#and I can't fault them for that either. Even within the leadership it seems like there's some argument about what they should look like.

[bunposting]

Oh frith ok so... This is gonna be long because I have Thoughts and Feelings and Opinions about it.

To understand why this is a problem, first you need to understand the breed.

Silvers are an extremely rare breed, currently listed as critically endangered by the Livestock Conservancy, and there's estimated to only be maybe just over 1000 left in the entire world (if even that). The breed as it exists today is only found in the UK and the USA.

The Silver was also one of the first, if not the first, breeds of rabbit. They date back to at least the 1500s, likely even further back. One of the reasons we can confidently say they were likely the first breed is because of the unique body type they possess (or rather... Should possess. We'll get to that bit). When I first got interested in the breed, some avid fans of the breed called this the 'renaissance' type. If I had to describe it, I'd say it's exactly like a wild European rabbit, just slightly more densely muscled. They also have a unique fur type that is shorter, more sleek, more glossy, and more 'snappy' (will instantly fall back into place if brushed in the opposite direction). These are traits that exist only in this breed. There is no other domestic breed alive right now that carries this body type or this coat type. There is no way that, if these things should ever be lost, we could somehow recreate this body type or fur type with breeds that exist today.

In comes the ARBA. The ARBA likes to put breeds in neat categories. All breeds must fit into the categories of compact, commercial, semi-arch, full arch, or cylindrical. And lucky enough, almost every breed fits into one of those categories, so the system works! The only exception... Is the Silver. But since the Silver is the only breed of the world with its body type, it's not worth giving it its own separate category because there will never be another breed to add to that category. Unfortunately, because all breeds must fit into one of these categories, they just chose the one they thought might make the most sense, so they slapped the 'compact' label onto it and called it a day.

Problem is... Most people - especially most judges - will see the word 'compact' and think they know exactly what the breed should look like. Compact breeds are short, small rabbits with thick heads and round little bodies. It doesn't help that the original standard, despite deviating slightly from the compact norms, still didn't reflect what the actual type of the breed is supposed to look like. The breed club tried to mitigate this by simply reducing the amount of points that should be given to type and putting more of the focus on fur and silvering.

But nobody actually cares. In literally every other breed, type is king. Any good breeder knows you breed for type first, coat and color second. Any good judge would agree. So even though the standard says "hey, don't focus on type, focus on coat and color," it'll be the rabbits that fit the written type best that still end up winning.

Now, we're currently going through the process of trying to change the standard. The changes being proposed would make the actual descriptions of ideal type more accurate to what the ideal type really is. They also are trying to reduce the points awarded for type and increase the ones awarded for coat and color even more but... As already mentioned... This isn't going to do much to help anything.

And, sadly enough, neither is the updated literature. Why? Because do you really think a judge that doesn't already work with the breed is actually going to read and memorize that standard? Hell no! They're going to see the word "Compact" and immediately judge it like every other normal compact type rabbit. That means the rabbits that actually fit the type they are supposed to be, are going to be the ones that lose in shows.

In fact, judges would even call them cull worthy because the actual ideal Silver type really is nothing at all like any compact rabbit that currently exists. They should be somewhat long in body, have enough shoulder that there is plenty of taper from the hindquarters to the head. The head itself should be refined and not at all blocky or heavy - not quite snipey, but more slender and angular than the typical domestic rabbit. Truth is, a Silver that actually has the correct, historical typing, should not be able to be posed like a normal compact rabbit at all. Its body and shoulders should be too long to make that sort of half-basketball type shape. When put in a pose, it should look more like a gentle curve from the side and should look almost triangular when viewed from above.

The type of the proper Silver is not only (in my opinion) one of the best looking body types to exist in domestic rabbits, but it also is one that is literally a living part of history. They should look like the ancestors of all domestic rabbits because in some ways, they are. And as I mentioned before, this is the only breed that has this type. It's already enough of a fear that the breed will die out and therefore the type will die with it... But the breed doesn't even have to die for the type to be lost forever. So long as the type is still listed as 'compact,' breeders and judges will select more and more toward rabbits that look like literally any other domestic rabbit breed rather than the completely unique thing it should be.

We're seeing the dying of this type happen in real time. Many of the top breeders (as in - those who have won a lot of shows) have stock that have been crossbred to compact and commercial breeds specifically to enhance that standard type.

And what a hell of a loss it is. Because here's the thing - the UK doesn't have this problem. Since their breeds aren't constrained to specific categories, each breed has its own unique standard and the judges and breeders are expected to follow each individual standard. As far as I can tell, the UK is now the only place where Silvers are consistently being bred to their true typing. Here in the USA, breeders that strive for the true type are extremely few and far between.

This pisses me off to no end because one of the things that instantly drew me to the breed was that, when I saw one at a show for the first time, it didn't look like any other breed I had ever seen before. And that's the way it should be.

Now that I've ranted, let's see what this actually looks like. (NOTE: these pictures do not belong to me)

UK BRED SILVERS

USA BRED SILVERS

(wanted to use all blacks again but could only find the one, so I've also included a brown [chestnut/agouti in most breeds] and a fawn)

Every time I see the comparisons I want to scream.

I will never not be angry about what the ARBA and American breeders have done to the Silver breed

[utilitycaster]

I haven't seen WBN, so I can't comment on the comparison, but on the subject of Liliana, one of my favorite parts of last night was how Matt anwsered Fearne's question about how Liliana got involved with Ludinus. The whole scene with Liliana was stellar, but that answer made it so clear that is she is in a cult. The way Ludinus found her while she was unsure and looking for answers, mentored her, and showed her the "truth" about Predathos is a classic cult recruitment story. And her reasonings for staying in the cult after having recognizing some of its faults also rang true. She needs to "protect the children", the methods are wrong but the "truth" at the heart of their mission is right, the us vs. them mentality and fear of the exandrian authorities, etc. And I can see how that can make her sympathetic. She was taken in and conditioned by a charismatic, powerful leader. But Matt and the others have also made it clear, including in that scene, that she is complicit, and that the pcs at least recognize that her guilt does not absolve her. The members of the Manson Family who committed the Tate Murders may have been indoctrinated by Charles Manson, but they still killed 5 people in an incredibly grusome manner. The fact that they were following orders doesn't absolve them of their crime. And historically, cult leadership (which Liliana seems to be) who attempt to "fix" a cult either don't make any meanful change, or actually make it worse. I, at least, am very curious to see what will have happened in that regard when she next shows up. In short, people need to learn about nuance, and maybe sociology, and the Liliana scene was fantastic.

Hello anon. Are you spying on my Discord messages. This is not an accusation but I literally brought up the Manson Family there in discussion of how a lot of the WBN fandom in that like, people see wizards of the citadel (rightfully) as The War-Mongering Establishment, but forget that actually, there exist plenty of counterculture groups that also suck and just bc the US Government does horrible things doesn't mean the Manson Family doesn't. What if the Citadel AND a lot of Witches fucking sucked.*

To get back to Critical Role though, YEAH the Vanguard has been hitting every single aspect of a cult, and look. I get that the best way to get people irl out of a cult is to just be present for them when they decide to leave and not cut them off (the same is true for how to help people in abusive relationships) but also once they start murdering I feel that is no longer the move. The Liliana scene made me deeply uncomfortable and unsettled in the best way, namely, I knew they were talking to a cult member who is in too deep for them to get her out right now, and who has done terrible things to innocent people in service to that cult. Which brings me back to the first paragraph: a very true twist on "what if both sides of a conflict sucked" is "what if the victim of a system can still perpetuate the harm of a system onto others". (Also, if we want to throw Midst into the list of things where people have no-nuance no-sociology takes, and talk more about Steel? "what if someone with power within a system can still be a victim thereof."

Like, that is a really consistent set of issues in media analysis, actually. There's a lot of "this is the good side, and this is the bad side," and "this is a victim, and this is a perpetrator" and no understanding of "both sides are bad (or even complicated)" and "wow it's almost like the way systems and especially cults keep running is because everyone except the very top is to an extent a victim, but also everyone is a perpetrator." Very few people are unfettered evildoers doing it just for kicks. You can have sympathy for Liliana and also acknowledge that it's pretty valid for Orym to have no room for that sympathy. Traumatized and manipulated people can still be shitty people.

*I'm neutral-to-faint-positive on Suvi/Ame as a ship but actually "wow both our establishments really suck, how can we make something better together" is a great basis for a ship and "oh my god no witches are perfect and right and wizards are Bad and Wrong you're so correct about everything" is a dogshit basis for a ship which I think is worth highlighting given that we are in fandom spaces here although I may come to regret this when I'm sober.

[st-louis]

do you think the flyers problems are bc of the front office? the medical team? the lack of identity? all of the above ?? (also sorry ur two favorite teams suck this year)

it's a variety of things.

historically we have not drafted well. we have sooooo many first and second round guys who either aren't playing in the nhl at all (sometimes through no fault of their own, it's not sam morin's fault he has the worst injury luck although honestly he was still a stretch pick at where he was picked) or aren't playing for us (n*lan p*trick, which again, arguably not his fault but definitely just not a good fit for this city at this point). when i used to be able to predict the kinds of prospects the flyers would choose because they had good hockey sense but were small and couldn't fucking skate, that's bad.

we're still suffering from hextall's insistence that the answer to the team's problem was to slowly build up from within. which is a fine way of doing things but like... you gotta draft well or get late round steals to do that. we have some guys who looked like they could be it, but then shit happened (oskar getting cancer during his breakout season).

a lot of guys are underperforming or being forced to play in spots higher than they should be playing and haven't been able to pick up the slack. unfortunately, as of this year, it does not look like provy can be a 1d and carry the defense on his own.

we've been suffering from injuries. nowhere near as bad as montreal but look at who's out. our 1d. our 1c. our 2c. even brass is out. wade allison, who probably would've had great energy on the third line, missed most of the season. we are so thin down the center and our defense is also a house of cards that ellis was supposed to shore up but look at how many games he's played. i guess to some extent you could argue the medical staff has contributed to it by clearing guys too early and having them get hurt again. whatever was going on with letting kevin hayes come back was like malpractice as far as i'm concerned.

the front office? i guess you could argue hextall fucked us. we're still paying for his mistakes, as i said.

current front office? idk. i don't think fletcher moved quickly enough to fire av and i don't think he was aggressive in the right ways in the offseason. ellis looked like a great move from the few games he played, but then he didn't. martin jones has been solid as a backup, but when the defensive structure falls apart in front of him like it did today... he can't compensate. risto hasn't been as bad as expected, but compared to what he was in buffalo... it's definitely not good enough to compensate for what philly needs.

i guess fletcher's main problem is being too conservative about changes needed and giving things too much time.

av lost the room last year. the roster wasn't built for his preferred style. yeo doesn't seem to be able to do much with it either although he's stuck playing with what he has. the power play has always been mediocre to bad so like... i don't know. is that coaching? personnel? who knows?

i think identity is an easy out. what does "identity" even mean when it comes down to it? this is one of those things like "leadership" where if the above stuff worked out properly you wouldn't even be asking the question.

this is just the inevitable of a mediocre prospect pool that occasionally overperforms not overperforming anymore. we have a few very talented guys (g, coots, hart this year; beezer and to some extent provy) and a few guys who try really hard every shift but a few guys can't make a team. a guy like laughts is a great bottom six player when the rest of the team is playing well. but he can't carry a team on his own. basically these last two seasons have been the chickens coming home to roost in different ways.

i also am unhappy with the ownership, but that's a different story.

thanks. hockey is pain this year, haha.