#they've seen the best

[jakeperalta]

"industry plant" is literally just the new way of saying "this female artist is having a lot of success and I don't like her for it".... like ok well personally I just don't find it that hard to believe that young women can be talented and work hard and achieve things

[jyn-ehrso]

they're so soft 🥺

[amogus-real-not-clickbait]

i got oil pastels so here's a meal for yall. enjoy

[bookwyrm-art-stuff]

I analyze fandoms the same way I analyze the media they're built around and that should concern all of you

[lastoneout]

So it turns out men's jeans make my ass look amazing. I mean it already looks amazing but like even better than usual.

[maritteknewtheenemy]

The three quotes about propaganda that are the foreword of SOTR are the strongest condemnations of it present in the novel btw and they aren't even SC own words

[cake-chad]

I know some people are upset with the route they've gone for this season of SR, I'm personally fine with it, like they've said they did rush into the campaign and didn't get to establish world building much, and like Mace said during the break, the story is about the Stardust Rhapsody, which is the ship itself, characters come and go much like the ship and small crew they've taken inspiration from.

I think the only complaint I may have is having a character that doesn't speak common, it does make for funny situations where Derek gets to improvise his response, but having him not able to have significant conversations with anyone else? That's part of the heart of these campaigns, building the relationships between characters, so having him be essentially silent to everyone else is going to affect that :/

[rhinocio]

[avp23]

AFTG characters as things in LOTR

no-context-spoilers!!!

dear niche audience: welcome.

Neil Josten: this blue steel

Andrew Minyard: hobbit blade!

Nicky Hemmick: "so I think Sam and Frodo should've kissed and my feeling about that is...how do you know they didnt? you know what I mean? it's a long trek to mordor ;D"

Kevin Day: this energy

Aaron Minyard: need I say more?

Renee Walker: eowyn without the pining over men

Matt Boyd: this straightforward attitude

Dan Wilds: arwen's competence

Allison Reynolds: Legolas' braid

Seth Gordon: having sean bean play him

David Wymack:

Betsy Dobson: Shadowfax

Abby Winfield: athelas

heheeeee

[lupismaris]

There is nothing so affirming and life saving as leaving home and being loved at face value by total strangers for who you are

[bachirasbodyguard]

why are we not talking more about the Blue Lock TV rankings from vol 22 😭😭

[doverstar]

every year around this time I rewatch Julie and the Phantoms, and every year I am reminded how much heart this little tween show about grief and hope has

[flippyspoon]

flippy wearing comedy bang bang world pod merch

[batsplat]

come on there’s gotta be at least 3 sete/vale rivalry appreciators (you me and pedro acosta)!! haven’t seen 2003-05 seasons in full but mugello 2004 alone was so great.

vale and gibernau finished 1&2 on the same podium SEVEN times in 2003, the only ppl who did it more in a single year (since 2000, was too lazy to look back further) were lorenzo/pedrosa in 2012 when they swapped 1&2 places 9 times on the podium.

I love you anon

listen, I know some people need their rivalries to be more balanced than this, but in terms of actual on-track battles it's like. one of the very best this century. (I'm trying to hold back from calling it the best this century but I don't not believe that?) also some might argue that the 1-2 achievement is even more impressive in 2003 than in 2012, given more riders were capable of fighting for wins and the field spread was way less dramatic. sete's 2003 season in particular is so underrated, man's scoring an average of 17.3 points per race, four wins, 10/16 races on the podium, only two races where he was worse than fourth... serious pace plus consistency! out of nowhere!

anyway, here's every notable on-track encounter between sete and valentino, with * to **** asterisks by how worth watching it is for the fight between those two specifically. (for most of these, of course you can find more details in the sete post and the valentino race recs post.) using italics I've indicated which races are available on youtube (or on facebook, in the case of phillip island 2004):

welkom 2003**: the first race after kato's death, and the one where sete secures his unlikely emotional victory. valentino applied heavy pressure on sete in the late stages, but sete stood firm

le mans 2003***: yes, valentino was unlucky when the race was interrupted by rain - but the resulting battle between sete and valentino in the last few laps in tricky conditions is fantastic. multiple overtakes on the last lap and both riders off-track at the final corner

catalunya 2003*: valentino looked locked-on for the victory until he made two mistakes, the second of which has him go off-track and drop several places to hand capirossi the win. vale finds some crazy pace to catch up with biaggi and sete and pass them both

sachsenring 2003****: valentino gets a big enough lead you think it's surely over... but then sete catches him, leading valentino to let him go by so he can study him from behind. a dramatic final lap that prompts a bit of an existential crisis from valentino

brno 2003****: valentino shows up after the summer break with red hair, a determined smile and a mission. this race is a thriller, a proper dogfight between 3-5 riders with plenty of twists and turns - before the whole thing distils into an all timer of a final lap duel

rio 2003*: valentino sticks behind sete for a while, but it feels like he was just biding his time. once he gets past, he pushes hard and pulls away for a comfortable win

sepang 2003*: the match point race, after valentino had run away with the season post-brno. valentino gets a middling start and has to hunt down sete, but once he does he again pulls away

mugello 2004***: MY BELOVED. this is where the momentum in that season really shifts, courtesy of one hell of a chaotic race. there is an excellent sete/valentino duel in this race, but it's far from the only thing going on. all of it's brilliant

catalunya 2004****: a race long duel! I love catalunya duels because so much of it is about tyres getting chewed up and the riders wobbling and sliding more and more. sete's home race and psychologically a very important race... one hell of a show

assen 2004****: the turning point of the relationship! I still FULLY believe this set up everything that happened next, even if nobody talks about this race any more. the fight slaps!! the last lap slaps!! the podium with bad vibes slaps!! valentino in that presser!!

brno 2004*: sete badly needed a win here, and in the end it's not particularly close. the early battle with those two and biaggi is fun, but eventually sete's newly upgraded honda has the clear edge

phillip island 2004****: the first duel post-qatar curse - so these two now hate each other. it's also a match point race! banger of a start, sete is proper feisty here leaving valentino to hunt him down. banger of a final lap too

valencia 2004*: last race of the season - and even though the title's been sealed up, wouldn't it be nice to get a morale-boosting win to take into the new year? at sete's home race too? ah, you know how this goes. the way valentino gets past sete is pretty funny

jerez 2005****: well of course! again, fierce start, and it takes a bit to get rid of everyone else so it's just those two again. the last lap is something special, as is the post-race drama

catalunya 2005***: back on sete home turf!! and sete rides such a good race, he's really doing his very best - except of course valentino is hunting him down again. there's a brutally dismissive quality to this victory

le mans 2005***: edwards streaks off in front until valentino catches him - and vale's content to sit on his teammate's rear tyre until sete catches them both. the race from there is a joy

sachsenring 2005***: another goody! hayden features quite prominently in this one, and crucially valentino never manages to make a break for it. sete leads going into the final lap

brno 2005***: the fun of this one is in remembering it's sachsenring // summer break // brno... and the duel here immediately picks up again with valentino brusquely cutting past sete on the first lap. really makes it feel like sete is trapped in some sort of a hellish time loop... the end to this one is proper CRUEL

qatar 2005***: one year anniversary of that race and of course sete is desperate to repeat his success. the more of these you watch the crueller they get, not least when it really does look like he's built up enough of a lead. melandri also plays a big part in this one

mugello 2006**: you just know how badly sete would have loved to win this (and so did the commentators). entire race is excellent but sete mainly features in the starting dogfight, not the latter stages

phillip island 2006**: this is a chaos bike swap race and there's a lot going on, all of which is very relevant to the title fight. relevant to this post is that sete and valentino end up fighting for the last podium place on the very last lap. their last duel before sete's career was cut short by injury

obviously, if anyone's looking to watch the full sete/valentino story, there's a few more races you'd have to add in like 2004 welkom, qatar and sepang. anyway, this rivalry slaps. hopefully soon a fourth person can be recruited to the cause

[theinfinitedivides]

there is nothing more beautiful than seeing the full montage of Jun Mo going absolutely batsh*t insane crazy unhinged when he steps foot in that hallway and sees what's going on. just completely gloriously feral out of it kill count going up by the dozens bathed in blood like a kind of baptism or wine of pseudo-Eucharist this is My body and My blood eat (drink) this in remembrance of Me etc etc bc as from his own mouth he says that there is someone he needs to protect. forget acting like the rent was due he acted like it was mortgage backdated student loans credit card bill car payments hospital fees alimony child support you name it he had his bank details ready holy f*ck

[drinkingdeadpeopletea]

and shout-out to weepe's guards! competent enough to move quicker than kozma's people, strong enough to overpower them despite being outnumbered, and seemingly didn't even blink at not just killing other people but at doing it with horrific weaponized tearror-blood. weepe found these guys in the fucking TRUST?