#and that both experiences come with a different set of problems with the potential to be equally as traumatic as the other.

[whinyvents]

It's 2024 and those of us who were actually diagnosed in childhood are still having to remind those who often dominate the online autistic community that diagnosis is not a privilege.

[batmanisagatewaydrug]

idk if this is a sex ed question, or if you're the right person to ask, sorry, but do you have any reputable sources about what testosterone *actually* does?

i see people saying it limits your emotions, that it gives you breast cancer, that it makes you malnourished, its a second more dangerous puberty, etc, and I'd like to think im good at picking out lies, but there's a lot of stuff that sounds like bullshit coming from blogs i thought were trustworthy.

if not, all good, thank you in advance!

hi anon,

I'm really glad you sent this ask, because this kind of scaremongering misinformation is deeply upsetting and I'm so happy to provide a better information.

there are tons of reputable sources as to what testosterone does; some that I'll be pulling from in this answer include Cleveland Clinic, Harvard Medical School, University of California San Francisco, Mayo Clinic, the Society for Endocrinology, and Planned Parenthood.

so, what's up testosterone?

testosterone is a hormone produced in everyone's bodies, either in the testes or the ovaries depending on which set of equipment you're working with. all bodies produce both estrogen and testosterone, usually in different levels. regardless of the genitalia you were born with, how you understand your gender, or what levels of testosterone you have in your body, testosterone affects things like your sex drive, your hair growth, muscle and bone density, and the production of red blood cells.

in people born with testes, puberty usually comes with an increase in testosterone that kicks off changes such as growth of the penis and testicles, the production of sperm, an increase in hair growth all over the body, deepening of the voice, greater production of oil on the skin, and an increase in height, weight, and muscle mass.

either an overabundance or a deficit of testosterone can have health complications, just as having more or less of any hormone that a body needs can cause complications.

people who choose to transition by taking testosterone will experience many similar effects as cisgender men going through puberty, including the increase in body hair, skin oils, and muscle mass, as well as a deepening voice. while people on testosterone are unlikely to experience significant growth in terms of height unless they start hormone replacement therapy (HRT) at a fairly young age, testosterone does frequently cause a redistribution of fat on their bodies to be more similar to that of cisgender men. bottom growth, the increased size and sensitivity of the clitoris to more closely resemble a penis, is also common; the clitoris and the penis are homologous structures (they're made out of the same goo when embryos start developing genitalia), hence why they react similarly to testosterone.

to address your specific concerns:

testosterone does not limit the range of a person's emotions. while it may impact a person's mood and the severity of their feelings, the same is true of any hormone - for instance, people also report mood changes when they take antidepressants or birth control. the sometimes drastic mood fluctuations experienced during puberty are not tied to a specific hormone; this is a turbulent time regardless of what hormones your body is producing the most. testosterone is stereotyped as making people angry and violent, but all people are people regardless of their biology and are shaped by much more than the hormones in their body.

while cisgender men and trans people on testosterone can both get breast cancer, testosterone does not pose any particular risk. several of the sources linked about don't find any significant link between taking testosterone HRT and an increased risk of breast cancer, reporting that transgender individuals who take testosterone are not at any particularly higher risk of developing breast cancer than cisgender women. for more detailed information about potential health problems affiliated with taking testosterone, I recommend the "Risks" section of the linked UCSF document. yes, there are health risks affiliated with taking testosterone; this is true of literally any medication and, more importantly, is also true of just being a person with any kind of hormones in your body. cis men and women also have health conditions affiliated with being cis men and cis women, this is the price of admission for having a human body. nobody gets out unscathed.

there is no evidence that testosterone causes someone to become malnourished. people undergoing a testosterone-based puberty, whether they're cis or trans, are likely to experience a great deal of growth and bodily changes that will use a great deal of calories, which means they may be hungry and need more food than they did previously. this is a normal effect of puberty on a body, and is only a risk for malnourishment if a person isn't able to eat in sufficient amounts to keep their body properly nourished.

there is nothing about a testosterone-based puberty that is "more dangerous" than an estrogen-based puberty, which is what I assume is the point of comparison. puberty is a completely natural process that does not pose any significant dangers unless you want to be a real dipshit about it and pull some shit like "puberty is dangerous because you grow breast tissue and then you're at risk for breast cancer," in which case sure, great job, Sherlock. you solved it, puberty is cancelled forever. I cannot emphasize enough how stupid this is, conceptually; roughly half the human population goes through this kind of puberty every day and they're fucking fine. puberty by itself is not a risk factor of anything.

I don't know what particular interest the blogs you've been following have in making testosterone-based puberty sound like it's going to turn you into an emotionally stunted skeleton with breast cancer, although I fear it's transphobia hidden unsubtly behind concern trolling and disdain for cisgender men.

if you're interested in taking testosterone and are concerned about the changes you might see in your body please, for the love of god, consult with reputable health resources and a doctor rather than whatever nematode is posting about testosterone ruining your life.

[soleilapproves]

I’m sorry if this is corny 🧍‍♀️

Chapter 1: The beginning of the end

Synopsis: Driven and hardworking reader is reluctantly married off to billionaire bachelor Nanami Kento. Expecting him to be suave and sleazy, she enters the marriage with zero expectations of respect, however, the man she ended up marrying is completely opposite of what the media paints him to be. He’s attentive, caring, and surprisingly good at baking. The reader is trying her best not to fall for him but we all know what happens.

Masterlist : https://www.tumblr.com/dilucayaka/764995518013358080/drawn-to-you-a-nanami-kento-fanfic-mdni

“No!” Your voice echoed in your father’s study.

“My child, we both knew this day was coming.” Your father, a tall and daunting man, stalked to stand in front of you. He sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “Would you rather I handover the company to Nanami Kento?”

“I’d rather you hand it to me, dad.” You were desperate to the point where your eyes were burning hot. This wasn’t fair. You were the eldest child among your siblings. You had the most experience and you were the most involved person in Hana Corp.

“Y/n, you’re really testing my patience today. You can either keep your 15% stake of Hana Corp and marry Nanami or you can lose it all and work for him instead.”

Your head was spinning. You had to look down on the ground to make sure your legs weren’t going to give out on you. Being this close to the top and losing everything was bad enough already but not getting the company because your dad was afraid of a mere fellow billionaire was even more strange.

In the corner of your eye, you see your father walking to his tray of liquor by the panoramic window. “And just so you know you, you’ll never be able to make it at the top if you choose the latter. If you marry him then you’ll at least get to keep an eye on him and your shares.”

“I don’t get it, I could easily save us from this. Hell, I could buy him out instead. I don’t get why you can’t just appoint me as CEO!”

“The board doesn’t respect you like I and your brothers do, my dear.”

You looked up at him, confused. “And why is that?”

“You have certain biological differences.”

“It’s because I’m a woman?” You yelled. “I’ve been preparing to lead Hana Corp longer than these men have known about your existence. You get to decide what’s right, not them! They don’t do half the hard work we do.”

“Unfortunately I’m going to have to agree with them. You have an attitude problem that I’m afraid will set us back with future deals. You had already messed it up with the brewing company from Italy-“

“It’s because that old fart was a SLEAZE that was hitting on our interns.”

“I understand why you’re-“

“No, you don’t! You never do. Every time I think I’m doing good for Hana Corp, you have to come in and just destroy my plans. You see my potential but you’re just afraid I’m going to surpass you.”

“Enough, Y/N! I do not want to hear anything from you. Consider yourself removed from the board if you open your mouth about this again. You will marry Nanami Kento and it is final.”

You wanted to speak further but at this point, the only assets that you valued were you shares and you couldn’t lose them. When you looked at your father again, he had already turned away from you, choosing to stare at the Tokyo skyline instead. You were almost sure that he had sold you off the moment the idea of an engagement was suggested. In his mind, you were already an outsider.

The high ceiling of the office made you feel small. You felt like a child again, throwing a tantrum because you couldn’t get what you wanted. Maybe that’s how he saw you all along- fodder for good relations. Maybe that is all there is to you. You have no significance in this world except for your strategies (which were always stolen by men who wanted to get ahead of you).

All you have in this world is yourself.

As you were leaving your father’s office, he called your name out for the last time for the night. You stopped on your tracks but didn’t bother facing him. “The engagement is in 3 weeks. Your assistant will give you all the info you need. Oh, and she will be working for your brother once the wedding is over.

Great, now even your assistant was going to be taken away. You remembered how you had to search high and low to find her because your brothers were too lazy to send over their recommendations.

You were going to lose everything whether you liked it or not so you slammed the door shut on your way out as a response.

-•-•-

A good businesswoman is prepared for any situation. It all starts with research. If you were going to marry him for your family’s benefit, you might as well approach it like it is- a business deal.

So there you were, in your penthouse’s main bedroom, laptop on the bed, as you sat crisscrossed with a glass of wine in your left hand. You were going to collect as much information about him as possible. Sure, you could always get a private investigator but who’s to say that a powerful man like that wouldn’t find out.

An hour passed, not a lot of information collected besides finding out which private school he went to and that he did his MBA in the US.

Another hour passed and you were able to find out about the donations he made to a school in the countryside.

It’s almost like all the news out there is just a giant collection of his achievements. Theres no mentions of his personality.

How could no one in Tokyo know what Nanami Kento is like? You knew almost nothing about him besides that he’s good at corporate politics and has a lot of money. All you had for your research material was a lousy GQ magazine interview where he blocked every question about his personal life by talking about his company instead. Wikipedia says that he was raised by his grandfather. Maybe he was a wild child that partied a lot and his history had been wiped clean before he took over NK Enterprises

How can a person be so well known yet so mysterious. And all the socialites that have been rumored to be involved with him have called him one word and one word only- boring.

[chores4days]

unnoticed ੈ✩‧₊˚ prologue

benedict bridgerton x fem!reader

summary; in which the girl who's never been noticed by anyone, not even her family, finds herself being noticed by the second son of the bridgerton family—the familly who is the utter opposite of her own.

notes; uhhhh i wanted to get something out so here is a prologue of sorts. this is really short i am so sorry this was not edited of read by anyone else. let me know if anyone wants to be a beta reader because i am very open to one!!! + let me know what yall think of this please ( begs and pleads ) !!!!

word count; 767 ( will eventually get longer i promise !!! )

warnings; cursing? i think, there’s not too much to this one folks

unnoticed masterlist.

prev. | cont.

you were coming to the conclusion that having siblings was possibly was just a different experience for everybody, because as you walked behind your elder brother and sister in the park it was almost as if you weren’t apart of their family but merely one of the many bystanders that roamed—you were just the one weird enough to follow them through grassy area.

you expected that it didn’t help too much that your two siblings were much older than you, the two of them however were closer in age and bonded easier with one another than you could with them. so when looking at other families, you almost felt envious..

like when you took glances at the turner family at the most recent ball and noticed the two sisters gossiping with one another, you always wondered to yourself that if you and your own sister were just a year or two closer in age—would you two be that close?

or perhaps at one of the many balls last season when you saw a bridgerton brother crowding around the most recently debuted sister—daphne you believed—your thoughts would wander to if your brother had ever given any thought to your own debut that same year. did he ever feel a sense of protectiveness over you when there was a potential suitor? you groaned aloud at even the memory of the thought, you highly doubted it. both of those thoughts.

“what are you on about now?” you heard from the front, your eyes focusing on your sister. you swallowed before putting on a ( fake ) small smile, although she couldn’t see it. “nothing to worry about, sister.”

“when it involves you, y/n, we should always worry.” your brother said with an exasperated sigh, injecting himself into a conversion that probably did not need to happen so publicly—or even at all really. “it is your second season and still no reliable suitors have come to court you, that is what you should be thinking about. the new season is soon to start.” you looked at the back of his head shocked.

“our sister is a borderline spinster and you believe that i have something to worry about?” you snapped, not quite thinking before speaking. you didn’t think being a spinster was a bad thing but for your brother to insinuate that you had more of a problem than your dear sister who was well past her debut date and was still unwed had angered you to what you believed might just be your breaking point.

brother abruptly stopped in his tracks, your sister stopping with him just as due to their arms being interlinked. he turned around to face you, taking his arm out of your sisters and taking a predatory step towards you. “sister.. you know better than to speak to me that way, and very well you know nothing of our sisters affairs. she could be getting married this season to lord rosenturn and it would not be any of your business. and as the man of our household, i highly suggest you keep your nose out of where it doesn’t belong and your mouth shut.”

was it too much for the lord up above to come and kill you where you stand? it was not enough that the words your brother spewed were embarrassing but for him to announce them like this in such a public setting was on a different level. and what were you to do if he was telling you the truth? was she to be married? it had to be arranged if so, there was no man willing to court her at this point—at least the younger men of ton were not willing to and those were the only one’s she was after.

“are you really to be married this season?” you could not help it, you really could not. your brother’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head at the question, “do you not listen, girl!” he hissed lowly as to not draw attention. “she is not getting married but even if she were to, it would be none of your business. start learning to stay in your lane and find yourself a husband.” your brother looked at you up and down, “now.”

you swallowed, looking down at the ground as you gave the man in front of you a small nod, not quite being up to the task of looking up to his eyes. the impulsive confidence form earlier withering way very, very quickly. “yes, sir.”

you had a sneaking suspicion that the ball tonight was not going to go so well.

[theresattrpgforthat]

How about any TTRPGs set underwater that aren't horror themed?

THEME: Underwater Games.

Hello friend! I am so sorry that your asks got eaten - I'm glad to have them back! (It looks like Tabletop Trick or Treat unearthed a few gems.)

Now, let's see what kind of underwater games I can fish up for you!

Deepwater Enclaves, by kiryas.

Just plain old air pollution? A failed weather control experiment? Or more sinister forces? Nobody will know for sure why earth cooled below a dark mantle of clouds in the 1980s. Agriculture could not adapt fast enough and when conventional battles for the few remaining natural resources close to the equatorial line erupted into full-scale nuclear war, humanity was on the brink of extinction. Less than five hundred thousand mostly malnourished, freezing humans were left, when the year 2000 began.

This game is about venturing from a safe Community into the unknown. At the core are taking risks for your loved ones; sometimes this is at odds with your individual motives.

Deepwater Enclaves is a Rooted in Trophy game that contains a number of roll tables with evocative choices, and a community creation that involves the entire table. As players, you play both your character and a member of the community who is important to someone else. You play through a series of scenes, structured in a similar way to the way you might set up a scene in a tv show.

To participate in a scene, if you are not one of the original characters set to play a role, other players must spend a token. These tokens are also used to affect outcomes from when you roll, as well as reduce risks that may pop up as you play. You need two different colours or shades of d6’s for this: one colour will represent regular dice, while the other will represent “dark” dice, which raise the stakes whenever you roll with them.

Overall, I think this game is about exploration and survival. I think it has the potential to be a horror game if you want it to be, but you can also alter the tone to redirect the story towards something more dramatic, perhaps centring the game more on your community, and awarding the players with enough tokens to give them the ability to pull themselves out of danger.

Carcinauts!, by Hessan Yongdi.

Carcinauts! is inspired by a famous British children's animated TV show that takes place in and around the sea. You play animal explorers, scientists, and rescuers. Joined by your many friends and helpers, you seek to learn more about our fascinating oceans. Make the world a better place for the animals who live in and around the Great Blue Sea!

Based on the prolific Dominus system created by members of the Brazilian RPG community, Carcinauts! is designed to allow for quick play without a game master. This makes it idea for a solo session in the Sea or a team adventure, using the tables to build out your story. Its simple rules based around d6s and largely non-violent topic materials also make this game child-friendly.

Carcinauts is a two-page game that feels a little bit like a kid’s show; you are all underwater animal explorers, going on missions and solving problems. The resolution of the game is called the Dilemma oracle, and is fairly simple. You must determine two possible outcomes or answers, and then roll 1d6. On a 1-3 the first option is true, on a 4-6 a second option is true. These outcomes need not necessarily be “success” and “failure” either. They could be “left” and :right”, “up” and “down”, or “true” and “false”. This resolution system also makes the game friendly to solo gamers or GM-less tables.

If you want a light-hearted game about underwater explorers, which generates a lot of story ideas for you, maybe check out Carcinauts.

Deep Love, by Bully Pulpit Games.

You’ve come to this paradise to drop a two-and-a-half ton iron ball off the side of a ship and lower it almost a kilometer into the abyss. 

You’ve come to crawl inside that iron ball and go down with it, to see what there is to see down there. 

You’ve come with three other brilliant adventurers, friends, and lovers, and you’ll all get a chance to descend and risk your lives in exchange for seeing things no human being has ever seen.  And maybe, in the inky darkness and cold silence, you’ll find a measure of happiness and fulfillment.

Deep Love has a fond appreciation for old naturalist drawings of various fish, and uses those drawings as the art for the game. You play four characters, possibly pre-generated, on an expedition to the deep waters of an island for a geographic expedition. You all have feelings for each-other, and you’ll have to spend some extended time in a bathysphere to sort this out.

This game looks like it’s equal parts emotional conversation & role play, and, on the other hand, discovering the wonder of the ocean. According to the designer, it looks like you can modify how much you want to experience the former, and how much you want to experience the latter. If you want a game that gives you the tools to explore both your character’s internal emotional landscape as well as the strange underwater world around them, you might like Deep Love.

Submerged, by Arcane Atlas Games.

SUBMERGED is a solo journalling game of undersea exploration.

In this game, you take on the role of a daring explorer aboard a submersible. You have been charged with venturing into the depths of the ocean, to find something wondrous and undiscovered, hidden deep below the waves.

This one is for the solo gamers! It’s based on Carta, which uses a deck of cards to explore a map or series of locations. The player draws a number of cards and lays them face-down in a grid. Each turn, you move to a new card, flip it over, and come up with a journal entry based on the prompt the card gives you. The four suits represent four elements of the game: the Lost City, The Creature, the Wreckage, and the Signal. All of these elements play into the themes of mystery and exploration that this game seems to be about, but I don’t think any of it is necessarily horror-focused.

24XX The Deep, by Chaosmeister.

ONE DAY THE OCEANS DROWNED THE WORLD. Humanity survived below the waves. The sea birthed leviathans. Your crew owns a dingy old sub. Odd jobs, salvage, leviathan hunting and a few merc gigs keep you afloat and breathing.

24XX The Deep is a game about underwater survival and it’s also a drama. As a 24XX game, it’s only a few pages, but those pages distill the necessary parts of the game into a few things: customization for your submarine (aesthetic and mechanic), character options, and roll tables for pieces of the world, such as the factions that your crew might have to work with or work against.

The designer for this game says that 24XX The Deep isn’t necessarily meant to be a horror game, but it can still be a little creepy in tone when you consider the ways the natural underwater environment can raise the stakes for your players.

Aqua Squad, by Em.

A Tunnel Goons hack of aquatic and aquatic-adjacent adventure, created for the Saturday Morning Cartoon Jam. 

I think this might be a fairly safe bet considering it was submitted to something called the Saturday Morning Cartoon Jam! As a Tunnel Goons hack, this game is fairly simple. You follow the Submarine crew of the Cuttlefish, as they go for adventures underwater. Players pick character types, which kind of act like characters on a tv show, and fill in a few pieces of information to make those characters fit their play style.

The resolution mechanic involves rolling 2d6 and adding a relevant ability, and adding +1 for any relevant item you might have with you. You must meet or beat the difficulty score to succeed. You start with 3 items, and 10 HP. There isn’t much in terms of GM tools for adventure generation however, other than what appears to be episode title names. These titles can be evocative: you roll two words and put them together, so the GM may have an interesting time designing a “ghostly volcano” for the squad to investigate, or trying to figure out what the title “Vacation Megalodon” might mean.

Signals From The Deep, by Aaron Goss.

SIGNALS FROM THE DEEP is a tense, ocean-floor setting and scenario made using a no dice, no masters roleplaying game system Tiny Tokens.

This scenario takes you and the rest of your old, sentient, deep sea research robot team SEA-4 on a shared voyage, exploring deep sea wonders as you seek out the source of a anomalous signal detected way down at the bottom of the ocean. What awaits you in the depths?

Signals in the Deep is a mystery game, but it’s not necessarily a horror one. The game is small, meant to fit on two double-sized poker-card-sized cards. It’s easy to pick up and carry, and doesn’t have too many rules. Your core goal is to figure out the source of the signal; but what exactly that source is will be up to the GM, at least from what I can see.

Also Check Out…

Octopus Shipwreck Explorer, by SassWrites.

Bones Deep, by Technical Grimoire Games.

Odyssey Aquatica, by Old Dog Games.

My Mermaids TTRPG Recommendations.

The Sea Calls Recommendation Post.

My Coral Recommendation Post from last week.

[thoughtfulchaos773]

Syd & Carmy- Romantic Beats

Preface:

Studying this I see the second season uses steps 3-7 since we had our chemical equation and met cute the 1st season. You'll see gif examples 3-7 that show the beats of the season two.

Billy Mernit defines the “seven basic romantic comedy beats” in his book  Writing the Romantic Comedy. I'm observing that writing a romcom for a TV series is like a rollercoaster for beats, taking curves and dips that keep the series at a pace where the viewer is guessing. So beats repeat themselves and set themselves up for the next season.

The romantic beats are described as--

1. The Chemical Equation - The setup, there's something wrong in the protagonist's life. There's a missing piece in the main character's story. This is where we identify the protagonist's external and/or internal conflict.

2. The meet cute or catalyst - The incident that brings them together - and this should relate to the theme of the story. This meeting sets the tone for their relationship.

When the secondary lead is introduced- there should be some hints that this romantic interest is the missing piece of the Protagonist's chemical equation.

The Bear: I'd also add that with romantic comedies, the meet-cute should have some humor in it. (What’s UPS, is that in Chicago, or?) . As we talk on this platform- the meet cute was the proper example of a romcom.

3. The Sexy Complication -This is the first proper clash between the heroine and the hero. Higher stakes define the main character's goals. Typically, the external problem keeps them apart, or you can use internal conflict that keeps them apart. Traditionally occurring at the end of Act 1, a new development that raises story stakes and clearly defines the protagonist’s goal.

Season One episode Three: Syd is officially the sous chef and has a hard time with the staff. She comes in with the intention of changing The Beef for the better, however, Carmy is stuck in his old ways and past toxic experiences in the kitchen.

Season two episode three: The first clash starts 2x03 Sundae, after their technical meet cute- 2x02 pasta showing new closeness for season 2, however After 2x03 Sundae we see repeats of the sexy complication- since Syd and Carmy's relationship is the plot of the show- the stakes rise as the pressure to open The Bear is approaching and Claire comes into the picture- causing a bigger complication between Syd & Carmy.

4. The Hook. The midpoint scene sticks the two characters together. There's no way out, and this should reflect the theme of the movie.

This hints at the outcome of the relationship and gives hints of the potential between the two characters. There can be sexual tension involved or a detailed moment that shows the two characters are becoming closer.

Season one episodes Three and Five: Syd and Carmy reach an understanding and episodes three and five show vulnerability as Carmy reveals his brother was an addict and Syd shares the failure of Sheridan Road catering.

Season Two Episode Nine: After complications, Syd and Carmy reach a moment of understanding. This is the most romantically suggestive scene with prominent sexual tension.

5. The swivel - This is the moment after the hero and heroine have become closer, when their conflict comes back again, in a different form.  a turning point that makes the stakes higher and hurts the main character's goal, or vice versa, leading to a changed goal. The main character is forced to choose between love and the goal.

Season one and two: in both seasons Carmy loses his cool with Sydney. The first season she walks away and the season two Syd calms Carmy down.

What's interesting is that the song Spiders (kidsmoke) by Wilco plays in both scenes giving us hints of parallels.

6. Dark Moment – This is the consequence of the swivel. The characters have to reveal private motivations, and it seems that either the love or the goal is lost forever. The main character is at their most vulnerable point.

Season One Episode 8: The revealing of private motivation occurs in 1x08 When Carmy is in al-anon. He reveals that his trying to fix the restaurant was him trying to fix the relationship with Mikey. At this point, love (Sydney) and the goal (fixing my relationship with Mikey) are lost forever. The vulnerable point is Carmy facing the chaos in his internal world.

Season Two Episode 10: I'm a fսckin'... I'm a fսckn' psycho. That's why. That's why I'm good at what I do. That's how I operate. I am the best because I didn't have any of this fսck¡n' bullshit, right?

Wherein the consequences of the swivel decision yield disaster; generally, the humiliating scene where private motivations are revealed, and either the relationship and/or the protagonist’s goal is seemingly lost forever.

7. Joyful Defeat – reconciliation between the characters that remind the audience how important the relationship is to them, usually (but not always) with a happy ending that implies marriage – but usually at the cost of something the main character has had to sacrifice.

Season One Episode 8: Two tops? Booths?

Nuff said.

Season two: We're left with a cliffhanger for the Joyful defeat. Will the reconciliation happen in season three? Will we have a happy ending and what will Carmy sacrifice? Will he choose love or the goal? Will Syd choose love or the goal of getting the star?

Oh the slow burn is real! Storer, what are you doing here? This is a romcom!

[enquire]

Mystic Moonshade

I think I finally figured out what to do with Mikako, so here we are.

This design was a little more out there, as I went for making her a zebra/okapi/pony hybrid!

My intent was to give her a connection to other forms of magic, and give her a bit of a mysterious vibe. The one zebra in MLP we get, Zecora, is an expert in potions and obscure medicinal magic/plants, and is a general example of a pony who uses alternative magic in a way.

I think Equestria's non-unicorn based magic; things like alchemy, potions, charms, earth pony and pegasi magic, curses, magical creatures, and of course, spirits, ghosts, and the like, would fit in well with the 'ultimate excorcist' talent. So Moonshade is an expert in all things supernatural, and obscure. (since magic is an everyday thing in Equestria after all) Still focuses most of all on the departed, but she has a lot of knowledge /interest in various stuff.

Her okapi aspects came from wanting to give her extra horns (which might be capable of producing some slightly different magic) and because the markings give here a bit more a mysterious vibe which I liked. It's a bit more detailed, but I think it's fine for now at least. Her unicorn horn functions the same way any other unicorn's would.

Anyway, on to her little background info segment:

Mystic Moonshade is passionate about Equestria's strangest and most unknown phenomena. Ever since she got her cutie mark, she's been uncovering secrets and solving mysteries; from hauntings to ancient artifacts, Moonshade explains the unexplainable. Either via science, magic, or through healing the hearts and minds of the ponies involved.

She's discovered and named several new creatures, placated spirits, and even managed to lift the decades old curse or two. But her biggest strength might not lie in the supernatural, but rather in soothing the hearts of those faced with the problems and occurrences she is called to solve.

When she was just a filly far too young to remember her parents or where she came from, Moonshade fell into a river and almost drowned. She was swept far away, only managing to survive by clinging to a hollow log.

She was spotted by a pony named Spark Stardust, not far from Canterlot, who immediately dived in after the tiny filly. After rescuing Moonshade, he brought her home to stay with himself and his son, Gizmo.

She couldn't offer any explanation as to how she had gotten there, or much of any information about herself beyond her name. The Equestrian Guard opened an investigation into her parents, but without much to go off of, and a huge distance potentially between Canterlot and where she had fallen into the river, they had very little success.

No pony ever came forward looking for a missing filly matching her description, and the leads quickly ran dry. After a year, Moonshade had already begun to become a part of the Stardust family, so when the time came that Moonshade was officially labeled an orphan, Spark decided to adopt her.

It took some time for Gizmo and Moonshade to adjust to it, but in time, they became extremely close. Nowadays, the two of them are often seen together, and both support the other in any way they can. Gizmo has created multiple inventions in order to help Moonshade in her work, including a arguably effective ghost detector, and a more practical set of very durable saddlebags with locks for when Moonshade comes across an item with less than stable properties, or that is particularly valuable. Meanwhile, Gizmo's go-to unicorn for help testing his inventions is his sister. They have participated in many experiments together, both scientific, magic, and everything in between.

Gizmo's inventions often rely on magic as much as science, and most of his knowledge on the subject came from Moonshade. He also has gone on many of his sister's quests and travels, helping her bust myths and the occasional ghost.

Moonshade has an uncanny ability to read other ponies. While she cannot read others' thoughts, or anything like that, she can sometimes sense more hidden emotions, and other things like that. If Moonshade says somepony is giving her a bad vibe, it's probably with good reason. This leads to her both being an excellent judge of character and being very good at noticing when something is wrong. For example, she was the first one to pick up on and understand Saber's invisible wounds even though he almost never lets a single glimpse show on the outside. She also has a knack for sniffing out secrets.

This ability of hers only gives her insight into where to direct her attentions, though; it doesn't reveal all, and in fact can sometimes be altogether unhelpful, as the feeling that something is wrong without being able to pinpoint what can be quite frustrating.

Moonshade is more of an extrovert than her brother, being fine with meeting various strangers for her work, and the one responsible for introducing her brother to many of his acquaintances and friends.

Out of the group besides her brother, she is closest with Thrift, as the three of them were childhood friends. She also managed to get Ember to warm up to her impressively fast, despite them not knowing each other for as long or and living in different places. The two of them bonded over their penchant for unraveling supposedly unsolvable puzzles, and reading. Whenever Ember visits Canterlot, she makes it a priority to spend time hunting through the cities many bookshops with her.

Moonshade is not as close with Saber as he is with Gizmo, but they are still good friends, and with Gizmo and/or Thrift often around they are often drawn together regardless. (and happy for it) Saber is one of the few ponies Moonshade often finds herself spending time with in comfortable silence.

It's not like she and Clover aren't not friends, but for some reason, there always seems to be a bit more distance between them, and Moonshade is a bit bugged by the fact that she knows very little about him compared to everypony else. Despite him being very close with some of her closest friends, she is more familiar with most of her acquaintances than she is with him. And for whatever reason, they never seem to end up one on one, either.

I think that's it for her! I always start these background posts thinking 'I don't have enough lore for this one yet' but then end up filling up the post by the end haha. To be honest, I struggled a lot with her design, and going a more unique route helped me land somewhere, but I'm still not entirely sure about it. I'll have to think about it.

Also, I think "mystic" moonshade is alright, but perhaps another first name could be better. Also, Spark Stardust for Hanzo is still up in the air. I'll see if it sticks... I wanted he and Gizmo to have a family naming convention that fit with Stardust Industries, but it is a bit unusual to have the exact same word in their names by MLP standards... I was going for something like the Pie family names, but I'm not too sure about "Spark." It's just okay.

Saber Frost, Cold Steel, and Radiant Ember are my favorite names so far. Coming up with pony names is surprisingly fun. It's great when I can get some phonetic similarities in as well haha. (Radiant Ember - Rei Mekaru anyone?)

[charles-leclerc-official]

2024 British Grand Prix Race Analysis

I am keeping this one short and to the point. This race appeared more complex than it was. For ease of reading I have combined Lando, Max and Lewis’ races into one section as there was a lot of comparison to do there and it didn’t make sense to split it up.

Table of Contents Ferrari - Car set ups - Race: Pit calls, radio analysis Top 3: Lewis, Max, Lando Mclaren - Lando - Oscar Other Moments of note Final Thoughts

Ferrari

Ferrari’s race was a mess. I have noted this multiple times this year, but rain seems to be a difficult factor for the team to deal with. It’s unclear why. I have my suspicions to explain some things. But we can look at results and see that the team(not the drivers) the team behind the pitwall has had a lot of problems when contending with rain and mixed conditions.

Unfortunately Britain was no different.

Car Setups

Ferrari have been struggling to understand the two upgrade packages. It seemed that with this weekend the team heavily sacrificed results to try to understand and test some things with how these two upgrade packages worked. From free practice one it was clear that they were doing some more extreme tests to try to get a handle on the car. Given how many changes were made, and the fact that Charles went into qualifying with a car spec he barely had any experience with it was clear they were sacrificing this weekend in the hopes that gathering data and understanding certain things about these packages would allow them to get better results in the future. 

After 3 races in a row of middling to bad results I don’t necessarily fault the team for doing this. Something had to be done, because at this point they said they didn’t have a clear understanding of where their problems were coming from. Sacrificing one weekend for the potential benefit of the remainder of the season was worth it (we will have to see if this turns out to be true) Obviously, in ideal circumstances no sacrifices would need to be made. However given where the team was going into the British GP something had to be done. They clearly needed data that would give them answers, and it meant the drivers were not able to really focus on maximizing any one setup.

You could point to Carlos and say he got good results. But did he? He finished P5 in a car that should be able to do better. In a car that has done better. Consistent P5 is not where we want either driver to be. Glad for the points. But as a benchmark for performance of the car it’s lacking. And to be clear I do not think this lack of result was Carlos’ fault. He may have been driving a setup a little more comfortable to him than Charles, but he was not in anything optimal either. 

At the moment it seems that the SF-24 with the upgrades is more track specific than previously believed. 

Both drivers were testing various setups and upgrade package specs during free practice to try to find what would work. Bouncing was the main issue. The suspension of the SF-24 is current;y unable to properly support the aero upgrades, which are working as expected, but the car just cannot offer the support for those gains to show. 

The team did find that the Imola spec was best to reduce the bouncing, however it wasn’t fast. They chose stability over speed, which was technically the right choice. It doesn’t matter if the car is fast if it’s impossible to drive. 

Charles was running various specs of the SF-24 all weekend up until qualifying. He had to go into qualifying with a version of the Imola spec he’d run once before the entire weekend. I said above that the team clearly sacrificed the weekend for data, and this was the result. Charles didn’t have the chance to fine tune any settings on the car to have a good chance at qualifying.

Carlos reportedly had a little more time with the Imola spec than Charles when it came to prepping for quali in FP3. Charles went with the same Imola spec as Carlos, however he reported that several settings were off, especially on the front tyres. 

Carlos also did not get as comfortable in the car as he would have liked. He’d had more time, but still qualifying P7 is not the starting position we want to see. He mentioned that the bouncing was still there and the lack of pace was tough to manage as well. These were things both drivers reported. 

Both specs of the Ferrari underperformed. The Imola spec was marginally better for this track, and after that it came down to scrambling to get the car setup correct. A track which the team was already wary of being good for the car at the time. They were correct in that assessment. 

The Race

Charles started the race in P11 and finished P14. Carlos started P7 and finished P5.

Now, I predicted that Charles would finish around P7 or P6 in the race. He had the race pace for it and his overtaking this year has been great. And if the team had managed his race as they should have I would have been correct. 

That wasn’t how things unfolded. 

Charles actually had the best start to the race of any driver in lap 1. He went from P11 to P8 in a single corner, passing 3 cars. After that he managed to climb up to P7 and was chasing P6 before track conditions changed. 

So while the qualifying performance wasn’t there the race pace was enough to keep the Ferrari closer to the front than the back of the points. 

Charles lost all the places he gained in the pits. 

The big factor this race was rain. How much rain and when would it arrive?

Charles pit for intermediate tyres on lap 20 after the pitwall told him heavy rain was expected in the coming laps. Using that info Charles boxed. However the rain didn’t come for another few laps. Charles was on inters, which lost considerable time as that compound is significantly slower if the track isn’t wet enough(and it wasn’t) He then had to pit an extra time for another set of interes when the rain did come, because by the time the track was actually wet his inters were already destroyed. 

The early pit combined with losing time because he was on the wrong compound, followed by an extra pit stop was what lost Charles his chance in the points. This lost so much time it was impossible to recover. 

The key problem was pitting too early for the inters. Why did that happen? And who is to blame?

There has been a lot of speculation about the statements the teams have made about the info the drivers were given, and a similar number of interpretations of the team radios of both drivers. 

Fred claimed that both drivers were given the same information. Many have claimed he is directly lying about this, because over the radio we heard very different things. However I think he is technically correct. I think the issue came down to different interpretations of the same information by Charles and Carlos’ side of the pitwall, and this is evidenced in the way Carlos and Charles were receiving info about the rain and the amount of rain.

I think that both sides of the pitwall were looking at the same weather radar, so the same information. However, Carlos spoke about how he worked out a new system with his race engineer to communicate the specifics of rain conditions. Using color codes to convey the specific amounts on the radar. Whereas with Charles it seems the system there was less specific. “Heavy rain” could mean a lot of things. Whereas “cyan” correlates to a specific measurement on the radar. 

Therefore I think this came down to the way the same info was communicated to Charles.

Here I want to present the radios side by side for the relevant laps. I have cut down some radios for simplicity, including the ones I think highlight the differences in communication and also show the relevant information about the rain as that is the main concern here. I encourage you to listen to full team radios if you want even more information. 

I think if you look at the radios side by side it is clear that the team was using the same info, and were conveying the same information. However the way it was told to the drivers was different, and that made the difference. 

Based on what both engineers were saying I think they were both looking at the same weather radar. However one was working with his driver more to confirm conditions. And I think that Charles' side also was not as nuanced in the reading of the weather radar.

The issue here was the way the information was conveyed. With Carlos the he was giving more feedback to confirm the information that was seen on the radar was accurate. 

I think that it came down to a difference in communication system between the drivers and their race engineers. The way things were phrased to Charles made it seem like inters would be necessary instead of a more mixed solution. Carlos was trying to see if he could stay out based on the info he had and what he was feeling, while Charles was expecting things to get worse than they were given the way things were presented to him. 

Carlos was thus able to play things more by feel. And Charles made the call to pit. 

I want to emphasize that this was not Charles' fault for the bad pit call. A driver can only do what they can with the information they have. The information he was given made it seem like he'd need intermediate tyres immediately. Yes he made the call, but the team led him to that call.

I think what this highlights is that these little differences in how the pitwall communicate changing information to drivers matters a lot. Saying “heavy rain” instead of the specific intensity at specific locations makes a difference. 

I do not believe that Ferrari intentionally gave Charles the wrong weather information. This doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, there wasn’t any gain to it. He wasn’t even in direct competition to Carlos at this point, there wasn’t a risk of a double stack. The idea this was intentional sabotage doesn’t really hold up because there was no real gain made anywhere. Sabotage is something that needs to be done for the gain of someone else, no one gained from this. The team lost points, Carlos didn’t benefit in any way, so the idea of this being some sort of sabotage doesn’t really hold up. 

I think that the team statements following the race were aimed at covering for the issues in communication behind the pitwall. Not a good look and it did not help with convincing people who wanted to create conspiracies. But usually when things like this are said it’s to cover incompetence or embarrassing mistakes, not malice. 

I do think that Charles’ side of the garage can learn from the system Carlos has worked out with his engineer. It seems to be a better method of getting the most accurate info to the driver. 

This weekend was a sacrifice for Ferrari. The results were never going to be stellar. However more was lost due to the bad pit call with Charles. Hoping the data gathered from this weekend was worth the sacrifice.

Top 3

The race between the top 3 was a contest of speed, skill in mixed conditions, and pit timing. 

Lewis won from P2. This was his 104th career win, his ninth win at Silverstone, which broke the record for most wins at a single circuit. Impressive achievement from him, and winning his home race during his last year with Mercedes is as good of a sendoff fans could have hoped for. Very glad to see him get minimum 1 more win with the team before moving on to Ferrari(the season’s not over so there could be more)

Max started P4 and finished P2, Lando started P3 and finished P3. 

One thing to note is that I do believe George might have been in the mix had he not had to retire. He was not as fast as Lewis on pace but I think he would have had a shot against Max or either of the Mclaren’s for a place. 

So let’s just dive right into the data between these three. 

A lot happened this race, but it was decided on the final stint, and the final stint was decided on the tyre compound. Some teams made the right call, others did not. 

The final stint Lewis and Lando were on the softs, and Max was on the hards. The hards were the better performing compound for the conditions compared to the softs, that much was clear, and had the stint been longer Max would have been able to catch up with the difference between those two compounds. The more notable thing is the difference between Lewis and Lando on the softs, Lando is clearly the slowest on this stint, and the difference between performance on the tyres there comes down to Lewis’ better tyre management, and also the fact Lewis had clean air. I think Lando probably pushed too hard at the beginning and cost his potential to save the tyres for a few laps later in the stint. But the soft was also just the wrong compound to catch the cars ahead. Lewis had track position, he didn’t need them, Max and Lando needed to be on a compound to fight on. Softs were not that compound. And you can see the clear difference it made between Max and Lando's pace, which really highlights the difference in performance.

The start of the final stint in the pits was where the race was won and lost. Lewis and Mercedes successfully undercut Lando. Leaving Mclaren stuck having to figure out how to regain the position, and they failed to do so, as tyre compound selection was a significant factor.

Here is their full race pace including the full inter stints(F1 tempo treats most inter laps as outliers because they are much slower than on the slicks) 

The first stint Lewis is slightly faster, but they are all quite close. The mediums in the mixed conditions were slowest for Max, the Red Bull was struggling with the mixed rain and the plan was to just survive until it was time for inters. He did do that, but the performance difference between the cars is pretty clear there. On the inters all three were very close. The final stint was where the little gains Lewis made really came into play because all he had to do was maintain his lead after that. And he did. 

All three were close on pace, so the little details made the difference, and whichever team/driver managed the mixed conditions of the race won. 

And a look at Lando against Lewis’ pace. Lando wasn’t faster for long on any of the stints. Lewis really had the speed against him most of the race. The lap Lando was able to get past was the lap when the Mercedes tyres were starting to fall off. 

And Lando vs Max’s pace. They were closer. Max was losing more time in the mixed conditions, the tyre call on the final stint really made the difference. As well as Mclaren’s poor pit timing. But unless they got that tyre compound right on the final stint Max was always going to be ahead of Lando, even if Lando had been ahead he wouldn’t have been able to fight Max with that pace difference. 

I will also note that Lando lost a place to Max into turn 1 at the start of the race. The fact he didn’t have track position against Max when he qualified ahead was due to his own inability to defend his position at the race start.

Quick look at what Lewis’ vs George’s pace looked like.

They were extremely close. Almost identical on pace and speed. The race between them would have likely been very tight had George not had to retire. What this really shows is that the Mercedes was the clear fastest car at Silverstone.

Overall the top 3 were very close on pace. Which given the mixed conditions was impressive. Lewis was the driver who managed the changing conditions best, in concert with his team supporting him with the better strategy calls. Great drive from both Lewis and Max. Lando’s race was mixed, I have more about where he and Mclaren went wrong in the section below. 

Mclaren

Mclaren have shown all year that the only aspect of their team ready to compete at the front is their car. Their strategy calls have been consistently middling to bad. Ferrari have had some bad weekends, but they have also had more consistently good strategy calls than Mclaren. It’s the middle of the season and Mclaren has yet to make a solidly good strategy call when it comes to the pits/managing the drivers on track. The driver’s can only do so much, and the team’s inability to strategize competently at the front of the field has certainly cost both Oscar and Lando places this season. 

This race was no different. In fact it was probably the worst bit of race strategy from them yet. 

First completely fumbled Oscar’s pit strategy and cost him places. 

Second for Lando they made the same mistake they have made a few times, kept him out too long because they didn’t know how to time the pit when he was in the lead. They then also asked him and relied on him to make the call on the tyre compound for the final stint. That isn’t something the driver should be doing. The team should be putting them on the best compound based on the data they have. A driver doesn’t have the real time data for how a compound is performing, how was Lando supposed to know the softs would be worse if the team wasn’t relaying that info to him?

I have seen some people put the blame of the tyre selection on Lando, and this isn’t right. Lando actually brought up the idea of the medium tyre to the team after they asked him, then saying he didn’t mind. Again, it’s not something he should have had to do to begin with. 

The team were then the ones to choose the softs. 

Mclaren: “We can choose a medium to cover people like Verstappen or we choose a soft to cover people like Hamilton.”

Lando: “Hamilton. I think Hamilton or do you think medium? I don’t mind.”

Mclaren: “We are going soft. Box this lap please.”

But beyond this the reason they did put him on the softs was to cover Lewis. They were copying what his tyre strategy was, assuming that would pay off. They ignored data showing that might not be the best compound. Because they kind of let Mercedes and Lewis decide their strategy, but they aren’t Mercedes and they weren’t at the front anymore. Choosing the same tyre didn’t make much sense. So not only did they mess up the tyre selection they did it because they were reluctant to do something different to Lewis. Max and Red Bull did and look how it paid off for them.

They are still operating like a mid-field team while competing at the front, relying heavily on the skill of their drivers to carry them. However there is only so much the drivers can do, at the end of the day they can only be as good as the team backing them up, and the team backing them up doesn’t seem to be able to time pits to stay competitive. 

The team has been held back by this reluctance to give up places in the pits. They’d rather hold the places they have that are good, then shoot for the top. Their hesitance in this area is holding the entire team back. 

In any case, this race was another example of Mclaren defeating themselves. It’s been 12 rounds and they haven’t learned anything from previous mistakes. How many times will they keep leaving Lando out for too long before they have the confidence to give up the place temporarily to pit? 

Unclear, but at this point it’s become clear to me that the Mclaren pitwall does not really know how to compete at the front and it’s glaringly obvious. 

We may see them turn around after the summer break. But I am not holding my breath. 

Lando

Lando also played a role in his own loss as well. First he did not defend his position into the first corner to Max. Second he overshot the pit box when pitting on the final stint. I don’t fault him for the compound choice because at that point in the race his team should have been deciding who to cover and which compound to do it on instead of asking their driver who is trying to fight for a win what to do. You can hear his radio that it all sounded rushed from him, and he shouldn’t have had to waste mental energy on that. Things like overshooting the pit box matter a lot when it comes to fighting for a win. 

But the loss of time in the pit box on top of the bad compound selection was what ended his chance to actually fight for the win. Not only did it cost him the place to Lewis but to Max as well. 

Oscar

Oscar was somehow more grossly mismanaged by the team than Lando. 

Oscar was left out an extra lap before the final stint because the team wanted to avoid a double stack. His tyres had fallen off considerably and he didn’t have the grip, he slid and lost time, and then by the time he did pit he dropped from P2 to P6. 

At least they put him on the right compound to fight up a few places. 

Top teams can perform a double stack. It’s one of the reasons Red Bull has had some really successful strategies, because they are confident in their ability to perform the double stack if needed. Mclaren clearly aren’t. 

Oscar was also clearly sacrificed for Lando. Priority was given to Lando for the pit. Which made sense as Lando was ahead. And they’d already messed up the call on Lando’s pit, so it cost more places than they thought. 

I do think that the team were trying to avoid Lando and Oscar being put in a position where they would have to fight on track. After Austria I think they got a glimpse of what it would look like if things got really competitive and that wasn’t a risk they wanted to take. 

Mclaren have been their own worst enemies all season, and this race continued that pattern.

Other Moments and Drivers of Note:

George had to retire from the race on lap 34 due to a car malfunction, specifically a problem with the water system. 

Logan finished in P11, which is his best GP finish of the season.

Nico finished P6 again, matching his best result of the year once again. 

Final Thoughts

Really messy race for Mclaren and Ferrari. Mercedes obviously the biggest winner by getting the home race win with Lewis. Haas are continuing to look strong.

Hopefully this weekend was worth the sacrifices Ferrari clearly made.

See you in Hungary!

[thepumpkincorsair]

So, I watched the first episode of “Those About To Die” on Peacock.

I enjoyed it, and Im willing to do write ups if folks would be interested…

Since I wana talk about details, and I dont wana spread spoilers, everything is below the readmore.

What I liked: 🔵 And what I disliked: 🟠

Total Ranking: 8/10 - very good, worth the watch 👍

🟠 It dove into the Intrigue right away, which made it hard to watch while doing other things, but I can appreciate a show that grabs you by the shoulders and shoves you down into the couch to pay attention.

🔵 It wasn’t boring, quite the contrary, I felt fully engaged throughout the episode. Theres a lot of small moving parts to the story, and it orchestrates together incredibly well so far, even for Episode One. The writing is very well done, which is a lynchpin for me on a show like this. You cant pretend to be an intrigue type series without a proper plot. And, in my opinion, they’ve set their plots well right away. Tenax getting those shares in Blue was a great con, which had clearly been going a while, but we only saw the tail end of it. I see this little setup as a great look at how the writers DO their work. Connections matter, money does more than talk, and if you play the game wrong, you die. Don’t trust anyone.

🔵 I REALLY enjoyed the historical aspects of the first episode. Like, yes, this plot happened, its a historical fiction and a number of these characters exist in history, but its not just that. Its the small details, the different knives in different cultures, the veterinary care of race horses, the deities from more than just the main roman pantheon, the drinkware, the VARIOUS clothes from various cultures and climates…. And yes, women often went topless when they were a sxwrkr. Gotta advert.

🔵 ON THAT SUBJECT: can we talk about “3 sesterce… and Im tighter than both of them.” MY BOY, YOU ARE RIZZIN TOO HARD AND I LOST IT. Please, please let him be in future episodes. Omfg….

🟠 I am forced to concede the accuracy isnt PERFECT, the horses wore modern driving bridles to go with their ancient styled chariots. However, Im realistic about how many horses are trained today to pull anything without blinders, and how much safer modern bridles are. I’ll also note: I absolutely saw the animal handler grab the horse differently (calmly) before the riot surrounded it, then direct the horse to dance in the crowd. Great training with the horse! Bad camera angle. Lol

🔵 I also really like this cast so far. Everyone fills their roles incredibly well.

Hopkins doesnt even need an introduction, the mans a legend and brings all his experience to the stage with him every time. -chefs kiss-

Rheon was great in GOT, he plays calculatingly unhinged exceptionally well. But I wont lie, seeing him in a more commanding, level headedly calculating person?

Hashim….. HASHIM!!! Im SO excited to see where his character goes. We haven’t seen much of him in Ep 1 just yet, but he’s clearly going to be one of the main players. Im not familiar with him as an actor, but I’ve enjoyed his performance so far, and I REALLY appreciate the story being told.

Martins is also incredible. She does a fantastic job of knowing the danger her characters children are facing, but also knowing she HAS to play her cards right to save them. She personifies the strength and determination of a mother perfectly.

🔵 Quite honestly, I have to give points to that whole plot-line in general. That point of view is something we’ve had hidden from us (in America) for so long, that I think a LOT of people have… become calloused. I hope seeing it will potentially help others come to an empathetic understanding. This isn’t glossing over what happened, or whats likely to happen to any of the three children.

🔵 I also want to gush over actually SHOWING the wider Roman Empire, we get to see the direct effect of their influence in both Africa and Spain so far. Egypt was their bread basket, and without that grain, youve got problems. The Berber Coast has animals, and people they want, and we see money exchanging hands for the purpose of those ends. We see how the locals were told they’d be treated fairly, paid properly, and even eventually become citizens, like the Spaniards, only to have those promises thrown aside as soon as the Romans have better money to make. These people gave the Empire everything it wanted, but the Empire is never satisfied.

We also get to appreciate how far west the empire went when the Spaniards are trying to sell their horses. (Plot-bunny: Andies are dancing horses, exceptionally athletic, and a prime choice for chariots, though, a standardbred is the usual choice for modern cart racers)

🟠 I will say the CGI isnt the best. You can tell exactly when they change from live action to CGI. But this is a minor issue for me tbh. Its passable CGI, and they use it to avoid putting animals or people in danger which, obviously, I appreciate. A chariot wreck was shown, annnnnd it was pretty darn accurate to how messy those would have been. Not good times y’all. Not good times. Also, the ramifications of a major concussion. Oof. At least the guy would have barely knew what was happening? Still.

🔵 The sound effects were enough without being over the top. Often times when theres gore to show, theres all these extra squelching noises and gratuitous blood… not this time. It’s actually… pretty durn accurate. Don’t ask how I know. I don’t wana tell you, and you dont wana know.

Overall, it was a really solid first episode, and I plan on watching the rest.

[isfjmel-phleg]

@fictionadventurer asked:

It has occurred to me to be upset that we never got a line of Psmith short stories in the vein of Bertie Wooster or Uncle Fred. Psmith would be a perfect character to get tangled in all kinds of short silly scrapes. So maybe a discussion of what Psmith short stories would be? Or a comparison between Psmith and some of the characters that did get short stories.

I talked about this to some extent in my thesis! Wodehouse's long-running series can function the way that they do because they concentrate on comical plots that rely on the characters to have certain fixed traits, so that the stories can continue indefinitely, not unlike a sitcom. We don't read Jeeves or Blandings for character development; we read those series for amusement. And while Psmith has more in common with the better-known Wodehouse characters than he does the cast of the school stories, his series is not established in a particular status quo. Psmith's circumstances change a lot. Psmith himself changes--subtly, but he does experience character development. The format doesn't immediately lend itself to the typical Wodehouse short story, because Psmith, whether he likes it or not, is in a coming-of-age story.

But if there were Psmith short stories, I think they would have to be set either during his time at Cambridge, or in his uncle's fish business or after his marriage. Both would provide a stable setting and the potentiality for lots of minor characters who would bring out the plot (classmates, customers, clients once Psmith becomes a barrister, even Mike and/or Phyllis sometimes). They would likely involve Psmith having to get someone out of some scrape, usually if there's some pompous Downing or Bickersdyke type as antagonist. Or maybe he runs his "Leave it to Psmith" ad again. Stories set after his marriage would have the benefit of Eve as Psmith's equally competent partner; I know that it's more common in Wodehouse works for a wife to be an antagonist/an obstacle to get around, but I think these stories would be more fun with her working in conjunction with Psmith (clever, witty husband and wife team for the win!) and letting the conflict come from the problem needing to be solved. And there would have to still be some character development, slow and subtle, amid the plot of the week, because without it Psmith is rather one-note.

It's what distinguishes him from Uncle Fred. Uncle Fred is there to instigate and enable chaos before retreating back to the custody of his formidable wife. He's hilarious and clever and makes the plots happen, but the stories are not so interested in what's going on with him personally, internally. He's much older than Psmith, despite his youthful behavior, and thus is not in a position of life in which personal growth is supposed to be inherent. He's had decades to become what he is, and he arrives fully formed and complete. Nothing wrong with that--he just serves a completely different narrative purpose.

And Psmith would be much the same if we only ever saw him during the shoenanigans or the umbrella incident or the haunting of Bickersdyke in which he's a smooth-talking, flippant puppet-master in control of every situation thanks to his wits and money. But he doesn't exist in a narrative of isolated comedic incident; he's in novels in which we get to see him in a variety of situations and states of mind, which requires him to be a more fleshed-out character.

[marimayscarlett]

Priest RZK? Priest RZK. That's some gourmet shit right there. Discuss.

Hi 👀

Ah yes. The age old brainrot of Priest RZK which is still going strong, caused by the infamous music video which also brought us, apart from a very fabulous Richard, a suave Monk-Olli and yet another Schneider with a puppy-moment, which still causes people to lose it every other day:

Now, to examine this fascination with Priest RZK properly, it's somewhat important to look at some general and at some more specific points regarding the attraction to priests and men of the church:

First and foremost, they're meant to be celibate (at least in the catholic church, which is my point of view here). They're actually unattainable and off limits as a romantic and/or sexual partner since they vowed loyalty and love to the church and are definitely not meant to stray from this path in any way. Which kind of, if we use theological terms here, makes them some kind of 'forbidden fruit' so to speak.

-> If a priest, who vowed to be celibate, desires someone, it can become a test of his vocation, which can have life-altering consequences, emotional turmoil, unrequired longing and love and maybe ultimately even a secret affair - a whole lot of potential drama, which can be quite a thrill for some people.

They are (or should be in the best case) there for people in need. Listening to concerns, giving out advice, keeping secrets to themselves and overall representing some form of (fatherly) confidant and advisor, most of the time in one-on-one conversations - roles which can become quite loaded with emotion and emotional intimacy, so to speak.

-> Priests can be (for some religious women, like here) an embodiment for care and security, like a safe dream vision to project inner longings on without running the risk of being disappointed (since acting on these feelings is out of question).

In the linked articled above, a survey among catholic women gathered the following typical traits for a priest in women's eyes: 'different to other men’, he ‘pays attention to me’, ‘listens to me’, is ‘sensitive’ and ‘intelligent’; thus oftentimes traits these women miss in their own lives/relationships. Attraction to priests can point in the direction of "a search for both alternative models of masculinity and alternative experiences of male authority" (especially for women who suffered under these social structures, but not only) - a man which moves outside of the common norms and male behaviour patterns.

Regarding Richard, I can imagine that the following thoughts might come into play when it comes to the insane attraction of the concept of him as a priest:

Richard in priest robes looks so good, so modest and serious, and so wrong. Since we kind of know he's not the most steady person regarding relationships and definitely does not live anywhere near the realms of celibacy, this contrast between his way of life and that of a priest can be quite alluring and in my mind creates the picture of a somehow corrupt and opportunistic priest, which absolutely does not help. (Not thinking about him piously celebrating mass and then making you drop to your knees in the confessional 5 minutes later, nope)

Richard is a great listener and very interesting and interested conversation partner, so he would make a great priest regarding giving out advice and listening to problems and sorrows. To confide in him in a private setting, only for the situation to turn out like this is a brainrot which accompanies me for quite some time now 👍🏼

The terminology of adressing him. Quoting 'Fleabag' here:

This (or to be the reason the poor priest has to turn to drastic measures to keep his desires in check, what a dream):

Conclusion: Every day, we stray further away from God on here and do so in lightning speed 👌🏼

[kpoptarotastrology009]

can you do a solar return chart for aespa this year? What’s coming for them please? They debuted at 6pm on November 17, 2020

Aespa's 2024 solar return chart

( i only will focus on the main things in the solar return )

1- Sun in the 7th house conjunct the DSC :

With the Scorpio Sun right on the DC in the 7th house for the solar return chart, aespa will likely experience a year where their public image and relationships are under intense scrutiny. They might form or break significant partnerships, undergo transformative changes in their lineup, or experience deep emotional bonding with each other and their fans.

Fan Relationships: The bond with their fans could become more profound and intense, potentially involving more personal and emotional content in their work.

Group Dynamics: Within the group, there might be power dynamics at play. Some members could emerge as more dominant or influential, leading to potential conflicts or transformative experiences.

Public Perception: The public and media might see them as more mysterious, intense, or powerful this year. This could attract a lot of attention, both positive and negative.

2 - moon conjunct Jupiter in Gemini in the 1st house and square Saturn in Pisces and opposite mercury in Sagittarius :

This year, aespa's astrological forecast is quite the adventure! With the Moon and Jupiter joining forces in Gemini, cozying up in the 1st house, get ready for a whirlwind of emotions and ideas. This combo suggests that the group's public image will be full of lively, enthusiastic energy, with a strong emphasis on emotional expression and intellectual curiosity. They're likely to come across as witty, sociable, and eager to learn and share new things . However, this energetic vibe might face some challenges, especially with Saturn in Pisces throwing some cosmic shade with a square aspect. This could indicate moments of feeling restricted or held back, perhaps by emotional responsibilities or self-doubt. The key here is to find a balance between their enthusiastic communication style and the need for discipline and realistic expectations . Adding to the cosmic mix is the opposition between the Moon-Jupiter duo and Mercury in Sagittarius. This aspect suggests a dynamic tension between detailed, immediate concerns (Gemini) and broader, more philosophical ideas (Sagittarius). The group might find themselves juggling different viewpoints or struggling to integrate diverse information. It's a call to find harmony between the nitty-gritty and the big picture in their creative endeavors and interactions.

3 - mars being in Leo conjunct the IC and opposite Pluto in the 9tth house that conjunct MC :

This year, aespa is in for a cosmic adventure! With Mars in Leo, they're feeling bold and passionate, especially about their roots and personal lives. They're likely to be bursting with creative energy, eager to make their mark in their private spheres. but Mars is also in opposition to Pluto in the 9th house, which is conjunct the MC. This could bring some intense power struggles, particularly concerning their career and public image. They might face significant transformations and challenges , but it's all about how they handle these cosmic energies ( we actually saw a little bit of that in the MHJ and Hybe problem and the hate that came to aespa for no reason just because hybe takes them as a threat but the best thing that they over come it and take it to their advantage )

4 - Part of Fortune conjunct with Mercury:

This year is like hitting the jackpot for aespa! With the Part of Fortune aligning with Mercury, it's as if the universe is handing them a golden microphone. Their communication skills are set to sparkle with luck and harmony, creating a magical effect on everyone around them. This cosmic combo not only boosts their ability to express themselves creatively but also opens doors to new learning opportunities and intellectual pursuits. They might find themselves effortlessly picking up new skills or diving into exciting projects that stimulate their minds. Overall, this alignment brings a wave of positivity to their interactions and endeavors. They'll be chatting and singing their way into people's hearts, building harmonious relationships with fans and collaborators alike. It's a year where their words are not just heard but celebrated, paving the way for creative success and fulfilling experiences.

5- Uranus exactly conjunct the Ascendant in Taurus :

this is in for some electrifying changes with Uranus exactly conjunct the Ascendant in Taurus! This cosmic combo brings a fresh, unpredictable energy to their public image. Expect them to embrace a bold new style that sets them apart, mixing Taurus's stability with Uranus's flair for the unexpected. They'll be experimenting with new ways of expressing themselves, both musically and visually, keeping their fans on their toes. This aspect encourages them to take risks, break away from traditional expectations, and fully embrace their individuality. Their public presence will be dynamic and ever-changing, making this year an exciting journey of transformation and innovation for both the group and their fans .

[kideternity]

Digimon adventure 02 review time! Similarly to the adventure review, this one will be written in a less concise way / more of a ramble of bullet points- August was a very hard month for me TDLR, so this led to another weird watching experience. But as a whole, I really loved this season, and It helped me through the month.

Full thoughts under the cut;

-Similarly to the original adventure, 02 has a very charming art style, arguably even more so charming for me personally then the original. The animation stays roughly the same- the same style of reusing various shots and scenes from previous episodes- but I did notice here and there some areas of somewhat higher quality. The new Digimon designs of the season I was worried I was going to hate, but I ended up liking all of them a lot more then I expected, and I enjoyed the beastly or slightly strange nature of a lot of them.

-Music was the same as adventure for the most part that I noticed, though I personally prefer the main theme songs for 02 over Adventure. I like the upbeat and dance nature of them

-Compared to the rest of the seasons, 02 had the least amount of focus when it came to the children’s families and parents. Outside of Iori and Ken, we never properly meet the parents of Miyako or Daisuke, and rarely see them, and Daisuke's sister exists purely for comedic relief then as a substantial character. Iori and Ken explore new dynamics however, that being the experience of being a child who grows up with a dead parent (and one whose death affects the overall narrative) and that of being a child who grows up in a dysfunctional or potentially neglectful home- we see characters like Jyou and Sora who have problems with their parents, but those are swiftly resolved in an episode or two. Ken's dynamic with his parents is more complicated, and we see throughout the series the repairing of their relationship comes more gradually. I didn’t really end up finding that the lack of any sort of major familial aspect a failing of the show, and I found both Iori's and Ken's relationship with their families engaging, particularly Iori's perception of his father in the last few episodes

-I love the worldbuilding and I'll always love the global aspect. I definitely wish the world tour arc, and generally the existence of the worldwide chosen children was explored more thoroughly- In general, I wish the chosen children as a lore concept was explored more in depth, since 02 makes various changes to it (some that contradict each other), and takes instead the approach of “anyone can be a chosen child if they truly desire to be so” which I much greatly prefer then the way adventure presented it as a “Following Your Destiny” storyline. 02 follows in the footsteps of Adventure's world, and expands on it in a way that I really enjoyed- I loved seeing the existence of proper towns and societies in Digimon, the armour evolutions and Jogress, the existence of Qinglongmon and the holy beasts, even the fact that different worlds even existed such as Dagomon's ocean.

-As a whole, I would consider 02 EXTREMELY ambitious- from worldbuilding, to characters, to themes and plot. It had a LOT it wanted to do- many various different goals it had set for itself to accomplish- which leads to a watching experience where for the most part, they achieved, but still inevitably along the way ended up getting burned and not being able to properly answer all of the questions it asked of itself. It gets messy, and contradictory, and some arcs will probably never get a genuine conclusion to them. But personally, I think I do prefer for a series to try and do as much as it possibly can, even if it may get overwhelming and they fall short of what they wanted, over a series that plays it safe.

-Pacing was a mixed bag- I find that 02 had a hard time starting arcs, and ending arcs (Most notably the first BWG arc) as well as a problem of certain arcs ending up being just a bit too long or way too short (Again, BWG, the world tour). Tone was also somewhat of a issue, as there was a tendency for out of nowhere comedy and filler episodes to be written in usually in the middle of or just after otherwise serious storylines, which can get frustrating. The same applies for weird, out of nowhere joke scenes being added to episodes that very much did not need them. I really, REALLY liked the main themes for 02 though- there’s a large emphasis on redemption, change, connection, violence/morality and mortality, and I would honestly argue that 02 tackles the theme of violence and power way better then Tamers ever did! There’s genuine care and discussion given to exploring the nature of violence and what violence can do, as well as having the kids ACTUALLY give a shit about killing Digimon, and ACTUALLY explore their feelings about having to ultimately kill Digimon for the sake of protecting others. It’s great. I absolutely love it. And I feel like not enough people give 02 it’s flowers for it.

-The same writing problems that plagued the original season still persist, such as the sloppy and inconsistent writing, but as a whole I definitely think overall plot and character writing improved. 02 tries much harder to actually tie its story arcs together, and to give the impression that it is an actual cohesive narrative. And I just- GOD, I love the characters of 02 SO much. I love Daisuke, I love Ken, I love Miyako, I love Iori. It’s nice too, seeing older versions of the characters, who aren’t overbearing on the other characters or treated as innately more special (ignoring that one scene with Takeru and Hikari that thankfully goes nowhere). I also generally liked Takeru better this season, and seeing his complex feelings about the power of darkness, and I wish it got properly resolved. Hikari was nice too I guess. But returning to the main group, all of them are such engaging characters, and generally 02 cared a lot more to give all of its characters more equal development instead of focusing on one over the other or suddenly cutting arcs off short- Miyako's and especially Daisuke’s development near the end of the season takes a backseat in favour of Ken and Iori, but it never felt the two were somehow now suddenly More Important. The only big complaint I have, is that the writers felt particularly mean sometimes to the kids, for seemingly no reason whatsoever. Not enough to ruin the series, but definitely noticeable. #Justice for Daisuke

-Continuing off the characters bullet point, 02 also prioritised very heavily the interpersonal relationships for everyone. To me, 02 definitely has the best writing of the friendship between cast members- we get to see each character's unique dynamics with one another, explore their thoughts and emotions about each other. The original adventure has a major habit of either writing about the characters individually, or sorely as a group, and even Savers and Tamers didn’t bother trying to explore the intricacies of certain potential relationships/prioritised certain relationships over others. Adventure 02 really did care to represent its core theme of connection with others, and it did it well.

-02 thankfully forwent any overt horny jokes, at least with the kids, but it did have a higher emphasis on romance. It was still mostly a backseat thing, and isn’t really relevant or necessary by the end of the series. Daisuke's crush on Hikari definitely got grating at times, but I forgive it more then other times when seasons try to talk about romance, since at least they tried to explore Daisuke's character through his crush.

-Compared to the original season, 02 put a LOT of stock into having much more complex antagonists, and focused heavily on redemption as a theme, from Ken to BlackWarGreymon to even Oikawa in the finale. I personally liked how they handled the redemption aspect- a lot of people really harp on the idea “it was possession all along” being a big part of how they redeem the characters, at least in Ken's case, but IMO, the dark spore + Oikawa's involvement existed not as a get out of jail free card, but instead as a metaphor for grooming- Ken's story and Oikawa's behaviour reminded me a lot of the stories of groomed children and their groomers, and I think it does a disservice to act as though the writers were simply being lazy in this regard, especially since the grooming metaphor becomes even more apparent during the dark spore arc. Also, I hate Mummymon, I liked Archemon and thought she deserved better, and I hope I never see Vamdemon ever again in my life.

Im sure, again, as always, Im missing stuff or have forgotten stuff I wanted to say, but I think this covers my main thoughts and pondering I had. The idea of Adventure 02 being seen as a “bad season” is CRIMINAL to me- I think it is legitimately a fun, interesting, even arguably well made show, better then the original, and I wish more people appreciated that! It was a blast to watch, and I'm really glad I was able to go through it

[bers1990]

Which of these fanfic ideas has the most potential to be good?

To make a long story short; I have long believed that the MCs of “Danny Phantom”, “American Dragon: Jake Long” and “The Life and Times of Juniper Lee” seemed like something of a trifecta of sorts of supernatural/paranormal animated adventure shows. This is why I have often put some thought into making fanfiction for the three shows and that has culminated into the conception of three story ideas, all of which I like to have some feedback on, in terms of which one has the most potential to be good. Keep in mind, though, that two of these ideas I have already gotten started on to a certain degree, one of which has been on hiatus for quite some time, while the other has taken a great deal of priority in my book, and the only remaining idea is still just that; an idea. Still I would like to hear some feedback on these ideas

1. Generation Ghost - Inspired by a fanart picture that I once saw (whose creator I contacted and informed about this), this was intended to be a sequel series for ‘Danny Phantom’, set many years into the future and focused on the adventures of Danny and Sam’s three children, who have all begun to play hero themselves, in an attempt to follow in their parent’s footsteps. An especially significant development that has led them to learning about how to work as a team and how to use their inherited ghost abilities to fight the good fight (or how to do so without any, in one of the siblings case). All while they encounter a great deal of friends and foes in both the human world and the Ghost Zone, both old and new, and try to make it through the difficulties of being in grade school.

2. American Dragon: Way of the Fire-Breathers - A sequel series for “American Dragon: Jake Long” that follows Jake Long and his family and friends as they all deal with quite a few new challenges and adventures as they all come their way. Such as the experiences of High School, the addition of 2 new dragon characters in the mix and the rise of a whole new threat to both the human and the magical worlds. All while the ancient and long-forgotten history of the dragon race is being made to gradually but surely come into the light.

3. A spinoff series for “The Life and Times of Juniper Lee” - Now, I haven’t exactly worked out all the details for this one, but, the basic idea is that 5 characters from the original series; Taylor Evermore from the “Who’s Your Daddy” episode (this guy👇)

; Juniper Lee’s School rival, Melissa O’Malley (her👇)

; the older sister of one of June’s friends, Rachel Irwin (her👇)

Ashley the 4th/5th degree witch from the “Take My Life, Please” episode (her👇)

And Ray-Ray Lee

; are all brought together to form a team of magical guardians that will deal with the Magic-related problems occurring far far away from Orchid Bay, the problems that occasionally slip underneath the radar of the Te Xuan Ze their inner circles. I do have at least 5 different plot lines for this idea firmly decided upon; 1.) Taylor will be the group leader 2.) Taylor and Melissa will ultimately form a romantic relationship 3.) Both Melissa and Rachel will realize just how bad that they have been and how rotten that have treated others, thus resulting in them both becoming more kind and caring people 4.) Ashley and Ray-Ray will have a very strong little brother/big sister relationship, and 5.) Ray-Ray discovering new things about himself which will result in him developing some new powers and abilities.

What do you think?

[diaphin93]

Thank you for pointing out the Dimidue vs Dimilix thing. I get loving angst and why people ship the latter. But what really grinds my gears is the fact that Dimidue has less fanfiction than Dimiclaude. Dimitri and Claude barely even interact together in game. They interact more in Hopes. Meanwhile Dedue and Dimitri are practically inseparable. Their paired ending has Dedue being the royal consort. I can't help but wonder if it's because Claude is lighter skinned and more "conventionally" attractive.

The Edelcrit crowd keeps trying to pain her as racist, but it's hard not to say the pot's calling the kettle when you look at how often they forget about Dedue when discussing Black Eagles vs Blue Lions.

Honestly? I think Dimidue has alot more high quality angst potential than Dimilix in my opinion. It makes me think of the impression a friend of mine had when first playing Azure Moon. During her first playthrough, she speculated that Dedues attitude was some act and it would be revealed that he wanted to get close to Dimitri to get revenge for his people, because he seemed to be just too calm and subservient for what was done to his people by Faerghus, while also keeping a distance from Dimitri during their supports. And I totally get this, I personally also would have initially assumed that Dedue hides more anger than he shows, because why set up the dynamic of him being a survivor of genocide by Dimitris people, if not for some pay off, especially considering Azure Moons themes of revenge and being haunted by the dead? Alas, it didn't came to be because the game instead has Dimitri just play Faerghus police by squashing the Duscur Rebellion without another genocide, instead of turning against the nobles who commit it to begin with, and Dedue is effectively written out of the story in Part 2, due to being an optional re-recruit you can easily miss and so that Dimitri can have his loner boar arc.

Also I'm not really saying that I want Dedue to ultimately turn against Dimitri and become his enemy, but some messy complicated feelings and resentment would have added much needed depth to both the plot and Dedues character. Usually you would expect it to be like Dedue claiming to actually hate Dimitri for what Faerghus people did to his, while having conflicting feelings because over the years he grew to genuinly love and care for him, while it would have been a good growing experience for Dimitri, becoming much more aware of the pain and resentment others feel, similar to his own hatred against Edelgard, and how he as the King ultimately shares his own responsibility for Faerghus bloody history. Sadly the game never challenged Dimitri to this extent and makes his entire character development purely centered around Byleth and Rodrigue, but I think the set up has alot of potential for some introspection and alot of Angst when shipping those two.

But alas it shows the Fandoms strong racial bias against men of color, especially those who present as very masc. Instead they go for your typical two light-skinned Bishonen options for the most part. When it comes to Dimitri and Claude, I have my own problems with the ship. It is for all intends and purposes basically just Dimigard in Yaoi, the ship centers usually purely Dimitris values and validates his feelings and perspective over Claudes, enforcing this very white savior-esque perspective on themes of racism. I would say Hopes even made this much more clear, considering how their interactions are fairly awkward and Claude practically promises Dimitri to turn on him when it comes to taking out the church, something strongly hinted at in AG's ending. Alas, I also think they lack alot of chemistry and I have a problem with how Claude inside Blue Lions routes is always marginalized and turned into either a sidekick or PoC in Distress for Dimitri to act as a white savior towards, with little agency and respect for his own perspectives and ambitions. It is different in the case of Edelgard and Claude, where superficially people claim that he just follows everything Edelgard says, ignoring the larger context of him acting the entire time to push forward his own ambitions and that there differences are much more nuanced, them agreeing in their opposition against the Church and Crests but otherwise having distinct goals.

But back to the topic, I would say, yes, Claude being a more conventionally attractive in anime terms, which means bishonen, and lighter skinned PoC plays strongly into it. Claude being smaller and presented as physically weaker than Dimitri also usually pushes him into the position of the Bottom or Uke in that ship, which is another problem in the way PoC's are often represented, namely that Brown Men are usually only validated when they can be contextualized as emasculated and the more effeminate part of a ship compared to the stronger and more dominent white partner. We see this Dynamic play out in one of the most notorious Edelcrit ships, which also features DimiClaude. It generally reveals a strong racist element inside Fandom by erasing Claudes culturally middle eastern inspired heritage by recontextualizing Almyra as Japanese, a culture that white supremacy often contextualizes as the Model Minority, and presents him as the submissive to Dimitris dominant, while also being used to elavate Dimitris status as a white savior to further glorify him. I think this happening in one of the most popular FE3H Fanfics, that goes into alot of religious apologetics as well and involves strong misogynistic themes both surrounding Byleth and Edelgard, reveals a strong anti-MENAT (an extended acronym to also include turkey) bias inside the community.

As I said, FE3H is a true microcosm of fandom and its typical biases, bigotries and problems, which is thanks to its diverse cast. The top list of AO3 ships also showed so much, it was predominantly white and light-skinned asians and alot of Harry Potter.

[lilac-hecox]

That anon that’s convinced you have something against Chanse and Angela doesn’t seem to understand that having a duo in everything is not comparable to having one cast member in everything. Yes, Shayne kind of saturates a lot of Smosh content, but he’s just one guy. It would be nice if he were rotated out more to give other members a chance to appear but Chanse and Angela take up two whole spots in a video rather than one (keep in mind, most videos feature like, 4-5 people). This applies to other singular people who show up a lot in videos too like Courtney or Amanda. They won’t feel like they’re dominating the videos if enough of the rest of the cast is in there with them.

Additionally, Shayne is a poor choice of example bc his style of comedy is not nearly as boisterous as Chanse and Angela’s. I think part of the reason he present so much in videos is bc he has such a laid back and versatile personality. He can be loud and silly and strange when the time calls for it but ultimately he’s very chill and can adapt to who else is in a video with him. Chanse and Angela are much bigger personalities. For clarification, this isn’t a criticism, just a fact. They kind of set the tone of the humor for a video when they’re in it together because their dynamic is so tight and they are able to heighten each other’s energy. They are both much more intense than a cast member like Shayne.

Now here is where the criticism comes in. It’s not with Chanse and Angela but rather with the cast rotation. Having two whole people dominate the current cast rotation with their high energy humor can get a little tiring. It starts to get tired a lot faster. I could just be extrapolating my own experience here, but that’s my theory. I love Chanse and Angela but I’m not always in the mood for their style of humor. I wouldn’t even mind them being in the cast rotation but being in separate videos more often just to change up the dynamic and bit. Which before anyone says anything, that sentiment applies to other duos as well. I love Ian and Anthony together but I like when they are in the occasional video without each other because then there is more room for the dynamic to be dynamic. The same goes for Amanda and Angela. The same goes for Shayne and Courtney. The problem here is not that anyone is hating on Chanse or Angela, the problem is that Smosh has had a longtime cast rotation issue that ebbs and flows unpredictably for viewers. I makes it so that your fave may not show up again for weeks and weeks on end which discourages viewership. If you don’t care for a cast member (or two) as much, or you’re just tired of seeing them all the time, it also damages viewership. It’s definitely been a problem with their content and I’m not sure why they don’t really seem to do anything about it but whatever. It’s not my company. Anyway, sorry this is long. It just immediately came to me when I saw that anon reply.

I appreciate your take on this because I do agree with you in the sense that even if Shayne is in a lot of videos he doesn't necessarily always have the focus of the video on himself. Like, if he's hosting he's more a sidenote than the main event.

Smosh does have a tone-deaf kind of rotation issue and with how they film you're right in the sense that suddenly it can be months before you see anyone else except those dynamics chosen for that particular shoot block. Though I think a few things have been shot and come out a little quicker lately so it has the potential to offer different dynamics.

I just wanna re-state yet again in this ask I don't hate Chanse or Angela by any means. I just don't want them or even Angela in almost every video the whole week.