#and this definitely qualifies as something i'm not skilled at

[ttrpg-smash-pass-vs]

You know what I'll bring this up early, since people think this is Gogiteth!...look I do try to cover up viscera, wanting to debate lichs vs minotaurs doesn't necessarily mean you're wanting to see gore. ANYWAY. The Gogiteth is a drooling nightmare of chitinous limbs, and despite being as strong as some adult dragons these things swarm in hives of up to 24. People run in terror from thier popping limbs and discordant singing, and aren't sure if this is an escaped drow fleshwarp experiment or something from the eldritch alien terrors currently invading. Truces are made even mid-battle if these things show up. Thier skills include "carrying off screaming prey," "constricting prey" and "instantly skittering closer if something runs out of reach, even if it's not thier turn. Some of you might think I'm not hyping this thing up or I'm being negative. However, I feel like if this is your type everything I said IS a perk.

[andsewingishalfthebattle]

I would like to send a huge THANK YOU to everyone who has messaged me privately or replied to my tag rant to explain what the pattern abbreviations mean. Your responses have been far more enthusiastic and about ten thousand times more helpful than the usual replies I get when asking for knitting help, which have generally been either, "You can watch me do it, but I don't know how to teach it," or, "How are you even knitting like that? You're holding your needles wrong" (from people holding needles in various ways that instantly make my hands cramp). I really do appreciate the help, and patterns are much less intimidating now!

However, I apparently need ultra-remedial knitting lessons before I'm allowed to use patterns, because a lot of the explanations use terms that I still can't define -- at least, in the context of knitting (you can apparently slip stitches in knitting! but this is entirely unrelated to slip stitching! A knowledge of sewing is in no way an advantage here! 😅).

I can make rectangles like a boss. I have racked up close to a hundred feet of garter-stitched* scarves since I started knitting, but it's not false modesty when I say I know how to do literally nothing else. So I guess my next step is hunting up some baby-level knitting tutorials to find out exactly what I should have learned before actually attempting to make things.

For those of you who invited me to hit you up when I have questions (additional thanks x10), I will do so once I know the right terms to use!

*someone once told me that's what the alternating rows on my scarves were called. I'm assuming they're right, but I no longer trust anything I thought I knew about knitting because until today I didn't know you were allowed to move loops back and forth between needles without doing anything to them, and apparently that's like a really basic thing you're supposed to know before you start knitting???

Novice sewing pattern: Cut out shapes. Line up the little triangles on the edges. Stitch edges together. We've also included step-by-step assembly instructions with illustrations.

Novice knitting pattern: yOU MUSt uNDerstANd thE SECret cOdE CO67 (73, 87, 93) BO44 (63, 76, 90) 28 (32, 34) slip first pw repeat 7x K to end *kl (pl) 42 * until 13" (13, 13, 15) join new at 30 pl for 17 rows ssk 27 k2tog mattress lengthwise BO and sacrifice a goat to the knitting gods. WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU WANT "INSTRUCTIONS," I JUST GAVE THEM TO YOU

[cipheramnesia]

Every day I get to witness different parts of the trans community arguing with each other on here and as a person who is like medium skilled at debating it is making me foam at the mouth because it's already dumb as hell to bicker internally when we oughta actually be expanding our horizons in terms of how we see sex and gender with all the complex possibilities of trans bodies outside the gender binary and intersex bodies outside the sex binary, like as if it's not enough all those fairly important people both or either in our community or who oughta be supported by our community getting like no support. Like that's not enough you know what is too much?

No one ever debates the actual position of anyone else. I can't deal with so much discourse where the vast majority of it exists like trains passing by in opposite directions. Great points made all around, completely not what the quoted thing or other person was saying though. Having a breakdown over it because I'm helpless on the sidelines, since if everyone is going that far off the mark, what am I gonna do step in like "friends, you are not talking about the same thing here is what's happening" but by all evidence available that's just gonna embroil me in the same situation of misinterpretation. So I'm just useless here. I could rip my whole face off with how much this happens.

Like whoa, heyyy looks like you have different definitions of the same term, you should probably qualify what that means to you, because otherwise no one even knows what they're talking about. Hold up there partner, you slid off into generalizing about a whole marginalized group just cuz one person showed a social prejudice that's widespread through all of society, narrow that focus back down to the specific case of a general social issue. Like 90% of people running across discourse shit have no context for the terminology used by small in-groups and it is very different from place to place. Yeah sorry it sucks you can't shorthand something every time, you have no idea how much work I do in my day job spelling out definitions of terms even if it's for someone who oughta know. Because in my experience - a lot of them don't. Or have a totally different vocabulary. Or aren't native English speakers so it has to make sense when it goes through translation software to Chinese. It's too much work! You gotta do it anyway though.

[3liza]

everyone arguing with material analysis/assertion about how art is a "luxury" has rarely if ever spent rent or food money on art, if they even pay rent or buy their own food, and if they did that would be considered extremely dysfunctional, and thats what i/we mean. artists are not providing a necessary service.

our plane crashes in the Andes and you are not particularly excited about my "can draw that Playboy centerfold of Marge Simpson from memory" like that is not an essential survival skill. lots of extremely skilled workers work in luxury artisan and craft jobs, it's not an insult to say even a very famous and very talented and influential artist is not producing a commodity necessary for the furtherance of human life. none of us are doing that, no matter how we stretch and strain the definitions of "essential" or even things like "morale" or "group identity". i will burn my copy of Finnegan's Wake to stay warm and thats what it comes down to.

i get foamy crazy snarling and biting about the idolization and obfuscation of what artists actually do because it is a labor issue! the public conception of artists as people possessed of a divine talent they dont consciously work to develop like any other skill, and the public idea that we are simply pleased and privileged to make art all day and "not work", something people say to my face every time i get asked "what i do", is largely responsible for the absolute dogshit reality of how subsistence and working class artists have to survive. we usually dont have health insurance unless we're so poor we qualify for medicaid AND live in a state that will enroll us. most of us are too disabled or crazy to go to a real job every day. most of us have tried, over and over, to enter the normal workforce, and have failed, and been forced to develop alternate skills that allow us to make rent in the ten hours per month we're actually functional. many of the artists i know work from bed because standing up is dicey. this has been turned into a charming eccentricity of famous artists and writers instead of people wondering why a person would need to stay in bed all day and take the enormous bother of bringing their stupid pens and paper and writing board or typewriter or whatever to their bed instead of just getting up and getting dressed and going to work. ive done this, i spilled ink in my sheets. its a huge hassle.

and artists play along with this mystique because people dont want to buy paintings from sadlords! they want to buy paintings and books and marge simpson nudes from cool guys who get a lot of chicks and wear rockstar outfits and party a lot, because of the transitive properties! of course!!! this is basic marketing!!!!! and if the artist doesnt play along they turn into Sad Story Artist where they're doing emergency commissions and posting about how sick they are all the time. this is not cool or fun or sexy. it's a sand trap and its very hard to recover from. im struggling with this right now!

famous and successful artists and writers are constantly ending up 60-90 years old with cancer and multiple sclerosis and dementia, being the subject of some sort of public, last-ditch, humiliating GoFundMe because painting paperback covers fr 60 years means you dont get a pension, you often dont even have kids who can take care of you, you dont have life insurance, you dont have health insurance. 'died penniless and alone' is one of the stereotypical artist endings for a reason, that is not fiction. this happened to more artists than i can list on two hands. look up what happened to Peter S. beagle, the guy who wrote The Last Unicorn. you write a book like that you should be set for life, right? NO. thats not how it works

i'm not saying 'all artists are disabled and working class or poor' because that isnt true, observably. nepo babies and trust fund artists exist, obviously. but they take an outsized portion of the spotlight when the public thinks of the concept of "artist". they are not actually the norm. the average artist is probably making under 40k and living in extremely precarious circumstances and has had periods of homelessness, illness, extreme debt and/or bankruptcy.

this is true even for the 'successful' artists. having one or two or ten good projects and being a household name does not save you from just not having the safety net provided by a normal career path. i was very close with a major, famous 2000s network television creator and team that you have heard of. they won awards, they changed culture entirely, they were a big deal. one of them was turned down for a half dozen projects by the same network that made millions or bilions on their franchise over several years (each pitch is completely unpaid btw, imagine carefully preparing a PowerPoint for morons for months at a time for no reimbursement and thent he morons ask you if you can put a teenage witch looking for her lost cat in the alps in it and you're like, haha, well, it's a 4 part hard sci fi miniseries set on Europa and takes place entirely inside a pressurized lander settlement, i mean Ridley Scot said he was interested already and he pitched a bottle episode about a carbon monoxide poisoning, soooooo....and the executives look at each other and they're like "it's jst not really what we're looking for right now, thanks for coming in" and you go to coffee bean and tea leaf and kill yourself and thats sort of what its like. i made that example up it didn't actually happen i'm using an illustrative example), worked on a canceled film, and just. gradually ran out of money. thats what happens. that guy ended up slowly selling off all his belongings, getting roommates in a one bedroom apartment, and then eventually having to just live on a friend's couch for years. famous guy. you probably know his name. another major member of that same team ended up in GoFundMe/commission hell for years (might still be there) because they had to take care of their two dying, dementia patient parents by themselves. these are people who go to GenCon and sign autographs for four hours at a time. THE PUBLIC IS NOT AWARE OF THIS SHIT and i'm sick of it. im sick of going to a gallery opening night ("vernissage") and drinking bad wine and having a guy with an email job that pays six figures and benefits tell me being able to push "undo" on the computer is cheating. that's a real example, that has actually happened to me. more than once.

artists currently have zero labor protections whatsoever. all of us are undercutting each other in an unregulated market and relying on welfare and private insurance and not having families or buying houses. zero security until we get so old all our illnesses and dysfunction finally ground us permanently and then we get turned into a charity case by fans (humiliating) or just fade away into ghosts and die

whats my punchline? idk i dont have one. it's possible and likely that any given artist you meet is permanently in precarity and will be until they die, even the famous ones. the culture of selling art demands that artists do not admit to this in public unless shit gets really really bad. i guess my point is you should know this, as a person who looks at or listens to or reads things that people have made for your amusement, not for your survival

[shivayagojo]

CHINA GP, overrated?

masterlist

PORSCHE'S DEBUT had gone stunningly: a double points finish and a win in Australia. They were proud and comfortable to be leading the constructor's championship coming out of Australia. Better, they were beating Audi by miles. Their beef with the German manufacturer was still soft-launching. Neither side were willing to full out reveal their hatred for the other brand - after all, they were both owned by the same group - but something in Stuggart was telling them the time was approaching.

youtube.com

MONACO IS OVERRATED?? | FLORETTEL EPISODE ONE

Admin: Today, we're playing a game of This or That. I'm going to tell you two options and you're going to pick one side or the other. Ready?

RACE TRACKS or STREET CIRCUITS

Ava: Race tracks. Not a competition.

Seb: Street circuits are fun, but I'll have to go with race tracks.

MONACO or BRAZIL

Seb: Oh.. {intense nerdy Vettel thinking kicks in}. They're both iconic tracks. I'll go with Monaco. It's a tough race and a real testament to your skill.

Ava: ... I'm already going to get a lot of hate for this. I don't like Monaco all that well.

Seb: What?

Ava: Saturdays are amazing, but Sunday is a snooze-fest. Maybe you're different cause you raced in a different era, but no. You can't overtake anyone. It's so boring.

Seb: Still, it's that bad?

Ava: Compared to Sao Paolo, yes.

CHICANE or HAIR PIN

Seb: Chicane

Ava: Definitely Chicane. You can't go wrong with it. So many different overtakes can happen... or crashes if you're Max and Lewis.

Seb: Actually, I thought during Australia, when I was behind them, they were going to take each other out and I can pass on by.

Ava: Brocedes 2.0.

f1

Gabriel Bortoleto has suffered a wrist injury during Free Practice 3 on Sunday. He is ruled out for the Chinese Grand Prix. Felipe Drugovich is set to be his replacement.

see comments below

audif1team: Wishing Bortoleto a speedy recovery. We've got a surprise for you all... 😉

> porschefanatic: Surprise? More like desperation. Heard you're struggling to keep up with development

aston_fan: Wait, isn't he Aston's reserve? What's going on?

> f1insider: Looks like he's leaving AM for a race seat. Big move!

> nando33: Lmao Stroll ain't leaving that soon as long Big Papa is around 🤣

drugovich_br: So proud to see Felipe getting his chance! 🇧🇷 From reserve to race seat, dreams do come true!

am_updates: Wishing Felipe all the best! You'll always be part of the Aston Martin family 💚

> drugovich_fan1: Class act from AM. But why let him go if he's so valuable?

f1

It's Sprint Qualifying time in China. McLaren and Lando have set the pace during practice, and Audi has shocked with a surprising performance. Can Porsche defend their monumental debut?

see comments below

gp2engine: Lando's on fire this season! 🔥 McLaren's back where they belong!

bea: Audi coming in hot! 👀 Didn't see that coming!

> lululemoncalled: Well Porsche cooked them last race so they gotta respond somehow

landonorris_stan: My boy's got this in the bag 🏆 #LN4

> mad_max: All for him to lose Pole by turn 1 🤣

> pawastri: The pole position curse is still going in strong in 2025

f1_memer: Plot twist: Kimi comes out of retirement and takes pole 😂

> nostalgicf1: Don't give me hope 😭

> raikkonen7: "Bwoah, I was having a shit"

teamlh44: Lewis P1, calling it now 🐐

> max33fan: Keep dreaming

totoismyfather: Anyone else think sprint races are overrated?

> boomer: Totally agree. Bring back the old format!

CHINESE GRAND PRIX: The anticipation builds as Formula 1 returns to Shanghai for the second round. Porsche had nothing but a stellar debut in F1. Now, everyone knows they're no longer the dark horse. They're the team to beat. And Audi would love nothing more than to best their German brethren. The team brought an excellent pace into Free Practice and after a terrible performance in Australia, they need jump into the points fast. 

          SQ1 kicked off with a flurry of activity as drivers rushed to set competitive times. Lando Norris immediately stamped his authority on the session, clocking a blistering 1:33.756. The surprise of the session came from the Audi garage, with Nico Hulkenberg and Felipe Drugovich (replacing the injured Borteleto) showing impressive pace, finishing P6 and P8 respectively.

         MEANWHILE, trouble brewed in the Porsche camp. Sebastian Vettel struggled with balance issues, barely scraping through in P15. His teammate Ava Florence fared no better, complaining of understeer in the tight corners.

AVA The car's a handful in these slow sections.

HENRY Copy that, Ava. We're losing too much time in sector two We'll look at adjustments for SQ2.

          SQ2 saw Lando Norris continue his dominance, lowering the benchmark to 1:33.403. The Audis shocked the paddock by maintaining their top-10 positions, with Hulkenberg even briefly holding P2 before being pushed down to P4. Drama unfolded as the checkered flag fell. Sebastian Vettel managed to sneak into SQ3 by the skin of his teeth, claiming P10 by just 0.021 seconds. Unfortunately for Ava Florence...

"We ride on board with last Grand Prix's winner, Ava Florence. Her first sector was not good... and her second sector will be even worse. Martin is what is happening?"

"Here is she comes hard on the brakes again from about 180mph to third gear, for a tight left-hande. Crofty, her car has been struggling in the slow corners. And so perhaps Porsche has found their first problem in F1. We saw how blazing fast she was in Australi's fast corners. Here, not so much."

"Indeed, Martin, and she approaches the biggest braking zone of the track, Turn 14. Spins the car around and fast through 15. She picked up some speed on the straights, but is it enough, slight brake into the final corner and.... NO! SHE DOES NOT! GREEN SECTOR, BUT IT'S NOT GOOD ENOUGH TO MAKE IT SQ3!"

HENRY Unfortunately, Ava, that is P11.

AVA F***! Sorry about that. This was a sh** session. Let's do better in the race.

          SQ3 provided a thrilling climax to the qualifying session. Lando Norris completed his hat-trick of fastest times, securing sprint pole with a stunning 1:33.479. The real story, however, was Audi's remarkable performance. Nico Hulkenberg and Felipe Drugovich locked out the second row, qualifying P2 and P3 respectively, sending shockwaves through the paddock.

f1

A Brit. A German. And a Brazilian. What could go wrong? The grid is all ready and lined up for the Sprint Race.

see comments below

racingtheory: Hulkenberg finally gets his moment! Sprint Race front row 🚀

> shoey: Let that Hulkenberg podium come. I don't care if it's a Sprint Race.

> german_speed: About time Nico showed what he can do!

drugovich_fan: Brazilian magic strikes again! 🇧🇷✨

> mclaren_insider: Felipe to replace Bortoleto?

> lelelemans: Hell no. Bortoleto is very good. Doesn't make sense to replace right away.

chaostheory_f1: Three completely different career paths converging in one sprint race. Netflix, you can't write this stuff! 🍿

2025 China Sprint Race Starting Grid

Lando Norris

Nico Hulkenberg

Felipe Drugovich

Max Verstappen

Charles Leclerc

Lewis Hamilton

Liam Lawson

George Russell

Oscar Piastri

Sebastian Vettel

Ava Florence

Andrea Kimi Antonelli

Fernando Alonso

Carlos Sainz

Alexander Albon

Esteban Ocon

Yuki Tsunoda

Ollie Bearman

Pierre Gasly

Lance Stroll

Isack Hadjar

Jack Doohan

AVA SLID ON HER HELMET, and got seated in her striped Porsche. She was staring down her Porsche teammate and the McLaren papaya of Oscar Piastri once again. Except this time, it wasn't for the race win. She was in P11, and with only 8 positions get points, she had to make each of the 19 laps count. Lando was on pole, Audi had a 2-3. Everything seemed against the Porsche. It was getting to the point that people began to wonder.... was Porsche's first a fluke? No, Ava did not think so. She won that race. She knew she had the skills to win that race. She did not win it on luck.

"Welcome to the first sprint race of the 2025 Formula 1 season at the Shanghai International Circuit. After an exciting qualifying session yesterday, we're set for a thrilling 100km dash. Let's take a look at our grid for today's sprint. We've got 16 corners to navigate for 19 laps. Your man on pole position, Lando Norris, for the second time in a row. Followed by the Audi pair of Nico Hulkenberg and Felipe Drugovich, who's filling in for his Brazilian counterpart Gabriel Bortoleto today."

"The Ferraris of Leclerc and Hamilton occupy row three, and I have to say, this is not the greatest start to their season. They were expecting big results this year, and they certainly did get that podium in Australia, but how many times can they rely on their drivers to cover up many places." 

"We will have to see, Martin. And now, it's five lights here at Shanghai International Circuit. IT'S LIGHTS OUT AND AWAY WE GO... Norris gets a decent start. Hulkenberg gets a better one. Hulkenberg is right there with him. They're side by side into Turn 1, and it's the Audi that gets the better exit as Norris goes wide! Hulkenberg leads into Turn 2 and once again, Lando Norris will fail to capitalize on pole position."

"Certainly, I'm sure he would've improved it from last season. And behind Drugovich, Verstappen and Leclerc are immediately at each other's throats. The Red Bull dives to the inside at Turn 6, but Leclerc holds his line. Verstappen is holding up Hamilton, but he's seemingly falling. And Lawson is going to get a good chance to try and overtake him... Oh, a little too ambitious. Hamilton keeps position."

"Hamilton's driving a lot more defensively this season, not the kind the driving we usually see him do. Behind, Ava Florence lost a position to Antonelli. So, yes, that Porsche is indeed struggling on the first sector."

LAP 3:

TURN 13 - RUS passes LAW on the inside, taking P7

LAP 7:

TURN 11: HAD divebombs STR, taking P20

LANDO NORRIS SETS FASTEST LAP : GAP TO P1 + 1.240

LAP 10:

"Verstappen makes another attempt on Leclerc. He gets a great exit from Turn 13, uses DRS down the long back straight. Leclerc defends the inside, BUT VERSTAPPEN GOES AROUND THE OUTSIDE. Incredible racing from both drivers, but Verstappen sees it through. Meanwhile, Oscar Piastri is all over the back of Sebastian Vettel's Porsche. Seb had a great start, but that McLaren is showing great pace for today."

"That's the difference that experience makes. Piastri is sure is fast, but Seb is holding him down beautifully. Oh, but he's right there. They're inches apart coming into Turn 6."

VETTEL Something doesn't feel right with the engine. I'm losing power on the straights.

RUDI Understood, Seb. We're looking into it. Just keep Piastri at bay.

"Looks like Vettel is having some engine problems. That's exactly what McLaren loves to hear. Oscar Piastri is gonna make his lunge soon... He's so close. He's just waiting, biding his time until Seb's engine gives up."

"I don't think he knows Seb is having engine problems yet. He's still racing him hard on these corners..."

"As Sebastian Vettel begins to slow down, Oscar Piastri gets through easily. Vettel losing speed. Antonelli moves forward, Florence moves forward. It's all going wrong for Vettel here in China."

RUDI Seb, we need to retire the car. Box this lap, please. Box this lap.

"And that is Sebastian Vettel's race over. He was dragging that Porsche through, but unfortunately, he's not going to score anything today. I wonder, Martin, if Porsche will be able to fix Vettel's car in time for qualifying today or will Vettel have to settle for last on the grid."

"Well, Crofty, the good news for Vettel and Porsche is that they'll have some time to work on the car. Remember, this is a sprint weekend, so we've already had our sprint qualifying on Friday. The main qualifying session for tomorrow's Grand Prix isn't until later this afternoon. That gives the Porsche team a few hours to diagnose and hopefully fix whatever engine issue Seb was experiencing."

LAP 13:

TURN 13 - OCO and ALB exchange corners, ALB remains P15

HUL SETS FASTEST LAP : GAP 1.869

LAP 17:

"Hulkenberg is driving the race of his life. Norris is pushing hard, but can't find a way to catch up with that Audi. Hulkenberg, after so many years, has a chance to get a podium on this sprint race. Audi is looking to make some noise today."

"We're looking at the Championship leader here. Ava Florence is having a torrid time. She can't get past Antonelli in anyway. The Mercedes rookie is holding his own, albeit for a non-point position, but this is stuff the team likes to see. Florence is not happy with this."

FLORENCE I have no pace on the corners! This is a joke!

HENRY We understand, Ava. Just keep pushing.

LAP 19:

"And after so long, Nico Hulkenberg is going to take a sprint race win. He had a great start, great pace, and now he will see the fruits of his results. He takes P1! Behind him, Norris, 2.8 seconds behind. And the surprise of today, Felipe Drugovich, his F1 debut, goes stunningly. He takes P3!"

HENRY Okay, Ava. That's unfortunately P11. But we've still got the Grand Prix

FLORENCE Yeah... Let's do better in the race.

CHINA SPRINT RACE RESULTS

1. NICO HULKENBERG (+8)

2. LANDO NORRIS (+7)

3. FELIPE DRUGOVICH (+6)

4. MAX VERSTAPPEN (+5)

5. CHARLES LECLERC (+4)

6. LEWIS HAMILTON (+3)

7. GEORGE RUSSELL (+2)

8. LIAM LAWSON (+1)

9. OSCAR PIASTRI

10. ANDREA KIMI ANTONELLI

11. AVA FLORENCE

12. FERNANDO ALONSO

13. CARLOS SAINZ

14. LANCE STROLL

15. ALEXANDER ALBON

16. ESTEBAN OCON

17. YUKI TSUNODA

18. ISACK HADJAR

19. OLLIE BEARMAN

20. JACK DOOHAN

21. PIERRE GASLY

22. SEBASTIAN VETTEL [DNF]

audif1

THE MAN HAS DONE IT!! NICO HULKENBERG WINS THE SPRINT RACE!!

see comments below

nico: Hulkenberg finally breaks his podium curse! From zero podiums to sprint race winner 🏆

> kachow: I mean, it's a Sprint win. Doesn't get added to his stats.

mclaren_nation: Lando P2, not bad at all! 💪

> norris_fan: Our boy still on the podium! 🇬🇧

> delulu: biggest cope i've ever seen

brazilian_racing: Drugovich P3! Reserve driver making his mark! 🇧🇷✨

> f1_potential: What a debut sprint race!

motorsport

Verstappen gets "no satisfaction" from F1 sprint wins.

"There's no satisfaction to win a sprint for me," Verstappen said when asked by Motorsport.com if sprint format changes would sway his opinion. "You cross the line and say: 'All right, well, tomorrow is the race, the main one'. That's how it goes."

see comments below

blanchimont: One of us, one of us!

> chuckleclerc: When he revenge punted that other guy in iRacing, we all knew he was truly one of us. 

porschef1: Couldn't have said it better Max 👊

> lululemoncalled: OH NELL NAH!

> undercooked_sushi: Audi is playing chess, Porsche is playing 6D tetris.

> helicopter: Even when Audi wins, they lose - Porsche admin probably

QUALIFYING WAS HELL. Once again, the Porsche's struggled in qualifying. Lando continued to dominate the sessions, setting fastest time in both Q1 and Q2. Oscar had also found pace in his face, joining Lando as the second fastest in Q1 and the fourth fastest in Q2. But it was Audi who continued to shock faces. Hulkenberg and Drugovich were consistently top five in both sessions, Hulkenberg being a tenth behind Lando in Q2. No one understood, but the pendulum had swung to Audi's hands. And Porsche hated every second of it.

          SEBASTIAN VETTEL made into the third qualifying session. Changing his turbocharger had given him the slight boost over the other Porsche to make it into top ten. However, Ava's unfortunate fate continued once again.

AVA FLORENCE : P13

          ONCE AGAIN Ava was knocked out in Q2. She got out of her car. She wanted to scream and smash something. She knew she was rookie. Rookies were going to make mistakes, especially against the best competitions in the world. But she did not want to lose. Throughout her junior racing career, she rarely lost. F3 was a cakewalk. She was the champion before the fight even began. But not anymore. Ava was no longer the best anymore...

          BUT SHE REFUSED TO LET THAT BE TRUE.

f1

McLaren and Audi. What a surprise? 😱

see comments below

flashy_misery: Please don't bottle this one Mr. Norris 🙏🙏

> rigidinstructor: He's only done it once. I have a feeling he won't do it again.

DM_ME_YOUR_CONSPIRACIES: Incoming Hulkenberg win!

leFerrari: FORZA FERRARI!!

redundantnursery: Ava during qualifying: GP2 ENGINE!

> stroller: Or maybe she's just not that good. 🤷

> filthydepression: lmao ur pfp is Stroll. Why are you talking?

CHINA GRAND PRIX STARTING GRID

Lando Norris

Nico Hulkenberg

Oscar Piastri

Charles Leclerc

Lewis Hamilton

Max Verstappen

Felipe Drugovich

George Russell

Sebastian Vettel

Fernando Alonso

Carlos Sainz

Alexander Albon

Ava Florence

Andrea Kimi Antonelli

Lance Stroll

Yuki Tsunoda

Liam Lawson

Jack Doohan

Oliver Bearman

Esteban Ocon

Isack Hadjar

Pierre Gasly

SUNDAY came fast once again. Normally, Ava is never pressured coming into a race. Yet she couldn't help it. She made the mistake of hitting up social media before the race. And she saw all the comments. Ava wanted to prove them wrong. Badly. She never cared about other people's opinion. But today she did. She wanted to shut them up.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the China Grand Prix here at the Shanghai International Circuit! We've got a stunning race lined up today, with rain on the horizon, potentially shaking things up around the second stint. Let's take a look at the track, shall we? We've got two DRS zones on this 5.45 kilometer track, 56 laps to go for a total of 305 kilometers. The track record here is set by Michael Schumacher at 1:32.238. Now, on to the grid! It's Lando Norris on pole position—his third pole in 2025 and his second here in China, clinched during yesterday's sprint race. But, Martin, we saw what happened in that sprint race..."

"We certainly did, Crofty. Lando might've taken pole, but he lost out to Nico Hülkenberg, who starts P2 today. That Audi is looking mighty quick here in Shanghai, and they're gunning for a historic victory—Nico's first-ever F1 win and his maiden podium."

"Behind him, it's Oscar Piastri in P3, showing the kind of pace McLaren has been craving this weekend. Then, we have the Ferrari duo—Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton—lining up in P4 and P5. And in P6, it's Max Verstappen, the lone Red Bull in the top 10." "And what a performance from Felipe Drugovich! P7 after a stellar sprint race—can he repeat that magic here today? We have to see. But, Crofty, he's got some big names breathing down his neck: George Russell and Sebastian Vettel in P8 and P9."

"Indeed he does. Rounding out the top 10, it's the evergreen Fernando Alonso, but the big story today is Ava Florence. The Porsche rookie struggled in qualifying, didn't she, Martin?"

"She did. Starting down in P13, she admitted she's fighting the car here in China. But keep an eye on her; she's proven she can climb through the pack. We saw her thrilling wet-weather race in Monza in F3. So, with rain potentially falling, she might have some room here to climb some positions."

HENRY Keep calm here Ava. We're betting on the rain.

"Tire strategies are interesting too. Most of the top 10 are on softs, but Leclerc and Hamilton are on mediums, betting on the rain arriving a bit later. Let's see if that gamble pays off. All right—it's five lights here in China... And IT'S LIGHTS OUT AND AWAY WE GO! Lando Norris gets a blinding start, but look at Hülkenberg! He's right on Lando's gearbox. Is this a repeat of the sprint? Not this time! Lando shuts the door. Lando Norris remains in P1. Hülkenberg holds P2, with Piastri, Leclerc, and Hamilton filing in behind. But wait—look further back. Ava Florence is on a charge! She's already jumped Alexander Albon and Carlos Sainz in one corner!"

"Carlos seemed to struggle off the line, letting Albon close in, and Ava pounced on that opportunity—using Albon's slipstream to sweep past both drivers. She's up to P11!"

"Meanwhile, at the back, it's a scrap between Jack Doohan, Oliver Bearman, Esteban Ocon, and the rest of the midfield pack. Further up, Liam Lawson is locked in battle with Yuki Tsunoda—the former Racing Bull rivals going wheel-to-wheel! Liam dives in... Not enough. Tsunoda holds position into Turn 4, but that fight's far from over."

"Back at the front, Lando Norris maintains his lead through the first sector. Behind him, it's Hülkenberg, Piastri, Leclerc, and Hamilton—all keeping it clean for now."

"And the battle for P8 is heating up—Russell and Vettel going at it hammer and tongs! Can one of them snatch the position before the lap ends? And Fernando Alonso in P10—he's got Eva Florence bearing down on him. She's already gained two positions. Can she make it three before the end of the lap?"

LAP 3:

Turn 14 - LAW passes TSU, moves up to P16

LANDO NORRIS FASTEST LAP : GAP +.475

LAP 5:

Turn 13 - BEA overtakes DOO, taking P18

LAP 9:

"It's Ava Florence right on the gearbox of Fernando Alonso! She needs this position—and fast—if she has any hope of climbing through the field before the rain arrives. Here comes Fernando Alonzo trying to hold off the Porsche. But Ava's got DRS now! She's closing in fast, following Alonso down the straight—hitting 210 miles per hour as they plunge downhill."

"A quick burst of throttle into the kink at Turn 4... she's sticking right with him. Look at her pace, Crofty! Two laps in, and it seems like Ava's found something overnight in that Porsche. She's already a tenth quicker than Fernando through Sector 1, closing in as they approach Turn 6—a short straight, but plenty of room to make a move if you're brave enough."

"Ava dives down the inside into Turn 6. Oh my goodness! What a bold move! Florence just dive bombs into Turn 6, squeezing in that tiny gap. Fernando must've thought he'd covered her off, but Ava committed—absolutely fearless. She saw the tiny gap Alonso left and thought, 'That's enough for me!' Brilliant move."

"Absolutely. She took the risk and it's paid off! Ava Florence up to P10 with a stunning overtake on Fernando Alonso. That was precision racing at its finest."

LAP 19:

NICO HULKENBERG SETS FASTEST LAP : GAP TO P1 +2.345

HENRY Okay, Ava. We're going to take a risk and put slicks on now.

AVA Are you sure? Cause I think Fernando is behind.

HENRY Fernando is 3.6 seconds behind. We're comfortable trying this

AVA I'm coming in.

"And there's Ava Florence being called into the pits. She's going to be the first driver to pit and she's heading out slicks. So, Porsche thinks they can get a jump on these other drivers by pitting first before the rain."

AVA FLORENCE PITS : 3.0 SECONDS | P12

TOM Oscar, we think rain should come in 2-5 laps for now.

PIASTRI Are any drivers coming in?

TOM Ava is the only driver on slicks

PIASTRI I think we should pit.

TOM Your call.

OSCAR PIASTRI PITS  : 2.8 SECONDS | P7

LAP 21 - 35:

RAIN DETECTED - DRIVERS COME INTO PITS

HENRY Ava, you're P6. Be careful of Leclerc coming out of the pits.

"And that's Ava Florence, who's gamble for the early pitstop paid off. Finds herself in P6 as the rest of the field comes in for wet tires. But here comes Charles Leclerc, fresh out of the pits. How will this go?"

"This will be her first fight against the Monegasque. Ferrari vs Porsche. I've got high expectations on this one."

"And I'm everyone else too. Ava is staring down the rear end of that Ferrari. She's alongside into Turn 14! Leclerc has the inside line, forcing Florence wide. Brilliant defensive driving! But Florence is going to have none of that. She's been forced wide one too many in Formula 1, the earlier being by Russell in Australia. She tries again into Turn 6, but Leclerc isn't going to let if fly."

"She's getting better traction out of the corner though. They're side-by-side through Turn 7! But Ava has to back off."

...

"Florence has been patient for a while. Will she make the move? Yes she will. Florence dives down the inside at Turn 1, is ahead at the apex, but Leclerc cuts back. He's got the position again through Turn 2."

...

"Patience must be running thin for the Belgian. She's got DRS. Leclerc under pressure. Florence has the speed, she has the line... She dives in Turn 6 and once again it sticks. Florence up to P5. Leclerc has to back off."

"It's that move again. She's did on Alonso, and it's working for her, just squeezing through an impossibly small gap."

LAP 40 - 50:

LANDO NORRIS SETS FASTEST LAP : GAP +4.560

"Now it's Verstappen in Florence's sights. He's not going to make it easy though. The defending champion. Look at that! He's forcing her wide at Turn 13. Florence has to take to the runoff!"

"Verstappen's defense is brutal. He's chopping across Florence's nose into Turn 1. He's making her go wide. Off the racing line. She has to back out of it in everyone. That's hard but fair racing from the world champion. We saw it last year. He can defend."

...

"Florence tries again into the hairpin, but Verstappen is wise to it. He positions his car perfectly, leaving no gap for Florence to exploit."

"This is a different challenge for Florence. Verstappen's aggressive style is a stark contrast to Leclerc's more precise approach. He races to the extreme limit. But is she going to try the same overtake she did on Leclerc?"

"We'll see, Martin, if it sticks on Verstappen."

...

"Oh my! Verstappen nearly pushed Florence into the wall on the exit of Turn 13. The Porsche driver had to take evasive action there."

FLORENCE What the f*** is he doing?

HENRY Keep your head down. We're faster. Keep racing.

FLORENCE F****** stupid. He almost crashed me!

...

"Florence is not giving up! She's got a great run out of Turn 13 once again, pulls alongside Verstappen, and... she's done it! Florence sweeps around the outside of Turn 14 to take P4! What a move!"

"Incredible, Crofty! Florence has managed to outfox Verstappen. That move took nerves of steel!"

LAP 51-55

"With just 6 laps to go, Florence is hunting down Hamilton. The gap is coming down rapidly."

...

"Florence is all over the back of Hamilton. She tries the inside at Turn 6, but Hamilton closes the door. Not this time!"

...

"This is it! Florence gets a great exit out of Turn 6, pulls alongside Hamilton into Turn 7, and... she's through! Ava Florence up to P3 with just over a lap to go!"

...

"But she's not done yet, Crofty! Look at this, she's setting purple sectors. Florence is pushing for the fastest lap of the race!"

LAP 56

"From start to finish, Lando does the job. He holds pole position, he keeps that car in front. LANDO NORRIS WINS THE CHINA GRAND PRIX! Nico Hulkenberg secures his first podium in second! Behind, Ava Florence coming into view. She was going for the fastest lap. Will she do it?"

"Florence crosses the line and... yes! She's done it! Fastest lap of the race on the final lap!"

"Well, she certainly stole the show today. From struggling in qualifying to a podium finish, it's a remarkable turnaround for the Porsche driver. This young driver has shown incredible race craft and determination today. Ava Florence. That's the name to remember."

HENRY Phenomenal job, Ava! That's P3!

FLORENCE YES! OH THANK YOU SO MUCH!! And a tribute to Bottas... To whom it may concern, F*** you!

CHINA GRAND PRIX RESULTS

1. Lando Norris (+25)

2. Nico Hulkenberg (+18)

3. Ava Florence (+15)

4. Lewis Hamilton (+12)

5. Max Verstappen (+10)

6. Charles Leclerc (+8)

7. Sebastian Vettel (+6)

8. Oscar Piastri (+4)

9. George Russell (+2)

10. Liam Lawson (+1)

11. Felipe Drugovich

12. Fernando Alonso

13. Carlos Sainz

14. Andrea Kimi Antonelli

15. Alexander Albon

16. Lance Stroll

17. Pierre Gasly

18. Oliver Bearman

19. Yuki Tsunoda

20. Jack Doohan

21. Esteban Ocon

22. Isack Hadjar

porschef1

Sprint races are overrated anyway.

tagged: avaflorence

see comments below

illegal_definition: Summoned all of Senna's energy for this drive.

lululemoncalled: THATS MY GIRL!! PORSCHE IS THE ONLY GERMAN WORTH WINNING!! 👑

heturnedintome: First George, now Max. Everyone is trynna kill Ava.

> delulu: But she cooked regardless 🔥🔥

audif1: 🙄

> florence4ever: Stay jealous

> les_blanc: Why would they be? Nico finished higher.

> florence4ever: Check the standings.

convictedcassette: Please give her a functioning car next time so she doesn't have to struggle as much. 🙏🙏

CHINA POST-RACE INTERVIEW

Interview: So, Lando. Great race. Congrats on the win. You had a bit of a lackluster sprint race, but you managed to pull it off today. How was it?

Lando: It was great. I got the start just right and we were quite ahead of the pack when the rain started coming in. So, I held onto that lead.  Maybe it was a bit slow on the first stint, didn't get the happen wanted. But it worked out.

Interview: Nico, this is your maiden podium in Formula 1. How does it feel to achieve this after so long?

Nico: This feels amazing. Like you said, for so long I've been chasing a podium. The sprint win the other day gave me a vote of confidence. And I'm super grateful to the team, to Audi for building a competitive car. And I'm going to enjoy this podium.

Interviewer: Ava, you are the talk of the race. From P13 to podium, incredible strategy, incredible overtakes. How did you do it?

Ava: Firstly, they just give you the most beautiful dresses in the world. It's unfair. I know I'm not supposed to flirt with staff but Seb got away with it, so it's fine. Secondly, yeah, great call by the team to put early. We got a huge jump out of it. And then it was just a game of trying to get past the juggernauts. Leclerc was a good fight. Defenitley thought we had the pace to make it easy, but it wasn't. Max was also tough. I do think he tried to kill me at one point, but we got past anyway. Then it was just a clear track. I wasn't particularly set on passing Hamilton, but more so on closing the gap to see what could happen. And what happened was what you say... so super happy.

CHINA POST-RACE INTERVIEW

Interview: So, Lando. Great race. Congrats on the win. You had a bit of a lackluster sprint race, but you managed to pull it off today. How was it?

Lando: It was great. I got the start just right and we were quite ahead of the pack when the rain started coming in. So, I held onto that lead.  Maybe it was a bit slow on the first stint, didn't get the happen wanted. But it worked out.

Interview: Nico, this is your maiden podium in Formula 1. How does it feel to achieve this after so long?

Nico: This feels amazing. Like you said, for so long I've been chasing a podium. The sprint win the other day gave me a vote of confidence. And I'm super grateful to the team, to Audi for building a competitive car. And I'm going to enjoy this podium.

Interviewer: Ava, you are the talk of the race. From P13 to podium, incredible strategy, incredible overtakes. How did you do it?

Ava: Firstly, they just give you the most beautiful dresses in the world. It's unfair. I know I'm not supposed to flirt with staff but Seb got away with it, so it's fine. Secondly, yeah, great call by the team to put early. We got a huge jump out of it. And then it was just a game of trying to get past the juggernauts. Leclerc was a good fight. Defenitley thought we had the pace to make it easy, but it wasn't. Max was also tough. I do think he tried to kill me at one point, but we got past anyway. Then it was just a clear track. I wasn't particularly set on passing Hamilton, but more so on closing the gap to see what could happen. And what happened was what you say... so super happy. avaflorence

Race tracks are better when they're wet. Thank you China for blessing me today. Onwards to Bahrain.

see comments below

florence4ever: MAMA cooked these bums!

elpadre: Ava, describe your Grand Prix in one sentence

> avaflorence: GP2 ENGINE... GP2 ENGINE!!

> toastedsalmon: 😭😭

lululemoncalled: I love she does not care at all about the swearing rule.

> delulu: They haven't done anything yet. She's that girl.

WORLD DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP

WORLD CONSTRUCTORS CHAMPIONSHIP

taglist: @freyathehuntress

[happy74827]

Work Jitters

[Gideon Graves x Female!Reader]

Synopsis: Getting the job at Graves Industries was hard enough, but keeping it? That was a whole new ballpark.

WC: 3752

Category: Slight Hurt, Slight Fluff (?), Gideon being… Gideon {TW—Vomiting}.

Jason Schwartzman, my beloved.

『••✎••』

Gideon Graves, that smug bastard.

You'd seen his picture in the paper once, or maybe more than once; you couldn't recall exactly. The article was about his company, about how he'd been awarded several "big brain" awards in the past three years, and about how his company was looking to hire the best and brightest. The article even said how much he valued diversity.

But then, why was he working so hard to keep you from the job?

It wasn't as though you were the most unqualified person in the world to be hired at G-Man Media. You'd worked in tech for a number of years. You'd worked hard. You were smart, and you had experience. But apparently, Gideon Graves had a way of making things difficult for you. He was looking for people who were more than qualified.

"But I'm plenty qualified," you'd told him, practically stomping your foot. "And you can't make me feel like I'm not qualified. You don't have that kind of power."

You'd watched in utter amazement as he'd waved his hand dismissively at you.

"Power?" He laughed, his eyes twinkling with amusement. "I have no power over you. I have influence. I can make life difficult for you, but it's not as though I'm doing that. You've simply failed to impress me."

Your cheeks burned as you tried to think of something clever to say to that, but there was no way to deny his words.

He didn't even sound angry. He sounded so sure of himself, so absolutely positive of his own superiority. And he'd been so smug about the whole thing, too. Like you were a piece of trash, he'd just found on the street.

And that had just pissed you off so badly. You were usually a fairly even-tempered person. But when you'd walked away from that meeting, you'd felt like you were about to burst out of your skin. You'd marched straight back to your car and driven to a nearby grocery store parking lot. You'd climbed out of the car and put your hands on the hood, pressing your forehead against the warm metal, letting yourself take a few deep breaths to try to calm yourself down.

And that was how you'd met Gideon Graves…

Your boss.

Yes, boss. Despite the fact that he openly admitted his dislike for you, you decided that he was wrong, so wrong, in fact, that you stormed up to him the next day and told him so.

"I'm not failing to impress you," you told him, "You’re failing to impress me.”

You'd watched him fold his arms over his chest and scowl at you. You'd wanted to bite your tongue. He'd had an intense scowl.

But you hadn't bitten your tongue. Instead, you'd done something even more stupid.

"I know how to work a computer," you snapped.

That wasn’t as hard-hitting as you'd intended; it was honestly the stupidest thing you have ever said, but it made that tiny corner of Gideon's lip turn up. Not his usual, knowing smirk, but an actual genuine smile.

"Oh?" he said, leaning back in his chair, tilting his head back and studying you, his eyes narrowed. "That’s one impressive skill set."

Sarcasm. You could deal with sarcasm. You'd dealt with sarcasm in college. Sarcasm was almost your best friend at this point.

"I'm a quick learner," you told him, "and I can work anything with a keyboard."

He laughed again, his smile growing. You were starting to think he just smiled when he was mocking people, but there had been times when his smiles had seemed more genuine, and this one had definitely felt genuine.

"I'm sure you are," he told you, and you felt yourself smile just a little bit when he didn't say it in a mocking tone. "But there's a little more to the job than that."

"I can do the job."

His eyes narrowed, and you were pretty sure he was trying to decide if he wanted to fight you. He leaned forward, placing his arms on the desk.

"What makes you think that you have any chance of winning this position? I told you once, and I’m telling you twice. You're not all that impressive."

"No," you agreed, "not compared to you. You're an idiot savant—a genius with a cocky attitude. But the company isn't looking for an idiot. They want someone with ambition. And I have it. I'm not giving up."

"No?"

"No."

He sat back in his seat, leaning back in his chair, a little smug smile curling his lips.

He was deep in contemplation. His eyes were on you. His face was an inscrutable mask, but his eyes. Those eyes of his. You felt as though he could see straight through you. He had seen you and known, without having to be told, that you weren't like the rest of his previous employees. That you were determined and that he wasn't going to be able to stop you.

He might not like you, but he recognized that you were going to keep trying to get the job and that you were probably the only person in the world who wasn't intimidated by his smug attitude.

"You have balls," he said.

"Thank you."

"No," he said with a frown, "that wasn't a compliment."

He shook his head and held out his hand. You glanced at it and then back at his face.

"A deal," he told you. "One week. You go to work, and you try your damnedest to impress me. Fail, and you’re gone. Pass, and you'll get the job. Deal?"

Your smile was wide, and you reached out and took his hand, giving it a shake.

"Deal," you said.

And here you were, nearly two weeks later, still with the job. You were honestly so impressed with yourself.

It wasn't always easy; Gideon Graves could be a real bastard. But he was an interesting person. He always looked so sure of himself, but there were moments where you could see his doubts. You could see them on the rare occasions when he was surprised or flustered. His confidence was sometimes only a mask for the uncertainty underneath.

He was an enigma to you.

You tried to learn as much about him as possible. You absolutely hated his attitude, but you were more than willing to admit to yourself that you were genuinely curious about the man. There was just something about him that made him fascinating to you. You wanted to know what was going on inside that complicated head of his.

So, you watched.

You watched as he ate lunch. You saw how he would never take more than two bites and would only take the smallest possible amount of time to eat. He never left a single crumb on the table, never let anything get near him that might leave even the tiniest bit of food on his clothes.

You saw how he would do his own filing and paperwork. He could type up a report in no time at all. And you could swear you'd seen him go through a pile of paperwork and not so much as lose his place once. You'd tried to copy his speed a few times, but your fingers were just too clumsy. You were nowhere near his skill level.

You watched how he handled people. He was arrogant, and he had his share of asshole moments, but he was always polite. Always professional. Even if the person he was speaking to was an idiot, he still managed to maintain his composure. Sure, he belittled them, but he did so in a way that was still professional. He never made any comment that would get him sued.

He never let his composure slip, except for one time, and It was all your fault.

You felt sick. You had woken up that morning with a headache and a body that felt like lead. It had taken you forever to get out of bed. By the time you had gotten yourself together and had managed to drag yourself to the shower, you'd felt even worse. But, with how Gideon acted, you were used to getting your work done regardless of how you were feeling, so you'd gotten dressed and headed to the office.

A total of four hours later, you were starting to regret not staying home.

You were doing your best to keep your eyes open, but you just couldn't stay awake. Your mind felt fuzzy. Your body was like a heavyweight. And all you could think about was going back to your apartment and crawling into bed. You could feel your body leaning forward.

The chair tipped, and your body rolled forward, nearly falling out of the chair, only stopping when you hit the edge of the desk.

And then there were hands on you.

Gideon's hands.

He had you, his arm under your shoulders, holding you against him as he straightened the chair.

"Office. Now. Before you hurt yourself," he said, his voice cold, his expression hard.

You stood up, but your head spun. You might have been able to fight it if he had actually helped you to your feet, but instead, he let go of you, watching with a frown as you wobbled back and forth before turning around and starting for the office.

Your feet felt heavy. Your body felt as though it was moving in slow motion. You stumbled a few times before making it into the room. He came in after you, closing the door behind him. You saw him scowl at you before walking to his desk. He leaned against it and crossed his arms over his chest, glaring at you.

"So much for impressing me."

"Sorry," you said, slumping in the chair across from his desk. You could feel your eyes drifting closed. You couldn't help it, but you knew it was because you were so tired.

"I pay you to get your work done, not to go to sleep on the job. I don't care how sick you are. This is unacceptable."

You wanted to tell him you were sorry, but your mouth wouldn't move. You were just too tired.

"Do I have to drag you out of this chair myself?"

You managed to open your eyes and look up at him. You tried to say something, but all that came out was a mumble.

He frowned, his lips a tight line. He pushed off of the desk, and then he was moving towards you. Your stomach lurched as he reached down, grabbing hold of your arm and pulling you up. Your legs wobbled underneath you. His hand was at your elbow.

"Careful," he said, keeping his grip on you until you had straightened up. "You took this job knowing that it would require effort. I will not have you losing sight of what you're doing because you're too lazy to get out of bed in the morning."

"I-”

Then, the worst thing imaginable happened. Just as he was threatening to fire you, your stomach lurched again. But instead of it just being your stomach, this time, it was the entire digestive system as a whole.

It wasn’t until his release on your arm, the wave of nausea subsiding and your head spinning so hard that you could barely stand, that you realized what had happened.

You just puked all over your boss.

You looked at him in horror. His white suit and red shirt were completely covered in a disgusting mix of stomach fluids and coffee. This was where you saw him break. His normal, professional demeanor vanished, and his eyes grew wide, his jaw-dropping.

For a moment, you thought he might say something. But then his eyes narrowed, and his expression hardened, his lips pursing together. He was shaking from head to toe. You couldn't tell if he was angry or if he was disgusted.

"Out," he hissed, his voice quiet but venomous.

"I'm so sorry-"

"Get the hell out.”

You nodded and quickly did as you were told.

Great, not only did you ruin a suit that was probably worth more than your apartment, but you managed to piss off Gideon and get yourself fired. The job you fought so hard for was just thrown out the window in an instant. You didn't blame him. If you were him, you would have fired you too.

It was a long drive home. You were still feeling sick to your stomach, but now it became more like the feeling of a hangover than actual illness. Your headache had subsided a bit, but you felt achy all over.

You pulled up in front of your apartment complex and climbed out of the car, feeling like you were made of lead. You stood there for a moment, leaning against your car, waiting for the feeling of your body to return to normal. When it finally did, you headed inside and took a quick shower before crawling into bed, not even bothering with any dinner.

Your last thought was how Gideon Graves had looked when he realized you had puked on him. You wondered if he was okay. You tried not to think about it, but his expression kept coming back to mind, over and over. He'd looked like he'd been about to explode.

Again, understandably so. But even though you'd done your best to forget it, the memory just wouldn't leave your mind.

The incident became a week’s memory, but you still couldn't stop thinking about him, about his face. About the fact that you lost your job over something so stupid.

It was another week before you saw Gideon again. Honestly, you weren’t expecting it.

Your doorbell rang, and you figured it was the pizza guy since it was just after five o'clock, and you had ordered some dinner. But when you went to the door, there was no pizza guy. Instead, there was Gideon Graves leaning against the door frame, his arms crossed over his chest, glaring at you.

You glanced at him for a moment, your heart pounding in your chest, your cheeks burning, and then looked back down at your feet.

"I'm sorry," you said.

"Don’t apologize. I don’t want your apologies.” He looked around, glancing at your apartment. "Are you going to let me in, or are you just going to keep standing there until you decide to ruin my suit again?"

You blinked, looking back at his face, but his expression hadn't changed.

You moved aside, letting him in. He walked past you and stood in your living room. His eyes darted around, and you could tell he was taking it all in. You had a tiny apartment, but it was nice; you'd worked hard to make it so. You had a nice couch, a few bookshelves, a TV, and a small table and chairs in the kitchen area.

"Well?" He said, turning back to look at you.

"I- What?” You asked, not knowing what to say.

"I’ve called you. No responses. I came to your apartment last week. No answer. And now that I'm here, you're standing there, looking like an idiot when I expected a fully functioning human being."

You blinked a few times, still not entirely sure what was going on. You cleared your throat.

"What do you want?"

“What do I want?” He scoffed. His face twisted into a look of disgust, his eyes narrowing at you, and his upper lip curling just the tiniest bit as though he smelled something rotten. "You ruined my suit, and then you left. You don't answer your phone when I call. Did your uncultured brain forget about the job you practically begged me for? I told you to impress me, but if you can't even be bothered to show up, I have no interest in continuing your employment."

You frowned, your jaw dropping open.

"Wait, I’m not already fired?”

His eyes snapped up to your face, his brow furrowing. His lip twitched as he fought to hold back whatever he wanted to say to you. The long pause had your mind shifting attention to him. The way he looked. The way he smelled. You took a small step forward.

"I... I thought-"

He was wearing a suit, like usual, but instead of the white suit with the red shirt, he wore a dark gray suit with a light blue shirt. The shirt wasn't buttoned all the way. He hadn't worn a tie, but he usually always had one, so you were a little shocked when you saw that he didn't have one.

And his hair. His hair wasn't slicked back the way it usually was. Instead, it was loose. It's not quite messy, but it's not perfect either.

"You thought you'd been fired?" he said, snapping you out of your thoughts.

You nodded.

He sighed and then shook his head. His hands made their way to his glasses, and you realized that his eyes had been fixed on the ground this whole time. He was staring at the floor like he couldn't even look at you.

"I would never fire someone for… puking on me. I’m not that cruel," he muttered. He turned his eyes on you, his fingers adjusting the frames of his glasses. "No. You're still employed here. I simply came to inform you that I'm willing to overlook this week, but the next one that you miss, you're fired."

"Oh," you said. “I- Thank you."

"Don't thank me."

He was turning to leave, and you had to wonder why he had come here in the first place.

"Gideon?"

He paused, his back still to you.

"What did you think I was doing?"

You could see him stiffen, and you had no doubt that he was clenching his jaw. But after a moment, he turned back to look at you, his eyes meeting yours, and you noticed that he had stopped chewing his gum.

"If I had to guess," he said, his tone sharp, "I would have assumed that you were either sleeping or still sick. I told you I would have you fired if you were too sick to work. The fact that you didn't even bother to respond to my calls and messages was more than enough for me to assume the latter."

“But you didn’t fire me."

He narrowed his eyes. "If you don't feel well enough, I suggest you stay home. I don't want to deal with your incompetence right now."

He started to leave again.

"Wait!" You called after him.

He stopped again and looked back over his shoulder at you. His expression was dark and foreboding.

"Do you... Do you need anything?"

"Need? What could you possibly-"

You interrupted him, cutting him off before he could say anything rude or condescending.

"I'm sorry I puked on you. I really am. If I had the money for another suit, I would replace it, but I… don't have that kind of money."

"It’s not ruined. I shipped it to be dry cleaned." He sighed, rolling his eyes. "I don’t want or need your apologies, nor do I need your money. It's not worth a thousand dollars."

"Well, what do you need?"

He was silent, turning his eyes on the floor again, his fingers fussing with his glasses again. His brow was furrowed, and you could see that he was struggling with something.

"Gideon?"

"Stop saying my name like that," he snapped.

He turned around and looked at you again. You blinked in confusion, and he sighed, walking back towards you until he was standing in front of you.

You've forgotten, honestly, how short he was. You were used to thinking of him as this giant of a man. When he walked into a room, his presence made him seem larger than life. But now, you were able to see that he was really a bit shorter than you were. He was a bit on the skinny side, too, not muscular or anything like that. But he still had presence, even when he was being quiet when he was simply standing there looking at you, his lips pressed into a tight line.

"Why?"

You blinked again.

"Why what?"

He rolled his eyes, and his expression softened for a moment, just for a moment, before he got angry again.

"You're not supposed to sound so concerned about me. It's insulting. I'm your boss. I shouldn't need anything from you. That's why."

"It’s just a favor… If it will keep you from firing me, I'll do it," you said.

“Just show me you're not incompetent," he snapped, "that you can do your job without having a meltdown over it."

"Okay."

"And quit making me repeat myself. Just show me. I want you to show me that you're going to be an asset to this company."

"I will."

His lips pressed into a thin line, and he was silent for a moment, his eyes searching your face. He sighed again, his shoulders relaxing as he did so.

"I need-"

"Yeah?"

His eyes narrowed.

"Are you going to interrupt me every time I tell you something?"

"Yes," you said.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, but he didn't yell at you. Gideon just sighed, looking tired all of a sudden, like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders.

"I need you to come in tomorrow. I have some… matters I need to attend to, so you need to handle the rest of the work."

"Okay. Can I ask what’s going on?"

His eyes narrowed again, his lips pursing, and you felt like you might have pushed too far, but you were determined to be better.

"Just show up tomorrow," he said, his voice a bit softer. He sounded less angry.

He turned again and headed back for your front door.

"Gideon?"

"What?" He asked, not looking at you as he turned around, his hand reaching for the knob.

"Thanks… for not firing me."

He looked up at you, meeting your eyes, and you were surprised to see that he was smiling again, albeit a tiny little smile, but he was smiling.

"Don't thank me; just get it together," he said, and he pulled open your door and left, shutting it behind him.

And you were left there, staring at your front door, wondering how the hell you were going to be able to do the work that he was going to give you and where exactly that damn pizza was.

[quinloki]

My apolocheese in advance for this, but all 50??? 😀 (Excluding any you may have answered already and/or don't feel up to answer)

Feel free to discard this ask entirely, or answer it in portions whenever you have energy. Whatever works for you. ^^ Just don't overwork yourself (ironic ik, coming from the guy who's asking for all 50, but I can't help it <3)

You know what - sure. XD

I'm going to put this below a cut though, cause whew!

who is/are your comfort character(s)? Marco definitely, but I find comfort in a lot of characters, so I should include Kid, Sabo, Crocodile, Doflamingo, Thatch, Penguin and Law in there too.

lighter or matches? Man I love a good zippo, but nothing beats the smell of a match, so I'll have to go with matches

do you leave the window open at night? Not unless I absolutely have to.

which cryptyd being do you believe in? Are ghosts as a general classification close enough? I've seen like three, but I haven't seen any other cryptids.

what color are your eyes? Brown ^_^

why did you do that? Sometimes I do not even know. I let go of a pot the other day for no good damned reason and was just glad it was empty.

hair-ties or scrunchies? Hair-ties. There's no scrunchie in this 'Verse that can contain my hair.

how many water bottles are in your room right now? In my room like my bedroom? Or as in the room I'm in right now? In either case it's zero. I have this spiffy mason jar monstrosity for water and it's down in the kitchen atm.

which do you prefer, hot coffee or cold coffee? Caffeine, honestly, is what I prefer XD Coffee's crap unless I make it myself so I don't even really register the flavor of it most of time.

would you slaughter the rich? Hm... ... no. I can't say I'd protect or defend them, but my sinful ass isn't going to go around casting judgements on others, no matter if I think they deserve it or not.

favorite extracurricular activity? >.> <.< I mean... I can't really say anything other than sex at this point.

what kind of day is it? A middling Sunday. The sun is pleasant, my cats are napping and look egregiously adorable, but there's still the weight of unemployment on the house, so it's middling.

when was the last time you ate? About 5 minutes or so ago. Rice and veggies.

do you love the smell of earth after it rains? Most certainly ^_^

are you a parent? (all answers qualify) lol not even a little.

can you drive? Better than most. My grandfather taught me with a bag of apples, but I don't really enjoy driving so I don't do it much.

are you farsighted or nearsighted? Whichever it is that needs glasses to see.

what hair products do you use? Cheap ones >.>

imagine we’re at a sleepover, would you paint my nails? If you wanted, certainly, but I have bit my nails since I was 8 so my skill at nail painting does not exist ^_^;

do you say soda or pop? Previously answered, but the short answer is soda.

something you’ve kept since childhood? My friend John. We became friends when we were 5 and 6 and I still play D&D with him on the weekends.

what type of person are you? A lucky one.

how do you feel about chilly weather? Previously answered, but I love winter and autumn

if we were together on a rooftop, what would we be doing? Probably stargazing. Which I stand by because you're not getting me on a roof when the sun's up.

perfume/body spray or lotion? I... uh... none?

a scenario that you’ve replayed multiple times? Like, in my mind? Ah, I licked a guy's nipples for so long he asked me if I was enjoying myself, and instead of saying yes like a boss, I got flustered and it killed the mood. Alas.

about how many hours of sleep did you get? ... 6? I think.

do you wear a mask? When I leave the house, yeah.

how do you like your shower water? Flesh-meltingly hot.

is there dishes in your room? Yes, but only because I just finished eating veggies and rice before I started answering this.

what type of music keeps you grounded? Previously answered, but I really do listen to all of it.

do you have a favorite towel? Nah. I have a favorite spatula though.

the last adventure you’ve been on? My spouse and I went on a 14 day road trip before the pandemic hit and I think between the states and Canada we traveled something like 5,490 miles or so.

is there a song you know every word to by heart? Don't Let It Bring You Down by Annie Lennox

what’s your timezone? East Coast

how many times have you changed your url? 0 - and I don't foresee it happening either.

someone in your life, other than a relative, you’ve known for 10+ years? My aforementioned bestie, but also my lil' "brother" who is not really technically my brother, but who has known me since he was 14 and I was 17, and my D&D group has been together for over 10 years now, so that's like 11 or so more people.

a soap bar that smells good? I use cheap liquid soap, sorry ^^;

do you use lip balm? Nope.

did you have any snacks today? Yes, a pear.

how do you take your coffee? Any way I can get it. Black is preferred though.

an app you frequently use besides this godforsaken site? Discord, maybe I imagine.

what’s your take on spicy foods? I am weak, my family is weak, my ancestors were weak, but I will sniffle and cry and sob the entire time because it's fucking delicious

you get a free pass to kill anyone, who is it? Sadly, they suffer more alive than dead, so >.>

can you remember what happened yesterday? Well enough I'm not worried about early on set dementia.

favorite holiday film? I was gonna say Die Hard, but then it made me think of The Last Unicorn and so I'mma go with that.

what was the last message you sent? Cheering on family who did early voting.

when did you first try an alcohol beverage? Supervised - 12 Because no one was there to stop me, 15.

can you skip rocks? I can trip over rocks, but that's about as skillful as I get. ^_^

can i tag you in random stuff? Certainly - I cannot promise I'll always know how to reply, but I actually really appreciate being tagged because I miss stuff easily.

[batsplat]

controversial opinion but I don’t think that in terms of rivalries and feuds marc is that interesting. like if you exclude valentino you’re left with who? dovi? they did have exciting on track battles for sure but let’s face it dovi was never really a huge title threat. and their off track relationship as a result had no tension. but who else?

qualified agreement in that, yes, I also don't think marc's slate of rivalries/feuds is all that satisfying... I just don't feel like this is entirely marc's *fault*. I mean, first off, valentino is definitely a positive outlier in this regard in that he was just working overtime in terms of coming up with compelling feuds. he's not quite the spiders georg of fantastic feuds, but he's not far off either. secondly, when compared to the other aliens + dovi... marc is at a very obvious disadvantage in that those guys were all direct peers who already had a lot of history with each other. dovi made fourteen year old jorge cry, twenty year old casey threw a temper tantrum when dani beat him, teenage jorge was judgemental of casey's fan engagement skills, and obviously there's the jorge/dani of it all. even the bits of that diagram that never had any major beef will have at least had a little bit of sizzling tension, like dovi's wariness of dani as a teammate. marc was always going to be on the back foot here - he really could have done with a pol esparagaro-type figure to crack on and become a big deal in the premier class. you need interpersonal history for a strong rivalry, and marc was always working at a deficit by having to start from scratch

this is the thing, right: imagine a world in which marc is born a few years earlier. in your hearts, do you seriously believe he would not have had a major sustained feud with at least one of jorge, dani, casey or dovi? I'm thinking he gets at least 2-3 in all honesty. casey if they ever ended up teammates is practically a given - and even without that you'd have to say it's a near certainty that it would've gone very badly. I mean good lord, casey vs the marc marquez towing addiction feels like it inevitably ends in casey physically assaulting marc on-track at least once. jorge had feuds with literally everyone, so that one also feels guaranteed. dani was a way less prickly character by the time marc got to the premier class but used to be a notoriously difficult teammate - so those two at honda and, again, odds are pretty good you get something going. dovi's a bit more marginal in that it kinda depends on what their respective competitive situations look like - plus dovi was generally more of a single issue jorge lorenzo hater - but you'd still expect it to be at least a little bit snarkier. so yeah, just a straightforward counterfactual - but it should still demonstrate that the picture is more complicated than 'marc marquez sucks at feuds'. there's clearly more going on here

so I kinda feel like there's two interrelated questions here, right. let's break it down:

how high quality are marc's rivalries/feuds?

to what extent can the quality or lack thereof of marc's rivalries/feuds be attributed to him, versus circumstantial factors that were outside of his control?

now with the first question, again, I do agree that right now in his career... marc could be doing better. he's got one major feud - and admittedly it's a doozy, but it's against a guy who has five major feuds to his name. if you look at that without context then it's quite easy to conclude valentino is putting in all the hard work, with little to no contribution from marc needed. apart from that... well, his other big rivalry on paper is with dovi - which, yeah, that one is lacking in narrative tension. the main issue with that rivalry isn't actually the lack of drama per se, it's that it just doesn't go anywhere. it's a bunch of strong on-track battles with no real arc to connect them, just ends up being completely static past the conclusion of 2017. I never got the sense that the two of them felt massively differently towards each other after 2019 than they had a couple years earlier... that's what kills it imo, like you need something to be happening in a rivalry. you need the two parties to have a substantial impact on each other! you can vaguely make that case for 2017 if you really want to push it - but it's just not enough, it only lasts for a few months, and it's lacking in the build-up and pay-off department. there's no real shift in their dynamic, not in terms of their relationship or their title fights or even their on-track battles... their first big battle is dovi beating marc in austria and their last big battle is dovi beating marc in austria, so you can't even say marc's learned how to deal with the red bull ring's final corner better. the only thing that's substantially changed is that marc knows he'll win the title anyway. look how far we've come

then there's marc's rivalry with dani, interesting on paper and they did have a reasonable amount of tension, but obviously you'd be hard-pressed to mention it in the same sentence as any of the real top tier rivalries. it's just over too soon, marc wins it too conclusively, and they don't have a single memorable on-track battle to their name beyond 'that time marc cut dani's sensor cable'. the jorge rivalry isn't terrible - you've got a few strong-to-iconic on-track battles like jerez + silverstone 2013, mugello + silverstone 2014, mugello 2016, austria 2018... but yeah, the tone is really quite muted and reserved by jorge's standards. there's not a massive amount of development in that relationship post-2013, and it just sort of fizzles out over the years. again, really becomes more of a collection of moments than an actual cohesive narrative arc - like something like austria 2018 is a fun throwback, you've got jorge being mad at marc over the aragon 2018 crash that essentially ended his season, but it also doesn't really lead to anything bigger. maybe there was a teensy bit of hope the honda teammate situation would reawaken that rivalry (me and casey both grabbing the popcorn, mind), but jorge just wasn't competitive enough for that to go anywhere

so, who's fault is this? is marc just mid at starting feuds? why hasn't he started more feuds with a bunch of people who showed they were perfectly capable of starting feuds with each other? why hasn't he given the people more to work with? who can we blame for this sorry state of affairs?

now, honestly, I reckon most of the issues with marc's track record can be put down to circumstance and poor timing. I already said that you'd expect marc to be doing way better if he'd been born early enough to run into the aliens in their primes. this is for several reasons. the first reason is that he managed to miss casey entirely - who on paper has to be the alien you'd expect marc to get on the worst. casey has the most rigid belief structure surrounding riding standards and acceptable levels of aggression, he's the least likely to be okay with marc's 'vicious on-track smiling off it' schtick, he had a multi-year vendetta against the exact sort of behaviour in practise and qualifying marc has made a habit of throughout his career, he is a strong believer in the kind of teammate cooperation in development marc memorably eschewed at honda, he would have also found marc's flavour of media games distasteful at best, he's highly sensitive to anything that could be construed as an attack on him... and marc in turn would have been aware of all this and actively enjoyed pissing casey off. in some respects they feel like an even worse match than valentino and casey. marc and casey on the 'alien compatible personalities quiz' score negative points. so that's just poor timing - marc barely missed out on him! you've removed the most irascible alien from the picture, the guy who had the highest quantity of low level beef with the entire paddock... it's already taken away such a major obvious feud opportunity from marc that you have to be a bit more lenient when judging his record

beyond that, let's turn to two interrelated reasons for why marc didn't get more narrative juice out of his other rivalries with that generation: a) the competitive landscape, and b) how the aliens themselves changed over time. the biggest and most important factor is (a). my general stance with feuds is that it's really really hard to start a feud in year one of a rivalry - you simply need more build-up than that. this is incidentally also 100% true of valentino's feuds. biaggi and valentino already despised each other going into 2001 (incidentally the lack of a narrative arc is why that one's also not a top tier rivalry for me), sete and valentino needed 2003 to set up 2004, valentino and casey were more or less fine in 2007 and ditto with jorge and valentino in 2008 and even mostly 2009. you can likewise point to valentino and marc already having enough significant interactions in 2013-14 to set up the volatility of their on-track encounters in the first half of 2015. for a counterexample, check out valentino and nicky hayden - who were title rivals in 2006 and 2006 alone, and managed to get through that entire year with minimal drama and their relationship emerging entirely unscathed. if hayden had still been more competitive after that year, maybe something would have changed... but as it stands, you do need time to build up the kind of interpersonal history for things to get nasty in a meaningful way. see also btw how dani and valentino's rivalry never got properly nasty, despite some build up in 2006

compare and contrast with marc's situation. 2013 is actually perfectly good set up... except then it's immediately followed by a dud of a season, where marc is dominant enough in the first half to make the title fight essentially a non-starter. after 2013, dani really isn't a competitive threat to marc anymore outside of isolated patches, and marc so effectively wrests control away from that team that he doesn't really need to do anything more dramatic. (also a question of the personalities involved - if you paired up jorge with marc as teammates in 2014, that situation immediately looks a lot more volatile.) now, okay, you might query the lack of tension between marc and jorge in 2015... but marc was just too focused on valentino that year, not least because that's the guy he was actually fighting on-track. and he nukes himself out of that title fight fairly early on, so the interpersonal valentino stuff kinda becomes the main source of competitive stakes for him at certain times in that season. 2016 the title fight fizzles out around assen, and then jorge's off into the competitive wilderness himself at first ducati then honda. and with dovi, you've got the obvious problem is that the seasons are in the wrong order. dovi was a serious title threat... but only in the first year of that rivalry, aka 2017. and only for part of that season! at the start of the year, it was really vinales marc was focused on - hence badgering him in pre-season testing - and it really took quite a while for marc and dovi to establish themselves as the two title contenders. as a season, it most closely resembles the chaos of 2006 - which, again, didn't lead to any drama between valentino and hayden in part because it just wasn't as focused on two protagonists. after that, dovi has a poor start to 2018, and by 2019 marc's just flattening everyone. it's basically like if you switched 2003 and 2004 for sete/valentino (though obviously sete's 2003 is a fair bit more competitive than dovi's 2018)... you needed the proper title fight when they were already established rivals. real take - valentino in marc's situation most likely doesn't start a feud with dovi in 2017-19 for the simple reason that he just does not need to. valentino's feuds typically come from some sense of competitive necessity, or at the very least convenience... casey is the strongest example here, where valentino behaves as closely as he ever has to a rational actor and only really escalates that feud when it makes perfect sense to do so. with dovi, given how little threat he posed in 2018-19 and especially presuming there's not a preexisting interpersonal relationship that can be twisted by the injection of competitive stakes (as there was with sete)... why bother?

this, to me, is really the main explanation for prime!marc's feud record. he runs into versions of the aliens that all eventually drop off competitively, and doesn't have to face the same level from them as a collective as he would have in say 2008-09. he doesn't have to face casey. and his sete equivalent is just not as much of a competitive threat as sete was beyond the first year of that rivalry. feuds do need something to get them going - and generally, competing against the same guy across multiple seasons, feeling genuinely threatened by them, is one of the most common and important preconditions. the second alien-related factor is how the aliens themselves had changed. again, we're missing casey... and then with jorge and dani, well, they'd definitely mellowed from where they were at c. 2006-08. there's a few reasons for this. firstly, they grew up. just a little. it's been known to happen. secondly, you do have to mention the sic factor... discussed a bit here and I don't really want to go into too much depth about it, but obviously it does make a difference that jorge and especially dani had gone through this experience where they'd essentially been feuding with another rider who then died. inevitably, that will have played into how they reacted to marc. thirdly, this is a topic for another post but... jorge and dani (and casey) had become pretty determined in 2011-12 not to give the media and fans what they were so desperately yearning for (drama) - in an act of generational solidarity against the concept of beef. it was a bit of a reaction against how they felt constantly misinterpreted by fans and media, as well as essentially being quite contrarian about being incessantly called 'boring' all the time... and a fuck you to valentino and his supporters in the fanbase + media specifically by having things be more civil between the three of them than they had been in times past (plus how they rejected any sort of hard riding). all this means marc has the misfortune to run into versions of the aliens who are actually very much trying not to start feuds. I mean, even valentino wasn't really out to start feuds, it just sort of ended up happening... it's way harder to start a feud with 2013!jorge than it is with 2008!jorge - and the two major jorge feuds that still flare up past 2013 are one where there's already significant history (like, say, jorge thinking dovi was already attempting to 'undermine his morale' when they were both teenagers)

the other situational factor is the time marc has spent in the competitive wilderness. marc was 27 when his arm injury happened. as a point of comparison, that's the age valentino was in 2006 - by which point he has had two major feuds plus a couple more minor ones. in a way, right, you can say marc wasn't doing that badly at that stage... marc is now 31, aka valentino's age in 2010. by then, valentino had added two more major feuds to his collection; he's quite productive in his late twenties you have to say. but marc obviously hasn't been in a situation where he's going to be getting embroiled in great rivalries... the only title he'd been fighting for before this year was champion of crashes. you're less likely to start feuds when you're in the competitive wilderness - there's just not any point and marc quite frankly had better things to worry about. the thing about 2019 is that at the time, people did feel like marc might have been setting up some juicy rivalries... the most common names talked about back then were rinsy and especially fabio. now, as it turned out, rinsy was outshone by his teammate in the one year suzuki was in the title fight, so that probably wouldn't have become a big thing regardless of marc's situation - but fabio... well, I don't know if I think marc would've started feuding with him necessarily, but you'd at least hope for some flavour of interesting rivalry. admittedly, you were giving marc a bit of an unfairly difficult task here, given the age gap equivalent rival for valentino is casey. again, look me in the eyes and tell me you think fabio quartararo isn't harder to start a feud with than casey stoner. starting a feud with casey is easy mode. give me fifteen minutes trapped with him in a conveniently broken lift and I bet you I could make him my lifelong enemy

still, crucially we never got to see that play out. and without the injury, marc would've already had several years to fight pecco and even jorge martin on equal-ish terms, which again just isn't an opportunity he's had until this year. those were some of his prime feud-starting years stolen from him... though also, speaking of casey vs fabio - I mean, that's the other thing, isn't it. whether you want to blame it on this generation of rider personalities or overly professionalised upbringing or the social media climate or whatever, the general willingness to feud with other riders has massively declined in the paddock. even insulting your fellow riders is pretty rare. casey thought the media and fans were too harsh to him back in the day, to put it mildly, but in a lot of ways it'd be far worse for him now. (incidentally, y'know the whole mir apologising to marc thing - can you imagine casey doing that? the correct answer is no, obviously not, how is that even a question, are you insane.) and even that generation was seen as a milder assortment of characters than valentino's lot, who in turn were at times considered oddly friendly by the guys who came before them. there are no max biaggi's in today's motogp. sete failing to threaten to punch valentino after jerez 2005 was considered disappointingly polite by a lot of the media. It Was A Different Time. it's not just that marc's feud rate is flagging - it's the case for everyone, which is how you get acosta offering to try and spice things up between the current title contenders. marc does need someone to feud with, and it doesn't help if they're all being so awfully conflict-averse

so, that's the marc defence case. marc just hasn't had enough plausible opportunities to start proper feuds, and you can't really judge him by how situational factors keep conspiring against him on that front. now, I think that is probably the main reason why it's been quite so dire for him... but still, it's also not quite satisfying to pretend like marc and valentino are quite literally identical in that regard, that they would have ended up with exactly the same profile of feuds in each other's positions. admittedly I don't really believe valentino would have had a radically different number of feuds in marc's career timeline... jorge is if anything the most proactive of the lot, often not even really needing much competitive justification to escalate a feud. still, you do suspect that there are differences in marc's approach that would always make him a little less likely to come up with these high quality feuds. one factor is motivation - valentino generally needs to get more creative in order to motivate himself to win than marc does, cf how much more flighty he gets when things are going well for him. valentino has long had a reputation for using his rivals to motivate himself, building them up as enemies and so on. there's rivals for which this is more the case than others, and it's a bit more complicated than that... but in general, valentino really benefits from these feuds, and is more reliant on them than marc is. marc can also use his rivals to motivate himself, cf 'his record at misano'. the most egregious example is 2019, where he comes in off the back of two back-to-back last lap defeats, hops onto the rear tyres of the yamaha's for much of that weekend until eventually he has that spat with valentino in qualifying that conveniently gives him the fire to reverse the recent trend and snatch victory away from poor fabio on the last lap. that's probably the most proactive he's been about it, and it's the kind of enterprising spirit I'm always happy to see in my riders. but in general... he does also just seem pretty content to reel off victories without any added source of motivation. valentino needs to jump through a few more hoops to get himself going, which happen to be very feud-inducing hoops. marc is far more capable of showing up and just doing the business

there's a related factor here that's a bit more nebulous and it's just... how they go about winning, both races and titles. now, okay, obviously they're both aggressive riders - marc notably so for the entirety of his career, while valentino got more aggressive after leaving honda and having to compensate for a bike disadvantage (having already been a menace in the lower classes). generally marc is the more aggressive rider, with valentino a little happier to pick and choose his moments and only escalating when he really feels he has to. similar peaks, lower baseline of aggression. that being said, valentino relied on one-on-one duels a lot more in winning his titles than marc did. marc's biggest strengths in winning his titles was a consistent and relentless pace advantage over the opposition, where he was able to score higher on his bad days than they were on theirs. his wins were generally more likely to be dominant than valentino's were (though it is admittedly quite hard to tell at times whether valentino was really riding anywhere close to 100% in his honda days) - and the momentum swings in his title fights tend to be because his opponents had made errors. valentino kinda needed the 1 vs 1 thing to be clicking for him to win his titles, because that's what his whole game is built on. 2004 plays out completely differently if valentino doesn't win any number of close duels - obviously welkom, but perhaps even more importantly the mugello/catalunya/assen stretch of the season he entered with a points deficit and left the new championship leader (with his relationship with sete rather worse for wear to boot). 2008 is obviously the poster child for this, as to a slighter lesser extent is 2009, which has been covered elsewhere on this blog and will be again in the near future... marc, by contrast, kinda thrives on losing close duels against his title rivals that are worrying to them because he was so close to victory at his weaker tracks. you can cite various mugello and austria and qatar races here... again, has been discussed elsewhere, but the point is that it's just a bigger part of valentino's game than it is for marc. and if so much in terms of stakes and championship momentum is attached to these single races... well, that's actually pretty much the perfect trigger point for starting feuds. by the latter half of his prime, marc kinda knew he could get away with losing some of these fights, especially against dovi (vs how he allegedly was 'angry' after the rins defeat and really relished the triumphalism of beating poor sweet fabio). valentino could extremely not afford to lose some of these duels if he wanted to win the title, and often ended up souring his relationships with his competitors in the process of winning. again, laguna 2008 is the poster child here - valentino's behaviour in this race is far more significant in determining that relationship's trajectory than him being 'mildly chilly' towards casey for the preceding one and a half years

the last factor kinda feels like the most obvious one: valentino often was just more proactive in his shit stirring, especially off-track. marc tends to do a lot of his psychological warfare on the track, which is discussed in more detail in the mind games post but is obviously reflected in stuff like stalking specific riders endlessly in practise and qualifying. valentino does plenty of on-track psychological warfare and he certainly wasn't averse to the odd towing shenanigans (just ask casey), but he was also more prepared to just fire a few shots in the media. he's capable of more subtlety than he's sometimes given credit for, had a pretty good feel for escalation... which can actually be quite frustrating, because at times you have to take his rivals at their word when they say he was being mean about them in the media - not always easy to find actual examples of that! he'd also get creative about how to exert pressure on his rivals - for which one of the more obvious examples would be getting proxies like his crew chief jb to do the mudslinging on his behalf. still, it shouldn't be too controversial to say he's more likely to attack his rivals directly in the media than marc is - who ramps up the subtlety all the way and usually just gestures vaguely in the direction of saying something that could be a snide remark... but isn't really direct enough to actually be a clear attack. now, if you set baby casey or baby jorge on the case, notoriously sensitive characters that they were, there'd still be a decent chance they take offence at the sort of thing marc says about his rivals... but as it stands, marc clearly prefers this less obvious approach, and this current lot isn't going to call him out on it. and yes, obviously sepang 2015 and the repercussions thereof will have strengthened marc's conservatism in this regard, a wish to avoid any further drama paired with a desire to show that valentino was the problem in that particular rivalry by avoiding any further feuds. and if marc's less likely to be proactive in media mudslinging and is also less likely to find himself in the sort of race that burns interpersonal relationships... well, it's not surprising he'd be less predisposed to feuds, is it

there's some other stuff we could bring in here, like valentino's tendency to play an active role in narrativising his career that fortunately just happens to also makes feuds more likely (topic for another post currently in the drafts). you could talk about how marc is less sensitive than jorge or especially casey, how he's more likely to brush off criticisms and then commit himself to on-track revenge. how he has a lot of low level beef with other riders that has just never quite been given the space or opportunity to grow into a proper feud. how jorge is more impulsive and is likelier to start fights immediately in response to a perceived slight, versus marc who is far likelier to bottle things up. in general, though, I still put most of the blame on circumstance. while valentino is definitely the frontrunner in the feuding department, there's no single correct way to go about starting your feuds - and jorge, for instance, has really showcased an alternative approach that can also yield some very positive results. marc should have been given more opportunities to figure out his own way to start up multiple narratively complex rivalries/feuds. he has some traits that are well-suited to a strong profile of rivalries and feuds, from his on-track aggression to his tendency to play games in the media to his ruthlessness to his ability to take defeats personally and feel threatened by rivals. the towing thing. his behaviour as a teammate. how uncompromising his approach towards riding is. there's a lot of strong stuff there, it just hasn't been given the chance to shine as much as you'd like

all that being said... he still has time! there's no reason to believe next year won't give us what we hope for in that regard, as long as that's a reasonably competitive title fight. and I don't think it'd be fair to pecco and marc to attribute any heated rivalry between them completely or even mostly on valentino - they have enough reasons unrelated to him to desperately want to beat each other. if anything, the valentino factor is unfortunately more likely to make them both a bit more restrained in that regard, wary of the drama of it all... but here's hoping! and they've already built up a bit of history now, some significant on-track encounters - I'd say that in an ideal world they've done more than enough prep work for them to get to feud territory next year. the other obvious name is pedro, a charmingly genre aware child with what a rather pronounced scepticism towards marc specifically, who feels like he would not only be up for a feud with marc but has quite possibly already game-planned what that feud would look like. hey, you never know, maybe I will successfully barter away my soul to finally make yamaha competitive again... let's see if we can try to get that depressed frenchie interested in some proper rivalries once he's back in the game. hopefully, marc still has a few competitive years ahead of him - and hopefully, he'll also get some help from the other side to get something narratively compelling going. I believe in him! remember, valentino pissed away two entire years in his early thirties but still managed to start his most long-lasting and emotionally devastating feud at the age of 36. isn't that inspiring? it's never too late to burn bridges. I for one hope marc still has something rancid in store for us

[exeggcute]

after much contemplation I think I might just be a fanfiction centrist. in the sense that I think 99% of it is not good, and 90% of it is outright bad, and that's okay because it's by definition a form of non-professional hobby writing and therefore it's just not fair or useful to compare it to professionally published fiction, and also it's something I continue to have fun writing despite my advanced age (joke), but also also in spite of all those qualifiers I find 99% of it unreadable even when people vouch for the quality of a particular fic. and like to be fair I'm also insanely picky about the short stories in big fancy magazines so part of it is just me being a certain way

but man. when you get the recommendation that something is "so good" and the writing is "novel-level quality," and then it's not even airport book-level quality... I don't even hold it against the fic (because, again, non-professional hobby writing) so much as like. someone read this and thought it was indistinguishable from a solidly B-tier novel? do people really not notice the difference at all?? does no one but me appreciate the steady yet firm hand of a skillful editor???

and then if the prose is fine-to-good there's still like a 50/50 chance that the characterization and dialogue are gonna be dogshit. which is a truly un-ignorable misstep no matter how many flourishes you wrap it in. but it's okay. when I need a little story before bed I can just read a wikipedia page about a scary animal

[dailykafka]

Do you think that Franz, if he lived long enough, would been lobotomized?

He was a man silly, that's for wo—

Ok but seriously, I don't think so because his mental illness wasn't that severe like he was a functioning human, had sharp cognitive abilities etc. I'm not sure what would qualify him for lobotomy because I think they were more reluctant to perform the surgery on adult men (who didn't exhibit extreme cases of mental illnesses). Also the high chance of losing his mental capabilities (cognitive skills) would definitely steer Kafka away from lobotomy. He would say something like 'I would rather suffer in my thoughts than lose the ability to think and write"

[iamsonny-j]

This was originally going to be in reply to @glowinggreeneyes-e post about the Captain's education and career path...but then I got carried away because I'm so normal about this stuff so it's now its own post...with added angst because I have no control over any of this, my brain just goes.

So for a start the Captain would have gone to a public boarding school. I think it's worth pointing out that public schools and universities operated scholarships for students from less wealthy backgrounds. We're still talking middle class and upper middle, but not always full on wealthy and privileged in the way of someone like Julian. Cap strikes me as having the background of a family well enough off but he probably always had to work hard to prove himself for his place, maybe not so much for public school but definitely for university.

Whatever school he attended would have had an Officer Training Corps junior division. Basically cadets. This would lead to the possibility to do an exam (written and practical) to get what was called certificate A to show he had participated in the OTC.

From the Button House Archives it says Cap got to the front in WW1 at armistice and so never saw action. So I imagine he finished his studies at school in the summer, enlisted and completed basic training, and then was out to Europe just in time for things to end. Because he got his certificate A at school he had the option at university to join the OTC university division. This was a route to becoming a commissioned officer. You either needed certificate A or experience in the ranks to join. For the sake of argument, serving in the army for a couple of months wouldn't count as experience so he must have had the certificate A...

University options at that time were limited to Oxbridge, Durham or London. All of those had OTC. I think London can be ruled out...only because it was busy, loud and ugly, even then (sorry London friends!) and the Captain likes wildlife and the countryside and nature walks...I can't see him thriving in London.

Training with the OTC at university involved physical training, military strategy, history and law etc. The Captain would have had to complete 2 years training before he could have done exams for his Certificate B - practical and written. Passing the exams would have entitled him to a commission on graduation. Getting Certificate B wasn't common because of the amount of work involved and dedication required to be successful. It was hard!

Like I want to point out that to get that far would have required so much effort and dedication right from being a child. And this is where I will get sad and headcanon-y for a bit (let me have this one thing out of all this research!)

Bullying and abusive rituals were a big part of public school life at this time and any boy seen as even slightly different would have been targeted for sure, even by some of the teachers. So although Cap comes across as clever and capable at what he knows I think school would have been socially really freaking hard. For a child in that situation I could see the OTC being a respite and something the Captain would have found very comforting with the set rules, order and expectations and from there you can understand why career army would have been appealing...

And I think that's when things get a bit complicated. The army was his life but in a different way to officers who wanted to be on the front line, like Havers. Obviously Cap worked extremely hard for his commission - and he was obviously very well qualified and knowledgable in his areas of interest, but he was always ever going to be best at HQ tasks like intelligence or engineering or whatever his particular career skills were - loving the army in theory, but some of it would have always been out of his reach. And I think being in a public school during WW1 and hearing of so many former pupils (some he would have known personally as seniors, prefects or head of houses) losing their lives on a daily basis during WW1 would have had a huge effect on him and probably influenced some of the guilt about not having the opportunity to fight himself, but ultimately I think he probably knew that wasn't his part to play even with WW2.

And I think all that that shows in his interactions we see in his past as CO - he was obviously doing a good job at whatever secret little operations he had but he really didn't have the skills/personality needed to be a CO. Having someone like Havers as a second hid that (and that's also seen in Havers getting 2 promotions in 4 years...he was much more of a natural CO) and I wonder if a lot of affection that Cap had for Havers originally came from the fact that Havers not only respected him as CO but he was also just kind to him and saw a person worthy of affection - rather than the CO that everyone tolerated but secretly disrespected and laughed at (just look at how all the other officers couldn't wait to come down on him in 5.05)

And then he lost Havers. But still had to command up to 150 men and operations at Button House for the next 4 years. And it's obvious from the letters and information in the Button House Archives that he really REALLY did try and I think with considering everything it's no wonder he overcompensates a lot and that's where he's at in the first couple of seasons of Ghosts; fighting for authority and trying to do his best.

Last sad point because it does relate: When he died Havers gave Cap the swagger stick to hold - Havers still called him 'Sir' even though he outranked him at that point. I don't know if I can begin to unpick all of that, but there's definitely something in there about respect, belief and the burden of responsibility that he clearly took seriously into his afterlife not wanting to let Havers down both personally and professionally.

If you read all of this I love you and respect you and appreciate you for appreciating my level of not normal xD

[tornoleander]

Wow, you're the beta reader for bbnb? I didn't know that. (So you can confirm that Hat is infact not dead because I haven't seen any activity from them in a while and my brain always jumps to worst case scenarios)

Anyway, definitely didn't forget to respond for like a week, but here are some of my theories/scenarios:

-I still think Cole's the one who'll remember bits and pieces because A. He's a ghost B. Hat used he/him when talking about who will remember and C. It would be incredibly emotionaly impactful

-HOWEVER, I think Pixal could also remember some stuff. None of the emotional stuff but she did technically die when Nadakhan erased her. Besides, it could be fun to see her try to let Jay or Nya know she remembers while still stuck to Zane.

-also Zane's falcon died but he was never mentioned in this fic so 😔

-Jay DEFINITELY has c-ptsd. Like, 100%, I'm sure the nurse/psychologist whose name I forgor would agree with me

-I'm pretty sure Wu just died by some falling island or something like that. Or he could've died by the storm, that would be cool.

-I know he said that swearing is a sign of weak verbal skills but I feel like Jay would start swearing more for comfort. Like, Nadakhan hated it but never truly did anything horrible to him because of it :)

most of the scenarios in my head play out with the ninja being captured again

-for example, Jay using his internal electricity to shock someone when they all have vengestone

-or them getting tazed and Jay sending the current back like he did in the electric chair

-or they're all traped and saying shit like "there's no other option" or something and Jay replying with "suicide's still an option" like that's a normal thing to say which obviously worries the others

And then there's the non captured scenarios

-something something Jay falling into autopilot after being told/asked to clean to ship and ends up also cleaning the hull "Why are you cleaning the bottom? We're in the air and you're not even tied to anything???" ".... trauma response?"

-or just straight up Jay having a panic attack out of seemingly sowhere (Cole said he wished he could eat cake again)

Anyway, those are the things I could think of right now, there's more but it's 3:39am and I'm tired :3

Hope it's not too long lol

Yep! As of ch 15. Me and hat have been chatting for a while and I bug them for feedback on Art accuracy so I help them with some writing corrections too!

I have been working on beta reading earlier chapters as well currently half way through 4. It is certainly an experience but now I yell my feelings into comment instead of just the void

*reaches through horrific horror to correct spelling mistake.

Yup Hat is alive! They were just fixated on something else for a while but they are back.

Ok now for scenarios

-Cole remembering bits……. I will refrain from giving my thoughts.

-Pixal and Zane’s falcon died pretty early so I do think they may remember up till then but It probably wouldn’t help understand much.

-I don’t think Wu died? But it’s not impossible.

-CPTSD?

I will ask hat about this one but seeing as bbnb events qualify as at least 4/6 of these causes of it AND ptsd is a tag I’m going to give it a yeah. Cause non complex ptsd is typically less prolonged.

-the swearing I do think he might do more but not necessarily for comfort

-For your head scenarios I am not sure all the ways hat is planned show how the events of the fic messed him up. But I know they’re a big fan of consequences for events…

From what I’m guessing he is going to be trying his best to hide everything and it’ll be somewhat canon compliant? But to be fair He is pretty consistently the most mentally unstable ninja. Take This with a big grain of salt I’m saving the analysis for my skybound video, but his behavior does generally line up well with SA surivers. the first time that Jays a prisoner post Skybound is when he says “You don’t argue with a man who’s navel is that close”

Which

Drives me insane by the way

Side tangent, I’ve been doing a lot of Skybound digging for my eventual video essay. And my current best theory on why this is a line has to do with SA of men being played for laughs.

Like older audiences are supposed to hear that and find it fucking funny. It’s unfortunately not uncommon in kids programming. My quest to best explain why S6 is so uncomfortable has been… enlightening. Terrified of approaching a controversial topic so I have been learning a-lot about approach and how to not be awful. But my fixation is being channeled led into the eventual Skybound video.

Hope I answered what you wanted to know and It wasn’t purely my Adhd rambling

[notallangelsaregood]

My thoughts on Spy x Family Chapter 82

Needless to say, (some real serious) manga spoilers alert

Oh, boy, I'm gasping for air. I'm panicking, and I've not panicked this much about Spy x Family since Anya's last hijack incident (which my heart has not recovered yet). Mr. Endo, may you, please, pay my cardiologist bill? I'm not joking, I'm hyperventilating, and my chest is TU DUM, TU DUM.

The mole was discovered! Poor guy (or not, who knows?). I wonder what SSS will do to him. How far will the organization go? I believe we won't even know.

I'm seriously nervous for him. Twillight is used to things getting on his way, with minimum complications and this situation is definitely not it. Of course, he could figure things could go bad, since It's a really risky operation, however, I feel his frustration in not getting much time to secure the real wheeler.

Damn, my heart is not surviving till the end of this chapter.

Our man got ✨ The Skills ✨ Still, all this shooting is getting me pretty nervous. I'm immediately getting my anxiety meds. Endo, what the actual f-

Yeah, Twilight is The Man! Still, my hands are trembling and so is my apprehensive cardiac organ. This is sure to be qualified as torture.

He is quite wise disguising as Yuri. Haha, got it? I'm not okay, Christ.

Damn, Yuri is very intelligent, as well. The brains had to go to one of the Briar's, am I right? (Poor Yor, I love you, It's not personal. Bad comedy is my coping mechanism when I'm nervous. I'm so sorry!)

He is right about that. Twilight is nervous. And I wonder why. Maybe because there's more on this game than before? He is a father. A husband. He worries. He is not the same he was before, as much as he tries to convince himself that he is not attached to his fake family dynamics.

I can clearly imagine his thoughts racing. He's thinking about Anya, about Yor, about WISE, while trying to run and get these thoughts away from him in order to not commit mistakes, like leaving a footprint behind. Just saying.

Oh Yuri, you are so sweet, in a way. And you know absolutely nothing.

The panic™  on his face. Poor Yuri, I'm truly divided right here. See? I'm calmer, not panicking at all, this is certainly my clonazepam working.

Quick (but important) writer's note here, I'm actually diagnosed with intense anxiety and use prescribed medication, I joke about it, cause It's better to laugh than cry on the reality of my condition, however, never use anxiolytic/benzodiazepines drugs without valid prescription and conscience, it might cause long-term dependency and tolerance. My Pharmacy academic self felt the need to point this out. Moving on!

By the way, have you noticed the "waver"? Twilight is hesitating, deeply, which makes him more prone to aiming wrong. Haha, ha… I'm okay, I swear 😰

...

HOW THE FLOOF AM I SUPPOSED TO BE CHILL AFTER THIS, HUH?

Okay, two theories. I'm okay, I swear, my blood pressure is just fine.

Theory number 1. Twilight gets Yuri shot on some of his limbs, probably one of his legs, so our spy can buy time, run to encounter the others Wise's agents and hide. Gladly, he can aim just on the spot when no much damage is made to Yuri, even though the spy is extremely nervous. Twillight was totally not expecting to find him on that corner, and he knows that doing something so serious like UNALIVING HER WIFE'S BROTHER will tear her apart. Why else he would waver? He is the best spy of Westalis. He doesn't hesitate, but this is different.

Theory number 2. Which I believe is less likely, but still possible, Yuri gets our incredible Spy shot on some area of his body where the disguise falls off, and he realizes Twillight and Loid are the same person, but he does nothing about it, at least not for a while. Making him and the spy share this major secret for a while, due to numerous reasons, but mainly to protect Yor and take her out of her position as Loid's wife safely. But as I said, I find unlikely to Yuri shoot TwiTwi, even though the latter is quite nervous and might not dodge the shot. Besides the fact Loid has his arm aimed at Yuri first, while Yuri has his arm sideways, which gives Twilight an advantage in time.

Be sure to talk to me in the comments, I would love to hear what you guys think. Moving on to the last past of the chapter.

Lady Yor! Our grownup baby! She is still with the same outfit and hair down, so I assume it's late at night or afternoon, maybe Anya is already home or at a sleepover with Becky? Not sure.

Our poor girl is nervous due to Yuri filling her thoughts with the possibility of Loid cheating (which is dumb as floof, because he is a loyal boy) but still, even sober, Yor is worried. She cares about this family so much it probably hurts and confuses her. Her face on the left gave me chills, so much is going through her mind, almost if she senses something is wrong.

So. Much. Blood. I'm. Nervous. I. Can't. Breath. Properly. What. Was. This? Whose blood is this? (Not Yor's, I assume). I always count the days till the next chapter, but for this one, I'll be in severe mental pain until its release date. My mind racing like Yor's, wondering if Loid will come home late or come home at all.

I keep imagining scenarios where one of the boys gets shoot and the aftermath of that, Loid or Yuri at the hospital or being held by their organizations in order to get intel from them, Yor drying with worry, there are so many possibilities. This arc has been the most intense so far, for me, at least. I don't know how I will cope till June 26th.

What do you guys thinking? If my heart survived until now, yours will! Make sure to like, reblog and support my work here on Tumblr, I really appreciate it. Now I will rest, cause that chapter was (hell) difficult 🌹 (this post will be reviewed soon, so if you encounter any grammar or spelling mistakes, forgive my bilingual mess self)

[bambi-kinos]

This is just speculation, and your own speculation is very interesting too, but I definitely think Paul McCartney is autistic. I come from a family with a lot of different presentations of autism, and he reminds me of my brother like crazy.

To me, a lot of his more successful social skills come from just being very extroverted and a people pleaser, i.e. he got really good at figuring out how to get positive responses from people in most normal social interactions. To me, the biggest tell is how he handles situations where his wants directly conflict with someone else's: He just completely shuts down and acts like he didn't hear them. That's like. 100% in line with the more socially savvy autistic people in my life (including me to some extent lol). I also don't think he's as good at reading people as you seem to think (this is just a difference in interpretation, not trying to say you're wrong!) I just think he knows what generally makes people happy, and sticks with that mostly, often to the detriment of nuance when it comes to people like, say, George.

I am hesitant to commit to Paul being possibly autistic because I am personally allistic. If I tried to essay about that then I would at best say something stupid and at worst say something bigoted. I am dating an autistic NB but that made me aware of how much I don't know about being autistic and being trans so I tend to back off from those topics. I feel relatively confident about Paul because I've had so many friends who autistic in nerd spaces like this one. Paul doesn't remind me of them. I tend to gravitate to autistic people anyway because autistic people don't mind me being blunt so I have more experience than the average person. But ultimately I just can't bring myself to commit to Paul having full blown autism because I'm not qualified to make a judgment like that. I have to commit to what I know. I trample on a lot of people just in my day to day, I don't want to add autistic fans to that list because they go through enough shit irl, I don't want to add to it on this platform. I am not able to make posts saying "autism Paul thinks this way" or "he does this because autism does that." I don't want to make hurtful pronouncements like that.

My interpretation stems from the idea that Paul is heavily self interested. I don't see much of a people pleasing element to him at all or else George wouldn't have made the "pleasantly insincere" comment about him. I think Paul is much more about camouflage and smoothing things over so he, John, and The Beatles (in that order) can have an easier go of things. The newspaper maneuver always reads as a "I'm pointedly ignoring you to make you feel bad about speaking that way to me" to me.

Otoh I'd really love more interpretations of Paul as autistic provided it was autistic fans making them. (I want authenticity not other allistic fans meaning well and getting it wrong like with the Rosie books.) Part of the mismatch here is that the gulf between allistic and autistic people is narrow but deep and communicating across it is hard.

Like in Ghostbusters fandom the character Egon Spengler has been retroactively recognized as autistic because Dan Akyrod got his autism diagnosis as an adult which then influenced the creation of the character Phoebe who is heavily autism coded. That's cool but what's happened in Ghostbusters fandom is that Egon is infantilized quite a bit which runs against his actual character in the original movie. And I have to think that it is because of the gap between allistic and autistic fans that this happens.

Tl;dr anyone can and should believe in autism Paul, my only thing is that it needs to come from an autistic fan because I don't believe in an allistic fan's ability to understand and portray it well, including myself.

[thatpodcastkid]

Magnus Archives Relisten 1, MAG 1

Very excited to begin this project! I will be updating Saturdays and Mondays, so feel free to listen along and let me know what you are thinking. I will be discussing each episode within the larger context of the show, so spoilers ahead!

I am starting with MAG 1, Angler Fish.

Oh, how I missed that cello intro.

Facts: Statement of Nathan Watts, April 22nd, 2012, taking place in Old Fish Market Close, Edinburgh. I want to keep track of statement times and places so that we could get some semblance of a timeline.

Character Notes: I forgot how autobiographical Jon gets in this first episode. He spends the first ten minutes just describing the archive, how he came to work there, and who he is. If he was just attempting to catalogue the stamens, this seems unnecessary. But, as we know, he wasn't exactly qualified to be an archivist.

Jon describes himself as a not believing in the supernatural and the archive as where the "dead end cases" end up. It's suspicious that Elias would hire someone who doesn't believe in the supernatural at all to look into the cases with the least evidence, which foreshadows that Jon wasn't hired because of his research or archival skills.

Another part of this episode that I really love is where Jonny puts the listeners focus in terms of character. At the beginning of the episode, Jon kind of glazes over Tim and Sasha to talk about how much he hates Martin, which in turn makes the listener ignore Tim and Sasha to think about Martin. Jonny really draws your attention to what's important there.

Additionally, at the end of the episode, Jonny brings the focus back to Sasha as he describes all the online research and computer-related work she does. So from the get-go, he was showing us how involved she was with the archive and how committed she was to work.

And of course, it wouldn't be TMA without Jon's complete tonal shift from describing to reading the statement. It's such a stark contrast.

Statement Notes: It's been said before, but the fact that the statement that draws Jon in is called "Angler Fish." Especially after hearing how immediately when he starts reading the statement, his voice changes. He is completely absorbed in it from the moment he starts reading. I know we all make fun of the way Jon acts out the statements, but he just can't stop himself. Once the statements start, he's no longer in control. We hear this in his voice from MAG 1, but don't realize how intense it is until Martin has to shake him out of statements in season 5.

It stuck out to me that Nathan was drunk when he met the thing in the alley. This serves as a reason for Jon to dismiss the statement, but I vaguely remember several statement givers being under the influence, which makes me wonder if entities specifically choose to prey on intoxicated people because they have a lower capacity to reason. Maybe because they're more likely to act based on fear than logic?

Entity Alignment: The entities overlap a lot, especially in this episode, so I'm going to share all the entity vibes I got and hear what others think.

Going on imagery alone, there's definitely something to be said about The Dark in this episode. The fact that actual angler fish live in the darkest section of the ocean and the creature refused to let itself be fully seen really bring that fear into this episode. Also, when Sasha reconstructs the photo one of the missing people took of the creature, Jon says it's on a stairwell. I remember the creature on the stairs episode being pretty Dark-aligned, though I doubt they're related.

But, the fact that Nathan and the listener are afraid of the creature because they can't see it and don't know what it is makes me think of The Stranger, too. Nathan says that, "whatever was asking, it wasn't the thing in the alley well," which really reminds me of "I don't even have a voice box." The creature isn't speaking for itself, an unknown voice is coming from an unknown place and it's asking for a cigarette. Nathan also says that when he told people about what he saw, they didn't believe him, only responding with "pity and concern." This is similar to how people would treat those who remembered the people The Stranger replaced: they were treated like they were acting weird and different, when it was the Not!Person. Also, before Watts realizes the thing in the alley isn't human, he calls it "The Stranger."

Yet, the entity I believe is really aligned with this statement, is The Web. With everything from Jon asking for a cigarette before trying to blow up the world, to his spider lighter, to this being the statement that draws him into the archive and leads to him becoming the Archivist, this episode is so reminiscent of Annabelle Cane and her plot (Can you say reminiscent before something happens? Is it just "miniscent"?). There were two things that really got me thinking this was a Spider ep though.

Number one, when the creature disappears, Nathan describes it, "as if a string had gone taut and pulled it back." This really seems like Annabelle or The Web itself had placed the creature there, let it play its part, and then yanked it off stage when it was done.

The second part being the very last line in the show. Sasha, IT god that she is, reconstructs the image of the creature, and a hand is visible in the darkness. Jon, without an ounce of professional distance or feigned objectivity, says, "I find it oddly hard to shake off the impression that it's beckoning." And just- Oh my god. Jon. It's beckoning him. It's calling to him. It's telling him to keep coming back. Telling him to change. To disappear. To become another mystery. It was all planned from day one. He never had a choice but still made all the wrong ones.

Anyway,

Will be posting about MAG 2 on Monday! Please share your thoughts on this episode, hope you enjoyed reading. Also hope that you have a great day, because you deserve it.

[isyourmechrunning]

◊ Good day to you, Vissily. We haven't spoken before; I'm known by callsign Khione. I've been searching this new stage for someone who may be able and willing to lend me assistance with a matter of some... hm. How best to explain.

◊ My mech Sleep for the Freezing is a peculiar design, by mosts measure. She's a horus frame known as the Banshee. She... she's done well by me over the years I've known her. By and large she has taken care of herself, but-

◊ Well, recently I've become independent of my prior contract. For the first time in a long tale, I am caring for her alone. I've become awfully aware of how far I fall short. I find myself struggling to identify what is issue, and what is simply her gentle hum. I would like to do right by her, despite my lacking skills regarding engineering and metalwork

◊ I've seen your excitement for the strange, looking back through the writings you've left. I am hoping you may be able, willing to help me learn how to care for my sweet, strange companion. I would of course be more than happy to compensate for your time, however you see fit.

◊ My priority is simply finding someone who will see the beauty in her oddities. She's very dear to me.

[ Khione // @umbrasnow ]

>>Oh! Hi Khione!! It's very nice to meet you :3

>>I've never worked on a Banshee before!! Honestly, contrary to what a lot of people believe, I don't work on paracausal stuff all that often. I worked on super old school tech and back-compatible IPS-N stuff for the longest time before I came into Union custody, and only then did I start getting into weird stuff. It makes a lot of sense to me, though! People talk about paracausality like it doesn't make any sense, but it does!! Just because it doesn't follow the usual rules doesn't mean there's no rules at all, and those rules tend to be pretty standard across most of the pattern groups.

>>I can definitely help you figure out your frame!! I've been told I'm a pretty good teacher, and I'd like to think I'm pretty qualified on these things. It's really just nice to have someone who cares for their frame this much, since a lot of people I know put their mechs and ships through the wringer just to haul it back to their mechanics like we're miracle workers. Printers can only do so much before it's easier to just print a whole new frame!!!

>>So, long story short, I'll absolutely help you out! You just gotta come to me. I'll send you the planet and the nearest docking port to my location, but I can't really leave where I'm at right now. I can still get visitors, though!! The quarantine isn't really that strict. It'll be very nice to meet new people! Although I will warn you, if Sleep for the Freezing has an NHP in it then it might not like me very much.

>>ALSO!!! For your troubles, let me grab you something from my workshop, uhhh.... HERE! A screw, three bolts, and a big piece of fabric that I think came off a Lich. It kinda phases in and out, seems like it takes whatever it touches with it, I tried to use it on Bughouse Brawl but it wasn't too happy and wherever it took us was cold and hostile BUT safe from bullets.