#very educational

once again putting down the rpf glasses,

I think 2016-2019 is such a delicate situation for Marc in general. Because here you have a guy who pretty much hates your guts and who is THE figure of the sport. The last thing you want is to be in MORE shit with the media and the fans.

So Marc does what any good PR trained athlete does and extands a hand. He laughs around it, says it's behind them and that he's open to more talks between them...because at the end of the day, Vale's not retiring any time soon, and the last thing you want is to have a hostile work environment. And it's a good tactic! For a while, Marc and Vale are cordial around one another (also because it's strictly impossible for either of them to think about the incident every time they see each other, they are around eo way too much for that. So it's realistic to think that in some moments, 2015 was forgotten. Cue to these awkward ass press conferences in 2019)

So yeah, that period was about both Vale and Marc trying to make the sport an tiny bit less awkward than it would be if they just kept on arguing. You could feel it at times, which was pretty funny ngl. Really like putting two exes in the same room and telling them not to yell at each other. So they were acting nice! (bar 2018 we don't talk about that. vale lost his shit a bit there.)

And then 2020 hits. And 2021 ig. Marc isn't here often and Vale retires. Suddenly, it's easier to breathe around the media for Marc marquez. Vale is a great loss for the sport, but an insane PR weight taken off Marc's shoulders (although at that point I'm pretty sure the vale PR he had to do had become an automatism. One does not get asked so many questions without developing a habit.)

Suddenly, he doesn't have to play "let's make up", because vale isn't there to make up with him.

And you're right, with his injury, the small amount of thoughts he had for Valentino probably vanished into thin air. Now, all there is is the goal of getting better.

So, you are Marc Márquez. It's 2023-2024 whatever. It's late. You're trying to get back into shape to prove that you're still that guy, and a journalist asks you about Valentino Rossi. You know, the guy who didn't want to make up for now almost 10 years and who is now retired AND who still talks shit about you in his Italian podcats. You know, the guy that people won't stop asking you about even 10 years down the line.

You are Marc Márquez, and you are now around 30 years old. You are injured, you have grown and matured, you. are. tired.

So you tell the journalist the bland truth and you move on. "I don't care for a reconciliation at this point", "i do not need Valentino, but the sport needs us" "i do not think about 2015 anymore i have moved on"—all which are the truth. So much less flattering than before, and all the more like harsh facts. Because Marc doesn't care anymore. His career is not "valentino rossi". He has a goal, which is not even the same as the one Vale had, a 10th. Marc doesn't care about that. He just wants to see if he's still got it.

So yes, he's become far less amiable about it, because he does not need to be anymore. I think he's tired from all the questions, and it shows in the way he answers.

I honestly don't know who the person was who took this image or what they were even thinking, but it's now immortalised and I just had to share it,

I feel like it really shows that these grand heroes were just people, like any other, who took embarrassing photos of their friends too

I am not lesbian but rather bisexual but rather find it rare for me to fall in love with men. Joe is just that fucking powerful to conquerer even the strongest and lesbian of the ladies without trying most times.

What did we learn from this? He's an amazing dude and such a green flag even the non male romantic likers like him romantically.