#the context of it is entirely different now

[thankskenpenders]

Today we got some news regarding a big change for the Ian Flynn's Q&A podcast, the BumbleKast. As outlined in a blog post by Ian, starting in 2025, all Sonic-related questions submitted to the show will first need to be screened by Sega. (I have to assume this is also why Ian announced they'll no longer be doing live Q&As starting next year.)

Frankly, I can't say this is particularly surprising.

While the BumbleKast is ostensibly a podcast about Ian's work as a freelance writer for all sorts of things, and also just a place for him to shoot the shit about stuff he likes, he's still predominantly seen as The Sonic Guy. Sure, he also does a bunch of other freelance work for other series, and original comics like Drogune, and he's also the narrative mastermind for the whole Rivals of Aether franchise these days, but it's his insights into what goes on behind the scenes with Sonic that people really care about. Your average Sonic fan can't just go up to Iizuka or whoever and ask him a question about the current state of the lore, but Ian's inbox is always open.

Because of this, I've thought a lot about the BumbleKast's place in the fandom and The Discourse in recent years. Ian wants to be as open and honest as he can about his work, and I think that's admirable. To me, hearing about creators' struggles and the shit they go through just to get a story out the door tends to make me sympathize with them more. Sometimes a story just doesn't turn out as well as you'd hoped, but you're on a tight deadline and all you can do is move on to the next project. I've even softened a bit on Penders over the years as he's shared more about the absurd situations and odd creative demands made behind the scenes at Archie. Unfortunately, not everyone has that mindset.

Ian's basically always had obsessive haters who were eager to take everything he says out of context to try and stir up shit, but that used to be contained by the niche nature of the Archie comics. Most of the fandom didn't give a shit about what Ian was doing with Sonic and Sally's love life or whatever. Most of the fandom wasn't even reading those comics. But Ian's gone from being a writer for a non-canon spinoff comic, to being the initial lead writer for the first ever canon Sonic comic series, to being the new main writer for the games themselves as part of the official Sonic Lore Team. Way more Sonic fans care about his work now, and when he's so open about his work that makes him an easy scapegoat.

It feels like damn near every week on Twitter Ian's personal trolls have posted yet another BumbleKast clip out of context to rile up the fandom and make it look like he has no idea what he's talking about or like he has some kind of agenda. And, unfortunately, people often fall for this. Of course, it also goes the other way, with people more sympathetic towards Ian taking things he says about Sega and framing them as proof that Sega has no idea what they're doing with the brand. Which, well, let's be real, isn't always the most unreasonable thing to think, given Sonic's rocky history. But I'm surprised it took this long for Sega to start paying more attention to what gets said on the BumbleKast when fans use it so regularly as a source of drama.

I've also often felt that they just need to be WAY more selective about what messages they respond to on the show. Questions Ian can't actually answer due to NDAs, questions that are borderline incomprehensible, "questions" that are really just fan ideas. And the haters, oh, the haters. Ian does not need to put up with angry rants about how he should make SonAmy canon or what the fuck ever. Even if Ian's willing to put up with it, as a listener it can make the show just super unpleasant at times when someone aggressive pops up with an inflammatory question. There have been entire BumbleKast Mini episodes I had to skip because they were just obsessive critics of Ian's paying to grill him on a dozen different things and treat him like an idiot.

But at the same time, I get why the show got to be this way. It's become a part-time job for Ian with multiple new episode a week. Given how piss poor the pay tends to be for freelance writers, I can't really blame him for wanting to keep this secondary stream of income open, and to not have to refund people left and right for rejecting their questions. The man's got bills to pay. (And so does Kyle, for whom managing the BumbleKast seems to have become a full-time job.)

I dunno. The man's got the patience of a fucking saint. I would've quit the franchise if I was in his shoes, with people wishing he would die for shit like minor disagreements over Sonic's characterization or him misremembering an obscure old lore thing. While I do hope that Sega doesn't keep too tight of a leash on him moving forward, and I hope that he's still able to speak his mind about his work, part of me also hopes that having to be much more selective about Sonic questions results in less bullshit like this.

[moonandstarshyuck]

"Always."

lando norris x gn!bf!reader

notes: I haven’t written since 2019, so bear with me. I’ve found myself thinking about a little blurb for Lando recently (actually a lot of ideas, but this one is sticking with me more than the others at the moment).

For some context, Lando’s been receiving a huge amount of hate online (and in-person) recently. I haven’t been a fan for that long—I got into F1 this summer, in 2024—but I’ve grown to care about him. I was there for Lando losing the championship, and while I think we all knew it would come to this (Max winning felt inevitable) but I’m proud of Lando for pushing so hard this entire year.

Still, with all the hate directed at him, I’m seeing a new side of him, and I’m learning that he’s a person with feelings like anyone else. I can tell he doesn’t always have the highest opinion of himself and tends to take the blame for anything that goes wrong during his races. What struck me about this is how much I relate to it. I blame myself for things out of my control or when I mess up. What sucks with Lando is that his small, human errors are what so many people focus on to criticize him—whether it’s why he didn’t win the championship or why they think he’s a bad person (which he absolutely isn’t).

The inspiration for this came from an interview he did after the Brazilian GP. At that point, everyone knew it was almost mathematically impossible for Lando to win the championship, and he talked about struggling in the aftermath: “I literally couldn’t sleep for the first two days…So I did like, what, 36-40 hours straight. So that probably made everything worse. When you’re tired, you’re more moody, and that kind of thing…I was just sat at home alone. It probably would have been better if I had been with my friends. But they don’t live in Monaco. They also have lives and are busy doing other things. And I’m a big overthinker, so like the whole flight home, the whole week, it just played over and over in my head. What could I have done differently? Why did I do that? Why did I not do this? You start thinking of all the scenarios that you kind of blame yourself for, why it’s now not possible, that kind of thing. And yeah, because I overthink and I struggle with that kind of thing, that took a bigger toll in the days after. It wasn’t an easy time.”

And I keep on finding myself wishing someone could have been there for him in person, so that he was okay. So, I wrote this. The reader in this is dating Lando but is written as a gender-neutral character that uses They/Them pronouns. The reader also has a service dog, a Bernese Mountain Dog named Thunder, to help with their own depression and anxiety (I’m not an expert on service dogs, so this many not be 100% accurate).

They woke up that early morning to the sunlight shining on their face, streaming in from the window outside. The bliss of sleep clung to them as they lay there, cocooned in warmth, the covers snug around their body. They stretched lazily, blinking their eyes open.

Instinctively, they turned to look beside them—only to find the space next to them empty. It’s too early in the morning to be anywhere else but in bed, even for training, they thought. Lando should still be here.

The realization pulled them out of their sleepy haze. The past couple of days had been not kind to Lando. They knew that he had a tendency to keep his feelings bottled up and beat himself up over his perceived failures. They understood that feeling all too well—the guilt, the constant sense of disappointment, the nagging thought that were never good enough. They had wrestled with those feelings since they were a child.

It wasn’t something that had an easy fix. If they had found the answer, they would have shared it with Lando years ago. But they had learned that the best way to fight those thoughts wasn’t isolation. Talking to someone, writing feelings down, even simple positive affirmations—thought they might sound silly—could help push back against the negative spiral. They had told Lando this countless times.

But Lando had a problem with not wanting to “inconvenience” anyone with his emotions. No matter how many times they reassured him that they were always there for him, he struggled to let himself. They didn’t blame him—it was human to struggle against your own mind.

What made everything worse was the constant online hate. Every little mistake or sarcastic comment from Lando seemed to turn into an avalanche of criticism. They remembered the first time they’d seen him like a hateful comment about himself on Instagram—the little heart next to a cruel statement, paired with note: “Creator liked this.” It had broken their heart. How could the Lando they loved ever believe such awful things about himself?

After Brazil, it had been clear that he wasn’t okay. He’d barely spoken since coming home, choosing instead to himself. They had given him space, hoping he’d find a way to process his feelings. But by the second morning, when he still hadn’t come to bed—almost forty hours after returning home—they knew they couldn’t stand by any longer.

That morning, they rose slowly from the bed, a plan beginning to form in their mind. Lanod needed someone to step in—someone to remind him he didn’t have to face his struggles alone. They were determined to be that person for him.  They couldn’t take it anymore, seeing the person they loved so badly, punishing himself over his ‘failures.’

The first step was to confirm where he was. Grabbing their phone, they opened Twitch and navigated to Max’s stream. After a few moments of watching, they heard Lando’s voice—tired, strained, but unmistakably his. He was joking with Max, his words clipped, like he was holding himself together with sheer willpower. It was enough to break their heart. They opened their messages with Max.

Thunder's Owner

Lan’s streaming with you rn?

Sent at 7:48 AM.

After a few seconds, Max replied.

Maximilian

Yeah he’s on voice-only.

Sent at 7:50 AM.

Gonna do something about him?

Sent at 7:50 AM.

Max knew. Of course he did. He probably heard the exhaustion in Lando’s voice, the edge self-loathing that came with overthinking. They typed back quickly:

Thunder's Owner

Yeah

Sent 7:52 AM.

Going to unplug his setup and drag him out of there.

Sent 7:52 AM.

Maximilian

Lol.

Sent 7:52 AM.

I’ll keep an eye out for when he disappears.

Sent 7:53 AM.

Thunder's Owner

Thx

Sent 7:54 AM.

They quietly made their way to Lando’s gaming room and eased the door open. Lando sat at his desk, controller in hand, headset clamped over messy curls.  He looked worn down, his shoulders slumped as he focused on the screen. His voice through, muted put playful, as he bantered with Max.

For a moment, they just watched him. Even now, he was handsome, but the tiredness in his expression made their chest ache. He deserved rest. He deserved to feel okay. And he wasn’t going to get that by sitting here punishing himself.

As soon as Lando died in-game and leaned back in his chair, they seized the opportunity. They crossed the room, catching his attention when they came into view.

“Why’re you—” Lando began, frowning, but they didn’t let him finish. Reaching down, they unplugged everything from the wall.

“What the hell—” he exclaimed, spinning around in his chair.

“No,” they said firmly, cutting him off. “I’m not you hurt yourself anymore. Get up.”

Lando blinked, clearly taken aback. “You can’t just do that!” he protested, but they were already tugging gently at him arm, urging him out of his chair.

“Angel, what are you—”

“No,” they repeated, their voice steady. “Get up,”

Lando hesitated for a moment before letting out a resigned sigh and standing. They took his hand, leading him out of the gaming room and down the hall to the living room. He didn’t resist, but he followed like a man in a daze. Once they reached the couch, they turned to him. “Sit,” they said, pointing at the cushions. Lando raised an eyebrow, opening his mouth to argue, but they shook their head. “Stay.”

They turned to Thunder, who had been waiting for them in the hallway, and told him, “Thunder, guard,” while pointing at Lando.

The dog immediately moved into position, standing alert in front of the couch. Lando’s eyes widened slightly as Thunder fixed him with an unblinking stare. He shifted as if to get up, but Thunder’s stance didn’t waver.

“Jeez, I wasn’t going to get up,” he mumbled to Thunder, but Thunder just sat there and watched him until he fully relaxed back into the couch.

The thought ran through Lando’s head, how he had honestly forgotten how menacing his own dog could look. He knew Thunder was trained, saw reminders of it daily with how he interacted with his partner, but he was still shocked at how trained Thunder really was at that moment.

Thunder was still staring at him when he pulled out his phone from his pocket, opening up his texts with Max.

LN

I was just dragged out of my gaming room and told to sit on the couch and like a dog.

Sent at 8:05 AM.

Not against it, but how tf did they get so determined?

Sent at 8:05 AM.

Thunder’s watching me right now.

Sent at 8:06 AM.

I forgot how menacing he could be.

Sent at 8:06 AM.

*Picture attached.*

Lol.

Sent at 8:06 AM.

Max (The 1st One)

He’s like ‘try me, I dare you’

Sent at 8:06 AM.

LN

Yeah, I don’t particularly want to try him

Sent at 8:07 AM.

Max (The 1st One)

Lol.

Sent at 8:07 AM.

They told me before they did it

Sent at 8:07 AM.

I just let them. Lol.

Sent at 8:07 AM.

LN

Helpful. What if they were trying to  kill me?

Sent at 8:08 AM.

They wouldn’t have had to if you kept doing what you were doing.

Sent at 8:09 AM.

Lando’s let out a quiet sigh, Max’s words sinking in. He glanced at Thunder, who hadn’t moved, and felt a pang of guilt. He’d pushed himself too far again, and this time it had clearly worried his partner.

A few minutes later, his partner walked back into their living room. He thought they looked beautiful, wearing one of his old t-shirts and a pair of boxers. They were entirely focused on the bowl they were carrying, and only looked up when they got close enough to hand it to him. He gently took the bowl, looked into it and saw it was one of his prep meals. While not his favorite breakfast, he knew he just needed to eat first, so he started taking bites.

He glanced up every so often, and each time he did, his partner was just sitting there and watching him eat. Lando almost chuckled at his own thought that they looked just like Thunder when watching him, and he smiled into his bowl at the thought. His partner didn’t see his smile, but he continued to eat until he had finished the bowl.

When he was done eating, he set the bowl down, and his partner again pulled him up by the crook of his arm. He just let them do so, having a thought of what was going to happen next.

His partner led them both down the hallway to their bedroom, and opened the door, leading him to sit on their bed, then they turned around and went to close their blinds and draw their black-out curtains to cover up the sunlight from the window. They had turned on their bedside lamp earlier, and the soft orange glow of the lamp permeated the room. They walked past him again, going to close the door after letting Thunder in, then they walked back to their side of the bed, and pulled him to lie down against them.

As he settled against their chest, he felt a bit odd, it being a bit of a difference to feel how much he was loved by them. How much they cared for him. And he finally spoke again, “Thank you.”

“Always, Lan. Always.” They replied, pressing a kiss to his hair.

And for the first time in days, he let himself sleep.

author's note: got inspired to actually write something for once...ty @koalapastries for the inspiration (unknowing inspiration but ty) (also sorry for using your layout outline

comments & reblogs appreciated

and i made the dividers :)

[ohithankyou]

decided to watch all of buck’s breakups last night and here are (part) of the conversations/how each of the breakups played out to compare and contrast if you so desire. i didn’t include the entire conversations because it would be too long and i think the parts i included capture the core of the breakups well enough.

note: information in square brackets is just some context i included since i didn't add the full conversations

buck and abby, breakup, 1x10:

[after abby’s mom passes and she books a ticket to ireland in an effort to find herself and what she wants]

abby: “. . .i care about you so much. you’re amazing. and these last few months, i think you've gotten me, at least halfway, to the person i want to be. but I've got to do this [go to ireland/travel] so that i know i have something to give.”

buck: “i’m excited for you. almost as much as i am, um, sad for me. i’m gonna miss you.”

abby: “i’m gonna miss you, too.”

[when buck is dropping her to the airport]

abby: "you're not gonna come in with me?"

buck: "i learned a while ago, you never go beyond the glass doors."

abby: "i must be crazy to be leaving you behind."

buck: "you're not leaving anything behind. you're moving toward something. and i'm gonna be right here when you come back, okay? go on. you got this, okay?"

abby: "take care of yourself, okay?"

buck: "you, too, abby."

buck and abby, ‘closure’, 3x18:

[after abby and buck meet for the first time since 1x10 when she and her finance are in a train derailment and buck + the 118 save his life]

abby: “. . .i just had no sense of self. i had to leave everything that i knew so that i could remember who i actually am.”

buck: “and you did, right? i mean, you did remember, but you still didn't come home.”

abby: “yeah, i know. i think i was afraid that if i came back, i would become that person again. because i missed you. i wanted to see you. but i didn't trust myself.”

buck: “because being here, being with me, you might lose yourself again?”

abby: “yeah.”

buck: “i’m glad to see you happy, abby. you deserve it.”

—

buck and ali, 2x18:

[after buck’s leg gets crushed under the fire truck and it hits ali what it means to be with a firefighter]

ali: “. . .look, it’s not like i didn't know you were in a dangerous line of work when i met you, you know, ten stories up of a collapsing high rise.”

buck: “exactly.”

ali: “that was one day. one day of my life, evan. it’s every day for you. i’m just starting to really understand what that means.”

buck: “wait, so-so you want me to quit my job, that's what you're asking me to do?”

ali: “no, i would never, i would never ask you to do that. listen. i know it's who you are. i’m just not sure. if it's…”

buck: “…who you are.”

ali: “hey. i don't know yet. okay?”

—

buck and taylor, 5x18:

[after taylor publishes the story about jonah buck had asked her not]

taylor: “. . .i’m sorry you're still upset about the story.”

buck: “you’re not sorry for what you did, though.”

taylor: “the story was gonna come out regardless. if i hadn't have broken it, someone else would have.”

buck: “you couldn't have called me first? no. you-you just, you figured i’d be fine. i’d get over it.”

taylor: “buck, i wasn't trying to hurt you or anyone else. i was just trying to get the truth out there. a truth the public has every right to know.”

buck: “this is literally our first argument all over again.”

taylor: “which is why we shouldn't be having it. you knew who i was when we started dating.”

buck: “i guess i thought i could learn to live with it.”

taylor: “i don't want to be something you have to learn to live with.”

buck: “and i don't want to keep on making the same mistakes. i need things to be different, taylor.”

taylor: “okay. i’m willing to try that. clean slate.”

buck: “yeah. just not together.”

—

buck and tommy, 8x06:

[after bucks tells tommy that he also dated abby]

buck: ". . .my relationship with abby was—it was the most transformative of my life. until now. look, i-i think one of the reasons that i am so comfortable with you is-is 'cause you're so comfortable with you."

tommy: "i wasn't always that way."

buck: "i know, i-i do. and honestly, it just makes me admire you more."

buck: "i want you to move in with me. i want you to move in with me. i-'m ready to take the next step. and i'm not saying let's get married or engaged, even though we would have the right, thanks to the brave people who came before, including you. all I'm saying is, why be apart when we can be together?"

tommy: "evan, that is so sweet but I can't move in with you."

buck: "and why not?"

tommy: "because, i know how this ends."

buck: "uh, wh-what's that supposed to mean?"

tommy: "look, evan. you're an incredible guy. big-hearted. hot as hell. funny. impulsive. but what you're feeling right now is... is new. and it's exciting, and it feels like forever. but you're still figuring yourself out. and that's good."

buck: "what are you saying?"

tommy: "i'm saying no matter how bad i wanted to be, i'm not your last. i'm your first."

buck: "well, hey, they-they can be the same thing."

tommy: "but they usually aren't. if i were to move in with you, you wouldn't mean to, you wouldn't plan for it but you'd end up breaking my heart. and i, i don't think that i could deal with that."

tommy: "i should go."

buck: "wait, wait, wait, hey, hey, um... wait, d-did you just break up with me?"

tommy: "yeah. i guess i did. believe me, i didn't see it coming, either. should've known that parking spot was too good to be true. i'll see you around, buck."

[prolifeproliberty]

10 months on the Carnivore Diet - my results

I know back in January I mentioned in a couple of posts that I was trying out the Carnivore Diet. Back then it was still new, and I was doing a bunch of research. Now I’ve been fully on it for 10 months, and it’s been amazing.

What I’m eating:

Meat (mostly beef and pork/bacon), eggs, butter, some cheese (mostly used as a garnish on eggs). I aim for a fat to protein ratio of between 75/25 and 80/20.

Typical breakfast: bacon and scrambled eggs cooked in bacon fat

Typical lunch: Chomp beef sticks or more recently these Greenridge Farm beef snack sticks from Costco that have really clean ingredients. I’ve also done leftovers and breakfast casseroles.

Typical dinner: Beef burger patties with scrambled eggs

What I’m drinking:

Water with electrolytes, Coffee with heavy cream, occasional low-carb alcohol (red wine, whisky, low or no carb drinks like vodka soda)

Supplements:

Bacopa monnieri (500mg capsule, 1/day) for my ADHD, Codeage beef organ supplement (1 capsule per day) as a multivitamin.

Exercise:

Basically none, outside of some walking and some minor weight lifting (biceps, triceps, squats) - nothing strenuous or consistent. I am working now on getting my walking and weightlifting more consistent, along with incorporating some abdominal exercises.

My results:

Weight lost: 50 lbs

Cycle regularity restored

Significantly lighter menstrual cramps

More energy, less anxiety/depression

Better immune system (still get sick occasionally, but much less frequently)

Biggest victory: my cravings for sugar and carbs went away pretty much entirely after about 2 weeks. I now have no desire to go back to the way I used to eat, making this the first diet I’ve ever tried that I‘ve been able to stick with for more than a few weeks, and certainly the first one I think I could stay on indefinitely.

What made this work for me:

The high fat content of my diet is very satiating, which makes it much easier to say no to carbs/sugary snacks. Also, artificial sweeteners actually make you crave sugar, so I cut those as well when I started the diet in January. I think that made a huge difference.

For context, I had NO ability to moderate carbs and sugar before this diet. I had a huge problem with binge eating sugar, especially if there was “free food” (a party, donuts in the staff lounge, etc). On previous diets, I could always come up with an excuse to eat sugar. Somebody’s birthday, I had a long day, it’s just this once and then I’ll be good, etc.

Now it’s not even a temptation.

How I learned about the diet and did my research:

I started with YouTube videos from people like Steak and Butter Gal. She does a lot of videos with recipes and tips for staying consistent, and she also does a lot of collaborations and interviews with doctors who recommend the diet, such as Dr. Elizabeth Bright. I went into researching the diet more for my hormonal health than for weight loss, and Dr. Bright is the expert on hormonal health (especially for women) and thyroid health.

This lead to more videos from different doctors and reading studies (including studies on the “link” between eating red meat and problems like heart disease and cancer, which were poorly done and don’t show what they claim to show).

How I handle social gatherings and holidays:

Everyone who knows me irl knows about my diet by now, either because they noticed my weight loss or because they’ve seen me eat! This means friends and family who are hosting will often ask me if I can eat certain things they’re planning to serve and will try to accommodate me.

It’s not too tough though because most social gatherings with food include some kind of meat, and it’s often “buffet style” so I can skip things I can’t eat. I generally try to avoid processed foods unless I can check the ingredients and make sure they’re free of preservatives, dextrose, sugar, etc, but one of my “cheats” is eating the meats and cheeses from charcuterie boards at parties.

If I suspect I won’t be able to eat much or I’m just not sure, I’ll often eat before I go so I’m not sitting there hungry. Then as long as there’s something I can eat, I can still participate in the social aspect of eating with friends and family.

Why I don’t eat fruits/vegetables:

I will occasionally have small amounts of vegetables, usually as a garnish (like I do with cheese). I also use medicinal herbs in the form of tinctures, capsules, or teas - though I need them much less often now! However, avoiding vegetables for the most part simplifies the diet, reduces my inflammation, and means I don’t have to count carbs like I would on keto.

The foods I eat all have zero or virtually zero carbs, and I know they won’t mess with my digestion or make me feel bad. It’s simple, it’s easy to follow, and I don’t have any real need or craving for the veggies. Occasionally I’ll have a couple pickle slices with my burger patties at a restaurant or some avocado with my bacon and eggs, but that’s about it. Basically, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Please feel free to ask questions and check out the channels and videos I linked above to learn more!

Starting a new diet is obviously tricky this time of year, but January 1st will be here before you know it. If you’re looking to make a change, maybe this could be the thing that works for you like it did for me!

[alianoralacanta]

I want to believe this. I really do.

Williams' statement is standard boilerplate for this situation, entirely compatible with Williams having mentioned the concussion. Perhaps I no longer like the ambiguity constructed by what is not being said, in the context of other developments in F1.

However… nothing in the link says a concussion or any other form of head injury was mentioned or tested for. MotoGP has started reaping the consequences of obscuring a drop in testing quantity and quality in concussions, and I don't want F1 to follow suit, because having a good solid testing protocol sometimes isn't the complete solution one would hope it to be.

I'm going to take the opportunity to talk about F1's concussion protocol. This is because it is the first sport to have a concussion protocol at all, and as such it has some differences in how it operates compared to other sports' protocols.

F1 Concussion Protocol (historically)

Sid Watkins devised F1's first concussion protocol in 1998, with help from Gary Hartstein (his deputy) and Indycar doctors Steve Olvey and Terry Trammell. This used a combination of three tools: 1) Baseline testing. At the start of the season, Sid Watkins got every driver to complete a series of tests. Jacques Villenueve, anticipating a problem that rugby has notably had in subsequent years, suggested he could deliberately underperform at baseline to maximise his chances of returning to play in the event of a crash. Gary told him that if he caught anyone underperforming, he'd ban them from competing for a month because he would assume they already had a concussion. In the end, the competitive nature of drivers meant that they performed their best - drivers wanted to be able to tell others in their gossiping sessions that they'd beaten (or held their own) against each other.

2) Computerised assessment of responses. Using a computer program, Sid and Gary were able to consistently check drivers at the medical centre after large accidents. Eventually, the threshold was set at 15 G because in F1, accidents below this rarely result in anything worse than minor soreness and bruising. The computer remembered previous responses and used them to help make an objective diagnosis. For many years, ImPACT was used, though I do not know whether this or a different program is now used. Originally, this took 20 minutes to run, including some gaps in between tests (while the computer worked out the results) that made space for tool #3:

3) Asking questions. There's a certain subjective evaluation to assessing a concussion, although there are systems that allow a lot of them to be identified objectively. Concussion often affects how someone arrives at an answer, which in 1998 wasn't something a computer could assess very well. However, if a driver said something completely out-of-character or was obviously a guess at the correct answer instead of simply recalling it from memory, a human doctor can make the correct diagnosis that way. The F1 protocol, unlike many other sports, specifically allowed return to competition at the same event if it was possible to medically demonstrate that recovery was likely to have occurred. However, it had and as far as I know still has a high threshold for that permission.

Possible Issues With the Procedure

The protocol is not foolproof, and it does rely on drivers making sure they self-monitor for aggravation of symptoms when next in the car. Nobody has yet devised a concussion protocol that 100% reliably assesses someone for driving at over 100 mph while they are sitting in a medical centre, nor is this likely to occur.

It also depends on the FIA being given accurate information. This doesn't always happen. Max Verstappen and Red Bull hid the fact that Max had a concussion during parts of the second half of 2021 successfully, until after the FIA could penalise either for doing so. Earlier than that, in Sochi 2016, Carlos Sainz somehow managed to get through one of these evaluations without mentioning to the medical team he had concussion (and without anyone on his team doing so either). Hopefully this makes my lingering concern about this matter make more sense. (As well as why I think the FIA did the best they could with the Colapinto situation, regardless of what information it did or did not have).

i dont want to defend williams but like some of you need to start fact checking. franco was medically cleared to race. williams didn't make him race while medically unfit. chill out

[aghostnamedcalamity]

If this hasn't already been asked, what is Benjamin's favorite toy? If he plays pretend, what kind of stories does he gravitate towards?

His favorite toy is his stuffed bear named Mookie! Most of his play-pretends revolve around playing doctor, especially after Mordecai bought him a Little Family Doctor kit.

Here’s a little snippet of the fanfiction where Mordecai purchased Benji his stuffed bear! For context, Benji was just recovering from the flu and Mordecai visited an A&P store that were getting popular around this time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The black cat swiftly made his way through the vehicles passing by and came up to the large promotional signage decorating the store, gingerly pushing the doors open and entering.

As a first impression, he was unimpressed. It really wasn’t much different than the stores he was used to albeit a bit larger and whole lot whiter. He could only hope the hype was more in reference to the product available than anything else. It was, in fact, rather strange to see articles of clothing being promoted alongside dry food products.

Mordecai made his way to the counter as he continued to look about himself. The young attendee was a bright, yellow-haired girl wearing puffy sleeves and an apron with the company logo embroidered in the corner.

“Good morning, sir!” she greeted cheerfully with a large smile. “Welcome to A&P - the modern way to shop and the sure way to save! What can I get for you today?”

Mordecai stared dumbfounded at the girl, not quite sure whether he liked receiving a greeting as part of a promotional slogan or not.

“I’d like some tea,” he finally responded. “Earl Grey herbal. What brand do you carry?”

“What brands do you prefer?” the girl said. “We cater to your personal needs!”

“Twinings,” responded Mordecai, feeling himself becoming mildly agitated at the excessive joyfulness of the attendee.

“You’ve got it, sir! I’ll have it ready for you at the cash register,” the young lady said as she turned and weaved through the endless rows of shelves and boxes behind the counter.

Mordecai shook his head lightly as he watched with displeasure. As a second impression, he was still unimpressed. And, frankly, verging on developing outright dislike for the establishment.

As he waited with his arms crossed at the register, he let his eyes wander around the array of items displayed for customer viewing behind the counter and on the wall. At the window, a variety of toys sat and dangled, beckoning children to drag their unsuspecting parents into the store.

There was a stuffed bear with brass button eyes propped on a stand, staring out into the passing crowds on the street. He had brown fur and wore a bright yellow hat and raincoat with feet just a little too large for the rest of his body. Mordecai stared at the toy, pondering why a bear would need a hat and raincoat. And if he did need a hat and raincoat, why wouldn’t he need rain boots?

The black cat thought he recalled Benjamin going on about something regarding a bear that had a coat of some sort. He wasn’t entirely sure. Usually he’d just zone out when his son was being particularly talkative or passionate about some hyperfixation. But he did remember him ranting about someone wearing a coat and making funny voices on the radio.

“Do you like our new Mookie bear?”

He almost startled as the same attendee from before interrupted his focus. She had in her hand a tin of tea that she set in front of him on the counter.

“Mookie?” Mordecai questioned in confusion.

“Oh yes!” she continued and quickly grabbed the bear from where he was propped up. She brought it back to the counter and extended it out in front of Mordecai. “This is Mookie! He’s very popular right now. He’s got his own talk hour on the radio. The kids love him!”

Mordecai slowly reached up and grabbed the bear that was being offered to him. He held it in both hands as he stared at the layers of clothing it was wearing. Under the raincoat, the bear wore navy pin-stripped pants with a white collared shirt and bowtie. He was a very well-dressed bear, Mordecai noted.

“Toys are on sale today!” the young lady edged on in a sweet, encouraging voice.

“How much is it?” he asked.

“This little guy retails for $1.50 regularly, but today you can take him home for just $1.30!”

Mordecai grimaced. “That’s a bit steep for a stuffed bear, don’t you think?”

She shook her head in response. “Not for the most popular toy of the year. I’ll tell you what. If you decide to take him right now I’ll give you a discount from my manager! You can have him for $1.20.”

The black cat squinted at the bear as he pondered whether he really wanted the thing in his home. The bear looked nice enough, he supposed. The quality felt decent in his paws. He was also a quiet toy, which was something Mordecai continuously found himself on the search for. No shaking or rattling or whistling involved. Nothing to encourage his already-too-loud child to get over-excited with. He sighed dejectedly.

“Fine,” he said, handing the bear back to the attendee. “Just add it in with the tea.”

The girl quietly but excitedly clapped her paws together with a big smile before grabbing the bear.

“Wonderful!” she said, returning the bear to his place in the window. “I’ll be just one second, let me grab one from the back.”

Mordecai contemplated for a second and wondered whether he’d just been brainwashed or not. Would this constitute a brainwash? He shook his head in response to himself. He was fairly certain he was smart enough to avoid falling into up-charging schemes. The bear was nice enough, he justified himself. Benjamin would enjoy it.

He’d just grabbed the tin of tea that’d been sitting on the counter to inspect it when the young attendee popped back in holding an elaborately ribboned and wrapped gift box. She placed it on the counter in front of Mordecai where the tea had sat.

The dark furred feline stared at the present in confusion. He pointed at it and turned to look at the girl.

“What exactly is that?”

“It’s your Mookie bear!” the girl responded, beginning to add the costs onto the cash register.

“Yes, but why is it wrapped? I didn’t ask for it to be wrapped.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, sir!” the girl said. “I assumed it was for a child. Was it for you?”

Mordecai furrowed his eyebrows at the girl. “No, it’s not for me. I just don’t need it wrapped!”

“I see,” the young woman responded, placing one finger on her cheek. “Well, sir, I could always…unwrap it for you, I suppose. It’s standard company procedure to wrap toys and clothes I’m afraid. However, I should warn you that the cost of the wrapping is already included in the cost of the product and I unfortunately won’t be able to deduct that. Would you like me to unwrap it for you, anyways,?”

Mordecai sighed in despair, officially deciding he no longer cared for this store and would possibly never purchase anything here again.

“Just tell me what I owe,” he submitted, pulling out his wallet to try and get this transaction over with so he could leave already.

He felt ridiculous lugging the present around the rest of the walk home. It wasn’t a particularly large box, but it was so needlessly bright. Any chances of inconspicuousness vanished as it contrasted vividly against the darkness of the rest of himself. He grumbled in discontent as he made it home. It didn’t help that, thanks to the crowds of people alive and bustling at this hour, he felt the need to take an extra long detour to his home to ensure no one was watching him and this stupid clown box.

The black cat felt the exhaustion in every part of himself as he hung his house key on the hook by the door. He frowned at the box in his arm before tossing it on the couch dismissively and beginning the process of hanging his outwear

[tobydandelion]

Disabled Villainy isn't Ableism, it's Realism, or; Some People are Wrong about Nessa.

[Some 'Wicked' stage musical/Movie part 2 spoilers]

So I've been seeing a lot of takes about Nessa, (mostly on YouTube since that's the best social media platform for my current neurological needs), and there's a somewhat common one that I have the strong urge to dispute into the void. Some folks seem to misunderstand Nessa's role in the deconstruction of 'Evil'.

The Wizard is Systemic Evil, Glinda is Complacent Evil, and Nessa is Socially Traumatized Evil.

Because Wicked isn't just deconstructing society's perception of evil, but also Evil in practice- which comes from not only bias, misunderstanding, apathy, and greed- but also, the cycle of abuse. And a lot of disabled people don't like to hear this, because there's that lovely statistic that we can point to that says we're "more likely to be victims"- and that's true of abuse that reaches the level of criminality- but I dont think that's true of day-to-day, average, 'just plain mean' abuse. That kind of abuse is a learned behavior that comes from trauma. And, emotional neglect from your peers is trauma. Feeling like a burden is trauma. Watching all the other children playing and feeling left out is trauma. Being made to feel different over your entire life, is trauma.

Nessa isn't an ableist character, she's realistically Borderline for being disabled in a world without Dialectical Behavioral Therapy. Her character literally feels like she was written with BPD/NPD in mind- lashing out the most when she's feeling abandoned by a person she perceives as "hers", feeling the need to control the people around her, not caring how she hurts people in the process of that attempt to control their affection- she's literally my ex wife. They're both very extreme examples, but, with an understandable pathology. And the less extreme version of that is someone a lot of us need to actively fight against becoming every day. It's not fair that that's our burden, but it is. It's the thick line between healthy self-loving disabiltyPunk, or just being a dick. And it's a part of our extra personal labor that 'Entitles' us to an extra amount of grace that I don't think I'll ever really be able to properly quantify, because that line can be hard to see in the heat of the moment, through years of gaslighting and guilt and shame and resulting internalized ableism that we have the urge to fight against. The only way we can really see that line is in hindsight.

And while media that more thoroughly deconstructs this cycle is neccessary, so is simple media like Wicked. Especially in the context of an example of another traumatized marginalized character who made the decision to start actively trying to follow their ethics over their emotions despite their trauma. And, once again, the solution isn't limiting the options for marginalized characters, it's just making more marginalized characters in general.

A lot of folks also take issue with the entire concept of depicting disability being 'cured' in media at all, but, and thankfully I have actually seen this rebuttal: nothing about her life gets better once she becomes abled. And that's because she still has all that trauma from those years of severe marginalization that resulted in ostracization and feelings of powerlessness. She's still disabled- just only neurologically so, now. This is a terrific example of how different disabilities can intersect, and be exacerbated, or even created, by the neurological impact of marginalization.

In fact, that brings up another criticism that I've heard- that the characters are realistically ableist... in a society falling to fascism... in a story all about marginalization. I'm pretty sure that's intended, you guys.

Maybe I'll turn this into a script to film for shortform content next year when Part 2 comes out- I hope I'm out of Postpartum Depression by then. But I couldn't get this out of my head until I got it into words this morning. I think that's probably a good sign I'm starting to feel more like myself. Thankfully I had time to sit down and rock and type this morning, since my partner is taking care of our baby in the other room right now. (Not just babysitting, either- he's washing bottles.❤) He's 6 months now, and the most beautiful, funny, amazing person in the world. Meeting the new version of him every day as he gets stronger and brighter has been the light keeping me going. And we're already doing PHONICS. 💪🧠

[olderthannetfic]

https://www.tumblr.com/olderthannetfic/767347744265355264/things-i-hate-that-i-thought-were-tumblr?source=share

Anon, if at all possible, grow a beard. I know that's bad advice because you might not be able to go on HRT and might not even get good facial hair if you do, but if that is possible for you, absolutely wear a bit of scruff.

My beard is the only thing that's really changed about my looks since I was a college freshman. I'm 37 now, I started wearing a beard around age 30, and I still look 25. I can't even grow much on my cheeks, I just wear a small goatee and mustache.

And the amount of respect I got from random strangers and people I end up stuck with absolutely skyrocketed almost as soon as I stopped shaving.

I'm autistic and I used to be treated as a freak and a weirdo and everyone made it very clear that I was Doing Gender Wrong. I was also treated like an idiot child.

But now I'm not only treated like a man, but like an adult. The infantilization is completely gone in person even though people guess my age to be exactly the same (it's still there online and in other contexts where people can't see my face, so I know it's the beard, not my mannerisms or method of communication, that makes people treat me like I'm not 5). The autistic traits are less commonly pointed out and when they are they're more likelt to be pointed out as neutrally weird things rather than as terrible social failures which must be corrected.

I dress the same, I act the same, I talk the same, my social skills haven't improved in the slightest since I actually was 25. But one minor fashion choice makes people treat me like an entirely different person.

It sucks, it's stupid. It's straight up toxic masculinity. I want to dismantle whatever gendered ideas are making people respect me simply because I don't shave my chin.

But in the meantime, take any basic human decency you can get. It'll be better for one guy to get through a college course without being misgendered and infantilized to his face than it will be for him to set some example of how men don't need to have beards to be real people.

It's extra stupid because cis men who aren't autistic and who perform gender in a way that readers correctly to randos can wear as little facial hair as they want and still be correctly gendered and treated like adults, but autistic men and trans men and men who like to wear lace and any other types of men who aren't "normal" don't get that default basic human decency.

But apparently a stupid little goatee can steamroll over a giant pile of toxic masculinity and transphobia and ableism. Use it if you got it.

--

[alexanderwales]

@queenlua

(this is sort of a tangent so feel free to ignore me ENTIRELY but: who exactly is the audience for litRPG stuff? my first time hearing of it was at a sf/f writer's workshop, and when it was described to me i was like "wouldn't these people simply read webfiction" but then i was informed of The Sales Numbers Around LitRPG People I Had Never Heard Of and was like What The Hell, but i was clearly the only Extremely Online person in the room so figured i wouldn't get any further context from present company lol)

For some reason I thought I had answered this, and maybe I did somewhere and can't find it, so sorry if this is a restatement of something you've already read, but ...

There are a few fundamental fantasies being fulfilled by the modern litRPG.

First, there's the power fantasy, the idea that you can have control and be agenty and make decisions. I don't think there's anything wrong with power fantasy per se, and I expect that the desire for power fantasy will grow when people feel more and more powerless. litRPG does not offer anything much different from e.g. superhero stories, at least as far as power fantasy goes.

Second, there's the progression. This is part of the power fantasy, the getting stronger over time angle, powering up, getting better. litRPG promises that, it's in the nature of the RPG elements, and fundamental to the appeal. This is something that e.g. superhero stories usually don't have. (There is a whole genre, progression fantasy, that focuses on this, and litRPGs are usually a subset of that depending on who you ask.)

Third, the litRPG offers legibility. It is clear what the powers are, what they do, what choices are to be made. Everything is clearly laid out and easy to conceptualize, at least most of the time. And because this is the case, it's good as a platform for the imagination, especially for analytical readers. It's something for people to daydream about, argue over, etc. Legibility is super important, IMO, or at least the appearance of legibility, the illusion that the author has a Concrete Plan with Hard Numbers. Armchair psychoanalysis is that a desire for this relates to a lack of legibility (and by proxy "fairness") in real life.

Fourth, the litRPG naturally speaks the language of videogames, and a lot of the readers are super into videogames, so there's some element of "thing that I like" in there which I don't think can actually add to any analysis, but also some of the things that people like about video games are power fantasy, progression, and legibility, so ...

There's also a lot of overlap between webfic and litRPG. I don't know that I'd say it's the most popular form of webfic right now, but ... probably it is? The overall market is young men for both. [Edit: I should probably clarify that I don't know what the hell goes on over at Wattpad. AO3 is also webfic, but that's fanfic, and female dominated last I checked. I'm talking more RoyalRoad, SB/SV, QQ, etc. I am not a market expert, terms and conditions may apply.]

Here are some other reasons I've heard from people when I've asked:

it's hard to screw up, so you're guaranteed a quality baseline

the writing is often simple popcorn that's easy to digest

the writing is often bad in a way that makes it less predictable

there's often no romance or introspection

the numbers are going up, and I like that consistent dopamine drip feed

the characters are simple

the main character is just like me

I think some of these are just wild to think about, and others are not really about the genre, just the kinds of people who write within it and the stories that make up the bulk of what people are reading.

LitRPG where the protagonist's game system is very clearly from a game with a 20-minute day-night cycle, and whose gamification of hunger, thirst, and sleep just wreaks havoc on his personal and professional life.

Just kidding, litRPG protagonists don't have personal or professional lives.

[decepti-thots]

☕ ~ trans woman whirl?

I love trans Whirl headcanons but I think I love them for totally different reasons than I usually see, tbh? That is- I think a lot of the time the fandom just goes 'oh! Girl Holoform Spotted! now this character is girl, and we can say character is trans girl because in the comic they are called he/him' and tbh I find that attitude as fandom often implements it annoying for a couple reasons; one, it often feels like a kind of 'if character Looks Like Girl, well, character Is Girl' deal which tbh feels kinda shallow to me ngl, and two, it (and similar under-expanded upon headcanons) not infrequently seems to be a way for the fandom as a whole to justify the general lack of content for the very explicitly canon trans characters by instead being like 'all the material we make for these characters not treated as such in canon proves that we definitely love trans characters. don't think about how lug or anode or arcee don't get that same attention, or that this content only offhandedly actually deals with transness 90% of the time', you know? Bit mean, but I can't help but feel that's a repeated tendency in the fandom, tbh. I would feel less like this if the fanon trans headcanons did not just vaguely go 'oh. also ig they are trans, how nice' with no follow up and instead actually treated these characters as having opinions about being trans, but in too many cases they unfortunately... don't. (And no, them being robots is not an excuse. Anode has opinions on this. Arcee has opinions on this, a lot of them!) But we're here to talk about Whirl, and I want to talk about why I do love trans Whirl, so.

I love trans Whirl for reasons far outside of that, and I think taking that approach to the idea does it a disservice tbqh. Specifically I like trans Whirl for the same reason I like reading Verity as trans, because it adds to Whirl's character arc about being denied agency over identity and clawing it back on purpose in a way where the trans reading feels especially resonant and like it genuinely adds to the overall subtext of her arc. Whirl's entire character is one where the violent removal of agency in her life is so much a focus it changes the course of history; Whirl refusing to let the functionists that ruined her life win is why Elegant Chaos plays out as it does. Whirl is a character whose entire sense of self as a person with the ability to make any choices at all was viciously ripped away from her, and in turn a character whose response to that is to make her ability to choose exactly what she does so utterly undeniable that even if you hate her, even if you think she's repulsive, even if you want to throttle her, you cannot pretend she is not in control. In that specific context, adding in the idea that she would choose her own gender, in defiance of a Cybertronian culture that implicitly treats gender as an alien unwelcome influence, so she can have what she wants- that rules. There's also such a line to be drawn there between Arcee's arc and Whirl, I think, that is so great. That's where I see why it is so good. Being seen as just a gun to be aimed that everyone professes distaste for but still wants to stick around and do dirty work, but you insist upon your interiority being seen as just that; your interiority. And all the things the people who want to do to you which you hate being what you embrace. It's fantastic. I simply prefer that as an angle through which to view the ideas than like... haha well Whirl's holoform is Girl With Guns how funny. You know?

And one of her most "humanising" moments is when she extends that to someone else. I'm thinking of when she tells Tailgate that Cyclonus was lying about his injuries; that part where Cyclonus is trying to protect Tailgate in a way that is ultimately toxic for them both. Sure, everyone else agrees that the best way to handle this is to lie for your own good so you don't make a decision people don't want you to. But that's not fucking fair, and who gets to decide what's "your own good"? Viewing that in light of a Whirl who is not just vaguely a woman but specifically linking that to the way Whirl's rigidly defined role under a functionist heel ruined her sense of identity, because they know what's best for you whether you like it or not- damn, that is COMPELLING. And I find that just. So much more compelling than what fandom so often does with the idea. Whirl, above all else, knows how important demanding agency is. I think that makes Whirl a character ripe for a reading as trans, and I love that for her so much. she'll grab you by the throat and make you acknowledge her. and she's right every step of the way, no matter how much you want to look away. i love her.

tl;dr WHIRL TRANS WOMAN GOOD. LOVE IT. no really i just, it's so good.

[flowery-laser-blasts]

What are , your Head Cannon , for Drakken and Shego and , Kim and Ron :

Got lots of headcanons so I give 3 random ones for each: Ron - In Pre-K, Ron received a very colorful and glittery friendship bracelt from Kim. He wore it all the time but eventually got bullied for it by other kids. One day Kim noticed that he didn't wear it and thought it was because of the bullies, she decided to not mention it. The real reason why Ron didn't wear it is because the braceltclip broke off, causing the beads to fall everywhere. He spent an entire afternoon trying to find back all of the beads and repair the bracelet, but with his parents being to busy, he placed the beads in a little bag and kept it in his treasurebox underneath his bed, where it still remains till this day. - Ron is smart but it highly depends on what the context is. If you ask him to solve an equation, he'll be having a hard time. But the moment you ask him the same equation but make it sound like it has to do with "figuring out how many coupons I need for Bueno Nacho" or so... he'll solve it within moments. - Ron takes care of his nails and hands, especially since he's into cooking. He doesn't want anything underneath his nails nor does he want food to stick to him while preparing stuff. Hygene is no 1 priority when it comes to preparing food; eating food, however, is a whole different story. Kim - After the Zombie Mayhem tournament, Kim secretely continues to play the video game. She doesn't want to admit it but it was more fun than she expected it to be. She secretely trains in order to surprise Ron with a match someday. - Kim and Ron decided to dress up as Miriam and Jonathan for Halloween Trick or Treating and later on Kim reused the costume for her presentation on Miriam in college. - Kim has become less worried about brands over the years, especially after realising how dumb it was after people wore her mission outfit for a few days, only to jump onto the next best thing. She still is into looking into the latest fashion but thrifts it and tries to make it her own. Together with Monique they started upcycling clothes. Monique has her own business now. Drakken - After Graduation part 2. Drakken started working on improving the quality of the world rather than trying to take it over: Being praised for being a beloved saviour has better gloating perks than being a failing villain that has to hop from lair to lair. Though he does miss the thrill of villainy every now and then. So he sometimes does petty crimes like shoplifting a screwdriver from Planettool or anonymously blaming a fellow scientist for causing a chemical fire that resulted in a three months shutdown..., ...some tax evasion. - Drakken's scar was a result of eyebrow trimming - Drakken has a distaste for okra and bellpeppers and will pick those out of a dish no matter who prepared it. Shego - After Graduation part 2. Shego got tasked to train some of Global Justice's newest agents. She enjoyed it and eventually became an independent hitwoman for a while. After that she just decided retiring early is nice (especially with the money Drakken was making for both of them with his new job). She now does whatever... pretty much what she's always been doing. But also meets up with Kim and rekindled their sisterly bond in stop team go. - Shego is a horrible cook and either relies on someone else cooking for her or having take out/going to a restaurant. However after retiring early, she decided to try and get into cooking... a bit... the kitchen burned down. - Shego hates to admit it but the Snowman Hank song became an earworm. She hummed it once and noticed Drakken smiling widely from the corner of her eye.. or was that just her imagination? She doesn't dare to ask...

Hope it all makes sense. Still recovering from a cold so my typing isn't the most coherend at the moment :')

EDIT: I WISH TUMBLR WOULD STOP SCREWING UP THE COLORS IN THIS POST

[hazard-c-horror]

What I meant is, does Hazard lore in Septicemia Moon Au is the same lore they have outside of the au too?

(sorry for the confusion, I keep forgetting the word "Septicemia")

And as for the other questions,

well...:

What happened that Hazard suddenly started hating the world so much?

I'm guessing this was not Earth so, we're there similar creatures to humans or something? (if so, did they make something to upset hazard?)

Did Gemini have a different form before the one that we see them today in?

Are the different powerful entity's Hazard's followers or are they also friends with you?

If so, are you all still in contact?

(silly question): are you an actual space cat or something? In the first panel we see Hazard in, you look like a cat that has been picked up by a human and became a looooolng noodle XD

Is it just me or does one of the other powerful entities look like Tecnoblade? (Bloodgod? Is that you?)

That's all of them for now :3

Sorry for the long ask

💝☺️

1. Oh yay, I was kinda right with the first one. Again, it is kinda the general but there are some universes where Hazard and the astrals don’t know each other

2. Gemini nor the other astrals knew why Hazard demanded the world to be destroyed. That’s why Gemini said “Hazard suddenly grew enraged”. But This kinda won’t be explained in the future, but I’ll give context, as to not spoil another thing that ties into the reason.

Sometimes there are worlds that are… too far gone to be saved, or are not very peaceful. Hazard cares a lot about fairness and logicality. And may be enraged if someone close to them is harmed. It wasn’t entirely Hazard’s decision to exterminate the planet, but there was a breaking point. One thing that goes above EVERYTHING.

3. No it was not earth, I didn’t know what to do for another world/planet, so I just made an anthropomorphic animal world.

4. I think it’s canon (In actual tsbs lore.) that the forms we see now are not actually their true forms. And they just make forms to fit/ease the beings on the world they’re going to. So Gemini fit the form of the beings of the plant Hazard inhibited on. Much like Hazard does themselves

5. This will kinda be explained later. But for the most part it’s kinda both

Hazard is always in contact with them.

6. Hazard’s base form is actually a Loth cat from Star Wars. So technically yes, they are a space cat ^u^

7. This one yes?

Little blorb. There actually a healer, though I think their outfit was inspired by Techno. They are very close to Hazard. And you maybe will see them again :)

Your fine for the long ask, I quite enjoy it

[hulloitsdani]

PLS go on another rant about Kiran Fire Emblem I’m begging you 🙏

I love to read you yapping💞💞💞 I like your TedTalks

:D

Aw thank you stranger! I’m happy to provide!

So recently I feel that I have been putting Kiran Fire Emblem through the wringer. Which is all well and good, but I believe it’s time for them to have good things. As a treat. This oddly takes the form of book 5.

In case it’s your first time witnessing my monologues or are in need of a refresher, let me provide a little context. Kiran had a life before being summoned to Askr and a major part of their arc is suppressing just how deeply that loss affects them. Like it or not, it bleeds into everything they do. This all culminates into book 4, which was an all time low for their character. A lot of issues all started blowing up in their face all at once, last but not least being the grief they hold from losing their entire world. It very nearly kills them. It was an extremely bad time.

However, lessons were learned. Since then, Kiran has been trying to vocalize their discomforts more. It’s a bit weird though, considering Anna and Sharena witnessed firsthand their little meltdown in the realm of dreams. It’s… damnit it’s just weird! Really weird! Most of their cards are on the table now and it’s weird! It’s not like their friends heard about this stuff by talking to them, they SAW it nearly KILL THEM. The dynamic is, understandably, different than it would otherwise be.

If they weren’t willing trying, Anna would pry their issues from their mouth with crowbar. Hell, sometimes she does anyway if she gets, in her own words, “a hunch.” Sharena meanwhile has been very pampering. They didn’t know she could be more pampering than she already was, but oh boy were they wrong. Three homemade meals a day guaranteed under her watch. And if they’re being honest, it does feel very nice, which ultimately makes them feel awful because the realm of dreams was rough for her too. She should also… they don’t know. They feel bad. She has reassured them many times that it’s all good and that this helps her too. And how even if it didn’t, she loves them and would do this stuff anyway. They don’t doubt that anymore but… they still feel bad. They feel bad about feeling good. It’s all a complicated mess. They are telling Alfonse about this though, which makes it feel less overwhelming. His insights help. He provides a bit of a sanity check.

It is within this state of recovery that book 5 occurs. Considering the weaponry of their enemy, Kiran ends up talking a lot more openly about their world. Delving into the literal and metaphorical mechanics of it. And it’s oddly fun! Alfonse has a leg up since he’s the only one who has been curious enough to ask prior to this. So there’s many scenarios where a.) something Kiran previous told him finally clicks now that he has a better visual for what they mean, which leads to b.) Alfonse and Kiran trying their best to explain to Anna and Sharena. It’s an absolutely ridiculous sight to behold— Sharena catches on a bit quicker since she’s pretty good at visualizing things, but Anna has no such boon and is STRUGGLING. Kiran and Alfonse aren’t exactly teachers either, so it’s a fun time.

Then they meet Reginn.

It feels obvious, in hindsight, that they were bound to click with each other. At first though, it seems like it’s going to be the same dynamic Kiran always has with the new stray the Order picks up. Polite friendliness alongside genuine empathy with a side of reassuring presence. The group agrees to help and Kiran gets cracking on how to make that a reality. But then something interesting happens. As Reginn speaks in further vulnerable detail about her plight to them, Kiran begins… talking. Like actually talking. Talking about their family and their life prior to Askr.

It starts small. The both of them are fixing up Reginn’s metal horse (the Order broke it in their initial fight with her) and she asks how they know so much about her country’s technology. She knows they’re from an alien world and, well, they aren’t proficient at this by any means— but they know enough to be helpful. And for once, Kiran is honest. “…My mom was a mechanic.” They say, not turning to face her. “She, uh, knew how to fix this kind of stuff. Taught us a little bit.”

It’s a small snippet of information that has taken five seasons to wring out of Kiran, and Reginn of all people is the first one to hear it. It’s way easier to tell her, for a multitude of reasons. One of them being exactly that— there’s no build up. Reginn didn’t see their book 4 meltdown. She doesn’t know how big of deal this is for them. That’s good. It takes the pressure off and makes it easier. For Reginn, this is information they offered casually and willingly from the beginning. And in doing this, they keep talking and both end up relating to each other rather deeply. It quickly becomes obvious that Kiran isn’t simply helping her out of the goodness of their heart, but because they personally relate to her plight. Kiran was extremely close with their siblings, and now they may never seen them again. They don’t want the same thing to happen to other people. This recontextualizes a lot of their actions, but it importantly builds trust. Kiran is immediately knocked off this pedestal as some morally pious figure and into a human person in her eyes. Someone who gets it and wants to help.

This creates a delightful dynamic between them. She is immediately more than friend, as that’s pretty explicitly what the Askr trio are to them. This is different. It’s familial. Reginn is working with information and a cultural context pretty perfectly equipped to understand them in this way. And, considering the losses they’ve both experienced, they crave this placement in each other’s lives. It’s healing. Kiran lost their family and Reginn’s family hasn’t been a family since Fafnir took the throne. It’s far from a replacement, but it’s definitely filling a void. They both needed this.

Gods, they both needed this.

They needed someone to respond to playful quips with a laugh and a clap back. They needed someone to triple dog dare to sling a spit ball into the back of a god’s head. They needed someone to people watch with as a late night to early morning watch shift wrapped up. They needed a shoulder to lean on after Otr finally said all the quiet parts out loud. They needed someone to understand some parts about them a bit more inherently than either are used to, for better or worse.

Without this, neither of them get better. Not anytime soon, anyway. But luckily, Reginn and Kiran entered each other’s lives at just the right time.

[darkcacaocookieandfriends]

A Parting Gift

[ @ⁿᵉᶜʳᵒᵐᵃⁿᶜʸᵃⁿᵈᵗᵉⁿᵈʳⁱˡˢ ]

As Dark Cacao Cookie finishes up his day, he would find something left in his own room, someone managed to sneak in? How?

Regardless, there was something sitting on the table, two dragon’s beards along with some Choco nibs and flowers? That wasn’t all, there was also a note! Once he opened it up, everything finally made sense, Candy Eye Cookie was here.

In her delicate writing, she wrote;

𝕯𝖊𝖆𝖗 𝕯𝖆𝖗𝖐 𝕮𝖆𝖈𝖆𝖔 𝕮𝖔𝖔𝖐𝖎𝖊;

𝕾𝖔𝖗𝖗𝖞 𝕴 𝖈𝖔𝖚𝖑𝖉𝖓'𝖙 𝖌𝖎𝖛𝖊 𝖞𝖔𝖚 𝖆 𝖕𝖗𝖔𝖕𝖊𝖗 𝖋𝖆𝖗𝖊𝖜𝖊𝖑𝖑, 𝖇𝖚𝖙 𝕴 𝖍𝖆𝖉 𝖙𝖔 𝖍𝖚𝖗𝖗𝖞 𝖇𝖆𝖈𝖐 𝖙𝖔 𝖒𝖞 𝖘𝖔𝖓. 𝕴 𝖉𝖎𝖉𝖓'𝖙 𝖜𝖆𝖓𝖙 𝖙𝖔 𝖐𝖊𝖊𝖕 𝖍𝖎𝖒 𝖜𝖆𝖎𝖙𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖋𝖔𝖗 𝖙𝖔𝖔 𝖑𝖔𝖓𝖌, 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝕴 𝖋𝖊𝖑𝖙 𝖙𝖔𝖔 𝖆𝖜𝖐𝖜𝖆𝖗𝖉 𝖙𝖗𝖞𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖙𝖔 𝖙𝖊𝖑𝖑 𝖞𝖔𝖚 𝖙𝖍𝖆𝖙 𝖎𝖓 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖉𝖔𝖚𝖌𝖍. 𝖘𝖔, 𝕾𝖚𝖕𝖗𝖎𝖘𝖊, 𝕴 𝖍𝖆𝖛𝖊 𝖆 𝖘𝖔𝖓! 𝕳𝖎𝖘 𝖓𝖆𝖒𝖊 𝖎𝖘 𝕾𝖐𝖞𝖑𝖎𝖓𝖊, 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝖍𝖊'𝖘 𝖆 𝖍𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝖋𝖚𝖑𝖑. 𝕴𝖋 𝖞𝖔𝖚 𝖜𝖆𝖓𝖙 𝖙𝖔 𝖐𝖓𝖔𝖜 𝖒𝖔𝖗𝖊 𝖆𝖇𝖔𝖚𝖙 𝖍𝖎𝖒, 𝕵𝖚𝖘𝖙 𝖆𝖘𝖐 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖓𝖊𝖝𝖙 𝖙𝖎𝖒𝖊 𝕴 𝖘𝖙𝖔𝖕 𝖇𝖞.

𝕬𝖘 𝖋𝖔𝖗 𝖜𝖍𝖆𝖙 𝕴 𝖑𝖊𝖋𝖙 𝖋𝖔𝖗 𝖞𝖔𝖚 𝖎𝖓 𝖞𝖔𝖚𝖗 𝖗𝖔𝖔𝖒? 𝕴 𝖒𝖆𝖉𝖊 𝖙𝖍𝖎𝖘 𝖜𝖎𝖙𝖍 𝖒𝖞 𝖛𝖊𝖗𝖞 𝖔𝖜𝖓 𝕽𝖔𝖞𝖆𝖑 𝕵𝖊𝖑𝖑𝖞. 𝕿𝖍𝖎𝖘 𝖘𝖍𝖔𝖚𝖑𝖉 𝖗𝖊𝖏𝖚𝖛𝖊𝖓𝖆𝖙𝖊 𝖞𝖔𝖚 𝖆𝖋𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝖆 𝖑𝖔𝖓𝖌 𝖙𝖎𝖗𝖊𝖘𝖔𝖒𝖊 𝖉𝖆𝖞. 𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝖋𝖑𝖔𝖜𝖊𝖗𝖘 𝖆𝖗𝖊 𝖊𝖉𝖎𝖇𝖑𝖊 𝖙𝖔𝖔! 𝕭𝖊 𝖘𝖊𝖊𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖞𝖔𝖚!

𝕻.𝕾. 𝖄𝖔𝖚 𝖉𝖎𝖉𝖓'𝖙 𝖘𝖊𝖊𝖒 𝖑𝖎𝖐𝖊 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖘𝖜𝖊𝖊𝖙𝖘 𝖙𝖞𝖕𝖊, 𝖘𝖔 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖉𝖎𝖘𝖍 𝖘𝖍𝖔𝖚𝖑𝖉 𝖇𝖊 𝖒𝖎𝖑𝖉 𝖜𝖍𝖊𝖓 𝖎𝖙 𝖈𝖔𝖒𝖊𝖘 𝖙𝖔 𝖘𝖜𝖊𝖊𝖙𝖓𝖊𝖘𝖘. 𝕸𝖆𝖐𝖊 𝖘𝖚𝖗𝖊 𝖙𝖔 𝖍𝖆𝖛𝖊 𝖎𝖙 𝖜𝖎𝖙𝖍 𝖞𝖔𝖚𝖗 𝖙𝖊𝖆!

- 𝕮𝖆𝖓𝖉𝖞 𝕰𝖞𝖊 𝕮𝖔𝖔𝖐𝖎𝖊

Dark violet eyes gazed down at the confection so delicately made.  Whoever had done so had taken great care and time into crafting such a thing.  But who? As his eyes shifted from the treat, he spied a note nearby and picked up the parchment, reading over the beautifully scrawled words.  After gazing over the first few sentences, he saw that it had come from his dear friend Candy Eye Cookie.  A warm smile crossed his face at the thought of her consideration, and for a brief moment, he pondered to himself.  Questioned danced through his mind of this son she had.  Who was he? What was he like? Was he one of her people?  One of her creations? Skyline...What an interesting name.  Surely, she would bring this Skyline Cookie to see him sometime.  He’d have to ask her about him when they saw each other again. His eyecings shifted back to the gift in question, and soon he put things together in the confines of his mind.  This wasn’t just any confection, it was something to aid him in battle.  Something he should tuck away for a moment when he needed it the most. It was a gift with a purpose. Candy knew him far too well.

“A gift from your very body.  I see.  I will cherish this gift, Candy Eye Cookie and I promise you, it will not go to waste.”

[wonder-worker]

Wild how we know that Elizabeth Woodville was officially appointed to royal councils in her own right during her husband’s reign and fortified the Tower of London in preparation of a siege while 8-months pregnant and had forces gathering at Westminster “in the queen’s name” in 1483 – only for NONE of these things to be even included, let alone explored, in the vast majority of scholarship and historical novels involving her.

[velvetrambles]

I'm so sorry for this