#No team will make a big change in 2025

[janesurlife]

Dodged a missile (audi) took a bullet (Williams)

[thankskenpenders]

Today we got some news regarding a big change for the Ian Flynn's Q&A podcast, the BumbleKast. As outlined in a blog post by Ian, starting in 2025, all Sonic-related questions submitted to the show will first need to be screened by Sega. (I have to assume this is also why Ian announced they'll no longer be doing live Q&As starting next year.)

Frankly, I can't say this is particularly surprising.

While the BumbleKast is ostensibly a podcast about Ian's work as a freelance writer for all sorts of things, and also just a place for him to shoot the shit about stuff he likes, he's still predominantly seen as The Sonic Guy. Sure, he also does a bunch of other freelance work for other series, and original comics like Drogune, and he's also the narrative mastermind for the whole Rivals of Aether franchise these days, but it's his insights into what goes on behind the scenes with Sonic that people really care about. Your average Sonic fan can't just go up to Iizuka or whoever and ask him a question about the current state of the lore, but Ian's inbox is always open.

Because of this, I've thought a lot about the BumbleKast's place in the fandom and The Discourse in recent years. Ian wants to be as open and honest as he can about his work, and I think that's admirable. To me, hearing about creators' struggles and the shit they go through just to get a story out the door tends to make me sympathize with them more. Sometimes a story just doesn't turn out as well as you'd hoped, but you're on a tight deadline and all you can do is move on to the next project. I've even softened a bit on Penders over the years as he's shared more about the absurd situations and odd creative demands made behind the scenes at Archie. Unfortunately, not everyone has that mindset.

Ian's basically always had obsessive haters who were eager to take everything he says out of context to try and stir up shit, but that used to be contained by the niche nature of the Archie comics. Most of the fandom didn't give a shit about what Ian was doing with Sonic and Sally's love life or whatever. Most of the fandom wasn't even reading those comics. But Ian's gone from being a writer for a non-canon spinoff comic, to being the initial lead writer for the first ever canon Sonic comic series, to being the new main writer for the games themselves as part of the official Sonic Lore Team. Way more Sonic fans care about his work now, and when he's so open about his work that makes him an easy scapegoat.

It feels like damn near every week on Twitter Ian's personal trolls have posted yet another BumbleKast clip out of context to rile up the fandom and make it look like he has no idea what he's talking about or like he has some kind of agenda. And, unfortunately, people often fall for this. Of course, it also goes the other way, with people more sympathetic towards Ian taking things he says about Sega and framing them as proof that Sega has no idea what they're doing with the brand. Which, well, let's be real, isn't always the most unreasonable thing to think, given Sonic's rocky history. But I'm surprised it took this long for Sega to start paying more attention to what gets said on the BumbleKast when fans use it so regularly as a source of drama.

I've also often felt that they just need to be WAY more selective about what messages they respond to on the show. Questions Ian can't actually answer due to NDAs, questions that are borderline incomprehensible, "questions" that are really just fan ideas. And the haters, oh, the haters. Ian does not need to put up with angry rants about how he should make SonAmy canon or what the fuck ever. Even if Ian's willing to put up with it, as a listener it can make the show just super unpleasant at times when someone aggressive pops up with an inflammatory question. There have been entire BumbleKast Mini episodes I had to skip because they were just obsessive critics of Ian's paying to grill him on a dozen different things and treat him like an idiot.

But at the same time, I get why the show got to be this way. It's become a part-time job for Ian with multiple new episode a week. Given how piss poor the pay tends to be for freelance writers, I can't really blame him for wanting to keep this secondary stream of income open, and to not have to refund people left and right for rejecting their questions. The man's got bills to pay. (And so does Kyle, for whom managing the BumbleKast seems to have become a full-time job.)

I dunno. The man's got the patience of a fucking saint. I would've quit the franchise if I was in his shoes, with people wishing he would die for shit like minor disagreements over Sonic's characterization or him misremembering an obscure old lore thing. While I do hope that Sega doesn't keep too tight of a leash on him moving forward, and I hope that he's still able to speak his mind about his work, part of me also hopes that having to be much more selective about Sonic questions results in less bullshit like this.

[green-with-envy-phandom-event]

Welcome to our third consecutive year of Green With Envy!

Open for first timers and the obsessed, we welcome all skill levels to this art based event. Just like before, the event comes in two parts with a few minor changes to spice up this year's competition.

Anyone Can Enter a Line Art!

Love to line but hate to color? This side is for you! Part one is the slow build up, where artists create this year's line art. Over the course of two months a form will be open and waiting for anyone to drop a Danny Phantom themed line art in. Crossovers welcome! Unlike our previous years, we will be keeping all the 2025 line art a secret until the drop date! 

Color To Compete!

During Part Two of the event, things rev up and turn competitive. If you sign up for this half, you better be ready to color! When the line arts drop, the fighting begins. For those who want nothing more than to go crazy over a brand new, Danny Phantom themed coloring book, this part is for you. The goal is to color as many of the line arts from the first half of the event as physically possible with the rest of your small team. Unlike other DP events, GWE will have 10 whole coloring teams, so expect to get cozy with your new mates while you strategize! 

And when we say strategize, we mean it. >:3 Green With Envy is unique in that the points you earn can be snatched away! How many your team gets depends on when you complete a coloring, how you complete a coloring, and to whom the line art was assigned. (Don't worry, you can color any line art, including unassigned ones!) Trickery is just as important as the speed and skill of your artistry here! Drop the ball and your points just may be Poached right from under your pencil tips!

~~~~

GUYS, THE 2024 ZINE IS DOOOOONE!

@englandamericaitaly NEARLY DIED MAKING IT BUT IT WAS SO WORTH IT! Check out the 358 page masterpiece here!

Welcome back to the gremlin enclosure! Thanks everyone in the Phandom for showing the event so much love!

Big shout out to @ecto-stone for letting us use their kick-butt line art from last year's event to make this year's banner! And to @furiarossa, @ovytia-art, @ecto-stone, @breakfastatmiles, @jamiethebeeart, @half-deadmagicperson, @ectoblastfromthepast and @cakeractuallyarts for coloring it!

This year's Links, Info and Important Dates below!

The official hashtag for the event this year is #greenwithenvy2025

In-depth Rules can be found here!

Tutorial can be found here

FAQ can be found here

The discord server for this event is here

~~~~

Line Art and All Sign-ups Due: Friday, February 28th (02/28/25) 11:59 pm, Pacific Time Zone

Coloring Starts: Friday, March 7th (03/07/25) 8:00 pm Pacific Time Zone

Coloring Due: Sunday, April 6th. (04/06/25) 11:59 pm Pacific Time Zone

Sign-ups for line artists are here

Sign-ups for colorists are here

Line artist submissions go here 

Colorist submission form can be found in the Discord.

P.S. Remember when looking at the dates to account for your daylight saving's time. What day it happens on depends on where you are in the world!

~~~~

Looking for links to last year's stuff?

2024 Free-To-Color Line Art

2024 Masterpost

[dear-ao3]

how to get f1 driver cards, a guide for mclaren, mercedes and williams (more to come)

im going to start by saying that there is a high high chance not everything on this is accurate. for some reason this is a stupidly complex process and i am just trying my best :)

what are driver cards? every year (most) teams have cards made of their drivers with their pictures and sometimes stats and fun facts, etc. they change every year and are collectible. theyre free, technically, as long as you pay for the postage.

ive sent away for some of them before, and those are the teams i have included as i know these ones work. will add more teams on as i attempt others this year.

MERCEDES

objectively this is the easiest one to get. you fill out an online form and if you are lucky you will get cards sent to you. the form is live for the 2025 cards as of me posting this.

beware: the address form is formatted for UK addresses only for some reason. if you are trying to send to the US with an address that is two lines (ie, a street address with an apartment number or a po box) there is a good chance it wont work. i have gotten it to work for street addresses only (both attempts to have them sent to an apartment address failed). this one also took the longest, several months.

all other teams require a double envelope, stamp and letter situation.

very basically, you address an envelope to the team and put yourself as the return address. it needs a stamp (domestic if the team is in your country, international if it is not)

write a letter to the team, something along the lines of "dear x team, i am a big fan of you and your drivers x and y and i like watching you / rooting for you for xyz reasoning (etc etc). i was wondering if i could get the 20xx drivers cards? thanks (name)." it doesnt have to be super fancy.

put this letter in the envelope along with another a5 size folded envelope addressed to yourself (this is the envelope that the team will send your cards in, make sure it is the right size and also has your correct address.

the a5 envelope also needs a stamp and here is where it gets a little tricky. if the team is based in the same country you are you use a domestic stamp. if you are Not in the same country as the team this is the terribly fun (read: tricky) part.

you can either include the pounds/euros needed to buy a stamp in the envelope or you can purchase an international stamp from that country and use that. i have gone the stamp route before (ordered royal mail stamps off of British amazon) and it worked. i put five second class barcoded stamps on each envelope and they came back to me okay. (could also use first class stamps, i dont remember why i ended up choosing the second class ones) (you have to check the stamp prices and make sure that the total stamp costs equal how much it costs to send a letter internationally (second class stamps are 85p as of me writing this and it costs 2.80 pounds to mail a letter internationally from the uk to the us specifically (all of this is findable on the royal mail site) so i would put 4 or 5 stamps to be safe per envelope in case stamp prices rise again)

put that whole folded envelope and your letter in your addressed envelope to the team and mail it out.

MCLAREN

they seem to be pretty responsive. i got my card for mclaren within i think 2 or 3 months. be extra careful when addressing your envelopes to the uk, the seven letter/ number combination is the most important and should be the most legible thing. i think this is formatted correctly. (again, im from the us. uk addresses confuse the hell out of me)

address:

FAO: Autograph Cards McLaren Technology Centre Chertsey Road Woking GU21 4YH UK

WILLIAMS

again, they were pretty responsive. i think i got mine in 2 or 3 months. my envelope was the wrong size for this team but they sent me the cards anyway in a different size envelope. again, really make sure that your seven number/letter thing is clear. there both a O and 0 in it so i would put a slash through the 0.

address:

Fan Mail Williams Grand Prix Engineering Grove Wantage Oxfordshire OX12 0DQ UK

fun little note: my sister and i both sent away for mclaren and williams last year. despite them having the Exact Same Addresses and being sent from The Exact Same Post Office on the Exact Same Day, my mclaren one was returned to sender for the reason unable to be delivered. my sister got her mclaren card in the mail the next week. and i got my williams card but my sisters got returned to sender for the reason of unable to be delivered. i have absolutely no idea why. not remotely. i resent both of them and had no problems the second time around.

good luck. its kinda challenging but it is fun. im going to try to send off for more this year so ill provide more advice once i figure it out but as for now, i know these ones work. i would wait until the start of the season to mail any requests, though fill out the mercedes one sooner if you want that :)

and, proof that i got my driver cards and im not just making this up:

[cassandraclare]

A bit of publishing stuff (if you get my newsletter you've already seen this)

So by now you lovely people have all seen the announcement about what books I have coming up next. Ragpicker King is coming March 4, 2025, and The Last King of Faerie is coming early 2026.

I know a lot of you were hoping for LKOF to come earlier. It’s going to be a big gap between the last Shadowhunter book and the next — three years. Previously the longest gap between Shadowhunter books was two years, between Mortal Instruments and the Dark Artifices.

I announced last year that I was taking time off — six months. It was the first time I’d taken any real time off since 2005. The pandemic had just happened and I was wiped out physically and mentally. I also needed to take stock of where I was in my publishing journey and really think about what I wanted — it had been years since I’d had time to consider whether I was happy, because I always had another deadline and that was always more important.

  When I came to the end of The Last Hours, I was “out of contract” — meaning I didn’t have any further Shadowhunter books that were owned by or owed to a publisher.  it was the first time that had happened since, again, 2005. Being out of contract is your one chance to change anything you want to change about your career, and I knew I was going to leave my longtime US publisher of the Shadowhunter books and move to Random House, who published Sword Catcher.

This isn’t a small decision for any writer to make. It sometimes happens when a writer has been at a publisher for a very long time that the nature of the publisher changes. Maybe all the people you worked with when you first came to that publisher have gone elsewhere, so your team has inherited you rather than having chosen you. Maybe your publisher has been sold to another company whose vision for that publisher doesn’t fit with yours. Maybe your publisher isn’t interested in your genre anymore. 

I spent a lot of time agonizing over the decision—I certainly could have stayed where I was, but I knew that was no longer the best decision for the books. So those of you who pay attention to these kinds of details will note that where the other Shadowhunter books have all been published by McElderry Books, these next ones will be published by Knopf. (Who are an amazing imprint. They make great books.)

Normally a writer wouldn’t really address switching publishers — it happens a lot, and most readers don’t care who publishes a book. I’m talking about it now because I know there will be a lot of people who are angry and don’t understand why Ragpicker King is coming out before Last King of Faerie. The short answer is: Ragpicker King has been under contract since it was sold along with Sword Catcher, years ago now, and I’m obligated to get it done when I said I was going to. The books of The Wicked Powers are only just now securely under contract enough to be announced, as you just saw! So Ragpicker King is planned to be turned in in a couple of months, and after that I will be able to focus entirely on The Last King of Faerie (which I already began, but since it was only sold to Knopf last October, I was only able to get started after that).

And it takes a a year at least to write a book and another good year or so to publish it, and that gets us to the pub dates we’ve got. I would love if I could get it to you earlier, but multiple factors have brought us to this point, and in the end, not rushing through them is the best thing for the books, and will produce the best version of those books. I always want to get you my best work — that’s what is important to me above all things.

In terms of other publishers in other countries — I’m staying with all my longterm Shadowhunter publishers. Nothing’s going to change for y’all — Walker Books is still publishing Shadowhunters in the UK, even though a different publisher is going to publish In Fire Foretold there (due to spiciness.) ;) 

For those of you who backed the Kickstarter, that will mean you do get new Shadowhunter content between now and early 2026* — which was part of the reason I did it! I’m also talking to my new publisher about bringing Better in Black out — with at least a six month gap for the Kickstarter backers to have it to themselves — so fingers crossed. There’s also Black Volume of the Dead, the final Eldest Curses book, which is still planned and which I am still excited to write, but since it is set after Last King of Faerie, it hasn’t been scheduled yet. More news on that as it develops—for now, I wanted to talk directly about the schedule in the next couple of years, since I feel confident it is set and will reliably happen this way, something I can’t yet say about 2027 and beyond. The point is, I’m really excited to bring you Wicked Powers just as soon as it is ready, and I know enough about it to say  it’s going to be quite a ride!

And also an early look at In Fire Foretold.

[formulawolff]

ii. eighteen minutes - t.w.

pairing: reserve fem driver!reader x toto wolff

word count: 2.5k

warnings: morally gray individuals, slow burn, sexual content (intercourse), allusions to sexual content, cursing, marijuana use, references to alcohol use, lots of power imbalance, questionable boss x employee dynamics, light toxicity, slight controlling tendencies from toto

a/n: here’s the second chapter of my new baby. i really like the direction of this fic & i hope y’all do too. also, i really wanna clarify and say that the reader, toto, and max are NOT supposed to be good people. they are supposed to be written as people who have flaws + make mistakes. i hope y’all enjoy! <3

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ────── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ────── ･ ｡ﾟ☆:

“look at you! come on now, do a little spin for me.”

sucking in a breath, you swivel on your heel, turning in a tight circle. lewis nods in approval, his tongue swiping along his lower lip.

“who knew a fire suit could look so good on someone? if you’re not careful, you may have quite a few drivers in your dms later. me included!”

“stop,” you hiss through gritted teeth, “it’s a little tighter than i would like in some areas.”

lewis’ lips purse, the british driver eyeing every inch of the suit, “that’s not necessarily a bad thing–”

“could you stop harassing our sweet girl?” 

george strolls through the entrance of the garage, arms folding over his chest. lewis rolls his eyes, mouth forming a pout as george plucks a strand of hair from your right rib-cage, “how come you get to be that close?”

“because i don’t sexualize her every five seconds,” george mutters, shaking his head, “how are you feeling? nervous?”

“nervous?” a dry laugh erupts from the base of your throat, “i’m clenching my cheeks right now. i’m afraid i’m going to shit myself.”

“it’ll pass,” george shrugs, “soon the adrenaline will kick in and you’ll be fine. don’t stress yourself out too much. it’s only qualifying.”

“it’s only my first qualifying in formula one,” you counter, wiping your slick palms on your suit, “it’s only my debut as one of the few female drivers in a male-dominated sport. it’s only the first time the other teams will get to watch me drive and–”

“you just want to look good for red bull,” lewis waves a hand, “don’t act all coy over there. we’ve seen your interviews. we know you have an interest in joining the dark side.”

“the dark side?” you arch a brow, “what does that mean?”

“you’d be under the helm of christian horner if you went over to red bull,” george exhales, his hands settling on his hips, “that’s a no-no in the mercedes handbook. so, we refer to it as the dark side.”

“oh,” a slight wave of shame blazes within you as you sense the subtle scrutiny radiating off the british drivers as they pick you apart, anticipating your response, “i just wanted to showcase my capabilities, that’s all.”

“there’s no harm in that,” lewis whistles, “after all, a lot of seats are up for grabs. several long-term contracts for drivers are going to be up after the season. 2025 is going to be one interesting year. that’s for sure.”

“indeed,” george nods, “not a lot will change around here though. i’ll be sticking around. so will lewis.”

at george’s statement, you notice the way lewis tenses up, almost freezing in place. yet, he loosens up the moment another individual enters the paddock, the driver bearing a meek smile.

“howdy, toto!”

“guten morgen,” the team principal is almost cold, showing no emotion as he approaches the three of you, “i assume the two of you briefed our little hase on our strategy for qualifying this weekend?”

“yep,” lewis dips his head, “she’s chomping at the bit to get a hot lap in!”

“ah!” the team principal’s head turns in your direction, a smug smirk now apparent, “is that so?”

fuck you, lewis hamilton. fuck you big time. 

“yup!” you swallow thickly, shifting in place, “i’m ready!”

in reality, there was nothing more than you wanted in that moment to be in max’s arms, snuggling against his chest as his hands roamed, rubbing gentle circles into your back. 

as much as you shunned those feelings that bubbled to the surface whenever he was near, there was one thing that you could not deny. 

he knew how to make you feel safe. 

and god did you wish he was at your side, your fingers intertwined together. even the sound of his voice was enough to soothe your nerves.

if only he was here right now.

if only.

due to the nature of formula one’s guidelines, in order to replace george, you would have to participate in at least one of the practice sessions on the track. which, since qualifying was considered a practice session, you would be given the okay to compete. however, there was the more petrifying aspect of it all.

qualifying determined the grid.  

if you did not perform, then mercedes would be at the bottom of the grid, fighting their way to the top in order to earn points. if you did not manage to snag a position in the top ten, then you would not earn any points. 

and no team wanted zero points. 

especially at the beginning of the season where a high-caliber team like mercedes wanted to make a statement. 

so, it was up to you to set that tone. 

to prove that you were not only a worthy competitor, but also that you were capable of earning points. 

talk about a pivotal point in your formula one career.

a point which would hopefully last more than eighteen minutes. 

hopefully.

“all right,” toto clears his throat, placing a hand on your shoulder, “come with me. we’re going to go on over to the car. i’m going to have you meet with bono, marcus, and james. they are going to give you a little insight about the new upgrades to the car, along with some adjustments we’ve made since sakhir.”

“sounds good,” letting out a shaky breath, you follow the team principal’s lead, dipping your head to fellow members of the crew as they wave, circling around you like vultures. they appear eager, poised to pounce at any given moment. with every passing second, the tension in the air thickened, a buzz beginning to grow among the garage. 

of course, they were talking about you. 

this was the first time you were going to be behind the wheel of their car. the car that they had worked tirelessly on over the course of weeks, if not months. the car they had poured all of their passion, their energy, and their resources into. the car that required numerous donations and sponsorships to build, craft, and perfect. 

a car that was worth millions. 

and it was up to you to ensure that the car came out unscathed, without a single scratch or dent.

some pressure that was.

and god, was it starting to weigh on your shoulders.

“before you speak to the team, i need to tell you something.”

you pause, cocking your head, “yes?”

toto leans forward, his mouth hovering merely millimeters by your ear. 

“don’t fuck this up, hase. the moment you get behind the wheel of that car you are going to do one of two things for me. one, you manage to qualify in the top ten for tomorrow. or two, you crumble under the pressure and crash the car.

if you crash the car, you’re fucking done. you will never step foot inside brackley ever again. i will release you from your contact the very moment you make it back to the paddock. so don’t fuck this up, yeah? i’m sure you don’t want to lose your cushy little lifestyle in the reserves.”

a shiver courses down your spine, fear bubbling up in the pit of your stomach as he towers over you, wearing a sickeningly smug grin. however, that terror only lasts a second, dissipating as retaliation takes over. it’s fiery and hot, your jaw clenching as your fists form tightly wound balls. 

“fuck you,” you manage to spit out, “fuck you, toto wolff.”

“that’s exactly what i wanted to hear,” he coos, breath hot as it fans against your ear, “good girl.”

“fuck you,” you sneer, “if you utter so much another word to me, i’m crashing the fucking car.”

toto wolff couldn’t help but let the satisfaction course through his veins as you glower, folding your arms tightly against your chest as you make your way over to the huddle of engineers and crew. you were almost stomping, your steps a little louder than usual. 

he had you right where he wanted you.

tensed up, fury filling you to the brim. your brows pinched together with dismay, a frown etched across your features. the toes of your shoe tapping away against the floor, itching to feel the wheel beneath your fingertips. impatient as ever, the fear of loss mixed with the desire to win creating a dangerous yet lethal mix. 

a loaded gun, merely seconds away from firing. 

to toto, this was necessary. 

this was the only way he was going to make you a champion. 

you see, toto wolff made no mistakes.

he was a calculated individual, carefully plotting and carrying out every single move when it came to the decisions made by the team. no detail, no matter how miniscule or trivial was finalized without his permission. no contract was signed without his presence. no calls were made without his knowledge. 

so, the decision to replace george with the reserve driver for the first grand prix was not a decision that was made lightly.

in his eleven years at mercedes, the team principal had witnessed it all. with eight constructors’ championships, seven driver’s championships, and a stake in the team, toto was a dominant force in the world of formula one. he had seen his fair share of controversies, faced backlash from the media, and harbored his secrets. 

although he thought he had seen just about everything there was to see in formula one, that all changed the moment he saw your face. 

that was the exact moment in which toto wolff’s entire world came to a screeching halt. 

that was the moment in which he knew he had to have you. 

he knew he needed you at mercedes. 

no matter the cost. no matter the stakes. no matter the risk.

he had lewis hamilton to thank for that. 

it all happened one race weekend in zandvoort. toto could recall the memory perfectly, down to the exact minute. he could remember the way lewis was toting you around, your arm entwined with his. it was in the garage, as lewis was giving you a tour, showing you around a little bit, introducing you to a few prominent members of the team. 

at first glance, toto was under the impression you were just another fuck for the british driver, another innocent girl that fell victim to the bachelor’s charming ways.

that all changed when lewis introduced you as the prodigy of prema racing, the one who shattered records and obliterated barriers.

the next world champion pf formula two. that was, if you played your cards right.

the next face of the mercedes team, if toto played his cards right. 

as fate would have it, you did earn that title. 

in turn, that achievement ended up changing the trajectory of your life. it opened up numerous doors, more than you ever thought were possible. brands reached out to you through social media, inquiring about sponsorships. fans praised you across social media, stating that you were a trailblazer for the world of motorsports. 

most importantly, it opened the door to formula one. 

you had toto wolff to thank for that. 

with the help of lewis, he was the one who got the ball rolling on your contract. he was the one who took a chance on the hot-headed, bratty driver. he was the one who called you, inquiring if you wanted to sign a two-year deal with mercedes. you would be in the reserves, but you would be on the team, nonetheless. 

although you were not the first or second driver sitting in a seat, toto was well aware of the potential brewing within you. 

which, was partially the reason why you were competing today. 

he wouldn’t have made the call if he did not believe in you. 

as you slip into the car, he lingers at the helm of the control panel, sliding on a pair of headphones. 

“one, two, radio check. hase, can you hear me?”

your voice, so sweet and delicate, floods his ears, “i can hear you, toto.”

“good, good,” he tuts, “okay team, let’s have a good qualifying, yeah?”

as the remainder of the crew finish the check, the team principal’s gaze fixates on the reserve driver. her helmet was a little too big, but he could make out her lashes as they fluttered, her head bobbing along as the team buzzed about, ensuring that everything was in perfect order. 

a member of the crew flashes toto a thumbs up, signaling that it was time.

“all right hase,” with every fiber in his being, the team principal fights a grin as you mimic the wave of a princess, a gloved hand rotating back and forth as the car lurches out of the garage.

“es ist zeit zu gehen.”

the second you sailed on to that track,, your foot pressing on the gas, any doubt or fear dissolved, replaced by nothing but pure, electrifying adrenaline. 

“all right ms. reserves,” marcus’ voice seeps into your right ear, “let’s see what you can do.”

when it came to qualifying, all it took was one lap. 

one singular lap to prove yourself. 

and by god, that’s what you were going to do. 

you were going to prove yourself that you were more than just a body in the reserves. you were going to prove to the world of formula one that you were dominant on the track, just as you were in formula two. you were a world champion. 

the only woman in your sport to ever accomplish that magnificent of a feat. 

one of a kind.

the longer you were on the track, the more you realized how your body longed to be behind the wheel. the bells and whistles of the car came easily to you, really. natural, even. just as you had practiced in the simulator. 

your reflexes were sharp, on point with every turn of the chicane. your feet rotated back and forth between the gas and brake with ease, almost as if they had a mind of their own, like they knew this circuit by heart. 

before you knew it, you were sailing back toward the pits, to the mercedes garage. the chatter of the radio was almost like white noise to you, as you had paid no mind to the voices that filtered in and out of your helmet. part of you felt a sense of guilt for not listening to the engineers or crew. although, at the end of the day, you were the one driving the damn car.

coming to a halt at the garage, you pit, flipping the visor up. members of the crew swarm your car. yet, the only one you really make out is toto. with his broad stature and powerful aura, he was truly hard to miss. 

the team principal leans over, one hand resting against the halo of the car. 

the other taps your helmet, the corners of his lips tugging into a broad smile. 

for the first time, you make note of his dimples. how they soften his chiseled features. 

and for the first time, you can’t help but notice how gorgeous toto wolff is when he smiles. 

“congratulations, hase,” a chuckle rumbles in his chest, his hand lingering on your helmet. 

“with the fastest lap on the track, you’ve made it to the second session of qualifying.”

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ────── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ────── ･ ｡ﾟ☆:

taglist: @sweetjellyfishland @ts1m1kas @bxuzi @racecardilfs @bblouifford @justacornerofmybrain @irishmanwhore @noooway555 @sleutherclaw @okdokeygryssel63 @jeannealicette @marknolee @allyisalright-blog

[bengiyo]

BL 2024 Review

It’s been another year of BL. I wrote a review of 2023 and 2022, and I find myself struggling to write about this year. I feel like I had some incredible projects that I connected with this year, but I also found myself far more bored and frustrated with certain things than I was expecting. The most disheartening thing this year for me was the drop off in the number of quality Korean productions, and the end of my patience with Thai BL squandering viewer time and attention. Let’s get into some of the big ideas.

Japan is Still Here

Last year I commented that a third of all Japanese BL I had ever watched came out in 2023. We got even more this year, and we had longer runtimes! This is good for the kind of viewer I am. I find that I enjoy Japanese shows more often than any other BL-producing country, and they held down the bulk of my watching for the year.

This year I was blessed with two shows tackling a similar premise (actors falling for each other as they film a BL) and they were both good! I loved I Became The Main Role of a BL Drama so much, and we’re getting a sequel in 2025! I wasn’t sure if I would enjoy a moodier take on this premise when At 25:00 in Akasaka showed up, but I ended up enjoying that, too!

I properly watched Ossan’s Love and The Novelist at the start of this year, and I’m so glad I did, because goddamn did I enjoy Ossan’s Love Returns.

I also remain thankful for Tadaima Okaeri and Twilight Out of Focus for giving us worthwhile BL anime.

I'm thankful for Perfect Propose for giving me a man in his mid-20s leaving his horrible job after getting fed and jerked off by an old friend.

I'm thankful for Takara no Vidro for unpacking obsession in a relationship and solving it with healthy communication.

Finally, I'm thankful for Love is Like a Poison for blending a legal drama with a BL so effortlessly, and making it such a fun ride. I love that Shiba Ryoma can't fight for shit and was so down bad for his man.

The Cross-Cultural Adaptations Brought Out Great Discussion

I was glad we got Cherry Magic Thailand and My Love Mix Up Thailand this year in the order in which we got them. It was useful because they both came from GMMTV, and I had opposite reactions to both. I loved what they did with Cherry Magic, and stand by what I said on the podcast that I think it’s the best version of Cherry Magic (even if the anime is my favorite). This was useful, because I was really put off by the attempt at My Love Mix Up, and think they got a lot wrong. I’m glad the good show came first so I didn’t feel like I was being a Japanese version stan.

Adapting from danmei, I really wanted to like My Stand In, but bounced off the show not taking the horror of Joe’s situation seriously. Moreover, I think the commerce of the BL pair required them to soften and redeem Up’s character in a way that felt disingenuous for me. I wanted that man to be unhinged and far more toxic than they portrayed him. If this is the trend, I’d rather Thai teams invested in BL pair commerce avoid toxic danmei in the future.

In Taiwan, I was so impressed with Unknown. Despite the missteps on the sexual turn, that was one of the most engaging dramas we had within the genre this year. I was impressed at how seriously they took their family dynamics. That being said, Meet Me at the Blossom didn’t land for me. I would very much like to see a wuxia BL that hits for me without the dubious and non-consensual bits.

Over in Japan, I don’t think I’m enjoying Our Youth that much, and I wonder about whether certain aspects of the source material didn’t translate properly with some of the changes I’ve seen mentioned by viewers. It’s been a difficult experience, because I loved the scene of Minase fleeing Hirukawa’s room, but the show has really lost its emotional core for me.

However, I actually really enjoyed the Japanese version of Love in the Air, and think MeMindY timed this well with The Boy Next World starting right as the last episode of Love in the Air Japan finishes. It was clear to me that the Thai team was involved in the adaptation, and that the makers of the Japanese version loved LITA. I think both versions bring out something noteworthy in the characters, and I hope that the show is successful so we get more work from MeMindY as a result of the connections made here, because it’s clear that the money situation in Thailand might not be so hot right now.

Thai and Korean Money Must Be Drying Up

We’ve been wondering when the BL peak would hit and the decline would begin, and I think we’re starting to see some of those changes. I worry about how little we got from Korea this year, despite three incredible showings from Love for Love’s Sake, Let Free the Curse of Taekwondo, and Love in the Big City. Beyond those three, I don’t really feel like anyone missed out that much on the other offerings (maybe Time of Fever, but I have qualms with that show).

Beyond that, I remain worried about how much talent has consolidated at GMMTV. It’s a worrisome sign that they continue to gobble up all of the talent. Regardless of personal tastes for a particular brand of BGP (business gay performance), it’s pretty bad for all of us when one corporation is the only one making money on boys kissing each other (@respectthepetty).

Despite how much Thai BL I dropped, I did genuinely enjoy the relationship and friendship dynamics of Cooking Crush, Knock Knock Boys, Love Sea, and The Trainee.

The Gay Things I Loved

Enough musing. Let’s just talk about other things that I loved. This is the section where I beg you to watch the gay things that matter to me, and not just the boys whose IG reels get reposted here.

I absolutely loved the entire experience of the Love in the Big City book club. When @lurkingshan pitched the idea, I had no idea how many people would earnestly participate, that Anton Hur would share his time with us, or that the show would actually be so good. LITBC was so good that conservative Koreans protested its airing. I loved everything we did this year around that book and show, and wanna say thanks again to everyone who engaged with us.

I also adored Marahuyo Project. I love that ANIMA Studios didn’t end after Like in the Movies. JP Habac came back with a banger. That show said it was LGBTQIA+ and it meant it with its whole heart. I really loved this show as a true examination of the evolving landscape of youth queerness in the modern era more than anything else I watched this year. Go watch it.

I did not expect a show about a reformed misogynist to be my favorite show of the year, but here I am still begging all of you to watch Don’t Care For An Old Man’s Underwear! (@isaksbestpillow)This show made me cry every single week because of how good every moment hit. I have rarely experienced such an immense feeling of compassion as I received from this show.

In 2022, we watched She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat, and we wondered if NHK would come back and finish what they started, and goddamn did they deliver. I think about Nomoto and Kasuga about as much as I think about Shiro and Kenji (What Did You Eat Yesterday?) now, and if Japan doesn’t figure out a way for both of those couples to meet, I will be forever disappointed. Go watch it. (@furritsubs)

Finally, I will be forever thinking about the confession through the wall in Let Free the Curse of Taekwondo, how they intercut the youth and adult sex, and the way Dohoe apologized to Hyeonho. Hwang Da Seul finally got all of the pieces right here. She loves to see a couple get back together after a big separation, and she succeeded here. This show earned its youth romance, and earned its reunion. She understands how important it is for gay people to stop trapping each other. We threw that cross in the trash, and cried because of Yahoo answers. We all won.

My Tastes are Changing

Last year I engaged with about 99 productions. This year it’s under 75 with 26 that I didn’t finish. I hesitate to say that the genre is getting worse, when I feel like things are where they’ve been for a long time. However, it’s clear that I’m changing and am less interested in seeing what I deem to be weak attempts at familiar storytelling tropes.

I think what I’ve noticed the most about my tastes changing is that it’s making me write less. The fandom has contracted dramatically on Tumblr, and I find myself growing distant from the predominant reactions. With there being less people to vibe with, I’ve been reacting less in real time. Despite that, I hope to continue posting round ups with my BL blurbs and @the-conversation-pod.

All in all, 2024 is a difficult year for me. I think I enjoyed BL less overall, but the things I did enjoy I enjoyed more than previous years. It’s a difficult space for me to navigate, because I think this is actually what I wanted. I will continue to appreciate that the BL genre enables the funding for the big gay projects that I love. So, even if I think GMMTV going literally all-in on BL is going to lead to a ton of garbage, I still remain hopeful that the homos with something interesting to say can make the projects they want.

[spartanjames-bootsfirst-art]

Thinking about the change in designs and aesthetic in Firebreak and how that plays into what we learn in the Lakehouse DLC.

Its revealed very early on in the Lakehouse that, as of September 2023, the Oldest House is still in full lockdown.

Now, Remedy games in the combined universe follow the real flow of time. Alan Wake is set in 2010 when it released, Control in 2019, and AW2 in 2023.

We can assume that means Firebreak will mostly likely be set in 2025 as it releases.

That means Jesse, Simon, Emily and the rest of the FBC have been trapped in the Oldest House for 6 years by Firebreak.

6 years fighting the Hiss and whatever other paranatural entities find thier way into the headquarters.

The Firebreak characters have a very distinct depature in thier designs compared to the FBC in Control. Gone are the clean-cut lines of the Security uniforms or the well maitained threshold gear of the rangers.

They've been fighting a war of attrition for 6 years. The Hiss are a potentially limitless enemy. They target HRAs, they turn anyone they can. FBC resources have to be getting thin.

There's no knowing what the Oldest House can and can't provide. The Firebreak team wear cobbled together suits and wield jury-rigged weapons because they have to. I think we're seeing a desperate FBC making a last big push against the Hiss while they still can.

[cheriladycl01]

Baby It's Cold Outside - Carlos Sainz x BulgarianOlympicSkiing! Reader

Plot: You take your new husband skiing with your friends Alexandra and Charles.

"How do you do this as normal training baby! I can barley do it two winter breaks in a row!" Carlos shivers looking around as you strap your gloves on.

"Come on! I want to get to the big slopes early so I can practice! Then we can have fun with Charles and Alex!" you smile at your husband as you pull your snow boots on that were at the edge of the cabin.

"But Alex and Charles get a lay-in why don't i?" he complains pouting at you and giving you the puppy eyes.

"Because you decided to marry me, and that doesn't lead to lay-in's on a Ski holiday!" you giggle.

"Okay, but over the summer you are coming with me to Mallorca and we are having lots of cuddles and lay-in's and walks along the beach and lots of morning sex!" he grins cheekily making you slap his chest.

"Okay, well lets go Skapi!" you smile taking his hand.

You guys headed first to the large slopes where you could go down and practice for the Olympics that were to be held in Milan in 2026. You practiced for around an hour, going at high speed and cleaning up your turns and corners.

Then Carlos decided it was time to head back to the log cabin you guys were sharing with Alex and Charles and ask them if they wanted to join you for lunch. You took a leisurely ski through the wooded ski area that was just a general skiing area rather than the specific slopes used.

He reached out for you, holding your hand as you both used one pole to change your directions as needed.

"It's a really nice day today!" you say after pulling down the bandana you had wrapped around your mouth currently. Usually you'd wear a full balaclava but where you were skiing with friends you wanted to be able to talk to them without shouting.

"Yes, the sun is bright!" he says looking around the white snow that if you both took the skii masks off you'd for sure be blinded by the dazzling white expanse.

"Mmm, so how do you feel about the rest of the year?" you carefully ask your husband. You had tiptoed around the subject of him having to leave Ferrari. He understood why they'd jump at the opportunity to take on a 7x World Championship when this year they had a car that was consistent and contending with the Red Bull, that didn't mean it didn't hurt though. You'd only found out a few days ago from Charles himself.

He'd found a true friendship in Charles and Alex, just like he had done with Lando. It didn't mean he would no longer see Charles but they were arguably one of the best pairing on the grid when it came to team-work and wins.

"Well, Audi have said they'd like to take me on in 2026, but that would mean a year out. Red Bull have also spoke to me about removing Checo, but I want a championship and with Max as Red Bull golden boy I don't think it would be feasible. Then obviously there's Mercedes but their car was so bad this year, so it really depends!"

"Well, whatever happens you know you'll have me right?" you say, slowly coming to a halt and pull him into a hug.

"I don't know what the best decision is, but I'm just going to try perform my best this season with Ferrari!" he offers and you nod, pulling him in.

"If you do go with Audi and have an off season in 2025 that means we'll have the whole year together!" he smiles at what you just said.

"Mmmm maybe we can travel without the stress of me racing each time!" he grins pulling you in and kissing you, your masks clashing together making you both laugh.

You walk back in to the cabin to find Alex and Charles cuddles up on the sofa under a fluffy blanket.

"Hey guys, want to go get some lunch?" you ask looking around.

"How on earth do you survive with it this cold!" Alex shivers looking at the snow that falls off yours and Carlos' boots as you slip them off.

"You are all from warmer regions. Mediterranean people" you sigh with a small laugh.

"Sorry we aren't Slavic or Balkan like you and can hold up in your insanely cold winters, I'm guessing that's how you got into skiing?" Charles chuckles.

"Yeah, my dad would take me up the mountains each winter and go skiing! It's how I got into it competitively!" you smile, remembering all the memories from when you were younger.

"It's amazing what you've achieved not only for yourself but your country!" Alex smiles.

"Thank you guys! Going for Gold in 2026 though! You guys will come support me right?" you ask, already planning to give them VIP seats where they could watch from.

"Of course!" they all reply while Carlos comes behind you and picks you up throwing you over his shoulder and launching you onto the part of the sofa next to Charles.

"Carlos be careful" you laugh at him, holding one hand on your chest and another around his neck.

"Just an hour of chilling? Then we'll do lunch and more skiing?" he asks using those big brown eyes off his.

"Alright fine" you smile, pulling him in for a hug as you tune into the show Alex and Charles had on.

You could 100% get used to this life.

y/user

Like by carlossainz55, charles_leclerc and alexandrasaintmleux

y/user: Holiday with Ferrari Family! Forza Ferrari <3 also Charles stole my phone :<

Tagged 3 People

View all 567 comments

scuderiaferrari: We love our Core 4! Happy Holidays!

carlossainz55: mi amor you showed us all up, don't recommend a Ski Holiday with a Silver Medalists!

-> fan1: I was at the slopes and saw her helping Alexandra, was the cutest

-> fan2: not mans complaining about his literal wife's achievements!

formulasantander: Alex and Y/N repping the red! We love to see it!

charles_leclerc: I look good no?

-> y/user: no lol, jk don't cancel me

alexandrasaintmleux: love you my best friend! <3 thank you for the ski lessons.

Instagram Story Caption:

Gang waiting on Carlos be like...

Taglist:

@littlesatanicassholebitch @hockey-racing-fubol @laura-naruto-fan1998 @22yuki @simxican @sinofwriting @lewisroscoelove @cmleitora @stupidandunnecessary @clayra-g @daemyratwst @honey-belden @moonypixel @lauralarsen @vader-is-hot @ironcowboycopnickel @itsjustkhaos @the-untamed-soul @beebo86 @happylittlereader @ziejustme @lou-larcher5 @thewulf @purplephantomwolf @chasing-liberosis @chillyleclerc @chanthereader @annoyingmoonballoon @summissss @evieepepi08 @havaneseoger08 @celesteblack08 @gulphulp @fandom1ruined2me @celebstories @starfusionsworld @jspitwall @sierruhh @georgeparisole @dakotatankbig @youcannotcancelquidditch @zzonsbeek @tallbrownhairsarcastic @mellowarcadefun @ourteenagetragedy @otako5811 @countingstacksandpanicattacks @peachiicherries @formulas-bitch @cherry-piee @hopexcroc @mirrorball-6 @spilled-coffee-cup @mehrmonga @bigsimperika @blueberry64857959 @eiraethh @lilypadlover @curseofhecate @alliwantisadonut @the-fem1n1ne-urge @21stcenturytaegi @dark-night-sky-99 @spideybv28 @i-wish-this-was-me @tallrock35 @butterfly-lover @barnestatic @landossainz @darleneslane @barcelonaloverf1life @r0nnsblog @ilove-tswizzle @kapsylia @laneyspaulding19 @lazybot @malynn @cassielikereading @viennakarma @teamnovalak @landosgirlxoxo @marie0v @jlb20416 @yourbane @teamnovalak @nikfigueiredo @fionaschicken @0picels0 @seomako @urdad-hot @formula1mount @tinydeskwriter @butterfly-lover @ironmaiden1313

[tinydeskwriter]

Hi! Can you write something with Carlos? After yesterday's events... I need to read something to cope, idk☹️☹️

You're Carlos Fucking Sainz

A/n: this is just a little something, a domestic moment after the bombastic news, Y/n trying to be there for her man. I was so sad for Carlos, I think this is the cuntiest Ferrari move ever, it's sure to make things unconfortable this season. It's not something particulartly big or elaborate, because I wasn't sure what you wanted, but I hope you like.

“Amore,” the Spaniard is surprised to hear the soft voice calling him, blocking his cell phone screen and placing it on the coffee table, turning to his girlfriend standing in the doorway.

Y/n arrived in Madrid three hours after the news was posted and a fifteen-minute call with her boyfriend left her heartbroken. She was lucky to have an extensive network and such a competent PA who managed to get her on a flight back home in record time—even if that meant she had to travel coach from Milan.

“Carinõ, what are you doing here?" The man got up and approached his girlfriend, kissing her lightly before pulling away to look at her, “I thought you weren't coming back from Milan until tomorrow."

“Aren't you happy to see me?" She tilts her head slightly and wrinkles her nose in the way she knows Carlos finds her irresistibly adorable.

“I'm always happy to see you." The words are genuine, but the smile is forced.

“I told the girls that my extremely hot and talented boyfriend needed me more than they did." Y/n wraps her arms around the older man's muscular neck.

“Not so talented apparently…” The woman's smile disappears when she sees his crestfallen expression and deprecatory tone when talking about himself. “They warned me ten minutes before the announcement went up.”

Y/n took her boyfriend's face in her hand, forcing him to look at her. Determination evident in her eyes.

“Carlos, bebé, you are amazing, never think otherwise, you are no less than Charles," she says seriously, “it's their loss, go after what you want my love, any team would be lucky to have you, Ferrari you've only been building tractors for years, you did your best, Hamilton will have the most disappointing end to his career there, and half the experts doubt that Charles will win the title racing for Ferrari."

“I'm going to be without a team in 2025..." the Spaniard says, moving away from his girlfriend, towards the large couch they choose together months before—his house was a true bachelor pad before she moved in, and it took some effort and gentle persuasion for her to convince her very headstrong man to allow her to change around.

Sitting on the huge, velvety blue sofa, with his arms crossed and beaked, his head thrown on the back and his eyes closed, he would look downright pathetic if he weren't so handsome—and if she didn’t love him so much.

At least for today, she wants to make him feel better, tomorrow and beyond, they take it one day at a time. Y/n sighs. She hates when Carlos is hard on himself, especially over a situation he has little to no control.

She takes off her own dress, leaving it pooling down the living room floor, in only a white lace G-string she sits on the man's lap, uncrossing his arms and placing his big hands on her ass. She laughs when Carlos immediately opens his eyes, staring at the pair of breasts in front of him with desire—she knows it's a low blow, but she just wants to see him a little more himself, sex won’t solve anything, but it will definitely take him out of his shell.

“Bebé, you are Carlos fucking Sainz,” she tangles her fingers through his dark strands, “fuck Ferrari, fuck Fred, fuck Charles and fuck Hamilton, show them all who you are, be your cuntiest self, ignore their bullshit strategy and their fucking favouritism, race for you, follow your instincts and get out of that tractor factory with a bang.” She kisses him deeply, biting his lips.

[getvalentined]

The Big Patreon Breakdown

Okay, Patreon's Discord Q&A ended on the 16th, and I've been waiting to see if anything else happened—like maybe a a public announcement from Patreon instead of emails sent exclusively to creators and a video hidden on the CEO's personal YT page—but nothing has happened, so I'm gonna do a breakdown of what we're looking at.

This is an EXTREMELY long post. I am not putting it behind a cut. I'm not sorry.

Short attention span version here.

—

I. The iOS processing fees are a smokescreen covering up the actual devastating changes that Patreon is forcing creators into.

The iOS fees are trash, 30 percent is extortion and we all know it—but that's not the biggest issue at hand here. Patreon is using this event as an excuse to change the entire structure of the creator side of their platform, and blaming Apple to avoid getting backlash.

They tripled their platform and processing fees in 2017, passing it on to patrons without notice, and the subsequent hemorrhage of paying users forced them to walk it back. They tried to force everyone onto their rolling billing model in 2021, and the entire community pushed back so hard they were forced again to walk it back.

This time, they're doing both and insisting it's Apple's fault, and everyone is taking that at face value because Apple sucks. And Apple does suck, but Patreon is getting what they've wanted for years by catering to Apple.

Oh, also, they're forcing creators to notify their patrons of the billing model changes (with a suggested template that explicitly refers to it as a decision made by the creator, even though nobody is making any decisions here except Jack Conte) rather than doing it themselves.

II. Patreon is not going to change course for any reason. This is set in stone.

There are multiple proofs for this, including but not limited to:

One-on-one calls between the platform's top earners and the CEO, Jack Conte, wherein the vibe was apparently not "What can we do to support your business in order to retain your place on our platform?" but rather "We know that the only way this works is if we don't do it, but how can we keep you from complaining about it any more than you already have?" One creator explained in granular detail how they run their business through this platform and why changing their billing model would ruin literally everything, and Conte responded with "Is this an essential part of your offering?"

The Patreon Team on Discord has continued to shut down all discussion of alternative options with assertions that Apple won't allow it, even if those alternatives were suggested based on legal precedent set by lawsuits against Apple, and the declaration that they will not be allowing the app to be removed from the App Store no matter what because it's the single most important and integral avenue of creator growth on the platform. (Put a pin in that.)

The platform's top earner is on the pay-per-creation billing model, the one that is going to be hit the hardest; creators on this model stand to lose literally 90 percent of their income overnight. This creator and his team were as blindsided as the rest of us, and they've been offered no assistance except for a complex math equation to try to calculate how much they should be charging people on fixed-price tiers, and no assurance except "the iOS app is the platform's highest source of engagement and is necessary to help you continue to grow."

Pay-upfront (PUF) and pay-per-creation (PPC) billing is going away for new accounts and anyone who doesn't opt out via Patreon's convoluted backend before November 1 of this year, and anyone who doesn't manually switch over to their rolling billing cycle will be automatically pushed into it on November 1, 2025. This means that PUF creators no longer have the promise of a steady paycheck when they need it, early enough in the month to pay rent and bills, while PPC creators are losing their entire business model all at once, which has resulted in a loss of 75 to 90 percent of income for multiple PPC creators who have tried to switch to the rolling billing structure in the past. They are killing these people's livelihoods and they know it, they have seen the data to prove it, but they will not be swayed.

III. Patreon claims the iOS app is the highest source of engagement on the platform at 40 percent—but will not define what "engagement" means, and staff refuse to share detailed analytics or data on the revenue share coming from the app.

Several creators, some with a couple dozen patrons and some with thousands, polled their audience to get a feel for how many of them used the app. Consistently across every creative industry, genre, and form of media, the answer was 2 percent or less. The average across a dozen-plus polls of actual active patrons, numbering into the thousands, is that around 85 percent of patrons access the platform exclusively via the web, whether on desktop or mobile. The majority didn't even know there was an app.

Further, Patreon would not explain what "engagement" means, but did not deny the possibility that dismissing an app notification on your phone counts as an "engagement."

When Patreon was asked for data on how often people pledged to support a creator via the iOS app, the only response was the claim that information is "sensitive to [Patreon's] business" and can't be shared. In a creator-exclusive server. With the people who bring that revenue onto the platform in the first place. And have our own analytics that we can look at individually, which show an average of 0 to 0.5 percent revenue from the iOS app.

IV. Patreon does not have a refund policy in place to work with Apple, and has given no implications of intention to work with Apple to shorten the time it takes for funds from iOS purchases to be paid out to creators, which is currently 75 days.

Yes, you read that correctly: at the moment, it takes 75 days before creators can cash out funds processed via iOS. On top of that, Apple's refund policy is 60 days, and the creator is not involved in the process whatsoever—if a malicious actor pledges to your page, downloads all your work over the course of a month, and then pings Apple for a refund? Apple gets to decide whether or not they get that refund.

Patreon's general refund policy is that it's up to the creator 99.9 percent of the time, with very rare cases of fraud requiring Patreon's intervention. In the case of pledges and Commerce sales via iOS, the creator has no say, and Patreon currently has no policy to protect them. They've stated that they're working on a refund policy that will work with Apple's guidelines to keep everyone happy, but at this point we all know what that means—they're just going to use Apple's refund policy.

They also wouldn't say whether or not creators would be on the hook for Apple's added processing fees, as is usually the case with other big payment processors, but it sounds like we are! So if someone pays $14.50 on the iOS app, the creator gets $10, can't pay it out, and then the malicious actor can call for a refund weeks later and the creator will owe $14.50—in spite of only ever having seen $10 and never being able to pay it out because the 75 hold hadn't passed. Sounds great!

V. Patreon's own graphics meant to explain why this is necessary and how the new fees work are not correct.

I'm gonna let these mostly speak for themselves:

The sale price listed on this graphic is $10, but adding together the three fees listed gives a total of $11.35. This is likely a copying error, as 4.35 is clearly not 30% of 10, but the lack of attention to detail on one of the only two pieces of official material that we have which refer directly to the numbers on which Patreon is signing away our livelihoods is slightly concerning.

This one totals up to 103 percent! (Actually closer to 104, since I rounded Android and Mobile down by about a quarter percent each.) The 40 percent figure on the iOS bar is based on the figure given to us by Patreon staff, and was used to place the markers to denote individual percentages on the other three.

Patreon made these and gave them to us with the assertion that they were proof that the iOS app is indispensable—why should we trust anything they say about numbers if the charts they gave us are literally impossible?

VI. Patreon refuses to offer any promises to 18+ creators that they will not be removed from the app in order to adhere to Apple's content guidelines.

Instead, Patreon staff's response to this request for reassurance is "We have no plans to remove 18+ creators from the Patreon app." You may note that's phrased very specifically, and leaves a hole big enough to drive a freight train full of iPhones straight through. They have no plans to remove 18+ creators from the app. When asked for clarification on this, confirmation that they would not be removing us from the platform if Apple pushed them to do so regardless of whether or not they have plans, this sentiment was simply repeated in more words and with more apologies, along with a reminder that Patreon has had to change their terms for 18+ creators several times already in order to keep up with laws and competition.

VII. All the features Patreon is insisting are integral for creator growth are inaccessible to 18+ creators, and questions about this were either dismissed, redirected, or ignored.

Remember how the iOS app is the single most important and integral avenue for character growth on the platform? Well, 18+ creators are not discoverable on the platform, regardless of the avenue of access. We are not visible on the app unless you have it installed, are logged in, are already following us on the platform, and click an external link to be directed to our pages from somewhere else via a mobile web browser. There is no way to find us on the platform itself.

Other features that staff insist are necessary for growth to which 18+ creators do not have access:

Patreon creator search (on web, Android and iOS apps)

Mass post editing (now called the "Library," which reads as "Something Went Wrong" for me and other 18+ creators who tried to get to it)

On-platform video hosting

Built-in cross-creator recommendations

All on-platform "commerce" features (both digital and physical goods)

The ability to market ourselves by linking to Patreon from our social media and vice-versa (we're basically not allowed to do this or risk being banned)

Yeah, about that first and that last point. We're hidden from searches on the platform, and we can't link to our pages from social media or risk permanent suspension. We cannot grow in this fashion at all, and in fact 18+ creators are getting all the downsides of this switch (except maybe for the app fee, since you can't fucking find us to pledge on the app) with none of the benefits. Nothing they are doing here will help us grow, because they've kneecapped us already. Now they're going after our capacity to obtain a steady paycheck at the beginning of the month, too.

VIII. Patreon's iOS app is currently (as of August 18, 2024) in violation of Apple's guidelines for app ratings; staff did not state any intention to become compliant by raising the app's rating as needed to maintain their 18+ creator community.

The App Store guidelines on creator apps state that they must be rated equal to the highest rated creator content on their platform. In spite of hosting 18+ content, which requires a 17+ rating per Apple, Patreon is rated 12+ in the App Store. Increasing the rating to 17+ would cut out the entire market of wealthy teenagers with iPhones, and since everything else being done here is intended to please Apple, it's unlikely this will be the point that Patreon finally gives an inch for its creators. The exact response from staff on this was "We hear and acknowledge your inputs on the app rating and are exploring our options there." Their "options" on this are to increase the rating, or to remove all 18+ content from the platform. That's it. Those are their options. Why do those need exploring, if they really give a shit about the 18+ community?

I know a lot of people out there are going to say that it would be nice if Patreon would "get rid of the porn," but you need to understand something: 18+ content is not all sexual.

18+ content can and does also include:

Horror (particularly body horror, which is explicitly or implicitly banned on all current adult-specific creator platforms, leaving me nowhere to go when Patreon kicks me)

True crime (murder, violence, theft, etc., is all 18+)

Health (blood/discussion of blood is 18+ regardless of context)

Education (what if you learn about war? that's 18+)

Trauma recovery (the word "r#pe" makes everything around it 18+)

Profanity (ko-fi marks creators 18+ for saying "fuck")

Languages (because you might learn profanity)

Weaponsmithing (because weapons are dangerous)

Leatherworking (because leather can be a fetish)

Shoemaking (feet can also be a fetish)

...even more I'm not bothering to list here.

Implying that they somehow didn't know about this extremely important part of the guidelines—which are being used as an excuse to force the top earner on the platform to ruin his entire business model—is absolute nonsense. Patreon knows about this requirement, they haven't taken any steps to comply based on their current creator population, and I will be shocked if they do. Much easier to just kick us all off, since we can barely use the damn platform as it is.

—

The entire thing makes no sense. Patreon is losing out on so much money by doing this—they're crippling all their highest-earning creators to keep the iOS app running, and it's going to hurt everyone except for Apple. The only reason I can think that they would refuse to budge on this is that there's something else going on behind the scenes between Patreon and Apple. That, or the company is intentionally throwing itself into an extremely drawn out death spiral. But we all know which of those is the more likely scenario here.

[itsblasttothepast]

Do we have any info about Max and Checo before they were teammates? I remember Checo being one of the only people who was nice to Max when he joined F1. Do we have any idea about their dynamic back then? I’m super curious- thank you!

Not so much info, but those who were F1 followers like me remember many things from their dynamic since Max started in F1.

First of all, the whole 'letting a kid join the big leagues' thing. Not many teams/drivers were in agreement of Max, with only 17 years, joining F1, which led to the 'Verstappen rule', meaning: drivers could get their superlicense until they were 18 (Toto Wolff managed to change that this year so Kimi Antonelli could join Mercedes in 2025, but as an anon mentioned it, it was only so he could join pratices, as Kimi turns 18 in august).

So Max joining F1 was controversial, and to be honest, most of the old grid were kind of assholes, and also the reporters didn't help, as they kept asking if they would be 'mentors' or 'give Max advice', which most drivers said NO. They mostly ignored Max, seeing him like a kid (well, he was the youngest), but Alonso and Checo always said nice things, Checo was happy for him (he said this in many interviews, as Max was the hot topic back then) and he wished him the best. He was really nice to Max, and Max usually tended to join Checo and Nico's during the drivers parade or the paddock.

This could be also because Max's teammate in his Toro Rosso era was Carlos Sainz; Carlos and Checo were in friendly terms, as both were hispanic (they are not anymore though, such a shame), and that kind of made easier for Checo and Max to interact.

When Max was promoted to RBR and Carlos went to another team, Max and Checo mantained a nice relationship, even friendly. Something I kept noticing in several interviews around the paddock was that Max seemed to always look around for Checo (these are more my deluded impressions, but I've seen a few edits where I'm proven sort of right) and they kept laughing and having fun, so I'm pretty sure their dynamic was friendly and positive before they became teammates, and then they became boyfriends, divorced, took couple's counseling and now here we are!

I'm asking permission from a girl who makes the BEST edits in FB, so I can share them here, those will prove my point even more.

But until then, here I leave a few pictures to show how amazing their chemistry is:

Look, Maxie next to Checo, instead of his teammate! ⬆️

Here when Nico and Checo completed their 100 races, and celebrated, Maxie was next to Checo but Daniil Kvyat kind of got in the way.

Sorry if this one has watermarks, but I had to share it, look at their smiles! So adorable!

Like this one!

And I have many more, but I'm saving them for my ENOURMUS rant about Chestappen that an anon asked me like two weeks ago. Anon, I haven't forgotten, but I have so many rants, pictures and theories, that it's taking me a while.

[sangreprince]

Em's Big Long Sappy New Year's Post Under The Silly Cut©

Hey y'all, I wanna say thank you so much for sticking around this year. It's been a wild ride, and this blog has gotten WAY more love than I ever thought possible. I still have yet to start working on the big post I wanna do that shouts out all of my moots, but still I'm so incredibly thankful to all of you who have been here this whole time.

And I know this is supposed to be a positive thing, but I also want to be real for a second here. This year's been tough.

I don't talk about it a lot but I've been really struggling with stuff, and it's things I don't hear talked about a lot. So here goes. I wanna talk about some mental health stuff I've gone through and where I'm at now. Maybe it'll make somebody's 2025 easier than my 2024. It'll end when the orange lines do.

─────────

I'm not a terribly social person, I prefer one on one interactions much more because it gives me a lot more energy to give people and makes me a lot less anxious than group stuff. I have to be pretty exceptionally comfortable to reach the same level of comfort with a group that I can easily find with individuals. And this year what I've really come to understand is how that happens.

I find that when I introduce myself into a group setting, I compare myself to others a lot. And that really sucks. It's not fair to me, or the people around me. I think a lot of it comes from coming from a 'pull yourself up by the boostraps' type household where failure just isn't an option, and I still think I struggle with the idea that I'm 'failing' if I'm not the best at a certain thing. And if I compare myself with other people, I'm never ever gonna be the best at everything because naturally somebody else is gonna be better at some things than you.

For me this habit has been a really big issue in my relationships in 2024 because I've gotten more involved in friend groups. I don't think I'm over this bad habit, but here's what I've learned: You can't compare yourself to others, because you're not them.

You can't be everybody's best friend because people don't need that. I don't think I could even handle more than a few very close friends ( But I don't think I'm necessarily super 'close' with anyone as I think most people only see what I want them to see, and I have immense trouble with actually showing people every side of who I am just because I'm still struggling with feeling comfortable with being truly vulnerable around people and not comfortably vulnerable )

This is hard to admit even as I'm writing it, but I think deep down I learned this year that I have an intense need to prove myself to somebody that doesn't exist. An idea of this 'perfect' version of myself I've conjured up in my head. And to those close friends who've seen me lose it damn near self-flagellating myself because I wasn't the best friend somebody has or best player on the team: Thank you. For being honest with me. For grounding me and splashing the proverbial water on my face and taking me out of my own headspace. This kinda growth is hard, and overnight change is... Unrealistic at best but I try and take your grace and trust that you place in me every day and overcome one step at a time.

And I hope that one day, I can repay the kindness and patience you've shown me. I'm not used to having friends, frankly. I didn't have any, not really, until about 2019/2020. I've always been a recluse, somebody who shied from getting close to anyone as a consequence of abuse. This ( I theorize ) has affected me down to my sexuality, identity, and habits I've taken into other relationships. I've only had true, close friends for about four or five years of my life total.

I am not used to it. And I fear, at times, this is painfully obvious. So to those who I call close : Thank you. You are what keeps me going. You are what I work towards and what I carry with me. I hope that one day I can get out of my own head about this stuff, about this notion I feel to constantly prove myself in some way or another. And I want you all to know that you're the reason I'm determined to make this change, no matter how hard it is or how long it takes.

─────────

Anyway... Now for the shoutouts. This is less heavy than all of the above and in no particular order of significance as I'm just going off the top of my head: I would include everybody I love talking to but oh my god I would be here all day and besides y'all are getting that in the future anyways so. This is just the short list of personal thank you's!!!

@espelharr You, much like the radiant Viktor you write, have been a catalyst of change for me in a lot of ways. You've helped keep me honest, and been honest with me. We're pretty close and I'll admit, it makes me a little quiet and a little nervous because I'm really not used to having somebody I would consider a friend like that. You are among a very small group of people that I can confidently say I dearly trust. I admit it's kind of alien to me. I honestly don't know what to say with regards to it because I'm not entirely sure I've developed the social skills to develop a relationship beyond what we have.

In other words, you've maxed out my friendship meter and exhausted my dialog. Well, not actually. I never shut the fuck up and you know that perfectly well. I know we're both goin through out shit but if I could give you one gift as a token of my appreciation, it would be to let you see yourself for one minute how I see you every second of every day of every year that's to come.

And that's coming from somebody who has no idea of what's to come. But if you'll have me, I'd like to be a part of it. Through thick and thin, wind rain and snow.

Thank you, friend. I am proud to call you this. You get the long post because it's the last bit of Em "I wanna step out of my comfort zone and be vulnerable" before I retreat into my ball again.

@lronwilled Shep I'm still so confused how you infected my friend groups and became so close to me LMAO LIKE IT JUST KINDA HAPPENED AND I can maybe pinpoint like. One or two instances of maybe where it began but I still honestly have an immense amount of appreciation for all the patience and kindness you've shown me. I'm incredibly glad to have met you and started to actually talk more and I hope in 2025 I can maybe finally give you more than one reply a year and oh my god I haven't replie-

@untoldwithin / @avatarwithin YETI... I adore having got to know you and plot stuff like we have. Your portrayals conjure the voices of those you portray to my mind, and talking with you about ideas is always such a blast?? I love seeing you on the dash and love doing things just as much. Here's to a 2025 filled with a LOT MORE of all of the above, I'm so ready for it!!

@plasticsouled / @fearedelight Sal I hope you know how much I love seeing your silly little self on the dash. Even your main blog with muses I know nothing about are stuffed full of life and so much passion that it makes me so glad to be here and be a part of it. You're a fantastic writing partner and I'm so thankful to have met you in the last quarter of this year, and I really hope we can expand on everything we have and more in what's to come!! I love our silly lil shippy stuff and being able to talk is always such a joy and I go pspspsppsp for you to give me any and all thoughts whenever you have them because I can't get enough.

@primegrim / @mirkc / any of your other blogs PICHU I'm so glad to have met you this year and had somebody to ramble with. You write like a thousand blorbos but I'm grabbing each and every one of them with both my hands. Being able to talk and plot and do whatever else is such a blessing and I'm so glad you're here with us. if possible I'd take all your characters and raise them up like Simba, I'm such a fan 24/7 no questions asked.

@jinxe RAY MY BELOVED you have been here with me since the Volibear days and I'm so thankful for it. I've made this known several times but your lil meow meow will always be at my heart and you alone have made me appreciate her as a character so much more than I ever thought possible. I wish you were here more because I would be GRABBING YOU at all possible times.

Honorable Mentions:

You guys already know I love and appreciate you so much, and this is by no means all inclusive. If you're not on here I probably just forgor because this post is already long and emotional for me so skdjhfsdkj here goes!

@rotdame / bloom @soulcluster / NERD (I had to) @luxcruor / sailor @curscdtm / nathy @decaeys / my favorite stinky goth irl toreador @venstm / Ray :3 @hexsreality / Itzel @edgymuses / Jolyne @nameaprice / Xena @pompedia / POM @erobret / FERGIE :D @blueheals & @heirashari / Evie @avernusfuries HANNNN- gets slammed through a wall @spiderwarden & @coldjustness Melody @lunaetis / Hina @blackrosesmatron / lucy

Thank you.

All of you.

Here's to a good 2025.

[galdra-studios]

Happy New Year Everyone!

Time has once again, like a gust of wind impossible to grasp, rushed by and left us breathless. Between family gatherings, cookie baking and a bad cold to top it all off, December went by in a flash and here we stand at the start of a brand new year, out of breath, with runny noses, but smiling, because despite all the tumult, 2024 holds many great memories for us to look back on. So let’s take a moment to do just that!

The big event of the year, of course, was the Arcadia Fallen II Kickstarter! So much work went into planning it, from designing merchandise and promotional material, to building and releasing our very first playable demo. We’ve tried running Kickstarters a couple of times now, and we’ve learned a lot from each of them, but things online change so quickly these days, there was really no way to know how it would do. Thankfully, we were blown away by the result! We’re so grateful to all of you who supported us and we’re looking forward to using that generosity to make the game the best it can be^^

What else…? Oh! We continued working on the game! xD We’ve been writing so many new scenes, character sprites have been drawn, music composed, and weird sound effects recorded! Backgrounds have been drawn, GUI updated and it’s just a satisfying feeling to see all these different parts of the game coming together. We’re looking forward to continuing production-mode in the new year.

One of the things we’re looking forward to in the new year is getting more mini-games into the game. Daniel has been swamped by other tasks for months now so it’s gonna be great having him back into programmer mode again. We’re gonna continue producing assets like music and art and we’re gonna be working on hooking scenes up, putting all the pieces together. One big milestone we’re looking towards is wrapping up all the content for the extended demo so we can share it with you all. We hope you’ll look forward to that^^

Thank you so much for your support this year! We’re looking forward to making 2025 a year to remember!

Cheers!

- The Galdra Team

[hopeymchope]

Even more (wild) info on "The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy-"

In a Famitsu interview, Kodaka has revealed many interesting things and general background details/info about The Hundred Line and its development.

Every playable character specializes in a "Special Subject" and a distinct weapon that are reflected in their clothing. This is the analog to the "Ultimate" student talents, essentially.

More clearly outlining the staff: The overall scenario is by Kodaka and Uchikoshi, who also shared script-writing duties. Komatsuzaki and Masafumi Takada return from Danganronpa and Master Detective Archives to once again handle character art/design and music, respectively. Nothing very surprising here.

The white ghost-like mascot is named "Sirei" in the original Japanese, and the tanukis seen in the 'Extreme x Despair' concept art are apparently the origin of the character.

He says that the team went into debt to create this game, ultimately taking out a loan to finance it.

"If the game doesn't sell, we can't pay off our debt. In that sense, this is a rare opportunity for players. You get to witness how the sales of a single title can affect the future of a company and its creators."

Apparently the game's lengthy development included a previous publishing deal falling through, which temporarily cancelled the game.

This is also a big reason why the original concept art doesn't much resemble the current product. In regards to the differences from the original concept art, Kodaka says, "The concept of the work has not been changed, but in order to make a proper restart, the character designs were renewed. Although these appearances changed, the setting was still inherited from the original work, so similar characters will appear."

MEANWHILE... per an article from RockPaperShotgun, The Hundred Line is reportedly promising "100 Extreme/Despair-Filled Endings." I can only guess that they're talking about variations in the ending depending on who falls in battle, kind of like Fire Emblem - maybe?

[ladypiscesmoon]

Year ahead Timothée Chalamet (this reading was done on 1/3/2025) Personal year card: no 12 the hanged man

Overall feeling of 2024:

Follow your shining star

summer dreams

Last year his thinking was influenced a lot by others. He wasn't relying on his own intuition. Because after the Beyoncé concert, it was obvious he had made a mistake. He didn't know which way to go. He has to follow his heart. He should follow what it tells him. Even when others try to steer him away from that path. Heart over ego. I almost think he wanted to tick off all the boxes of being a young, famous actor. But it came with a huge price, he lost a big piece of himself.

overall feeling of 2025:

Starlight

angel of the secret glade

australian agate

calcite

Timmy has to cast away all the upsetting things from the previous year. In a way he has a new chance to do better this year. He has to reinvent himself in a way that brings him pleasure. He shouldn't endure what others want to make him do. He should say to himself: "I intend to live my life fully". Move on and live his life on his OWN terms.

He holds back too often to see how others feel about his ideas and thoughts. The universe asks him to look outwards not only inwards. He doesn't notice the spark that lies within him, he worries too much about others. He has to be brave in his thoughts and allow his actions to follow.

This year he's given the courage to tackle what seems at present to be a complex and somewhat insurmountable problem. He's got to stand his ground, yet keep his calm and not allow anyone to bully him psychologically or emotionally.

All concerned will soon realize the truth that he already knows for quite some time: this particular person in his life is not the person they present themselves to be.

With the calcite present, his energy levels are on the increase. he will soon find a new sense of vitality and enthusiasm for life. There's hope he will communicate better and people will pay attention and they will want to be part of his life.

What does he have to release from 2024?

Green witches: communication/productivity

he has to be clearer in his communication, let go of waiting until somebody tells him what to do. Let go of his fears, listen to his gut. He's got to talk to people he cares about, be frank and direct to them. The same goes for his team. People don't know what he really wants but if he wants to change things he has to speak up for himself.

His work /private life was out of balance last year. Being productive and do what he loves is a good thing, until he uses it as a coping mechanism to not address his own problems. He's compassionate and intuitive, but he didn't listen to what his gut tried to tell him.

The year 2025 as a whole:

Modern Lenormand deck:

the anchor/the cross/the moon, the tree/the stork/the moon, the mountain/the coffin/the rider

stuck in a area of life unable to move forward

a consistent person in his life giving him stability

a stable person

being the baby in the family

last chance: waiting for change

enduring his emotions

relying on spirituality

persevering even though something is extremely painful

something being cut off/long term problems

warning signs

blocking someone from being able to message

stopping a visitor

end of a problem

end to a suffering

sustained disconnection

staying after a disconnection

surgery for arthritis

chronic illness/slow illness arrives

an ending that's fated

risking being in a lot of pain

deciding to make a sacrifice

being more patient

metamorphosis

returning a dreamer

relocating of a celebrity

This year seems to be about sacrifice and patience. He's got to look at things differently and follow his own path. In an earlier reading I pulled something about his style and he's really playing with it at the moment. He wants a more 'adult-like' look, but not a boring or stuffed one.

He should take it easier this year, maybe a short break and think hard. But he can't have his cake and eat it too, so he has to sacrifice some things in order to feel happier again. Also there seems to come some illness coming his way, but it could be him feeling unwell(unbalanced and anxious and lonely) at the moment or it could be someone he loves being ill, or will be this year.

He could also be moving this year

Overall (LOVE)

don't give up on love

surprise: someone making a move towards him

hesitation; still being on the fence/overcoming a situation

many options

unconventional love

string along

welcoming love

open your heart

getting together, perfect

he seems to get genuine love this year, and I'm glad he will. The universe gives him the tools, he has to do something about it. He has to take a leap of faith. With heart on a key the universe is nudging him to finally take a chance in love, he shouldn't ignore the signs He has to make the effort. This person is from a past life. I think he will make an effort with all his personal relationships this year. He also had to think more through how his decisions will affect his loved ones.

Overall (CAREER/MONEY)

the high priestess reversed (blocked intuition, clouded insight, doubt, secrets, cognitive dissonance, disconnect, superficially, confusion, hidden motives)

7 of pentacles (long term investments, sustained patience, perseverance, hard work, success&waiting, harvest, results, profits, planning)

In the beginning of this year he will be lost and stuck. When he begins to have his healing and his inner journey, he will find enthusiasm and ambition again, but in a less manic way than before. He will be happier in his work too.

Overall (HEALTH)

2 of swords reversed

4 of pentacles

 At the moment his health is not the best. The 2 of swords reversed indicate that his natural defenses or his immune system are down. He's slowly admitting to himself he feels unwell. He has a lot of anxiety, mental distress and fear.

The 4 of pentacles can indicate a tendency to cling to old habits, patterns, or emotional baggage that may be negatively impacting his health. he may have been resisting necessary changes or holding onto stress and anxiety, last year and if he doesn't take better care of himself it could manifest as physical ailments or mental-emotional imbalances.

Month for month:

For this part of the reading I used the following decks; the Angel numbers oracle cards, the cosmic insights and the lucid dreams beginners tarot

January-April

(I took a picture but the last card of the angel cards has to be 555 in stead of 0303 (sorry for the mistake))

January:

333: social skills (hope, optimism liberation, success, prosperity, excitement, enthusiasm)

cycles (fate, karma, something ending, something beginning)

king of swords (mental clarity, truth, head over heart, reason)

Death (symbolic death and rebirth, big changes, time to move on, transformation, endings, letting go, release, starting anew)

It seems that Timmy feels a bit more clear about what he has to do. This is a new year and he feels like he has a new chance to do things differently. Something is ending for him and something else is beginning. It is time to let some things of the past go

February:

0808: swift action (wealth, empathy, promises, commitment, affection, inner strength, auspicious outcomes)

intimacy: sexual chemistry, reminiscing

the sun (pure positivity, ultimate happiness, joy, success)

10 of cups (happiness, divine love, blissful relationship, harmony, alignment, family, love&support)

February will be a good month for Timmy. He feels a lot happier and feels more supported by family/friends. His finances are improving. Someone is giving him a lot of love and that gives him strength to make some decisions. He will act swiftly to make his life better.

March:

222: Alignment (connections, family ties, romantic relationships, friendships, balance, life choices, compromise, commitment, trust)

baecation

three of pentacles

knight of wands

Choosing to do what makes him happy, trying to find himself again. Traveling or going on a vacation. feeling a lot more energetic.

April:

555: change, encouragement, support, obstacle, battle, calling, restructuring, creative work)

the devil reversed (recovery, leaving abusive, toxic situations, detachment, freedom, facing shadows, independence, reclaiming power, release)

patience (just a few more months, good things come to those who wait)

2 of cups (unified love, partnership, mutual attraction, romantic love, connection, mutual respect, joining forces, close bonds, unity)

Change is giving a bit of anxiety, but he will have a lot of support. Moving forward with a (romantic) relationship

May-August

May:

1212: persistence (shift, enthusiasm, gratitude, contentment, new experiences

take immediate action

lovely partnership/epic romance

commitment (things are getting serious)

8 of pentacles (dedication, hard work, talent, high standards. commitment, expertise)

6 of swords (transitions, leaving behind, moving on to calmer waters, distance, accepting lessons)

this month seems about getting the insight and moving on from painful lessons from last year. working on a new project, or a sequel.

June

777: good luck (contentment, prosperity, abundance, spiritual awakening, divine intervention)

being unsure of something.

not knowing how to get a message across to the public

sexuality (someone is still figuring themselves out)

ace of cups (new relationship, compassion, creativity, new emotions, emotional awakening, deeper feelings, proposal, spirituality, intimacy)

queen of cups (compassion, warmth, caring, intuition, healer, supportive, in the flow, empathy)

I think I can summarize this month: growth, in all aspects of his life.

July:

0909: new beginnings (great chance, opportunity, courage, accomplishment, endings, conclusions, big love)

spy (someone got their eye on you. you are doing your research)

the lovers reversed (self-love, imbalance, disharmony, break up, arguments, discord, bad choices, conflict, detachment, indecision)

9 of cups reversed (unhappiness, lack of fulfillment, greed, laziness, negative indulgence, ungrateful, disappointment, arrogance, underachieving)

You know what, last year was a disappointing year for Timmy. He was too arrogant, thinking that he could do almost anything and all his fans would love him. But a lot didn't and were very vocal about it. They critiqued his look, his choices, even his films. The pr went pear-shaped. The money he was welcome, because he does like this life style and the privileges of the rich. But, he's also a person who values his privacy and being so famous comes with a price. Everybody spies on him, he didn't know who to trust anymore. He really had to fall that deep into that trap in order to remember that he actually has other things he values even more in life. That it's lonely without love and friends and family. That he may not like it too much after all.

August:

1144: high vibes (divine intervention, prosperity, big ventures, fated events, faith, purpose, higher calling)

date night (get ready to be wined and dined)

6 of cups (stuck in the past, naivety, unrealistic, inability to let go or forgive, clinging)

5 of swords (conflict, disagreements, competitiveness, unfair defeat, winning at all costs, stress, hostility, aggression, bullying, intimidation)

This month he seems to get stuck in the past, rethinking about someone from his earlier love life, missing someone from the past, having rows with someone , maybe a romantic fling coming to an end, or thinking about a relationship that has come to an end

September-December

September:

2020: compassion (mercy, diplomacy, potential, service, recovery, adaptability, renewal)

his assumptions on something are correct

encouragement to stay true to himself

being of service to others

having an enormous potential

caution (find out more information, don't overwork yourself)

3 of wands reversed (delays, lack of planning and progress, setback, obstacles, frustration, unexpected delays)

king of cups (devoted, emotionally mature& balanced, intuitive, compassionate, supportive, empath)

It feels like a project is delayed, or a project he's doing at that moment will have delays. It feels like a delicate situation, could be something like a scandal, but it doesn't feel like it will be Timmy. It feels like someone else, but he has to be supportive and empathetic about it and trying to be diplomatic. Maybe it's a co-star or a friend that is going through hard times.

October:

0303: taking chances (success, knowledge, friendship, impatience, freedom, optimism)

seize the chances that are presented to you

do something out of the ordinary

welcome creative impulses in your work and personal life

have faith in your own abilities

challenges (make a decision, work on inner healing)

king of wands reversed (impulsiveness, ruthless, forceful, tyrant, domineering, weak leader, vicious powerless)

the hanged man reversed (delays, resistance, indecisions, standstill, apathy, selfishness, victim mentality, disinterest, stagnation, avoiding sacrifice)

There seems to be a set back, but Timmy should continue to work on his inner healing and there will be plenty of opportunities and chances to seize.

November:

9999: lessons learned (culmination, results, benefits, reflection, completion)

maintain optimism and drive forward to your goals

maintain your momentum, the powers of Heaven have your back

rewarded

guardian (a lost loved one watches over you)

the moon reversed (release of fear, secrets revealed, truth exposed, dreams, repressed emotions, clarity, understanding)

the star (hope, renewal, miracles, rejuvenation, faith, North Star, purpose, spirituality, inspiration, positivity, healing, inner clarity)

December:

1551: hold your vision (manifestation, abundance, money, dreams, vision and prosperity)

focus on the good and maintain your concentration the outcomes of your desire

yes (luck is on your side)

knight of swords (ambitious, fast-thinking, successful driven, assertive, direct, impatient, intellectual, daring, focused, perfectionism)

ace of pentacles reversed (lack of progress, immature, underachiever, missed opportunity, poor prospects, foolish, lazy procrastinator, missed chances)

Looking good for the last two months of the year IF Timmy continues on the path he was during 2025. He will have the luck on his side and a lot of things he wants to achieve will come to fruition. If he doubts himself again, there will be a set back and the luck will come to a still stand.

This concludes Timmy's year ahead. It looks promising, if he listens to his inner voice.

As ever: this reading is alleged and for entertainment purposes only.

Ask me anything if you want to know more about this reading or if something is unclear.