#this one is still in my greatest hits imo

[space-writes]

friday kiss

tagged by @artdecosupernova-writing, thank you! here’s an oldie but a goodie from what’s still one of my favourite Obsession fics, feel me from the inside

cw: vivisection, gore

[ID - a red decorative divider]

He realises his eyes have drifted closed when Pharaun slides a bloody hand into his hair and tugs, lightly. He blinks, struggling to focus. Pharaun’s other hand is lifted up, and hooked around his delicate wrist is a looped coil of glistening intestine. A deep and wonderful void of wrongness lies in Vizaeth’s core, pulsing, throbbing with Pharaun’s magic. He turns to meet Pharaun’s kiss and hopes the blood never washes out. “I think you might be dying,” Pharaun whispers into his mouth. He tilts his wrist and Vizaeth’s guts fall back into place—the wrong place, probably, but even if that’s the case, they’ll work the better for Pharaun having touched them.

[ID - a red decorative divider]

no-pressure tagging @revenancy @viscerawrites and @winterandwords

[diamonddeputy]

Why [DELTARUNE CHAPTER 4 SPOILERS] is an effective villain: a premature analysis

Y’all I’m literally posting this and then disappearing from the Internet for however long to avoid the spoiler brigade. I haven’t even finished Chapter 4 yet, there could be more I don’t even know. I just cannot sleep and am so wracked with autistic mania that I HAVE to get my thoughts in order or I will explode

Character creation and analysis have always been some of my greatest passions. I still have my Ceroba Ketsukane analysis sitting on the backburner, 24 pages and counting, that exists purely for my own enjoyment. Storytelling fundamentals are things I keep in mind for everything I consume, especially in the context of characters. That being said, known character development strategies can be attributed to Carol Holiday, and why she works SO WELL as a villain imo

Back when J.K. Rowling wasn’t a piece of shit, I watched an interesting video commenting on how Voldemort could have been made more effective as a villain. Which essentially compared him to Umbridge who usually provokes more vitriol within the community and pitched the idea of him casting some sort of life-altering spell on Hermione. I can’t remember the exact details, but it was something to the effect of memory alteration or brain function suppression, to take away the one thing that mattered most to her in life, which was her academic success and pursuit of knowledge, which we see her strive so passionately for throughout the whole series. And then the reader would have to watch her slog through life with no sense of purpose, a husk of her former self, and allow that rage to fester. He then tied this back to why Umbridge is remembered (ironically, less) fondly, because the slights she commits are targeted specifically on known flaws and vulnerabilities of the main characters

It’s something that I’ve carried with me since because it really does make sense if you stop and think about it. Being like 13 at the time I initially clicked on that video with more curiosity than anything because I thought he worked pretty effectively. But by the end I was like holy shit yeah that would’ve worked SO much better. And the more I think about it, the more it’s really on full display here

The reveal that Carol is a central antagonist made me feel things, sure, but the thing that REALLY got me was seeing her for the first time, even before we knew just how connected she was. When Susie commented on the temperature seeming to fall when she entered, I FELT that. Because the previous chapters made SUCH a big deal about NEVER letting us see her. She was always cooped up in her office with hordes of cronies blocking any entrances commenting on how busy she is, even when confronted with our teenaged protagonist wishing to report a serious danger that not even the police is taking seriously. Within our centralized view, that paints a cold, scheming picture right off the bat

We were given ample time to create a caricature in our minds, shaping itself to whatever bounds it would allow itself to stretch. This is a common practice seen in comic book theory, with the idea that a scene that takes place in a gutter (the space between panels, or in other words, not shown) is infinitely more shocking, gruesome, terrifying, whatever you want it to be than anything that could be shown. Because it allows the viewer to fill in the blanks for themselves, and the human mind has the tendency to jump to the very worst. So seeing her pale fur, sunken eyes, stony glare, frigid colour palette, just HIT because it reinforced EVERYTHING that had been festering in our minds for the past however long. For me, it’s barely even been a year. I can’t even begin to imagine those who have been holding it for upwards of six

We’re already starting off with a bang, but the fact she’s so mysterious is then just used to make the small things we DO learn about her even MORE effective. Noelle is scared to tell her she’s locked out of the house. She doesn’t keep keys of important documents anywhere but home. Rudy is spending what could be his last moments terrified of what will happen to Noelle after he isn’t there to “balance Carol out”, in his words. Noelle explains the feeling of seeking out things that scare her just so she can feel comforted. Speaking as someone else with a poor emotional relationship with her parents, the portrayal of Carol as such is not only harrowing, but very REAL. It’s severe enough to push all the right buttons, but not SO much so that she becomes harder to take seriously because a sense of immersion is lost. THAT is just as important, and it’s what really sells the effectiveness

The fact she wants to bring calamity upon the world is awful, sure. But that’s not why I hate her. I hate her because she’s a shitty mother. I hate her because Noelle has gone through so much because of her. And most of all, I hate her because of the implication that she’s using Dess to get her way, if I’m not going batshit crazy and Dess is the Roaring Knight like is seeming to be implied. Hell, she may have even staged her disappearance to be rid of her, as we know Dess wanted to leave home as soon as possible and take Noelle with her, and also that she was a contrarian to her mother’s strict beliefs and did things she never would have approved of. The reveal that, in her words, “I am always welcome in her home” would only have ever intrigued me if I didn’t know what I do about her. Perhaps she has more sympathetic motives than are being shown to me presently! But because these careful steps were taken to establish her not only as an antagonist, but as a VILLAIN, I felt pure unadulterated disgust. And the desire to be anywhere else and do anything else and listen to anyone else and never do what she wants me to do ever

What truly makes a good villain is the combination between narrative stakes and personal investment. And, more importantly than that, the effort to make it believably, groundely REAL, as opposed to overly blunt or performative. I’ve hated Carol from literally Chapter 1, assuming that she was gonna be an invisible driving force for Noelle’s character development and not much more, and now I just have a vessel to fuel all that rage into because the careful work behind the curtain is being unveiled masterfully. The fact there’s even more to know upcoming has my head spinning because I’m already reeling from just how much I HATE Carol, and just how GOOD that is for the story

If you’ve somehow survived my word salad the size of Mars, please please please leave tour thoughts or whatever else. I’ll see it when I eventually finish everything

[idealandreal]

Marc Marquez's Greatest Hits (pre-2024)

When I first got into MotoGP and became a Marc Marquez fan, I had so wished it was easier to find races. There are so many to choose from and it was a bit daunting on where to start. I know not everyone is as neurotic as me and doesn't have the time/money to spend hours upon hours on Video Pass.

So, as more and more of us get into MotoGP/Marc Marquez I wanted to consolidate some of his greatest races (imo), and where you can watch them.

Most of his best races are actually available on YouTube for free via the MotoGP channel. I've included direct links below, but just FYI there are actually a ton of great races on MotoGPs youtube page, 10 out of 10 would recommend checking it out.

Year: 2012 Location: Valencia Why It's Good: My personal favorite race, I watch it way too often. The greatest comeback of all time, starts last and makes it through the field by the last few laps. Absolute crazy guy, but this was just the start of it all. Available On: YouTube

Year: 2013 Location: CoTA Why It's Good: First MotoGP Win Available On: YouTube

Year: 2013 Location: Silverstone Why It's Good: Rides with a broken collar bone and still is a menace to Lorenzo at the front Available On: YouTube

Year: 2014 Location: Le Mans Why It's Good: comes back after falling to 11th in pretty spectacular fashion Available On: VideoPass

Year: 2014 Location: Assen Why It's Good: A flag to flag race that also shows off Marc and Cos strategy skills and just overall balls to wall mentality. Good battle with Dovi as well, but does pretty much decimate the competition. Available On: YouTube

Year: 2015 Location: Philip Island Why It's Good: this race is insane with how many passes there are. Also the supposed start of the Rossi/Marquez beef. Available On: VideoPass

Year: 2016 Location: Mugello Why It's Good: Last lap battle with Lorenzo goes crazy. Available On: YouTube

Year: 2016 Location: Sachsenring Why It's Good: I mean, it's the Sachsenring, but this race is in the wet and really shows off Marc and Cos flag to flag skills. And other rider's lack there of…. Available On: YouTube

Year: 2016 Location: Motegi Why It's Good: If you really want to just see Marc happy and his team freaking out, this is a great race because something unexpected happens. Available On: YouTube

Year: 2017 Location: Austria Why It's Good: the infamous Dovi/Marc last corner crazy pass, also when Dovi throws up his hand and is kind of like “I can’t believe you just did that”. Available On: YouTube

Year: 2017 Location: San Marino Why It's Good: wet race and Marc has a craaaazzzy last lap. Available On: YouTube

Year: 2018 Location: Thailand Why It's Good: Marc pushes the entire race and some can’t keep the pace (queue evil laugh) Available On: YouTube

Year: 2019 Location: Austria Why It's Good: a repeat of the 2017 battle but even better in my opinion Available On: YouTube

Year: 2019 Location: Silverstone Why It's Good: Crazy last lap battle with Rins and I think this is still one of the closest finishes in MotoGP history. Available On: YouTube

Year: 2019 Location: Thailand Why It's Good: I will say that this one is not great if your a Fabio fan first and foremost, but if you are a Marc fan and know what a absolute menace he is.. I think this race is a great example of Marc's mentality about winning. Also, when he claims the 2019 MotoGP World Championship title. Available On: YouTube

Year: 2020 Location: Jerez Why It's Good: If you want to hurt your soul, this is the race where Marc's arm is nearly torn off. However, before that happens, he is incredible and this race also has the greatest double take done by Valentino when Marc comes past. Available On: Youtube

Feel free to add any that I missed in comments or reblogs.

[hustlerose]

metric fan.... what are your thoughts on art of doubt ? i'm trying to get into metric and that's the one album that's clicking with me big time... it's so good

i have strongly mixed feelings about art of doubt, and broadly about this newer era the band is in

i hated pagans in vegas. that album was a major slump. i thought they were going the way of bloc party or lcd soundsystem or any number of weirdo indie rock bands from the 00's, where they'd keep on truckin but never reach their glorious highs again...

well, it didn't turn out that way. art of doubt is a triumph, a return to form, and proof they can still write a great rock album. emily's voice is in top form. i've always loved how delicate and sincere she sounds on mic, and middle age has only made those qualities stronger. listen to her gliding across that slippery groove in "anticipate," fluttering breathlessly over the chorus of "underline the black," or balancing between warmth and sarcasm on "seven rules." performances like these make a metric album worth it

i think art of doubt contains some of the best metric songs EVER. "now or never now" is genuinely a top 10 indie rock song imo. when it's on, i never want it to end. "dressed to suppress" is a really knockout track, the kind no one else seems to make anymore. and the last 3 songs are gorgeous. they're naked and unpretentious in a way that just melts my heart

and can i just say the production is killer. metric albums are usually super crisp and detailed, but this one blows em all out of the water. every drum hit BANGS. the guitars on this whole album sound phenomenal

all that said, i think the album has problems. emily pushes her voice outside her comfort zone a few times and... sometimes that works, like on those high notes in "no lights on the horizon." sometimes it DOES NOT WORK, like when she tries to scream some lines on the title track. her voice refuses to get loud and she just yelps awkwardly. the production tries to help her out by adding some distortion, but that only makes it worse. moments like this draw attention to how one-dimensional this album is outside of some key moments.

but here's my real beef with art of doubt, as well as formentera 1 and 2. these songs have a terrible case of "bad verse, great chorus" disease. "die happy," "holding out," and "dark saturday" are the worst offenders here. the choruses sound like they're totally disconnected from the verses around them. the transitions are janky and abrupt, and when the chorus ends my only thought is "damn, i have to slog thru 30 more seconds of sludge before i can get back to the song i was enjoying." so many of the deep cuts have this problem, and it makes the whole album feel choppy and stilted

overall, i like the record. i like it a lot. but on repeated listens, i end up skipping more and more songs until i'm left with the handful i truly love. not my fav metric album, but i'll admit it's grown on me since it dropped

if you like art of doubt, do yourself a huge favor and listen to synthetica. the whole album, front to back. it's one of the greatest alt rock albums ever written. when you're done, listen to fantasies. it's their most popular, and it's equally great.

somewhere in there, find some time for this playlist i just made: metric essential deep cuts. emily doesn't get enough credit as a master lyricist and songwriter. together, the haines-shaw songwriting duo are truly special, the kind of thing you're lucky to get once in a generation. i hope this playlist makes a case for that <3

[lonelyroommp3]

drop some song recs (from either playlist) (or neither)? i trust your music taste

okay here's 5 slightly deeper cuts (as in, they're not top 40 hits or songs by known tumblr darlings; not trying to go for "niche" so much as "i think there's a solid chance you've not heard these before/for a very long time") from each playlist

from having a crush is so fun... (i.e. mostly positive fun silly slightly slutty vibes)

thing u do - tori kelly - really fun 90s/y2k-esque jam, structurally bold, perfect tempo for strutting down the street feeling like hot shit if you're a fast walker

strawberry dream - dagny - just a really cute pop song, it will make you daydream about having an intense summer romance regardless of your current relationship status or interest in dating. it's just that powerful

headrush - rosie mcclelland - hey do you remember in the early 2010s when you could just do anything and go viral and end up on ellen? do you specifically remember that little british girl who rapped super bass while her shy little cousin stood next to each other? well that shy little cousin makes music now. and it's totally just shit you would hear in the background of a love island episode, but it's a really noble contribution to the genre

take me there - delta rae - SUCH a fun song. another one for dancing down the street after one (1) mildly positive interaction with your crush

i want love - jessie j - this should have been her massive comeback moment when this song came out a few years ago. i heard it once bc it came on the radio while i was doing putbacks at my old asda job and it has been a solid fixture in my rotation ever since. love to blast it while getting ready for a night out and thinking about my plans to get off with somebody in the club

from ...until it starts getting scary (i.e. mostly still fun songs but with an undercurrent of at best delulu and at worst horrendous anxiety)

crush - lola young - messy may have been the viral hit from this album but this is imo one of the best songs she's ever put out. i looove her vocal delivery in this song. most perfectly articulated "what the fuck" in the history of pop

miss you bow wow - girls aloud - best girls aloud song ever written in my humble opinion. pure xenomania structural craziness, works so well, the way sarah harding hits that "i rememBERRRRR" in the... well genius calls it a post-chorus so let's trust their structural analysis of this thing... anyway, it's just a moment of pure pop magic imo

erase and rewind - ashley tisdale - another song that should have been a massive hit. like if this song had been sold to katy perry and ended up on "one of the boys" i think it would have been one of the biggest hits of 2009. it perfectly hits the pop rock zeitgeist of the era (btw, tell me lies from the same album would have had a similar fate if it had ended up on kelly clarkson's album that year. in my opinion) and unfortunately just suffers from being an album track on an ashley tisdale album. incredible song though

wish u were here - boys go to jupiter - getting everybody i know into boys go to jupiter is my life's mission. this wouldn't normally be my first rec from them (i'm partial to wall street & lovers always lose) but it's still a fantastic song, because everything they do is insane, and it's what fit best on this playlist, so

the boss - diana ross - i probably could have put this on either playlist but i chose to pop it on this one. not one of her greatest hits in terms of chart position but it's SUCH a fun song and the horn work is absolutely crazy. those little stabs in the middle of the chorus hit every single time

[marvel-starwarsfangirl]

TBB Mini Retrospective

After my first official rewatch of the entire show, TBB is still one of the best things Star Wars has ever created imo. I LOVE TBB and it's easily one of my favorite piece of media. Alongside CW and Rebels, it's my favorite thing from SW. Tbf, I've always loved the animated shows more than the live-action stuff. I still love the movies, but the animated shows always seem to hit me just right in the feels.

When I look back, there are so many episodes I have a deeper appreciation for and there is literally no filler. Every episode serves a purpose. While the content might not be as exciting as any episode where Cross shows up, there is still a reason for its existence. "Metamorphosis" is definitely one of my personal favorites on rewatch. I honestly think looking at the first two seasons now vs back then makes them more enjoyable for me. It's nice to catch the little references, musical leitmotifs, and rest assured knowing that Crosshair will be ok.

Speaking of the characters, this rewatch has made me love them even more. I love the Batch so so much and I will never stop saying that. Crosshair is singlehandedly (no pun intended) one of the greatest SW characters ever in recent years. He has a beautifully realized redemption arc and I'm forever thankful for it. Seeing Omega grow up from a tiny munchkin to a lovely young woman also hits my feels. And Tech. I miss him so much. I had much deeper appreciation for Echo's journey as well and I wish we got more of it. Wrecker is ever the gentle giant and I admit I've gotten along better with Hunter than in previous rewatches of the first two seasons (this was prior to S3's release).

Overall, TBB still stands strong. Compared to Rebels and CW, it's much more serialized but I don't think that's a bad thing. There is a lot of story being told and I wish we got more time to delve into it. I loved exploring how the galaxy changed post Order 66. I loved seeing old and new faces. I loved learning more about the clones' story. I loved the music and animation. Most importantly, I just loved being CF99. They have a fun dynamic and they will always be my fave SW family.

The one major, glaring flaw with this show, however, is how Tech's death was handled. I still have no words, only tears, and I hope the Domestic Batch held a memorial for him off-screen after the finale. This show has other flaws, but this one stands out to me the most and has the biggest impact on my viewing.

[itsmyfandomandilikeit]

Ok I have gone through all available evidence and I have a prediction.

Look I'm ngl I am watching Arcane for Cait and Vi. I love the show overall but this ship is what I'm most here for, especially after I spent the last 3 years under the assumption that Mel was dead. Glad she isn't. Point is, I really want CaitVi/Violyn/Piltover's Finest to be handled well, and I pay a disproportionate amount of attention to what happens with these two.

After watching the first arc of season 2 the other day, I was trying really hard to ignore the ending to episode 3. I didn't like that Cait hit Vi in the stomach and abandoned her in a pit after being all classist at her, but I thought, this is Arcane. Arcane is the greatest fucking thing I've ever seen, of course they're gonna find a way to make this work. But that made me think of it as a puzzle. How could they possibly make this work?

Option one, Cait sucks now and she and Vi don't get back together. I don't think this makes sense, because of the brand. CaitVi is a popular ship that just about everybody likes. A huge amount of the hype for this season before the trailers came out was building up assurances that don't worry, CaitVi is happening and it's not gonna be ambiguous. Take this teaser from like two weeks after season 1 ended, a couple of Valentine's Day icons, and one million tweets from Amanda Overton. Why the fuck would they make this season be about Cait and Vi not working out? It simply doesn't make logical sense.

Ok, so we're starting from the assumption that Cait and Vi have a happy ending that makes people feel like they should be together, and continue to want to play as them in the games and buy merchandise. That means they either explicitly get back together, or it's so implied there isn't much of a difference. My money is on zero ambiguity. Vi is the main character and Cait is maybe #3 or #4. Ambiguity about their ending would just look like a weak writing choice and they didn't know what they're doing. The Arcane writers don't tend to go for wishy washy.

But here's the problem. Domestic violence is bad. It's about the fastest way to guarantee the majority of your audience doesn't think two characters should be together. It would take a herculean effort on Cait's part to make up for that and honestly I still wouldn't believe it. To me, there isn't any kind of act of service that makes up for hitting your partner. Not even ensuring the independence of the nation of Zaun. Add on top of that the over the top hurtful comments about Vi's blood and class. It makes her look very much like, deep down, she thinks of Vi as beneath her. If she meant those things, a relationship between them is impossible. (Not to mention how many teenaged girls I know are watching this, and I don't want them to think it's ever okay to be treated like that, even in a fantasy series.)

So my prediction is this. The only way to make a relationship between Cait and Vi viable again is to render those comments and the sentiment they carry meaningless. How do the writers do that? Imo it turns out later that Cait intentionally came up with cruel things to say to cut Vi loose. She realized that Vi would never be able to kill Jinx, and this new explosion will make the situation aboveground even worse, and Vi still won't be able to contribute to the hunt after this. Vi has no future as an enforcer against Jinx and will probably get treated like dogshit as a Zaunite, so Cait is "breaking her heart to save her", as Tvtropes would say. In Cait's mind, it's better if she's left down here in Zaun.

What evidence do I have for this? It fits Cait's characterization as a genius who thinks quickly and several steps ahead. It fits the tiny animation details we zero in on of her stiffening her trembling lips and furled eyebrows. It un-ruins the most popular canon relationship in League. It allows act 1 to end on massive shock value but roll it back later to show that Cait actually does love Vi, enough to let her go for her own good.

I'm not arguing this is the best possible solution but it's the one I think they're going to go with. Amanda Overton and some others have repeatedly said that CaitVi fans will be happy with the ending to Arcane. Everything about the show(the opening, Netflix Brazil's Twitter account, the story) points to them being the show's OTP except for this one scene. I think Cait intentionally cut Vi out of her life by pretending to be much crueler than she wanted to be, to protect her and, likely, as a form of self destruction.

[hotcocoabombb]

So I beat Metroid Fusion for the first time. Weird, since Dread is my favorite game ever and it's basically a direct sequel to Fusion but just hear me for a sec.

When Dread was revealed at E3, I immediately decided to play through the Metroid series. I got through Zero Mission, Samus Returns, and Super Metroid. When I got to Fusion, Dread was a few days away and I decided to just play through Dread and get to Fusion after. 3 fuckin years later and I finally got to Fusion. So, what did I think?

Its good! Really good!

Metroid Fusion is the game Zero Mission was based off, and as such, it controls basically flawlessly. Movement, jumping, shooting, missiles, bombs, morph ball, it all controls how you'd expect from a post Super Metroid game. I do have 2 very small things though. One is, for some reason the space jump didn't feel good to me. It was just weirdly unresponsive to me, which was fixed in Zero Mission. The other thing is that you can't aim while hanging from a ledge, which, again, was fixed in Zero Mission. There's also locked momentum when wall jumping, but personally this wasn't a bother. Dread does it too so I'm used to it. Overall, controls were great, and they have to be because this game is HARD. Like, seriously, Jesus Christ man. Enemies hit really hard in this game. Never anything that feels unfair but even with a lot of energy tanks only a few hits mean you die.

Level design in Fusion is really good IMO. It is fairly railroaded for story reasons but the BSL is still an interesting place to explore, And as the game goes on it opens up a bit more until you basically have free reign to do whatever you want at the end. Personally, as someone who's not super into 100% and would rather see how fast I can get through (without outright speed running cuz I am WAY too stupid to figure out some of those strats lmao) the rigidness of Fusion didn't really bother me. Each sector has a unique theme and none of them blend together at all. I also appreciate how it's a man made area but it doesn't just have metallic hallways for everything. There is genuine variations while still feeling somewhat man made. It gives the BSL a very artificial vibe, which is cool. While it's not my favorite environment for a Metroid, it's not bad at all.

For the reasons I just listed, id consider Fusion a good game, if somewhat of a weak Metroidvania since it doesn't have the greatest exploration. So I'm happy to say that on top of all of that, the story ties it together very well. Full spoilers ahead, but the game is also like 23 years old atp. Samus, on an expedition to SR-388, is attacked by an organism called the X parasite (elon musk is clapping somewhere). The parasite invades her central nervous system and nearly kills her, but a vaccine made from Metroid DNA saves her life, because Metroids were predators of the X. Since Samus is the only one who is immune to the X parasite, she's sent on a mission inside the BSL to "destroy" the parasite. On paper, this is a relatively simple Metroid plot, but what makes it diffrent in story and gameplay is the robot companion Samus has, which she names Adam after her former commanding officer. The robot acts as the one railroading progress, keeping Samus on a tight path. The reason for this is the federation actually has no interest in destroying the parasite. They want to contain it and study it. Samus doesn't learn this until later, so she goes along with the plan for a while. Eventually though, the way forward is only possible through her own agency, and she starts seizing control back slowly but surely, getting around on her own, and doing things she's unauthorized to do in order to find the way forward. The robot, realizing this, locks Samus in a room, telling her the plan. Samus, realizing this is too dangerous, tries to appeal to the robot, and calls it Adam. This causes it to faulter, and the brain of Adam Malkovich, which was uploaded to the galactic federation database takes over. This part is one that I find a little ridiculous. Like, I get what they were going for, but it's strange that the robot would just. Access and become like Adam because of the name drop. Regardless, the brain of Adam finally agrees with Samus, freeing her and giving her the ability to destroy the BSL and SR-388, ending the menace of the X parasite (until Dread but shhhh). Overall, this is a really good story. I have my issues with the way Adam ties into it, and honestly I think a better way to go about it would be Samus breaking out of the place she's trapped herself. That would show she finally has her Agency, which is central to her character and Metroidvania's as a whole, but the way it is, is fine. Overall a really good story. While I don't think Fusion needs it, I would be curious how a Dread style remake would make the story feel while playing. Regardless, Fusion is a really fun game imo, and I will be replaying it at some point.

9/10.

[bunnyb34r]

Finally went to the movies again (May's lineup looks much much better than Dec-April. We're back in business boys 😎🤙)

I saw The Amateur and it was really good! It was a lot sadder than I thought (I was literally sitting there crying and shoveling popcorn in my mouth agdgdggdgd several times 😭)

It was an action movie, but honestly I feel like it was a movie more ab the stages of grief. Which was interesting, but as a person who has been grieving since 2020, it hit HARD. Like I feel that someone who went in soley for an action movie (as I had initially) and had not experienced grief on that scale it'd be disappointing. The slow moments [to me] fit really well and showed how he was handling the grief and just experiencing it, where again if you never felt that/didn't care ab the emotional aspect then you'd be annoyed at the pace.

Anyway I REALLY liked it. I don't think I would watch it again, bc tbh watching it made me relive so much of my own grief like it was almost scary just how accurate it was. It was a good movie overall imo like it was a thriller, but emotional, and kinda funny in parts. 4.9/5 (-.1 bc I was fucking CRYING like I mean CRYING and I wasn't expecting that. I knew what would happen from the trailer and it still blind sided me with the grief)

Spoiler talk under the cut

Okay so if you don't plan on seeing the movie the plot is that the main character, Charlie, works at the CIA as a data analyst. His wife gets killed in a hostage situation in London. The CIA is disinterested in finding the 4 suspects bc they want to take down the whole organization behind the attack (was more than just a hostage situation). Tldr version is that Charlie tracks down the 4 suspects on his own and one by one kills them (except the last one, who he brings to justice). As he's going through this he is evading the CIA whom he tried to blackmail into letting him get away with killing the suspects and avoiding getting detected by the group. Through all THAT, he is dealing with the stages of grief over the loss of his wife.

Denial- the point where he is initially told of the attack

Anger- finding the identities of the killers and plotting revenge (and anger at the CIA for not going after them themselves)

Bargaining- the revenge plot and the blackmail/deadman's switch (in an ABBA Greatest Hits CD (THAT I HAVE AGDGGDGDGD))

Depression- overarching the whole movie.

Acceptance- him finishing the Cessna and flying it.

I HEAVILY related to the conversations ab grief and how you're not prepared for how quiet the world is after. How you anticipate their footfall, a sound they used to make, just the general sound of them being in the house. And how he went to the place where the attack happened and where she was shot. How he would see her there by his side or in the house. How when he came home he was gonna go upstairs to the bedroom and then stopped bc what was the point if she wasn't there. I was fucking sobbing man

The whole thing was just wonderfully portrayed in such a real way. It was just so good imo sgdgdgdg I loved it

The action scenes were really neat and satisfying to see play out and feel that "ha got ya fucker" energy. I'm ngl I found the pollen chamber both horrifying as someone with severe allergies, but also fucking hilarious for some reason. Idk why sgdgdggd

Anyway highly recommend and I'm excited for the upcoming movies this summer. MEGAN 2.0 looks so campy and hilarious i might go see it despite having had (and have) 0 interest in the first one.

[iinryer]

talk to me about still the only thing, everything 🫵

ohhh my god that fic was a behemoth. longest buddie fic i’ve written to date… literally the whole thing was born because i had the thought “buck wouldn’t remember the lightning strike. but eddie would”

it’s probably the most purple-prose-y thing i’ve written and it’s honestly kind of weird. imo. it’s a little convoluted maybe? it ended up sooo much longer than I thought it would and I don’t even remember what I had initially wanted the ending to be?? but im a bitch who loves an ambiguous ending. this one was really fraught and really fun for me.

I loooove making buck have a bad reaction to his own emotions <33 I love to make buck and eddie misunderstand each other <333

it has all the makings of a classic iinryer fic. melodramatic introspection. ambiguous endings. named after a tfb song. implying something niche about chimney even tho he isn’t there. long and meandering narration. misunderstandings. forehead touch. truly my greatest hits

it also has some of my favorite little moments I’ve ever written too: the getting into the car in the rain, the not-kiss, opening a frozen pizza too hard and scattering cheese everywhere gjjdhdhd

I do remember yelling in the groupchat for like a week straight going I Don’t Know How To Land This Plane but we got there in the end.

ask me about a fic to get the director’s commentary

[hazshit-hotel-hater]

What are your opinions on each of the songs? (you can answer with as much or as little detail as you'd like)

Big shocker that the songs from the 2 good episodes are in S and the only one that isn’t is still B tier/sar

The first 2 songs in S made me either tear up/shake violently or cry, and therefore they deserve to be up there IMO. Out for love is also just genuinely catchy and had actual build up to it. Also God “Ready for This” just. OOUGGGHHH IT SCRATCHES MY BRAIN SO GOOD LIKE A WARRIOR CATS MAP. I like it a lot. You cant have multiple characters sing about working together and expect me to NOT cry.

“Stayed Gone” isn’t one I listen to often but it’s so peppy and fast and full of hatred I can’t help but enjoy it. Also everytime the song starts my brain does this

I dont know anything about Welcome Home

I have. Issues. With “Loser, Baby” but aside from those the song holds a lot more weight to it than I usually give it credit for. And for as cheesy as the start if it is, the line before of Angel talking about self destructing resonates with me a lot. Also Husk lays down in a puddle of vomit and no one talks about that ever.

I think the first song in B is “Happy Day in Hell” and I’m adding it there 1. Because it is the first song 2. It gets a reprise thing 3. Charlie almost gets hit by a truck. Other than that it’s not really my favourite but I respect the impact it has.

“Hell is Forever” just fucks. End of story. Alex Brightman killed it.

“Respectless” is good I love Velvette’s VA, but the sudden start of the song and the ending are so out of left field the first time me and my friends watched this show we had to pause cause we lost our fucking minds. Could’ve been better but I’d listen to it again, yeah.

“Hell’s Greatest Dad” is silly and funny and maybe I’m biased as a violin player and jazz enjoyer but a lot of the instrumental tickles my brain so nicely. I will say though it confuses me so much because why does Alastor care about being seen as a father figure?? My mom said it could just be him wanting to show up Lucifer and that’s it but I dunno.

“More than Anything (Reprise)” AKA “Charlie and Veggie Kiss Scene - Hazbin Hotel”

This song sounds like it’s straight out of Barbie & Th Diamond Castle and I’m honestly pissed the girls in the movie didn’t kiss so I’m coping with this. ALSO THE FACT ITS A REPRISED SONG ABOUT LOVE MAKES ME A BIT CRAZY. I never noticed this was the same song Lucifer sang to Charlie SOMEHOW but that’s actually really cute.

“It Starts With Sorry” Has a big part in Sir Pentious’s character growth and just his character in general. I’ve been working on this in my Pentious rant but I never see people mention how much this song probably meant to him. Yeah it’s super corny, but he was fully expecting to be killed and had just been told to kill himself. This was definitely huge for him and I’m not gonna be convinced otherwise.

“You Didn’t Know” is really good but Lute’s part is by far the best and I pray to GOD she gets her own song in S2 her voice actor can SING. GODDAMN! I am very interested in Lute’s character development and I love seeing what people do with close-minded characters like that and hopefully Vivzie doesn’t condemn her to Vivziepop Woman Syndrome. If she isn’t important in S2 I’m going to be pissed but I dunno maybe S3 if we get one.

“More Than Anything” Wish my dad was like this! This song is incredibly sweet and I appreciate it a lot. Honestly might go way higher on the list if I keep thinking about it.

“Whatever It Takes” Sorry you will never be Imagine Dragons. Vaggie doesn’t sound anything like herself cause her VA is making her voice so much more gruff for her character, which is fine! I like her voice (the voice direction is not very good but I digress) it’s just her voice is so high in this I can’t even tell it’s Vaggie.

“Welcome to Heaven” is boring, but we got a Molly cameo!

“Poison”. Read this and this and this. -10/10. I’d rather make out violently with Elon Musk.

[natequarter]

nuwho series 7

the doctor, the widow and the wardrobe (guess i'm counting this one): i think it's thoroughly mediocre. not bad, just deeply forgettable. it has alexander armstrong in it, it has one of the best lines in doctor who history in it, and that's... it. 4/10, and most of those points come from "what's the point in them being happy now if they're going to be sad later? the answer is, of course, because they are going to be sad later." my heart.

asylum of the daleks: it's been ages since i rewatched, but i really like this one. like most of series 7 i like it with a heavy asterisk of "oh no, who thought this was a good idea?" and "i haven't rewatched this in years", but i do like it, more than i like the average dalek episode - probably because it's not really about daleks at all, it's about amy and rory. so for that, i can enjoy it. 7/10.

dinosaurs on a spaceship: unbelievable! a chris chibnall episode that is basically watchable! it's nothing special, but it doesn't need to be. it's functional. it's silly. it's fun. that's probably the best i could have expected of it. invasion of the dinosaurs remains the superior dinosaur title story. 6/10.

a town called mercy: wow, we're really going strong with basically functional but incredibly forgettable episodes, aren't we? i don't know how many times i can say that it's not bad but it's also not that good either. i don't really remember much that happens in it. um... amy is there. there are cowboys? it's fine. i should rewatch to answer this properly, but i don't want to. 5?/10.

the power of three: guess what? basically functional but incredibly forgettable strikes again. kate is there. the doctor does do domestic, but incredibly badly. love you, matt smith, but god, i just want this series to do something interesting already. 4/10.

the angels take manhattan: i unironically love this one. "the statue of liberty is a weeping angel" is right up there with "the brigadier's corpse got resurrected as a cyberman" in "stupid doctor who gags that really, REALLY piss off fans but i and steven moffat find hilarious". it's tragic; it's timey-wimey; it makes no sense. it's a fairytale. i love amy and rory. i don't mind a good weeping angel story. river is there, and the doctor sucks. but we knew all of that already. this is the first of many blows to eleven's mental state this series. 8/10.

the snowmen: uhhh i haven't rewatched this one in forever. i think i enjoy it? richard e. grant as the great intelligence is a hilarious choice in returning villain. i like strax, i like victorian clara, i like eleven, and i don't mind christmas specials. a tentative 7?/10.

the bells of saint john: again, too long since i last watched. i love clara and i'm fairly sure i enjoyed it at the time - i'm actually not sure if i've ever rewatched this one? it has some fun scifi concepts. once clara comes in, imo, the series gets a bit less mediocre. 7/10.

the rings of akhaten: MY BELOVED. i ADORE this story. it's good for clara, but it's even better for everyone else. great quotes and speeches. the villain is awesome. the alien worldbuilding is just delightful. the music is beautiful. i love everything about this one. 8/10.

cold war: ah, so we're back to functional but forgettable. okay then. i think this one's alright? ice warriors, clara, cold war... it's certainly a good pitch, but i don't know if it's the most genius episode out there. my memory's fuzzy on this one. 6/10.

hide: it's been a while, but this one's fucking weird and creepy but ultimately kind-hearted, so for that i enjoy it, though i don't think it's the revival's greatest story. the tardis hates clara. 7/10.

journey to the centre of the tardis: one of the few stories which still creeps me out. i think this one is unfairly disliked; very little of series 7 is actually high quality, even though none of it really hits dreadful, and this certainly isn't its low point. i love the advancing themes of clara and the doctor's relationship. bluebeard at it again. what a git. 7/10.

the crimson horror: gatiss again? ah, man. i barely remember this one, but i don't think it's terrible. we are in okay territory again, and i for one want out. 6/10.

nightmare in silver: will no one make a cyberman episode that doesn't suck? 5/10.

the name of the doctor: aw, i love this one. it's kind of messy and blurry in the same way the rest of the series is, but it has my heart. love you clara. 8/10.

the day of the doctor (yes i know these are specials, not part of the series, but where else am i supposed to rate them?): i love this one wholeheartedly. it's pure unabashed anniversary material. gallifrey back! david tennant is there as well, for some reason. lots of time travel, lots of references, lots of great emotional beats. 10/10.

the time of the doctor: i have a hard time justifying my unabashed adoration of this one, but i've watched it and the day of the doctor a lot. no, more than that. a lot. there's some messy and pointless bits about the doctor and Women (thanks, moffat, was that really necessary), but eleven and clara and handles are so important to me. i love eleven. it's such a lovely emotional storyline. 9/10.

(link)

[mermaidsirennikita]

What is your favorite book in each of Lorraine Heath’s series?

In the ones I've read in full (I'm saving some):

Scoundrels of St. James—

Between the Devil and Desire. One of my favorite books of all time, this crowns the series and it's not close, which is saying something as I'd recommend every book in that series. I just love this book THAT much.

London's Greatest Lovers—

Waking Up with the Duke. Another all-timer, and probably tied with Devil for my favorite of Lorraine's books. Beautifully written, angsty to the extreme, wacky, gets me every time.

Lost Lords of Pembrook—

She Tempts the Duke. I don't know that this was originally my favorite in this solid series, but the more I think about it, the more I think it is. I love a scarred hero, I love childhood sweethearts, there's a great emotional reveal that Lorraine does so fucking well.

Scandalous Gentlemen of St. James—

When the Duke Was Wicked. Another peak Lorraine for me. I cry. I laugh. I think Lovingdon and Grace are a perfect couple, just as he is a perfect idiot. And this is another really strong series from her; I also super love The Duke and The Lady in Red (which also made me cry) and A Tempest of Desire, and Once More, My Darling Rogue is classic Heath.

Hellions of Havisham—

The Earl Takes All. It can't be anything BUT Gorilla Twins. A fucking brilliant book. The Viscount and The Vixen is also super good, though.

Sins for All Seasons—

The Scoundrel in Her Bed. This one is very underrated, imo, and it's honestly a deeply mature book that deals with some very difficult moral dilemmas. It hits home for me in some big ways, and she takes risks I think a lot of authors wouldn't. Another tearjerker. (And this series is generally quite strong as well, MOST Lorraine series are not "there is one standout and the others are skippable".)

Once Upon a Dukedom—

Scoundrel of My Heart. Sorry! I think a lot of people love The Duchess Hunt most in this series, and it's a great great book. But Scoundrel is just peak Heath angst for me, and I'm always a sucker for when she does that "in another life" moment, which this book captures so well. Max pining.

The Chessmen: Masters of Desire—

The Notorious Lord Knightly. HELL YEAH. Second chance and she hates his ass, and he's stupid and slutty, and there's a Reveal which like, isn't a huge Reveal if you're paying attention but is still emotionally impactful! I loved this one.

She's got a lot of bangers, though. Probably one of the highest volumes of "recs vs. not recs" of authors I've read. Damn she's good.

[uhhhitsme]

for the song thingy! how about 63 if it hasn't been done yet? :]

OKAY this is good because the first one u sent in was 4. and the 4th song on my curtwen playlist is you belong to me. which im sure you already know the context for because of smys incredible wonderful stunning fanfiction.

this is very fitting to me because somehow, even though crane wives is like 90% of my curtwen playlist, youre the first person to rq a crane wives song!! and also i think this is the first owen focused analysis ive done for the song thing so im doubly excited!!!

anyways, this song is so painfully owen carvour coded it makes me sick. its about (as im sure you already know) someone who can never be direct or clear about who they are, who is a liar and hardly trusts anyone they're around. who is constantly wearing a mask.

what saf does really cleverly (imo) is creating two characters so unlike each other that you can't directly associate them with each other at all---even if there are hints to the truth. the owen carvour we see in a1p1 is collected, practical, and a bit cocky---he is presented as the "brains" to curts brawn (key word presented im not doing that thing where ppl say that curt was a stupid little dumb dumb who was always being taken care of by owen), the thing that pulls curt back from doing anything too out there. he's calm and rational throughout most of a1p1 until his plans are blown to bits. but the dma is the opposite. he's quick to anger and explosively violent, big and burly and nowhere near as put together as owen seems. he kills for no reason, acts on the spot without much plan, and is so drastically different from the man curt knew intimately for years that he cant recognise him.

and i do think that this completely different persona wasn't just a role, for owen. that in a way, it was an outlet. an escape from being the person who had been hurt as brutally as he was, something to help him to cope with the trauma. but i also think that this isn't his first time disappearing into a role so completely. like owen says himself, he could've been actor, but (supposedly) chose to use his talents in combination with his interest in foreign policy. i believe that as a spy, this was his greatest asset---his ability to play pretend.

so obviously, i can't help but associate these lines with him, especially considering his "roles" as a spy probably hurt a lot of people.

i keep my closet free of skeletons 'cause i'm much better at digging graves

i've gotten good at making up metaphors i've gotten good at stretching the truth out of shape and all these words are sweet and meaningless you can't trust a single thing i say

but to me, that's not all. for owen, i don't think it's just that he plays a role really well, and the moment his job is over he goes back to being himself. i think that he inhabits a mask even when he's supposed to be himself.

even after his reveal---even when owen is supposedly acting as himself, instead of playing up that role, its... very performative, as well. at first, he presents himself as uncaring, smug, completely detached from what he and curt had. he casually ribs curt about his very real grief and guilt over the past four years, pokes curts insecurities by describing him as a foolish, bumbling idiot who was never as good of a spy as owen was, "im going to have dinner with my NEW FRIENDS now" *dramatic hair flip.* this version of owen we see holds nothing but deep contempt for who curt is, and everything he represents. there is nothing complicated about it---his recklessness nearly killed him, and now that he has the chance he wants simple revenge.

but when we get to the staircase scene, both of them are worn out over (i think?) days of travel. and curt, desperate and still unravelling because of this new revelation, and he pleas with owen in a way that hits home. and we see him break from that controlled anger that he shows to the group when he first reveals himself. we hear the violent pain in his voice when he says they can't just go back to how things were, hear the trembling way he tells curt that whatever they had has died. that there's no saving them. we hear that it mattered, to him. we hear the grief.

and then curt kills him.

owen was an actor---not just in his work, but in his life. because he feels so much, cares so much, and he knew that vulnerability of his could be exploited. he knew that to trust anyone---to show the truth of himself, to give himself away the way he did with curt---was to set himself up for hurt. and after surviving all that he did, both as a spy and as a child growing up in WWII-era london, he couldn't let that happen again.

but i always dig up bones in your sympathy i can't trust a single thing you say

don't look too hard, 'cause you won't like the scars he left in me

i know that a lot of my analysis for the two of them is that "they both hid their vulnerabilities because they were gay men in the 1950s" but like. it's true. it does make up a significant part of their lives, and probably defined a lot of how they express themselves and acted at the time. and there's something to be said about the association of emotion with femininity---how owen presents himself as this logical, controlled character, traits typically associated with masculinity---whereas the sentimentality and love and emotion that he experienced because of curt is something that deviates from that reason. how owen probably tried his best to squash out his feeling, because he knows that being seen as something other than a traditional man is basically being seen as queer, because he was raised to be ashamed of it.

he put up so many walls and wore so many masks---to protect himself from that prosecution, and to protect himself from letting his emotions run the risk killing him. not that it worked lmao

tldr; this man cannot say anything directly and has more layers than a fucking onion, and i am incredibly normal about him.

[anghraine]

I meant to post a bit more about the Jedi: Survivor experience with my best friend and Ash, and keep ... not doing it, mostly because I couldn't think of a way to do it without massive spoilers. But here are some (yes, massively spoilery) impressions of the first half (or so?) of the game under the cut:

There are definitely traces of the usual Star Wars uncritically colonialist assumptions, IMO—we're still discovering exactly what ye olde Jedi got up to on Koboh and how the narrative will ultimately treat it, but it's even more striking in some ways in Cere's dynamic with the Anchorites on Jedha, I feel? I like Cere a lot and it's not uncomplicated, but ... yeah.

Aesthetically, Jedha fucking rules. For all the variety and diversity of Koboh, Jedha feels so drastically different in every way, and the locations there are just incredibly cool and distinctive while still feeling recognizably "Jedha." I've loved just about everything we've seen there, especially the singing temple stuff. The revelation that the Empire didn't even know this amazing ancient temple they were destroying was a safehouse and were just destroying Jedha's wonders for unrelated casual Imperial reasons made its destruction hit even harder, honestly.

I also love Koboh a lot. It is nice to spend time in a planet with varied biomes and some of the specific locations are deeply interesting—I like the old meditation chambers/puzzles a lot, the Lucrehulk "dungeon" was absolutely fantastic, and I love the way Pyloon's evolves as you recruit people and do quests and things. It reminds me a bit of one of my favorite mechanics from the beloved game of my childhood, Might and Magic VII, in which your initially shitty castle evolves over the course of the game as you build up your reputation with people who can work on it. That was a lot rougher and more basic than Survivor's development of the saloon, though, so I'm really loving this base-building kind of aspect to it. You can even grow a garden <3

OUR GIRLFRIEND MERRIN IS THE GREATEST <333 I don't even like the concept of Nightsisters and I adore her to pieces. The romance is incredible. J, who is handling the controls (Ash and I have admitted we don't have the nerves for the game's parkour requirements), managed to navigate the whole "Do you trust me" portal sequence without a single failure, so it was just this wildly cinematic experience following from one of the few really good game kisses I've seen. I'm pretty sure J was sweating after the portal sequence though—it was wild. Definite MVP.

I really enjoy the variations in personality between the random indistinguishable enemies. Even the basic raiders have people who sound like Sith cultists and others who talk about how sad it is that the Jedi are gone, and the B1s are funny but also the fact that there are some who are ambitious and wildly overconfident, some are just kind of amiably clueless, some are scared and actually say they don't want to be used by the radiers ... B1 rights, honestly.

We have a lot of reservations about Santari Khri and also enjoy the sheer obnoxiousness of Dagan Gera. There's obviously quite a lot to learn about what exactly his deal is (apart from being the latest in the SW tradition of Scary Disabled Men, I guess!), but he's such a dick, lol. J trashed him in our most recent fight and the whole time, Dagan was sneering about how pathetic and pitiable Cal is and how everything is part of his master plan before running away with his tail between his legs. Ash went, "this guy, what is his deal" and I was like "Obviously it was all a social experiment!"

I think the raider bosses who have been rewarded with ancient recovered lightsabers are really interesting as foes in combat, because the first time it happened, we were like "what the fuck?? is this another Jedi apostate or what" and as the fight really kicked off, I went "...actually, I can't exactly say why, but I'm pretty sure this guy isn't Force-sensitive." J went "yeah, it really feels like he was never any kind of Jedi, but not for any especially obvious reason..." It's an interesting element of game design that you get such a distinct vibe from lightsaber-wielding combatants who can't use the Force without a single obvious element.

Fratricide guy was creepy as fuck, what the hell was that character design, God

I love nearly all the other named locals, though. Not just Greez (though I love Greez), but the bar regulars are just such a fun crowd. Not sure anyone can surpass SKOOVA STEV but Caij is a delight, the random finance bro is hilarious, Monk is one of my favorite droids ever, Zee the droid is more truly Jedi than most actual Jedi, etc etc.

There's a random interspecies gay couple, which was kind of charming, in part because their relationship is apparently built on the strong basis of them both being haters. Love it for them, though the one is so visibly inhuman that it's like... okay, cool, but feels like LF definitely hedging their bets still.

It's taken a long time to mention the protagonist, but I actually do really like Cal. He definitely doesn't exist in my personal OT-based vision of this era, but I don't feel like I need to accept him into my personal Star Wars Prime Storyline to enjoy this for what it is. I wish more SW EU products felt that way, honestly.

[cruyffista]

sampras and agassi is such an iconic rivalry. if you haven't seen 2010 hit for haiti indian wells you need to. lots of sore wounds and insight into how the publishing of andre's autobiography affected their relationship + public perception of the two.

justine henin / serena williams were probably the wta rivalry with the most open animosity for one another (aside from sharapova and serena which can hardly be called a rivalry considering how one sided it was in serena's favour). i'm forever fascinated by the wta tour dynamics of the 2000s and 90s.

i personally find federer and nadal v compelling too; nadal's hero worship and adulation of federer at the beginning of his career when he was the only player challenging him, roger's poorly contained resentment and that morphing into a more complex and fond dynamic as novak came along and started challenging both of them. the more performative aspect of their relationship (on the surface) makes what went on behind the scenes w them alot more interesting imo.

....tennis thoughts !

as someone who is a pretty avid pete sampras fan i do think that andre agassi (and his ghostwriter) were a bit unfair towards pete in open - essentially characterizing him as a pretty boring person who burst onto the tennis scene out of nowhere. in reality, pete sampras was in much of same circles as agassi, and there's even an interview where pete sampras and jim courier discuss their experiences with agassi's father. also, sampras himself had a pretty interesting road to becoming a tennis player, having been spotted as a child by paediatrician peter fischer (who later turned out to be a child molester) who was obsessed with creating the idea of a "perfect tennis player". i think it's pretty interesting how unlike agassi, sampras has pretty much disappeared from tennis as a whole (which, if sampras truly had an uncomplicated relationship with tennis, would seem pretty bizarre right?). i think in an effort to characterise andre's struggles as unique in tennis, open flattens pete's character in the process—andre is tormented, a rebel etc, pete is boring and has the personality of the colour beige etc. in reality, i think that pete and andre are more similar than what people like to think. like even if pete didn't get forced to become a tennis player like andre, the fact is that youth tennis kind of sucks! spending all of your time playing tennis instead of socializing is difficult! these are experiences that most tennis players all share and i do wish open emphasized that a bit more.

also love henin and serena's rivalry! really the true wta rivalry of the 2000s. serena williams telling jankovic "i'm not justine" lives in my mind rent free. there was definitely greater animosity i feel between the two than serena and sharapova (which i think was more media-driven), and i think that the contrast between their styles of tennis made their matchup much more pleasing to watch. venus and justine had some great matches as well (i still maintain their 2007 us open sf was the greatest women's tennis match of all time).

i'm actually not the biggest fan of fedal but what you've described sounds actually pretty interesting! i do wish more fic writers (and shippers in general) explored the performative aspects of their relationship instead of defaulting to the generic rivals -> lovers plotline and taking their media appearances as they are without really questioning the incentives behind why they say the things they say. i do think it's pretty fascinating how the presence of novak did lead to them leaning more into the "fedal" dynamic in interviews and ads, he's like the invisible third in their relationship lol.