#bc they won't really know what they're doing even if they understand the role in general

[nonbinaryurianger]

i'm ngl, i'm actually a little sad about ast

[astrologydayz]

ASTROLOGY FUCKING NOTES6❤️🍓🍒

PLUTO CONJUNCT/TRINE/QUINTILE MOON are the ones who’s always two steps ahead of everyone else. They're cunning, daring, & knowing - as in they see right through ya! They always pull through when it comes 2 seeing/knowing people's true intensions! - People may not always believe em fully at first, but they gon learn. Intuitive af really. They analyse&feel everything. EVERYTHING. ASC AT 3, 15, 27° = GEMINI DEGREE Are the ones always talking with/2 themselves fr, I love it😭😂😩😍. They're usually very open, non judgemental, talkative, & have no problems with sharing what's on their mind. They need something to be interesting 2 them, when talking to another person tho, cuz if not = they'll start to have a full blown conversation with themselves inside their head, bc they're bored😂. I've seen many unhealthy mama's boys with Juno conjunct/square their Moon - undying loyalty 2 their mother.

VENUS SQUARE/OPPOSITE/QUINCUNX SATURN can def show a person finding love/dating icky sometimes🥴🤢. They don't get the hype at all, until they're the ones experiencing something mindblowing. And if/when they stop dating (again?) = back 2 finding love icky again😂😂.

WEBB ASTEROID - 3041 CONJUNCT/SQUARE PREVERT ASTEROID - 18624 = issues with being a big pervert online - they can't help themselves. SUN SQUARE/QUINCUNX ASC can also show up as a person having no "true" role model in life, when it comes to men. Their dad can be a deadbeat/or they just don't talk a lot. And if/when they do talk = their dad could be trying 2 undermine/bully them a lot. "Father not fathering", "shattered image of what a father is", "daddy issues", being, or feeling fatherless.

URANUS SQUARE/OPPOSITE/QUINCUNX MOON people are the ones that can become emotionally detached all of a sudden - they don't even know why themselves a lot of the times. They can feel on and off emotionally, & think that nobody will ever be able to fully understand them emotionally. They're eccentric - They always get new ideas - disappearing for a while, and then coming back. They sometimes get themselves caught up into something exciting, and can completely forget 2 get back 2 who they planned 2 get back2, or forget to do what they planned 2 do.

MOON SQUARE/OPPOSITE MARS people are def the ones who loves trying people at times, even if it's just for the fun of it. They really give no fucks, it all depends on their mood fr. Queens/kings of passive aggressiveness, & usually issues with controlling their anger2. They always give the exact same energy back that they receive, just twice as hard. They won't bow down ever, no matter what. Pride is usually a big thing here. Can go from 0 to 100 real quick - quick reflexes also shows up a lot here.

VENUS CONJUNCT/SQUARE/QUINCUNX MENTOR ASTEROID - 3451 IN SYNASTRY = Asteroid person is the one teaching the Venus person, basically what love really is, by treating the Venus person 2 the exact opposite. Mentor person usually gives very hard lessons to Venus, so that the Venus person can find out what they truly NEED, & want when it comes to love. Not a fun aspect, but it's CRUCIAL 2 Venus person's growth here.

Something I've seen for years = if two people have a child together, & the child lives with the mother, & the dad pays the mom child support = Dad's Mony asteroid - 7782 conjunct/trine/quintile the Moon of the mother!

SUN CONJUNCT WILD ASTEROID - 1941 IN SYNASTRY = two people who usually starts their relationships - whatever kind of relationship that is, in a wild/crazy way - a wild situation that brings them together. Wild person is the one "dragging" the other person into it/or the wild person is the reason for this "situation"/relationship 2 be happening. Their relationship could also ofc just be "wild" in general, bc of the Wild person. VENUS CONJUNCT WILD ASTEROID - 1941 IN SYNASTRY = The wild person is the one bringing the "spice" into the relationship. Venus person loves how crazy, & wild the asteroid person can get! & they absolutely ADORE how the Wild person can be themselves with them unapologetically - Wild is in love with how the Venus person never turns their ideas down, but are usually equally into/excited about their requests/ideas! MERCURY CONJUNCT MEMORIA ASTEROID - 1247 IN SYNASTRY = Mercury person's voice/words going over, & over in the asteroid person's head. Can also show up as messages from Mercury person being saved & read over, & over again on the asteroids person's part. Voice messages from the Mercury person could also be heard over, & over again here.

URANUS CONJUNCT CLOSE ASTEROID - 54902 IN SYNASTRY = unexpected/sudden closeness from the "close" person 2 the Uranus person. Asteroid person didn't expect, like at all 2 suddenly relate, & start2 feel close 2 the Uranus person. "Shocked", "unexpected, "outta nowhere".

IXION ASTEROID - 28978 ASPECTING VENUS = An affinity for badboys/badgirls/criminals. Soft heart for those who are misunderstood - falling in love with "outcasts" of society. Or they can love being an outcast themselves, ofc.

IXION ASTEROID - 28978 CONJUNCT/SQUARE MC = Known/famous for being a troublemaker, "outcast", "someone that messes things up for themselves", a "bad boy/bad girl", known for being a criminal. SUN CONJUNCT KASSANDRA ASTEROID - 114 = a person being phenomenal at being right about their "predictions" in life. As in them knowing they're right in certain outcomes when it comes 2situations/people, but no one believes them - "Story of their life".

VENUS SQUARE/OPPOSITE/QUINCUNX AMOR ASTEROID - 1221 are the ones sacrificing themselves, to make others/their partner/s happy. They give way 2 much of themselves, at first - Until they learn the hard way, that there has to be an equal give, & take in any kind of relationship. &that their needs, &wants are just as important as others/their partner's. Hard lessons, but they're important.

BLACK MOON LILITH CONJUNCT/SQUARE/QUINCUNX JUPITER people lives life by their own rules. They have their own unique "religion", &morals that they go by. They truly follow no one in life, but themselves.

THANKS4READING BABE!!! I APPRECIATE U, ALWAYS🍒❤️

[ruegarding]

Hey, quick question if you don't mind me asking, what were your thoughts on Chalice of the Gods?

overall, i wish rick stopped at toa like he said he was going to. the more rick adds, the more the world-building suffers as a result. that being said, i didn't completely hate cotg like i thought i would. there's a few good moments, but, in general, it reads like a cash-grab.

let's start with the good. percy has some of the most in-character moments he's had in the universe since pjo.

percy's confrontation w geras was so good that i actually wish this was part of percy's character arc in hoo. percy spent almost all of pjo knowing he was going to die—he saw the fates cut the string in tlt and in som he put together what the prophecy meant: he was going to die either at or before 16. and this is exactly why this confrontation works and why i think it's better than new rome. new rome can protect a demigod from monsters, not from fate. percy wasn't scared of monsters. if he was, he would've stayed at chb year-round.

and i really like that geras was willing to entertain percy bc he had turned down godhood. like the first time percy ever thinks abt immortality seriously (in botl) this is what he has to say:

so immortality is fundamentally at odds w percy's character bc he defines himself so thoroughly w the ppl he loves. and this is exactly what allows him to get through to geras! it's such a good exploration of percy's character and the future he's now able to consider.

similarly, this section

is more in-character than almost all of hoo. this is a prime example of how percy's loyalty works and addresses how it's misconstrued in fandom. percy has a desire for freedom, and that desire informs how he respects ppl. percy's loyalty isn't a possessive "i won't let you do this" bc he will, he will always let someone make their own choice at the end of the day bc it's what he would want. and this was actually established in tlt, when sally says "you're enough like me to understand" and asks percy to let her save herself. so percy lets bianca fight talus, he lets nico walk away, he gives luke the knife, he lets ganymede choose his own story, even when he disagrees w it. and this is why percy's arc in hoo sucked! rick tried to give percy the typical hero complex, but it's contradictory w percy's character. so when i saw this passage i was so relieved. i thought this part of percy died w pjo.

also, to talk abt someone other than percy, this moment

is good. i love this abt annabeth.

and grover saying the hardest thing is sitting by and not being able to do anything. bc grover is usually in a support role and he wasn't there at all in hoo. i also like that percy is confronted w the fact that he's not expendable. thumbs up from me.

the bad...i'm just going to keep short bullet points.

what even is this plot

it doesn't work as part of pjo and yet it's marketed as the sixth book in the series

why is zeus a disney villain. i hate everything abt it

the inconsistencies...annabeth's cap...why are we continuing to treat percy like he's disinterested in learning??? also. what do you mean you're not allowed at camp after you turn 18? WHAT DO YOU MEAN????? this was not a thing. and wasn't rhea in hiding or something?? now she's casually having brunch?

there's too much "percy is the stupid bf and annabeth is the competent gf who takes care of him." i hated every second of this. also annabeth is disabled. her being intelligent does not remove her disability. she struggles.

i rbed that post abt disaster cook annabeth and good cook percy and i stand by that.

the power monologue makes no damn sense (and another addition by op in the tags)

no seriously i'm begging someone to have a real conversation and understand percy is terrified of how powerful he is. i've been waiting for this since botl. WHICH WAS PUBLISHED IN 2008 BTW

i'm not a huge estelle or paul fan. like they're fine they're just not compelling.

the only time i feel sally and percy have the same connection as they had in tlt is when they're alone. this is a problem i've had for a while, but cotg does not fix it. when paul and annabeth are in the equation, it feels like percy is the outsider.

in summary, cotg is like a fanfic i would leave kudos for being a good percy character study despite having questionable moments. except it's canon. and these questionable things affect the world-building.

[andrea-lyn]

I know so many people have shared their own sentiment about the watcher situation and I'm basically jumping into an overfilled pool, but I literally can't stop thinking about this one from the business side of things, so pls have some ramblings. behind a cut bc boy did this get long

All of this is just armchair observations as someone who's been in marketing, optimization, and had my fair share of budget-strapped projects over the years, and who is currently working on strategies to drive growth via marketing:

If it's purely about money - before any of this, they should have exhausted their existing options. Maybe hire a dedicated marketing person to develop a growth and content strategy around Patreon to drive value. Beyond that, use that marketing person to drive awareness campaigns to get people to Patreon with a goal to 5x your Patron count, because there was definitely untapped potential there

If it's about content - every artist has their right to make what they want, but when you start asking people to pay for it, now you have to do your research. Do a survey with a substantive response rate to understand if people even want the shows that you want to produce. Again, you have a right as an artist to produce what you want, but asking your fanbase to pay for things that they don't want is a lot. This is when you need sponsorship help (or seed money and tbh, I'm not ruling out that they don't have some of that behind the scenes). I saw a comment that summed it up really well that when Buzzfeed was paying for Worth It, there was a small thrill of seeing them spend a company's money, but now it's the subscribers money. At that point, if you actually want to be marketable and successful, you need a pulse on what people are willing to pay for vs want for free. If you're spending all your money on high production values for shows that maybe 10% of your audience want, it's wasted resources

I won't speak to the staffing levels because there's likely a lot of nuance there, but I will say that there are probably workflow and resource improvements that could've been done to at least make the staff levels more efficient. This comes down to someone in a process role, which might have been done! Obviously I don't have a peek under the hood and I know they've discussed restructuring before, but this is a matter of scale and goes back to the second point -- there's a lot of 'if we build it, they will come' mentality here, but again, if you're not building what they want ... no, they won't, especially when Dropout and Netflix and Disney+ and other subscribers are building right beside you.

If they were dead-set on this, then should have hired a marketing/PR person to plan this launch for them. Dropout, anecdotally, is an example I go back to. I still remember seeing the stings at the end of videos about it and I remember going 'hey, I'm not going to pay for that' for years. But they were deliberate in their strategy of posting content, they didn't immediately shove behind the paywall, and they built up a catalogue with content that it did then make sense to pay (and a reasonable rate for the value!). The abrupt launch without a content plan to communicate value was an odd choice. I also think that survey I mentioned before should have delved into willingness to pay so they could actually understand where the ceiling kicks in and where no matter how much people want to pay that might not match up with what they're willing to. You'd get your average price there and then you could realistically do a workback schedule to understand the content you can produce, which could have then be used to create a content pipeline

Honestly, I think it all comes down to them wanting to pursue their dreams and more power to them. I love that they have a mission statement to make television quality videos -- but here's the thing, you have an existing audience and given the reaction, it's becoming clear that your mission statement and your audience's core wants of your product don't align, which means that something has to get sacrificed ...and unfortunately, in this case, I think it's the goodwill of a large portion of the audience that gets the knife because I really don't think this one's getting walked back

Like I said earlier, I do have some suspicions that maybe there's seed money or financial backing in this from investors (they solicited this in the past), but they've lacked a clear strategy around growth and marketing to buffer their finances in the past and it doesn't fill me with a lot of optimism that things will change because they're behind a paywall. For those who intend to subscribe, I think it's great and I think that it proves that yes, there is going to be an audience for them -- it's just always a question of numbers and whether that audience is their target to break even. I had suspicions their big announcement was this and I was honestly planning to subscribe too until I saw the price point and the lack of future scheduling news. Unfortunately, given the amount of subscriptions I already have, it didn't make sense, but if it were cheaper and there was a more robust content plan, I probably would be there too.

[thegeminisage]

star trek update time! sunday we did voy's "course: oblivion" and "the fight," and last night we did voy's "think tank" and ds9's "penumbra."

course: oblivion (voy):

this one fucking sucked ass

ok, initially, it's pretty exciting, because that demon planet episode was cool, so a sequel is cool! i even like tom and b'elanna's wedding despite thinking she could do way better. and the plot twist was even fun. like, weird, but it's scifi

what i don't understand is the back half of this episode being watching them all die horrible, pointless deaths. like, they're sentient now, yay! they get to go back to nonexistence slowly and painfully and DON'T EVEN. GET TO SEND OUT A PROBE

like, it would have all been worth it if the probe had worked. it would have meant something if they could pass on their experiences or knowledge or helped the real voyager in some way it might have even been better if someone on voyager had realized what the debris was and had a picard-like moment where they were all oh thots and prayers for those guys lol

but instead we got absolutely nothing, which begs the question of why we wrote and shot it

i guess one could argue that they went hard. dragged you to hell. but i didn't want to be dragged to hell in this particular fashion on that particular evening. so.

the fight (voy):

this one actually makes me mad bc it's one of those episode concepts that could have been award-winning and character-defining if they'd done it right, and instead it was absolutely awful. like that episode where Only harry kim goes home. agh.

conceptually, chakotay, who never had a strong desire to connect with his heritage until after his father died fighting cardassians, would be REALLY wound up about his "crazy old man" grandpa refusing treatment for a treatable condition on the basis of spiritual beliefs. like it's just a gene! they repressed it in chakotay! the miracles of modern medicine! if we had focused on that conflict for more than the 60 nonconsecutive seconds we got (and 86'd the racist panflute and all mentions of the phrase "vision quest") that alone could have done wonders for this episode

conceptually the boxing angle is really good too. chakotay TALKS about how angry of a person he was before he came to be on voyager but we never SEE it. he'd be a lot more sexy if they did let him get mad sometimes. robert beltran actually acted during this episode a couple of times, which was big of him considering how bad the script was. he could have killed it if he had the chance (summary of all of voyager robert beltran could have killed it if he had the chance)

the way the aliens communicated was also SO COOL i feel like we were so close

so like, consider the version of this episode that lives in my mind palace:

chakotay has the gene which made his grandpa crazy but they suppressed it in him before birth but being around the aliens reactivate it but we DON'T find that out yet

we see that he has hallucinations and that the hallucinations are the only way to communicate with the aliens and get voyager out of trouble, but he's like weirdly resistant to this idea even though he's down to clown and he won't say why

and the the hallucinations, are, critically, flashbacks of his own time boxing to blow off steam when he was fighting with his dad or after his dad dies (some dark period in his life - if we could swing some kind of fight ring situation to make it Even Worse that would be fun and sexy too). boothby is NOT there, the crew of voyager are cast in roles of people he used to know instead (because i want tuvok to be the one putting his mouthguard in, sue me), and the only one we don't recognize is his grandpa, who is his opponent

and eventually the hallucinations get worse and the EMH figures out the gene thing and chakotay talks about his feelings in front of the emh and janeway like how hard it was that his grandfather wouldn't consent to treatment and how it made him resent his own family/heritage and how it's part of the reason he didn't pick that stuff up until after his dad died because he didn't want to look like that to other people and it's a great monologue but BEFORE HE CAN FINISH he starts hallucinating again and THEN we get the scene of him following his grandfather around through the fog while they both hear voices

and when the aliens finally do get through to him it's with the same method of recycling footage of dialogue from the episode because that fucking ruled but and this is also crucial the only way to let them in is to STOP fighting. chakotay has to stop fighting. the boxing represents the struggle he's having against the gene that makes him hallucinate which represents the struggle he has with his own family/his past regrets and he has to STOP FIGHTING and accept it/them/himself/his own history/you get the idea in order to let the aliens in. AND he can pace around shouting at no one while being terrified because i did like that part too

and then anyway voyager is saved and at the end they resuppress the gene BUT not before he says goodbye/sorry/thanks to his grandfather for helping him communicate with the aliens, even if his grandfather is still only a hallucination

do you see my fucking vision?? do you understand???

think tank (voy):

finally a good fucking voyager episode

i did like all the weird aliens aboard the ship. the whale, the jellyfish, the robot, etc. a v cool bunch

i also liked that they caused the very problem they showed up to solve - though i wish janeway had gotten to yell at them about being frauds and hypocrites and gotten them to change their ways, rather than tricking them into getting obliterated. like tricking them WAS hot but the other way would have been very captain kirk of her, and they were such an eclectic group i was almost sorry to see them go. i kept thinking if they truly loved solving problems they'd do it for the sheer experience, and since that guy was taken AS payment, he could be made to understand how fucked up that was and let seven go. alas.

speaking of seven, the conversation about seven leaving seemed unnecessary considering we've had times when seven has almost left before and we all know they aren't getting rid of a regular cast member in a one-off episode like this. that said i do love how they played up her uniqueness

AND i like that she got to play bait and trick them. her loyalty is to voyager <3

oh yeah and i love that tuvok attempted to do a nonconsensual mind meld this ep. good for him.

penumbra (ds9):

okay i think i'm FINALLY warming up to ezri. and it wasn't even the toxic family episode that did it although that did fuck me up real good it was the fucking. moment she had with worf in that episode i hated where he went "you are dax." they took that whole conversation and turned into an episode, more or less

listen, i've been ezri/quark this whole time, but i did start to think, a few minutes into this episode, how sweet it would be if ezri and worf fell in love again. it's forbidden, and jadzia took that taboo very seriously, but ezri doesn't necessarily have to since she abandoned her family anyway for being fucked up freaks, and it could be INTERESTING, the ways in which she and jadzia are alike and different, and sad, too - how we see worf fight with himself ove rit, because it both is his wife back from the dead, and it also very much isn't. he'd be moving on and not moving on. it's complex. there's potential there

and then they actually did it! i was so shocked! and happy! but also MAD, ebcause i know she's gonna end up with JULIAN, which is the LEAST interesting choice, a country mile behind both quark and worf, which are great choices!! what the fuck!!!! it really makes me wish they'd had longer with ezri and hadn't just fired terry farrell for bad reasons because THIS COULD BE INTERESTING. i see it now! it took them some time to get there but they found the points of interest! they just didn't have time to dig in

on the other side of things, i'm v happy for sisko but like…ggirl…i don't know that i'd accept a marriage proposal from him rn. he's being so weirdly obsessive about his retirement home on bajor and when he talks about the prophets he doesn't make it sound like. like a religion or faith the way kira does. which i sometimes disagree with on the grounds that i despise organized religion (sorry to religious people reading this) but it does make sense for her character. when avery brooks talks about the prophets sometimes he gets that crazy cult light in his eyes. bro.

and since they're just guys who have beef with pah-wraiths rather than the unknowable entities they used to be AND now they're telling him who he can and can't marry it doesn't feel like he was chosen for anything it feels like he got suckered. they created him for whatever reason and now they think they own him and rather than pushing back against that idea every time he goes against what they say they turn out to be right and he looks like a chump for trying to have personal agency. it's Not Great

we left on a cliffhanger which means this is part of the final arc…i'm gonna miss ds9 so much!!!! aughghggh

TONIGHT: ds9's "strange bedfellows" and "til death do us part."

[inchidentally]

Why do I feel like Oscar is intentionally keeping Lando at a distance because he assumes it would never work out? And Lando kind of wishes Oscar would show an interest but he isn't so Lando pulls back too? Maybe I'm totally crazy but feels like they're doing a double fake out. If not then why not just be friendly the way they are with other guys?

This is my thought on them too. Anon explained really well. I see the same when I look at them. One of them wanna get more friendly but other's shields up and visa versa :I

(the quote comes from this anon and possibly also this one I'd received before)

I've tried giving this a look at other angles since obv none of us knows - and likely won't ever know - for sure, and I think the one way I can see this being the case is mixed signals? bc I feel like it being deliberate on either of their parts is too far a stretch.

long thing below and usual caveat that no I do not write this stuff thinking I actually know what's going on and it's just for fun and I do not take it seriously !!

like on the one hand, for a while before and even after meeting Oscar, Lando kept having to hear about this "rookie" who'd soon be his teammate and how he'd be the more experienced one etc. jokes about him "looking after" the new kid and how is he settling in blah blah. none of which Lando was remotely enthused about, understandably so. unlike team sports, mentoring isn't really something teammates do for each other in racing since they're each other's greatest measure of competition.

and Lando joined F1 so young (and was in the McLaren development program even younger) that while his talent and personality often deceives a lot of people into thinking he's become established and experienced, Lando himself doesn't rate experience much when it isn't bringing race wins or the WDC any closer. and his personality on camera was largely defined by latching onto Carlos and Daniel. he was a little more vulnerable around Carlos but mostly the dynamic of big brother/baby brother was the same for both those relationships. Lando with Max F and the Quadrant folks is pretty different to who he is with those older guys.

so it's easy to see why he didn't feel at all prepared to play the role that everyone kept assuming for him when Oscar came along. and re this babbling I did I genuinely think the difference between how young and small Oscar still was when they first met in winter of 2022 to the infamous "did you grow, what the fuck" moment was transformational for Lando. you look at his eyes gluing themselves to Oscar when Oscar isn't looking and the cheeky way he keeps getting Oscar's attention - and the way Oscar can't hide his surprise and how pleased he is - and I truly think the dynamic started to shift from a sort of stiff friendliness to Lando being genuinely interested in this guy.

Lando said himself that before the season properly started, he and Oscar had been so busy when they were in the same space that they didn't really talk beyond hello and goodbye. which needn't have been the case. I think a fair part of that was Lando's poor bruised heart at having Carlos leave and then Daniel being bought out, just not ready to deal with what he could fairly assume would be some younger guy jumping in wanting to do the bromance bit and glom onto Lando's popularity - all while probably cynically planning to strategize a way to a better seat or maybe one day take Lando's place at McLaren. his knowledge of Oscar at that point was of what a strong up and coming threat he was and that he had the balls/audacity (depending who you ask) to go up against his development team. and that Oscar had gone F1 fandom viral multiple times and was actually an existing personality to F2 and F3 circles. nothing about Oscar seemed vulnerable or unsure and yet people would not stop asking Lando about him as if he were Lando's responsibility.

and as Oscar said, his low frequency personality can often get mistaken (even by Mahk Wibba!) for not caring or being engaged. and if someone wasn't aware of his social media then I could see them thinking that someone as cool and calm as Oscar was almost aloof or disinterested.

with that limited knowledge, Lando would have been right to be wary. hell, Lando was distinctly cool toward Daniel when Daniel showed up pushing the 'landan' agenda as replacing carlando. we all know they ofc became good friends. but we also know that Lando wasn't remotely going to be guilted by Netflix or the fans into feeling responsible or overly concerned for Daniel's struggles. Lando was still very young and focusing on cementing his place in the sport. Daniel's inner and outer turmoil as a 30-something was for him to deal with.

so knowing what we now do of Oscar, this was not an ideal setup for him to meet the driver and new teammate - The Lando Norris - who he'd been a fan of for almost all of his junior career.

and on Oscar's side, it is extremely safe to say that after the Alpine/DR drama he just wanted to get his head down and prove to McLaren he wouldn't be any trouble and was more than willing to put in overtime at MTC and solo with the engineers (I think he essentially said this in the Laura Winter interview). his time spent in the car would speak for itself. but I feel like it's also fair to assume that Oscar not only being a fan of Lando's already but also knowing that he was following in Daniel's wake, Oscar mostly tried to just… not be a problem for Lando. that he put all the power and control over how their relationship developed outside of the track and meetings fully into Lando's hands - if indeed a relationship would develop (and it doesn't always). Oscar was used to looking after himself and he'd probably preferred to not risk upsetting Lando's routine or worse, pissing him off. I would not be at all surprised if that's what Oscar assumed was the safest, simplest approach.

but !! Oscar not launching into a bromance for the sake of his own image and him not trying to push for a relationship immediately for the sake of cementing the partnership would absolutely have felt weird and alien to Lando. and considering what was popularly said about Oscar following the Alpine stuff, him not pushing himself into Lando's space possibly would've come off as distant or cold and probably a bit calculating/cocky. maybe even a bit as if Oscar was so sure of himself, his youth and so laser focused on his own advancement (and boy did Netflix frame it up that way, dramatic Dutch angle and all) that it seemed as if he didn't see the point or the need in benefiting from an alliance with Lando. again - that's just possible conclusions that someone like Lando who hates having his stability threatened might have felt.

this is an even more HUGE leap but we know that Oscar visibly watched Lando closely since the start of the season and was learning from him and about him. and that Andrea had already instilled his new 'team before driver competition' ethos. and that Lando had seen examples of Oscar showing up for him - as a teammate at least - when their relative 'fortunes' before the updates would regularly see Lando in a better position or a better result. and like, if I were to truly jump to a conclusion here I'd say that Lando's gradual thaw in between Australia and Monaco absolutely delighted Oscar - and that he wouldn't have expected any more from Lando at all. Lando being chummy with him during media and a bit of bonding over the state of the car at the time could easily have felt more than enough for Oscar. (and just to throw in here as well that in those much earlier videos together, there were little flashes of Lando's sarcasm bordering on passive agressive but Oscar just laughing delightedly. like I think he fully either didn't mind or didn't notice that Lando was bleeding a bit of genuine annoyance over the car into their dynamic at times. the British theory test is a very good example of that.) whereas from Lando's perspective, maaaaaybe Oscar being so content with so little effort from him - compared to Carlos and Daniel - could have confirmed his suspicion that Oscar wasn't actually interested in being truly friends or bonding? idk that's me really exploring a big blue vague space asgfjlsagf. even more than I already do lol.

now I'm not saying at ALL that these friendships are remotely phony or PR because they're absolutely close in real life! but there's also no doubt in saying that like a lot of the drivers, Carlos and Daniel show up to a new teammate with the usual bromance shtick in their back pocket. and with how successful carlando and dando have proven to be with fans and sponsors and networks, they play into it with just a touch of cynicism even now. again, not saying that's nefarious at all and Lando's no dummy when it comes to personal brands and "shipping" etc. the boy is a youtuber/streamer lol so he /knows/. but yea, the 'oooh aren't we acting gay!' and overly touchy feely stuff especially is entirely for the fans' benefit. and we eat it up aslgfjsagf.

but Oscar has literally never had a bromance in any of the stages of his career and he doesn't publicize any of his non-racing friendships like the boys from boarding school he's still close to. we know he has probably a higher level of awareness of queer existence/culture than most of these guys and he doesn't hide it. I know the bar is in hell but it's significant enough that Oscar's never once used 'gay' as either an insult or as a hilarious joke - and he's had an active presence on social media since 2019 (his dad managed everything before that). when a Prema challenge was for him to kiss someone in the room and Arthur kept pushing, we know from the thumbnail that Oscar gave him a kiss through the covid plexiglass and then rolled around giggling. but he didn't treat kissing a guy in particular as 'hilarious' and he's never 'played gay' with any other guys. he also doesn't talk about Lily as if she's an accessory or "his". he brings her up in the context of things they did together or things she told him etc. the boy just doesn't know any degree of toxic masculinity apparently!!

where this gets confusing for Lando is that men are always dying to touch or cuddle or fawn over him - whether it's as a cute little brother like Carlos does (sorry fellow carlandos but that's the non-rpf truth) as a stereotypical bromance like Daniel does (and oh how I love that his ass caught feelings when he didn't mean to) or some potent mixture of fondness and attraction, which constitutes basically every other man who's met Lando.

and god knows I've written time and again how poor Lando does not know what to do with Oscar when Oscar looks with such intensity and he says so many things that show Lando respect and care and kindness. but he simply will not touch him ?? and he won't even half-fake half-serious flirt with him !! and he won't even take the bait when a bromance moment is pushed on them ! and when they're pressed close like in Twister, Oscar looks pink and flustered and refuses to put his leg between Lando's even though Daniel and Carlos have practically wrestled Lando with limbs akimbo multiple times. Oscar initiating the side hug at Silverstone was such an event that even Lando looked staggered by it. that's so strange !! Oscar is not remotely homophobic and he's not at all stand-offish physically and he's fine with people touching and hugging him. sure he doesn't do excessive PDA even with Lily but he still does some. he clearly is fond of Lando and doesn't mind when Lando decides to touch him. but we haven't even seen them hug ! and Oscar will give Lando such sincere praise and respect but he won't use hyperbole or make jokes like Carlos saying he was jealous of Lando liking Daniel or Daniel cracking sexual jokes about him and Lando.

and I fully feel like that breaks Lando's brain a little and has to make him falter at times bc everyone touches Lando and crosses easily over into some form of casual intimacy with him. Lando hides absolutely nothing and is extremely easy going. people feel very comfortable engaging with him, knowing that he'll play along so long as they're being kind or friendly.

and I think that's where the decision Lando made to let his brattier moods out around Oscar comes from. it's a very weird sort of compliment to Oscar that Lando isn't worried about pissing him off or being rejected - and I think it came from Lando being a little frustrated with Oscar for not falling in line with how everyone else is with him and not being able to get a secure read on how Oscar feels about him. as well as like I said earlier how Lando would be a little passive aggressive in his humor but Oscar never took offense. so Lando lets all his petulance and impatience come out around Oscar in a way I don't really know that he does much with anyone else? I think there's been a few times he's gotten like that around Max but Max has a good strong hand with him. but even when Lando goes Full Brat like the beloved Tic Tac Toe filming day Oscar is still endlessly charmed by Lando and you can see Lando soften and blush bc he knows he’s really letting it all out and Oscar is still being so good with him. Carlos would’ve picked him up and put him in a bin and Daniel would’ve out bratted him ajsbjsbsjd.

we know that Silverstone was a huge stepping stone for Lando and Oscar's relationship but I wish I could pinpoint before then when it was that Oscar realized just how much he couldn't apply his former racing friendships as a model for interacting with Lando. that Lando is anything but 'typical blokey guy' and even more than that, he isn't remotely typical or like anyone else in any way. definitely it was after Australia and by Austria the shift had already happened and we could see Lando watching Oscar as much as Oscar watched Lando. the trust and beginnings of feeling comfortable had already begun to be earned before Silverstone for sure.

and by the time he did this BTG interview, the genuinely fond way he talked about Oscar and mentioned the ways they're similar is such a major shift from simply saying that Oscar is calm and super quiet and fast as a driver. then we hit Singapore (where Lando sought Oscar out to spray champagne on him) the double podiums and Oscar's extension.

and then the Austin weekend and the filming they did and Lando posting that beautiful photo of Oscar smiling back at him all seems to have brought them to a place where yea, if we're being honest the lingering looks and the sense of sweetness to their shared humor is the dynamic we've had ever since.

and at this point I think what people are mistaking for a fakeout or misunderstanding is just that their lives outside of racing are so vastly different. Lando is in perpetual motion and constantly in demand and if you don't do a common activity with him like golf or padel then good luck catching him. whereas Oscar has been snared by a growth spurt that seems like it's still going on and he's either sleeping, sleeping, sleeping some more, spending time with Lily, sleeping, or spending time with his friends if possible. so there just isn't really an overlap with how their lives are right now.

to go out on another pretty out there limb, the one thing I might say is that Oscar still defaults to letting Lando call the shots about how much he wants to spend time together outside of being teammates. his own life is so uncomplicated that from his perspective it would feel a little daunting to try and insert himself in Lando's ever-changing schedule and multiple friend groups - esp since he already has so much time with Lando anyway due to the racing calendar. we know that it happens at times and that it's never broadcasted, only mentioned after the fact. it tends to be flying together or choosing to have lunch or after race meals together. the one time that rly gets to me is after Vegas when Lando could barely muster the energy to hit the tables with Max, Ria and Aarava. we find out later he spent at least part of that night with Oscar and someone mentioned that Oscar will have wanted to watch the cricket so like? it's kind of touching as well as saying a lot that the best time for their social lives to overlap is when it can be calm and quiet and Lando specifically does not want to be busy or loud. Lando dopey with painkillers and moody about crashing out of the race, possibly holed up in a hotel room with Oscar and the cricket playing on TV just sounds very sweet and likely. but other than those moments, their social lives just don't intersect easily. yet!!

but yea, I think ?? that by now they've kind of reached a comfortable place of knowing - at least for now - what their relationship is. it's why I honestly assumed Lando was finally doing the visit to Daniel's ranch and wouldn't be meeting up with Oscar in Australia. they're simply not to the point of coordinating off season schedules. even less of a surprise since he ended up spending less than 24 hours in Perth before he and Martin moved on!

ofc we as fans cannot get enough content of them together and just want more. but a lot of that is McLaren social media deciding to drop off just as McLaren started climbing up the grid ??? if they can get their shit together for 2024 then we'll see as much Lando and Oscar as we always did Lando with Carlos and Daniel.

[crownedwille]

ngl im kinda confused on why people support crown wille so much. i’m open to the idea, but i’ve always read him the same way since ep1. he was miserable from the beginning of the show (before he even met simon) up until the end. everything about the monarchy affected him in a negative way. wille and simon could not have existed as a couple if wille didn’t step down (and i feel this is something i feel they’ve expressed since s1.) ntm that there is no such thing as a good monarch and wille has never wanted to be in that role. wille is not a PUBLIC person. and nether is simon.

i’m not sure why some ppl think the fall of their relationship came out of nowhere; different problems can always arise, especially with teenagers. maybe some more explaining would help me understand, but at this point i think crown wille was such a stretch to root for.

i’d also like to add that s1 and s2 more likely had open endings to leave as cliffhangers, while s3 is the conclusion of the story. obviously, it’s not to say that everything is figured out, but that everything will be okay.

oh boy, you really want me to get into this again, here we go

he was miserable from the beginning - yeah, imagine me wanting him to have actual development and have a different mindset in the end. you don't start off your protagonist with the same mindset and that never changes, that is not proper satisfying storytelling imo. and it seems like i do have to remind people every time but if wille steps down he will still be a prince, just the second in line and no longer the heir - which is exactly who he was in the beginning. so yeah actually nothing has changed. and there was already attention and pressure on him and he still had duties and i honestly do wonder what was so different about being crown prince bc they never actually showed us.

so he will never really 'escape' the monarchy, he still is part of the royal family, his mother is the queen and he ABSOLUTELY will be a public person his entire life. and simon by association too. a fucking sex tape came out with them and wille came out to the world as queer, there is no way that people won't care anymore about it just bc wille wouldn't be crown prince anymore in a year. and as if him renouncing wouldn't make any headlines and be a huge deal and simon and wilhelm wouldn't have to deal with the aftermath and consequences of that (if they're still together at that point which i have my doubts)

there will always be attention on wille and that is something that should be obvious and i don't understand why the fandom is choosing to be so naive and blissfully ignorant about this. no, i do know, bc the show is framing it like that and wanting people to think that and stay naive and blissfully ignorant to all these facts

and i love hearing how my interpretation was wrong from the start and of course you were right all along. how dare i had hope and thought the point of killing off erik and making wille the crown prince is bc he would do things differently and bring changes and "start a revolution" bc that is totally not what the show has been about before abandoning it and taking the easy way out and not wanting to deal with what that would really entail. how dare i saw wille question traditions at hillerska and him making a public speech addressing that as him stepping into his role as crown prince and show signs of a great, competent "leader" before they also abandoned that and made sure none of that mattered and erased his growth in s3. how dare i thought wille and simon both wanted changes to the monarchy instead of letting it stay exactly how it is and giving it over to a person who has done fucked up things to them and likes the system as it is

if that and the stuff you're saying was the message the entire time i find it really sad tbh and i call bullshit on it. i definitely don't see how everything will be okay now with none of simon's or wille's mental health issues addressed and implied they're actually working on it but yeah of course they escaped the ~evil~ monarchy now and it was all its fault they didn't work out and now they're completely fine and all their problems have vanished, how could i forget

[b3ast0fburd3n]

listen listen I'm doing drafts but I can NOT stop thinking about Eddie and Hayes' friendship Listen to Lonely Eyes - The Front Bottoms and ignore the romantic context and its T H E M

As much as he bitches about having to work he would truly do anything she asked. He may only clean their living space when she asks but by god it's fucking sparkling when she gets home.

I know it really seems like Hayes doesn't recognize all that eddie does for him or maybe like he just doesn't care but he really truly does love and care for her. He just has no idea how to express positive emotions towards other people. He can't say shit like "I love and appreciate you" cause that shits gay. He doesn't like doing anything so he's not gonna go out of his way to "do something nice" for someone. It's just so much easier for him to lose his mind over his emotions than it is to express them.

It's not a secret that Eden takes care of Hayes. No one understands how he survived before her (not even me, just call it divine intervention). However there are a few rare instances where the roles reverse.

When she first joined the pirates, a lot of them would talk shit because, lets be so real, she is a teenage girl. Which would piss Hayes off to no end because this "little girl" overpowered/outsmarted his 6'4 adult ass and definitely would've killed him if other pirates hadn't rushed over after hearing the scuffle. thats how they met <3

So they're all making fun of how small she is and talking about what they'd do to her and Hayes, one of the more laid back pirates on the island, just flies off the handle and starts throwing punches. He's too stupid to think of just walking away.

And then. The Event. I won't go into too much detail bc ew! but 3-4 pirates corner Eden in a secluded area and try to force themselves on her. Long story short, one of them has her by the hair (which is still long at this point) so she gets one of their knives away from them and cuts her hair and kills them. Anyway, she's covered in blood and stumbling around camp when Hayes finds her. He's all worried like "oaur naur what happened" until she finally snaps back into reality to push him away and say "I handled it."

(BTW she left it cut like that until she let Vaas shave it PERFECT ART BY ZAFF (@zaffyrr) as soon as their comms open again I'm throwing money)

He not in love with her but like. He is? Their relationship never extends past friendship, but if you took the sex + such out of a lifelong partnership that would pretty well describe them. That's the moment he realizes that he can't take care of her or keep her safe but he can give her a shoulder to lean on or an ear to talk off. He isn't useful or skilled in any way but he knows how to be a friend. And if that's all he can offer, he'll give it all to her.

[raayllum]

you don’t have to answer this if its too discoursey but i’m too afraid to say it off anon cause I don’t wanna get yelled at, but I am not the biggest fan of emperor/king Callum fics, mainly since it feels out of character for me (since he feels more connected to magic than he does royalty as a whole, he’s only the crown prince because he & Ez don’t have any family left to take up that role)

and also because to me, as a black person, it feels really weird that it just sidelines Ezran, they always just kill him off for no reason except to put the white person in a position of power

Its okay as a concept, i suppose, say Ezran feels like he can’t bear the responsibility at his age, so Callum takes up the mantle, but it just feels Weird to me, and maybe I’m reaching but it does feel like there’s a hint of racism going on even if its not exactly the author’s intention

So back in like 2020 in the months following S3, Regent Amaya became a popular headcanon in the Janaya corner of the fandom (because they wanted to have to interact Politically with Janai rather than just personally? I don't know) and it never sat right with me for similar reasons. (Cue people complaining in S4 that Janay's plotline was more Janai centric than Amaya centric. Mmhm.)

Because here's the thing (and I've said this before) while Callum is not white (he is mixed, he's half Asian and half white) he is lighter skinned than his brother and I do understand why people think he's white at first glance (more discussion/perspectives on Callum's race in this tag) and Ezran very clearly is not, and it's also very clear how that can affect them sometimes fandom wise. Of the five like main Main characters (although that list is 100% expanding in S4), Ezran is one of two main characters of colour (bonus core protagonist points alongside his brother) and he is the only darker skinned character of colour, comparatively in the trio.

There are other reasons I think as well about why Ezran doesn't have as much fandom made about him (he's the youngest in the cast, most of the fandom is older; he's not part of a main ship, etc) but race absolutely affects a lot of the critique he (and Harrow) get as kings. I have seen people with their full chest go "I hate TDP's monarchy, they're such bad kings Viren was right" because their issue isn't at its core the monarchy, it's that their white fave's bloodline wasn't the one on the throne for once.

Also talking about race is never discoursey IMO so always feel free to drop stuff in my inbox about it. (I'll happily take getting yelled at for it, it's way easier to bear as a white person & it doesn't happen as often as a result.)

Since 2016, we've seen this mini trend of casts having one Black character, usually a boy who's a best friend of the protagonist, get routinely sidelined. Lucas had to carry Stranger Things on his back (although I think it's gotten better? Idk for sure I stopped watching the show after s2 for unrelated reasons), Finn from Star Wars deserved so much better (and I left the SW fandom bc the racism was so bad and he was my favourite after just six months), Bow from She-Ra got virtually nothing, and Gus from The Owl House actually did.

TDP, thankfully, does not fall into that trend (having more than like 1-2 Black characters in general also helps a great deal, JC) and I now no longer watch every season like a hawk to ensure that it won't, because I trust that it won't.

So. King Callum AUs. The first thing is that you're right, Callum isn't that interested in politics. While he has a mind for politics (he immediately realizes what the egg could mean globally) he's not motivated by them. In 1x06 he gets pissed & fed up because Rayla insists on giving him only the political reasonings for why she's travelling with them and not stealing the egg, and it's not enough (he wants the personal reasons). His Tales of Xadia bio reaffirms this, stating outright that he's "beholden to [his] inner circle, not some silly kingdom" in spite of being Crown Prince. I think in some ways if Callum was left alone as King, regent Amaya would be more likely, not less, even if Callum might resist out of a grief fuelled desperate "I have to do this" at first. Being King is genuinely liberating for Ezran in ways it'll just never be for his brother, thematically / personality wise

And Callum being king because Ezran died is, IMO, unnecessary and actually more restrictive for both of their characters. If you want Callum grieving but away from the throne off adventuring with Rayla in an angsty AU, you can just have him think Ez is dead and achieve the same aims. If you want Callum on the throne, you can just have him do it out of love/loyalty for his baby brother. Otherwise, Ezran actually being dead leaves Callum solely grieving and stranded away from magic (his true calling, or the temptation of dark magic). But if Callum becomes regent to try and shield his baby brother, it leaves a lot more for them to grow, disagree on and develop, etc. Just a lot more avenues. How I think this would go (honouring Ezran's role to play and how I think their dynamic would realistically develop with this addition) here.

Being aware of what does or doesn't displace a character can be tricky, but I always think of it in regards to "do you take something another character has earned and give it to another character with little consequence," killing a character off when it wouldn't change that much to keep them alive and just tweak other things (like the above), or "are you taking the challenge one character has set before them and giving it unequivocally to another".

For example I've thought about "is my theory of Callum sacrificing/handing over the Key of Aaravos for Rayla's life displacing him" but it's not, in my eyes, bc 1) all the repercussions that come from that action is still something he has to deal with, 2) he'd have a vested interest and arc in reclaiming the cube, 3) it highlights the tragedy of Callum regaining his agency from brainwashing and still being forced into Aaravos' tragedy, 4) still leaves Callum perfectly free and motivated to uncover the secrets of the key himself beforehand, it just won't end well for him. And if Callum was having big conflicts with Ezran RN, I'd probably swap in Ez as a possibility for who he'd hand the key over for too

Last but not least I do wonder if Callum will even remain his brother's High Mage. The symbolism of a brother on either side of the Border has always felt fitting to me, and I think Claudia would make a great high mage to Ez if/when she gets redeemed / she'll want to stick close to her brother. Now that Callum has Ibis' staff, I wonder if that'll also eventually include having Ibis' post, especially now that Soren has stepped up in S4 to really be Ez's protector (and Cal and Ez would still write letters all the time, of course <3 Ez checking in on him through his link with Zym).

But yeah I think if Callum did continue to be in a political role beyond high mage, he'd be best suited to be one of Ezran's top generals, and that would take its own interesting toll on Ezran's psyche

Anyway this is probs longer than you were expecting but thank you for sharing your perspective! It's something I think the bulk of the fandom has noticed and it's always good to look at areas of like, perhaps more casual than outright racism when it comes to characters of colour, and how we have a responsiblity to examine those areas when exploring things, even just in fanon

[formula-fun]

hiii its me again,,,,

with more prose that makes me insane

"Tragedy takes and takes, for both of them. Max is trying to learn how to grow older; softer. He’s trying to dream of slower things, but it won’t stop people from poking at what he tries to forget—romanticizing all the bad bits and gilding them into their history right alongside the worst days of Charles’ life. People love a tragedy.

Not this, though. This isn’t for the history books. He won’t have people rewatch the podiums where Charles wouldn’t even look Max in the eye and know it was because something horrible happened, and Max didn’t know what to do; didn’t know how to ask for comfort or answers. And Charles—people already remember him in mourning before they remember anything else, and that’s already unfair. They like to treat his life like a play, spilling onto the stage in perfectly romanticized pain. Max won’t have this spilling across it too; won’t have Charles’ grief, his guilt, his self-flagellation, Max’s uselessness to make it right, the two of them ripping themselves apart and beating themselves bloody against each other’s ramparts, their dream of something gentle dead between their feet—he won’t have it added to the list below Max’s shitty childhood and Charles’ monthly visits to the Monaco Cemetery."

I just.

your ability to seamlessly switch between narration of events like races and sex and then just almost a poem of the characters thoughts in that moment is just insane

I think max's refusal to let charles' grief be commodified ( i hope that's the right word) or used to generate clicks like how almost anything that occurs today is used by f1 'journalists' feels rlly organic?

I won't say in character bc idk any of these men but I feel like this determination to keep what's between them, between them is very sjdnsjdb I don't have the words I hope you understand my incoherent rambling sorry

Another line that really stood out to me was when charles says that max understands that 'he enjoys podiums, not pedestals'

just. FERAL. Jsbbdnxbxj

the whole il predestinato title is beautiful and romantic and I will forever be unwell ab it but I wonder at the deification of ferrari bc like. wow. red god whom you love with every fiber of your being, who loves you back but. akdnbxjdnd BUT.

anyway sorry, I hope you don't mind that I'm doing these excerpt dissecting thingies I'm. very insane.

☀️

no no no never apologize!!!!! i love this so much <3333

this is all so on point honestly! what you said about being in character...i dont know these people at all and completely made this read up, but that's 100% what this fic is getting at?? they grew up racing and giving interviews and crashing out and they can be really rational about all of that because its just in their nature. they can sacrifice whatever they need to and behave however they need to for their teams and their success, and they don't question it because it's just who they are. in a way there's even solace in recognizing that it's a trait they share and they're not alone in it. theyre like the scorpion and the frog except they're both the scorpion which is an idea that keeps me up at night because not to be fake deep and pretentious but i feel like scorpions probably have a very different understanding of that story than frogs do. i might be insane

ANYWAY what that all means is it's really new to build something together that's just for them and that isn't about racing or expectations or even about gender roles, it's about love and honesty and trust. it's really new and scary but it's also really freeing. dont ask me how the a/b/o porny fic became about that, but the whole point of it is them finding new ways to see themselves based on the stability they've found with each other. or something. and that's why max is protective of their real actual vulnerabilities and why both of them kind of treat il predestinato/the inevitable mythos as a fun story but ultimately not a very serious one

the bit you quoted is sooo highly ranked for me <3 it relates very directly to telescope by boy & bear which became such a max song for this fic, especially "i've adjusted all my dreams for something slow // and it's a softening that age has taught me well // for the things i cannot change i must let go" like hhh its HIM

anyway thank you for thiiis i always love discussing my fic <3333

[youremyheaven]

HEYYYY [insert whatever pet name u like] it's ur venus stellium anon from last month.. do u remember me? sorry life happened 🤩 n i've been pretty low energy so i didn't get around to bothering u. I've been looking at yt vids of some of my chart placements lately and i've discovered something funny (along with other developments like me. I've been looking at ur blog the past one or two days a little and I obvs haven't made my way through the whole "backlog" but some silly thoughts:

I didn't know u were bi! For some reason I felt a little awkward talking about this because I didn't want to be That Person lol (aka everyone was talking about guys and I didn't wanna weird anyone out 😔) but my exes were women 😂 supposedly I gave them daddy energy lmfao I hate it because I wanted that from someone. I talked about them a bit vaguely but it might've sounded worse under the assumption of it being a man. (Unless I didn't say much and just forgot)

I've been reading celebrity gossip and only now realised how people - even the most successful - can have it so truly bad when it comes to romance and idk it made me a little apathetic and allergic to it. Not in a "im swearing off of it" way but in a "im no longer going to expect it in my life. If I get surprised, yay for me. Otherwise eh." (my mind's at a weird place though so it'll probably change when other things calm down, don't worry about me 🫶 this is all about the hypothetical future anyway because I'm not looking for a relationship rn)

Sorry u got hate about ur blog. I can understand anon got upset but the unkind language was uncalled for.

I came across the ask about nodes conjuncting big 3 and one of mine does; i can assure u (and the hate anon) that yes, this particular example (me) DOES happen to be cray cray 😭

This is related to the yt vids and point 2: My charts basically say I'll have an okay enough career, but the romance department would be dodgy because I will never be satisfied by anything anyone does for me (to put it shortly) 😂😂 that had me a little shocked at first but then I was like u know what we kinda knew this.. let's just focus on that career instead LMFAO

HARD AGREE WITH U ON THE FLIRTING IN NON-ENGLISH. I gotta be honest I cringe if I hear flirting in anything other than English (I've only ever been exposed to it in that language) but I read a fic (english) once where this man called his lover "meri jaan" and it had me in a DAZE FOR DAYS (excuse the lame pun pls) SO YES I AGREE W U. I've been collecting other little terms (just 1 so far) that I've seen people around me using affectionately and they're sooo sweet.

I HOPE U'VE BEEN WELLLLLL. I'm away from tumblr lately so I probably won't be able to send u asks in the near future but I hope u stay safe and take care of urself 💖💖 BYEEEEE

HEYYY bbg 🥺

I thought this was going to be astrology related but you're just checking in on me 😭😭😭😭and I feel so touched 🥺🥺🥺

1. About being bisexual

I feel like there are definitely different dynamics at play bc I do attract more butch leaning women who want to be my daddy 🫣🙈 but whenever it's a femme x femme dynamic, I always feel like I become the more dominant one and I do kinda hate it 😭😭

It just wears me out to be the giver tbh 🙃 especially because I already assume that role in so many other areas in my life, I just want to sit back and be babygirled 😭😭 this is why despite being attracted to women , relationships with women don't really work out for me 😭😭

it's all a matter of luck when it comes to love and relationships and sometimes things find us unexpectedly.

what I've learnt from some of my recent experiences is that someone can do all the right things, give you princess treatment and all that yet not make you feel anything 😭 so to be physically attracted to someone, emotionally in- sync with them, AND have a healthy relationship,, it's all down to luck 😭

2. not u calling yourself cray cray 😭😭

majority of people in this world are not living happy lives, be it with regard to love, career or family. To even have one of these things going well is a huge blessing ✨and while it's possible to have all of them, it's okay to not beat yourself up for achieving all 3 in one go.

One of my dad's childhood friends, remained unmarried into her late 40s. This is veryyyy unusual in India and she's not from a bougie artsy family where such things are chill or anything either. She, however, had a brilliant career and is a civil servant and rn she's in a veryyy high ranking position because she's worked her way up. Everybody around her pitied her (for being single and childless) but she was just out there making $$$ by the time she hit her late 40s people stopped pestering her because by that point, it's kinda "too late" to settle down. BUT GUESS WHAT HAPPENED??? she met a reallyyyyy cute Swiss-German man who was visiting our state/city and she happened to be the one showing him around?? (someone linked them up basically) and that wonderful meet-cute led them to marriage in like 2 months lol ,,, this lady who had been single for 47+ years found the right guy and married him in less than 2 months???? Isn't that sooooo romantic??? It's all about timing 💛💛 and now they've been together for a decade and spend most of their year travelling the world ✨and are very much in love

So different eras of our life will have us focusing on different things. Rn it's probably best to make that $$$ and focus on yourself. Love will find you when it needs to 💛✨💛

3. About flirting in non-English

JAJAJSJ yess I used to cringe 😬 hearing Desi flirting across languages 😭but now I feel like I've finally decolonised my mind to find it cute 😭

My ex was Tamil and he used to call me "bomma" which means "doll" in Tamil ,, I had a flop talking stage with another Tamil guy who used to call me "Kitty kutty" ("little kitty") and idk if it's a Tamil guy thing but they go hardddd with their affection through terms of endearment

Flirting in Hindi is always fun bc it's all "aapka this, aapka that" (using honorifics) and respect turns me on i guess lmao 🤭🥵 Idk if this is just a Desi thing but yk how men start calling you madam and ma'am 😌yeah I live for that shit 🤭🤭 they'll be like "madam is still getting ready" and I'll be like 😍yes the hell I am 😍😜

4. Thank you so much for checking in with me angel 🥺🥺 I appreciate it and you soooo much 💛💛💛 you're the sweetest

I'll take care of myself 😜 😌and I hope you do as well!!! 💛💛 May the rest of July be wonderful for you ✨

[sapphire-weapon]

Hey! No pressure to answer this (especially bc I know some people get like... weirdly intense about fictional ships lol and it's understandable if you wanna avoid any childish controversy on your blog!). Why do you prefer Leon/Ashley over Leon/Ada (if you do)? I'm just curious, because I really enjoy reading into peoples different opinions and where they come from, when they're about characters that I enjoy! :) I really like all three characters, but don't ship any of it! Lol.

But yeah, if you'd like to delve into it a little (especially because you're a long time fan!!) I'd love to hear your thoughts. :)

I mean there's no profound reason why I like Leon/Ashley. It's just the flavor of ship that I prefer. I could tell you things about it that I like, but there's no real reason behind why I like it other than I just do.

I hate Leon/Ada because Ada does not exist as a character outside of her relationship with Leon. She was tailored solely to be his melodrama. That's not interesting or compelling to me. That's contrived bullshit. And it's insulting when you consider the fact that Ada should rightfully have a much larger role in the story that's completely divorced from him, because she worked for Wesker for six (or more, probably more) fucking years. But no. She's not allowed to be on screen without Leon. We're not allowed to know who she is beyond her relationship with him.

For as long as Ada is attached to Leon, she hasn't been and won't be her own character. And I don't fuck with that.

It also adds an extra layer of melodrama onto Leon that doesn't need to exist, because he already has the only negative character arc in this series to begin with, and it's like Ada's just tacked onto the end of it in order to make his life even more miserable.

Like, if you remove Ada's involvement in Leon's life past RE2, nothing about his character needs to change in order to compensate for her loss, because the core of Leon's character is that he's trapped in a nightmare that keeps repeating over and over again. He's looked at as a weapon and treated as such by the same government that kidnapped him and held his foster daughter at gunpoint, and there's no escape and nothing changes. He's both indispensable and yet completely powerless, and all he's been doing since 1998 is run in place.

Ada adds nothing to him. She's just baggage. She's merely part of the nightmare that keeps repeating, and she's not even remotely the most important part. She's just... there.

That's not to say that there's no there there in terms of the ship. I understand their connection, and I've written huge long posts about it. I'm just saying that narratively and thematically, their relationship adds absolutely nothing to the story of Resident Evil or to either of their characters -- and, in Ada's case, it actually makes her lesser.

ETA: I'm sorry anon, I should've sat on this a bit and answered it when I was in less of a foul mood (real morale hit at work today for the whole damn place). If I haven't completely chased you off, I'd be happy to go into what about Leon/Ashley makes me happy way later tonight when I get home and can hug a cat. My littlest cat will stay on my lap even when I'm typing.

[oodlyenough]

Maybe it's tad early since you're still in the 5th game but whats your opinion with the new characters for the 2nd triology?

HMM. I'm going to assume you just mean the major ones and not the one-off victim/defendant types.

Honestly I think my overall impression so far (mid-AA5) is that they're varying degrees of interesting but underbaked. Some of this I expect to change as I finish 5 and 6, and some I expect... won't.

This got really long so here's a cut. Spoilers for AA4 and a bit of 5.

Trucy

I like Trucy a lot, probably my favourite of the lot, although in no small part because she's so tied to Phoenix, whom I am still more invested in than any of these other people lol. They hinted at Trucy having more complicated feelings under her very cheery, performative persona -- Phoenix comments he's the only one who knows how she "really" feels -- but it doesn't seem like we the player are ever going to get to know more about that, so :P.

It's weird that she's basically dropped into a cameo role in AA5 and been more-or-less replaced by Athena -- like -- objectively that's just a jarring transition. But for Trucy lmao I guess she's probably having a better time now, going to school and doing magic and not having to partake in case stuff anymore.

Klavier

I love Klavier, in that I am always having a good time when he's around, I find him hilarious. But as a character I think he's really underwritten. They haven't really spent any time giving him much in the way of motivation or depth or emotional response to any of the insane things that happen to him, he's just there to flirt and have a laugh. Like Trucy, he's pretty personally involved in all the events in AA4 but you'd never know it bc he very rarely reacts to them. I don't understand why the conclusion of 4 was that he quits music instead of law. He loves music. Aside from "horny", music is his entire personality. We aren't given a reason he's passionate about or interested in law nor does it seem to be tainted by Kristoph at all even though rationally it should be. So that's just... weird imo.

But I like him, he's prob my fave prosecutor after Franziska and Edgeworth. He's the kind of character I can see fandom having a lot of fun elaborating on. In AA5 he comes across like a depressed burnout, and I like that even though I think it was totally unintentional from Capcom lol. It's like when you see a celeb on tv and think "huh are they ok?" and then six months later you hear they've checked into rehab. Hang in there buddy.

Apollo

Apollo is very likable but so far has not much going on in the way of character. In AA4 I thought he felt more like Phoenix's courtroom avatar than a participant in the story, because even when he is personally implicated like with Kristoph or Thalassa, he either doesn't know or doesn't react. (Are you seeing a pattern...? lol) Unlike Trucy and Klavier, I believe Apollo will actually get more material in DD and SOJ, for better or worse, so we'll see how that changes things. I like him, but don't currently feel invested in him. If they had started DD with just Athena and Phoenix I'm not honestly sure I'd be upset about it. Sorry, Apollo.

Ema

Ema's not a "new" character although adult Ema feels pretty different to kid Ema, in a good way. Kid Ema was fun but forgettable to me -- adult Ema fucking rules lmao my favourite detective for sure, I wish we got to keep her. Cranky and competent and disillusioned. I loved her.

Kristoph

Kristoph was fun but overhyped by fandom imo. I liked him and his weird gay frienemyship with Phoenix, and in the pantheon of AA villains I see why he's pretty memorable, the 7 year gap is very rich material. But his motivations were silly and I anticipated so many better ones that didn't materialize at all lmao. I thought he was going to be some criminal mastermind building his defense empire on falsified evidence ... he just did it once and then panicked for 7 years?? Kristoph wants what Dahlia Hawthorne has.

Athena

Athena still feels like I've only just met her, so I don't have a solid opinion. I like her though. There are not enough women practicing law in this stupid franchise so I was predisoposed to like her, and I like her overzealous energy and stuff. I don't love mood matrix as a minigame, and I don't know what her tragic backstory is yet btu I know one exists, so the jury's out on that. I wish DD would just let me play her more often.

Blackquill

Blackquill is doing nothing for me lmao which, tbh, is what I expected. I find him tedious and his design is ludicrous to me I hate it lfhadhflkhfl he looks like he belongs in a different franchise. I know he's a fan fave and he's going to have some big sad backstory too, so maybe he'll win me over, but right now he's a big eye roll. I think his prison gimmick would at least be more fun if every time he cited his friends from jail they were easter eggs from previous culprits or something. Feels like a missed opportunity for gags.

Fulbright

Fulbright is... fine. Probably my least fave detective. He gets a laugh out of me once in a while. Maybe my opinion will improve as the game goes on since I fucking hated 5-2 and it's all I've really seen him in so far lol.

Misc

I think that's all the big characters I've met so far? For the one-offs, I liked Valant a lot he cracked me up. Zak was nasty and I'm not entirely sure if the game realized it or not. Thalassa continued the noble Ace Attorney tradition of hands-off motherhood. I don't have much to say about Junie as a character but I do love Athena's unfortunately-one-sided gay pining.

[omegapheromone]

Realizing my sibling bond with my younger brother is finally a healthy, silly one where I WILL call him a pissbaby and he will call me an asshole BUT I bring him souvenirs and offer to go get groceries when he's sick and he drives me around and doesn't mind it, is actually really nice.

He's an alpha, and a few years younger, and used to get all of our tired single (alpha) mother's attention as a kid (I mean, he IS younger, but I was also a kid and didn't understand why I was being emotionally neglected bc mom didn't have enough energy for the both of us) so back when we were both small kids we would get in physical fights all the time. As teens we just ignored each other.

Now that we're both adults and past 20, it's actually become pretty wholesome. Even if we're not in constant contact, we get along well, can joke and just chill in each others company, and the vibes are actually good. It's probably pretty normal for most siblings, so me posting about it might seem weird, but idk. I just, appreciate it, because I know what it's like to not get along at all. I don't take it for granted, I guess? And to me, it's just really nice, like this. It's satisfying in the same way that being there and caring for my 11y old littlest sibling is, knowing they feel comfortable and happy and are able to rely on me if they need to. I like being in the older sibling role especially for my youngest sibling/sister I think, because I know I can fill a role her parents (my bio dad and his wife) can't always reach, and she will likely grow up telling me things she won't tell her parents and seek advice from me bc I'm the "cool and chill older sibling who also likes MCR, FNAF, minecraft, and so on".

Anyway this post is getting very long my point is I love my siblings. Even though my little brother is a pissbaby /j, /aff.

I don't think I will have kids of my own but I hope my brother does, I wanna be the weird but cool uncle. I like taking care of kids as long as they aren't my own, I feel I'm not quite responsible or stable enough for my own ones, but I do like kids even if they're tiring sometimes. Wonderful little humans who are only just discovering the world and need protection and cool role models to look up to.

(It's a little different when I'm in heat, but even then my pup fever is rarely very strong. Mostly I just enjoy being a positive influence in kids lives from the side)

[dashielldeveron]

HRGHH I LOVE THE WHOLE TEACHER STUDENT RELATIONSHIP THING WITH AIZAWA BC OF ITS LIKE FORRIBIDDEN NATURE ANY FIC RECS TOO?? YOU SOULMATE SERIES SLAYED ME

ah. this one is harder bc i teach. teaching pedagogy/ethics/fic recs under cut.

tl;dr: my teaching fucks my view of teacher/student. fic recs at end.

so, as a grad student, i teach at the college level rn, and i've also taught at the high school and middle school levels. and like. i had an interest in teacher/student fics before that and would read anything, picturing myself in the student role, but now that i've been a teacher, it's extremely difficult for me to fully immerse myself in teacher/student bc there's sooooooo much going on to fuck with the relationship.

i address some of this in aizawa's route of soulmate trope itself: how students don't really function fully as People in your brain (i mean of course you are bc you're valuing them as an individual), bc you're always thinking of them as a movable unit in grading and group work. and like. at the end of the day, you are Tired of teaching shit. you don't want to bring work home with you, and, like, you don't want to talk about your students unless someone did something stupid that day.

and i know my experiences are not universal, but i find it hard to identify any students as people i would even want to be friends with irl, let alone something more as profs do in fiction, bc there's SUCH a level of disconnect of power/understanding/stages in life. students are very much Not Your Peers in a traditionally academic setting, and so--for me, at least--that makes it impossible to feel romantic things for a student. but, again, i don't experience everything the same way everyone else does. i know these things happen.

all of that to say that if a fic is strictly student/teacher, it has to fit my silly, extremely specific criteria of "ethical student/teacher," which is, at the fucking minimum, that the student is no longer taking that teacher's class.

so, i mostly read aizawa/reader in which reader either has never been his student or is no longer his student, bc while there's a ton of really sexy stuff out there for current teacher/student, i can't get into those without thinking about work, the on-paper reprecussions, and how much i would never want to get involved romantically/sexually with a guy who's that willing to sacrifice his morals/workplace dynamic. i know. personal preference.

anyway! recs.

@coffee-dessert's absolutely fucking adorable But they're soft... freshly debuted pro-hero aizawa is transformed into a cat by a villain's quirk, and reader takes care of cat!aizawa in her flat. some of the cutest fluff i've ever read and does some wonderful character work with young hero aizawa. also! i adore how it feels distinctly japanese, as opposed to very americanised/westernised as some fics do.

Nothing's Changed by an orphaned account has reader turning into a cat this time! it's part of her quirk, and when it won't turn off, she goes back to her high school friend aizawa to do it. this is soooo feel-good and soft; it's like drinking hot chocolate near a frosty window.

Rakata by L0chnessM0nster (can't find a tumblr; please let me know if you can) is the absolute, most immersive fic i've ever read, no exaggeration. i read this and shut out the entire world. aizawa has a side job as a massuse, and it seemlessly devolves into intense kink shit. this.............awoke things in me.

but if you're really set on student/teacher, i love this kakashi/reader, For the Longest Time, by @whats-her-quirk!! it's from kakashi's POV and constantly rags on his morality and is suuuuuuper caring and hot--plus, it has that added layer of reader wants him to be her first. (non-traditionally-academic teacher/student is much easier for me to get into, and this fic scratches alllllll the itches).

thanks for asking!!! i love sharing things i love!!! xx.

[robotlesbianjavert]

(1) Afo being born an evil baby has made an Afo supporter bc if he was born bad for no reason he never had a choice in being a villain at all which means he's completely justified in wanting to re-write the story to change his ending since he's trapped in the role itself and cannot escape it. If i was born to be defeated i would be mad af too.

IT'S NOT HIS FAULT HE WAS BORN WITH THE INSANE DESIRE TO POSSESS EVERYTHING AND ALSO THAT HIS MOM DIDN'T HAVE THE MEANS TO GO TO A HOSPITAL AND UNDERSTAND THAT SHE HAD A LIFE-STEALING PARASITE IN HER WOMB. NOT HIS FAULT. sometimes you are born the villain and just gotta roll with it, tis a sad state of affairs.

but yeah i get the dashed hopes for the LOV, though i still have some muster. with AFO it's a tricky situation because on one hand, doing something more interested and complicated himself would have complemented the themes and the other villain's stories so well. god knows that i really had my hopes for him. but on the other hand his status as 'ultimate evil' did put him on a separate level of meaningful narrative sympathy than the league proper - i don't necessarily like it, but him being a flat nothing of a sperm cell doesn't really cancel out the efforts to flesh out other villains. Even Though With This Narrative, There Should Be No Flat Villains. But Whatever.

i'll say that where the narrative stands so far, i've had things that i really appreciated and also liked less about where the dabi and toga resolutions are sitting so far (IS TOGA DEAD. IS SHE STRAIGHT UP GONNA DIE. SHE WON'T BUT STILL.); my final hammer of judgment will have to swing when the arc/story ends proper, in particular to see how much of the resolutions ends with death/jail, but i've still liked Just Enough of what was going on and the respect the characters were given.

right now a lot of my feelings are riding with shigaraki and kurogiri as still active forces and how they're going to be approached (i trust nothing where deku is concerned but i believe that shigaraki is dynamite enough a character to make something work), and whether spinner and compress still have something to contribute before the story ends. we are in the scary times now folks.