#this race was terrible for me but this…

[spark-of-teal]

“How much do you hate me today, Gem?” Pearl asked, feeling the smile on her face as she adjusted her seat on the camel.

“A lot!” Gem snapped.

“Dang it, I was hoping to trick you,” Pearl said blithely, “and you’d say something like- you know-”

“Do you know why, though?”

Taken aback by the anger in her friend’s voice, Pearl asked, “What?”

“I have reasons today,” Gem said, signalling for the camel to start walking across the bridge. Pearl wrapped her arms around Gem’s waist, and for the first time in all the times she’d done it, it felt uncomfortable. “I’ve reflected.”

“You’ve reflected?” 

“Yeah!” Gem said, her voice surprisingly thick with hurt. “Do you remember last session, when you thought you put your eye into the portal?”

“We weren’t even there for-” Pearl began to protest, but Gem cut her off by stopping the camel and yanking Pearl’s arms off of her waist. She twisted around to face Pearl. 

“Did you even look me in the face during our- our murder camel…happenings?” Gem’s eyebrows twitched further down as she messed up her speech.

Pearl wanted to laugh at Gem tripping over her words, but the look on Gem’s face squashed any positive feelings she could’ve had. “Y-yeah! It was such a good time, it was-”

“And you remember what my face looked like?” Gem pointed with a trembling hand to her left eye. 

Pearl felt herself quickly falling into the hole she’d dug, and searched desperately for what Gem could be referring to. “Yeah!” She remembered Gem’s clothes turning yellow and then red, and…a left arm the color of the void, and… “Oh. I forgot about…”

“Okay.” Blinking rapidly, Gem turned around and began the camel’s walk again, faster this time. “And then other than that, you 2v1 me! And you- you know about holding grudges across seasons. You know about that.”

Now Pearl felt her own anger flare up. “I didn’t 2v1 you Gem, let’s put this straight. I let Scar do it, I watched.” She searched for something to hold onto that wasn’t Gem, and settled for the not-incredibly-optimal grip on the camel’s sides. She felt herself closing her eyes as the camel climbed up a hill.

“No no no. I remember specifically-”

“I hit you once!” Pearl raised her voice, heated with indignance.

“Hitting me once!” Gem raised her voice in return. “That’s enough! That set your dogs on me!”

“It was one little basic whack!”

“It was not a regen-based season!”

“And I sat the dogs down, Gem! You had so many hearts!”

“Once was enough!”

Pearl quickly calmed herself, trying to salvage the conversation. “You were gonna live. You were fine. You see? Look at that. We’re thriving.”

Pearl could hear the breath Gem took. She could hear the shakiness in it. “I’m just saying,” Gem said, turning the camel back to her base, “I’ll forgive you if you actually 1v1v1v-whatever me. And not 2v1.”

Pearl felt a laugh slip out, and she could see Gem’s arms tense in response. “Well at that point, that seems like we’re trying to kill each other. That seems against the point, no?”

“Yeah, we have to die, Pearl, that’s the game.” 

Pearl’s heart was racing as she stumbled over her words in response to that… morbid opinion. “That’s the- that’s not- that’s- that means I can only- that means there’s only resolution after the season ends, is what you’re saying!”

The exasperation in Gem’s voice made Pearl’s throat tighten. “We can die six times! We have time to die!”

“I can’t die six times!” Did Gem not care about Pearl’s life at all? Just for the sake of some morally correct 1v1?

“You can die once!”

Pearl reached for something to lighten the situation. She hated fighting, especially with Gem. In an attempt to make a joke, she went for, “1v1 me right now, Gem.” Terrible joke.

Gem appeared to be taking it seriously, stopping the camel to think. “Right now? … Alright.”

“Not really!” Pearl laughed nervously. “You were too- you were too all into that, you were like, ‘yeah let’s- let’s do it! Yeah, let’s get it!’”

“I mean…” Gem’s voice was calm and serious. Pearl never liked when it did that. “It’s high stakes for you, but I mean, we’ve PvP’d on Hermitcraft, it’s about 50/50 who wins and who loses.”

Pearl spluttered, and everything inside her was screaming run away. So she climbed off the camel and walked away. “Fine. I’m gonna go get on Impulse’s camel, because Impulse actually treats me right.” What was she saying?

“What, you don’t want to 1v1 me? You’re scared?” Gem called after her. Pearl turned around. Where a playful smirk would’ve usually been, a disappointed frown sat instead. “If you win, you go green!”

“I know.” Pearl looked at her feet. She couldn’t help the pit in her stomach whenever she imagined fighting Gem, imagined the disappointed look on Scott and Cleo’s faces if she would lose and go red. Looking up and forcing cheer into her tone, she continued, “But I’d rather catch you when you’re unawares!”

Gem’s face twisted. “You’re still not honorable!”

“I’m very honorable!” Pearl protested. “It’s all part of traps!”

Gem flipped her camel around and walked away. “You don’t want it.”

Want what? Her forgiveness? “I do!” Pearl ran after the camel. “Gem?”

But she kept walking.

Gem sank to the floor inside her rebuilt barn, leaning her back against the stone. She missed the wood. But nothing good on this server ever stayed, did it? That's how it worked. Things burn, and then get replaced by something else.

Even if Pearl didn't, Gem knew that. She knew to cherish the precious things. And even if Pearl couldn't, Gem could remember everything clearly. Very clearly. She remembered opening the portal.

She’d been digging down forever, ender eye clutched in her left hand. She’d built bridges above the silverfish to avoid them, she’d pictured the awe in everyone’s faces when she told them everything.

Gem lay on her front and reached down toward the portal. She stretched her arm as far as she could, and finally, finally set the eye where it belonged. There was a deep rumble, either heard or felt or both, and the lava beneath her slowly turned into a black abyss, with distant hints of green.

“I did it,” she breathed. “I did it! I opened the End gateway!”

Then her hand turned numb.

It started at the palm but quickly spread to her fingertips, then up to her wrist. It was a cold, empty shock. It felt like it was dissolving every bit of her, right down to her bones, until there was nothing but air left. She tried to pull away, but her hand was stuck on the eye. All she could do was watch as the void crawled up her arm, onto her shoulder, up her neck and into her eye. Her skin turned pale and purplish, then that same black abyss crept in, slowly spreading up and up until it reached her eye and she felt pain, burning pain.

Screaming, she wrenched her hand away from the eye and covered her face. Only her right eye was crying. 

It was probably only a few minutes she sat there, holding her face and rocking back and forth, but when the burning finally went away, it felt like hours. She looked down at her shaking hand. It was cold and lifeless and alien.

No one would be in awe anymore. They’d be scared.

But Gem had known someone who wasn’t scared. Pearl had treated her kindly, complimenting the “new look” and reveling in Gem’s tales of danger. Pearl was loyal to her. At least at the start.

Even if it meant everything to Gem that Pearl was by her side, apparently it meant nothing to Pearl. Gem meant nothing to Pearl.

So Gem sat lost in her thoughts, rubbing her left eye over and over again, until she heard Joel shriek for her help. Giving Pearl no more thought, she grabbed her sword and ran outside.

[irememberhope]

Still thinking about the Las Vegas GP and having weird thoughts. I love Max and his 4th WDC win brings me enough serotonin to pull me through this next week, but I really don't like how Red Bull handles its team and the coincidences of the race made me philosophical.

It's just odd, this season. There has to be a curse upon the second Red Bull seat, and I don't blame Max for it, but his teammates can't seem to win. I almost think when Daniel left he cursed it, but it had consequences for him in spite.

Daniel, gone this season in the one of the worst handled ways seen in the sport. That's after coming off a season where he was injured, and before that multiple seasons where he was obviously disappointed. He was the teammate that challenged Max the most, and he probably had the best weekend outside of Max. Happy retired even if it hurt exiting.

Then Pierre, who had such a good week previously and was high on the P3 qualifying, retired from an engine failure. Such an Icarus moment that he couldn't have stopped.

Alex, retiring that Williams also from something he couldn't avoid. After a terrible week in Brazil, and all the hype for his rookie teammate. Franco is amazing and I hope to see him in F1 next year, but it has to be rough with the amount of talk there is for Franco going to a higher team or possibly replacing him in 2026 with Carlos as his teammate.

Finally, poor Checo. He's not a bad driver, but the last two seasons have been awful for him. Mostly because of Red Bull using him as a scapegoat and not revealing the car had issues. He would probably be suited better to another team, one with a car that matched his driving style so he could show how good of a driver he is, but instead there is constant talk that he should be replaced and blaming him for Red Bull's loss in WCC. The self confidence has to have plummeted.

Then you have Max, winning his 4th WDC. What could have beens. I wonder if they question if they could be a WDC. There is something so tragic with three out of four (ex)teammates having an awful weekend when Max is continuing to level a legacy of excellence.

[slytherinzz]

A special game of truth or dare

Summary: after a thrilling Quidditch victory for your house, a magic form of truth or dare leaves MC and Sebastian in the aftermath of their feelings.

Pairing: F!MC and Sebastian Sallow

a/n: it's been a while since i've been on the fic train. Please let me know if you have requests! I'm a sucker for friends to lovers or enemies to lovers :)

the school was buzzing aftert he aftermath of last night’s Quidditch victory. Sebastian had been at the center of it all, of course—his winning catch as Seeker was the talk of the evening, and he had basked in the attention like a natural performer. MC had been at his side most of the night, sharing jokes, sneaking glances, and engaging in the playful flirtation that had always defined their friendship. But something about his lingering touches, his winks directed only at her, had set her nerves alight.

Did he flirt like this with everyone? Or… was there something more?

As the party wound down, a smaller group—just the closest of friends—had remained in the common room, with Garrett leading them into a mischievous game of Truth or Dare. Imelda rolled her eyes. “We’re not kids, Weasley.”

Garrett shrugged, unbothered. “If you’re too scared, you can sit out. But I’ve got a potion here that guarantees honesty—or bravery.” He waved the bubbling concoction for effect, its sickly green glow lighting up his freckled face.

Poppy giggled nervously, glancing around the room. “This is a terrible idea.”

“That’s why it’s brilliant,” Garrett said, pouring small amounts into each of their cups. “Now, everyone drink, or you’re out!”

It wasn’t until Sebastian asked Ominis whom he fancied that the game turned scandalous. Ominis , ever stoic, had answered bluntly: “Anne.”

The room had fallen silent. Even Sebastian seemed momentarily caught off guard before muttering, “Well, that’s… something to unpack later.”

Then it was MC’s turn. Garrett, ever the troublemaker, grinned wickedly as he asked, “Alright, MC, who’s the most attractive guy here?”

Her cheeks flamed instantly. Every instinct screamed at her to deflect, to choose a safer answer. But the potion forced her honesty, and the words spilled out before she could stop them:

“Sebastian.”

The room erupted into a mix of laughter and awkward coughing. Sebastian’s face turned a deep crimson, his eyes darting to hers before quickly looking away. dormitory, heart pounding and mind racing with what she had just revealed.

“Alright, folks, it’s time to spice things up. Truth or Dare!”

The group exchanged hesitant glances before downing their firewiskey in unison.

“Right,” Garrett said, rubbing his hands together. “Imelda, truth or dare?”

Imelda glared at him but chose dare, of course. Garrett grinned. “I dare you to admit that Gryffindor’s Seeker isn’t half bad.”

“I’d rather hex myself,” she shot back. But the potion compelled her to grumble, “Alright, fine. He’s decent. For a Gryffindor.”

Laughter rippled through the group as the game continued, the dares and truths growing bolder with each round.

When it was Sebastian’s turn, he leaned forward, a wicked glint in his eyes. “Ominis,” he said smoothly, “truth or dare?”

Ominous, ever composed, sighed. “Truth.”

Sebastian didn’t miss a beat. “Who’s your first kiss?”

A rare blush crept up Ominous’s neck as he folded his arms tightly. “That’s none of your—”

“The potion, Ominous,” Garrett reminded him gleefully.

Ominous exhaled sharply. “Fine. Her name was Lydia Travers. It was… underwhelming.”

The group howled with laughter, even Ominischuckling softly.

Then it was MC’s turn, and Garrett was quick to pounce. “MC, truth or dare?”

She hesitated, knowing she was trapped either way. “Dare.”

Garrett’s grin turned wolfish. “I dare you to sit on Sebastian’s lap for the next round.”

MC’s stomach flipped. “Garrett!”

“Hey, it’s a dare,” he said with a shrug, looking far too pleased with himself.

The group’s eyes turned to Sebastian, who simply raised an eyebrow and patted his lap dramatically. “Well, come on then.”

Her face burned, but there was no escaping it. She stood slowly, ignoring the teasing whistles from Garrett and Imelda, and perched awkwardly on Sebastian’s lap. His arm instinctively wrapped around her waist to steady her, sending a jolt through her body.

“Comfortable?” he murmured in her ear, his voice low enough for only her to hear.

“Shut up,” she muttered, her cheeks flaming.

The game pressed on, but MC was hyper-aware of Sebastian’s every shift and breath, the warmth of him seeping through her skin. When it was Imelda’s turn, she grinned wickedly at the pair.

“Sebastian,” Imelda said, “truth or dare?”

“Dare,” he said without hesitation, his cocky smirk firmly in place.

Imelda leaned forward. “I dare you to kiss MC.”

MC froze, her heart slamming against her ribs. Sebastian’s smirk faltered for a moment before he chuckled, glancing at her. “Well, a dare’s a dare, isn’t it?”

Before she could protest, he tilted her chin gently, his lips brushing hers in a featherlight kiss. It was brief but electric, leaving her breathless and the room deathly silent.

“Well,” Garrett finally said, breaking the tension, “that’s one way to win a dare.”

Sebastian’s arm tightened slightly around her, but he said nothing, his gaze lingering on her for just a moment too long before he leaned back casually, as if nothing had happened.

By the time the game circled back to MC, her nerves were frayed. Garrett, naturally, took his chance to push further. “Alright, MC. Truth or dare?”

She hesitated, her voice barely steady. “Truth.”

“Who’s the best kisser you’ve ever had?” he asked, clearly aiming to stir the pot.

MC’s mind went blank, her heart pounding as the truth serum worked its magic. Her gaze darted to Sebastian before she could stop herself. “Sebastian.”

The silence was deafening. Sebastian’s eyes widened slightly, but then a slow, knowing grin spread across his face.

“Well,” he drawled, “I’m flattered.”

Mortified, MC pushed off his lap, her face burning as the group erupted into laughter and teasing. She muttered an excuse about needing air and fled to her dormitory, her heart in her throat.

The next morning, the weight of her confession—and that kiss—sat heavily on MC’s chest. As soon as she woke, the memories flooded back, vivid and undeniable. The idea of facing Sebastian in the Great Hall, or worse, in class, was unbearable.

Instead, she found herself retreating to the Undercroft, seeking the solitude and familiarity of their secret space. She had barely settled in when the door creaked open, and Sebastian stepped inside.

For a moment, they stared at each other, the events of the previous night hanging heavily in the air.

“I had a feeling you’d be here,” he said, closing the door behind him.

“I needed to think,” she admitted softly.

“About last night?” he asked, his tone unreadable.

She nodded, unable to meet his eyes. “Sebastian, I—”

“MC,” he interrupted, stepping closer. “About that kiss… I know it was just a game, but I meant it. And if you felt the same—”

“I did,” she blurted, cutting him off.

His lips parted in surprise before a slow, warm smile spread across his face. “You did?”

“Yes,��� she whispered, finally meeting his gaze. “I just didn’t know how to say it.”

Sebastian’s grin turned soft as he reached for her, his hands steady on her arms. “You just did.”

This time, when he kissed her, it wasn’t a dare.

They were so lost in each other that neither heard the door open. Ominous’s voice broke through the haze like a bucket of cold water. “Merlin’s beard, will you two get a room already?”

They sprang apart, both red-faced as Ominous smirked. “Honestly, you’re worse than Garrett’s potion experiments. Keep the Undercroft..uncristened, please.”

Sebastian laughed, pulling MC close despite her protests. “Noted. Now, where were we?”

[rita-repulsa-ke]

Nicky and Death

Nicky is three, playing by a creek a little ways away from camp, entertaining himself by trying to stack rocks together while his mother cooks.

He places a rock with great care and then a woman is there, kneeling on the ground next to him. “Wow,” she says. “Nice rocks.”

Nicky has a toddler’s sensitivity to condescension and there’s none in her voice. She does really seem to like the rocks. “I building a tower. I can do up to six and then it fall,” he tells her, an extroverted child, used to charming people on his mother’s behalf.

“Hmm. I bet we can do more than six. What do you think?” she asks.

He considers, then hands her a rock and she isn’t actually that much better at it than him, but by the time his mama calls for them, they’ve managed a tower of ten.

He’s too focused on the rocks, he doesn’t notice the way the strange woman freezes like a hunting dog sighting prey when Agatha’s voice rings out. “If any little boys were out there and wanted dinner, now would be the time to come back.”

“Coming, mama!!” He yells, then, “That’s my mama,” he tells the stranger.

“So it is,” she agrees and there is a tone in her voice, like she’s got a cold, strangely sniffly. He should know, he gets them a lot. “Is she a good mama?”

He nods. “Mos’ly. She makes me eat ve’gatles.”

“Truly terrible. Do you want to play together again sometime?”

He nods. The stranger is good at stacking rocks and he likes having someone to play with when his mama is busy.

“All right. But listen, little Nicholas. You mustn’t tell your mother about me. Or I’ll have to disappear and never come back.”

He accepts this with a child’s acceptance of fairytale logic, the same way he accepts that she knows his name with no introduction. “‘K.”

She offers him her hand and they shake like adults.

“Nicky, hurry it up, the food is getting cold!” His mama yells.

“G’tta go. Bye,” he tells his mysterious new friend, bounds up and races away toward his mama and food he hopes contains no vegetables of any kind.

“…She’s always so impatient,” Rio murmurs, flicking the tower of rocks over, her ears pricked to hear the distant sounds of a woman and a boy chatting together. “…Miss you so much, my heart.”

She sits, listens and grieves for some unknowable length of time, until eventually, between one breath and next, she disappears, stops listening but never stops grieving.

[landoscaring]

[valyrfia]

eh. that’s only an eight point loss which is one less than lando needs to be gaining each weekend in order to win this championship. i’ll take it and move on.

[nicoandindy]

the alt verison (same song just dif part)

There's a black hole in the living room floor, I keep trying to ignore it but it's growing.

Emf sits in his house anxiously, he decides to leave and step onto the parkour highway. He starts jumping towards the staircase and starts parkouring towards Evbo's house

I'm on my way to your house, it can't wait anymore

He nervously takes each jump, scared to tell him

I'm pulling in the driveway, I'm standing on your porch

Emf sees Evbo's house and starts speeding up slightly as he gets closer, he jumps down to the front door catching himself with a water bucket.

My knuckles hesitant an inch away from the door

Emf stands there at the front door, scared that Evbo won't understand or will stop being friends with him. Emf slumps down next to the door,

What happens when it opens ?

He's terrified that Evbo will hate him, his mind continues to race through every terrible thing that could happen

Leanin' in my fantasy, I can't commit to beliving

Emf imagines what could happen if it goes well, then mutters to himself "No.. I don't want to risk it. He'll definitely hate me."

That I'll get what I want, I'm afraid of what I want

Emf brings his knees up closer to his chest, small tears start to well up in his eyes.

Even in my fantasy, I keep the car running

The door of Evbo's house starts to slowly open, Emf quickly wipes his eyes and stands up,

Incase I need to take off

He starts to leave before something tugs on his shirt from behind him, "Shit." Emf thinks and begins to turn towards Evbo, he's been spotted.

The months blur together, I watch the ceiling buckle

Evbo pulls Emf to closer him and kisses the parkour master. After a short while they both pull away and Emf starts to tear up and kisses Evbo again

I wonder when it's caving in

He didn't have to be scared afterall.

Black Hole Fantasy

Let's try this again

The last thing Evbo does with the command blocks, is restore the parkour fighter level, and remove parkour hell. He immediately starts towards the newly revived level and look at all the fighters looking around at the repaired area. He has to find him.

I'm on my way to your house, guided by the stars

He jumps to the first block outside of the temple and goes to the different houses looking for him, Evbo sees the same building he found him and begins sprinting there, fighters are staring at him trip and almost fall to the level below. His fighter friend watches him run towards the building, the fighter knows where Evbo is going.

I'm pulling in the driveway, I'm turning off the car

Evbo is almost there, this is the only place he knew he could be. He has to find him.

I'm running to your porch, I'm spinning up the stairs

Evbo arrived at the building and starts jumping up the stairs, he reaches the top of the stairs and there he is, right across from him.

The door swings open and your standing there

"Evbo ?" Seawatt says confused, "What's going on ? How am I back ? Why is everything normal again ??"

Your beaming down at me, your reaching out for me

"I brought it, and.. you back." Evbo starts running towards Seawatt and jumps over the hole in the ground, Seawatt stares at him

Pull me in your arms, and I feel your heart pounding

Evbo hugs Seawatt, Seawatt pauses for a moment and then embraces him back, Seawatt hasn't been hugged in a long time so he savors it while it lasts.

I, take a step back, to, catch my breath and we

Evbo pulls back from the hug, he looks at Seawatt in his eyes. He's not been this close to Seawatt for a while, he has so much he wants to tell Seawatt.

Look at eachother, double over and laugh

They both laugh because they used to hate eachother, and now here they are hugging because of how much they missed one another. Evbo's hands on Seawatt's shoulders and Seawatt cupping one side of Evbo's face with his hand,

Laugh

They move slightly closer and kiss, it's gentle and passionate. The kiss doesn't last very long but they smile at eachother. The two laugh and just stare at eachother for a moment before hugging again, they forgot how nice it was to be around eachother.

And laugh

please reblog, it helps me know that people want more stuff like this :)

[thissying]

post-race interview, GP Monza, 2024

"With one stop the result would have been the same but you would've been closer. Of course you have to try to drive your best race."

[wetchickenbreast]

if you think that white families adopting poc children is problematic or that a person participating in their spouse/lover/friend’s culture is cultural appropriation or that a half white person shouldn’t do anything from their non-white culture unless they reach your arbitrary standard of looking poc enough then congrats on reinventing the concept of segregation using progressive sounding language

[my-fall-from-grace]

controversial(?) opinion : it’s not logan who needs to prove himself, but the williams racing team as a whole

[vanwizard]

feel like pure shit just want him back

[batsplat]

seen people talk about how marcs 2012 season was the reason the penalty point system was introduced (that made vale start from the back in 2015 which is admittedly absolutely absurdly funny) so here i am to ask my favorite motogp historian for thoughts (and prayers?) mostly about what exactly marc DID to make that happen (kinda funny also that he was branded a track terrorist from day 1 😭) and why they struck it in the mid 2010s?

okay so I'm gonna be lazy here and start out by just including what I put in the marc race recs post:

phillip island 2011 was the worst incident, and marc was criticised by motogp riders too, including valentino and casey. that one was like... it was just straight up dangerous and also incredibly stupid, I mean you're trying to get an extra lap in at the end of fp1 and are putting yourself and other riders in serious danger (definitely a case where you can argue that the penalty didn't go far enough and a race ban would have been warranted). marc can sometimes be pretty bullish in response to criticism while still going away and kinda realising what he'd done was a bad idea, quietly adjusting his behaviour... examples include this, where he had his team appeal the penalty, as well as of course 2018 argentina, where he talked down the 'mistakes' he'd made and said he'd done more wrong in the aleix than the valentino incident (which may be true, but it's the rhetorical equivalent of saying it's better to go up to someone's home and throw bricks through the windows than it is to set it on fire) - he is fairly good at learning from his mistakes, even when he doesn't always fully admit to them

that being said, of course he did continue getting himself involved in a fair bit of controversy during 2012. but it's worth pointing out that the penalty points system wasn't just a case of 'oh this kid is so bad, we've got to do something' - it was also a case of 'yeah this is being handled in a super inconsistent manner, actually'. like, there were times people felt marc should be penalised more, yes, but other times where they felt it was too much... it was just a bit all over the place. luckily, inconsistent stewarding is a problem they've managed to fix in the intervening twelve years, so we never hear about that stuff any more. let's just give a quick summary of the four biggest 2012 flashpoints:

qatar: marc runs luthi off-track in a deliberate and pretty dangerous way and gets a slap on the cooldown lap for his troubles, plus a reprimand from race direction

catalunya: towards the end of a race in which marc made several questionable moves, pol espargaro attempted to overtake marc who had just saved a fall - marc cuts across the track to rejoin the racing line and ends up colliding with pol. he was initially given a controversial penalty in the form of a minute added to his final time, before that was rescinded (which was unsuccessfully appealed by pol's team). see here for valentino and casey's reactions

motegi: marc 'torpedoed' kallio in saturday morning practise, riding into his side while kallio was on the racing line headed into a turn and causing kallio to highside... which he was not penalised for. some responses to the incident below

valencia: marc attempted to overtake corsi in friday practise, causing him to crash. this time, race direction handed out a back-of-the-grid penalty

it's a subtle distinction but an important one so I'll just stress it again: the stated aim of the penalty points wasn't to hold back aggressive riders like marc but to attempt to reduce inconsistency, which had been exposed in part due to how differently these marc incidents were handled. what marc did was create several high profile controversies, in each case prompting some level of frustration with how race direction handled the whole thing. obviously, there were other non-marc-related stewarding controversies, but it is inarguable that he was a significant factor in causing a revamp of the system

by the way, here's valentino's criticism of marc after the valencia incident:

here's a quick explanation of how the penalty points worked:

and, you know, for what it's worth marc did calm down in motogp... he certainly became better at operating in the grey area of the rules, approaching his racing in a manner his competitors didn't always appreciate but was certainly a lot harder to penalise. though there were also incidents that of course people felt marc should be penalised for - say after jerez 2013, jorge did kinda go 'okay but surely you can at least give a few penalty points for this, isn't this what they're for'. but it's not like there was unanimous agreement on that, see the immediate responses of some of the riders:

(bradley smith saying that jorge's last serious race was motegi 2005 - the one he got the race ban for - is a bit of an insane stance to take and doesn't really match up to reality, but it did make me laugh so that's something. of course the general point that during the alien era most of them were avoiding doing much actual racing isn't exactly wrong but. still)

not to make this a riding standards post, but this is the underlying tension when you're trying to decide how to regulate the sport... jerez was the first serious test that system faced - and it's one where race direction ended up calling it a pure racing incident. which is a tough call! I talked about it a bit in the sete post and what his stance was on the jerez 2005 incident, where he feels like this isn't a contact sport and shouldn't be adjudicated as such. it's a fundamental philosophical difference that became very relevant again when marc showed up fresh from his controversial moto2 campaign and woke up the entire class with his own particular brand of racing. from a write-up of the jerez 2013 race:

(motegi 2008 not motegi 2010, which is something I remember because casey's pass also allowed valentino to immediately swoop on through. should be noted that casey may have apologised but he did not give the position back to dani lol. also motegi 2010 is pretty memorable if we're talking about hard racing. fair to say that valentino demonstrated he did not share the approach of his fellow aliens when battling jorge)

and more on the shift marc brought about:

this is the thing, right - a big part of understanding that time period is concerning yourself with what came just before. the general feeling (unsurprisingly not shared by casey, jorge or dani) was that the series desperately needed some new life breathed into it, that the racing had become stale and sterile and far too predictable... there were several factors that contributed to this, from the beloathed 800cc bikes that were only replaced in 2012, to the approach of those three aliens and how adept they'd become at racking up wins by dominating out front, to how valentino (generally considered the most 'exciting' racer of the lot) had taken himself out of the competitive picture... I mean, in all honesty the racing is still not great in 2013 compared to the rossi heyday (it had gotten better by the very end of the 2010s), but of course there's a lot more energy to it than the years before. which meant the sport as a whole was in a tricky place where they both had to be seen to be constraining marc, stopping him from being an active danger to himself and others, while also kind of... letting him loose. a little bit of controversy is hardly a bad thing, after all - love him or hate him, everyone had a take, and that's the kind of thing that's obviously healthy for a sport

marc did get two penalty points that year for ignoring yellow flags in silverstone and crashing in the same place as cal crutchlow had just gone down:

(for obvious reasons, 'ignoring yellow flags' is extremely dangerous, but there's no reason to believe he wasn't being honest here)

he was also given another penalty point for the contact that caused dani's crash in aragon, taking him perilously close to that back-of-the-grid penalty:

and that was basically their position - it's a warning. broadly they wanted him to not completely revamp his approach, but just apply a little more discretion, exercise his judgement. a little more caution, a little more restraint. it's still fundamentally a different philosophy of racing than the one that had been espoused for several years by the other aliens save for valentino - but marc could get to a place where he was engaging in hard racing that generally toed the line without crossing it. a little more detail on the aragon incident and marc's approach to racing in the context of the time period from this write-up:

this is the issue, right, marc was riding on just the right line of acceptable that race direction would not have in any way been justified in slapping out race bans - though you can certainly argue that in some cases, you could have handed out more penalty points, which would then have meant he would have faced more 'real' consequences. in any case, they couldn't actually 'teach him a lesson', because he'd already more or less learned it... if the lesson is 'hard racing and contact is fine, just don't overdo it'. which of course, not everyone would agree with. the odd memorable exception aside, throughout marc's premier class career he's been very aware of that line, and has taken care to avoid bringing the wrath of race direction upon himself too severely

the penalty points thing and sepang 2015... well, first of all let's quickly bring in what the actual ruling was:

honestly, I imagine that if they didn't have a penalty points system, they would've figured out a different way to penalise him, and might have slapped him with a back-of-the-grid penalty anyway. not in a 'oh the fim had it out for valentino rossi!!!!' way, more that they did need to be seen doing something. the penalty points felt like a fairly elegant way of giving a penalty that wasn't that harsh and wasn't making any judgement calls over whether valentino deliberately kicked marc, while also in an indirect way ensuring that valentino would suffer consequences. and yes, it is a nice bit of dramatic irony - but the piece says it, the penalty "had to be severe enough for rossi to feel truly punished". the penalty points happened to be the tool they had available and perhaps with a different set of rules, valentino would have been handed a slightly different flavour of punishment. but really, this is more 'fun historical coincidence' than something that massively changed the events that played out

of course, it was a controversial decision that few people felt 100% comfortable with. on the one hand, if you believe that valentino kicked marc, then you probably would have wanted him to be disqualified - three measly penalty points does not feel enough in that situation. on the other, if you believe that valentino engaged aggressively with marc but without deliberately trying to make him crash, then a back-of-the-grid penalty that essentially decided the outcome of the championship before the final race even started is a tough pill to swallow. (of course there's also a position somewhere in between where valentino didn't literally kick marc but did attempt to run him off track, which would make the penalty 'about right'.) of course, the championship standings should ideally not determine what sort of penalties are being handed out - but equally, it's something that did limit the intrigue going into the race, and over something that felt quite arbitrary. the other penalty point he'd gotten to rack up the four total was about a qualifying incident in misano - which either feels like a silly thing to determine the ultimate outcome of the championship, or instead is a demonstration of how the cumulative nature of the points system is supposed to work. but yes, it did get a lot of criticism in the aftermath, with concerns over whether future title fights could end up being defanged as an indirect consequence of relatively minor incidents earlier in the season

and of course, the penalty points were eventually scrapped in early 2017. here's a bit more on that decision:

basically, sepang 2015 was a contributing factor to broader changes in how motogp was regulated, which down the line had the knock-on effect of getting rid of that penalty system entirely. rightly or wrongly, race direction felt like they had better tools available to penalise riders and this system was now redundant. anyway [insert another lazy gag about how the switch to a stewards panel has completely failed in eliminating controversy from stewarding] [insert pithy closing line] [press post]

[repsolhonda]

Recently started watching motopg (I've become a huge marc fan). I wanted to watch some of the old races, and sooo... which races do u think are the most iconic/ which ones are entertaining to watch (no pressure, u don't have to answer this ask<3)

HIII welcome to motogp 🥳🥳🥳 okay so i’m terrible remembering old races so if you want something older than 2013 (i rewatch 2013-2019 races A LOT during marc’s injured days so they’re like branded in my brain) i would invite other mutuals to reblog this with their recs. OKAY SO LETS GO

1. assen 2018 aka everyone’s favorite race. THIS is the race everyone and their mothers will name drop when people from other motorsports start coming for motogp okay… i’ve converted 3 people into this sport from that race alone 🙂‍↔️🙂‍↔️

2. any phillip island races are instant classics sooo you can pick any of them no matter the year (shout out to 2015 and 2017 personally)

okay now moving forward to marc centric races bc i am a marc fan first and foremost sooo:

sachsenring 2016 brno 2017 and san marino 2017 for introduction to mixed condition specialist marc marquez <3

silverstone 2013 mugello 2016 austria 2018 bc i love good old marquenzo duels <3

if u want to see recent good ol marc comeback races assen 2021 and cota 2022... p20 to p7 and p24 to p6.... in THAT honda.... everyone pls bow down.....

aragon 2021 is also fun i love a good honda marc duel with ducati.... sachsenring 2017 or '18 (?) duel with folger is also fun.....

i think some motegi ('17? '16?) and aragon '18? were fun too.... okay my brain blanks out i forget all races now pls i need my mutuals to intervene sorry KJSKSJHSJKS i have memory of a goldfish….

[graff-aganda]

something something psych star trek au

[pharawee]

Not all of them arguing and checking cctv and blurry video recordings when every car - especially racing cars - have on-board computers where you can check for any kind of tampering. Just read the telemetry, you guys! How do you even win these races? By alpha powers alone??😭😭

[hungriestheidi]

i have so many thoughts about the f1a 2025 calendar but the main feeling i get is wow, setting the girls up to fail! thank you!