose, so ready to be fucked."

"Oh, Nik, please, ahh, I'm gonna come."

"Then come, detka, but you will still take all of me, I will still mark you up again, inside and out."

"Oh, fuck, Nik... C'mon... Please, 'm yours, need yer, please."

Nik weighed up whether he would make John come on his fingers, gliding them in and out lazily, John's pretty hole glistening and butter soft, so hungry. But the thought of stuffing him full properly again, the way John was squirming so deliciously on the countertop, made his mind up for him.

Nik drew his hand away and slid it down the inside of John's leg, lifting it until the side of his knee and his inner thigh were resting on the counter too. Like this, his cock hung so prettily, his cheeks spread to show off that perfect hole, begging for Nik's cock as lube glistened down the back of his sac. "Ty vyglyadish' chertovski seksual'no..."

Price arched his back and cocked his hips, damp lips parted as he panted. He felt the soft hair of Nik's legs against his inner thigh and then the thick head of his cock against the taut muscle of his hole. He sheathed himself slowly, pressing forward in one thrust, stretching Price open until he was buried to the hilt. Price panted, channel flexing through the pressure of so much girth and length demanding space inside him. "Haa, ash, a ty okhrenitel'no khorosho... upravlyayesh'sya... svoi chlenom."

Nik chuckled, his hand sliding up John's spine to wrap his throat and arch him back. There was a reason Nik wanted him here. There was a long mirror in the hallway to their left, just by the front door. It was just broad enough for John to see himself take Nik's cock, see the way he looked so beautiful, marked up in surrender. Nik held John's jaw, hooked two fingers into his mouth and made him watch as Nik began to roll his hips. He slid his other palm over his thigh, thumb pushing into the swell of John's arse, teasing those bruises, pinning John to his countertop as he was fucked slow and deep.

Price's eyes widened, his nails biting into the wood beneath his hands at the overwhelming fullness, the burning stretch that was fading quickly into an ebb and flow of pleasure that made his mind go blank. He watched the thick, glistening length of Nik's cock slide into his body in the mirror, bewildered by the sight of his own body, held still, so thoroughly possessed by the beast of a man behind him; the delicious illusion of powerlessness, of willing surrender. Price wasn't used to being handled, to being so thoroughly subdued and possessed, and he was delirious with the pleasure of it.

Nik had let the dressing gown slip off, leaving him gloriously naked, his thickly muscled body with its satisfying layer of fat and dark rug of hair moved with an impossible amount of grace for a man his size. It was elegant, measured and controlled. There was no sordid slap of skin, only the glorious drag of his cock, a sweet, deep fullness and a constant pulse building in Price's hips as Nik took him apart with every thrust. "Nik, ahh... you know... Ahh, mm, the perfect spot... Fuck, oh fuck, it feels so... ahh, ahh."

"You were... made for this, John. Made for me to please. Keep watching, detka. Keep... ahh, watching me fuck your pretty hole. Look at how well you... take me." Nik kissed the back of John's neck, his back, leaned his nose and forehead against his spine as he began to grind deeper, thrusting harder.

"Oh Nik, oh Nik, ah, ah, fuh-uck..."

Nik drank John's moans down like a god consuming the prayers of the devout, but he needed to see his face. Needed to suck those full tits and possess his mouth just as he possessed his arse and cock. He ground deep once more before drawing back to guide John round to face him.

Price whined as Nik pulled out, leaving his twitching hole gaping and empty. He dropped his foot stiffly as Nik turned him and lifted his hips, sliding back onto the countertop as Nik stepped between his thighs and licked into his mouth. It was a demanding kiss and Price yielded, moaning as Nik's fingers bit into his hips, exciting and renewing those bruises, their cocks sliding together, slick with lube and precum. When one big hand snagged his hair and pulled his head back, Price surrendered his throat and spread his legs wide, wanton and exposed, keening as Nik sucked another brand into his skin.

Nik licked the sweat from the hollow of John's throat and rubbed his face into the damp hair on his chest, nuzzling his nose between his gloriously full tits as they heaved with each laboured pant. Every inch of John was a masterpiece, every scar, every freckle, made to be consumed by the devoted. John may be breathing Nik's name like a prayer, but it was Nik who worshipped at the real altar. He slid his arms beneath John's thighs, urging John towards the edge of the counter enough to guide the tip of his cock into his rim before his fingers scooped beneath the meat of his arse to lift him.

As Price slipped into Nik's arms, his body sank back down the full length of his cock, seated flush against Nik's hips in one easy glide. A low, filthy moan tore from Price's throat as Nik fucked so deep it felt like he was in Price's damn guts. "Oh, oh, fuck, Nik," Price groaned, latching onto Nik's shoulders as the two strong hands cupped beneath his arse moved his six foot two, ninety kilogram body along Nik's cock like a fuckin' fleshlight.

Nik slammed his hips into every thrust, knowing his cock was sliding over that perfect spot in John's body, as he stooped forward to kiss and bite at his chest. With each sucking bruise he left, John's voice grew louder, his pleas and groans increasingly more desperate. Wet, hard cock flopping between their bellies, neglected, but John was so close just form being fucked. Nik could feel it in his legs and hips, a rigid tension, see it in the flush of his skin and the misty distance of his eyes. He writhed in Nik's grip, body rocking itself onto Nik's cock, meeting his thrusts.

Price spread his legs wide over Nik's arms, hands at his shoulders, back bowed so Nik could bite and suck his ownership over his tits. His head fell back, his balls drawing tight, and he spilled in thick ropes over their bellies just as Nik sucked hard on one of his nipples. "Nik, Nik, Nik!"

Nik moaned, slowing his pace to long out the aftershocks of John's orgasm in that sweet spot just before overstimulation, greedily drinking in those delicious, wanton moans as Nik's cock teased his clenching channel. "The way your arse sucks on my cock... o, kak zhe ty goryach..."

Nik was so close, teetering on the brink in a heady, tingling liminal space before the fall, and he savoured the breathless moment. The sight of John's body in his arms, his head thrown back in abandon, his skin sheened in sweat. It was the flash of those blue eyes that looked at him with such unbridled adoration, so bright, so full of ecstasy, that dragged Nik's orgasm from him mercilessly. It spread like the rolling shockwaves of a nuclear warhead, cock throbbing with each thick pulse or cum as Nik held John flush to his hips, his entire body rigid as he snarled into John's chest.

Price groaned as Nik's orgasm spilled into him, Nik's cock buried to the hilt to make sure Price's body took every drop. Nik had marked him, inside and out, the throb of new bruises on his skin mixing with the warmth of Nik filling him up; it was raw, animalistic, and Price never wanted to fuck any other way.

Nik stumbled a little, settling John's rear on the edge of the countertop as he withdrew his cock, the sound of wet suction as lube and spend dripped out of John's hole was deliciously filthy. Nik peppered gentle kisses on John's jaw as he kept his legs raised and spread over his arms, making him linger in that hollowed out feeling that came after being fucked so full.

Price basked in the deep recesses of an afterglow that seemed to muffle the rest of the world out. He tilted his face to Nik's and kissed him lazily, sucking on his tongue, his lips, his body humming with warm bliss. When Nik lowered his legs, Price stumbled, held up by the strong arms that wrapped around him. "Bloody 'ell, yer've fucked me boneless..."

"That is a good thing, I hope," Nik said softly, cradling John's body to his chest, nuzzling kisses into the mess of his hair.

"Oh yeah. Can't believe we've wasted twenty years not fuckin'..."

"Not wasted. We had to allow the chemistry to reach its natural conclusion."

"Hmm." Price closed his eyes and took a deep breath of Nik's musky scent, knowing his own cowardice had held him back more than any damn chemistry, but it didn't matter. He had Nik now, and he was going to enjoy every part of him from this point on. "Feelin' a bit woolly in the 'ead, might shower, lie down."

"Of course. Come." Nik pressed a palm to John's forehead briefly, just to check, but found only the natural, post-coital warmth beneath his skin. He scooped him up anyway, much to John's amusement.

"Eh, wossis?"

"You are boneless and therefore cannot possibly walk."

"Ha, fine, fine, but if yer tell a soul, 'll nail yer bollocks to the nose of yer Heli."

"Your terms are acceptable."

Price slumped in Nik's arms with another rueful chuckle, and let himself be carried into his en suite. They shared the shower, and Price tried not to look too closely at the thrill he got when Nik washed him, those large hands working over his intimate areas possessively, over his cock and balls, between his cheeks, beneath his arms and up his back and chest; a full body massage with soap and water that left a tingling pleasure in its wake.

By the time they stumbled back to bed, Price was nursing a semi, but felt too spaced to do much about it. He curled against Nik's chest, burying his nose in his soft chest hair, and basked under the caress of strong fingers down his back.

Later, they would cook a late breakfast and head out for a walk, and Nik would touch the marks he had left through John's clothes, nuzzling the hickies on his neck through his scarf. "Mine," Nik whispered against John's throat when he pushed him against the trunk of a broad oak tree to kiss him, a hand sliding into his waistband.

"Yeah, Nik, yeah... All yours, fuck. All yours."

[bryonieamber]

She does it on purpose

[sportsthoughts]

Day 100 of offseason gifs - In The Room S05E08 - the Pittsburgh Penguins win the 2016 Stanley Cup

[mrdrhenwardhykle]

"He's a little tied up right now, can I take a message?"

Last Chica's Magic Rainbow/Rainbow Pauling arender for now

Happy FNAF Anniversary!!!

Old:

[vhvrs]

rewatched the run the jewels video

[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

[rpfofficial]

26 for your wrapped? 🐑

[ludiharambasha]

I think I can finally put my finger on what I find wrong about Hazbin Hotel and why I think it is neoliberal dribble that fails at its social commentary.

I am definitely going to write about redemption arcs more (a post about a different show is coming), but it should not come as a surprise that I am not a fan of them-they are a rather cheap narrative tool that breeds uncreative, stale, mediocre storylines. However, when the central theme of a work of fiction is redemption in the context of heaven and its righteousness, that could be written in an interesting way, especially if the very concept of redemption is deconstructed. And, for some time, the show seemed to be upping the game in terms of the seriousness of its narrative as it went on, yet failed to deliver on this.

There is a serious issue I have with the author's idea of what redemption means in the context of heaven's hegemony and how it reflects our world. There is a critique of this inequitable system in which "hell is forever", and so is heaven- once fallen there are no second chances, no turning back, and those graced can never do enough wrong to be punished for their misdeeds. And this critique is utterly toothless in my opinion, not in and of itself, but because the author tries to couple it with the possibility of getting redeemed. If redemption did not exist in the world of Hazbin Hotel, then the story's theme about Heaven and hell would make sense- there is a brutal system that punishes some for their misdeeds but does not punish mass murder and terror. A hypocritical and arbitrary system in which the powerful make sure that those in power stay in power through that false morality. They quite literally live in a gated community oblivious to the fact that they live in such bliss because there is an army in their midst that goes to commit purges onto the underclass, the sinful. But if you make redemption an actual thing, something a sinner can achieve, then all the fault is shifted onto the sinner. The problem is no longer the segregation, the mass murdering of the underclass, and the fact that eternal torment exists in the first place. No, the problem is that more people don't get their ticket to the Pearly Gates, the problem is that there is not enough social mobility, not the unjust system itself. Does this not remind you of the American dream? That if one just works hard enough they may be getting their seat at the table?

No one seems to be attacking Charlie's dream on this front-eternal torment itself is unjust, not just the annual exterminations- they are a culmination of this problem. Charlie's dream ultimately does not challenge the status quo-it affirms heaven and works within its confines. Who gets to say who gets to be redeemed, especially an entity that allows genocidal maniacs into their ranks?

And I don't think the show lacks merit entirely, but this tendency in Western fiction to use ideas of revolutionaries and then water them down so it is more palatable to a neolib audience is tiring and should be criticized more often.

[cacaitos]

sooo soooo sorry i cant read manga where the husband or the father character like died or whatever in WW ii without having and how did your grandfather stepping on a landmine help his country and things of that effect dancing on the tip of my tounge

[nasuverse-most-breedable-tourney]

Bracket H, Round 1 (Match 12)

[ghostsandmirrors]

@fangsforhire sent ✎ for a bucky and lucien moodboard.

— original images (top L to bottom R): [x] | [x] | [x] | [x] | [x] | [x] | [x] | [x] | [x]

texture credits! n/a

[besuretosavorit]

It was one year ago today that I sat down and watched my fiancée play Yakuza 0 because they wanted to play the Mafia games but they aren't on game pass. Now we've both played everything but kenzan, dead souls and the judgement games. Shout out to these stupid, silly beautiful games for changing my life.

Everyone who's been in the fandom for a long time; you're all so cool and talented and looking at all the fanart, fanfics and edits makes my heart feel like this:

(in a good way 💖)

[danni-nip-nip-nyan]

I would apologize for not posting as much but I have no excuse so have Finn

My friend and I were taking Abt how Finn would wear a headpiece to remember Fern by, like with his Jake tattoo. They said a cloak would be cool and I thought the same, so yeh

He's such a lad i luv him

[hellosunnycore]

𝖌𝖍𝖔𝖘𝖙 𝖕𝖚𝖕

character belongs to @perisceris!