Done 👌🏻
May his memory be a blessing.
Willem Arondéus (22 August 1894 – 1 July 1943) was a Dutch artist and author who joined the Dutch anti-Nazi resistance movement during World War II. He participated in the bombing of the Amsterdam public records office to hinder the Nazi German effort to identify Dutch Jews and others wanted by the Gestapo. Arondéus was caught and executed soon after his arrest. Yad Vashem recognized Arondéus as Righteous Among the Nations.
Their attack, which took place on 27 March 1943, was partially successful, and they managed to destroy 800,000 identity cards, and retrieve 600 blank cards and 50,000 guilders. The building was blown up and no one was caught on the night of the attack. However, due to an unknown betrayer, Arondéus was arrested on 1 April 1943. Arondéus refused to give up the rest of his team.
Arondéus was openly gay before the war and defiantly asserted his sexuality before his execution. His final words were:
From Wikipedia
hey y'all, I hate to do this but like six different emergencies hit all at once after a year of emergencies draining all of my emergency savings, and I'm deep in the red. furthermore, this is starting to look like a long term rough situation, in that my partner needs more monthly support than I can send on my current income with the sheer amount of debt I have taken on to physically get to where I'm working my new job. I've been working as many hours as physically possible, but my hours get limited on Aug 1st, so that's not sustainable. at this point I kind of need a secondary source of income, so hey, good news, if you like my writing, you're probably going to see a lot more of it!
I've set a ko-fi goal for $5000 which will pay off enough of all of the plumbing work we've had to do, carpet beetle infestation, and dental emergency that I'll be able to hold out until my new job picks up and I qualify for benefits. however, I'm trying to make writing an actual serious long term thing right now. throwing in even just $1/month on patreon helps the most. it's currently mostly early release including in-progress early release-- there are several thousand words of the next chapter of ifmlam up already-- but as I release more things, there will also be a fair amount of director's commentary on projects. I've got a full outline and some scenes of some things I'd been considering doing with to the bottom of the river that will be released exclusively there when I finally put out the epilogue chapter of ttbotr next month, and I'm having almost as fun writing about the math history and explaining the math references in the axioms of set theory, working title for my jjk one-shot, as I am in writing axioms itself. and that's not to mention all the original stuff of the way!
ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/savrenim patreon: https://www.patreon.com/savrenim
any bit helps, thank you so much. if you are interested in receiving online math tutoring, DM me, and we can talk about prices.
Hi, I just wanted to say your ask to Emungere is the reason I have fallen in to the Fedal rabbit hole - so thank you!! I would NEVER have looked them up if I'm not following the Hannibal fandom and her Tumblr. I know next to nothing about tennis in real life but two days ago I saw the hand holding and shirtless posts (among others) from you...My heart just goes to Rafa :D I am now completely converted and wanted to read/watch everything about them. Any suggestions where I should start? Thanks!
Welcome, anon!
I just joined two months ago myself, so I'm new too, but so far everyone on tennisblr has been lovely. I've also delved headlong into Fedal, and there is a ton of great content you can sink your teeth into. I'll put everything I know in this long post, but tennis mutuals feel free to jump in with more recs!
Cool people to follow on tumblr <-everyone on @hubillusion's list is awesome
@tennisandlife is another awesome blog to follow, even though they stopped posting in 2020. I literally spent 3 hours going through their archive, there is SO MUCH quality Fedal content.
@tennis-out-of-context is also fun, although it's not exclusively Fedal content.
Rafa: My Story by Rafael Nadal and John Carlin. A must-read for any Rafa fan. Rafa in his own words, through 2011. What I love most is getting Rafa's insights into his own game, his approach and preparation for matches, his journey.
The Master: The Long Run and Beautiful Game of Roger Federer by Christopher Clarey. Probably the most comprehensive Federer biography to date, published in August 2021. Clarey traces the development of Federer from boyhood to 2020 in an attempt to figure out the how and why of Federer. Along the way you get a lot of insights into Roger's game, his team, but Roger himself still remains somewhat inscrutable and untouchable. Not unlike the man himself. If you contrast this to the confessional approach in Rafa, where you actually get into Rafa's head, you could make the argument that the distance in The Master is due to the difference between biography vs autobiography, but I also think it's very fitting for Rafa's personality vs Roger's. Still, given the challenge of the task, Clarey does a commendable job in attempting to unravel Federer. A must-read for any Roger fan.
Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal: The Lives and Careers of Two Tennis Legends by Sebastian Fest (2018). This was the third book I read, and I assumed that it would retread much of the content from the other two books, but I was pleasantly surprised. Sure, the book rehashes many of the key moments in their rivalry, such as Wimbledon 2008, but it also covers a lot of the behind-the-scenes things that the other two books don't--things like the ATP Players Council and Roger/Rafa's political fallout in 2011-12, Rafa's knee injuries and treatments, how the anti-doping measures impact players, etc. A good supplement that gives an interesting view into the challenges of being a professional tennis player.
I haven't read the following yet, but I'm hoping to get my hands on them soon:
Roger Federer: The Biography by Rene Stauffer
The Roger Federer Effect: Rivals, Friends, Fans and How the Maestro Changed Their Lives by Simon Cambers, Simon Graf
Fedegraphica: A Graphic Biography of the Genius of Roger Federer by Mark Hodgkinson
(I love Rafa, but you can probably guess which half of Fedal comes out on top for me)
I'm not going to recommend specific fics, but rather favorite writers on AO3. Any Fedal from these writers is awesome, you can't go wrong.
Mystivy - everything from mystivy is the best. I just finished reading the "Joy" series, which is simply beautiful. Only parts 1 and 2 are written; part 3 looks like it was never posted so it's technically an incomplete series.
emungere - you know emungere, so no need for me to explain how amazing her writing is. "Wild Card" is the fic I needed when I first dived into Fedal. You must be logged in on AO3 to view emungere’s tennis rpf.
rilla - "The Long Experience of Love" is probably my favorite Fedal fic overall, even though it's an abandoned WIP.
Serenade - mostly ficlets, but each one is incredibly insightful and makes you go "oof." “Tennis Is Not A Game You Play Alone” has my favorite line from any Fedal fic: Rafa met his gaze, dark eyes unreadable. "I would rather lose to you," he said, "than win everything in a world where you never exist."
eliane - I haven’t actually read any of eliane’s fics but I’ve seen multiple recs, so this is next on my to-read list. Must be logged in to read on AO3.
louise_lux - I also haven’t read any of louise_lux’s solo work, but I read the joint fics she co-wrote with emungere and they were fuckin’ hot. Also on my to-read list.
Strokes of Genius - feature-length documentary of the 2008 Wimbledon final. You can find it on YouTube (here's one link but not sure it works. I watched it on these links: part 1, part 2, part 3) Also the Rafa and Roger bonus features.
Rafael Nadal Academy - 4-episode documentary series on Amazon Prime. Takes you into the daily life and operations of Rafa’s tennis academy in Manacor. You meet the staff there and follow the stories of 8 students who are pursuing their tennis dreams. And of course you see Rafa in the episodes too, but it’s primarily about the academy. I wish they would do a season 2.
The bazillion videos from 2017, 2019, and 2022 Laver Cup on YouTube. Fedal played doubles in 2017 and 2022, and were supposed to play doubles in 2019 but Rafa got a wrist injury.
Roger Federer: Everywhere Is Home: documentary of Federer’s 2019 Latin America exhibition tour, produced by ESPN: Vimeo
Roger Federer: The Reunion: documentary of the 2020 Match in Africa charity exhibition match with Rafael Nadal. Available for rent or purchase on Vimeo
NBC/Credit Suisse documentary about the art installation project that Roger was part of: Portrait of a Champion
Rafa Nadal Academy’s Instagram has tons of videos and photos of Rafa as well. Here’s a video about when Roger visited the Academy for its grand opening in October 2016. You can find other videos from the grand opening on YouTube, like the press conference and speeches.
I want to say that there’s a 20-min or 40-min documentary about Federer vs Nadal in the 2017 Australian Open produced by AO Films or something like that, but I can’t find it now. :( Maybe other tennisblr folks can help? Found it!
YouTube also has highlights or full matches online. I recommend 2008 Wimbledon final, 2017 Australian Open final, and 2019 Wimbledon semifinal, and their associated press conferences/interviews.
ASAP Sports Transcripts does the English transcripts of pre & post-match press conferences for multiple sports, including tennis. Here’s the archive of Federer’s press conference transcripts and here’s Nadal’s.
Rafa’s diary from his old website (copied by someone on LiveJournal for posterity).
I read somewhere that Rafa wrote a couple of tour diaries or blogs for the ATP tour way bay when as well, but I can’t find them. Tennis mutuals, any help? Is that the same as the link to Rafa’s diary from his old website?
Rafa Nadal Fans website - I haven’t really looked at this, but at first glance it looks like a ton of Rafa content.
Stalk Follow them on official social media accounts for Roger, Rafa, Severin Luthi, Rafa Nadal Academy, etc.
Tons of interviews and articles from major publications such as New York Times, Sports Illustrated, GQ, you name it. Just google “Roger Federer cover story” or “Rafael Nadal interview.” There’s also the tons of interviews and articles in Spanish, French (L’Equipe), German (Blick, Tages-Anzeiger), etc, some of which you can translate on Google Translate.
Reposting this as its own post so it doesn’t get buried, because I think this is an important point in understanding the Federer-Nadal dynamic:
We’ve all seen the stat that Federer had zero retirements in 1500+ matches. In Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, Sebastian Fest interviews Feliciano Lopez, who is a friend of Rafa’s and admires Roger, about this:
“It’s unreal, absolutely unreal, that the best tennis player in history has never left a match….Aside from taking care of yourself and leading a healthy life, not damaging or punishing your body, you also have to have a little bit of luck, to have a genetically strong body.” Lopez has been watching Federer play for almost two decades. ”You see him, and he is very physically gifted, very coordinated. I’ve seen him play when he was fifteen, sixteen years old, and you could see that he was physically fit for tennis. He’s flexible, tall, coordinated, he’s not lacking in any area; his movements on the court are perfect. That helps, too.”
So not only does Roger’s build, coordination, technique, and movement make him perfectly suited to tennis and help him win matches, it also prevents injuries. Outside of bad back problems in 2012-13, a bout with mono in early 2008, and probably other minor injuries we don’t know about, Roger never had major problems until he tore something in his knee in 2016. That’s 18 years of professional tennis without major injury. Eighteen years without facing the challenge of medical procedures, extended absence, rehabilitation, reconditioning, and the mental battle to return to match fitness.
Compare that with Rafa, who has been plagued by injuries since the beginning. A congenital problem with his left foot (later diagnosed as Mueller-Weiss syndrome) nearly ended his career in 2005 at age 19, just four years into his professional career. Rehab, rest, and orthopedic inserts to cushion his foot improved the situation and he was able to resume playing. But as detailed in Rafa, he and his team knew full well that taking pressure off his foot via orthopedic inserts was going to fuck up something else down the line–knee, back, hips, something.
Turns out it was his knees, because in 2012-13, he had to have plasma injections in the ligaments of his knees because they had deteriorated badly–another potentially career-ending injury. Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal details the injury, treatment, and Rafa’s view on his inherent disadvantage when it comes to injuries compared to Federer:
[He] didn’t just experience how the injections made his knees feel better: while the needles were injecting the enriched plasma into a sedated Nadal’s joints, the tennis player was overcoming an almost built-in disadvantage he had against Roger Federer. “Federer hasn’t had injuries from excessive exertions, and he’s been playing tennis for years,” Sanchez remarked. [Sanchez is the doctor who performed the injections.] “Nadal has fantastic physical qualities, better than average; he’s good in every aspect. If he had a bad physique, he never would have gotten so big, but the fact is that if you have worn down a tendon that is still degenerating, and you keep doing what you’re doing, you’ll have to keep getting injections.”
[Sanchez on] Federer again: “His style of play and his physique give him a good balance.” That the doctor who gave Nadal’s knees their life back would compare him unfavorably to Federer was a bit noteworthy. “Don’t tell poor Nadal that,” the reporter joked. And then, Sanchez adds surprisingly, “No, he was the one who said that about Federer.”
^^Here’s an interesting video from a foot doctor (not Rafa’s actual foot doctor) explaining Mueller-Weiss.
So Rafa was always aware of his disadvantage when it came to injuries. I think the injuries aspect is an important part to understanding how the relationship between Roger and Rafa evolved over time, for two reasons in particular:
1. their political falling out in 2011-2012 was in part driven by their different experiences with injuries. Says Rafa in January 2012 when he aired some of his grievances from the ATP Players Council discussions:
“I say a lot of positive things now about tennis. I can’t complain about tennis, it has given me the opportunity to experience things that I might never have even dreamed of. However, is ending your career with pain in every part of your body positive? No, it’s not positive. Maybe he just has such a great physique that he’ll finish his career like a rose. Neither I, nor Murray, nor Djokovic will end our careers like roses; we will finish physically affected. Tennis is an important period in our lives, yes, but with how focused the game is, and how it’s spread out on the calendar… how old will we be when we finish playing? Unless you’re super privileged like him, who has an ease, and I don’t doubt his efforts, but for him the game comes easy. The rest of us all have to put in just a bit more effort than he does and we physically wear our bodies out more than he does.” (from Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal by Sebastian Fest)
Many of the changes that Rafa was pushing for on the ATP Players Council was rooted in his experience with frequent injuries: a 24-month ranking system instead of the 12-month ranking system, a shorter season, etc. Rafa made multiple attempts to get Roger to see his side, collected signatures from other players, but Roger was naturally more conservative, preferring to implement changes from within the existing system rather than making drastic changes. (But also keep in mind that up to this point, Roger had never been seriously injured, and thus probably didn’t understand Rafa’s perspective as urgently as he might have otherwise.) Finally, after banging his head against a brick wall for over a year, Rafa decided to resign as vice president of the ATP Players Council. Again, from Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal:
“I think he was a little frustrated by the end, and maybe he didn’t have enough time either, some of the injuries came back…” suggested [Eric] Butorac [a member of the ATP Players Council], who remembers perfectly well the day that Nadal told them he was leaving. “He gave us a good explanation, ‘Guys, I’m very frustrated with some of the things that are happening. And that frustration that I have is turning into aggressive conversations with some players, or here in the group. Instead of continuing to pour out my frustrations here, I would rather resign.’” Two years after that resignation, Federer, now the father of four children, also left the council.”
2. When asked when they started getting closer as friends, Roger once said in an interview that it was after his own injury in 2016 that he began to better understand Rafa’s perspective and experience. (Ugh, I can’t remember which interview it was, help? ETA: found it!)
You know, especially being injured, for me, as well, seeing what he had to go through. I could never really relate to injured players, to be quite honest, because I never really was that hurt like he was. I think the last year was a good reality check for me to maybe understand what he was going through so often.
So it was their unequal experiences with injuries that drove them apart in tennis politics, and it was their shared experience with injury that finally brought them closer together. It was in Fall 2016, when both Roger and Rafa were doing rehab, that Roger helped Rafa open his academy. A few months later, in January 2017, they faced each other in that legendary Australian Open final. That year, 2017, they split the four Grand Slams in a remarkable comeback year. The first Laver Cup was also that year, and the prospect of Roger and Rafa on the same team drove a lot of the publicity and ticket sales.
So they definitely had phases in their relationship. I’d say that they had turning points in 2008 (Wimbledon), 2012 (falling out), and 2016/17 (Fedal forever), but underneath it all was always a mutual respect. Even during their falling out in 2012, at the height of the tension between them, things never turned nasty. Things were tense, there were frustrations on both sides, and Rafa made the mistake of airing his grievances to the media, but even then Rafa took responsibility:
“I said what I said. I regret saying it, especially in front of you all [reporters]. Because when I say things like that, I should say them to him directly,” Nadal emphasized, thus bringing to an end the “damage control” that he had begun many hours before through mediators on both sides, basically between Tony Godsick, Federer’s agent, and Carlos Costa, the Spaniard’s representative.
Good job, Rafa. Rule #6 of in the Handbook to Successful Marriage is “if you have a disagreement, always talk to your spouse about it directly and work it out between the two of you, instead of complaining and bringing other people into it.”
I swear they do the strangest shit...not even fanfiction writers could have thought of THIS
Rafa being adopted to the Federer family:
Robert Federer (Roger's dad) asking about Rafa to Roger, who dutifully pointed at him at the back of the line (+ some wholesome Andy Murray moments with the Federer Fam)!
The camera crew letting Rafa past so Roger's dad can give him a warm hug!
Uncle Rafa and loving headrubs for the boys + big hugs for the girls 🥺
Jim Courier gave some insights on interviewing Roger for his last time on-court:
He talks about how he didn't expect that level of emotions and almost had to numb himself to be the one who kept it together, specifically mentioning how moved he was seeing Nadal that emotional, the tears, the handholding.
He described their bond beautifully here having witnessed it first hand all these years from the sideline, saying how epic and unscriptable it was and that it was definitely going to be in a movie someday but they would have to work hard to get to this finale!
tennis players as vines part 2
Nothing to see here just Roger 'I miss Rafa Nadal 24/7' Federer
and they were mad scientist buddies who saved each other’s little brothers through ethically dubious means <3
Roger when asked about THAT pic: *says he needs ALL its versions and proceeds to describe his feelings in the sweetest way possible*
Rafa when asked about the same pic: "I haven't seen the photo"
Ubaldo: ❝ Do you see yourself after 2020 just playing doubles if you're a little bit too old to play singles? ❞
*5 years later*
rules: share a few lines or a snippet that sums up the main relationship(s) in your wip
I've been tagged by @paramouradrift. and i tagg @chitsangenthusiast, @ash-and-starlight, @erisenyo no pressure there this is only if you feel like it, also if anyone else want to do this too feel free to feel tagged! i have no lines to share though :') but uh....
uhm....
ahh...
ehh....
i think... summing everything up... sokka is vary annoyed with zuko...and zuko is being annoying hahah and that is their dynamic in many wips (or zuko is just grouchy...) (okay last one is not 100% my own wip i have a neat project with dis (paramountdrift) going on here sooo stay tuned!)
