#might do the 2018 season next just for fun

[tinseltownie]

Playing the 2015 F1 season in the background while doing my dissertation is an act of self care

[moonshynecybin]

what would you consider essential marc and rosquez watching? i don’t mean races but the stuff happening around it, there seems to be so much and idk where to start 😭

BIG ass question. i think it depends what you want outta this and how you best interact with content slash consume information. for me (not to brag but. winner of multiple historical essay writing competitions in high school. for context on the kind of freak i am bringing to the table here.) the research is kind of the fun part ! like i just started googling shit! i would go to inactive blogs and just search 'marquez' on them to see what would happen ! a lot of the times that works ! but it also takes a lotttt of time lol so i'll chuck some good resources your way, why not...

okay im not sure how basic we're talkin here but um. background. so the documentaries are, i think. the best place to start. theyre entertaining and offer a good amalgamation of clips to provide context for the actual racing. and like i know you de-emphasized racing (which is fine lol who cares) but it really is like the most important thing in the world to these fools and its a pretty visual sport so i think its at least helpful. like yes sepang IS about the press conference, but its also about the conversation they have ON the race track using their motorcycles. which is also somewhat a conversation that they HAVE been having all year long...

i'd start with hitting the apex (2013), its a GREAT introduction to the "characters" that does a lot of legwork to contextualize everything. lays the scene for where vale is at coming into his relationship with marc (both personally, wrt to marco simoncelli, and career-wise concerning his flop at ducati), and also how insane marc's whole deal is in general. the second half is. materially a study on what him entering the premiere class did to the sport as a whole. the introductory chapter in many respects

marc marquez: all in. MY introduction and blissfully free online. marc comma in his own words, with all the implications of that. a self-produced documentary where he is giving feedback about the edit of said documentary straight to camera and no less vulnerable because of it which is very marc imo. revealing both intentionally AND unintentionally about his whole deal with injury, vale, and his image.

motogp unlimited. im gonna be real kind of boring. like i would still watch it ! but do it kind of later, once you know the major players so youre automatically more invested. it doesnt really give you more than marc says himself in all in tbh, and i get the sense him and vale were NAWWWT interested in doing more than the bare minimum for it.

marc's rookie doc. free and subtitled on the youtubes. the first half of this is deadass just him wanting to fuck vale so bad while every comment from vale has me saying GIRL. out loud because the foreshadowing would be genuinely shocking if this was fiction. anyways the laguna seca of it all....

next i would hit up PODCASTS ! i think it makes sense after the documentaries, because these are all podcasts that arent strictly about rosquez (even if they are in many ways the main characters lmao) and personally it helps to put faces to lesser known names that might pop up before i listen to a purely audio product and get lost in the soup of sounds. the paddock pass podcast has two retrospective episodes about the 2015 season that are really good at context, oxley bom pod has a fun recent episode on valentino that i love, again just poke around a lil

videos. these guys have never filmed a lot of content together tragically. what i wouldnt give for someone to make them do an escape room. anyways ranch visit HERE (post explaining the ranch visit here). sepang presscon (sowwy) here. vale unhinged podcast interview the month after marc's documentary came out here. vale retirement interview where he gets asked about marc here. vale talking about asking marc to the ranch here. vale postrace at argentina 2018 here. UCCIO postrace at argentina 2018 here. theres a lot moreeeee just go on my blog archive and filter for rosquez and vids its easier lol

journalism. hello. okay so you should genuinely spend some time reading through mat oxley's stuff he can write (theres a paywall but you can run that shit through wayback machine). he also loves an insane comparison which i do enjoy.... again this is one that can be solved by googling his name and tacking on 'marquez' or 'rossi' or a specific time period or race it will probably reap some dividends. in terms of specific ass articles this one is kind of load bearing in terms of sepang and some of the interpersonal competitive tensions at play. that being said there are manyyyyyy crazy interviews and snippents of articles from other journos floating around motogp tumblr (like literally too many to link) adn its fun to dig around to find them, but mat oxley gets a shoutout because i was reading this article TODAY !

other content. honestly one of the best resources I'VE found for plotting out the arc of their relationship is @kingofthering's everyrosquezpodium series. you can REALLY see it play out lol. also her tagging system rules she very neatly lays out years and races... so if something jumps out at you, CLICK ITTTT ! also all of @ricciardoes fave presscon moments series. insane.

all this to say a small little rpf fandom like this rewards some digging! i would just recommend following narrative threads that interest you ! its also a small fanbase that is pretty research oriented, so if youre ever confused about somethin, just shoot an ask or run a search on someone's blog (@kwisatzworld has endless vale resources and @batsplat is one of the most thorough researchers ive ever seen, for example) like for real theres so much... i also have a primer that i made forever ago that has some links on it so you can peruse that if you so wish. but frankly a lot of it is just using those research muscles and being sufficiently deranged enough to be screenshotting reddit threads at one am so you can post them to tumblr because they mentioned marc and vale in the same sentence and that lit up some of the neurons in your brain

(and i know you said outside of races but i think theyre good benchmarks as turning points soooo you should do some diggin on laguna seca 2013, jerez 2015, argentina 2015, ASSEN 2015, sepang 2015 obvi, argentina 2018, and misano 2019. those are the big tentpoles of insane rosquez relationship drama imo. i mean theres many more but. im limiting myself.)

[cuttergauthier]

Hate Me First, Love Me Later

Josh Norris x Female Tkachuk Reader

Warning: against, Swear words, wedding, Alcohol, fluff

Flashbacks is in Italic

word count:6.3k

Authors note: This is the longest Fic i've ever written, it' an enemies to lovers fic with Josh. This Fic has time jumps. Also let me know if you want me to make this an au🤍

This Insta Edit coming out that follows this fic.

let me know what you guys think🤍

Summer 2018

It is currently summer, and I am at home in St. Louis with my family. Hockey season is officially over which means both my brothers are home. I am currently in my room sitting on my bed and I have both University letters that I applied for in front of me right now, I'm scared to open them. 

My dream school has always been Ottawa but it’s hard to get accepted. My second choice is Michigan since the Norris family lives pretty close to Ann Arbor. The only thing that sucks is that Josh will be a Sophomore at Michigan and we do not get along.

We’ve known each other since we were kids, Brady and Josh played in the Untdp together which is when we met, our parents became good friends. Dalton has always been like an older brother to me. Josh on the other hand has always been mean to me, whether it was insulting me, or pulling my hair when we were 12 years old or making fun of me in front of my friends and it never got better. I thought back to the first time I met Josh.

Flashback

We are 15 years old, it is my first time spending the summer at the Hughes Lake house along with my family and Josh’s family.

We just got to the Lake house when Ellen and Traci came outside with Josh.

“Josh this is Yn, she is Brady's younger sister and she's going to be spending the summer with us.” Traci told Josh. Josh made a disgusting look when he looked at me and then back at his mother.

“I don’t want to be friends with her” he told his mom before going back inside the house. I looked at my mom with a sad look. Her, Traci and Ellen gave me a sad smile.

“I’m sorry Yn, he’s not usually like this, it’ll get better I promise '' Traci reassured me.

I nodded.

End of flashback

It never got better, it only got worse.

I snapped out of it when there was a knock on my door. 

“Come in,” I said. Matthew poked his head in the room smiling, but it soon disappeared when he saw the nervous look on my face. He came in and closed the door behind him. He made his way to the bed and sat in front of me.

“What’s going on? Are you okay?” He asked worriedly.

I sighed and shocked my head before pointing and both letters that are next to him. He looked and his eyes widened.

“When did they come in?” He asked, looking back at me.

“This morning, mom gave them to me. I told her I wanted to open them alone before telling everyone but I'm scared” I told him. 

He smiled softly at me before picking them up and giving them to me.

“Do you want me to stay with you?” He asked.

“Would you?” 

“Of course, now open them so I know which shirt I’ll need to buy to support you” he said smiling. I chuckled before putting the Michigan letter down and opening my Ottawa letter. 

I took a deep breath before smiling and reading the letter. My smile soon disappeared when I learned I am on the waitlist.

“What does it say?” Matthew asked worriedly.

I brushed off tears that were threatening to fall. I shock my head.

“Waitlisted” I said sadly.

“Yn, it’s going to be okay, even if you don’t start there, you might be able to go after your first year,” he said. I nodded. I knew all of that, I just wish I could have been accepted immediately.

I grabbed the Michigan letter and opened it. I read it, and I got accepted. Matthew raised his eyebrows in question. I nodded my head. Matt leaned forward to pull me in a hug.

“I’m proud of you no matter what, and in Michigan you’ll have Josh and Quinn,” he said, trying to encourage me. I scoffed, pulling away from the hug and giving him a ‘are you for real’ look.

Matthew laughed.

“Look, maybe this will get you and Josh to be friends,” he said hopefully.

“I doubt it Matt, please don’t tell any of them i’m going there” I said. He nodded.

“I won’t but Brady might tell Quinn who might tell Josh, and we all know that mom and dad will tell Dwayne and Traci” he said, making me groan.

“Come on, let’s go tell everyone the news” he said, taking my hand and pulling me downstairs where everyone was.

“Yn has something she wants to share with everyone” he said smiling.

“Did you open the letters?” Mom asked. Brady’s eyes widened.

“Oh where are you going?” Brady asked excitedly, I know he was hopping I was going to Ottawa with him.

“Michigan… I got waitlisted for Ottawa, but i’ll try again next year” I said hopeful.

Everyone smiled and came to give me a hug and congratulated me.

“As much as i wish you would be joining me in Ottawa, you won’t be alone in Michigan, Wait till I tell Quinn and Josh about this,” Brady said happily. My eyes widened, I shook my head.

“Please don’t, Josh and I don’t get along. If you tell Quinn please tell him not to tell Josh. I don't want him knowing I'll be there” I asked. 

My mom looked at me sadly.

“Can we at least tell Dwayne and Traci, same with Jim and Ellen? If there’s ever anything and your dad and I can’t be there we know that one of them will be.” My mom asked.

I nodded.

“Can you just please ask them if they don’t tell Josh?” I asked 

“I will sweetheart, I’m incredibly proud of you, all my kids are now grown ups” she said smiling softly, with tears in her eyes. 

“Don’t worry mom, Matthew still acts like a kid” Brady said, making everyone laugh.

First week, Michigan 2018

I’ve been getting settled in Michigan for the past week. My parents went back to St. Louis yesterday. I’m in a single dorm room which i’m happy about, I didn’t want a roommate.

My mom ended up telling Dwayne and Traci along with Jim and Ellen that I was starting the year here. They were all very happy, they also promised not to tell Josh and to let me do it once I was ready, but they did let Quinn know so he could keep an eye on me, or help show me around, thankfully he promised not to tell Josh.

Classes are starting soon, I’m excited yet nervous since I don’t know anyone here. I’ve never been shy so I know I'll be able to make friends, I just have to make sure not to tell them I'm related to Matthew and Brady because when  people find out that’s one of the only reasons they want to be friends.

I just hope everything goes well when classes start.

One Month, Michigan 2018

I’ve been here for a month now, classes have been good, I've made a friend whose name is Molly. Her dorm is right next to mine, it turns out her brother plays on the hockey team.

I also met her brother, I have Econ with him and a few other freshmen on the men’s hockey team. After Molly introduced me to her brother, he introduced me to Nick since we all have Econ together I usually sit with them.

The boys invited me to a party tonight which the sophomore’s are throwing at their house. I was a little hesitant to accept since Josh will be there since it’s at his house.

But it’s already been a month so he’s going to find out soon anyways plus I don’t like lying to the guys about who I am, so I ended up accepting.

Molly was also going so she asked if I wanted to pregame with her, which I gladly agreed. Jimmy ended up getting one of the seniors on the team to buy us alcohol, which thank god since if i’m going to be seeing Josh, I’ll need alcohol in my system.

Molly and I were sitting on her bed talking and drinking. I've been nervous the whole day. I don’t know how Josh will react when he sees me, will he make a scene in front of everyone? Will he tell the guys not to talk to me again? Will they listen to him?

“Yn are you okay? You look nervous” Molly asked worriedly. I sighed before nodding.

“I didn’t really tell anyone here about this but um, I already know Josh Norris and I didn’t know who your brother was before but then I found out they’re teammates. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you but my family is really close with him along with the Hughes family since my brother Brady played in the Untdp with Josh and Quinn.” I said she looked at me surprised.

“It’s fine I get why you didn’t tell me you didn’t want him to find out you go here, and by Brady do you mean Brady Tkachuk?” She asked. I nodded.

“Okay then, I guess we both have brothers who play hockey,” she said, making me chuckle.

“So you’re not mad I didn’t tell you?” I asked worriedly. She shook her head and smiled.

“Not at all” she said

“Great, I was worried that when you found out you wouldn’t want to be friends anymore” I said and she laughed.

“I understand why you didn’t want anyone to know, i’m not going to stop being friends with you because of it” she said and I smiled 

“I’m just worried that Josh might cause a scene tonight when he sees me,” I said.

“If it gets to much, or he starts to make a scene, let me know and we’ll leave”

“I don’t want you to leave the party because of me” 

“Don’t worry about it, I wouldn’t leave you alone” she said smiling.

After a while we met up with her brother, along with Nick. We all made our way to the party together thank god. I ended up warning them about the Josh situation, just like Molly they understood.

Once we got there we made our way to the living room where it was already packed with people. Nick and Jimmy went to get us some drinks. When they got back they gave Molly and I a white claw. I’m already feeling a little drunk, but not too bad.

We kept talking when I felt someone tap me on the shoulder. I turned around confused to see a happy Quinn Hughes, which made me smile. Quinn is probably one of the Nicest guys ever, I like him, and unlike Josh he actually likes me.

Quinn Smiled brightly.

“I thought that was you, how are you enjoying Michigan?” He rambled before pulling me in a hug. I Chuckled.

“I like it,” I replied. He pulled away from the hug before looking at me confused.

“I’m glad, remember to text me if you ever need anything?” 

“I know” I said 

“ I could have showed you around campus, you know” he said. I could tell he was a little hurt that I ask him.

“I’m sorry Quinn, but I didn’t want to risk Josh finding out” I said, Quinn’s eyes softened.

“Well if he tries anything, let me know, he’s not the only one who lives here” he said.

“Thanks Quinn” I said.

“He’s in the kitchen now if you just want to get it over with,” Quinn said.

I looked at him before looking at Molly and the guys. They nodded.

“Okay sure probably best to just do that, if it goes south Molly, can yo…” I started but she cut me off

“I’ll rescue you, I promise,” she said with a smile.

“Thank you” I said before looking back at Quinn and nodding.

As we started walking I got even more nervous than I already was.

we made our way to the guys.

Josh has his back to us so he can’t see us making our way to them, but Will looked our way and his eyes widened, he was at the lake house for a bit this summer.

Josh turned around confused but when his eyes landed on me, he was pissed.

He met Quinn and I half way And looked down at me with a glare. If I was anyone else they probably would have been terrified and honestly I was a little bit, Josh is way taller than me, I'm only 5”5 so he’s towering over me.

“What the hell are you doing here?” he said harshly.

Quinn looked at him Annoyed

“Josh seriously, leave her alone. She’s a student here now, and unlike you I actually like her along with some of the freshmen so she’s not going anywhere "Quinn told him.

Josh rolled his eyes and laughed. What the hell was so funny?

“Just because you go here now, doesn’t mean I'm going to start being nice to you” he said looking me straight in the eyes.

“Wouldn’t expect anything else from you” I said annoyed.

He just rolled his eyes and went back to the rest of the guys.

“Well that went better than expected, '' Quinn said surprised, which made me laugh. 

“Same Quinn, I honestly thought It was going to be worse.”

If it wasn’t the fact that Josh was angry with me, I actually thought he looked amazing. I thought, I snapped out of it, what the hell? I can’t stand the guy and now I think he looks good? I think I had enough to drink.

March 2019

(Pretend they made it to the big ten)

With Josh finding out that I'm in Michigan I thought it would be worse than it is. I think Quinn has been keeping him in check, which I am very grateful for.

I’ve been going to the hockey game with Molly, we got even more close.

Even though Josh still tries to make my life a living hell, the rest of the guys on the team like me.

I reapplied to Ottawa about a month ago. I'm still waiting for my acceptance letter by email, I didn’t tell the guys, the only one who knows is Molly.

It’s now Monday and this weekend the guys are going to Minnesota for the Big Ten Championship. Molly was going with her parents since it’s a big game for the boys. 

I really hope they win, they’ve been playing amazing. 

I am currently in my dorm room working on some homework when my phone starts ringing. I looked to see that Traci was calling me.

I answered.

“Hey Traci” I said happily, she’s always been like a second mom to me.

“Hey sweetheart, what are you up to?” She asked

“Right now I am finishing some homework, what’s up?” I asked.

“That’s good, I always have to keep those grades up,” she said, making me laugh.

“I was actually wondering if you wanted to come with Dwayne and I to Minnesota this weekend for the Big Ten Championship game?” She asked.

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea, Josh and I don’t exactly get along” 

“Sweetheart, that doesn’t matter, I know Molly is also going and Dwayne and I love you like a daughter so we thought we would ask, you don’t have to if you don’t want to” she said softly. I thought about it for a few seconds. I can complete all my homework before, and that way I won’t be alone in Ann Arbor when all my friends are in Minnesota.

I smiled softly.

“I’d love to,” I said.

“Perfect, I can’t wait, I’ll send you the details” she said happily.

“Thank you Traci”

“Anytime sweetheart, I'll let you get back to your homework” she said.

Once we said our goodbyes I hung up and texted Molly to tell her I was going to Minnesota with them, she’s excited and so am I.

Big Ten Championship, 2019

Dwayne, Traci and I got to Minnesota this Morning after we made our way to the hotel. Traci and I met up with Molly and her mom, along with Ellen and we went to do a little bit of shopping at the mall. That game is tonight, so at 3 we all made our ways back to the hotel so we could get ready for the game. 

I was nervous the whole game but luckily Michigan was able to win. Thankfully it’s Friday, and everyone is leaving to go back to Michigan tomorrow morning. The guys have already said they are throwing a party as soon as they step foot in Ann Arbor. 

As soon as the plane landed Traci and Dwayne dropped us off on Campus where we both made our way to our dorms to get ready for this party and hang out with the boys.

They’re flight is supposed to land in an hour, so we have time to chat and get ready.

When the boys were ready to get the party started Quinn texted me to let me know we could go over to the seniors house.

Once we arrived we started drinking with the boys, they were already drinking full swing when we got there. 

Talking and partying with them is always fun. 

At around 8:00 p.m. I saw Josh make his way to the kitchen, probably to get himself another drink, I followed him there. He took a beer out of the cooler, he turned around to see me there, I smiled weakly. 

“Do you mind giving me one?” I asked.

He rolled his eyes before taking a second beer and passing it to me.

I smiled

“Thank you.” I replied.

He gave me a small nod and went to walk away but I stopped him.

There was no one else in the kitchen, everyone was either in the living room or outside.

“Wait” I rushed out so he wouldn’t leave.

He stopped in his tracks before turning and looking at me. He raised his eyebrows in question.

“What?” He asked, annoyed. 

I was a little drunk but not too bad, but thankfully when I have alcohol in my system I’m not scared to talk to him.

“I just wanted to say congrats, you guys played really well” I said.

He nodded and went to walk away again.

“Why do you hate me so much?” I blurted out.

Josh rolled his eyes.

“Because I don’t like you,” he said and walked away. Why can’t he see me the same way I see him? He’s an incredible person even though he’s always mean to me, he’s nice to everyone else he’d do anything for his friends or family. I just wish he liked me.

It sucks having a crush on someone when that someone hates you.

I sighed before making my way back to Molly.

Frozen four 2019

I finally got the Letter from Ottawa. I've been accepted so it means I'll be moving there next year. Molly was a little sad when she found out I was leaving Umich but she was also excited for me to be going to my dream school, she told me that we would still stay in touch and we both promised to visit each other.

Jimmy heard the conversation and ended up telling Will who told Josh. Josh ended up coming to my door angry saying that the only reason I was going to Ottawa was because he was going to Ottawa. I was going since it’s my dream school and my brother is also there.

The argument ended in a screaming match and we haven’t talked to each other since.

I really wish we could get along but I don’t think we ever will.

I went to Tampa with Dwayne and Traci to watch the Frozen Four, sadly the boys lost, which meant Josh left for Ottawa, Quinn was leaving for Vancouver, it was an emotional time.

Once I got back to Umich, the last 2 weeks of University flew by. I said goodbye to Molly and the guys before finally heading home to St. Louis.

Three Years Later, Summer 2023

NHL playoff we’re officially over, sadly Matty lost in the finals against Vegas and got injured but they had a good run.

Everyone has been home for a while now. We are leaving today to go to New Jersey for Brady and Emma’s wedding.

I can’t wait to finally have another sister. Emma and Brady are perfect for each other, I hope someday I’ll find that type of love.

Three years went by fast, I spent the past three years in Ottawa ignoring Josh, it wasn’t that hard since he was also keeping his distance from me.

Thankfully the flight went by fast and I was able to sleep on the plane, I didn’t spend it worrying about seeing Josh. The whole Norris family along with the Hughes family will be at the wedding. As excited as I am to see Dalton, Quinn, Josh and Jack, I am not excited to see Josh.

Josh and I have seen each other a few time in Ottawa but the only time we talked to each other was to argue, it only got worse after he accused me of only going to Ottawa to make his life a living hell since I was going to be in Ottawa. I never told anyone about that fight, they all know we don’t get along so it won’t be a surprise if we get into an argument at the wedding.

My parents warned me to try and not make a scene to ruin Brady and Emma’s wedding. I totally understand that’s the last thing I want to do, plus we are all adults here.

Rehearsal dinner

Once Taryn and I were ready we met up with Matty and our parents to go to the venue.

I’m so nervous about seeing Josh, that's all I can think about. Once we get there he’s the first one I see, he’s with his brother and parents he had his back to me which meant he didn’t see me but Dalton did so he waved and smiled. I did the same, that’s when Josh turned around confused and saw me, all he did was send me a glare and went back to talking with his brother.

I really hope this doesn’t cause any trouble.

During the end of the night when everyone was around talking and drinking I made my way out on the balcony so I could get some fresh air.

I didn’t realize anyone followed me until I heard the door slide open and then shut.

I turned around only to find Josh.

I rolled my eyes and turned back around to look at the view.

If he doesn’t want to be anywhere near me, why did he follow me outside?

“What do you want Josh?” I asked, annoyed, when he came and stood next to me. I looked up to see he was looking at the sky.

He looks really good in his suit.

“I just thought I’d tell you not to cause a scene this weekend and ruin your brother’s wedding” he said

I scoffed before turning fully to look at him.

“Screw you, I was doing pretty good at ignoring you, why the hell did you have to come out here and start this?” I asked angrily.

He chuckled 

“This is what I meant all you had to do was agree and move on,” he said, pissed.

“You started it, What the hell is a matter with you? It’s always like this… why do you hate me so much?” I asked, pissed.

“Because you deserve it” 

I scoffed.

“Except I don’t… i’ll i’ve ever tried to do was be nice to you… what have I ever done to you to make you hate me so much?…” I said tears are threatening to fall. Before Josh could say anything Matt interrupted.

“That’s enough you two, don’t do this here” I heard Matt say before he pulled me away. I saw Dalton and Quinn giving me a sad look before he pulled Josh back inside.

I was so focused on the argument I never realized they’d made their way outside.

Once Josh, Dalton and Quinn made their way inside Matt, looked at me worried.

“What happened between the two of you? Usually when you guys know something important, you guys ignore each other, I mean brady always said you guys mostly ignored each other in Ottawa except for a few times… Did something happen?” Matt asked.

I sighed before nodding my head.

“When I got accepted to Ottawa three years ago as you know, I had only told Molly, but turns out Jimmy had heard so he told Will who told Josh… Josh accused me of only going to Ottawa because he was also going, so I could make his life a living hell, which is why i tried ignoring him as much as I could for the past three years” I said, wiping away the tears that rolled down my cheek.

Matthew signed before pulling me in a hug. I started to silently cry.

“I’m so sorry, Yn” he said sadly.

“Why does he hate me so much? Should have I stayed in Michigan? Should I never had moved to Ottawa in the First place?” I asked 

Should I have let him win and stayed in Michigan even though Ottawa to my dream school three years ago? Should I have left my dreams while he goes to live his? Should I leave the Job I’m supposed to start in September in Ottawa and stay in St. Louis?

“First off you Went to Ottawa because you had worked your ass off for it, so you weren’t ever going to back out. Second I don’t think he’s ever hated you, so you better not be thinking of turning that job down in Ottawa just to please him…” matt said 

“You literally just heard him, he clearly doesn’t like me… I just wish he could see me the way I see him” I blurt out. I look at Matt with wide eyes, I can't believe I just said that. 

Matt started smirking.

“Stop, you better not say anything” I pointed at him.

He raised his hands up in surrender.

“Look I won’t say anything… but guys are kinda idiots so we usually do stupid things when we like a girl… I think he might actually feel the same way he’s just too afraid to say anything, "Matt said, making me laugh.

“Yeah right” I said in disbelief, there is no way Josh feels the same way about me. I won’t believe it.

Matt and I finally made our way inside, we didn’t mention what happened to anyone, no chance was I going to ruin Brady and Emma’s night.

I didn’t see Josh anywhere so maybe he left.

Once the night was over we all made our ways to our rooms. Thankfully I'm rooming with Taryn. When I was finally ready for bed, Taryn was laying on her phone when she saw me making my way to my bed.

“What happened on the balcony tonight?” She was curious. She put her phone on the bedside table before looking at me.

I looked at her shocked, I didn’t realize anyone noticed we were there.

“You saw that?” I asked, before getting under the blanket.

“Yeah, Emma’s the one who noticed and told me, '' she said. I looked at her Guilty. Fuck i was really hopping neither Emma or Brady saw that.

Taryn saw my guilty look before she reassured me.

“Don’t worry, she wasn’t mad… she was just worried about you… apparently she thinks you like Josh or something?” She said

My eyes widened.

“What about me? Puff no…” I struggle nervously. Taryn's eyes widened before she started laughing.

“Oh my god, she was right? Why the hell didn’t you tell me this?” She asked

“Because he’s never going to feel the same way” I mumbled, but she still heard me.

“He’s an idiot if he doesn’t and you never know… maybe Dalton or even Quinn will talk some sense into him. Plus tomorrow’s the wedding and a lot of people fall in love at weddings…” she said.

“Are we still talking about Josh and I? Or is there something you want to tell me?” I laughed.

She chuckled.

“We’re still talking about you and Josh,” she said, chuckling.

“Whatever, get some sleep we have to wake up early tomorrow” I said.

“Good night sis” she said

“Good night,” I replied, yawning.

Wedding day

Taryn and I woke up early to make our way to the suite so we could get ready with Emma since we were both bridesmaids.

Emma is absolutely stunning. I know for a fact that Brady will cry, Taryn and I made a bet with Matty. Once it was time to make our way to the ceremony we made our way down to meet the groomsmen, I’m walking with Quinn thankfully. 

When Quinn saw me he smiled. I stood next to him so he gave me a side hug. 

“You look beautiful,” he said. I smiled at him.

“Thank you, you don’t look too bad yourself” I said, making him chuckle.

The pair started making their way down the aisle, before it was our turn, Quinn leaned in my ear to whisper.

“Josh is going to try and talk to you at the reception… I promise everything will go alright, Dalton and I talked to him last night, you should hear him out” he said, I sent him a nod.

The ceremony went amazing, I cried during their vows. When Brady saw Emma walking down the aisle he cried, both Taryn and I sent him a look that said you better pay up.

After the ceremony we all made our way outside for pictures before going to the reception.

At the reception after the speeches I saw Josh looking at me. I thought about what Quinn said, it still made me nervous so I tried to ignore him until I was at least tipsy.

I talked with Kevin Hayes and his wife. They got married about a week ago, it was a beautiful wedding.

“Why is it that when I leave St. Louis you get traded there?” I asked smirking, He laughed and shrugged.

“Promise me you’ll visit when you visit home?” He asked

“I promise,” I said chuckling.

I saw Josh make his way to the balcony, I was finally tipsy so I went to the open bar to get another drink before making my way to him. 

I took a deep breath before opening the door.

He was leaning on the railing looking at the sky in front of him.

I made my way and stood next to him.

It was quiet for a few minutes and I was just starting to get even more nervous so I decided to speak up. 

“Quinn said you wanted to talk to me?” I asked, looking at him.

He looked at me and smiled shyly. He took a deep breath before nodding.

“I’m sorry” he said

I scoffed, is that really all he has to say?

“Sorry for what exactly?” I asked, annoyed.

He rolled his eyes

“I knew you were going to be difficult” he replied annoyed 

I signed before scratching my head.

“Look Josh I’m tired of fighting with you, why are you always so mean to me?” I said sadly.

If he could just tell me why, I'll leave him alone after and he won’t have to talk to me again.

He sighed before turning to look at me fully. He was standing right in front of me. My face was inches away from his chest. I looked up at him.

“I never meant to be so mean to you, or hurt your feelings, trust me I know, i’ve heard it from our friends and my family…” 

“Then why are you?” I whispered looking up at him.

He raised his hand to my cheek stroking it with his thumb. 

“I’m really sorry, I really like you, always have but when we first met I thought you had a crush on Jack and I guess I was jealous and according to Quinn I was very wrong but when I finally figured out that wasn’t the case I really thought you hated me for the way I treated you so I just never stopped…” he said caressing my cheek.

I looked at his eyes, I could tell he was sorry, that he meant every word he just said. 

“I never had a crush on Jack, him, Luke and Quinn have always been like brothers to me…same with your brother,  you’re the one I had a crush on and Jack figured it out so he would always tease me about it when we were kids” I said chuckling.

He smiled.  

I saw him look from my lips then back to my eyes.

“Can I kiss you?” He asked

“I’d like that,” I said smiling.

He leaned down and smashed his lips to mine. Our lips moved in sync. I moved my hands to his chest. 

One of his hands was still on my cheek, he moved the other around my waist and pulled me closer, deepening the kiss. 

Before the kiss could get too heated we pulled away breathing heavily. I smiled looking at him.

“I’ve been waiting to do that since we were 15” he said smiling. I giggled.

“I'm glad you finally did,” I said.

I saw something in the corner of my eye at the door. I pulled slightly away only to see Quinn, Jack, Luke, Matt, and Tim Stutzle, watching us.

My eyes widened, I hid my face in Josh’s chest and groaned.

“What?” He asked, chuckling.

“We have an audience” I mumbled embarrassingly. I felt him turn his head to look at the door.

“We’re never gonna live this down are we?” He asked

“Definitely not” 

“Come on, we better go back inside before they start yelling at everyone,” Josh said, making me chuckle.

“Good idea” I said nodding

He kissed my forehead before grabbing my hand and pulling me inside.

I’m really happy, I don’t even think the teasing we were about to get will even ruin my mood.

I saw Jack giving money to Luke and Quinn.

“Did you guys bet on us?” Josh asked them, surprised.

“Hell yeah we did” Jack said excitedly.

“There’s more than one, Brady, Tim and I have one going with Emma and Taryn, guess the girls were right about the fact a wedding loves bringing people together” Matt said. 

“You better go pay up and put Emma in a better mood and piss off Brady” I said, he laughed.

“Come on let’s go find Brady we’ll need his money too” Matt said, grabbing me by the arm and dragging me with him. I laughed while Tim and I followed behind. Josh stayed with the guys.

“You couldn’t have waited until we went to the lake house next week?” Matt asked me right before we find Brady

“Sorry Matty,” I said smiling, I'm not sorry at all.

Brady was talking with a few of his teammates, Emma was talking with some of the girls along with Taryn not far from him.

Brady turned around when we got to him.

He pulled us into a hug.

“I’m Married, can you believe it?” He said excitedly. I couldn’t stop laughing.

“Tone it down, we owe money to Taryn and Emma” Matt said

Brady's eyes widened then his jaw dropped.

“Seriously, you couldn’t have waited till next week? Did it really have to be on my wedding day?” He asked. 

“Clearly your wife is okay with that,” I said, smirking.

“Yeah, yeah here” he said, handing the money to me. Matt and Tim did the same. I made my way to Emma and Taryn, they both smiled when they saw me.

“Well i’m about to make both of you very happy” I said, they looked at me confused until i showed them the money.

“You guys won the bet” I continued.

“Oh my god, Finally” Emma said, hugging me. Taryn joined us.

“We’ve all been waiting for this to happen” Taryn said

“Well I'm just glad someone believed it would.” I said, making them laugh.

“I’m pretty sure everyone believed it would, we just didn’t know when” Emma said.

“Well i’m glad that i got to help you both make a little bit of money, i’ll let you guys go back to chatting, I’ll find you both later… enjoy your wedding sis "I told Emma.

“Thanks Yn, couldn’t be happier to receive two sisters,” she said.

“Love you both” i said smiling 

“We love you too, now go back to Josh “ Taryn said. I started laughing while making my way back to Josh, who smiled when he saw me.

New Jersey, Two years later.

“You may now kiss the bride” the officiant said 

Josh put his hand on my waist and pulled me into a passionate kiss.

All the cheering in the back was loud.

 When we pulled away, we learned our foreheads together, smiling.

“I love you Mr. Norris” I said

“I love you more Mrs. Norris” he replied

“We finally have a sister” I heard Dalton yelling in the background making me giggle.

I can’t believe I just married the love of my life, it feels like forever ago we had just confessed our feelings for each other, on this exact balcony and now we're married.

I looked behind Josh to see my Brother Brady who is one of the groomsmen, he was crying which made me laugh.

“Brady, when did you become the emotional one in the family?” I joked, he just gave me the finger, with Matty slapping his hand down.

Looks like I found a love like Brady and Emma After all, I couldn’t be happier.

[batsplat]

i will be in permanent agony next year when marc squeezes pecco like a bug, unless it happens aragón 2021 style, where the unstoppable force (marc) meets an immovable object (passing pecco bagnaia), and marc has to really throw everything at it to come out on top. mostly because marc has a twinkle in his eyes when he looks at pecco, like he sees some sort of a challenge he’d enjoy to take on, and pecco just refuses to look at him 💀

also, martin said pecco plays the most amount of mind games, and i need to see that in 2025 before coming to a conclusion, otherwise it’s just jorge writing fanfiction about bagnaia as the ultimate bad guy of his life (i get it, jorge, next time pecco dnf’s i’ll choose to start stanning you, unlike the ducati bosses)

I think pecco does play mind games! admittedly if you're setting the standard at 'valentino', sure, he's pretty harmless, but pretty much every top level athlete will do a little of this! he does put some thought into how to manage expectations, what he's saying about his own chances and his opponents' chances going into weekends, that kind of thing. generally he might not outright attack his rivals, but he's not opposed to dropping the occasional snide remark. that being said, of course it's quite funny and revealing that jorge zeroed in on pecco as the mind games guy. pecco's very much his personal antagonist... such a good figure to externalise all those knotty feelings of being under-valued and under-appreciated and underrated... it's fairly natural that if you're fighting someone for a title, you get a bit of tunnel vision for them, so it's not that surprising a pick from martin. still fun! I absolutely buy martin's built pecco up a bit too much in his mind, is prone to reading malice into stuff where it probably wasn't intended on pecco's part. sometimes you end up playing mind games on yourself and the other guy doesn't really need to contribute

anyway, about the pecco/marc thing - yeah, look, obviously marc is the favourite in that title battle. that being said, if you look at marc's historical record, I wouldn't be all that surprised if aragon 2021 and jerez this year aren't the outliers. it's completely plausible marc wins that teammate battle quite comfortably but continues to lose in their actual one-on-one duels... because that did often happen during his prime. in 2013, sure, he won that early battle in jerez (which was just kinda building throughout to that one overtake), but he lost the rematch at silverstone. 2014 is the one where he was just kinda winning everything - so this one's kinda the exception, where he might lose some scraps like brno and misano but the extended battles in qatar, mugello, silverstone all go his way. from then on, the most memorable one-on-one duels with his big rivals are pretty often not working out in his favour. 2015 obviously a few with valentino, though he also doesn't win the title there so let's skip that, but 2016? the two duels everyone remembers from that year are mugello and catalunya - both go against him, both are defeats inflicted by his two main title rivals in jorge and valentino respectively, but it doesn't matter because afterwards the rest of the season goes his way. 2017 you've got austria and motegi where he takes on dovi and loses both times - but it doesn't change the momentum of the season and marc still wins in the end. 2018 doesn't really have a title fight, but again he's losing austria to jorge (before winning thailand so that's something). 2019, again not really a title fight, but he loses austria and silverstone before winning a couple of duels against rookie fabio at misano and thailand. in both those seasons, he's not really being challenged for the title - but if you looked just at the duels, you'd think the competition was a lot closer than the reality

none of this is to say that marc is bad at wheel-to-wheel racing, because he very obviously is not. (which by the way you can tell the moment you stop looking just at one-on-one's and include dogfights - sure, he's not won all of them, but pi '15 pi '17 assen '18 are all super memorable for a reason.) it's just an interesting pattern in his career: when he gets himself involved in extended duels with a single rival, he loses quite frequently, but it still doesn't hurt his title campaign. that's excellent mental resilience! it does, however, show that he doesn't really build his title campaigns around those big dramatic victories, around inflicting a dramatic and demoralising defeat on his rival in one-to-one combat. in this sense, he is obviously different from valentino: for instance 2004 is a title campaign that was built entirely around that trio of races early in the season (mugello, catalunya, assen) where he reclaims the championship lead and dulls sete's confidence by winning successive tight one-to-one battles. (also of course 2008/09, but those almost feel too obvious to mention.) when you look at marc's title campaigns, what they really rely on more than anything else is... well, consistency. the fact that he's basically always fast - and that generally speaking, he's finding himself in last lap duels at circuits where he shouldn't be able to contend for the victory at the last lap in the first place. (obviously qatar and austria, but also for instance honda was having a rough one at misano 2019, which is traditionally one of his strongest tracks but can be quite quirky.) (just saying, misano's a really good pecco track too... wouldn't that be fun...) it's relentless, intimidating pace that he's using to win all those titles... if you look at the races that changed the momentum in his various title winning seasons, it's not actually ever one-on-one duels, it's races where he won or was even just on the podium where all his rivals for one reason or another weren't there. maybe jorge and dani are injured, or maybe his rivals are having some horror show flag-to-flag races, or maybe ducati's having an off-weekend, or maybe everyone who isn't marc just refuses to stop crashing, or maybe jorge's decided to skittle the field

with the one-on-one battles themselves, sometimes it's kind of like... 'okay, sure, you won, but the fact I was even there probably isn't great news for you'. this is what jerez this year was about, right - of course, that was an important win for pecco, but also the fact that marc is fighting with him this early into his ducati career on a year old bike is certainly... a concern. obviously marc does want to win those duels, but he does also seem pretty capable of bouncing back after losing them. some of them have bothered him, sure - the worst was probably assen 2015, where there was obviously a lot of other stuff going on... and because it was that bit of the year where he was finding his feet again with that honda and they headed to the sachsenring next, his on-track performances didn't take a hit. you can argue that argentina 2015 did negatively affect his results... but that was also just a bit of the panic of 'I need to make up points now' in response to his first real adversity in the premier class - and anyway, everyone knows that wasn't a perfect marc season, the point is he was a lot better at managing this stuff going forwards. in 2016 and 2017 in particular, he really does do an excellent job of taking these close defeats in his stride

this is a long way of saying, look, I could easily imagine a version of 2025 where pecco wins a dramatic duel against marc at catalunya and then another one at mugello, and yet marc still wins that season pretty comfortably. that's basically the season I'm expecting... I'd quite like to have something different, because honestly I do enjoy it when the on-track battles actually affect title fights a bit more substantially! that being said, marc definitely wants to beat pecco in a one-on-one duel (though I'm sure that lovely le mans last lap pass will have gone a long way towards cheering him up) - and hey, interpersonal emotional stakes are a lot of fun too. hopefully even if there isn't much of a title fight they can still snap at each other a bit... as a treat

[k9catastrophe]

Even MORE games for alterhumans!! Just like the last one, these are all games where you play as an animal, but this time they aren't all super realistic!! A few of these cost money, indicated by a "$" next to the title, but all of them are free on the last list!!

Animal jam [Play Wild!]: Starting off this list with another BANGER as of today, AJPW updates monthly, with a new animal, pet, and den in every update! AJPW released in 2015, 5 years after the classic version! The game is super active and likely always will be, and there's no singleplayer option, but there's no requirement to interact with others to play.

Playable Animals: [every update animal leaves shop with the next update, so im only listing the ones that do NOT rotate.] Choose between Monkey, Bunny, Wolf, Fox, Tiger, or Panda as your first animal, and buy the Arctic Wolf, Horse, Lion, Lemur, Snow Leopard, Arabian Horse, and Eagle later on with your sapphires!

Customizability: you can customize every animal's fur colour, special pattern, eyes, and accessories to your liking!! The wide range of accessories lets every player have their own unique look!!

Rating: I give it a 10/10! I've played AJPW since 2018 and i dont think ill ever quit..

Dungeon Dogs: Dungeon Dogs is an idle rpg released in 2020 by Pocapp Studios, with tons of dogs to collect and battle with!! It's entirely singleplayer, and im not quite sure how often it updates 😓

Playable Animals: Dogs!

Customizability: With accessories, coats, and pets you unlock upon leveling up, you can customize your dog to look however you'd like!

Rating: 10/10, i like the events and silly main story, and it's fun watching my little team of dogs beat up bears and leopards.

Castle Cats: Another singleplayer idle rpg released in 2017 by the creators of Dungeon Dogs!! Again unsure of how often it updates 😓

Playable Animals: Just cats!!

Customizability: Just like Dungeon Dogs, you can entirely customize your cat's fur, accessories, and pets upon leveling up!

Rating: 9/10, It's still silly and fun, I just prefer the art on Dungeon Dogs more 💔💔

$ - Shelter 2: Take care of your four cubs as you fight to survive the wilds. Hunt for them, defend them from predators, and watch them grow up. Released in 2015 by Might and Delight, it's a VERY pretty game <3

Playable Animals: Lynx!!

Customizability: You cannot customize any of the Lynx beyond their names!!

Rating: 10/10! This game is so pretty!! i love the exploration, and the ending is always my favorite part of it!!

$ - Paws - A Shelter 2 Game: Play as a lynx cub on a quest to get back to your family after getting separated.

Playable Animals: Lynx cub!!

Customizability: You cannot customize them!!

Rating: 10/10!!! The entire game feels like a storybook, it's so cute <3

$ - Cattails: Released by Falcon Development in 2017, Cattails lets you become a pixel cat, join a clan, raise a family, maybe even create your own clan!! Hunt, gather, participate in seasonal events, decorate your den, just be a cat!!

Playable Animals: Cat!

Customizability: You can customize your eyes and your coat whenever you'd like!! You can buy some coats from shops, unlock coats from quests and redeem LOTS of coats with LOTS of codes!! My favorite is the Winter Snowday !! [Check out this coat colour guide too!!]

Rating: 10/10!! I love the style, and causing chaos with my devsprint is super fun !!

$ - WolfQuest [Anniversary Edition]: Released in 2019 by Eduweb, Wolfquest 3 is a pretty realistic wolf game !!!! This version is a lot nicer than the original, and the creators still update it! It even has a multiplayer option!! The main goal is to raise and protect your pups, but you can do whatever you want!!

Playable Animals: Wolf!

Rating: 10/10!! SUCH a pretty game !! I have a black wolf who is like 8 [ingame] years old..

[mysteriouslyjovialcolor]

China 2018

-Ferrari, Mercedes, Red Bull lockout

-Nico (from the last few races I’ve watched) has been pretty consistent in qualifying top ten. I can’t believe he’s never made podium

-Oh wow Sebastian just sped ahead like he was thrown from a sling shot

-Kimi and Lewis both losing positions because of that

-Max gained because of that though, Nico too

-“Did you see how many places we lost because of Sergio right now? It’s unbelievable” The girls are fighting again

-Haas implementing team orders for this race was not on my Bingo card (I’ll take it though, cause Kevin is higher now)

-“Do we think that Kimi Raikonnen is kind of sleep-walking Lewis Hamilton into a slower pace?”

-Nico casually going past Charles. The Renault looks like they were actually good this season

-✨Red Bull double stack ✨

-That was actually so hot

-“Box, box, box, box, do the opposite to Raikonnen” I love pit stop games

-“The one team that aren’t reacting is Ferrari” Why is it always them

-“Bottas gets past Vettel, the undercut worked!” That was so close, Mercedes really did a great job

-Lewis stuck in a Red Bull sandwich

-Nico on the other hand picking off cars one by one and Carlos right behind him

-Charles?? Why is he p20??

-I’m surprised the Force Indias are still out of the points

-The top three now less than a second away from each other

-Andd Valterri has made his move! He’s gone past Kimi and now so has Sebastian!

-Max p3 now, after Kimi pit

-“Charles was expected to be the wonder boy wasn’t he” Excuse me?? I don’t care that he’s p20- you shall not talk smack about him!

-Eeh Pierre running into his teammate

-Fortunately not something that needed a safety car though

-Never mind, I was wrong, there is a safety car

-Another Red Bull double stack!!

-“Red Bull definitely not sleeping on that pit wall”

-Renault double stack as well

-Somehow Nico didn’t lose out track position because of that, but Carlos did :/

-“We haven’t had a retirement so far” These guys about to jinx it

-“Is it just me or have I got a bunch of cars that have new tires behind me” Oh Lewis

-“And the two Force Indias almost touch” I’m surprised they haven’t already

-Let’s go Daniel!!!!

-Oh shit Max fell behind Danny, still covering off Kimi though

-Daniel!!!!!

-“If he’s going to do this, he might as well be pulling rabbits out of his hat. That was magic from Daniel Ricciardo” 👏👏👏

-“Alright next one is Vettel, let’s get him” That’s a man on a mission now

-Woah!! Max getting past Lewis too!! No falling back this time!!

-Who lit the fire under Daniel’s car?? Ohmygodd has he come alive towards the last few laps of this race!!

-“Well done mate, easy pickings” GP is so chill

-Oh no! Max hit Seb! GP spoke too soon!!

-Aaaaah that was so hotttt from Nico!!!!

-Daniel leading!!!

-“Don’t give up, you can pass Hulkenburg” What if I actually don’t want him to though

-10s penalty for Max. This has happened to me three times in a row now. Someone make it stop

-Ah Max and Lewis wheel to wheel! That one was fun!

-“He can’t just run me off the track like that” Sebastian’s day going from bad to worse because Alonso decided to be a menace

-Nico stays p6 though!!

-Daniel “Race Winner” Ricciardo!!!

-“Absolutely clinical moves. Cutthroat. Scary” haha

-Go Aussie babyyy

[morgan-the-lonely-brick]

Hiii~~ coming onto this blog to do Terror propaganda. Follow my terror sideblog @leadandblood , this is just my main. That said:

Welcome to The Terror (2018)!

Here are things that I love about the first season that might convince you to watch it too (without spoilers)

The fandom is absolutely amazing!!!! I have never had such wonderful comments and tags under posts. And they're all really talented and just wonderful

Gay love.

So much gay love oh my god everyone is gay-

Heck, there's even straight love if you're into that

Old men <3

Absolute angels and absolute demons, that are SO fun to watch

The show knows it's characters incredibly well

They are well developed and act believably in all instances i can think of

If what they do doesn't make sense in the moment it's gonna later

"Here's a guy. Now lets find out how many fucked up things can happen to him before he goes insane or khs"

Representation! Gays, amputees and POC

The main main cast is mostly white men but when there's someone else it has significance to the story or bears a deeper meaning

The visuals are stunning

Amazing camera work

The sound design!!!! Oh my god!!! It's so gooood!!!

Insane paralels game. You won't even notice some of them, but they make sense once you do

The love and care that went into this show is incredible

Very rewarding upon rewatch - different views on scenes and characters and such

You will be finding new details for several rewatches (im on my 6th and still finding stuff)

THE ACTING OH MY GOD THE ACTING

Jared Harris - and his insane ability to portray any combination of emotions with one expression

Tobias Menzies and his goddamn microexpressions

Just to name a few, but honestly they're all amazing

They're also very nice to look at

Prepare to get hurt in the most creative ways possible - it KNOWS how to hurt you and it's... Kinda satisfying

Whump galore!! Emotional and physical. Comfort and no comfort. Just take your pick

It's finished, so they can't fuck it up anymore lmao

The sheer horror of being stuck in the arctic with little to no food and everything wanting to kill you /pos

Things that might turn you away

The sheer horror of being stuck in the arctic with little to no food and everything wanting to kill you /neg

Racist characters. it's the 1800s :///

Death. Oh god there's so much death

Oh you have a favourite character? Well, he dies :/

It is a tragedy through and through.

When you think it can't get any worse, yes it can

So many side characters that you'll be learning their names for the next few days to come

They're 95% white men that look the same when you start out

Bad things happen to animals :(

There's quite a lot of gore... Open skulls, deep wounds, amputation, disease, burning to death, mauling, i could go on

At one point alcoholism and suicide

There will be poems

Overall just a really really great show, i am in love with it

[tartrat]

Lights out drop 2 review I guess

Im not good at giving reviews but here are my thoughts on paparazzi and the legacy songs because I don't own JD3 or 4 as well as other general thoughts i might have. Spoilers for paparazzi i guess.

Paparazzi: I always forget how slow this song is and i was listening to it this morning before the drop went live. Anyway I actually really like it, the outfits remind me a lot of Gaga especially the hero/villain costume from the movie part. Moves were a bit confusing at first (I only got superstar on my first try there.) but theres this sort of elegance and class to them during the red carpet section and then the sort of monstrous movements during the movie section were fun, although a bit hard to get down at first.

Hot For Me: The dance is great, i was hoping for the song to be a bit better. I don't really have much else to say.

Dance All Nite: Out of the three legacy songs in this drop, this is the best and fits the theme of the season better with all the neon in the background. I did mess up the second last gold move on my first attempt though. All around a solid map.

We R Who we R: I never knew that this was the "Hot and Dangerous" song, like i knew that it was Kesha who said it but didn't know the song lol. Its sort of lost on me like i don't know what the map is trying to say or what the general theming is. The coach is obviously a punk but then the people in the back at the rave section are normal, I think. Then there is the random fire that happens in the background. Its fun but i wouldn't go out of my way to do it often

My ranking for the new songs is:

1 Todo de ti

2 Paparazzi

3 Don't Rush

and for the legacy songs

1 Circus (Extreme)

2 Dance All Nite

3 Part of Me

4 Hot For Me

5 We R Who We R

I wouldn't necessarily say that wrwwr is the worst legacy song just more that its the weakest. I think that JD 4 has some of the worst or weakest maps in the series, i really only care about So what and Gold Dust from that game. In general JD4 is overated.

I also want to know who is stalking Eva Chase and the other Lady Gaga Coaches who are seen on the cork board. Initially i thought that Louise Dials would be the coach you could see her in the top right corner of the background in the season rewards. It could be Night Swan after the events of the escape in telephone or someone else whos hunting them down in relation to the event and noticed how Eva, and possibly Felicia evaded capture.

I think after Poker Face releases in JD2025 thats the majority of Gaga's hits covered in the series. I think what remains is Edge of glory, Perfect Illusion, and i guess Shallow (though that might be awkward), before they go for her other popular songs that aren't as big. I really hope they do Americano or Replay at some point even if its just during a season.

I'm now excited for the next event. then after that it'll probably be another celebration event akin to last year's 2024 event. I can see Night Swan being the legendary avatar for that. Its so funny because i believe that a majority of the fandom who came in from JD 2023 wouldn't have survived prior as the seasons from 2019 - 2022 were just the three new songs and legacies and then radio silence for a month an a half, with the only rewards being from the world dance floor which were always kind of weird I don't know how we managed with those basic avatars for so long, much prefer the new avatars). and then 2022 only had 2 seasons but at least they got 8 songs each. I can't really remember but i think back during the 2018 era the exclusives and legacies were just dropped at random times, like i even remember when Sax and Mi Gente leaked and was left wondering when those would release and it wasn't until like January and April respectively or something like that.

Side note its so funny how you can see some leakers complain about fans complaining about leaks. Like obviously people are going to be upset that you've been parading around leaks, people want to be surprised and make their own theories and not just be told what exactly is going down. Like all the games from JD2021-2024 have been leaked so far and i think as a direct result of that the previews have been shortened down to 30 seconds, or songs getting cut or replaced (Darkest hour still fits better than Eurythmics because it feels more like Leda's thoughts, I'll defend darkest hour and the Night Swan Prologue until i die). I think at this point the leakers are just getting off of the reactions of those who are annoyed, and we can't ignore them as it feels like they are purposely making themselves known. Best thing i can akin the leakers to is Trisha Paytas, like we all try our best to ignore her then she does something insanely weird to draw our attention back to her. I know that the leakers have had their own fair share of respective drama as it comes up on my YouTube home feed from time to time and i try to ignore it. its been going on for years i don't think it'll stop any time soon as they just find new ways to get info.

Anyway the seasons have been great this year (minus Don't rush) and im excited to see what comes next, lets just try to be positive.

[swordshapedleaves]

Once again it's time for my seasonal anime opinions no one asked for!

Putting it under the cut because it's long as fuck

New Anime I'm Excited About

Uzumaki It's Uzumaki!

365 Days to the Wedding Introvert coworkers fake an engagement to avoid a work transfer. I fucking love fake dating.

Dandadan An anime guy on youtube already sold me on this one by talking up the manga but the trailers look incredible. I'm too stupid to know what's going on and I don't even care because it looks amazing. Science SARU also made Devilman: Crybaby and Heike Monogatari so this should be a treat to watch.

Demon Lord 2099 This looks sick as fuck, very Shadowrun.

Ao no Miburo I am way more excited for this one than it probably deserves but I love historical dramas. This one is about the Shinsengumi before they were the Shinsengumi. I don't honestly believe Maho Film can pull it off but I really want them to.

New Anime I Plan to Check Out

Lockdown Zone: Lv. X: This could be a good horror show but the teaser trailer is leaving a LOT to the imagination though so it's hard to tell if this is gonna be good.

Negative Positive Angler This anime has cute girls AND boys doing a cute thing, the animation looks really good, and the trailer had good vibes. Might be a tear-jerker since protag-kun has a terminal diagnosis.

How I Attended an All-Guy's Mixer I think this is BL but it's not clear. I will watch in the hopes that the guys kiss.

Chi.: Chikyuu no Undou ni Tsuite Grounded historic anime set in Poland isn't a thing I think I've ever seen before. The animation looks serviceable at best but I'm still hopeful Madhouse will give us another gem.

Ranma ½ (2024) I really wanted to like the original Ranma 1/2 anime but I gave up 28 episodes into its 161 episode run out of exhaustion. Every time it seemed like the main relationship might develop a bit, they backslid to the status quo by the next episode. If this is a less faithful adaptation of the manga and it streamlines the story, I might actually enjoy it. It's being made by MAPPA so at least we know it's going to look incredible.

Yakuza Fiancé Isn't an arranged Yakuza marriage the foundation of one of the greatest anime rom coms of all time? I can't remember the name but I didn't like it. I'm not into gangster stuff, but Studio Deen has made some of my favorite romances and the animation has a really fun bold style.

Nina the Starry Bride I read a bit of the manga and enjoyed it so I'm definitely checking this one out. Signal.MD also made MMO Junkie and The Fire Hunter.

New Anime I'm on the Fence About

I’ll Become a Villainess Who Goes Down in History It doesn't look like a good villainess show but that's never stopped me before! I haven't watched anything by Maho Film before but their winter anime Doctor Elise was supposed to be good. I have high hopes for the other anime they're putting out this season but I'll check this one out as well.

Kinoko Inu Is a story about healing from grief with the help of a fakemon. It says it's heartwarming but the trailer had some sort of last second sting where the guy's house was on fire??? The only other thing I've seen by C-Station is the first couple eps of Yuru Camp, which was too sleepy for my tastes.

Kabushikigaisha Magi-Lumière The premise, that magical girl is just a job you can have and there are start up magical girl companies, is quite charming but the animation is mid and the adult protagonist sidesteps a lot of the emotional core of the genre.

Mechanical Arms Complicated sci fi set up for what looks like a typical shonen battle anime, but I like that it appears our soft boy protag-kun has a girl for a lancer without any romantic tension. This is either a rerelease or a remake of the anime that was released on Vimeo by TriF Studio in 2018? I think?

The Do-Over Damsel Conquers The Dragon Emperor It's giving "we have seventh time loop at home" if the protagonist went for the evil emperor first thing as soon as she looped and he was actually super silly and chill.

Dragon Ball Daima I love that the synopsis is just "New Dragonball series." Fuck you. Its Dragonball. What else do you need to know? Based on the trailer, it looks like the adults get turned into children somehow and then sent to the demon realm. I'm not really a dragonball guy but this looks pretty charming!

[jules-has-notes]

2018 VoicePlay summer activities — projects, planning, and the Philippines

Summer is often a time for fun and relaxation. For the VoicePlay guys, the summer of 2018 was largely a time of planning, rehearsing, and pursuing some individual projects. Though they did also do some significant travel.

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Following a comfortably busy spring, they took the beginning of July as a time to rest a bit and work on other things.

"You're not going to start chasing me like Eli does, are you?"

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J.None spent the Fourth performing with Paradigm at a local event, before zipping up to Virginia for his aunt's wedding.

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A post shared by J.None 🧈🎶 🎙📝🎬🎹🎸📽🤣 (@itsjnone)

J.None sings "Why I Love You" by Major. at his aunt's wedding reception.

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When the weekend rolled around, the PattyCake guys took over a grocery store in a nearby town for an overnight video shoot with the ladies of 4Eva29 and a group of dad friends.

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All aboard

The second week of July began with a flight to Puerto Rico so VoicePlay could board the Disney Fantasy and perform on the last third of its trip back to Florida.

When they were ashore once more, they released their epic Panic! at the Disco two-parter, which received a flood of attention. They then spent the rest of the month preparing for the coming months.

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A post shared by Layne Stein (@laynestein)

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Up, up, and away

August kicked off with a trip up to the northeast, returning to New Jersey, where they'd received a warm reception the previous winter.

photos by Duane Smith and Leon King

Leon also posted a few short clips to his Instagram.

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On your marks…

A week later, they convened at Rayne's Room to film three short music videos geared toward social media that they could release over the following weeks, as well as a promotional video for their upcoming concert with Rachel Potter in the Philippines.

Recording all of that in one sitting was apparently a little rough on their bass man, though.

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Earl and J teasing Geoff for indulging in a moment of younger sibling behavior

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Get set…

The first item from that marathon session they released was, of course, the announcement of their concert in Manila.

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A post shared by VoicePlay (@thevoiceplay)

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Go!!!

A few days later, they boarded their flight to The Philippines. Once they arrived, they had a little time to get acclimated, so they decided to visit The Dessert Museum and sample some local sweets.

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The show itself went swimmingly, and the crowd had a grand time singing along with some of their best tunes. The only hitch was Geoff having to tough it out with a minor case of food poisoning.

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The next day was the party with their hosts. They gave the tiny birthday girl a private preview backstage. (Scroll to the third slide.)

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A post shared by Layne Stein (@laynestein)

Carrot shenanigans will continue indefinitely.

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The trip happened to coincide with Eli's birthday as well, so their hotel surprised him with a tasty treat for the occasion.

Some of the food might not have agreed with Geoff, but Earl clearly enjoyed himself more and found a new favorite dish.

After just a few days on the other side of the world, it was time to head home.

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And for our next trick…

While the rest of VoicePlay recuperated from their globetrotting, Layne and Tony announced upcoming auditions for PattyCake's second scripted series, The Princess Academy.

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Once they were well rested, VoicePlay hit the road again to kick off the main stage performances at the Woodstock Fair in Conncecticut. They were in a double header with Lee Rocker from the Stray Cats.

photo by Duane Smith

post show silliness // travel advice

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As the rest of the guys spent some more time at home, J.None headed over to Dallas to visit with friends. He even happened across a bonus pal from high school.

When he got back to Orlando, J was greeted in a brotherly fashion (by his fellow mischievous middle child Layne, of course).

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A post shared by Layne Stein (@laynestein)

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Just a few months after VoicePlay had hit 300K subscribers on YouTube, they celebrated gaining twice as many followers on Facebook.

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Here, there, and everywhere

Since they weren't returning to Disney World for the holiday season, the guys announced a much more reasonable tour schedule for the end of the year.

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As the month hurtled toward its end, Layne and Tony gathered a cadre of their favorite Disney antagonists to film the first episode of their new Villains Lair series.

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A couple days later, VoicePlay hopped up to Little Rock for the ACANSA Arts Festival at the University of Arkansas.

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Over the ensuing weekend, J.None made another trip up to Virginia. In addition to visiting family, he also fit in a video shoot with his longtime friend Najee for their song "Dues".

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Everybody scream!

VoicePlay closed out the summer by preparing for their favorite time of year with an elaborate music video shoot. After two long days of props, prosthetics, silliness, snacks, and hard work, the boys had the makings of a fantastic visual tale to accompany their wonderful singing.

[notyourprof]

DTS S1 Word Vomit

Temporarily veering away from primer territory, because I'm rewatching DTS S1 (I'm about halfway through at this point) and having some FEELINGS and need to get them out somewhere:

Daniel's personality hasn't changed much but his attitude is SO different. He was so focused on winning and especially on winning a championship. I'm thankful he's in a much better place now! I know everyone wants to win a WDC but I think it's a much healthier attitude to go out and have fun driving and do the best you can do, because sometimes your car is a tractor and if you spend all of your time thinking about how you won't ever be WDC, that's miserable.

They don't show even half of the times it happened but gosh it really drives home how unreliable the Renault engines were. So many engine problems leading to retirements for Max and Daniel both. (I think it's telling that now in 2024 Renault isn't supplying engines to anyone but their own team (Alpine) anymore.)

There's so much more we know about Daniel going to Renault that isn't shown and I wish I knew better what was known at the time but not included by Netflix vs. what we have learned in the years since.

For example, Christian talking about how they'd offered Daniel plenty of money is hilarious, now that we know how much more he made at Renault.

Speaking of Christian, is the entire DTS team frantically scrambling this week to re-cut as much of S6 as they can? Sending them energy and focus and lots of good food and caffeine.

Daniel going to Renault meant Carlos was all of a sudden out of a seat. Sounds familiar...🤔

I am petty and will probably never forgive ZB for how he treated Daniel and I'm feeling very vindicated in that opinion because he's so unlikable even in S1.

Every time someone crashes, the first thing that happens is their race engineer/TP asks if they are okay. This is normal, this is what we are used to. It keeps reminding me of that time that, while at McL, Daniel crashed and the first thing he was asked was "Is the car okay?" (See previous bullet point.)

Also feeling vindicated about having the opinion that Checo is a kind of reckless driver, and has been for awhile.

Related, Max is such an aggressive driver and I just...hope he is in the lead most of the time again next year so I don't have to worry about him playing bumper cars at 200+ mph.

It's fun to hear GP talking to Max on the radio and know it's him, even though he isn't named.

The lack of Merc and Ferrari in this season is both funny and sad, but bless the producers for finding some good press conference footage of Kimi. I think Kimi might have annoyed me if I were watching his seasons in real time, but looking back, he cracks me up. I'm glad I never had to manage him, though!

Pierre so excited about going to Red Bull, oof.

But all of the Pierre and Charles being friends since they were tiny lore is adorable!

I'm going to miss Günther so much! (I used to think that someday I would go visit the Haas HQ in North Carolina and...that's no longer something I'm particularly interested in.)

I'm sure I'm not the first to point this out, but I didn't remember the 2018 Toro Rosso car well enough to make the connection, but look at the similarity in the liveries between the 2018 TR and the 2024 VCARB. Obviously not identical, but I like the return of the blue, the red accents, and the silver bull!

Anyways, that's it for now, I hope someone enjoyed this word vomit. It is really interesting going back and watching S1 knowing so much more about the sport, the season, and what's to come. Also interesting how much a lot of the drivers have matured since 2018. I'm sure that happens all the time with drivers who stick around for many years, but this is my first time seeing it.

[hoagmaster]

Another Month, Another Sunset

Well I did say I would return to the subject of shows I’ve watched ending since Mario Kart 8 dropped back in 2014, so this is the continuation of that dropped point.

I have watched television animation for as long as I have conscious memories. I grew up with it. I define the stretches of my life based on the big show I watched during each of them: Rugrats, Hey Arnold, SpongeBob SquarePants, The Fairly OddParents, Danny Phantom, The Mighty B!, Gravity Falls, Steven Universe. I was mostly a Nickelodeon kid as you can see, because that was largely the only channel we had around here when I was growing up.

I’ve dabbled in many other shows that aired at the same time as these, but there was always the one I focused on. But each of these shows either ended, whether by its own accord or not, or frankly went to pot and I jumped ship. It was the time when things were stewing in the latter show in 2018 when I decided maybe I’d have my fun elsewhere.

There were several months when I didn’t latch onto any show out of lack of interest, I might say. I watched some but I wouldn’t say I engaged with them. 

That all changed in October 2018, when, at the suggestion of someone I used to know along with a forum I frequented, I checked out Hilda on Netflix. I’d never read the comic it was based on, nor did I have much experience with a show designed for streaming.

But despite all that, I loved it. It felt like a rejuvenation into a medium I’d followed since youth. It opened my eyes to the potential of a series made for an online service.

Perhaps as a way to fill in a void left by season one ending, I decided to see what else I’d missed in my admittedly narrow-minded viewing. This led to my current favorite (remaining) show, Big City Greens.

My slate grew to those two. And then there was She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, Carmen Sandiego, Amphibia, Victor and Valentino, Infinity Train, It’s Pony, The Owl House, Glitch Techs, Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts, The Midnight Gospel, Kid Cosmic, Centaurworld, City of Ghosts, Invincible, The Ghost and Molly McGee, Inside Job, Arcane, Tear Along the Dotted Line, Maya and the Three, Dead End: Paranormal Park, Hamster and Gretel, Bee and Puppycat, Pantheon, Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, Kiff, Hailey’s On It!, and a couple others I’ve checked out some clips of.

Granted, I like some of these shows more than others. I wouldn’t call any of these perfect because with enough time I can find things in each of them that irk me. But I certainly feel I have a stronger awareness of shows that have aired in the past five years than I have for the rest of my life. Gaining a lot more online awareness probably also helps in that regard. I feel like I’m learning more about myself as an artistic person and writer by thinking about these and wanting to write about them.

With the end of Hilda, I feel it also marks the end of an era. Nearly every show I mentioned above has ended, whether by its own terms or not. Some have questionable conclusions, some were cut short, and a handful are ongoing or even just begun. But 2024 will mark the first year in some time where the big show that got me to get further into animation watching will not be on the horizon.

Now, I don’t think Hilda is going away forever. We’ve likely all seen Luke Pearson is already writing a prequel comic. There are more supplemental and side books being released faster than I can keep track of. Most of the shows I mentioned that have ended are still with us in a bevy of ways. With some networks looking for the next big hit they feel content to keep on reminding people about the stuff they already love to keep them engaged. For instance, for all their corporate shenanigans, Disney is doing a good job at keeping people aware of Amphibia.

I think the process of shows going away has been made easier by maintaining a broader range of shows to watch. Even with Hilda finished, I have the remaining episodes of Big City Greens along with the shows that just premiered and have more episodes on the way. Then there are all the upcoming shows that could grab my attention in the ways many of the previously mentioned have.

It does feel bittersweet, knowing we’ve all watched this show and came together for it and may be left wondering where we go now. I regret not engaging with you all more in the past, but who’s to say that can’t change now? At the end of the day, a show like this and many others extend far beyond what’s on the screen.

We’re all here to celebrate a show that we enjoy and that inspires us to create, to tell stories, to meet new people, to reflect on who we are and where we can take ourselves. Looking back, I have mixed feelings on the last season of Danny Phantom, but it was the first show where I talked with folks online about it and looked at fanart and read stories, and it is in this way that I met some of my oldest friends. Some of the most genuine, wonderful people I’ve known for over 15 years. That’s the beauty of an artistic creation like this or any other show.

Looking at the upcoming slate of shows and seeing just a bunch of stuff I don’t recognize does add to the hesitation. It’s easy to think that nothing new could live up and this empty feeling will persist. The strongest sense of “emptiness” I felt recently was when Amphibia ended, but this one is also up there because of what its end brings with it. But looking ahead, who’s to say we won’t all find a show that will enrapture our senses and inspire us the way our past favorites did?

I certainly didn’t think I could move on from Danny Phantom or Gravity Falls or Amphibia at those moments. But with some time, I’ve been able to keep moving forward and find new things that inspired me in all new ways. It may take time, but I think many of us will do the same here.

I’m sure I’ll keep reading the stories, and seeing the fanart, and thinking of my own ideas of stuff to share. To paraphrase Star Trek II, it’s not really gone so long as we remember it.

Here’s to the future, y’all. Cheers.

[cube-cumb3r]

BELOW: FAQ (and iFAQ)

Here are some frequently (and infrequently) asked questions:

Q: It should've been longer

A: Do you want me to die

Q: Will there be a data project 4?

A: Eventually, but I think next up I'll make a form with Just the questions written by form-takers, because I've realized that that is actually a genius idea. Also I wouldn't need to do any work!

Q: What will you do with the questions we've written?!

A: See answer above.

Q: What is the actual purpose of the survey? The data will be very difficult to analyses due to missing values!

A: I'm sure I've mentioned it before in various places, but I'm interested in how people answered the survey, in addition to what they actually answered. So the "missing values" is actually part of the data! But then again I am of course also interested in the actual responses, because they're fun. If you're interested in my amateur data analysis see here.

Q: Are you enjoying the spreadsheets and the responses

A: Yes, but I am also being harmed by them

Q: Why do you spell shampoo like that ("Schampoo")

A: That's how it's spelled in Swedish

Q: How to eat cheese?

A: I often wonder this

Q: are you hopeful for the future? your own future and the future in general

A: I am very hopeful for the future, especially my own future. I was doing really bad 2020-2022 and then things were suddenly good and now I'm really excited about life, things are going well and I know what I want to do with myself!

Q: What is your take on the relationship between doctor doffinshmerts and perry the platypus

A: I had a pnf phase in early 2018, and at this at the same time mysteriously I had created a superspy OC and a Mad scientist OC who were gay lovers. This was unrelated

Q: Omg i love tofu what’s ur favorite way to season it

A: I typically fry broccoli and tofu cubes together and then drown them in sweet chili sauce and soy sauce. And then serve with instant noodles with a drizzle of sesame oil ontop #studentlife

Q: What was the r value of that line of best fit for age vs favorite doctor? (referring to a graph included in the form)

A: Oh it's complete garbage I don't even remember I just included it because the idea amused me. I think the r value was less than 0.05. If I were to make a similar graph using the data from this form it'd look like this. Correlation test shows the r-value is -0.2 which suggests possibly a weak negative linear relationship, and the p-value for Age in this regression model 0.06, which is pretty low but now low enough that I'd claim that there definitively is a relationship, it might also just be completely random.

Q: What's YOUR favorite Doctor

A: 12th! Somewhere on the chart above there's a little dot for 22, 12

Q: What was that about a password?

A: Don't worry about it.

Q: Are you secretly an alien trying to learn about humanity though this form so you can make a plan to take over the world and destroy all humans?

A:

Q: Why

A: Why....

[MASTERPOST LINK]

Does anyone want to do my new google form

[anthonybialy]

An Offseason of Prison Thinking While Waiting for the Buffalo Bills

The offseason feels like a sentence with no exclamations and many questions.  Were we convicted for our misdeed of liking the Buffalo Bills?  Prison is already not a super time, what with the inability to go where you’d like, lack of wifi, and murderers who dislike you.  But being stuck with your ghastly thoughts is the most severe punishment, especially for those expecting an exacerbated incarceration.

You do the time.  Don’t let the time do you.  Prison thinking is the one way to make a term more agonizing.  The lack of free time and fear of unpleasant encounters with fellow involuntary residents aren’t bad enough.  Getting carried away with thoughts is a certain way to make confinement go beyond bars.  The metal ones aren’t nearly as fun as those with bourbon.

This is a long time without football in the same sense Rosen is the second-best quarterback Josh drafted in 2018.  Fans are doomed to care about how one team is about moving a ball or stopping it.  Without any of that action for most of the year, people naturally plot about what’s next.  The fact things in the future technically haven’t happened yet fails to dissuade busy brains.  You can’t fall asleep while your mind wonders why the word short is longer than the word long.

If you want to control your thoughts, social media is not for you.  Every idea everyone has ever had is presently posted.  Refusing to put them in chronological order is how online conglomerates keep them fresh.  The randomness would help with quality control if status updates were plays being called.  

Your mind hates you.  That’s why it’s always thinking of when you wished everyone happy Easter at the Christmas pageant and whether the person in the produce section asking if you liked the Wegmans guacamole hoped you’d suggest going on a date.  And fantastical narratives get stuck as a gift from your amused skull’s contents.  It’s like dreaming while being awake and nearly as surreal.  The lack of new sensory information means reliving past moments incessantly.

There’s not an actual window closing, and the figurativeness of the discussion makes determining its accuracy maddening.  It’s not bad enough how that particular phrase gets repeated like “spider hole” in the weeks after Saddam Hussein lost at hide and seek: the fear that decline is occurring is exacerbated by how there’s no way to prove such right now.  We have to wait to see if things are going to get woeful.

There’s nothing worse about worrying than the sense your frenetic consciousness may have a point.  One player can make a difference, sort of.  Expecting the Bills to contend for as long as they have Josh Allen is like presuming Superman will stop any supervillain from destroying Metropolis.  It would be swell not to rely on one person even if it’s the particularly impressive superhero in question.

The seemingly ceaseless interval is particularly tough for sports fans whose petitions to have seasons start the day after championships have been continually disregarded. A nagging fear of returning to football obscurity might not just be our runaway thoughts derailing.  It’s not bad enough to be deprived of the sport for all these cruel months: this could all be buildup to letdown.  Cheer up.

There’s evidence that gloom could be the only thing that wins this season.  Even annoying optimists might conclude management has not done nearly enough to alleviate fears that this team could actually be regressing.  Stefon Diggs may have caused headaches, but he still occasionally caught passes in between ibuprofen doses.

A lack of worthy worthy could be a looming problem, what with needing someone to catch what the quarterback throws.  The Bills could be shifting toward the new style of big receiver where tight ends are a slightly different version of the same job description.  But it’d still be nice to have more traditional options, especially since management went the unconventional route of adding a draftee and journeymen instead of the superstar the quarterback deserves.

We know a lot and also nothing.  Embrace the uncertainty instead of futilely attempting to control it.  Presumptions only lead to confusion.  Taking comfort in predictions is ultimately unfulfilling if they don’t come true.  Sports books grow richer by the moment based on people mistakenly thinking they know what’ll happen next.  Looking for tendencies is natural, which is why scouts are always in demand.  For now, be reassured by the lack of knowledge, as there’s no better option.

Bad things are bound to happen.  I am sorry to be the one to inform you how life works.  The track record of them occurring incessantly isn’t helping maintain faith, especially with so much time between sermons.  A universe where we’re the subject of ceaseless practical jokes doesn’t seem funny.  

Allen covers up innumerable flaws in roster construction and game planning.  Buffalo’s savior should be coach as well.  Terry Pegula wouldn’t have to pay a new person, which is the most important factor for one of the richest humans ever.

Convicts still haven’t been paroled.  The stint in mental prison would be easier to withstand if we had been charged with doing something malicious.  But we merely committed the crime of liking football and having some connection to Buffalo.  It’s no fun sitting in a cell while pondering what we did wrong, namely being born.  Letting negative thoughts with little basis take control is the one way to make missing a sport worse.

[torturing-characters-101]

Hi! This is kind of a weird question but how/why was influenza (and other diseases that we have vaccines for now) so deadly 100-200 years ago? Obviously vaccines help tremendously, and probably immunity over time, but are there other reasons that the flu was a much bigger deal a century ago? Sorry if this is oddly specific, but my current project is historical. Thank you!

This is a very interesting question and there are a couple of different ways of looking at it.

Let's start with influenza:

[Note: it's surprisingly difficult to get good worldwide flu data, so I'm going to use US numbers for the purposes of this post.]

I think the first thing to understand is that unlike many other infectious diseases, influenza is substantially different every year. That means that the immunity that you build in 2017 from either the flu or the flu shot won't necessarily help prevent you from getting the flu in 2023. By then it will be a different enough virus that your previous immunity won't be as helpful. Though it might make it a little milder. But keep reading, I'll give you some fun facts to share at parties:

We name flu (A) viruses based on two different proteins on the surface of the virus. The proteins are "H" and "N". There are 16 different "H" proteins, and 9 different "N" proteins that we currently know of. The combination of the two forms the "name" of a particular flu virus. Think H1N1, or H5N6, or any other combination. Each combination has their own attributes, which contributes to how infectious or deadly they are in any given year. And which ones circulate are different every year.

Just mathematically, that's a lot of substantially different flu viruses. Hundreds of them, in fact. And you have to build immunity to each one individually. You could, say, build immunity to H2N5, but that would do little to save you from next year's H4N3. And not only that, but within a single type there are many smaller variations. For example, say you got H5N3, but then it went and mutated. If you then got exposed again, you might have some immunity to new!H5N3, but it could also be just different enough that you still get sick.

Like I said above, different types of flu virus are deadlier or spread faster than others. H5N1 (a type of avian flu with a human mortality rate of 52%) is terrifyingly deadly but fortunately doesn't spread particularly well, while H1N1 (the star of both the 1918 and 2009 flu seasons) spreads rapidly and kills primarily young adults (weird, since flu usually kills babies and old people).

This is why in 2009 we did the whole "close the schools vaccinate the teens hide the president" routine. Because if it was *that* H1N1 we were all about to be screwed in ways we had never experienced before. Fortunately it wasn't, but thank goodness we did it. Also if you got vaccine #2 in 2009, you are also protected against the 1918 strain of H1N1. You're gonna be a hit at parties with that one.

Now, if you look at only deaths (not the best measure, but one with some emotional punch), within the last decade alone we have years where 12,000 people died of flu in the US (2011-2012) and years where that number is as high as 61,000 (2017-2018). These numbers are similar throughout recent history (relative to population), but then you get years like 1968 (where 100,000 people died in the US) and 1957 (where 116,000 died), and then sometimes you get these wild whopping years like 1918 where 675,000 died (equivalent to 1,750,000 people dying in today's US population). These fluctuations have happened since Hippocrates was around, and probably long before that, and there's really nothing to suggest it's getting any milder in any statistically significant way.

Now, outside of these natural fluctuations, we do have some ways of driving down these numbers. We do have a vaccine. It is different every year, based on our prediction of what the most likely or dangerous types of flus will be this year. Fortunately, you do get to keep this immunity for some time, so you can look at the flu vaccine as a personal collection of different flu viruses you have immunity to- you can collect 2-3 different ones every year in one shot and you didn't even have to catch them!! Yay! Unfortunately, since we never reach herd immunity with the flu vaccine, and we can't perfectly predict and incorporate all the strains that will circulate in a given year, while you do get some protection, it's not ever perfect. But it *is* still worth it.

We also have other feats of modern medicine as backup to the flu vaccine. We have oxygen, antiviral drugs like tamiflu, immune modulating drugs, and technology like ventilators to help keep people alive in ways we would not be able to in previous generations. So that's also an advantage. Unfortunately, these don't always work either, and we are still at the whim of those yearly fluctuations in influenza virus deaths.

And really, if you ask any epidemiologist, covid is just a little trial run for the next Big One. Which is both extremely likely to be a flu virus and which we're statistically overdue for.

TL;DR: The flu isn't getting milder so much as it varies wildly in severity every year. The next major flu pandemic is probably going to be in our lifetimes, so start collecting your flu immunity now if you haven't yet. New collections drop every August and are available until April. Get em' while they're hot. This year's included a 2009-like strain of H1N1 and a delightful H3N2 number from Hong Kong.

As for All the Other Vaccine Preventable Illnesses:

*ahem*

Yes, it's vaccines. It's obviously vaccines. Its basically only vaccines. Anyone who has ever told you it's not vaccines is lying. No other major discovery of modern medicine has ever saved as many lives, prevented as many disabilities, and created as many opportunities for a life well lived as vaccines have. No antiviral drug, no antibiotic, no ventilator can even hold a candle to vaccines. The answer is f*cking vaccines*.

I hope I have made myself clear.

Enjoy this table:

*Yes I do have a masters degree in public health and am a registered nurse that interacts with the public regularly, how did you know?

-Ross @macgyvermedical

[sixdegreesofbali]

The fact that Max has great relationships with all of his previous teammates (and current one) speaks volumes of him as a person!

Carlos Sainz

2018 interview

“It's one of the enigmas of the paddock. Everyone thinks me and Max hate each other, and that's absolutely not the case. Many fans, when I go to autograph signings, they keep asking me about Max, and 'What's the relationship?' Even my friends keep asking me about Max and the relationship we had.

“We were having fun that year, I promise. We had a lot of fun out of the track. In the track, we were extremely competitive. We knew we were battling for our careers, for our Formula 1 pedigree in our first year, rookie season, and I got on with him a lot better than what people think.”

“For me, Max, there's no doubt that he's one of the most talented, if not the most talented guys that I've battled against in Formula 1” 

Daniel Ricciardo

2021 interviews

Interviewer: “Who are you most a fan of on the gird?” Daniel: “For different reasons I guess, but like Max. Max Verstappen. Because, I think he, he is what he is, you know. And if he doesn't wanna talk to someone in the media or whatever like he won't and I think as some of the Netflix stuff now with the new season, I think he's said no to a few of the things and- so he kind of just has his way and he's just gonna stick by it. And he's, I don't know, you get what you see and I think a lot of people also admire that and like that. And he might not be the most approachable or the funniest or whatever but he is Max and people know that that's what they're gonna get and he's a very hard racer and obviously people like that. 

So I definitely respect that and I was his teammate so I've know him for quite a long time as well and I've also seen him lets say mature and kind of grow. I not only have respect for him but I kind of- I think what he does is kind of relatable to some as well.”

Another interviewer: “Who would you take to a deserted island with you?” Daniel: “Probably Max. I mean, like, Max does know how to have fun, so I think if you're on a deserted island you definitely need some inspiration for fun and Max would, Max would be a pretty safe bet."

Pierre Gasly

2018 interview

“Being teammates and mates with Max next season is really cool, because we get on really well and we’ve known each other for a really long time,” 

“We really respect each other a lot as drivers, but also as friends, so I’m really excited to join him in the team with him. As we have a strong friendship it will be only a positive for the team.”

(It was hard to find something more recent, but seeing how in awe and overjoyed Pierre was for Max in Abu Dhabi says it all!)

Alex Albon

2022 interview

“He’s very honest, Max doesn’t do bull****. He’s very direct. You could say that he is really Dutch! He is confident, but certainly not arrogant. He just has confidence in what he does.

“We get along very well. He loves gaming, I also like to play games. So we sometimes play together. He is actually a very ordinary boy, especially when you consider how well-known he is and what he has already achieved. Max is much more normal than many people would think.”

Sergio Perez

2021 interview

“I’ve been surprised in a good way with Max’s personality. Although I knew him before, more or less because we’ve been racing for many years, when you are in a team you spend more time together. The image that Max has is very different to what he is like as a person,”

“He is really chilled out.”

“Obviously, he wants to be very fast, he’s very competitive, but everything you see in the media, I haven’t seen any of that. To be honest, I’m pretty impressed in that regard with him.”

Can I just say that I LOVE Checo for pointing out that the media’s portrayal of Max is NOT right!