#the duel 2010

[horsemotifs]

Tobias Menzies in The Duel (2010) 5/6

[vertigoartgore]

Doctor Strange by artist Marcos Martin (Doctor Strange: The Oath). Illustration done for the short story "Duel in the Dark Dimension" (written by Mike Carey), originally published in the one-shot The Mystic Hands of Doctor Strange (B&W) Vol.1 #1 (2010). Source

[batsplat]

do you have a favorite moment of casey and vale’s rivalry? or a top 5 favorite moments?

can't just give my favourite moment because my favourite moment is the obvious favourite moment - laguna 2008, which is a boring pick, but also going for anything else would be dishonest. the top two picks are the ones everyone knows about!! so we'll start with the normie ones and get a little less normie by the end. and obviously the inherent problem with this list is that by now I HAVE talked about everything on here before, probably at quite some length, but. this is a fun exercise anyway because it lets me condense the whole narrative to the highlight reel. let's go

1. LAGUNA SECA 2008 - race of all timeeeeeeeeee. is it not cool that you have an actual RACE that so fundamentally changes the relationship between its protagonists with virtually zero forewarning?? casey might hate the press games, might think valentino isn't friendly enough to him - but NONE of it ends up mattering as much as a single race where valentino caught him completely unawares. the talking was very much done on the track. casey thinks valentino makes enemies deliberately to motivate himself... but valentino literally isn't even doing that here. he's just doing this to win the title. this is him at his most cold-blooded... he knows exactly how dangerous casey is, he is painfully aware of how his usual tactics haven't cracked casey and he NEEDS to do something to change the momentum. this is him intimidating casey, wresting control of this rivalry away from casey - doing whatever he can to get into casey's head. taking risks he usually wouldn't be willing to take!! it works as this culmination of their rivalry thus far, this dramatic climax of a season where valentino had dedicated himself so thoroughly towards figuring out casey. and it hits so good because it's... premeditated ruthlessness, this shock on casey's side - everyone startled and off-balance except for valentino who has already made the choice that he is willing to do whatever it takes to beat casey. it makes the fight feels so much more viscerally thrilling... valentino's daring meeting casey's bubbling rage. valentino's cunning barely holding off casey's unmatched speed. it's testing, testing, testing casey how far he's willing to go - and it's so clear how badly they need to beat each other here. casey rising, rising, rising to the challenge - until he loses his temper and loses his chance for victory in the gravel. and then he needs to pick it up and ride home to an embarrassing second... has to endure valentino's post-race theatrics, perfectly judged to twist in the knife. casey's initial barely restrained anger giving way to the humiliation of having to apologise to valentino for his post-race comments a few weeks later... brutal. there's nothing better in a rivalry than when you can tell the tale of a relationship through the fabric of the sport itself - and this is a race that tells us plenty about the two riders and their dynamic, inexorably changing one of its protagonists. it's a turning point, it's a reckoning, it's emotionally devastating. how can you fail to be compelled

2. ambition outweighing talent - one of the rivalry's most infamous moments also acting as a thesis statement!! a fitting bit of theatre for this time period where their rivalry became confined to off-track wrangling - sure, it might have been a collision in a race... but nobody remembers motegi 2005 (definitely a worse error) for a reason, right. it's all about casey taking advantage of the moment. this schadenfreude and desire for delayed retribution that has been simmering with him... he so dearly wants to twist in the knife over valentino's failures at ducati and an opportunity falls into his lap. and he's furious - because it's another confrontation with valentino that plays so neatly into his larger grievances with the sport, the stewards prioritising valentino over him as he's left unable to continue and opts to sarcastically clap valentino on the following lap. there's valentino's perceived lack of respect in not removing his helmet, of course - which casey somehow manages to link back to europeans' insincerity, while valentino jokes he was worried casey might punch him. it's so very them, isn't it. and y'know, casey's always talking about learning from valentino, including in how valentino deals with the press... he's learned valentino's tricks and is prepared to suck up to the media and is so, so determined to get his revenge. this is his graduation moment, and it's one that repeatedly echoes laguna 2008. back then, valentino interrupts casey in his tv interview to get casey's ungracious response recorded for posterity - and now casey takes full advantage of the cameras valentino brought to immortalise his insults. first, casey inquires about valentino's shoulder, which like. god, he's so WEIRD about his rivals' injuries and he CLAPS VALENTINO'S SHOULDER while he's asking, which he KNOWS valentino has recently gotten surgery on. almost as if he's trying to test if the injury is real. and then he delivers his pithy line... in some ways, casey really is one of valentino's best students, matching him in a war of words like none of valentino's other rivals ever really did. and the line itself directly echoes what he said after laguna 2008: "let his ambition to win take control over his technique" becomes "ambition outweighed your talent". there's something deeply satisfying about the thematic coherency of that rivalry, how this infamous moment sums up its central competitive tension. willpower versus ability, cunning versus technique, ambition versus talent. it's such a perfect bit of theatre that feels so very valentino - except it's casey who plays the valentino role, as he has a tendency to do in this rivalry... and he really did learn ever so well from valentino, which is of course also why he still publicly bangs on about a racing incident from 2011 so much. he RELISHES it to the fullest, using the comment to slander valentino's entire career in the autobiography, suggesting maybe valentino shouldn't have raced a title contender like that (it was round two lol), talking about it again and again and again to get his side of the rivalry out there. because he understands the symbolic weight of this moment, just as valentino once kissed the corkscrew. something so satisfying about a rivalry where the boundaries between the two become just a little blurred at times... something fun about a rivalry so challenging it forces its participants to change and adapt in response. and casey shows what a good student he is

3. riding like a god - catalunya 2007 my belovedddd..... ignore the rest of this paragraph and just go watch this race. to me this is THE valentino feud circuit. starts with the biaggi fistfight in 2001 and then valentino just will not stop having dramatic duels there with his major rivals. sete in 2004 and 2005, casey in 2007 and 2008, jorge in 2009, marc in 2016... and look, I don't think it's a coincidence that valentino wins quite so many duels against spaniards there of all places - BUT it also just feels right that the only one he ever loses is to casey. this is such an important moment in the big picture of the rivalry because it's not just a great valentino duel circuit - it's a strong yamaha circuit, a strong michelin circuit... casey is as dominant as he is that year partly because of a bike/tyre advantage, but there's no denying he beats valentino 100% on merit at that track. it's an exhilarating race, one that establishes just how dramatic a challenge casey poses - and it's one that valentino learns some lessons from. first off, he tests out that last corner overtake that will come ever so handy two years later against jorge on the final lap. and secondly, he learns that casey is not a rider who will simply buckle under the pressure valentino applies from behind. what happens at laguna 2008 is the consequence of that lesson. there, it is valentino who rides ferociously unaffected out front while casey snaps ineffectually at his heels from behind... again, it's how they're both forced to react to each other, how they step onto each other's turf and take on attributes from the other to adapt to the challenge. valentino gets beaten at his number one feud circuit, then decides to play frontrunner for a change a year later. it's the ability they have to surprise each other!! AND it's valentino's complimenting of casey after the race. "riding like a god"... what a thing for valentino to say about someone!! it's just so symbolically rich to have casey, who is essentially attempting to slay a god in this rivalry, be ushered into the pantheon like this. in a way, valentino truly loved this rivalry... casey is the perfect challenge, the perfect little puzzle, perfect mr perfect. fighting casey is uniquely thrilling for valentino. which makes it even better that casey doesn't feel like it was one of his better victories, contrarian to the last. and yes, he's enough of a perfectionist to find fault with a win like that... but casey's always taken more pleasure in beating his rivals than he cares to admit. I know he liked that

4. arm around the shoulder - brave to put a moment in my top five that really depends entirely on my own interpretation. but, well, I reckon I'm onto something here. this post gives the details - it's a moment where valentino puts his arm around casey on the donington 2008 podium, seemingly to quieten the boos of the crowd, and casey looks happy enough to reciprocate. valentino does generally treat fan unpleasantness as part of the game, joking after jerez 2005 that he'd lost 30-40% of his spanish fans and offering jorge qualified support in 2011 when jorge was being booed by italian fans while also essentially telling him to ignore them. it's just another way of applying pressure on rivals, right, and you might as well use every tool available. sometimes, he sidesteps responsibility entirely - as with casey in this instance, pointing to anglo hostilities and casey's repeated rudeness towards donington as causes for the brits' animosity. sometimes, he might even encourage the hostility, with suggestions from some quarters he sicced the british crowd first on dani in 2006 and then on casey in 2007. which makes it interesting when he goes the other way... like he did with jorge at misano 2009, just taking that little step to deescalate the tensions in the rivalry. like at donington 2008 with casey. the willingness to make the gesture is revealing... it shows you that valentino is looking for basically a neutral relationship with casey, the way he shies away from escalating things off-track in the years in which they're actually competing for titles. casey says he lost respect for valentino after laguna 2008 and also that he's faster than valentino and valentino can't handle it - and valentino accepts his apology with minimal fuss! he wants the relationship to remain cordial! no real desire for mess... he just wants to win the title. he won't mind if the brits make life rough for casey, but then he'll extend an arm to help keep things reasonably civil. and casey's reaction, man. casey is so all over the place with valentino,, like he's so jaded and so cynical and the persecution complex is never far from the surface - but then you also get moments like this, where casey looks earnestly pleased at the gesture. as previously discussed, casey has shown that he sometimes tries to explain away even valentino's small acts of civility towards him, as if valentino must have an ulterior motive for congratulating casey politely. which makes this moment even better, because it makes it extremely likely casey has put some serious thought into valentino's actions here (and presumably come to some rather ungenerous conclusions). and of course, there's one last thing that really makes this moment... it's only three races before laguna 2008. don't smile too brightly at him, casey

5. qatar 2007/le mans 2012 - it just wouldn't be right if I didn't try to cheat the requirements a little bit, but there is a reason to take these two moments together. here is my case:

the first and the last podium they share, and they just happen to produce these pleasingly similar photos. casey with his helmet off, valentino with his helmet on, and valentino's hand in the general proximity of casey's cheek. there's just being something fun and evocative about how valentino is quite literally hiding something of himself as he faces casey - which is actually a nice little motif that crops up a few times for these two, including of course at jerez 2011. in the post-race press conference at le mans, they are asked explicitly about that race at jerez - whether they'd been thinking back to the incident given the similar conditions that day (clip here). and they confirm that they'd both done so, with valentino saying it had made him cautious the first time he had a go at casey and casey saying he'd known valentino was thinking about it, which... isn't it fun that he knew that! and isn't it even more fun that casey knew valentino wouldn't hesitate when he tried to overtake again at the very end of the race! idk, it's a sweet little moment that showcases the history they've built up between each other, for better or for worse... fittingly, this was also the weekend where casey had announced his retirement. it makes for a good bookend to that rivalry - even at its foulest and most toxic, you sometimes still get these moments where they are able to joke with each other in-person, right before going back to insulting each other in the press. casey really HAS learnt a lot from valentino. been a long journey from the first photo, right, taken at casey's first victory at qatar 2007. as discussed here, casey pays close enough attention to how valentino congratulates him to remark on the interaction not once but twice in his autobiography, including to note how valentino had rubbed his cheek. and of course casey writes it off as valentino simply not thinking he was a threat, failing to take casey seriously and thus dismissing him. again, it's how the interpersonal warmth coexists with all the unpleasantness - how casey is willing to be friendly with valentino even at the height of the feud while simultaneously unpicking valentino's motives. how valentino can't reconcile valentino the character with valentino the person. the former he hates, the latter he has more complicated feelings towards. but it's that complexity, the uncertainty, the contradiction of it all, that really elevates the rivalry... and it's there from the first podium to the last. perfect

[daily-rayless]

Anyone else remember the Crown Duel series by Sherwood Smith? Here's our disgruntedly kidnapped heroine Meliara and her kidnapper Shevraeth, who's unrepentantly enjoying some tea as they ride.

[haveamagicalday]

Duel of the American Girl Dolls: Casual Wear Edition (Round 1)

This is a poll in the Duel of the American Girl Dolls. Other polls can be found here

[pigs-in-art]

Banjo Pig by John Martz Via Flickr: My contribution to Dueling Banjo Pigs.

[victusinveritas]

The duality of man. (We need more extraterrestrial sword duels.)

[rose-greenhouse]

if i start to like crow hogan (5ds) because of reverse of arcadia i'm like gonna cry

[predoom]

a brief record summarizing pete and patrick’s public online duel of the first ten days of february 2010

on february 1, 2010, pw tweets this amidst a series of replies in a twitter q&a:

after his tweets result in a bit of a stir online, pw publishes the following on his tumblr after midnight:

the following afternoon, february 2, 2010, spin magazine asks patrick for a response to the tweet, and patrick says this. his response is published online that day under the headline “Patrick Stump: ‘I’m Not in Fall Out Boy’”

between the time patrick makes this statement and over the next several days, pw has a lot to say on twitter and tumblr (a selection of which follows, in chronological order):

on february 10, 2010, spin magazine publishes an interview with patrick, where he talks about his upcoming solo work. frankly, in this interview (which is worth reading in its entirety), patrick paints his “collaborators,” fall out boy, as an interruption to his lifelong pursuit of making his own music. he says that his forthcoming record will be his first record, since “writing music in a collaborative setting doesn’t count.” he also gives a, ahem, pointed answer about one of the tracks (below). also of note, patrick mentions the 1989 batman film as one of his childhood inspirations.

later that day, the evening of february 10, 2010, pete tweets and posts on tumblr:

anyway. more days happened after the first ten days of february 2010. but the first ten days were something.

[starscream-is-my-wife]

A bit more of the thunderfire story ‘post canon’, I think this should be around mid 2010s?

Jetfire and Thundercracker would be the duel income uncles with only fur babies, Skywarp is the actual breadwinner, Megatron is… there

Since the ex Decepticons no longer have to find energon and are no longer in war, they have so much free time.

(Rough outline here)

Text in the picture underneath the cut because it’s a bit small + Starscream

Jetfire

- changed his name in 2005 and is the only non neutral in the household

- the one who owns the house (used to be a lab) everyone lives in

- infamous in the science community for dropping a technological revelation every couple of years and then disappearing

- he and Megatron are the ones mostly taking care of the pets

- is the least online in the household, and goes outside the most

- has only gotten more unhinged ever since he was melted

Thundercracker

- likes to create all sorts of art, experiments a lot, currently into sewing, but who knows what’s next? Felting? Glass art?

- well liked with netizens because of his redemption story and loves the internet

- the bigger simp in the relationship, they got human married for fun in 2016 when gay marriage was legalized

- in charge of PR for everyone, including the Autobots sometimes

Skywarp

- Lives in Jetfire and TCs basement and is messy and loud

- twitch streamer, problematic due to him being kind of dumb (gets tricked by chat a lot)

- tricked Megatron into signing marriage papers because he felt left out when TC got married (and then forgot about this)

- used to live in the attic but was so loud during streaming he was forced to swap with Megatron in the basement

- is actually filthy rich, paid the entire mortgage

- the pets least favorite bot :((

Megatron

- misses fighting in the war but living in the attic is… ok

- edits for Thundercracker when he writes

- all of the pets favorite, no one is happy about this (except Megatron)

- is mostly unknown to the public, is under house arrest because of his war crimes for now. Does not feel too guilty about his crimes

- due to him being unemployed he is the household maid

- on the internet the most, cyberbullies Optimus Prime with alt accounts

- doesn’t know he’s legally married

[sylvan-librarian]

RE: Nissa’s Retcon

* * *

About once a month, I get a comment on one of my posts saying something along these lines

“Uhhh, you left out the part where Nissa was a fascist!”

“Nissa was more interesting as an elf-supremacist, imo.”

To be perfectly frank, I think both of these points are stupid and not worth my time, but just to give these posters the benefit of the doubt, I’ll assume they mean well and respond to them, once and for all, this way:

To address the first point, you’re right: in my posts celebrating Nissa and the journeys she has taken, I do tend to leave out material that was retconned. This isn’t entirely true, however, as I wrote an entire essay about this on my Tumblr page, which I doubt people slipping into my comments to post “gotcha!” have bothered to read. But anyway, to assume the best of these posters, let’s take a brief look at this retcon. Outside of a few brief blurbs in the “Duels of the Planeswalkers” video game and her 2009-era character description on Magic’s website, the “racist Nissa” characterization comes entirely from the In the Teeth of Akoum novel from 2010. And yes! In this book, Nissa is a hilariously stupid racist (frighteningly like real racists, imo). However, many aspects of this book were retconned in Nissa’s Magic Origins reboot. To note, in the 2010 novel, Nissa has no idea what the fuck Akoum even is and lets herself get led there by Sorin and Anowon. In the reboot, we learn that, among many other changes, she went to Akoum previously in her life, as that journey is what led to her sparking. Either way, post-Origins, many aspects of Teeth are questionably accurate at best. It’s quite safe to assume that with how horrified Nissa is when she sees Lorwyn elves hunting goblin children for sport that that particular aspect of Nissa’s personality (white supremacy) is no longer a part of her characterization.

For the second point, this one is just crazy, man. I don’t know y’all come up with this stuff. I don’t even know how to address this politely. Keep in mind that I am not by any stretch saying that Nissa is now a perfect cinnamon roll that never did anything wrong ever. Nissa is at fault for not trusting Sorin and setting the Eldrazi free. This is a decision that forever will, and should, haunt her. In the newer lore, she still distrusts vampires and outsiders in her youth because of how she was raised, and this is wrong of her. But Nissa does not distrust them because she thinks she is somehow morally superior to them by nature of birth. Nissa was raised as a member of the Joraga nation. The Joraga, as even the most basic of searches into the Magic wiki tells us, “eschewed outsiders and held even the other elves of Zendikar in disdain.” Nissa carries this distrust of outsiders with her into her adult life and doesn’t really learn to let go of this until she meets the Gatewatch and learns to expand her horizons. And again, Nissa was wrong for this xenophobia. But don’t get it twisted: there is still a big difference between fear and distrust of outsiders and fascist, ‘hierarchy of races’ bullshit. Both are rooted in fear, but for all her many shortcomings, the retconned Nissa of the new lore would never advocate for elves ruling the multiverse at the top of a racial hierarchy like the older Nissa would (and did). This is hammered home in her Origin story where she is horrified by watching Dwynen lead other Lorwyn elves as they slaughter entire tribes because they think it's funny. Furthermore, on the subject of Lorwyn elves, I would argue that old Nissa is fairly boring as a villain, as “racist elves” as a concept was already explored in depth in the Lorwyn stories. An entire planeswalker with that as her bit would get boring very quickly.

Lastly, and I suppose this is subjective, but isn’t a nuanced character, deeply flawed but trying her best to shed the xenophobia ingrained in her more interesting that an unrepentant, racist dumbass learning that “goblins are people actually!” only after she condemned an entire world to death? The latter might be (darkly) funnier, I’ll give you that, but the former makes for a much more interesting and emotionally satisfying narrative arc.

[horsemotifs]

Tobias Menzies in The Duel (2010) 3/6

[david-talks-sw]

hey david! Do you have any George quotes regarding the final Vader vs Obi wan fight? Like did obi wan deliberately throw that fight and let vader kill him or did vader win the duel and obi wan did the Force ghost thing as a last resort?

Here's the quotes I could find that are relevant to the subject:

"A particular case is the confrontation between Obi-Wan and Darth Vader. You know there's something, some relationship they have to each other, 'cause they talk about meeting again ‘and now I'm going to get you’ and all this kind of stuff."

"So there's some kind of old battle going on that we don't know anything about that works amazingly well considering that all it is, is ultimately this one scene between him and Tarkin where he says, “He's here. He's come for me. And it's our destinies to meet up again. And I'm gonna handle this myself. I have to."

"This confrontation with Obi-Wan and Vader— it works just as a confrontation between the good guy and the bad guy. I mean, he’s— Obi-Wan's, at this point, the strongest good guy. He’s the one that has the most knowledge— the father figure that has taken on Luke. Then you have the bad father figure who is the evil father."

"And the subtext of this, which is that this is the culmination of a larger issue… has never really played, I think, for people. It's really just the confrontation between bad and good. Then the surprise at the end of this, is that: Vader doesn't kill him… but that he's able to join the Force, and by being one with the Force, influence things in a more powerful way than he can just being a Jedi." - A New Hope, Commentary Track, Special Edition DVD, 2004

"When he loses Ben, [Luke] freaks out. He’s depressed and all the things that you would be. But Ben has put that idea in him that things happen naturally and there’s also this other thing that’s never explained, which is that he allowed himself to be killed. He didn’t really die. He disappeared. There’s more to this than just a death. Later on in the movie, Luke hears Ben say, “Use the Force!” It mitigates that loss a little bit, because he knows Ben’s somewhere and that something’s going on." - The Star Wars Archives: 1977-1983, 2018

So there you have it.

In a destined confrontation between good and evil, good triumphs not by defeating evil but by ascending and growing beyond it.

So it feels to me that it's a "when in Rome" kind of decision on Obi-Wan's part, wherein he realizes he won't win this fight, and so he decides to make his end meaningful, so that he can show Luke that death is not the end of the journey... he's joining the Force.

Now, if we're talking power-scaling...

... you could argue that Ben might have put up more of a fight, had it been necessary.

George acknowledges that Ben's an old man when explaining the more dynamic fights in the Prequels... but back in the early days, he ranked him as more powerful than Vader/equal to the Emperor.

"Maybe we should set up some kind of levels of achievement. Ben can say that Luke is now a level 2 and Vader is a 4; ‘‘I was a 6 and the Emperor is a 6, and he’s on his way to becoming a 10, which will be a force so powerful in the universe that nothing can stop him. You must stop the Emperor before he achieves the level 10.’’" - Story converence, 1977, as transcribed in The Making of The Empire Strikes Back, 2010

"[Vader] ended up losing his arms and a leg and became partly a robot. So a lot of his ability to use the Force, a lot of his powers, are curbed at this point, because, as a living form, there’s not that much of him left. So his ability to be twice as good as the Emperor disappeared, and now he’s maybe 20 percent less than the Emperor. So that isn’t what the Emperor had in mind." - Vanity Fair, 2005

Now, the first one is an old quote from the development of Empire Strikes Back, when the story was very different; it's take it or leave it, if you ask me. Power-scaling is invented to justify storytelling, so if the story changes, it's not guaranteed the power-scale remains.

But if you're going by "everything Lucas said is canon!" rules then you could make the argument that, in terms of power...

If Ben = Emperor and Emperor > Vader then Ben > Vader.

And thus can argue that Ben might've beaten Vader if this confrontation was/turned into more of a Force-based contest than a physical one.

[batsplat]

your top 5 philip island races 🙏

okay all five of these are very close together. to be clear

2004: putting this first fundamentally comes down to whether you're a duel or dogfight girl, and I'm the former. like, I love a great dogfight, I love chaos, I know phillip island specifically is all about multi-rider scraps, but as a person I'm just really about the psychological tension and drama of a one-on-one fight. especially between two people who despise each other. this is the penultimate race of the season, valentino's matchpoint race and also his first fight with sete post-qatar. the whole race is excellent but the first lap and last lap... transcendental

2017: practically a comfort watch by this point. it's so... ferocious, unrestrained, it also has a great post-divorce battle between valentino and marc buried within the dogfight that instantly elevates it for the viciousness. another one with big championship implications, which adds some fun stakes to just how hard they're going at it. also, I fondly remember watching this live early in the morning and going 'oh god they're gonna crash oh god they're gonna crash WHAT IF VALENTINO RUINS MARC'S CHAMPIONSHIP WHAT THEN' which quite frankly was such a special time

2015: another thrilling one in the category of proper dogfight. honestly these three middle ones are quite tricky to rank because, well, they're all great fun. I don't like,, enjoy watching the actual fighting quite as much as I do with 2017, though obviously the fantastic last lap does elevate this one. and the first few laps are really fun!! that poor seagull. plus the whole sword of damocles feel, the narrative implications of the whole thing are again. very pleasing. I think I kinda needed jorge/valentino to actually Fight Each Other a bit more, but I suppose the whole point of that season is that they didn't

2001: it says something about the quality of phillip island races that I'm ranking this absolute banger fourth. this is valentino's first matchpoint race, first premier class title, and it's super pleasing in how you're frequently readjusting your expectations of how this race is going to go? excellent momentum shifts. it's got the most pleasing narrative conclusion too, with the dogfight becoming a duel between the title contenders right at the end. valentino doesn't need to overtake biaggi for the win to take the championship, but can he resist... (no.) I think the main reason this is no higher than fourth is that by this point the title is basically wrapped up, but there is also something fun in how badly valentino wanted to win the race anyways. always got to be so dramatic about everything

2003: I was about to say 2023, but then I had the 'wait what the fuck I can't leave out 2003' moment. the issue is that this is... well it's a different flavour of pleasure than these other races, right. but also it'd be fundamentally dishonest of me to leave this out, because I DO get one hell of a kick from watching it and have done so an unhealthy number of times. you've got the early vicious dogfight, then you've got that lull out front while the dogfight for the remaining podium places rages and then you've got the penalty announcement. you've got the dogfight for the final podium position to keep you entertained on the action front, you've got the slow burn pleasure of watching valentino pull out increasingly silly laps, and then you've got the ghost bike extra-dimensional warfare commentators to pull the whole thing together into a unique race watch experience

honorary mentions!! 2023 (this was such a blast to watch live, like the way the story of the race gradually changed and you had this brutal fight and this building tension because you just knew that Those Tyres Were Being Shredded and then it all comes together... last lap is so so good); 2022 (just pure pure chaos, you kinda felt like half the grid was involved in the dogfight for the lead at one point or another, just never knew what was going to happen next, plus the last lap is a lot of fun and with a very deserved winner); 2009 (dude I felt so bad not including one of the many casey wins but genuinely which of these races would I kick out. this one is his most 'exciting' win and obviously massive championship implications, but also it's very much the being edged of watching a motogp duel in that a fight constantly threatens but doesn't actually ever get going); 2008 (objectively one of the better phillip island races in casey's tenure but like. unfortunately he's just too good at these, and the most exciting thing going on here is valentino working his way up from 12th. sorry casey if you just went slower then you'd be featured more on this list); 2006 (first flag to flag race!! ever!! absolute chaos all the way through, constant chopping and changing of the championship picture. last lap duel between Old Enemies I'm fond of for sentimental reasons); 2013 (marc's race still makes me mad if I think about it for more than two seconds, but the whole experience is also inarguably chaotic enough and dumb enough to be a lot of fun to watch); 2011 (at least Making It Wet was one somewhat interesting way to mix up casey's domination and spook him a little bit, but ultimately obviously he did the thing again - sentimental value because he sealed the title on his home race at his birthday)

[ffverr]

Any suggestions on getting into Storm centered comics? what should i read if i wanna understand her upcoming solo? thank u so much !

So you're looking to get into Marvel's greatest character? I got you 🤝

Ok so this is a very daunting question because 1-Storm's character very organically develops all throughout the Claremont run which is like...300 issues of "old" comic books. 2- I'm not all that caught up in the 2000s and 2010s comics so I have a huge gaping blind spot.

But if I were to suggest important issues to get her deal as a character and to prime yourself on her inner conflicts for Storm (2024) here are my suggestions (mostly 70s-80s focused because that's when she has her most major character arcs):

(in blue the ESSENTIAL reads, remember these are team comics, so not always 100% Storm)

My quick Storm (ororo Munroe) reading guide:

Giant size X-Men #1 (1975)

Classic era:

Her first comic book appearance

Uncanny X-Men (UXM) #113

It's got a quick Ororo scene that personally, made me fall in love with the character

UXM #102

Ororo's origin story revealed!

UXM #145, #146 and #147

Her first meeting with Doom who will appear in her solo and her "Rogue form" that will also be explored in the solo!

UXM #150

Storm being essential to Magneto's character development and overall a badass! Storm and Magneto have a very interesting relationship which begins here.

UXM #154-#155

Read this if you want insight into Storm and Cyclops' great friendship (they're siblings your honour!) and their relationship to being leaders of the X-Men! Cyclops is set to appear in her solo, so I'd say it's good to know that they're great friends.

UXM #165

Ororo has a VERY cool moment in this issue and it earns her the title "she who swam with Acanti". It's badass, it shows her inner strength in the face of defeat, it's great Storm content. Read the Brood saga (UXM #154 to #167) for more context of this alien space adventure.

Storm's main character arc! :

If there are ever storm comics you gotta read, it's truly these ones.

Before the fall:

UXM #169, #170!!!, #171, #172, #173

In these issues Storm knows change, and she is rattled by her own ruthless actions. This will lead her through a path of transformation and self reflection that is what makes Storm such an incredible character to me.

UXM #179, UXM #180

To see her with the morlocks again and to get an idea of her unstable mental state at this point before her BIG depowered arc. She also has a very touching moment with kitty (they have an older sister/younger sister relationship 🥺)

Depowered Storm (the fall AND the rise):

Unarguably her most iconic arc. Storm losing her powers gives us incredible and touching insight into who she is as a person beyond the picture of a perfect goddess. A MUST read

UXM #184 (for context), #185!

The loss of powers

UXM #186!!!!

AKA. Life death part 1, widely regarded as some of the best X-Men comics ever along with life death part 2 that you will see later on.

UXM #187 and #188

Full no powers badass Storm.

UXM #198!!!

Aka. Life death part 2, a religious experience. Storm excellency. This is like no other X-Men comic you'll ever read!

UXM #201

It isn't the Storm centric issue everyone makes it out to be, but her being asked to duel Scott for X-Men leadership is still very iconic.

UXM #211 and #212

The mutant massacre is a very interesting and tough challenge for Storm who finds herself again at her lowest despite life death part 2. Important reads!

UXM# 215-216

Fun storm centric action!

This is pretty much all I'll recommend of classic stuff for the moment as I am also reading through the insane amount of bronze age issues.

To hop onto Storm (2024):

Planet size X-Men (2021)

Here are the modern age issues I find relevant to get her current state of mind:

Ororo's role during the Krakoa era truly kick-starts here with helping Terraform Mars, which will become the planet Arakko that she rules along a council of mutants. This era is important to understand Ororo as she is in her solo and shows how she navigates many challenges.

The full series X-Men Red (2022) by Al Ewing! *Read Immortal X-Men #11 along with X-Men Red #11 (I can't remember in what order)

This is the most recent Storm-lead book, it's great Ororo stuff!!!!

Resurrection of Magneto by Al Ewing!

Despite the name, this is a BRILLIANT Ororo comic that is extremely recent, extremely good and explores her character in beautiful ways.

I think it's a great primer for her solo if you only wanna read four issues. (Chronologically it comes after X-Men Red)

That's about all I would lay on you! Good reading! And remember that Storm (2024) is written with new readers in mind so, no pressure at all to know everything <3 🌩️

Wanna read some recent leader of X-Men Ororo? X-treme X-Men by Chris Claremont is made for that. (In between the classic era and the modern era chronologically? It's not that good, but it's something.

Avengers (2023) by Jed McKay.

Storm will be in the avengers as well as her solo! She is introduced into the team at issue #17 so you can pick up from that and read in synch with the solo!

[medievalandfantasymelee]

COME ONE, COME ALL to the MOSTE ILLUSTRIOUS TOURNAMENT of the FINEST, the MOSTE PUISSANT and HOTTEST MEN MEDIEVAL MEDIA HAS TO ITS CREDIT.

Be it known that we shall accept submissions of the hottest men OF THE PEOPLES’ CHOOSING from any live-action* TV or movie media property set between the years AD 500 – 1550 (Tudors WELCOME!!), and any fantasy properties which emulate said period!

KNOW ALSO that we, by the grace of this fine hellsite and with the counsel of the moste honorable and illustrious @hotvintagepoll (many thanks), have made

THESE GUIDELINES here given:

ANY HOT GUY who appears in any movie or TV show released in ANY YEAR, from ANY COUNTRY, shall be deemed eligible for entry. Below are listed examples of eligible properties. If YE BE NOT CERTAIN whether your hot guy is eligible, submit him anyway!

Examples of Eligible Properties: The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2001-03), Game of Thrones (2011-19) House of the Dragon (2022), Wolf Hall (2015-2024), The Tudors (2007-2010), Ladyhawke (1985), The Princess Bride (1987), The White Queen (2013), Rise of Empires: Ottoman (2020-2022), Vikings (2013-2020), The Last Kingdom (2015-2022), Diriliş: Ertuğrul (2014), A Knight’s Tale (2001), BBC’s Robin Hood (2006-3009), The Last Duel (2021), The Story of Minglan (2018), The Borgias (2013), Robin Hood (1939), Outlaw King (2018), Pilgrimage (2017), Legend (1985), Braveheart (1995), The Green Knight (2021), Excalibur (1981), Beowulf & Grendel (2005), The Lion in Winter (1968), Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993), The Black Adder (Blackadder Series 1, 1982), Rashomon (1950)

Remember: This is just a list of examples—WOW ME!

These following titles are examples of properties that do not fall within or emulate the stated time period and therefore DO NOT QUALIFY: The Three Musketeers (Any Version), Pirates of the Caribbean (2004), Barbarians (2020), Gladiator (2000), Ben Hur (1959), Shogun (2024), Elizabeth (1999), 300 (2006), Troy (2004), Xena: Warrior Princess (1995-2001), Disney's Robin Hood (1973)**, Yojimbo (1961), Shakespeare in Love (1998), King Arthur (2004)***

For the purposes of this tournament, "Man" and "Guy" are defined as any bi-pedal humanoid male character played by a man. As such, characters belonging to non-human races such as Hobbits, Orcs, Elves, Demons, Fauns, Werewolves etc. ARE admissible, and, indeed, encouraged.

If you have propaganda you forgot to include in your submission, just hold onto it and send it in an ask after the Tournament begins.

You may submit as many hot men as you like but please submit only ONE ENTRANT per submission.

Do not hesitate to submit ANY hot guy you think may qualify, no matter how popular he is. There is no such thing as a shoo-in with these tournaments. If you think "Someone MUST have submitted him already!" Everyone else is probably thinking that too and then he may well NEVER get submitted and we don't want that.

Do not worry about how many submissions your hot guy might have had already--I need to get a sense of who the strongest contenders are in order to fairly seed the draws, and the best way to do that is volume of submissions.

We are voting on the hotness of the characters. While the actors who portray them are of course a major factor in this, we are not voting on the actors themselves, therefore propaganda pertaining to the actors real lives (aside from anecdotes relating to their portrayal of the character) is not admissible.

By that same token, in the case of historical figures (e.g. Henry VIII) we are judging hotness based on the fictionalized portrayals of them in these properties, not on historical fact.

Regarding immortal/time-travelling/dimension-hopping/extremely long-lived characters, regardless of when the character was born, the main action**** of the story must take place within the Medieval Period (see dates listed at the top of this post) or Medieval-esque fantasy fantasy realm in order for them to be eligible for submission. As such, characters like the Pevensie brothers (The Chronicles of Narnia) and Ash Williams (Army of Darkness) are admissible, but Asgardians (the MCU Thor films) are not.

I, as the Administrator and Master of Revels of this tournament, am exercising discretion in the admittance of characters from works by Shakespeare, since many of them have no set date.

Re: characters adapted from books/written works - Book quotes by/ about your character are not admissible as Propaganda for their tv/ movie counterparts unless said quotes were also written into the show/movie.

Book illustrations and fanart are not admissible Propaganda

SUBMISSIONS SHALL REMAIN OPEN UNTIL MIDNIGHT, JULY 1st

The Tourney shall begin at a date yet to be determined with the Melee (Qualifying Rounds), wherein the entrants with the fewest submissions and least propaganda will duke it out in a free for all brawl to determine who will enter the Lists.

SUBMIT YOUR ENTRANTS HERE TODAY!!!

-- Master of Revels

*The "live-action" qualification does have a caveat: exception may be made for those CGI films which were all the rage in the mid-00's that used the motion-capture and likeness of the actors; for example characters from, Robert Zemeckis's Beowulf (2007) are admissible.

** this one doesn't qualify, not because it isn't the right time period, but because it falls solidly under the "Animated" category.

***Yes, sadly we are deprived of the beautiful countenances of Clive Owen, Mads Mikkelsen, Ioan Gruffudd et al because the producers of this film in their infinite wisdom and in an attempt to seem "more historically accurate" chose to set it during the Roman withdrawal from Britain, which occurred in the 5th Century (About a CENTURY earlier than Authurian tradition) and is generally agreed to have ended by AD 410. It therefore does not fall under the Medieval umbrella and is not eligible for submission.

**** "Main Action" here defined as "More than half an hour of a movie and more than two episodes of a series"