#like.. his last season he has so much potential to win everything but he had to cut it short so he can join Rangnick in Leipzig

[jessethegoat]

So jesse is on Bluesky and boy.. the way he used the emoticons 🤣

Also..this one though

[aviscarrentals]

why i believe alex replacing logan is the worst possible decision williams could make

#1: logan’s confidence

we saw this exact thing happen with checo last year. after his brief stint of trading wins with max, max continued to consistently wipe the floor with him via the gap in their performances. this continued to eat away at checo’s confidence until, by the end of the season, he was t-boning alex albon in singapore for no reason and somehow retiring twice in suzuka. now that there has been an extended break and he has had the chance to grind and truly work on himself nonstop, he has returned with incredible form. but who knows how long this will last? as soon as there’s a race that isn’t a red bull 1-2, he will be completely torn into and i believe the downward trajectory of last year will repeat itself.

this is very similar to what logan went through last year. once he was announced, there was so much hope for an incredible debut season, but that never came his way. i think the first big nail in the coffin was getting his first p20 at his home race and i think the biggest hit was qatar. even though he should never ever be ashamed of putting his safety first, i understand why, from an athlete’s perspective, he would look at that race as a failure.

fortunately for him, he has had a team with incredibly strong leadership backing him up. giving him the opportunities he needed, never giving up on him, celebrating the single point he scored last year like he lassoed the fucking moon, and re-signing him because he has such incredible potential as a formula 1 driver. everything went wrong for logan, except for williams, who did everything right.

except now, williams has publicly stated that they have no faith in him to score points. now the only support logan has is random fans at races, strangers on the internet, and his own friends and family. that must feel fucking awful. logan has been so positive throughout the struggles of this year and last, but he has to be hurting right now. there’s no way he isn’t.

logan sargeant is not a bad driver. you can disagree with me as loud as you want to, but i won’t hear a word of it.

absolutely stunning junior career aside, logan showed incredible improvement towards the end of the season. not only did he score a point in austin, but he came unbearably close in mexico, and if it weren’t for a hydraulics failure, he very easily could have had two points finishes in a row.

this year may seem like it has gotten off to a bad start for him, but i heavily disagree. in bahrain he had great pace and was steadily climbing closer and closer to the points when he had a brake failure. the car switched his balance completely on its own and made it literally impossible for him to turn. even max couldn’t recover from that.

in jeddah his pace was wonderful again. i think his biggest struggle currently is qualifying, but he was overtaking beautifully and making his way up the field. while 15th isn’t a spectacular finish, he was matching alex quite well throughout the whole race. (also jeddah sucks so he gets a pass 👎)

george russell did not score a SINGLE point during his rookie season for williams and he is now a race-winning future championship contender and beating his 7x wdc teammate in the standings at p4. logan has already beaten that AND he has an experienced driver that he seems to get on with quite well as a teammate to mentor him, which george didn’t have; he was william’s number one driver from day one. logan has so much potential that is only being hindered by his lack of confidence, unpreparedness (reminder he was brought to f1 an entire year earlier than he was originally supposed to be; they planned for him to be a 2024 rookie), and a shitty car.

#2: alex albon

now poor alex is in the worst position of his life. brother already probably feels like shit for putting logan through this (even though it is NOT his fault and he has absolutely zero say in this decision) and if he doesn’t score any points this weekend, he will be torn to shreds by the media.

i have already seen multiple posts including alex in their list of fuck yous. this will do incredible damage to him pr-wise and will also make him feel even worse if he doesn’t somehow pull off a miracle performance.

#3: albert park

alex is an incredible driver, constantly pulling a back marker car into the points. however, this is a track that he has historically struggled at (in the exact same turn might i add!!) for multiple years in a row. who’s to say this mistake could not be made tomorrow or sunday as well? that will make everyone involved look and feel horrible.

not to mention that the fw46 is NOT SUITED for albert park. AT ALL. vcarb’s official website describes it as a ‘medium-high’ downforce track, which is exactly what the car is suited to struggle with, making it nearly impossible for albono to score points (which, like stated before, will be terrible for him) as well as making this gp a likely inconsequential race! meaning this is the perfect opportunity to let logan drive on the limit and really showcase his true talent and capabilities as a driver.

but now williams has chosen to do the complete opposite and ruined logan’s trust in his team as well as any other offers from rival teams for him for the 2025 season. if logan’s own team would bench him for his teammate, why should they take him over a talented upcoming rookie? (this is a rhetorical question; i truly believe he has the potential to, with a good enough car and team behind him, become a race-winning driver in the future.)

#4: james vowles and the future of williams

james has justified this decision by mentioning how every race counts and that a single point can make a world’s difference in the midfield. while this is true, james has also been on the record multiple times saying that he doesn’t give two shits about this season (as well as the next few). he has stated that his goal is long-term, to rebuild the team and return it to its former success of the 90s and early 2000s. so why ruin the reputation of your driver who you have been supporting since his junior career over the possibility of a single point or two? that is a short-term solution, not a long-term one. james is usually a wonderfully eloquent speaker, however, he has completely contradicted himself here.

in my opinion, the best decision would be to race logan. while i love alex to death, he’s the one who crashed his car, completely on his own with no fellow drivers or failures on the car’s side to blame. logically, he should be the one to sit out the race, no?

like i briefly touched on before, i also think this is a golden opportunity to put logan in a race where they will most likely come away with nothing anyways and give him the opportunity to pull off something incredible (which he absolutely can under the right circumstances). if he was able to have a good drive on sunday, he would be a star and williams would look like geniuses. with this decision, everyone just looks like an asshole.

final thoughts

to conclude, i am no certified expert, but this decision makes zero sense to me, as it also does to many others from what i’ve seen. i usually wholeheartedly agree with all of james’ decisions, but this one beats me. i cannot for the life of me figure out why williams would choose this.

there is a part of me that hopes williams will reverse this decision before sunday in order to save themselves from all of the pr backlash they are facing, but i understand that that is very much wishful thinking. the only good thing that can come from this is williams finally learning how to be prepared and/or logan being able to channel his frustration into motivation (although i don’t think there’s any way for him to possibly work harder than he already has).

if anyone disagrees with me and thinks this is the right decision for williams to make, i would love to hear why. no one has to agree with me, these are just my personal thoughts on the situation.

-avis 🏎️💨

[russellius]

While British success stories in Formula 1 tend to centre around Lewis Hamilton – as well they should, he’s a legend – George Russell has quietly been making a serious name for himself. At a fresh-faced 26 years old, he’s one of the younger racers on the grid and, when we caught up with him ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix back in the summer, was still revelling in the best season of his career. So, how was he finding the season so far?

“It’s been… I wouldn’t say a rollercoaster, but it’s been one that we’ve been climbing,” says Russell. “At the start we were at the bottom of the mountain and been steadily getting closer to the top. There’s so much excitement and motivation when you’re on a team like this, like we have a visible return on everything we’ve been putting in, that momentum we’ve been building up.”

We were talking shortly after his second F1 victory in Austria, which was a bit of a hairy one. After spending most of the race in third – still a respectable podium finish – Lando Norris and Max Verstappen ahead of him got a little too close to one another, crashing to take them both out the race. It was a far cry from Russell’s incredibly convincing first win. But was there a difference to him?

“Each win is incomparable. Every race is a completely different scenario. My first, in Brazil, was where I was ahead every lap. I’d done fantastically the day before and the pressure was there. Near the end I had Lewis on my tail and it was a relief to get across that finish line. In Austria I was happy to be in third – and then it all kicked off ahead and the opportunity arose. Every race is different and you never really know how it’s going to go, even when you’re behind the wheel.”

With that kind of uncertainty, it has to be hard to prepare yourself for racing at this level. There’s the danger of course, as that crash in Austria – and a multitude of other times – shows. But none of these guys would be racing if that put them off. Instead, we were more interested to find out of the pressure ever got to him – and more importantly, what Russell did to cope with it.

“I’m a little obsessive. I try to make sure I’ve gone through all the preparation possible with my engineers, taken a look at last year’s data, gone over the car, the weather conditions, anything I feel I need to be looking for. Once I’ve ticked them all off, I’m at peace, mentally. I know I’m at my peak physical condition, I know every race is going to be tough. But there are 19 other drivers and hopefully they’ll find it tougher than I will. After that, what will happen, will happen, it’s out of your control.”

With that huge amount of pressure every single week, the intense training regime to stay in that physical condition and the sheer hectic nature of a globe-trotting racing competition, decompression seems like a necessity. Russell though seems to want to take decompressing very literally.

“I love being by the sea, so I’ve started free diving, which is a bit of a random hobby, but when I’m out in the water I’m just so focused on my breathing, on being underwater that I just disconnect from the world. Once beneath the sea, down there with the fish and coral, you’re not thinking about anything else – except having enough breath to get back to the top!”

Russell isn’t the only British racing legend around. We’ve had a long, illustrious line of champions of which Hamilton is only the latest and Russell could potentially be next. For Russell, there’s something in the inspiration of champions of old, and having seven of the ten Formula 1 teams based in the UK helps. But for him, the key to British racing success is British racing green grass roots.

“I remember racing with Lando [Norris] and Alex [Albon], and alongside other racers who didn’t make it to Formula 1 but have made professional racing careers. There’s definitely something about the grass roots level here that works. But it needs to stay at that level. This isn’t the most economical sport in the world, so we need to make sure that we can give kids that don’t have the opportunity otherwise the funding they need to get behind the wheel and try go-karting.”

That said, go-karting is never going to be cheap for most would-be podium contenders, and whether it’s that or sheer space, it’s an opportunity sadly few kids have. E-sports on the other hand, is different.

“Simulators have advanced so much now. The Formula 1 game is fantastic and there should be ways we can identify talent sooner, instead of just having financial backing to push you through the ranks.”

Whether coming from the classic karting angle or from killing it online with photorealistic driving games, kids are going to need to have to contend with one of the most intensely competitive sports in the world – if not the most. According to Russell though, they shouldn’t be afraid of making mistakes; quite the opposite.

“The one piece of advice that I try to embrace myself is: don’t be afraid to fail. The times I’ve failed have been the times I’ve progressed the most, the times I’ve really pushed my limited. It doesn’t matter what you do, failure is necessary. It’s how we grow, how we learn about ourselves. There’s so much pressure not to let people down, especially with younger people, but you don’t want to go through life never making a mistake or knowing where your ceiling is.”

And any advice for those of us not thinking of a career in racing? Even shaving a few seconds off a track day would help for a few more bragging rights.

“No matter what you’re driving, stay relaxed. I’ve driven with people that have never been on a track before. They tense up, hunch over and it makes everything erratic. Smooth is fast, smooth with the steering, throttle and brake. It’s not necessarily how we drive in Formula 1, but if you want to speed up on a track day, stay relaxed.”

Obviously, it’s not lost on Russell just how many kids and F1 fans alike look up to him as a sportsman. He’s young, he’s hungry and his experience is starting to pay off. But for Russell, there are other sportspeople in other sports – and one in his own who I’m sure you can guess – that he looks up to.

“I have a huge amount of respect for [Cristiano] Ronaldo. He’s without a doubt the leader in his field. The same with [Novak] Djokovic, they’re fighters that push their physical performance. Then there’s Lewis [Hamilton], obviously. He puts his platform to great use and I admire him for that as much as his wins and what he’s doing off the track. I hope to be one of those leaders in years to come.”

Now he may well get a chance as Lewis will, in 2025, be moving from Mercedes as Russell’s teammate over to Ferrari. It’s a bold move, but on the other hand it means that Russell will soon be able to race his former teammate as an actual rival. Will that be weird?

“He’ll be wearing a different suit, but I’ll still recognise him! We’re at different stages in our career but we have massive respect for one another. For now, I’ll see him on the track.”

Speaking about wearing things, what watches have been on his wrist?

“I wear a lot of watches, actually. Right now, it’s the Ingenieur! I wore it for the first time at Wimbledon when it was still super fresh. I’ve also got my annual calendar and Top Gun back home. I like my team watch during race weekends to go with my suit, I wore it when I was on the podium in Austria. It fits so well.”

[umgeorge]

The Pressure of the Podium: Interview With George Russell

While British success stories in Formula 1 tend to centre around Lewis Hamilton-as well they should; he's a legend-George Russell has quietly been making a serious name for himself. At a fresh-faced 26 years old, he’s one of the younger racers on the grid and, when we caught up with him ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix back in the summer, was still revelling in the best season of his career. So, how was he finding the season so far? "Its been... I wouldn't say a rollercoaster, but it's been one that we've been climbing," says Russell. "At the start we were at the bottom of the mountain and been steadily getting closer to the top. There's so much excitement and motivation when you're on a team like this, like we have a visible return on everything we've been putting in, that momentum we've been building up."

We were talking shortly after his second F1 victory in Austria, which was a bit of a hairy one. After spending most of the race in third, still a respectable podium finish, Lando Norris and Max Verstappen ahead of him got a little too close to one another, crashing to take them both out the race. It was a far cry from Russell's incredibly convincing first win. But was there a difference to him? "Each win is incomparable. Every race is a completely different scenario. My first, in Brazil, was where I was ahead every lap. I'd done fantastically the day before and the pressure was there. Near the end I had Lewis on my tail and it was a relief to get across that finish line. In Austria I was happy to be in third, and then it all kicked off ahead and the opportunity arose. Every race is different and you never really know how it's going to go, even when you're behind the wheel." With that kind of uncertainty, it has to be hard to prepare yourself for racing at this level. There's the danger, of course, as that crash in Austria and a multitude of other times shows, but none of these guys would be racing if that put them off. Instead, we were more interested to find out if the pressure ever got to him - and, more importantly, what Russell did to cope with it.

"I'm a little obsessive. I try to make sure I've gone through all the preparation possible with my engineers, taken a look at last year's data, gone over the car, the weather conditions; anything I feel I need to be looking for. Once I've ticked them all off I'm at peace, mentally. I know I'm at my peak physical condition. I know every race is going to be tough. But there are nineteen other drivers and hopefully they'll find it tougher than I will. After that, what will happen, will happen. It's out of your control." With that huge amount of pressure every single week, the intense training regime to stay in that physical condition, and the sheer hectic nature of a globe-trotting racing competition, decompression seems like a necessity. Russell, though, seems to want to take decompressing very literally.

"I love being by the sea so I've started free diving, which is a bit of a random hobby, but when I'm out in the water I'm just so focused on my breathing, on being underwater, that I just disconnect from the world. Once beneath the sea, down there with the fish and coral, you're not thinking about anything else except having enough breath to get back to the top!" Russell isn't the only British racing legend around. We've had a long, illustrious line of champions of which Hamilton is only the latest and Russell could potentially be next. For Russell, there's something in the inspiration of champions of old, and having seven of the ten Formula 1 teams based in the UK helps. But for him, the key to British racing success is British racing's green grass roots.

"I remember racing with Lando and Alex, and alongside other racers who didn't make it to Formula 1 but have made professional racing careers. There's definitely something about the grass roots level here that works. But it needs to stay at that level. This isn't the most economical sport in the world, so we need to make sure that we can give kids that don't have the opportunity, otherwise, the funding they need to get behind the wheel and try go-karting." That said, go-karting is never going to be cheap for most would-be podium contenders, and whether it's that or sheer pace, it's an opportunity sadly few kids have. E-sports, on the other hand, is different. "Simulators have advanced so much now. The Formula 1 game is fantastic and there should be ways we can identify talent sooner, instead of just having financial backing to push you through the ranks."

Whether coming from the classic karting angle or from killing it online with photorealistic driving games, kids are going to need to have to contend with one of the most intensely competitive sports in the world - if not the most. According to Russell, though, they shouldn't be afraid of making mistakes; quite the opposite. "The one piece of advice that I try to embrace, myself, is: don’t be afraid to fail. The times I've failed have been the times I've progressed the most, the times I've really pushed my limits. It doesn't matter what you do; failure is necessary. It's how we grow, how we learn about ourselves. There's so much pressure not to let people down, especially with younger people, but you don't want to go through life never making a mistake or knowing where your ceiling is."

And any advice for those of us not thinking of a career in racing? Even shaving a few seconds off a track day would help for a few more bragging rights. "No matter what you're driving, stay relaxed. I've driven with people that have never been on a track before. They tense up, hunch over, and it makes everything erratic. Smooth is fast - smooth with the steering, throttle, and brake. It's not necessarily how we drive in Formula 1, but if you want to speed up on a track day, stay relaxed." Obviously, it’s not lost on Russell just how many kids and F1 fans alike look up to him as a sportsman. He's young, he's hungry, and his experience is starting to pay off. But for Russell, there are other sportspeople in other sports, and one in his own who I'm sure you can guess, that he looks up to.

"I have a huge amount of respect for Ronaldo. He's without a doubt the leader in his field. The same with Djokovic - they're fighters that push their physical performance. Then there's Lewis, obviously. He puts his platform to great use and I admire him for that as much as his wins and what he's doing off the track. I hope to be one of those leaders in years to come." Now he may well get a chance as Lewis will, in 2025, be moving from Mercedes, as Russell's teammate, over to Ferrari. It's a bold move, but on the other hand it means that Russell will soon be able to race his former teammate as an actual rival. Will that be weird? "He'll be wearing a different suit, but I'll still recognise him! We're at different stages in our career, but we have massive respect for one another. For now, I'll see him on the track."

[dwampyverseawards]

FINALE: PFTONES VS WHEN GLASS SHATTERS

CONGRATULATIONS TO @pftones3482 FOR WINNING THE WRITERS SIDE OF THE FOR FUN TOURNEY, AND TO @local-dragon-haunt FOR WINNING THE INDIVIDUAL FIC/SERIES SIDE OF THINGS! THIS LAST ROUND IS BASICALLY JUST EVEN MORE FOR THE FUNSIES.

@/pftones3482

Relevant reason for being submitted:

not sure if it has influence on the fandom overall but it had an influence on me and I live by that

They create top-tier Phineas and Ferb content, from fics to thoughtful analysis of characters and episodes. The following link is a great showcase of just a portion of their current Phineas and Ferb fics;

Propaganda: Just their entire catalogue of Phineas and Ferb works on Archive of Our Own. This is my favourite fic of theirs;

And here are some of my favourite posts;

Vote for @/pftones3482!

Have you ever heard of the Secret Life of Candace? Aka best mermaid au ever? GUESS WHO WROTE IT?

I have been in the Phineas and Ferb fandom for over a decade - writing fics for it for 12 years, can y'all believe that? I'm one of the oldest "original" fandom members left on AO3, which is actually insane.

And to this day the things I love about the show have shifted a little - favorite characters, favorite tropes, ships, etc. Nothing drastic, but anyone who's been following me since the beginning has definitely seen those changes.

But the thing I have always loved most about this fandom IS the fandom. The PnF fandom is one of the most wholesome fandoms I've ever been in, and it's the reason it's one of the only fandoms I still interact with. Sure, there's been drama, and sometimes we don't all agree - no fandom will ever always agree on everything (if they do....run)

Overall tho this fandom is so kind and wonderful, and given how small we are, we are still obnoxiously loud about this show 😂 I love us for that

Regardless if I win or lose (and if I lose, I'm honored to go down to someone like @/inators, who is a very kind person and has a big presence in the fandom), I wanted to say thank y'all for getting me this far

Phineas and Ferb got me on Tumblr and started my writing career. The fandom is what helped me stay. If I could give y'all an award for "Best Fandom," I absolutely would 🧡💚

When Glass Shatters, written by @/local-dragon-haunt

Relevant reason for being submitted:

Propaganda: local_dragon has a fantastic way with words and unconventional story telling. AUs where Perry is revealed to the kids are frequent, but ones where he interacts with Linda and Lawrence too are few and far between and the concept has so much potential. I just love their writing

Vote for my bestie @/local-dragon-haunt they deserve it and they won't admit it

Contestants may add their own propaganda however they see fit, provided it does not put down the person they are against. All round 1 matches were randomly generated, and anyone may drop out at any time.

[colonelpancakes]

Watching The Dragon Prince Season Six Part Eight: We All Fall Down. I made so many distressed noises while watching this episode that I actually hurt my throat

Under the cut as per usual.

Already, the shots of the people looking up at Sol Regem combined with the music is making me so fucking nervous is Katolis about to get destroyed??? Nothing better happen to Barius and Jellybug you hear me, they better make it out unscathed.

sakfdljskla it’s okay Soren, I heard “physical exercises” too. This is why I watch shows with subtitles.

OH MY FUCKING GOD THAT ESCALATED. SHIT.

That’s really bad, oh my god. Fuck.

Oh noo, honey… She had to leave her toy behind no…

Oh thank God, Soren and Opeli are somehow okay.

Guys, I appreciate the efforts, but I DON’T THINK ARROWS ARE GOING TO DO ANYTHING. Ballista? Maybe. Arrows? Definitely not.

OKAY CRAP IT GOT WORSE. They burned the bridge??? Man’s really just trying to kill as many people as possible, huh. That’s. Oh my god.

Oh crap.

OH FUCK! SOREN!

Okay, shit that’s a lot of blood um. Okay. That’s definitely a concussion. Hat’s okay, that’s good. Fuck. Soren you need to survive this episode, you hear me? You are not allowed to die.

Oh my god, the score here is. Oh my god. It really drives home the sense of fear and tragedy. The composers are fucking killing it.

SORENNNNN!!!! MY BOY!!! I LOVE HIM SO FUCKING MUCH OH MY GOD. I love the fact that he prioritizes citizen’s lives over the castle because 1) it’s absolutely what Ezran would want done in this situation and 2) it’s a direct contrast to season two where Soren causes MORE harm by insisting that a dragon be shot down but then 3) it’s a continuation of his character arc from that episode because after he realizes he made a mistake, he frees Corvus so that he can help evacuate the town. And then here, he’s making the call to stop shooting, sacrifice the castle, and focus entirely on evacuating the people. I love Soren so much, look at how much my boy has grown.

Is he going to get Viren out of the castle?

SOREN. SOREN, NO. NO SELF-SACRIFICING you hear me? NO. You are GOING to reunite with Opeli and you are GOING to be there to take care of Hat, Soren, I swear to god-

Oh, Hello motherfucker! I am about to reach through this screen and start biting you. Is that a fight I’m going to win? No. But it would be cathartic.

Oh, wow. Viren’s facial hair has really grown since the episode before last. I guess he doesn’t anything to shave with so that makes sense. Sure caught me off-guard though.

Oh? He’s asking VIren for help, I didn't expect that.

Oh! Soren you are so smart, I would not have thought of that, that’s a really good idea.

There’s a lot going on here, but also, ooh that’s interesting. I’ve always wondered how staffs were enhancing primal magic but then this answers it! They have primal stones embedded in them. Cool, I like that detail. Now back to heart-crushing drama.

Ohhhh Soren… I love Soren. The way he’s prioritizing people’s lives over EVERYTHING else, over any moral objections to dark magic, over the potential cost of any ingredient. Soren… You are so good.

Oh, god, what’s the ingredient for this one. It better not be another situation where you have to kill your child, if it is, I swear to god, Viren-

Oh. Oh shit. Ohhh noo, that’s um. Oh. Okay. Uh. Fuck.

SOFNREN! SONR NO. SOREN. NO. Not allowed, nope. Given all the emphasis on Viren’s value of his family this season I don’t. Think that he would sacrifice Soren. But. Honey. Darling, Sweetheart, no. I reiterate what I said earlier, Soren, you are NOT ALLOWED TO DIE.

VIREN DON’T YOU FUCKING DARE.

Viren. Viren where’s Soren. Viren.

Oh, shit, Viren stabbed himself didn’t he. Fuck.

Yeah… Yeah, he did. Shit. That is. Yeah, that is a lot of blood.

I'm out of images??? Already??? Oh my god. Uh. Continued in reblogs

[basedkikuenjoyer]

HxH 402: King Shit

Okay...this is literally the densest chapter of HxH to date and that's saying a lot given this manga had a superpower based on compound interest. Which is a bitch to be fair. Tonight thought we have a huge lurch forward in the Succession Contest itself and let's start with the beginning. Which is where we picked up from last week. Kurapika has gotten Woble into a formal truce. King Nasubi has stated "sole survivor" is up to interpretation so it matters we now have an agreement that #3 wins if only #5/#14 are left standing.

Tsubeppa's fine with this because she more than anyone else wants Kurapika close, and I'd imagine is operating under the idea she won't have to worry about #3 making it to the end. The core theme this time is how they're all playing a very unassuming game. And there are a lot of parallels here like the coin beast mentioned above and Basho getting a great little moment later. Zhang Hei is in a weird position, from the looks of it and his own assumption his Nen Beast is weaker here but potentially great after winning. He curried a strong showing in our poll, but now let's move on to someone who only got one vote. Mine.

Kacho? Kacho? What the hell girl. I dig it. Batgirl over here. Y'all, this chapter broke hard in the direction I wanted to see this contest go. Everything. So let's recap. The twins tried to escape with Melody's help. In the process we saw freaky hands go crazy and Kacho died, revealing her Nen Beast in the best moment of the arc so far. Season of Two - First twin out resurrects to aid the other. Fugetsu's ability is a tunnel to anywhere she's been, but it does require Kacho to shut it. They and Melody are under investigation for the escape attempt...but the Justice Bureau officials have seemingly been on their side. That said, FuuFuu has been getting a little crazy.

That's all well and good, but why would I think that can beat things like the freakish Nen savant or the First Prince with the military edge?

This isn't a fistfight. It is a political battle for succession. Fugetsu is the one no one is worried about. The younger ones are unpredictable and their moms are the real threat. None of the others really even know Woble or Maryam. Fuu's in that sweet spot and seems like the type everyone at least kinda likes.

But the biggest thing is that Kakin has a mostly modern government outside of this. It's the bureaucrats, yet again Melody feels she should be suspicious but nothing Kaiser has said really warrants it. This is the choice that makes sense for someone in his position. And all this scene is laying out that basic theory; Fugetsu's power is the type of thing that allows so much leeway to play this game if you have people willing to get dirty for you.

If you mistrust Kaiser, I want you to consider why. Would you say, mistrust Gon deciding he likes Melody and Fugetsu and he'll fight the bad princes for them? Is it because Kaiser's a G-Man? Oh, see that's exactly why I trust him. If you've ever been around high-level bureaucrats you'll probably know what I mean. If they're good enough to rise to that rank they could have been a politician, military officer, something with more glory. He's just the type of guy who wouldn't balk at the Trolley Problem and is used to making real decisions of that magnitude regularly. Melody's music attracted a lot of people, she's a beautiful soul, someone maybe actually doesn't care about how she looks. King Fugetsu is the type who'd just play the nice figurehead and let the advisors run their own lanes.

And he's already paid huge divdends, just like that. Fugetsu easily waltzes right into most of the other Princes' rooms. No one suspects anything, it all seems above board, Kaiser knows exactly what to do.

But I think it's easy to miss what's important here. Melody and Kurapika both hint the letter truly is a bombshell that'll upend this whole Succession Contest. Once again, of course a bureaucrat of Kaiser's rank just casually has dirt on all of them. You can really see it here with Luzurus but they're all pretty good at playing coy. And Fuu just casually fleeced them all.

[pedripics]

PEDRI Interview with ESPN Deportes

Dream Barça XI: Ter Stegen, Puyol, Rafael Márquez, Pique, Jordi Alba, Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta, Leo Messi, Ronaldinho, Luis Suárez

On his family and their support: "Everything has happened very fast. I look back and a few years ago I was at Las Palmas and now I'm at Barça and in the national team and everything I have achieved. But thanks to my family, I have both my feet on the ground. I always try to be calm, be as I have been all my life and enjoy the journey. For me, family is the most important thing, they will always be there no matter what happens, no matter how well it goes, they are the first ones to support you or congratulate you. I think, one of the most important things you have to do, is take care of your family and spend time with them. They are the first ones that are happy for the things I am achieving and well, my brother is the first one that gives me stick if I do something wrong so I can improve."

On winning LaLiga last season: "It's clear that even for the best [teams] there are bad times too. I was unlucky to experience a couple of those in the early years, but fortunately last year we won LaLiga, we want to compete much more, we have a great squad and I hope for much better situations to come."

"You win LaLiga by having consistency. You have to win game by game and every week you have to mentalize that maybe the Champions League didn't go very well, but in LaLiga we had to keep winning with the same dynamic. In the end that is complicated because, in three days, you have to go from a defeat to having to win at the weekend, but we did very well."

"Every year there is pressure on Barça to win all the titles, but we want to say that last year was no coincidence and that this year we are going to fight with everything and why not, take it home again."

On the youngsters joining them for Pre-Season: "The squad is constantly growing, like the youngsters who also came to train with us on this tour and stand out because they are players with quality. The next generation comes without fear, they enjoy themselves on the field as they are, and the future they have in store for us is great." (senior citizen Pedri is back at it again lmao)

On Gündogan joining Barça: "I have always said that all good players should join Barça. For me, it's the best club in the world. With Gündogan, in the few training sessions we've had, you can already see the quality he has. I had already seen him in matches, but in person, he is even more impressive. The way he turns and how difficult it is for him to lose a ball… I'm going to enjoy playing alongside him."

On potentially joining MLS after his career at Barça: "Yes, it's a league that is fun to watch. Most of all, life here seems very nice with a lot of things to do. The cities are amazing and it piques the interest to come and play here."

On training and his new nutrition plan: "I train a lot but it's not what I enjoy the most, when I'm on the field that's what I like the most. In terms of nutrition, it's hard because there are foods I don't like as much, like salmon. I prefer red meat over salmon, but now it's a big part of my diet and I have to eat it."

[gemstone-ruby]

Season Finale Ramblings

Oh I feel so vindicated after watching to finale of The Gilded Age! Please note I do NOT have the extra context that comes with the show's extras yet (podcasts, interview, etc.) and I have only watched season two once but I am still filled with (a little too much) giddy energy about the ending so this is going to be a wall of text be prepared...

Thoughts and spoilers after the break

Lets start with Peggy: when I tell you I let out a sigh of relief when she left that man standing in the park! Mr. Fortune is MARRIED with -insert number of kids here- one of which is a newborn. You're telling me your wife just gave birth and you're making googly eyes at the new journalist who works for you???? TRASH. Now don't get me wrong, I could write off the kiss in the barn as a heat of the moment thing for the plot or whatever, but I think KNOW I would have been really pissed off and disappointed in how they took Peggy's character if they let that storyline continue into an affair. I wish Peggy the best of luck with her author dreams now that she has her start.

Ms. Marian: Girl, I am so happy you found your voice, dusted off your spine and got out of that engagement. For season one, in my opinion, she was pining so much for her old life that it made her lie to herself. She lost everything and everyone she knew in the blink of an eye and had to immediately put on a brave face and table her grief because Agnes hated her brother. I do think she loved Mr. Raikes but I think that love was rooted in her using him as a way back to "real life" once they got married. So much so that she ignored the signs that Raikes was being seduced by high society life in New York. She really grew as a person this season but when she accepted Dashiell's proposal, I thought she was sliding back downhill into the quiet housewife everyone expects her to be. I'm glad she's finally taking life into her own hands and I'm glad Larry Russell might be getting a happy ending with her as well. We shall see...

Speaking of the Russells: A big beautiful congratulations to Mrs. Russell for winning the opera war...however...I think it might come back to bite her in the ass when Gladys, and most importantly, Mr. Russell find out she basically sold her daughter off to the duke to do so. I love Mr. and Mrs. Russell as a unit, THE power couple, but George made it clear that he doesn't give two shits about playing the grand game of society. He only plays for his wife because his family's happiness is all he wants; if Gladys is falling for another man and Bertha tries to force her into the duke's arms, the power couple is going to clash. HARD. You already saw a brief look at that potential conflict when Mr. Russell was facing charges for the train crash and all Mrs. Russell could think about was a ball. He didn't even tell her when he was going ON TRIAL ffs! Yes they were at odds when Bertha found out about Turner coming onto him but in that instance George was working for forgiveness from his wife; the train derailment had him ready to bare teeth over his wife's lack of empathy. Mr. Russell already promised his daughter he would have her back when it comes to her marriage; this is not going to resolved without at least one relationship dynamic in the Russell household changing forever...

And FINALLY SOME KARMIC JUSTICE FOR ADA!!!! Omfg this woman could not catch a break for the life of her. This wise, kind soul had to live years as a spinster and (as I'm sure she probably thinks) a leech on the fortune her sister had to marry an awful man to get. When she at last finds a good man to love and live out her golden years with he fucking gets cancer and dies almost as soon as they get married. This woman could not get more than a second of peace. But when Bannister turned to her and crowned her head of the household with one question it's like the stars aligned! You could see it in her face when she realized she was finally, not her sister's equal, but her superior by Agnes's own old world standards. And I know that Agnes loves her sister in her outdated way, but in my opinion, it was also extremely patronizing. Agnes ruled her household with an iron fist, so much so that literally every one living under her roof, from the servants to her family members, have secrets they're keeping in fear of losing their way of life by angering her. Now, dear Aunt Ada, gets to take the rinds and I can't wait. Ada is kind but not naïve, wise but not authoritarian, and she realizes that the world is changing and society along with it. Everyone in the Van Rhijn house may now have a chance at happiness their own way now that they have a mistress who has no interest in changing who they are for the sake of other people's opinions.

I want to stress that I am not bashing Agnes. At least I'm not trying to. I know her way of thinking is a product of her time mixed with the horrors and injustices she had to face to get to where she is in life. But her being stuck in survival mode has sank her ship and nearly alienated her from her own family. She should take this changing of the guard as her sign to give it a rest, to TAKE a rest. Do I think she's going to: NO. I think she's going to be a bitter pain in the ass now that she has virtually no power.

I'm going to end this by saying to look forward to seeing if and how Mrs. Astor will move forward. She does not seem to be the type of woman to fade off into the night silently in defeat. I would say she may team up with Ms. Turner/Mrs. Winterton but not only does Astor know her secret now but I think she's about two seconds from spiraling in a BAD way and losing that rich husband of hers. I mean look at the temper tantrums she threw every time she lost something to Mrs. Russell.

If they do not renew this show for another season, I will haul myself from the Brooklyn Bridge (I'm joking.....mostly )

[umlewis]

Lewis Hamilton On Winning Again and Making the Formula 1 Movie With Brad Pitt

Sir Lewis Hamilton is suddenly on a hot streak. In early July, the seven-time Formula 1 champion won the British Grand Prix for the ninth time, setting a record for the most victories by a driver at a single circuit. It was just the latest milestone for the 39 year old Hamilton, who has won more races and finished on the podium more times than any other Formula 1 driver in the history of the competition. But the win in England was his first in more than two years. He followed it up by finishing on the podium in third at the Hungarian Grand Prix in Budapest a couple weeks later, and then a week after that, Hamilton, who was knighted a few years ago, notched another victory at the Belgian Grand Prix after his teammate George Russell was disqualified post-race when his car was found to be underweight. I got a chance to sit down with Hamilton at the Ritz-Carlton in Budapest the night before the Hungarian Grand Prix. The Ritz-Carlton is the official hotel partner for the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1 team, and I was one of a group of invited guests and prize winners who traveled from Vienna to Budapest in a convoy of Mercedes vehicles for what the Ritz-Carlton called the "Road To Legendary Car Tour." Hamilton stopped by to chat with the group and to offer a tasting of his non-alcoholic tequila brand, Almave, which he launched last year with the spirits company Casa Lumbre. Hamilton is taking on new challenges at the track, too. This season is his last with the Mercedes team. He announced before the season that he would be leaving after twelve years and will be driving for Ferrari in 2025. Hamilton is also going Hollywood, co-producing the much-hyped movie F1, which is scheduled for release next year and stars Brad Pitt as a former driver returning to compete in Formula 1. We talked about his battle to get back on top of the podium, how he stays in shape to compete with younger drivers, calling bullshit on the F1 screenplay, getting out on the track with Brad Pitt, collaborating with director Joseph Kosinski, and how he'll know when to walk away from racing. Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

What do you get from doing something entrepreneurial, like launching Almave, which is different from everything else you're involved in? "I think as a racing driver it's really healthy to unplug and do other things and tap into other mediums, and when you get into the room to sit with a bunch of creatives-working with Casa Lumbre, for example, who have done who knows how many different spirits-they can explain to you the whole process. And then there's things that perhaps you ask them that they've never had to think about before." Your win at the British Grand Prix was your first time on the top of the podium since 2021. What was it like to finally get back to winning, and to do it on your home turf in England? "Everyone was talking about it being this fairy tale, and it really, really was unexpected. Going into that weekend I had no idea that that was going to be possible, and it had been such a long time. So many thoughts cross your mind. Some of them you start to potentially believe in, bit by bit. And finally I had that day when I was able to excel, and we excelled as a team, and it just kind of shuts that all down nd it helps you rebuild again. So it was really great to be able to do it at home, in my home country, with my family around. The last race in Mercedes at Silverstone. It couldn't have been more magical."

The past couple years have been kind of a grind for you after experiencing so much success for so long. What have you learned about yourself, going through that? "It's been mostly a battle of the mind; keeping yourself sane, trying to pick up new tools. Ultimately it always comes back to persistence and dedication. Hard work. It always does eventually pay off. I think I learned that life is really about how much pain you can experience and keep going, and how much you can suffer and keep moving forward, you know? And that's life, right? It's not how you fall, it's how you get up. It's how you continue to apply yourself every single day. It's how you connect with people that you work with. I probably learned to be a better teammate in this period of time, because we've had more time to focus on communication." There's been a lot of buzz about F1, the upcoming Formula 1 movie starring Brad Pitt. I know you're a producer. How did you get involved? "We were there from the beginning. There were a couple scripts out there. I had known Joe [Kosinski, the director] from when we talked about doing Top Gun: Maverick through Tom [Cruise]. Tom put me in touch with Joe, and there were discussions of being in the movie. And then we just stayed in touch. Then we all reconnected to talk about potentially doing a Formula 1 movie, and then we went through this whole process of working with a writer."

What was that like? Did the screenwriter interview you about the details of driving in Formula 1? "Ehren [Kruger, the screenwriter] basically did a ton of research, watched a lot of races, came to a bunch of races, and then went away and wrote up a script. But we would sit and talk about what racing is about. Then once he wrote the script, I would sit with him and call bullshit, basically, on the things that don't seem real and are not what F1 is about and try to make sure that it's as authentic as possible. Then, at the same time, I started a production company, so I'm a producer with these guys. I've been able to be involved in all areas, so making sure the cast is diverse, making sure we've got a woman in a pit stop, which we never, ever had at the actual track. Hans Zimmer was someone I wanted to have doing the [music for the] movie, so we have Hans Zimmer. Joe has been amazing at including me in everything." What types of things in the screenplay made you call bullshit? "It would just be racing scenarios, technical jargon engineers would talk, but particularly racing scenarios and sequences between overtakes and pit stops and strategies and all those sorts of things. There may have been a crash that was like the car hits the wall and flips and lands on the wheels and keeps going, and that doesn't happen in Formula 1." When you were prepping for the movie, did you ever get out on the track with Brad Pitt to check out his driving? If so, how'd he do? "Yeah, we went to a track in LA. I took him out and sat in the passenger seat, and he drove. I used to be a driving coach when I was younger-it was a way of making some money part time whilst I was racing-so I've sat with god knows how many non-racing drivers. You can tell immediately the good ones, the bad ones. Straight away he was on it. You could tell he has it. He has it in his DNA. He's just not been able to hone in on it like we have. But he's got big potential."

So you're confident he can give a realistic performance as a driver? "Yeah, but I think obviously it takes time. Ultimately, the story of a 50-odd-year-old jumping into the season and fighting against us youngsters, it's just not the done thing. But then there's discussing, how would you go about doing that? How much training would you have to do in order to really be able to come back and fight and react in the same way? Yeah, there's a lot of detail that went into it." How have you changed up your training routine over the years to stay fresh and competitive? "You definitely adapt always, and you learn you have to just watch your energy. Recovery is huge, a really big part of the process. It's the whole 360 thing. It's not just going to the gym. It's how much you stretch, how much physio you end up doing, what you eat, and that's constantly changing week by week. And obviously, depending on how much energy you have, the different time zones that you're in." You travel so much for your sport. Do you have rituals or secrets to make yourself comfortable when you arrive? "Not really. I listen to a lot of music. I have music set up in my room. I record music. Basically, I write and sing music, different sorts of R&B. So I record music at night. Often in my evenings, I read. Try to meditate, mostly in the mornings, but I don't always get to it. And then I'm focused on my sleep-try not to slack on that ever-so there's a cutoff time when I want to go to bed, depending on what time I need to be up the first day."

In working with a partner like the Ritz-Carlton, you have a chance to do different kinds of events, like the Almave tasting we just had. Any favourite experiences? "We were just talking about this the other day. In Mexico City I went to visit a school and see the kids. I love when I work with partners that are doing practical stuff. I think that's been a real shift. When I first joined Formula 1 we were working with partners, but less so in the human connection space. In the last five or six years, working with partners like the Ritz-Carlton, it's "What impact are you making? How do you give back?" When we go to a school, see youth and see that they're invested in children, for me, that brings real warmth to my heart, especially as my foundation is all about getting youth who won't have the opportunity, for example, to get into our sport, to get into STEM and channel through to a good career." Do you have a time frame for your career? You're going to be starting a new process with a new team next year. Do you have a plan for how long you'd like to keep racing? "I definitely do. There are days I'm like, shoot, I don't know how much longer I can go. There are days I'm like, shoot, I'd love a break, a proper break, because you don't get a real big break in the season like other sports. You don't finish until mid to late December, and then you're back into training already in January, and that's two times a day you're training. There are another couple of hours of therapy that you're doing during that time, as well, so you're not really getting a huge amount of downtime. And in February you're flat out running until December." That sounds pretty grueling. "But I do have, mentally, a plan of where I would like to extend to. I've just got to strategize and sequence things. I'm very much about sequencing, like looking at brands that I collaborate with, companies that I'm essentially starting, how I manage my time between all those, and how I'm able to dedicate myself to this job still. Is there a time when I'm not all-in and I'm just not in love with it anymore? That's the moment that hopefully never happens, in the sense that I've fallen out of love with it. But I will know when I need to stop."

You'll feel it. "I want to make sure I really max it out while I can and fully enjoy this sport I've done my whole life. There are so many people that have finished their careers early, and I've spoken to many who've said they wish they could have just done one more year or two, and they're like, "Stay in as long as you can!" But I don't want to do it if I'm not good, so it's like, how much do you want to train? When you're 22 it's so easy to work out and be fit. There's no recovery and you've got nothing else going on, no other stresses, no real responsibilities except for that one thing to go and kill. Now it's, how can you stay sharp and be able to do all those things you have going on, and still be able to compete with those young guys in their twenties?" Does it give you particular pleasure to beat the young guys? "Not particularly. I'm super competitive naturally. I don't care who it is. I just want to win." No matter who it is you're competing against. "Yeah. When I won the other day, I didn't think anything about anybody else. I just thought about my team. I thought about people that were with me. People that have sacrificed their time away from their families. People who were giving that extra bit of time in their day when they could have left early to go home and see the kids, and they've given that extra time to build these parts that got us that result. That's who I think about."

[mediazone786]

Squid Game season two review – TV that will make you uncomfortably bloodthirsty indeed

One of Hollywood’s many bad habits is the bloat caused by splitting a story in half in a bid to double the profits (cough, cough, Dune and Wicked). Squid Game was always a perfect one-series story. Gambling addict Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) became Player 456, a desperate man who attempts to pay off his debts by taking part in a twisted underground fight-to-the-death competition. He beats the odds by surviving every one of its potentially fatal playground games. When it first appeared, it was horrifying, it was thrilling, and its satirical edge – which examined capitalism and class in South Korea – was clever and acidic. The world took to it in vast numbers.

That it became one of Netflix’s most successful, and therefore most profitable, series of all time placed it in a creative bind. Inevitably, it was renewed for a second and then third series, but even before that, its satirical edge was stress-tested by Squid Game: The Challenge, a real gameshow spinoff. That was far more entertaining than it had any right to be, but its win-big mentality did rather undermine the point of the original, which took aim at the inherent unfairness of an exploitative economic system.

But that was a diversion, and its many millions of viewers will be keen to see if Squid Game can recapture its magic, even with a return that seems unnecessary at least in narrative terms. For the first three of these seven new episodes, it struggles to find its purpose. It is three years after Gi-hun walked away with the money, and he is hellbent on seeking revenge on the super-rich puppet-masters who engineered its deadly spectacle. He is chasing shadows, using some of his vast cash reserves (or “blood money”) to fund a mercenary army. He joins forces with the former detective Hwang Jun-ho, who is still trying to find his brother, to look for the Salesman, the man in the suit who asks strangers to play ddakji with him before recruiting them as players. Months pass, and the dead ends mount.

The early episodes feel like delaying tactics, and considering that this is Squid Game, it is all rather ordinary. There are chase scenes, car crashes and gun fights. The satirical element has been replaced by a quest for vengeance. It is entertaining enough, but it does lead to an uncomfortably bloodthirsty sensation, of willing everyone to get back to the sports day with a body count. Given that the last episode feels very much like the halfway point in the story, which will continue with a final series next year, this dragging of heels is gratuitous.

It gets better. When Gi-hun finally becomes Player 456 again – and this is revealed in the trailer, which seems to have an understanding of the need for the games and the structure provided by them – it is a welcome kick up the backside. Here, it begins to embrace the familiar, and make enough changes to freshen everything up. It starts to go deeper into the lives of the masked soldiers who enforce the rules. There are new players, and so a whole new cast to either root for or despise. The idea of expensive healthcare, and the conflation of wealth and health, is foregrounded, which is timely. It introduces a mother and her son – as both Squid Game: The Challenge and the last series of The Traitors know, this dynamic is dramatic gold. In other cases, it makes the villains cartoonishly awful. A rapper named Thanos is one of the most irritating characters to appear on TV in recent times.

One of the preoccupations of Squid Game is human nature. As a species, are we fundamentally decent and magnanimous, or are we craven, greedy and selfish? The Salesman reminds us of the theme early on, when he takes two bags of shopping to a park mostly populated by the homeless and others down on their luck. He offers them a choice: bread, or a scratch card? The certainty of a meal, or the possibility of cash? Most take the risk, not knowing the outcome. Gi-hun already knows the outcome of the games, or at least he thinks he does. But whether he can persuade the others what it actually means to play when the odds are stacked against you is another story.

For all of its unevenness, particularly as it is warming up to the proper action, there is one big twist that really works, though whether it is distinct enough from what happens in the first series is unclear. And when you think you know where it is going, it turns away from its trajectory, upping the ante and finding its feet. What a shame it takes so long to get there though. Series three has some cleaning up to do.

[superwholockian93]

So I started season 2 of 911 Fox and have watched 7 ep so far:

Eddie is in this season! and holy shit it wasn't a fan edit where he puts on the shirt to that what a man song? in a slo-mo with Buck turning around to look at him

Why did Buck dislike him? I still don't get it. Anyway it barely lasted. That anger seemed so forced lol

I love Chim's storyline this season? Esp when he tells Hen why he wants to win the calendar thing and later with the ex-fiance thing

I love Athena and Bobby. Whenever they are on screen together, I'm like Parents :D

I miss Abby :(

The cheese is less so far and I love the eps?

I love that Athena is raising her kids with her best friend and they both have other people to enjoy their lives with

Is it a bit not funny that Buck and Eddie have (had?) love interests women with an ailing mother

I love Hen and Chim's friendship (dunno if I mentioned it in the last post)

Let's talk about Buddie (what is this name xD) that I had only ever seen in passing multiple times on the dashboard in the form of GIFs over the years (so pretty much everything about the show is unknown to me)

Buck, who loves kids, meets a single dad whom he dislikes at the beginning which is too shortlived and they get along

It's funny that in their initial 'bonding' moments, Eddie says something like 'I think you could have my back' and Buck is like 'you- you mine' or whatever and not too many ep later, Eddie tells his wife 'you didn't have my back' and she responds similarly like???

(Also that gym scene where Buck is trying to compete with Eddie was so embarrassing! The second hand embarrassment was hiiigh)

I have a poor memory so I am just blanking but like so much of it already is like Eddie needs someone who will help him take care of his son, Eddie has no one- and right after there is Buck silently? unasked helping out Eddie and that Buck is obviously that person like wth?

That scene where Christopher slides down the pole and Eddie and Buck are next to him and Buck's like very-dad potential is all I am saying

I was expecting for the show to take a while to get there for me to board the train when I actually started the show and instead wow

I still cannot get over how much of it is already like single dad is having a hard time raising son and then there is the new co-worker who is like 'I love kids :D' and I have watched a lot of shows and movies in many languages where it generally signals that is the real love interest

Season 1

[beautifulpersonpeach]

Sorry pls ignore my last ask BPP. Your point about Seven being the 'Dynamite' equivalent in solo era is a good one and explains the treatment it got. After the BB article I also now understand why BH dropped LC. If BB believed the LC record was 'tainted' with Chinese cash and BH never had that 'Dynamite' promotion plan for it, everything that's happened makes sense. But it still leaves a nasty taste in my mouth. I can't wash it out. Are we now at the mercy of BB's whims? Also don't you find the support for Seven excessive? Is the elimination of direct to consumer sales enough to explain that kind of support to keep it number 1? I'm just trying to understand how the company is thinking about things without victimizing the members. They all seem to be still working with purpose so I feel they don't feel shortchanged, but from the outside looking inside it doesn't feel fair.

*

Ask 2:

Hi BPP,

Re: bb article

1. Do you think there will be additional changes coming, making sales even less relevant for bb charts?

2. I absolutely hate that it is again Jimin that takes the brunt of all this bulshit, I really do. He doesnt deserve this at all. But he is strong, he will be OK. That being said, its making me really upset IRL, so I will have to do some me time.

3. I would be interested to know your outlook on BB as a whole when it comes to BTS and their future in US market (if you have talked about this pls refer me to the post)

My opinion is, that while BB is paramount when it comes to big awards season, eventually BB and the awards themselves serve as a kind of promotion, to validate the artist to their (potential) fanbase, keep them invested etc. BTS guys do all of that on their own, with their music, personalities and lyrics. So going forward, if they dont chart as much, dont win as much... It will not matter in the long run. Their fan base is so solid that I trully believe they will have no problem selling multiple stadium stops 25 years from now. Easily.

There will be a significant fandom fall off, when all the people who are here for bragging rights lose their interest. And that is a good thing... But the people who will stay, who love the guys for who they are and for their art, those whose love does not depend on how many grammy noms or BB H100 they recieve... These people will stay and buy the tickets. And their numbers will still be enourmous. Enviable. More than the majority of the western industry plants can only dream of.

Rant over. Have a good weekend

*

Ask 3:

The latest Billboard discussion is disheartening, but the NYT article description of U.S. conservatives aping the tactics of Swifties and BTS fans to get their nefarious messaging across is even more so. Have we opened the gate for the Trumpsters of the world?

I was struck by this partvof the original question to you"

'... figure out a way to truly determine which songs are most popular (whatever that even means anymore)....'

So, how can we ever know what is truly popular? Are fervent fans willing to devote time and resources to get their fave to the top really the best arbiters? Even if they number in the millions, we are still looking at support that is far deeper than it is wide.

I mean, better than the suits deciding, I guess? Or is it just another group--this one outside of the target country--imposing their agenda on the population? One has the goal of making money; the other of winning a fan war.

So, how do we ascertain what is truly popular with the much-vaunted GP? Or doesn't it matter?

***

I've said many times on this blog that I'm not a writer, and that English isn't my first language, so I suppose it's unsurprising that despite my efforts putting my thoughts to paper/Tumblr, I'm still unable to fully communicate it in a way people understand right away, to eliminate/answer a lot of questions that I believe should be clear to infer from what I've written before. So rather than write a massive post like before where my key points could get lost, I'll pick out key questions from your asks and give fairly brief answers to each one. I'll work my way from the top, down.

Hi Anon(s),

Select answers below:

"Also don't you find the support for Seven excessive? Is the elimination of direct to consumer sales enough to explain that kind of support to keep it number 1?"

I think the results speak for itself. Dynamite and the PET got what is easily the biggest support any BTS release had gotten to date at the time - all of it tailored to mirror how American labels promoted their tracks, *and* the fandom had D2C sales buttressing it as the primary support mechanism. Like, please read that sentence again and think about what it means. Sales are the easiest and most transparent way for the fandom to influence charts, and so was always preferred for ARMY. Even if you weren't in the fandom then, understand it's impossible to overstate how much D2C sales mattered. With that now out of the question, everything we're seeing for Seven for me feels like a given, especially after the Billboard article.

"Do you think there will be additional changes coming, making sales even less relevant for bb charts?"

Yes. But not 'less relevant' in a sense, more like differentiated and treated as its own thing, perhaps in a separate chart.

"I would be interested to know your outlook on BB as a whole when it comes to BTS and their future in US market (if you have talked about this pls refer me to the post)"

This probably requires its own post but the long-short of it is: just like Ticketmaster, Billboard is only one arm of one of the largest private monopolies in the US entertainment market - PMC, and as such they serve as gatekeepers of sorts. Their interest in BTS (and k-pop by extension) lies primarily in how they can profit off the group/fandom, which so far BigHit and ARMY have created very limited avenues for. BigHit's strategy until now has been to expand BTS's reach without relying on the PMC apparatus, using it only for select releases that are explicitly tailored for it e.g. Seven and PET. While I don't think this strategy will change dramatically, every change from BB is to force more compliance with their apparatus. BTS will continue facing handicaps from PMC so long as BigHit continues limiting how PMC can profit from BTS for each release. (This sentence makes sense in my head but if it's not clear, please let me know.)

*

"Have we opened the gate for the Trumpsters of the world?"

Well, yeah. But ARMYs can't take all the credit. After all, ARMYs are only doing what the Bey Hive and Swifties have been doing for almost a decade with none of the scrutiny. BTS, more than any other group, actually has the absolute numbers in demand and grassroots support to justify it as they're comparable to the afore-mentioned artists, proven by their concert showings not just in the US but worldwide, as far back as 2018. People only started paying attention to ARMYs' movements because BTS didn't look like the sorts of people they expected to see at the top of the charts. Everybody took notice, including a political faction in the US that in recent years has moved more aggressively into the entertainment sphere to influence culture, such as Ben Shapiro's entertainment empire, movies like Sound of Freedom topping box office charts, and conservative country singers pushing Reagan-esque talking points to the top of music charts. So it's basically the result of timing and opportunity.

"So, how can we ever know what is truly popular? Are fervent fans willing to devote time and resources to get their fave to the top really the best arbiters? ... how do we ascertain what is truly popular with the much-vaunted GP?"

I've talked about this before I think. You can find my views on it in my Masterlist, and I've linked the post here.

*

People sent in more asks on BB but I've since lost interest in this topic and will post my responses when I feel like it, much later, using the same format I've used to answer the asks above. The truth is that while I understand why many people feel like everything that's happened so far with Seven and Jimin is unfair, I think a lot of the discourse is awfully reductive, actually does a disservice to Jimin and BTS, and that there's a much bigger picture here that's more consistent with how BTS has operated for the last 10 years.

This is probably not the best analogy, but one way I think of BTS is like a Swiss army knife, with each member being a separate tool. And that at different points, in various markets, BigHit and BTS are testing various approaches to expand their reach while aiming to maintain the market share they've gotten so far. The group has always had projects they release that have more artistic merit and cache, versus projects made by all appearances to be purely for commercial purposes to expand the reach of the group. For example, consider how BigHit promoted Butter/Permission to Dance, compared to the BE album, or how Seven was created and promoted relative to Indigo. To go back in even further in previous years, I remember how BTS appeared to center Jimin in Blood, Sweat & Tears era to build out his and their presence in Korea, and Taehyung in DNA era where his and BTS's presence in China ballooned in 2017.

While in the solo era some people feel like every accomplishment remains solely with individual members, I feel everything serves only one purpose: to further establish the group. Because by BTS's own words, they all have their individual ambitions, they've always had that and each member is aggressively competitive on that note, but they've each all said that their priority remains the group. Not everybody likes that, not everybody believes them when they say it, but the good thing with BTS is that they plan in multi-year stints and time always reveals what the facts of the matter are. We're only one year into Chapter 2, and while certain parts of the fandom are treating their solo debut albums as the be all and end all, I don't think there's anything to suggest this perspective lines up with the reality of how BTS has behaved for the last 10 years. I could be wrong, but either way we're just going to have to wait and see. In the meantime, I believe there's significant artistic merit in what the guys are putting out in Chapter 2, that I hope isn't lost in the noise. The fandom should do a better job of bringing the attention back to this, rather than a tunnel-vision on performance metrics that only tell half of the story.

[regarding-stories]

Win some, lose some: Rounding up more Winter Anime Season 2025 shows

We got a mixed bag in our hands, and make no mistake. Let's dive in.

OKITSURA: Fell in Love with an Okinawan Girl, but I Just Wish I Know What She's Saying

"OKITSURA" is a fun show with a simple premise: Mainland Japanese teenager transfers to an Okinawa high school. He quickly develops a crush on a girl in his class, but she talks a lot in Okinawa Islander "dialect" (or rather: language) and another girl, her friend, jumps in to translate.

Seems pretty clear he's going to end up with the translator, he just doesn't know it yet. The show is chockful with lore about the island of Okinawa, making it colorful and cute. It's also funny and plays its various cultural and romantic embarrassments well.

3 episodes in, all good.

Ameku M.D.: Doctor Detective

This is a mix of Sherlock Holmes and "House, MD", really. Smol but brilliant pathologist solves medical and criminal mysteries. She of courses is brash, oversteps boundaries, and way too full of herself.

But the show is doing good mysteries, so definitely worth a watch. (4 episodes so far.)

Anyway, I'm Falling in Love with You

Childhood friends, one girl, four boys, the heady days of youth, yada yada. The one who will win her in the end is her simple guy childhood friend aka hot guy #1, pretty sure. There's a potential love triangle set up with generic hot guy #2. She's the generic "can't make up my mind" heroine.

Everything's generic about this show which tries to win us over by reminding us that COVID robbed many young people in Japan of what they thought of as the best days of their youth. Except when the show isn't bland, it's actually about the comparatively pushy moves hot guy #1 makes on her. And no character in sight to care about in the least. Dropped after episode 2.

Sakamoto Days

Once the best hitman of them all, he is now a family man, running a shop, with a big pot belly and old man look to him. But he's still got it!

Two episodes in, the cast is still assembling, but basically Sakamoto is kicking ass while also trying to keep the promise he made to his wife.

So far, funny. Likes its occasional action gore. One of the shows where you best not think about the logic much.

I'm Getting Married to a Girl I Hate in My Class

Speaking of "don't think too hard", the premise of this show is that two teens are made to cohabitate, aiming for marriage (or already married?) by their blackmailing grandparents. Of course they had this strong love-hate relationship already before.

Yes, it's a silly premise. But it's basically your classical rom-com in a nutshell. We already know she's crushing on him, so basically what we get is him shaping up, her stopping to be such a nag, and a lot of togetherness building an actual tender relationship between them.

There are definitely stupid elements in there, no doubt. It works, though, in spite of its typical anime flaws. Probably because it has a lot of cute and shy moments.

Magic Maker: How to Make Magic in Another World

Even though I talked a lot about formulaic Isekai shows in my last post (and some good ones), this one actually stands out. Because it isn't formulaic!

A salaryman gets reincarnated into the body of a baby boy. He hoped against hope in our world that magic was real and his sole desire for his next life is experiencing magic as real. Except: He finds his world has monsters and fantasy vibes, but no magic!

One day he and his childhood friends find a force powered by emotions that fits the bill, except not everybody can see it. None of the adults can! Naturally he wants to master it - even if he has to invent it first.

3 episodes in so far, and nobody has said "S-Rank", nobody has opened a status screen, nobody knows they are level 7, and while the boy has uttered things like "Fireball!" he has done so to no effect. Also, the show implies there will be social repercussions for being different... Intrigued!!

Reincarnated as a Sword

I thought the title was dumb. The show sure isn't!

Guy gets, well, reincarnated as a magical sword, and he's setting out to make himself OP. Except he never gets so OP that the story gets dull. Plus, a cute and poor cat girl becomes his bearer. From there on out it's almost all win.

The show is seriously cute, has great action, is well-balanced when it comes to challenge vs character skill, and has good storytelling. It also has its nice emotional moments and makes you laugh out loud.

Great show!

Welcome to Japan, Ms. Elf!

This one has an interesting premise. Guy drifts into fantasy world at night where he keeps having adventures in another world with complete continuity since he was a child. He also knows this elf girl there. One day, she ends up next to him in bed in Japan.

The show mixes a fantasy part (when they sleep) with a "Oh, we're discovering Japan!" part. Lots about loving the food and having baths is super-nice. She's of course over-the-top cute and secretly in love with him.

Cute enough to pull it off, but don't expect much in terms of drama or suspense, I'd say.

Honey Lemon Soda

Puh, on the fence about dropping this one. She's super shy and introverted and getting bullied for it. Her bullies call her "Stony" ("Ishi" means "stone" and is part of her name) because she freezes up when she's insecure.

He is a young guy with attitude (but no delinquent) and can't make up his mind if he's her white knight or just mean to her (supposedly for her own good). He certainly stands up for her and teaches her how to ask for help and enjoy her youth. She of course falls for him hard but can't act on it, he is not admitting to himself that he does this because he's in love with her.

The side cast is slowly developing (and likable), the bullying is rather brutal (including physical threats to a girl), but this might actually turn out well if the "I'm not good enough and should shut up" vibe doesn't get too strong. I might still drop it, but it might actually be a decent show.

The Returnees

"The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, REALLY Love You" is back and making a lot of funny fourth wall breaking jokes which is just as well since there's no chance you can take this show serious.

Back for more in late 2024 was "Ron Kamonohashi's Forbidden Deductions" and it stays brilliant, even though it sets out on its foreshadowed Moriarty storyline. Usually the introduction of Moriarty (or his descendants or successors) spells doom for any detective show because it becomes all stupid head games, but here it's okay, and thankfully it doesn't swallow the whole season.

Then there's season 2 of "Solo Leveling", and I wonder if the "I have an undead army" gimmick is breaking the show's balance too much, so carefully established before. (Also, discovering the game aspects of the phenomenon is sidelined a lot in comparison.) It's not as suspenseful as season 1, that's for sure, but so far, still good.

Didn't mention it before, but also still going is "A Terrified Teacher at Ghoul School!" which is a silly show which I do tend to watch as a filler. Human teacher is hired in Yokai (Japanese mythical monsters and spirits) school. Lots of silly hijinks define this show. Sometimes trash.

Finally, "Blue Box". The love triangle vibes in this one are getting strong!

[myimaginarywonderland]

For anyone that wants some race recommendations for FE, here are my top 3 race recommendations (as a JEV and chaos fan) from every season. (I am also biased for many other drivers which you will see.)

Season 1

Of course you have to watch the first race (Beijing). First race of the series, Nick Heidfeld flip (literally.) Just the opportunity to actually watch the first race of a racing series shouldn't be passed up.

Next, is Buenos Aires because watching Antonio (Da Costa) win that race in that car was like a fever dream. Actually that was the moment where you realised that there was so much possibly for many drivers in this series.

And lastly is the first London race with Sam's (Bird) home win and another JEV podium. To watch a driver win a home race is always special.

Season 2

Mexico because Jérôme won (outliner wins.)

London finale (both race definitely.) The Buemi/DiGrassi rivalry was incredible the entire season but the double header? Wow.

Season 3

Omg Berlin. I loved Felix (Rosenqvist) when he was at FE and that Mahindra area was just so beautiful.

Montreal. When JEV finally won it was like a long time coming and the start of an era.

The first New York race. I am a Sam fan and that entire double header was just beautiful. Truly a great track.

Season 4

Santiago!!! Omg the Jeandré race. The records that were set here, the start of JEV's streak, everything about this race. This is iconic.

Mexico! Daniel (Abt) finally won a race and it was great. Also that atmosphere at the track could not be beaten.

The last one is though but for me as a fan it would have the be the last race when JEV fully won the championship. But the second Hong Kong race or Berlin deserve just as much attention.

Season 5

Marrakesh! Jérôme and Mahindra had everyone cheering for them that race. Literally such a beautiful heartwarming win.

Listen I am critical about rain races but I just can't not talk about Paris. That podium had my heart. And as the first genuine rain race you have to watch it.

Again, there are so many great third picks here. Rome (nearly the Lotterer win) could be it or Santiago? Or Bern?

Season 6

Diryah (the second race.) I miss Alex (Sims) soo much.

The third Berlin race. This is complelty biased because I loved all the drivers on that podium and we had a driver win at his home race. Listen, that Berlin 6 race final was cursed but it was also fun.

I would add Marrakesh just to escape the Berlin hell. But again, I also think there are so many great other races like Santiago with Max (Günthers) first win.

Season 7

Again biased pick but the first Rome race! A JEV win with a chaotic race.

The second London race! Alex Lynn! The man, the myth, the legend.

I would say the second Mexico race because I adore Edo.

This season is meh mostly because of the qualy format affecting racing negatively.

Still has bangers though.

Season 8

New York first race! Nick Cassidy finally winning a race. Also I love New York as a race so biased.

The second Rome race. Again Rome often offers great racing and I especially loved the second podium on that double header.

I think Monaco is great because you have both championship fighters on the podium in 1-2.

Season 9

Hyderabad! JEV win!

Cape Town! What a wonderful first race we had there.

Monaco has to be here because you had all three championship fighters on the podium (also I adore Nick Cassidy and think he should have won that championship because I am petty like that. )

Bottom line is there are so many great races in FE and every single one is worth watching because of the fun and unpredictability. Add to that the clear lack of one front runner or even a true top of the grid and you have potential for genuine great racing.

Please if you have the time watch all the races for yourself because every single one (even the ones I dislike) deserve your attention.

[vro0m]

vro0m's rewatch - 185/332

2016 US GP

Alright we're getting so close to the end of this season it took me ages to get through. Round 18 out of 21. It's COTA, and I have a lot of content for it (including videos I'll post after this review).

Lewis is on pole. Nico is 0.2 behind, then it's Ricciardo and Verstappen, Raikkonen and Seb, Hulkenberg, Valtteri and Massa, and Sainz.

Thing is, apparently, Merc had to break curfew to change his fuel injector or something so his reliability problems aren't past him. 

We also hear during Max's interview that they had an hour-long drivers meeting in part about his defensive driving and shenanigans. He's not bothered by it as usual. Later in the broadcast we learn that Charlie has declared that they will now investigate such moving under braking moves reported to them as potentially dangerous manœuvres to try to stop it from happening. The commentators are divided. 

We get a Lewis interview! He says he'd never had a pole in Austin before and he's worked hard for it so he's happy. He says he's always had issues with turn 1. Brundle asks what's on his mind when it comes to the championship with 4 races to go. He says right now he's not thinking too much, except for his job that Sunday. He's had another problem with his engine (the thing with the fuel injector I imagine) and that's something he's "conscious of", but his team said it wouldn't be a problem for the race although he will lose a bit of performance.

But together they'll find a solution and move forward and hopefully it'll be fine. He has a somewhat unhinged smile after that, like he forgot to look unbothered by it and thinks "oh right I need to be more lighthearted."

Brundle sums up where they're at with the points and how Lewis turned it around before etc. Lewis says he just has to try to do the best job. He's got his first pole in COTA, it'd be good if he could do the same thing next week. He says he's never won in Brazil before, so they're all huge targets for him. And the last race is generally a good one, a good track for him. "Your new best friend might become RedBull, you know?" Brundle says, because they can take points away from Nico. "True," he answers. "Daniel can be, Daniel and Max can definitely be very good friends of mine," he starts laughing.

"But we shall see." Brundle says if they're wheel to wheel with Nico, if they take each other out, Nico gains because he'll still be 33 points ahead with only 75 points left for grabs instead of a hundred. Does that enter his head? "It hasn't up until you just mentioned it," he sighs and chuckles.

"But I have to believe that… (he pauses, in his thoughts) I have to believe and trust that that's not… that's not the racer that he is. Regardless of other experiences in the past but… Yeah so I, no, I believe he's gonna put in a fair fight." (Literal chills.) Brundle asks if Nico gets the title, does Lewis think he deserves it? "I mean he's done the job with what he has so, obviously he's not had any reliability problems, so he's done the job– he's had one DNF when we crashed but otherwise he's had a great run of reliability, and he's done the job with it. So, you know. (He thinks.) In terms of who deserves and who's not, I mean he's done everything he has, he's come to do." He says fortunately for Nico, he wasn't able to fight him with equal cars reliability wise. 

Like I said in another race review : Nico will always have won against someone he sees as better than him, and Lewis will always have lost to someone he sees as not as good as he is. 

Brundle asks where he's at on a scale of it's the end of the world if I don't get this championship to I've got three already, I will win more, it'll hurt but I'll get over it. He smirks.

"I'm already looking forward to going skiing at the end of the year. So it doesn't matter what's gonna happen in these next weeks, I'm still gonna go skiing. I'm still gonna get the best day of the year when I'll get on a slope. There will be family, there will be Christmas, so many great things to look forward to." He admits this year has been difficult but again only as far as reliability issues go. But what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Brundle asks how he's gonna sleep (it's the night before the race). "Well Coco snores quite a lot, so I wake up quite often." He breaks into laughter. "She's snoring louder and louder I don't know why. So in the middle of the night you have to give her a kick," he mimes, and laughs. Brundle says he must be kidding, he's fighting for a world championship and his dog is keeping him awake, but Lewis swears it’s true.

Brundle asks if he dreams about the perfect start. "I never actually really dream about racing," Lewis says. He says the worst dream he has and it used to happen when he was younger was spiders.

He says he recently was on a flight and everyone was asleep and he sleepwalked which hasn't happened to him in 10 years (that's pretty unusual in itself, sleepwalking is relatively rare in adults).

"Around the airplane?" Brundle asks. "No no, I just like, I stand up on top of the bed," he raises his arms above his head, "shouting like 'holy–' there's a hu– spider the size of the table, on my pillow. And it's like jumping at me and then I literally was standing and my friend had to put me back to sleep I didn't know about it."

"We woke everyone up, they all thought we were gonna crash." He laughs. 

Simon says he seems in great spirits. Brundle points out he's won there three times but only ever from second place on the grid. He says there's a longer version of this interview (that I won't be able to watch of course) and says he was "really good value" that night. "He's got plenty to say, he's always fascinating to listen to." He does say he sensed that he's more nervous than Rosberg (but then again that would make sense). They also say the team has said that regarding the engine issue it would cause a loss of between a half and a whole second over the course of the whole GP so I guess it's not that much of an issue and Lewis is just still anxious about reliability. 

They're worried about the start, the Mercedes have had pretty bad starts all year, and Daniel is right behind them on supersofts on top of it. 

Alright. Let's race. Formation lap. 

And they're racing! 

They both had good starts! Lewis' car looks a bit twitchy as they get to the first corner but he gets it fine and Ricciardo is getting ahead of Nico now! Two cars went wide at the back. Hulkenberg is last from 7th on the grid, he reports big damage at the front. Just as we hear him we see two cars collide in the midfield. It's Perez and Kvyat. They're back on track very quickly. Seb is relentlessly attacking Max, who overtook him. Valtteri has a puncture. Verstappen got really wide in the penultimate corner. Here's the top 10 at the end of the first lap : Lewis, Daniel, Nico, Raikkonen, Verstappen, Seb, Massa, Sainz, Alonso and Gutierrez. Hulkenberg and Bottas are both in the pits. Seb is very close to Max again, or still. Lewis sets a fastest lap and he's out of Ricciardo's DRS range. Jenson and Gutierrez are battling for P10. Hulkenberg has retired. There's racing in the midfield but nothing very interesting. Then Ricciardo is called in. Raikkonen as well. These supersofts really don't last long. Nico is told they're going for the long game "so push hard now" and he answers pushing hard is not the long game. Max is pitting as well and that's early. He started on the softs. It's a surprise. 

It's lap 10. Lewis, Nico +5.5, Seb +4.9, Massa +7.8, Sainz +2.5, Ricciardo +2.0, Alonso +0.4, Raikkonen +2.6, and Max overtakes Jenson for P9. Lewis is called in. They're responding to RedBull. And Nico is also called in. It's gonna be a double stop then. But Lewis stays out?! Ricciardo up in P4 now. Lewis pits the next lap. This might be close. Quick 2.3. Lewis stays ahead, it wasn't as close as we feared. Lots of pit stops now. Max overtakes Raikkonen for P5. Kvyat gets a 10 second time penalty for the first lap collision with Perez. Nico is told he's the only car on mediums and it's the long game. He's currently faster than Lewis. Seb pits from the lead. Quickly, Nico is under pressure from Max, but of course he's on the faster tyre. Gutierrez has a brake issue, he DNFs. Nico is also around a second behind Daniel. 

It's lap 20. Max is told to make sure he can finish his stint, he's pushing too much. "I'm not here to finish fourth," he answers. Lewis, Ricciardo +5.1, Nico +1.3, Max +0.8, Raikkonen +4.1, Seb +3.6, Massa +13.7, Sainz +8.8, Alonso +7.0, and Kvyat +5.2. Jenson overtakes Kvyat for P10. Max has locked up so he's not pressuring Nico as much now. (Oh Kvyat's contract has been signed.) Seb has caught up with Raikkonen and he's much faster so we're waiting for the team orders to drop. But Raikkonen pits which solves it. Ricciardo also pits. Then Max, but they weren't ready for him! Catastrophic! It's a 9.2 stop. "What happened Max?" – "I thought you boxed me, sorry." Did he start daydreaming or something? Midfield stops, now. Seb is called in. Ohhh. And Max is very slow… 

It's lap 30. It seems to be an engine failure, but he's still going, trying to reset his car… He says he feels something hitting the engine. Let's review the top 10 in the meantime : Lewis is 10 seconds ahead of Nico, then Daniel +15.7, Raikkonen +3.6, Seb +8.5, Sainz +19.6, Alonso +4.2, Massa +8.2, Perez +10.0, and Jenson +3.4. Ted reminds us that he indeed thought something was wrong with the car during Max's stop. He heard the knocking sound he is now reporting. He kept going this whole time staying out of everyone's way but now he's crossing the gravel trap and parking his car on the grass. Virtual safety car. There's an onboard replay. Complete silence in the commentators' cabin as always. I like the way they diagnose car problems by ear, it's fun. Max gets on the curbs, the car vibrates, and as he keeps going it's like the vibrating noise doesn't stop. You hear the hitting very clearly. "Yeah it's something with transmission," Brundle says. Lewis is called in during the VSC. It's great for him. Rosberg also pits. In the end it's not the long game, I guess. Ricciardo : "They got a free pit stop basically." He's told yes. "That's so fucked up". "We have some rear wing drop outs as you may notice," Seb is told. "Yeah, some ! Some is good, keep joking," he answers with a dry laugh. Raikkonen pits and it seems all good but he slows down right at the pit exit and stops! What is wrong! "Why were there sparks at the rear?" he roars. "There was a gun still attached as you left. Stop, stop, Kimi, stop, stop stop." He's trying to back into the pitlane. Incredible! He's really doing it! No he stopped. We see the replay but it's unclear what was wrong. 

It's lap 40. Raikkonen is still reversing into the pitlane. He's made it but the Ferrari mechanics are nowhere? He's out of the race. What a weird thing. He's walking to the garage. On the race transcript I read that they think a tyre is not bolted in properly. Ferrari is under investigation for unsafe release. Top 10 : Lewis, Nico +9.7, Ricciardo +6.1, Seb +10.4, Sainz (brace yourselves) +40.8 (!), Massa +0.9, Alonso +3.5, Perez +17.5, Jenson +8.2, Grosjean +6.9. Ted seems to recall that Charlie said he would start enforcing grid penalties for unsafe release. Weird idea. I feel like the end of this race might be boring. We're just looking at Massa trying to get that P5. Oh Alonso is closing on him as well. 

It's lap 50, I have nothing to say. Oh wait. Nico is closing on Lewis. The gap is down to 6. But like. There's 5 laps left so no worries. Alonso gets ahead of Massa by making contact with him and pushing him off track. Seb pitted? Well it's not like he was under pressure from Sainz but. They're not giving a point for the fastest lap yet, are they? He can't catch Ricciardo either. Front left puncture for Massa because of that contact with Alonso. He pits. He also has the gap to do so without losing places. Alonso is attacking Sainz. Lewis is starting his final lap. Alonso gets ahead, locks up, goes wide, still manages to stay ahead. Very aggressive. 

And it's the end of the race! 

Lewis wins. He gets the congratulations of both Bono and Paddy. If my calculations are correct the gap to Nico must be 26 points now. Seb got the fastest lap indeed. 

I don't know who the Merc rep is, but it's a woman. "Well done Lewis," she tells him.

He smiles and she kisses his cheek as they hug. Cute. The cool down room is otherwise very silent. It's taking ages to get to the podium celebration. 

Oh. Lewis arrives and he has his arm around the Merc rep’s shoulders and while he's holding her hand. So, so, so cute.

Ooooh it's Victoria Vowles ! James' wife. She's so pretty! I didn't know she worked for the team as well.

She gets DROWNED in champagne by both drivers, of course. Several people in the crowd are holding up shoes for Daniel lol. 

Gerard Butler is doing the interviews. Oh yeah, it's Lewis' 50th win! He didn't ask him a question, he just told him that basically. There's really nothing much happening in these podium interviews. 

Toto says it might have been boring for the spectators but for them it was a good one. Hill says we've all been absorbed in "this whole issue with Lewis, Lewis's attitude and his mood and the relationship between the two drivers", but that weekend they were perfect. He asks if Toto talked to them, did they have a discussion. "I think we underestimate the pressure under which these guys are." He says they both have everything to win and everything to lose as we reach the end of the season. "I think there will be things you say, that next day you regret." Hill agrees that the pressure gets to them, he reiterates that this has been a good weekend for them. He describes Lewis as "very relaxed", "very comfortable" and "very sort of magnanimous towards Nico". But he also insists it's gonna come to a crunch, "there's gonna be– we just feel it, can't you? It's coming. You've got three more races. Are you ready?" Toto smiles. "Yeah you know it's interesting because we're not having any games anymore in there. There is no psychological warfare like we've seen in the past years. (👀) It's very calm. They are both in a good mood. But I am always skeptical, you know, I kind of wait whether this is a volcano to erupt or not. So let's wait and see." (Is this the eye of the storm?) 

In his interview, Lewis says it has been a long time coming (his 50th, and his 5th US win). He says he couldn't take his mind off the engine issue they had in quali so he was down on power compared to Nico during the race (Toto denied it).

He says he's relaxed, he's happy to be there and it's nice to have a solid weekend. He was 100% sure of his start, he knew it was gonna go well and it's nice to be in that position after so many ups and downs. "Let the battle continue and hopefully it continues like this." She asks how did he know the start was going to be good, was something different? He says he was just confident that he was gonna get it right this time, he chuckles. They worked hard in the factory during the previous week and found a couple of small changes that he was more comfortable with. She asks if that means he goes to Mexico feeling overall more confident. Not really, he says. Reliability is– he turns around and shrugs in Nico's direction, he doesn't think ‘he’ has the same worries about that, but he himself does. That's the only thing that can get in his way, he thinks. 

Lewis spends a long time in the garage taking photos with more or less famous people, in particular Venus Williams is there. He says he doesn't know why he does so well in the US, he's not more focused, he doesn't have more determination there than elsewhere. The track feels great, his friends are here, there's a lot of British flags out there. Johnny says he's dealing with the pressure well, as he knows he has to win these races and he puts in on pole and wins… Lewis interrupts : "Well I have this weekend," he corrects and chuckles. Johnny brushes it off, saying it's what this is all about : just Lewis doing the job on the track when he has the opportunity. Lewis says it was the longest afternoon because he didn't know if the car was gonna make it. Simon asks why, is it the fuel system change? It was and he insists again he was down on power compared to Nico, it's that and the reliability issues only they seem to have had. Simon calls him out on the power thing, saying Toto told them it wasn't the case. Lewis maintains he was. He says he could potentially lose 1 to 1.8 second in the race. That's nothing dude. Hill says in 2015 Lewis won his title there, is Austin, and then was more relaxed and Nico got the advantage in the last few races. He asks if he's gonna approach these last few races differently now. "I mean, clearly, you know, if you're not focused you can't deliver," he says finally after hesitating a bit. "It's the same for everyone right?" Lewis is not enjoying the insinuation. "Honestly I've been focused all year. I'm just gonna continue to try and do the job I'm doing." He says if he can finish the season driving like this and feeling positive like this he can go into his winter break pretty happy either way. They agree the start was great. "And you've worked on it as well haven't you?" Johnny says. "I mean I've been working on it all year," Lewis says, shaking his head. "True," Johnny says. But this was the first race he knew it was gonna be good, Lewis finishes. "And I know the next one's gonna be good. So…" He also says he doesn't have any new gloves when Johnny implies he does for some reason. Simon sums up by saying he knows what he has to do and that's getting poles, winning races, and hoping Nico gets bad luck. Lewis again says Nico is not having reliability issues. He says normally "the rule" says at some stage of the year you would. But if he has perfect reliability throughout the year then all he can do is do the best job he can. 

Lewis is taking photos with fans. Like he's in the middle of a small crowd of 20-30 people. Being pushed around. Getting touched. Trying to keep them from touching him actually. 

After Ted's notebook, Simon asks the others what they think of the fact that Lewis and Toto are saying different things about the engine issue. Brundle thinks it's Lewis putting pressure on the team, and some powerplay, and so he's exaggerating it a bit because it's yet another issue he's had with his car. Hill agrees, he thinks that's him reminding everyone that the team hasn't 100% delivered on the car. Johnny thinks it's a bit different than that. For him, Lewis basically said he doesn't think Nico is gonna have issues in the last three races and that's Lewis saying I'm gonna lose the championship and this is the reason why I'm gonna lose. At the same time he agrees that's a dig to the team so they make sure it doesn't happen again. Simon thinks you need to have that mentality if you're gonna be a champion. "You know, he's not gonna blame himself, is he?" Hill says Lewis seems to him "someone who's very clear in his own mind that he's better than everyone else" and so he expects to be given the best equipment and that was the deal when he joined Mercedes. He also thinks the mechanics switcharound they did earlier in the year has backfired. They tried to be fair and unluckily Lewis had all these mechanical issues, and it creates conspiracy theories. Brundle says your mechanics aren't the ones putting your engine together though. He also says when you join a new team you don't go "I'm not gonna do too much this first year because I don't know the mechanics", you just have to deal with it basically. Hill says Lewis is also "playing to the gallery" and he's "sending out a story about Lewis's career and himself, and his fans buy it, they love it, they love that kind of, you know, little bit of pressure– he pulls his weight, and he is a big weight in this sport." Johnny thinks that's not something he needs to do. He says we know, if he keeps winning races and loses the championship, that it's not his fault. It was the team's issues. He doesn't understand why Lewis needs to feed into it. Brundle says when you think of the other champions, Prost, Senna, Alonso, then he says Schumi didn't moan he was a team builder, he hardly ever poked the team, but "Nigel would have a moan wouldn't he? Senna– everything was unfair, he thought the whole system was against him." Brundle agrees with Simon that's just how the champions are. Simon tells Hill "you love a good moan, don't you?". Hill doesn't pick up on the joke. "I love a moan!" Simon chuckles. Hill says he did it as well but it can blow up in your face if you're not careful. 

Sensitive topic but I would say my opinion on it is that 1. He's truly had issues Nico hasn't and it's annoying and unfair and he’s frustrated with that. 2. I've said it before but Lewis tends to get a bit paranoid when things aren't under control for him so I do think he might have truly felt someone was messing with him and his engines, although he certainly didn’t mean to say it publicly. 3. He knows there's little chance of him winning and he's indeed preparing the discourse for when he loses. He has to blame it on something else than Nico being better than him. 4. Aside of all this I agree Lewis has kind of written his own legend at times, like Hill says, but first of all they all do it. As in WE all do it. We all have our own narrative for our lives and that’s probably even more the case when so many people are involved in your life and discussing it whether you want it or not. You have to make and tell your story. That’s fair game. Second of all, Lewis has had to do it himself maybe more than others because a lot of the people who were writing the story for him did it poorly and were racist and overall assholes about it. (I mean he did fight journalists about it that season didn’t he?)

Three races to go!