#this couldn't have been made in 2018 or even in 2021

[jolselin]

i've said it one too many times at this point but truly if you told me i'd be genuinely enjoying a high school thai bl show titled 'my school president' in 2023 i'd be baffled. but it's made with so much heart that it's irresistible. in general the show is just delivering exactly what it promised and delivering it very well, which is why it's such a delight. and they have songs in every episode!!

[marquezian]

David Alonso and Marc Márquez: a history

David has often mentioned Marc as his idol and reference and they've started getting to know each other over the past year so I thought I'd compile all the times where they've mentioned each other. Mostly in chronological order. Bon appétit and thank you for reading! (Gifs are mine, quotes are compiled by me and auto-translated by deepl, sources are at the end of quotes.)

Who is David Alonso?

"David Alonso is the kind of boy I like, shy, attentive. You talk to him and he looks at you with those eyes" – Marc Márquez

David is an 18 year old colombian Moto3 rider who currently rides for CF Moto Aspar Team. He's described as mature, shy, sweet and warm by people working with him, riders, journalists and pundits alike. He's very quickly become a hot topic due to his achievements and controlled, calm yet ruthless way of riding. He achieved his first Moto3 win in Silverstone 2023, where he started from P28, making up 27 places and finishing first, from there he's been pretty unstoppable.

David has been in the care of Nico Terol, a friend and former rival of Marc's, since 2018, when he was 11. Nico Terol is currently Aspar's sporting director and he has been mentoring and taking care of the junior careers of quite a few kids since at least early 2017, his method is to take in very young talent and build them a stable, supportive and loving environment, even outside of his role at Aspar.

Something I don't often see discussed is that Marc himself supports and trains with a few upcoming talents, mainly Moto2 rider Diogo Moreria and Junior rider Máximo Quiles, with Máximo being properly managed by talent management company Vertical which is founded and run by Marc and Alex.

Marc on Nico: "I love the way the Aspar team works, but especially Nico Terol. We are friends and I love the way he works, because he takes the riders to the right place and that's good." (source)

In 2021 David won the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup, where he met Marc for the first time. Here's David talking about that:

Q: With Marc you did [talk to him] and you had the nerve to approach him for advice. How was that? David: I'm quite shy about that, but the first time we spoke was when I won the Rookies championship in Aragon. I was going towards the tent after collecting the trophy and a car was coming, a Honda, and you couldn't see who was in it. It stopped right in front of me, rolled down the window and it was Marc Márquez. That was the first moment. I didn't know how to speak or anything and I almost dropped the trophy from my hand. He congratulated me, told me to keep going and to listen to Nico. That was the first time he spoke to me, because I almost couldn't even talk to him because I was so nervous. After that, in Misano, and when I was already in [CEV Moto3] Junior, I talked to him more relaxed and asked him for some advice about the track. I think it was in 2021. (source)

In 2023 David won in Thailand where Marc came out of his box to excitedly congratulate him. (see gif above)

David about this moment: Q: What did you think about Marc Márquez coming out to the pit-lane to congratulate you on your trip to parc fermé? David: (His face lights up with a broad smile). That made me very happy when I saw him. I slammed on the brakes right away to give him a hug. From time to time, when I have the chance, I talk to him and the truth is that I try to listen and pay attention to everything he says, because he is an eight-time world champion. Q: What did he say to you in that hug in the pit-lane? David: He congratulated me and told me: "Vamos, you can do it". (source) Q: Márquez came to celebrate last year's victory in Thailand with you. David: It was nice that the person you admire the most comes to you, that he takes the time to come out of his box and come to congratulate me was the best thing about the race and I was really shocked. (source) Marc about this moment: "I saw Alonso's race and I just came out to applaud him, because he deserves it. I like him very much since he came to the World Championship and I remember very well his first race, when he was in the Rookies Cup, when he came and asked me and asked me for advice on what to do in one and another corner. He is very nice and I like him very much. When I went out to applaud him, he slammed the brakes and I told him: 'Trust that you can do it'. I did it because he is not so far away in the World Championship, but it is true that there are riders with much more experience, such as Masiá, who I think is the title favorite, but he is the rookie and I wish him the best, especially because he is already the rookie of the year." (source)

Other quotes:

Marc on David in August 2023: "David Alonso is a talent and he's a very well-behaved guy. [...] David Alonso is the kind of boy I like, shy, attentive. You talk to him and he looks at you with those eyes. I remember last year he made his debut at Misano, I think, and I met him in the paddock. He asked me to give him some advice for Misano, or was it two years ago when he was racing in the Rookies Cup? Anyway, he's one of the guys I like and I hope he succeeds. When he gets his body in shape he's going to go even faster than he is now." (source)

Q: Of all the advice Márquez has given you since you've been talking to him, which has been the most valuable? David: I like, for example, that when I got my first victory there were many congratulations and he told me: "Keep insisting, it's time to keep pushing." That marked me a lot. (source)

Marc on David after Thailand 2023: "When asked if he believes that the Colombian from Madrid has something special, as he once detected and told us about Pedro Acosta, the eight-time champion said that "he has something, obviously. They are very young and the question is that later they can stagnate or continue to progress, it depends. When you are so young, because you are seeing with Aldeguer, the sporting bumps affect you a little more and you are not yet as mature. If the bumps affect you when you are thirty years old, then when you are 18 even more so, and even more so now with the film of social networks and all this. Before there wasn't all this. When I was in 125cc or Moto2, the social networks were not so powerful and you practically didn't know what people were saying. Now, if you are a young kid, you can lose a lot of time there, so all this makes you mature, but you are maturing in front of the cameras and everything is visible." (source)

"In terms of riding style I'm a bit like Márquez, braking hard, a bit the opposite of Jorge Lorenzo, who was more refined. In character I'm also a bit like Márquez. (laughs)" (source)

David interviewed by Mela Chércoles in November 2023: Q: I am one of those who think that there are riders with whom the mold was broken at birth and that you are one of them, as Acosta or Márquez were before. I don't know how far you will go, but you are a special rider and it is something that Marc has also said. How do you feel when you hear things like that? David: Booah. Q: Let's be clear that what Márquez says has much more weight than what I say in this sense, of course. David; Well, it impresses me. I like what they said, but there are many factors. Even if it seems that I have a good path, if I deviate, no matter how many molds can be broken, I can't get there. I have to continue in the same way and, since I've started well, continue along that line. Q: Márquez is your idol, isn't he? David: Yes, and Casey Stoner too. Q: What do you like most about Marc? David: What I like the most about Marc is also his hunger and the attitude he always has with a smile on his face. Q: It's a little bit of a Joker's smile, isn't it? David: Yes. (He smiles). Q: I say he's a cannibal who's always hungry. David: Yes. He smiles but... I like that he even makes you smile when you see an interview with him. Q: I have an interview with him in Qatar. What would you like to ask him if you were in my shoes? What would be the million-dollar question? David: As a journalist, not much, but I would ask him about next year. As a journalist, a slightly awkward question I would ask him is how many Ducati he is going to finish in front of in the Valencia test (he laughs). That would be the question I wouldn't want to be asked in his position? Q: What do you think Marc is going to do next year with the Ducati? David: Let's see, he has to adapt, but I think he will do well and he will be able to be fighting for the title. Then the position depends on the mistakes he makes, but he can be there. Q: Do you see yourself racing with him in MotoGP one day? Marc is 30 and you are 17... David: That would be a top dream, to get to MotoGP and for him to still be there. It would be like doing it with Valentino. I would love to race against Márquez in MotoGP. Q: Would your relationship be happy forever or would it end badly like yours with Rossi? David: No, it wouldn't go wrong. On the track there are no friends, but without twisting the relationship. (source)

Mela Chércoles asking Marc the question mentioned in the interview above: Q: I asked three riders, one per category, a question for you, and the Moto3 rider is David Alonso. Marc: I like him, I like him. He is a very polite guy and he will come. Q: His question is: How many Ducati are you going to finish in front of in the Valencia test? Marc: (He laughs). And I have to answer or what? Q: Of course. Marc: Well, I don't know, I don't know. I'm not going to answer you, David, because one of the successes of next year, if I want the project to be successful, is not to want to run more than what has to be run at any given moment. This means that in the Valencia test, I have to feel things first and then do them. Even if I am asked by David, who I am very fond of, I am not going to create any expectations, because for next year I have to work on that, on avoiding people's expectations. (source)

Marc looks on after congratulating David in Thailand, 2023.

David from an interview from January 4, 2024: Alonso recalled the moment when the Cervera native congratulated him after the race. "We know each other, when we see each other we talk. Marc is also my reference: I grew up watching his races, in the golden age of Valentino Rossi I was too small." (source)

David in an interview from February 21, 2024: Q: We have seen riders like Marc Márquez or Pedro Acosta with a lot of eyes on them when they were very young too. Do you look at their careers to learn from them or do you prefer not to compare? David: Everyone has their own rhythm and their own path, but I do like to look at riders who have been successful like the two of them. Everything happens for a reason and it's because you do things right. Try to copy those things and learn from them. Q:Have you been able to talk to Márquez for any advice? Related to what we were saying about expectations. David: Whenever I have the opportunity I always ask him. Now in winter everyone has their own problems. But during the races if I see him I ask him about how to manage all the pressure. He has lived through it, so I always try to ask him. Q: Can you tell us some of the advice he has given you? David: It depends a lot on the moment. When I won my first race he congratulated me but he told me that you have to keep going, keep pushing, that it's not over... little things that keep you on your toes. (source)

Marc chooses David as the Moto3 champion during the Qatar pre-race press conference prediction game. Q: Can you explain your choices Marc: "Alonso, I like him, I believe in him and yeah. He also was super fast last year."

David in an interview from June 15, 2024: Q: Who would you like to be like when you reach the premier class? David: My idol has been Marc Márquez, since when I was little I always saw him and he was my reference, but the truth is that I pay attention to everyone a little and I try to get the best out of each one. Q: What is your opinion of the signing of Marc Márquez for Ducati and Jorge Martín for Aprilia? David: Surprising, unexpected and very interesting for 2025. There will be a lot of games and also with the movements that are taking place, I think there will be a game of brands with a pretty cool rivalry, we are going to have fun. (source)

Most recently Marc and David trained together in Aragón with Alex, Fermín Aldeguer, Diogo Moreira and Albert Arenas.

A couple more quotes under the cut !

David Alonso in an interview with Germán Garcia from January 2, 2024. Since he was a child he dreamed of being like Marc Márquez, whom he now sees in the MotoGP paddock, stops and talks to him, explaining his doubts and listening with open eyes to the advice that, from time to time, the eight-time world champion gives him, who has seen "something special" in him. [...] David lifts his head and looks up at the sky, as if trying to remember. "The first race I saw on television I don't have it very present, but I do remember some riders from those first images that come to my mind. Valentino Rossi is a bit behind me, the ones I remember most are Casey Stoner, Dani Pedrosa, and then Marc Márquez, of course. But the World Championships won by Valentino, for example, I don't remember having seen them", not in vain in the last one of the Italian, in 2009, when David was only 3 years old. After last year's Thailand race, Marc Márquez congratulated David in the middle of pitlane, and highlighted the successes of the kids, to whom he made a recommendation: "Young riders should be careful with social networks, you can lose a lot of time on that." "I share Marc's comment," said Alonso. "I'm not much for mobile phones and networks, you have to be careful with that topic and channel it well because it can distract you. I like things more face to face, I always try to limit as much as possible the time I spend on the networks, and whenever I can I put the phone aside and try to forget about it," explains Alonso, who sees himself as a very familiar person. "I'm a guy who opens up more at home, I'm fun, but I also really like to be calm, to do low-pulse activities, taking things calmly to balance out how fast everything happens in racing," he stresses. A calmness that, however, when he gets to the track absolutely transforms. "In terms of riding style I'm a bit like Márquez, braking hard, a bit the opposite of Jorge Lorenzo, who was more refined. In character I'm also a bit like Márquez (laughs)" (source)

...aaaand that's the journey so far. Thank you so much for reading, I plan to add onto this post whenever they interact in the future or if I find more stuff while digging!

and a special thank you to my beloved elle @lestelledreams who made me aware of david and has been instrumental in my growing sooo fond of him 💗

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Biden wants to ban ripoff “financial advisors”

I'll be at the Studio City branch of the LA Public Library on Monday, November 13 at 1830hPT to launch my new novel, The Lost Cause. There'll be a reading, a talk, a surprise guest (!!) and a signing, with books on sale. Tell your friends! Come on down!

Once, American workers had "defined benefits pensions," where their employers promised to pay them a certain amount every year from their retirement to their death. Jimmy Carter swapped that out for 401(k)s, "market" pensions where you have to guess which stocks will be valuable or starve in your old age:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/07/25/derechos-humanos/#are-there-no-poorhouses

The initial 401(k) rollout had all kinds of pot-sweeteners that made them seem like a good deal, like heavy employer matching that doubled or even tripled the value of every dollar you put into the market for your retirement. But over the years, as Reaganomics took hold and workers' power ebbed away, all these goodies were clawed back. In the end, the market-based pension makes you the sucker at the poker table, flushing your savings into a rigged casino that is firmly tilted in favor of finance barons and other eminently guillotineable plutocrats.

Neoliberalism is many things, but most of all it is a cult of individualism. The fact that three generations of workers are nows facing down retirement without pensions that will provide them with secure housing and food – let alone money to see the odd movie, buy birthday gifts for their grandkids, or enjoy a meal out now and then – is framed as millions of individual failures, not a systemic one.

In other words, if you are facing food insecurity and homelessness after a lifetime of hard work, it's because you saved wrong. Perhaps you didn't save enough (through a 40-year run of wage stagnation and skyrocketing housing, health and education costs). Or perhaps you saved wrong, making the wrong bets on the stock market. If you can't afford to run your air conditioner during a heat dome, that's on you: you should have been better at stocks.

Apologists for this system will say that you don't have to be good at stocks – you just have to pay an Independent Financial Advisor to pick the stocks for you and you'll be fine. But IFAs don't work for free! What if you can't afford one?

Enter "predatory inclusion" – the practice of offering scammy, overpriced and substandard products to poor people and declaring it to be a good deed, because otherwise, those poor people would have to do without. The crypto bubble relied heavily on this: think of Spike Lee and others shilling for pump-and-dump scams as a way of "building Black wealth":

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/07/business/media/cryptocurrency-seeks-the-spotlight-with-spike-lees-help.html

More recently, Intuit and other scammy tax-prep services have argued against the IRS's plan to offer free tax preparation as bad for Black and brown people, because it will deny them the chance to be deceived and ripped off with TurboTax:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/27/predatory-inclusion/#equal-opportunity-scammers

Back in 2018, Trump won the predatory inclusion Olympics, when his Department of Labor let the Fifth Circuit abolish the "Fiduciary Rule" for Independent Financial Advisors:

https://www.investopedia.com/updates/dol-fiduciary-rule/

What was the Fiduciary Rule? It said that your IFN had to put your interests ahead of their own. Like, if there were two different funds you could bet on, and one would pay your IFN a big commission, while the other would be a better bet for you, the IFN couldn't put your retirement savings into the fund that offered them a bribe.

When Trump killed the Fiduciary Rule, he proclaimed it a victory for poor people, especially Black and brown people. After all, if IFNs weren't allowed to accept bribes for giving you bad financial advice, then they would have to make up the difference by charging you for good advice. If you couldn't afford that advice, well, you'd have to make bad retirement investments on your own, without the benefit of their sleazy self-dealing.

The Biden Administration wants to change that. Biden's Acting Labor Secretary is Julie Su, and she's very good at her job. Last spring, she forced west coast dockworkers' bosses to cough up the contract they'd stalled on for a year, with 8-10% raises for every worker, owed retroactively:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/06/16/that-boy-aint-right/#dinos-rinos-and-dunnos

Su has proposed a way to reinstate the Fiduciary Rule, as part of the Biden Administration's war on junk fees, estimating that this will increase retirees' net savings by 20%:

https://prospect.org/labor/2023-11-07-julie-su-labor-retirement-savers/

The new rule will force advisors who cheat their clients to pay restitution, and will require them to deliver all their advice in writing so that this cheating can be detected and punished.

The industry is furious, of course. They claim that "The Market (TM)" will solve this: if you get bad retirement savings advice and end up homeless and starving, then you will choose a different advisor in your next life, after you are reincarnated (I guess?).

And of course, they're also claiming that forcing IFNs to stop cheating their clients will deny poor people access to expert (bad) advice. As the Financial Services Institute's Dale Brown says, this will have a "negative impact on Main Street Americans’ access to financial advice":

https://www.fa-mag.com/news/legal-challenge-predicted-for-new-dol-fiduciary-proposal-75257.html

Here's that rule – read it for yourself, then submit a comment expressing your views on it. The government wants to hear from you, and administrative law requires them to act on the comments they receive:

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/11/03/2023-23782/proposed-amendment-to-prohibited-transaction-exemptions-75-1-77-4-80-83-83-1-and-86-128

Su is part of a wave of progressive, technically skilled regulators in the Biden administration that resulted from a horse-trading exercise called the Unity Task Force, which divvied up access to top appointments among the progressive wing and the finance wing of the Democratic Party. The progressive appointments are nothing short of incredible – the most competent and principled agency leaders America has seen in half a century:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/10/23/getting-stuff-done/#praxis

But then there's the finance wing's appointments, like Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley, who ruled against Lina Khan's attempt to block the rotten Microsoft/Activision merger (don't worry, Khan's appealing):

https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/14/making-good-trouble/#the-peoples-champion

Perhaps the worst, though, is Biden's Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, a private equity ghoul who did a stint for the notorious wreckers Bain Capital before founding her own firm. Raimondo has stuffed her department full of Goldman Sachs alums, and has sidelined labor and civil society groups as she sets out to administer everything from the CHIPS Act to regulating ChatGPT.

As Henry Burke writes for the Revolving Door Project and The American Prospect, Raimondo's history as a corporate raider, her deference to the finance sector, and she and her husband's conflicts of interest from their massive stakes in companies she's regulating all serve to undermine Biden's agenda:

https://prospect.org/economy/2023-11-08-commerce-secretary-gina-raimondo-undercutting-bidenomics/

When the administration inevitably complains that its popular economic programs aren’t breaking through the media coverage, they’ll have no one to blame but themselves.

The Unity Task Force gave us generationally important policymakers, but ultimately, it's a classic "pizzaburger." If half your family wants pizza, and the other half wants burgers, and you serve them something halfway in between that makes none of them happy, you haven't made a wise compromise – you've just made an inedible mess:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/06/17/pizzaburgers/

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/11/08/fiduciaries/#but-muh-freedumbs

[matan4il]

Daily update post:

This morning, 15 minutes after the break in fighting was supposed to begin, Hamas fired two rocket barrages into southern Israel. This is what we mean when we say that Hamas has broken every ceasefire ever. The only reason why this didn't lead to the hostage deal falling apart, is because Israel chose to "contain" Hamas' violent rocket attack. But remember this when we explain why we can't accept Hamas' existence anymore.

Israel confirmed that the 13 hostages being released have arrived in Egypt, and there are already Israelis there, taking care of them. IDK when we'll get their names, and images of them safe back in Israel, but as you can imagine, everyone here is holding its breath for that. Still, their well being comes first, they're being taken to a hospital first, to see their families, and only then (and based on whatever they prefer) will there be anything more public. There will not be interviews, however, 'coz something they say might risk the other groups of hostages meant to be released in the upcoming days.

Hamas is also releasing some of the Thai nationals they've kidnapped (I heard 12 of the 23 taken hostage), which are being let go of unconditionally. Before anyone tries to make out this shows Hamas is humane, I'll just point out that Hamas terrorists murdered at least 33 Thais on Oct 7.

Some of my fave commentators recently on what's going on here since Hamas' massacre aren't Jewish, or even Israeli. Here's a few of their tweets:

Regarding the last one, I just wanna say that most Israelis will continue to trust most Arabs. That's just how we have always lived, despite the on going terror attacks. The day after Oct 7, I mentioned that I went to my hospital treatment. The guard there is an Arab guy. He carries a gun. I couldn't help but think about it. And then I did what I always do, I thanked him for his work (being a guard is difficult), and wished him a good day. He smiled big and wished me the same. He's lovely. What Hamas did on Oct 7 is not his fault. But the mistrust of survivors, and some of those who care about them, is also very human and understandable, as much as I'll continue to call on everyone not to generalize about Arabs, or any group.

Especially when some of Hamas' victims are themselves Arabs. Here's a young Israeli Muslim Bedouin woman, who has been speaking up on behalf of her friend, 17 years old Aisha al Ziadna, who was kidnapped by Hamas on Oct 7.

A Sky News reporter was particularly shameful the other day. She tried to use Israel's willingness to release 3 convicted terrorist per just 1 innocent civilian hostage to vilify Israel. Here's the reply she got:

Just a reminder, once again, that when you listen to western media, which is supposed to be objective, these are often their info sources on this conflict:

Speaking of lack of objectivity, an Israeli newspaper found out that the International Criminal Court has appointed a Danish lawyer to investigate the Israel-Hamas war, and it's a man (I'm not sure I'm transcribing his name from Hebrew correctly, but it should be something like Andreas Laursen) who has worked in the past for a Palestinian "human rights organization" which has been outlawed in 2021 for having ties to terrorist organizations, who was involved in 2018 in trying to make the case that Israel had committed war crimes, who has lived in the Palestinian city of Ramallah, and who is married to a Palestinian woman. This Israeli newspaper has contacted the ICC, asking why the person appointed to this investigation isn't someone who would at least appear to be unbiased. The answer was (I'm translating from the Hebrew article): "We maintain confidentiality about anything that pertains to specific subjects that are related to our employees. Every personal decision made by the head prosecutor fits the policy and relevant procedures that oversee the court's human resources matters."

Because there are still people denying the Hamas rapes:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by כאן חדשות (@kan_news)

I've spoken before about Liel, and how long it took to identify her body, but this tweet kind of broke me all over again.

(for all of my updates and ask replies regarding Israel, click here)

[rb19]

as the norstappen url holder TO ME current norstappen dynamics is SYMPATHY IS A KNIFE by charli

we know lando cares very deeply about how fans/media view their friendship. he felt he had to clear up he didn't race max hard in 2023 bc there's no point duh max was in rocketship, he could not compete, didnt make sense for his own result to put up a fight, it's not bc he is max's mate!!!! stop saying that PLEASEEE!!!!! went far to say that "we're not best friends." and i get that. just bc max doesn't let fans/media opinion get to him, it doesn't mean it's easy for lando to do the same.

max considers lando his best friend from the grid bc lando was the first driver who had the same interests as him back in 2019. finally someone from the grid understood max's sim racing obsession. lando didn't make fun of max's love for video games bc he also loved to play them. their iracing/COD streams back in 2019/2020 were fun and the reason they got close. as lando moved to monaco they started hanging out together, max loves a good party and so does lando now so to sass cafe we go. lando couldn't get max into golf god bless but they love to play padel. etc.

lando was very much a fan of max when he first got into f1. once i was stalking this inactive max fan page on instagram and noticed lando liked a bunch of posts back in 2018 😭 he saw max winning the big titles in karting. i think a few max fans are annoyed by some of lando's actions/interviews right now but they forget how he was/is always very complimentary of max as a driver/person in interviews. how he asked in the 2020 70th anniversary gp who won the race and his reaction to race engineer saying max was "legend." how he was team max throughout the whole 2021 season. how even last year he asked british fans to not boo max in silverstone. etc. and max was always there backing up lando too. stating he believes lando has what it takes to be a world champion in the future, that he made the right choice by staying in mclaren and having faith in the project.

IN 2024 they both have a fast car and they can compete against each other. max is a three time world champion, he aint got nothing else to prove. he has beaten lewis fucking hamilton. lando is the one who has everything to prove. he has to prove he can fight max hard now and back up his words. the pressure is all on lando. so how lando talks about max in race weekends, how he reacts to max's performances on track is going to change naturally. those max fans have to accept that. but things won't change for max, because max has been winning for so long now. max knows how to take losses. how to quickly recover from mistakes.

and ofc max being happy for lando in miami was ok, it was first win, everyone was happy for him. but lando doesn't want to see max happy anymore. i just beat you to pole and you come up to me to gossip about leclerc's lack of penalty??? who the fuck cares, can't you be at least a bit mad? lando will sulk after a race he feels he should've won, while max will quickly get over a p2 in miami even if he got fucked over by a SC. lando will entertain hypotheticals bc it helps knowing he was close to a win again, while max dgaf he could've won miami, he's all praises for lando.

lando does not have the self confidence max has. lando will question himself. it's normal. lando will feel conflicted. he doesn't want max to play nice with him, he doesn't want max's sympathy after he just lost a race. sympathy is just a knife. he knows it's sincere coming from max, and especially bc it's sincere he feels belittled by it. it's silly and he doesn't even want to feel that way. is he not worthy of being max's RIVAL? he doesn't want max to explain to him after the race how his aggressive move opened up the door to george overtake them both. he doesn't want max to be laughing at him in the press con. can max take me seriously for a sec?

next chapter: austria.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for not getting into Genshin Impact?

(note: This situation happened two years ago, back when me and both parties involved were in our final year of high school- I am 19 now, and haven't been in contact with both people since. However, I recently brought this situation up with my current friend group and even though they said I'm NTA, it did get me thinking, so I wanted to get a different view on the situation from an unbiased party)

T (F) and J (NB) used to be best friends back in primary school, yet ended up splitting after J essentially ditched T for a new group of friends. When I (F) had to move town and go to a new school due to my mother's work, I ended meeting T, and the two of us became fast friends. We ended up going to the same high school, and stayed friends.

However, looking back on our friendship now, there were a few red flags that I ignored at the time. For example, both of us have ADHD, and while T was more than happy to infodump about her hyperfixations to me and I was more than happy to listen and ask questions, when it was my turn to infodump, she'd zone out and only pipe up to crack jokes. Whenever I tried to be genuine and start a serious discussion with T, she'd quickly change the subject. T never had a problem with telling me off whenever I did something to upset her, yet when I tried to do the same, she'd essentially go "nuh-uh" and try to dismiss my feelings.

One thing that stuck with me was when, one day, the two of us were having a conversation about meme songs, and she brought up 'What Does the Fox Say?'. I made a comment about how that song was my late father's favourite song, and T (knowing how close I was with my father and how sensitive I still was about his death), told me verbatim "No offense, but your dad deserved to die if that was his favourite song."

Despite all these obvious signs that T was not a good friend to me, I stuck with her- after all, she was my only true friend, and I had a very difficult time trying to make new friends.

Cue to a few years, when J decides that they want to try and apologize to T and hopefully become friends with her again. Even though it took a while for J to fully earn her trust back, T eventually accepted the apology and J joined our friend group.

This is when the trouble started.

While T and J like being in larger fandoms and getting interested in whatever game/show is trending right now, I myself tend to stick to smaller fandoms due to anxiety and like to get into new media at my own pace- for example, when Monster Prom was popular back in 2018, I avoided the fandom like the plague, and only decided to give the games/community a shot last year. I also find I get incredibly upset when I try to force myself into a hyperfixation, so I find it kind of hard to join new fandoms until it feels right for me.

So, in 2021, while I was still in my Pokémon hyperfixation from the previous year, J and T had gotten into Genshin Impact. They played the game every day as soon as they got home from school, and would talk about it constantly, often ignoring what I had to say to do so. As I mentioned before, I had no issue with listening to them and asking questions, yet I did have an issue when they couldn't extend the same courtesy to me. It made me fed up that they'd never give me an opportunity to talk about something I liked, yet expected me to politely sit back and listen to them.

Soon enough, they noticed that I was starting to go silent during conversations and wouldn't even bother to add in, so T messaged me to ask what was wrong. I told T my honest feelings about the whole situation, and they claimed that I should just get into the game so we could all talk about it together. When I told her that wouldn't solve my issue of them ignoring my own interests, she snapped and claimed that I was being insensitive about what was her and J's comfort game and that I should be putting more effort into the relationship. We had a bit of back-and-forth, with me telling T about how I felt excluded and unwanted in the group, and her dismissing my feelings and claiming I was being too sensitive. After that, I cut ties with both of them, and haven't spoken to them since.

So, I ask again: AITA for not just forcing myself into liking a game I had no interest in to maintain our friendship?

[defilerwyrm]

May i ask how's the recovery process after gender affirming surgeries?

If you mean how's it going now: my last surgery was in 2022 so at this point I'm 100% healed up. I was SUPPOSED to get my implants in December 2023 but my insurance company has been fucking me over at every turn so that's still on hold.

If you mean how was it at the time:

Top surgery (2018) was pretty easy for me since I have a desk job. I stayed with family in town for the first 2 weeks, during which time I basically did nothing but sleep, wake up long enough to use the toilet, take a dry shower, eat something, take more pain meds, then go back to sleep. I had 4 weeks off work, so after that I was a little sore and still confined to button-down shirts because I couldn't raise my arms above shoulder level; then I went back to work and all was normal for the next month. But...

Because I am an unlucky son of a bitch, I had a rare complication: I developed a seroma that dehysced (i.e. a hole opened up along my suture line that leaked large amounts of greasy, bright orange fluid made up of lymph and blood), which was not painful at all but was absolutely disgusting and very alarming to experience—but not a medical emergency or anything, and was easily fixed with a revision surgery. I took another 2 (I think?) weeks off work and it's been fine ever since. The left side of my chest is a little funny but I don't really care, it was fully worth it. Please note that I did not have drains. If you have drains, you're even LESS likely to have this problem.

Hysterectomy (2019) was much the same: I slept through the first two weeks and spent the next 2 in a recliner with an ice pack on my lower belly, playing a lot of Stardew Valley and getting into Critical Role. I was lucky enough to live with a friend who loves cooking. I ate a lot of soup. The soreness wasn't that bad, but I have a policy of staying ahead of the pain by using timers for how often I should be taking them. The worst part of it was the pain meds, tbh, because I really don't like the way oxycodone makes me feel; at the same time, I'm grateful for that fact because it keeps me from forming a habit.

Phalloplasty etc (2021) was kinda rough to start. I had 3 months off work that time. Slept through the first 2 weeks as usual. But for the first 3 weeks total I had a suprapubic catheter in and man I fuckin' hate being cathed. I felt like I needed to pee at all times, even immediately after draining the cath bag. Awful. Learning to pee standing up was...let's just say I did a lot of laundry and cleaning, lol. This was made worse by the fact that I had two fistulae (holes that go through the urethra all the way to the outside)—like I said, I've got bad luck. One of them healed up all on its own, like most of them do. The other one required a revision 8 months later, which meant being cathed again for a while, SIGH. But back to post-op for phallo: I had physical therapy for my left arm to make sure I kept a good range of motion; I kept the graft bandaged with daily gentle cleanup, application of ointments, and rebandaging; and had to take dry showers for the first uhhhhh. 2 weeks at least, maybe 3 or 4? After I got the cath out, things were MUCH easier. I was just kinda vaguely tired and sore and spent most of my time lying down. My libido came back at the start of the 2nd month, which was frustrating af because it wasn't till the start of the 3rd month that I was healed up enough to do anything about it (but once I could, holy FUCK it was incredible).

[batsplat]

after 2015 until 2018 it seemed that things had calmed down a bit between valentino and marc, in the sense that they had started to be polite between them again and valentino no longer seemed to be on a war footing. then after argentina obviously the situation worsened again. in the podcast where valentino spoke in 2021 if I'm not mistaken, when he talks about marc,however, he only refers to the events of sepang and not to what happened in argentina which instead seemed to have been the final “divorce”. so my question is, during 2016 and 2017 did valentino just pretend to put up with marc? because in that podcast you can feel valentino's resentment is still a lot even after many years, so I imagine it must have been even greater in the two years immediately following sepang, even if it didn't seem if you see how he behaved

well. look. it was reflected in how valentino behaved... I think sometimes if you see isolated photos and gifsets, you can maybe be left with a bit of a mistaken impression of what that dynamic actually looked like for those two years. they got to a point post-catalunya where they were civil to each other, and maybe they'd exchange two lines in greeting, at podium celebrations, when somebody in a presser made a joke... and maybe marc at the very least was sincerely hoping they could get back to something like what they had before 2015. in reality, though, it was still very very far away. it wasn't open hostilities... at some point in 2016, valentino realised he simply couldn't go on like this. I talked about it a bit here:

you get this discrepancy in his 2016 output, actually. if you compare what he's saying that autumn for written press interviews vs what he's saying with marc right next to him... he'd clearly decided there was zero point in directly fanning the flames. at the sepang 2016 presser when marc and him are quizzed on what had happened the previous year, he just goes with marc's response and decides against reopening the controversy by adding anything from his side. but he still made it clear he hadn't changed his mind in interviews from the exact same time period! at times, he tolerates marc's tentative advances - at other times, he's almost accidentally sucked in, like he can't quite help himself from laughing at something marc has said. but there was never a period where he forgave marc for what he'd done... for various reasons he just decided he wasn't going to harp on about it too much. he did basically say as much post-argentina 2018:

but yeah, argentina 2018. it's an interesting one, isn't it? the stuff that valentino says there doesn't actually feel... quite in line with anything else he's said about marc. typically, when valentino criticises marc, it really is all about sepang 2015 - it's very focused, very specific, he's talking about being unable to forgive marc on a personal level for something marc had done to valentino... but it's not like he's really coming at marc for anything else... when other riders have gotten into spats with marc, he's stayed out of it - and generally he remains pretty neutral when he talks about everything else concerning marc. so, for example, there's a world where the moment alex rins is saying marc doesn't respect other riders in 2019, valentino immediately jumps at the opportunity to offer his hot take... but he doesn't do that. and yes, he had criticised marc's riding before, in particular in marc's moto2 days, but obviously those criticisms were considerably more restrained and sounded at times quite worried for marc's sake. (he also got close to that in silverstone 2016 when he remarked marc had 'something special' for their battles, but a) he's not wrong, except insofar as it's clearly mutual, and b) he explicitly said he didn't have a problem with that fight and considered it hard but fair). in 2017, when valentino was criticising other riders for being too aggressive... well, he wasn't doing so with marc, and he even conceded the point to marc in subsequent races after marc had obliquely criticised valentino at cota for his rhetoric not matching up to his own riding. when valentino's young riders have gotten into their own spats with marc, he's not waded in either, at most saying stuff about marc's fight with pecco that from his lips sounds almost like something akin to praise. radio silence after bez's run in with marc at the end of last year... argentina 2018 is the exception not the rule

and you know... at the end of the day, that was an emotional reaction. valentino might be wearing the habitual smile on his face during the media debrief and sound reasonably calm and composed, but he was furious. which, it's always worth remembering, isn't an entirely unreasonable reaction to that specific situation. yes, valentino doesn't have a clean track record either, but you're going to struggle to find such a... weaponised carelessness, a blatant disinterest in his fellow riders while shoving them aside, in the way marc was exhibiting that day - and indeed that whole weekend. looking back, of course argentina 2018 ended up being an isolated blot on marc's track record that he's not come close to repeating since (yes, he's made high profile errors that took out other riders, but it's different)... but we didn't know that at the time. also, I doubt valentino much appreciated being treated just like an obstacle in marc's path! the fact that valentino wasn't the only marc victim that weekend kind of has an interesting effect, because you have to doubt whether it would have helped if valentino felt like he was being targeted specifically by marc, but on the other hand... well, it's almost disrespectful, isn't it... being singled out is in a way still better than being brushed aside like any other rider

still, valentino's pushing it with his criticisms, he's out of line, and he clearly did lash out in the heat of the moment - which was of course largely a product of the resentment he'd been holding onto those past two years. calling marc's behaviour that day dangerous? sure, you'd find a lot of agreement for that. saying that marc was ruining the sport? that he was intentionally causing other riders to crash? ... well, hold on one moment. I reckon the simplest explanation is the best one here: valentino was angry and said stuff he wouldn't otherwise say, which we know because he's not done so before or since. of course, he was never going to retract what he said about marc that day - he wasn't ever going to apologise for it. not with their history, not when there was still just enough about those argentina comments that he meant... so he wasn't going to feel too much regret about the bits he wouldn't have said under any other circumstance. the problem post-2015 for valentino is that constantly signalling his fury to the world wasn't doing him much good... but pretending like everything was just fine clearly also took a bit of a toll. argentina 2018 wiped the slate clean - even though they gradually crept back towards basic civility after that. and valentino really didn't continue with that line of critique... since then he's basically completely reverted back to a sepang 2015-centric approach. maybe a few hints at it... in 2021, he said something along the lines of how he doesn't feel good when he's on-track with marc, but that's pretty generic while also crucially being personal - he's not saying marc is a problem for the series, he's saying it's them specifically that have an issue with each other

which doesn't mean he didn't believe what he said in argentina 2018 in the moment... when they reconvened in cota and had marc and valentino do separate media debriefs from the main presser, valentino said he stood by his comments - but also didn't actually repeat them or elaborate on them or anything. he's back to terse short responses to the press' questions, saying he wants to focus on the race ahead: kind of the go-to approach when it comes to marc post-sepang (with notable exceptions). he's walked his strongest comments back as much as he was probably ever going to - by simple virtue of the fact that he's left it at that. and you know, he's a complicated guy... 2016-17 was both pretending and it also wasn't. he didn't act like everything was forgotten, but he certainly was willing to let people believe that this relationship might end up being mended - which quite frankly was probably never going to happen. mostly, he was just sort of sick of the whole thing, struggling to enjoy himself in what had become such a charged, hostile environment for all the riders involved. at the same time, look - fundamentally, the interpersonal chemistry with marc was always fine. they click as people! they click as riders! marc makes valentino laugh! sometimes, that line between 'pretending' and 'letting yourself pretend' and 'actually not pretending at all' can be quite thin. when valentino talks in that time period about how much he enjoyed a battle with marc, of course he isn't lying - because he really does enjoy those fights! that's what racing is all about for him, and that's something him and marc still share! as long as marc isn't barging him aside and causing him to crash, that is. maybe it'd be easier if it were all a pretence, but it wasn't... sometimes, when you say you thought a race was hard and fair, you really do mean it and you really did have a lot of fun. sometimes, the struggle isn't actually acting nice for the cameras, it's trying to bite down the temptation to laugh alongside your sworn enemy

see also assen 2016... like, isn't this kinda wild? you've just had catalunya the race before, you've just had the mere semblance of a tentative start to a possible reconciliation - then they return to the place that was really the beginning of the end for them. they go on a few track familiarisation laps, including to check out the resurfaced final chicane (aka the scene of the crime). they race each other on said track familiarisation laps. then marc brings it up in the presser, giggling about the whole thing, and apparently valentino also finds it pretty funny - before he visibly swallows up his grin. later that weekend, marc pointedly decides to try out valentino's final chicane move himself during the warm up session. this is all obviously deranged, but it's a type of deranged where they are fundamentally on the same wavelength. it's the kind of ridiculous behaviour they're both incredibly fond of... you see it in how valentino shrugs off the towing at catalunya 2019, and thinks it speaks to marc's smarts and wiliness - unsurprising, really, because they're so similar in that regard, and valentino has never shaken his admiration for marc as a competitor

valentino can clamp down on his animosity towards a rival during his direct interactions with them... lord knows if you watch a few of the casey and valentino face-to-face interactions over the years, you really wouldn't match that up with the sheer vitriol of some of the stuff they were concurrently saying about each other in the press. that rivalry was never really personal (on valentino's end), it was never fraught in the same way (for valentino anyway) - still, it shows he's theoretically capable of separating this stuff out when he needs to... and he just about managed with marc for two years. if he had just been waiting for an excuse, surely you would have heard at least a hint of that when him and marc swapped paint in 2017. you never quite knew how he was going to answer the inevitable questions about marc's riding, but no direct criticism was forthcoming at any stage. the post-argentina 2018 rhetoric wasn't in any way premeditated from valentino's side, and personally I don't think he was just waiting for an excuse either. it was the result of a constant internal conflict between knowing that engaging in any more active beef with marc wouldn't do anyone any good, and the fact that he still hadn't forgiven marc... and then a race came along that simply pissed him off enough to push him over the edge

from 2016 onwards, valentino both very much wanted and very much did not want further conflict with marc, and neither of those impulses ever quite go away. usually, he's disciplined enough to avoid stoking the flames any further... potshots to the press outside of the paddock are essentially a free and harmless outlet in that regard, and even there you can tell he was trying to scale it back in the years where he was being forced to directly interact with marc. he was pretending and not pretending and sometimes pretending like he wasn't pretending and sometimes pretending like he was pretending. maybe it would have always just taken one major on-track confrontation for things to fall apart between them again... but you do kinda have to acknowledge the whole thing was really unfortunate. I've long thought that something like sepang 2015 was pretty inevitable as long as valentino managed to put himself in title contention once marc had joined the premier class, but I don't actually feel the same way about argentina 2018. an awful marriage of circumstance and coincidence and bad choices caused the relationship to fall apart again this badly. valentino might have had some more or less sincere misgivings about marc's riding, but at the end of the day he wasn't going to ever express them unless it got personal - because all of these people are incredibly self-centred and valentino wouldn't have felt like it was worth it. he lost his temper, he said some stuff he might partly but not fully believe, he's not inclined to bring it up again. that's that

[mondstalgia]

BL ships that I will never forget:

In a few weeks it's gonna be 14 years of obsessing over queer media, especially BL, so here are the ships always on my mind in no particular order.

Arata & Shingyouji (Takumi-kun Series 4: Pure, 2010): Listen the Takumi-kun Series from 2007 to like 2011 was my life as a (pre-)teen. In hindsight really sketchy but anyway haha. Those two really caught my eye back then though (especially their racy kisses) and I was happy they got their own bigger part in one of the movies.

Evan & Isak (Skam Season 3, 2016): Was there a queer European teen that wasn't obsessed with this season of Skam? I remember re-watching it so many times I could recite their text without speaking Norwegian. Plenty of beautiful Skam universe parallel couples out there but these two will remain the iconic blueprint.

ChenAi (Kiseki: Dear to me, 2023): Almost unfair to put them on here but seeing how I haven't been able to think about any other ship every single day for the last 3 months, I feel like it's justified. They just have everything I want and need to get hyperfixated on.

Seiryo & Yuzuru (Seven Days, 2015): Oh my, the way I loved this silly concept and how funny it was yet they managed to get me all emotionally involved in the span of two movies? Insane chemistry and just..everything I needed back then. Especially since it was then one of the very few BL's I saw without a sad ending.

KornKnock (Bad Romance 2016, Together With Me 2017 - 2018): Listen, plot wise Manner of Death is the absolute height to me but when it comes to MaxTul I will never forget them as Korn and Knock in these series. Forever grateful to all the fanvids that led me to finding my BL fathers. Chemistry forever out of this world. Also shout out to Yiwha, best female character in any BL and my wife.

WinTeam (Until We Meet Again 2019, Between Us 2023): The couple that made me aware of what second lead syndrome was because I waited so long for more of them, it felt eternal. I don't think I will ever get tired of these two.

VegasPete (KinnPorsche, 2022): Who said I couldn't like a toxic ship? These two took me by surprise, I didnt even know they were going to be a ship in the series. Definitely acknowledging how fucked up they are yet at the same time it's the forst toxic ship that really got me. I love them, in my own weird way.

HaoGu (HIStory 3: Make Our Days Count, 2019): I mourned them like I have mourned no other couple. I should have known from the title but they really lead me astray. My beautiful boys, the star crossed lovers. They still get me emotional now, I might go cry now.

Hira & Kiyoi (Utsukushii Kare, 2021 - 2023): Before ChenAi there were Hira and Kiyoi who absolutely owned my heart. I love how misunderstood by BL fans they were who claimed their toxicity. Meanwhile I simply love how weird their relationship is and getting to see a real Tsundere in action. I'm obsessed with them.

Honourable Mention: Kim Jae Wook as Min Sun Woo in Antique Bakery, 2008. The very first gay character I saw in Korean media. Forever iconic, forever in my heart.

[april-is]

April 23, 2024: Available Now: Archaic Torsos of Both Sexes

Available Now: Archaic Torsos of Both Sexes Gregory Orr

Though I'm modest as most, I couldn't help noticing certain parts of the statues have been polished to a high sheen by passing hands as the centuries passed. If it's a form of worship it's not much odder or more perverse than the saint's stone toe kissed to a stub by fervent lips.

And even though Plato suspected art almost as much as he suspected the body's curves, he did assert Desire could lead to the True and Beautiful. Therefore I choose to believe that mortals pausing here to cup a marble breast or buttock were doing their best to grasp the Ideal— and their foolish gestures made it shine more brightly.

--

Today in:

2023: Search Patrols, Ilya Kaminsky 2022: The Problem with Travel, Ada Limón 2021: When I Say That Loving Me Is Kind Of Like Being A Chicago Bulls Fan, Hanif Abdurraqib 2020:from Children Walk on Chairs to Cross a Flooded Schoolyard, Patrick Rosal 2019: If Life Is As Short As Our Ancestors Insist It Is, Why Isn’t Everything I Want Already At My Feet, Hanif Abdurraqib 2018: Bliss and Grief, Marie Ponsot 2017: Verge, Mark Doty 2016: Ever, Meghan O’Rourke 2015: The Two Times I Loved You the Most In a Car, Dorothea Grossman2014: May Day, Phillis Levin 2013: The Triumph of the Infinite, Mark Strand 2012: Mermaid Song, Kim Addonizio 2011: the laughing heart, Charles Bukowski 2010: from Jenny, Genya Turovskaya 2009: A Step Away From Them, Frank O’Hara 2008: Entry, Lisa Sewell 2007: Meanwhile, Richard Siken 2006: Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note, Amiri Baraka 2005: Holy Sonnet XIV, John Donne

[mementoboni]

[part 3/4] DIR EN GREY WOWOW Interview & Document (2020)

"But looking at these, seeing Diru's behind-the-scenes production process, I still feel it's not easy, DIR EN GREY is really amazing." — Shinya

Notes before reading:

The whole interview is divided into 8 topics, and the translation is divided into 4 parts. This is the third part, including the 5th topic. The details of all topics and time markers are 👉 here.

I have added Chinese subtitles for this video in 2021. The whole interview was very meaningful, and I hope that with the English translation, more people can understand what they're talking about.

The five members were interviewed separately and then edited into a video, so the words spoken by each of them are not necessarily coherent.

Repost and share are welcome.🙌 I translated it all by my ears, so please feel free to correct me if you spot any mistake or any confusing parts.☺️

— — —

05. Member Feature

[ 薫 Kaoru ]

►Memories of the Band Formation

Kaoru: Even ONE MAN LIVE, we still didn't have the budget to decorate the stage. But we still wanted it, so we went to TOKYU HANDS* and bought Styrofoam, flower decorations, and wire or something like that. It's fun that we all made  stage decorations in the house together. (*Note: "TOKYU HANDS" is a Japanese chain of home-based department stores specializing in selling DIY products.)

►Something of Recent Interest

Kaoru: I am often asked, but I can't think of anything. I don't want to do anything when I get home.  This month, in June, "Neon Genesis Evangelion" (the movie) will be released, and I really like it. Kaoru: It's almost over, of course I also want to see it earlier, but after watching it is really over. I'm a little happy that it's going to be postponed, that it won't be released this year (2020), and that I won't be able to watch it. (Staff: Emotionally, you still can't accept it.) Kaoru: Yeah, yeah, it will feel like it's not the end yet.

►Opportunity for Solo Exhibition

(*Screen caption: Kaoru held a solo exhibition”ノウテイカラノ”in 2019.) Kaoru: The reason for the exhibition is that a few years ago my hands started to become a bit uncomfortable and I couldn't hold the pick properly to play the guitar, so I had to put the pick on my fingers with tape*.  As a kind of rehabilitation, I started to draw and try to show some random things, but the story is not yet that rich. (*Note: Around 2014, Kaoru's hands began to show signs of abnormalities, which were diagnosed to be the occupational disease, caused by relaxation of the ligaments of the muscles or joints.)

►The Origin of「ノウテイカラノ」("nouteikarano”)

Kaoru: When I was a child, I often had a dream. I don't know if it was the sky or the ground, but there was a pure white place, and from far away, I could see a lot of dots, as if there was a large group of things coming closer and closer, and in an instant, they all swarmed towards me. Kaoru: Every night I would dream about it, and then I woke up with a start.  I wake up every time I dream about it, and what happens after that? I imagine what happens after that, try to draw a picture like this, go back to my mind at that time and imagine it. (*Note: According to Kaoru’s scend book “Dokugen ni” (published in 2018) P.85, "ノウテイカラノ" means "脳底からの" (born from inside the head), just written in katakana.

►Influence on the Band

Kaoru: At first, I wanted to draw with a different feeling, and I felt that my creative power was stimulated, so I thought I could compose with a different feeling. But, rather, it seems to be more difficult to make a song. (laughs)

...

[ Shinya ]

►The Person You Admire

Shinya: I've been in a band since my first year of middle school. X was very popular in the class, and YOSHIKI-san's presence was very strong.  At that time I decided to become a drummer like him, and I've always looked up to YOSHIKI-san since then.

►Memories of the Band Formation

Shinya: We used to compose in a studio in Osaka. There was a container-like studio, and I remember we stayed there for 3 or 4 days, composing the song together.  The studio was rented, and we slept there under the blankets. Shinya: I never understood why we had to share a room*. The studio was in Osaka and we could just go home, so why did we have to spend the night there?  I guess other members might have felt the same way. (*Shinya used the word "gashuku, 合宿")

►Reason for Not Changing the Style

Shinya: There are people who have liked me for a long time. Also, I can feel the beauty by keeping my old look, and that's why (I don't change my look).

►Opportunity to Start Solo Project

(*Screen caption: Shinya established the music group "SERAPH" in 2017.) Shinya: The concept was already there many years ago, but I felt that it was a bit taboo to have other band activities, so I didn't do anything.  But around 2012 or 2013, I started to think that it was okay, so I went into it with the intention of trying it out.

►The Concept of "SERAPH"

Shinya: The theme is the various things that I see from heaven, about human beings, and that's what I'm expressing.

►Influence on the Band

Shinya: The drum part is the same as DIR EN GREY. After all, it's an expression of my own creation.  In this respect, when I think of the drums of DIR EN GREY, there may still be some influence.

►Things learned from "SERAPH"

Shinya: I have to do a lot of things by myself in SERAPH, booking all kinds of things and so on.  I'm quite happy to do it myself, or maybe I'm doing it because I like it. But looking at these, seeing Diru's behind-the-scenes production process, I still feel it's not easy, DIR EN GREY is really amazing.

...

[ Die ]

►Opportunity to Go into the Band

Die: I wasn't that interested in music itself before. I like listening to music, but I don't know anything about the bands. After entering high school, I saw the performance of senpais' copy band at the cultural festival. I was dragged there by my friends, and it was a shock to me. The first time I saw a live performance, I realized that it's the band. Die: Although I had no interest in it, I wanted to do something while watching it, and I formed a band with my friend immediately after the show was over. There was no one else (in the band). I was a drummer at first. (laughs)  But it's boring to play rhythm all the time at home.  After all, guitar is a melodic instrument, and there is an amplifier. I guess the guitar is more attractive to me.

►Memories of the Band Formation

Die: When we first debuted, we spent the whole day in the conference room of the record company, signing posters, changing signatures, and so on. Filming also started at 6 a.m., and it took about 3 hours for a person to put on makeup, it's usually over time at the end. I remember these things very well.

►Something of Recent Interest

Die: In my daily life, I naturally see and hear things like the Japanese music industry, and it feels really peaceful.

►Opportunity to Start Solo Project

(*Screen caption: Die founded the rock band "DECAYS" in 2015.) Die: As far as music is concerned, it's something I can't do at DIR EN GREY. I wanted to try and see how far I could go without the DIR EN GREY label. There is a part of me that wants to do it myself, or to challenge it.

►Things learned from "DECAYS"

Die: At first I felt like I had to make some changes, but instead, I felt like I was losing myself. In the end, I found that it is best to be myself, in the next process.

...

[ Toshiya ]

►Opportunity to Start Playing Bass

Toshiya: Originally, I just wanted to be a guitarist, but I didn't think I could play very well. At that time, I was thinking about what to do, and then I was attracted to the bass. I felt like I could see my future. Toshiya: There are many people who are called "Guitar Heroes", but few people remember "Bass Heroes". That means there is still room for me to develop, so I thought I would play bass.

►Memories of the Band Formation

Toshiya: When our band first formed, four members came to my hometown. It was winter and there was still snow on the ground. They all came from Kansai and rarely saw snow*. I was very impressed by how excited they were to see snow. (*Toshiya's hometown is Nagano. It is said that Toshiya's mother took the picture at the time and still keeps it at home in Nagano :D → TOSHIYA AT JOE YOKOMIZO CHANNEL 4th FEB TRANSLATION/NOTES 2/4)

►Favorite Artists

Toshiya: I like painting. Vincent van Gogh and Francis Bacon, I like both of them very much.  The world of painting is usually a mixture of truth and fiction.

►Opportunity to Start the Apparel Brand

(*Screen caption: Fashion brand with Toshiya as creative director - DIRT) Toshiya: I think music and fashion are inseparable and both are very attractive. Music should be free to express itself, and in the same way, fashion should be free, too. Toshiya: When it comes to expressing oneself, everyone chooses what is acceptable to most people*. I don't like that, I think we should listen to our own thoughts more. (*Toshiya used the word "migimuke migi, 右向け右")

►Influence on the Band

Toshiya: Even if I'm designing clothes, I end up having something to do with music. Although this is a completely different field, it will eventually return to music and bands.

...

[ 京 Kyo ]

►The Person You Admire

Kyo: There are a lot of them.  Now I'm not just targeting one person. When I was young, there were a lot of senpais that I wanted to become like them.  But it's been more than 20 years, so now I don't take them as a target, just be myself.

►Interested Artists

Kyo: Haven't there "Kimetsu no Yaiba (鬼滅の刃)" recently?  I haven't read it yet, it's super popular, isn't it?  Generally speaking, if the sales are so good, it is difficult to end the series, right? There will be a variety of entanglements, such as the life afterwards, there are many to consider. Kyo: I think it's great to end the series like this, to end it at this time, with a sense of strength and determination. So if there is a follow-up manga in the future, I would like to read it.

►Opportunity to Start Solo Project

(*Screen caption: Kyo founded the rock band "sukekiyo" in 2013.) Kyo: The things I want to do often keep popping up. I think it's a shame not to do it, and I don't want to regret it.

►Influence on the Band

Kyo: I don't think so, but I feel less stressed (after the solo project).  People who like DIR EN GREY say to me, "Don't bring sukekiyo to DIR EN GREY!" Sometimes people say that, and I'm not going to do that. Kyo: I was asked why (I want to form a sukekiyo), "Diru can do it, right?" It's because I can't do it (in Diru) that I want to do it!  I don't know what criteria they used to say that Diru can do it, but I didn't do what I could do (in Diru).  If you finish what you want to do one by one, you will be less stressed out.

(To be continued…)

--- --- ---

part 1. & part 2. & part4.

topics & time marks

中文翻譯 (My Blogger) part 1. & part 2. & part 3.

[pupphe-additions]

✬Evie’s Ships/Dating History✬

Unknown Male Trainee (2016-2018)

Evie had a secret relationship with another trainee. The public does not know about this relationship. Not much is known by the boys.

Only Stray Kids knows that this relationship even happened as she told them.

The only thing SKZ knows is that Evie said the relationship was extremely toxic after a while. She didn't know how to get out of the relationship until one day she caught him cheating and that's what made her break up with him.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: .☽ . :☆ﾟ. ─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: .☽ . :☆ﾟ. ───

Unknown Female (2020-2021)

Nothing is really known about this relationship, Evie was in an 8 month relationship with a female as she’s outwardly talked about it one time.

Evie mentioned to SKZ that they only broke up because the other person was scared of getting caught as they weren’t ready to come out at the time and Stray Kids was growing in popularity so she was scared that they’d be found out.

Evie has stated she’d take her back if she ever wanted to try again in the future to the other members.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: .☽ . :☆ﾟ. ─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: .☽ . :☆ﾟ. ───

The Boyz's New (February 2023-August 2023)

Evie's first public relationship got outted through a dating scandal.

After it was outted though she did post cute photos with him.

Evie is extremely thankful for her relationship with New as it showed her that love could be gentle and free and that it didn't have to be scary or hidden.

After about 6 months of dating Evie and New broke up mutually after they both felt they couldn't give each other what they needed due to being busy.

Evie and New are still friends.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: .☽ . :☆ﾟ. ─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: .☽ . :☆ﾟ. ───

Ship: NCT’s Johnny

Ship Name: JohnLyn/NaHo When/What Started the Ship?: It started in 2019 after Evie admitted to being close friends with Johnny. It skyrocketed in popularity after Evie posted on her then private Instagram story a video of the two goofing off and flirting in 2021 and someone screen recorded it and it went viral. This sparked a dating rumor between the two idols as well. Popularity: 85%

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: .☽ . :☆ﾟ. ─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: .☽ . :☆ﾟ. ───

Ship: Stray Kids’ Lee Know

Ship Name: MinRi When/What Started the Ship?: It started in 2017/2018 during the Stray Kids show. Lee Know and Evie has openly been flirty and so it’s always been a rather popular ship. Popularity: 95%

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: .☽ . :☆ﾟ. ─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: .☽ . :☆ﾟ. ───

Ship: Stray Kids’ Hyunjin

Ship Name: HyunRi When/What Started the Ship?: Started in 2019. After Stay saw how lovey these two were together the ship skyrocketed. The compilations that have been made of the two have gotten millions of views and it’s gotten to a point where even non-stays ship them. After Evie posted a photo of her laying on his chest on Instagram it caused a major influx of HyunRi stans and it also sparked another dating rumor between the two. Popularity: 100%

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: .☽ . :☆ﾟ. ─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: .☽ . :☆ﾟ. ───

Ship: Ateez’s Wooyoung

Ship Name: WooRi When/What Started the Ship?: Started in 2021 after Wooyoung called Evie during a vLive. Evie was in a bad mood and was about to end the live stream after some rude comments she read. Wooyoung called and her mood instantly brightened and they talked for like thirty minutes and they ended with saying “I love you.” as always and it let to the ship going viral on different social medias. Popularity: 100%

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: .☽ . :☆ﾟ. ─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: .☽ . :☆ﾟ. ───

Ship: TWICE’s Momo

Ship Name: MoNa When/What Started the Ship?: Started in 2020 after Momo and Evie did a dance together. After the dance they hugged each other and kissed each other on the cheeks happily proud of each other after the performance. Because of that it skyrocketed in popularity. Also due to the two idols constantly flirting outwardly and posting photos of them holding hands and stuff it made the ship become popular even outside of the KPop community. Popularity: 96%

[martiwikiwi]

MARTIWIKIWI'S MACRO POST OF HER QUEER COMICS

I've been wanting to do this for a long time so not even sorry.

[2024] DEMON HUNTER HAGAN

Dark fantasy. Hagan knows the Church of Twilight has never been a safe space for him but after so many years serving faithfully the church, how is he supposed to escape from his past and start anew? All he knows is killing demons. Queer stuff: Hagan is sex-repulsed biromantic asexual and will talk about asexuality now and then. Chorus is his aromantic hetero bestie and there are two more queer characters to join the party yet. Free on Comicfury. On hiatus until 12th June.

[2023] QUEER DETECTIVES

Comedy. Short comic about a group of queer friends trying to solve the mystery of the missing queer books in the public library. Queer stuff: Selwyn is your monster fucker bisexual. Moon, also bi, asked him out like 5 times and got rejected every time. They are now besties. Beltane is super gay for Moon. Available on my Ko-fi in digital.

[2022] FOUND FAMILY

Fantasy slice of life. A compilation of four short comics about prince Fireopal and their queer family. Queer stuff: Everything. Look at them. Their mere existence is a threat to the system. Available on my Ko-fi in digital and printed.

[2021] ELLIS

Urban fantasy. A queerplatonic romance between a demisexual non-binary werewolf and a bisexual human who find themselves in an awkward situation when they both have a crush on the same unknown student. Queer stuff: Demi enby will think very hard of how is the romance they want only to conclude amatonormativity sucks so they'll make their own rules. In the meanwhile, bi boy will cry and paint a horrible oil painting of some flowers before becoming the best friend ever. Currently saving money for printing. You can read it for free on Comicfury.

Older stuff under the cut!

[2020] SLOW TENDER SAMHAIN STORY

Fantasy. A boy's love story of three lonely souls looking for a family. Queer stuff: One prince gay, his lil bi bro and his future bi husband. Available on my Ko-fi in digital and printed.

[2019] FIGHTING NIGHTMARES AND FEARS

Dark fantasy. A young cleric is devoted to fighting the system of a world ruled by violence and fear. There will be a lot of menstrual blood. Queer stuff: This is the most aromantic stuff you'll ever read because the main character couldn't care less about that shit. Also, both other characters are bisexual af. Free on Comicfury.

[2019] GREY SAMHAIN LOVE STORY

Fantasy. A story of a silly sorcerer and a sad cleric made during a certain drawing challenge that took place in October 2019. Queer stuff: The silly sorcerer is very bisexual and the sad cleric super gay. They'll go friends to enemies to lovers. Available on my Ko-fi in digital.

[2018] WINTER NIGHT

Dark fantasy. A story of a very unlucky child who tries his best to repair his own mistakes, but it means he will have to break the promise he made to his best friend. Queer stuff: This child is so trans they even transform into a werewolf. 70 pages free on Tumblr. Full comic on Ko-fi.

NOT ENOUGH? Well, here you have an archive with all the short comics I've been posting on Tumblr since 2015. You'll find from watercolour and ink tests to ideas I have for longer projects and short queer comics I made for pleasure but also rejected scripts from anthologies. Also fan comics and comics that did make it to anthologies.

Finally, all my comic work together in a post. Happy Pride!

[l-am-the-me]

My Will Wood album cover ranking and my thoughts about them :3

ATTENTION ATTENTION, RAMBLING AHEAD, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED

10th place: The real Will Wood (2020)

I don't really like album covers where the focus is just on like. a dude

I like the lighting and the funeral motifs, and the cover kinda represents the plot of the movie, how Chris gets consumed by/obsessed with the personality of Will Wood

But still, I don't like the cover enough for it to be higher in my ranking

9th place: Everything is a lot (Remastered) (2020

I mean, I like it, but it's just a more bland (colorwise) version of the original, isn't it? Gonna talk more about it later on ;3

8th place: Camp Here & There: The soundtrack (2021)

Not a big fan of minimalism, but I do like the composition. The sky rieseling down like the sand in the clock is REALLY clever depicted (/genuine) (/impressed). I also like how the warm colors clash with the coldness around, reflecting the plot of the podcast (imo), but still, too much empty space for my liking.

7th place: "In case I make it, (2022)

It's ok, don't like the color composition tho. The moon (I think that's supposed to be the moon) (not sure), and the cheese. I like the nod to Tomcat Disposables (Is there cheese in the great beyond?/What's the moon made of?/Meet me there after I'm gone...), because it is my favorite lyric in the song, but I'm not sure if it really encapsulates the meaning of the album yknow? I like the style of the cover, symbolizing this big schizm in Wills music style with it's not so fucked up look, but couldn't the cover have been something that looks like it isn't just a cover for Tomcat Disposables?

6th place: in case i die:" (live) (2023)

It's silly (/sillious) (/in a good way) :3 The black and white really fit this album I think, idk why tbh. This cover was originally planned for In case I make it and I would have liked it if it would have stayed with In case I make it, but oh well.

5th place: Everything is a lot (2015)

The green-ish touch really adds to the cover. I love how the face breaks apart :3. Wills paisley art is just so pleasant to look at. And the brain trying to re-wire itself at the top is a nice detail :D im scared of the worm

4th place: The Normal Album (2020)

As I said, covers where the focus lies on a Dude™ aren't what I like, but. But as this is a parody of the 50s - 60s era of album covers I can close a second eye. Talking about eyes, why are Wills eyes so big here? A deer in the headlights of life (/so deep) (/sarcastic). The cover perfectly shows the motifs of the album, the crushing life in a society where you need to be exactly like the others (the coat and tie he wears), trying to rebel against it (personalizing of the tie), but still having to keep the social standards (greeting the neighbors even though they most likely hate you for your rebellion), and trying to cope with not being able to be like the others (I don't know how to explain this point I was trying to explain). This cover screams about a world of white picket fences and potlucks

3th place: SELF-iSH (2016)

It's so vibrant :3, I love Hypagognia 3 (the background art) (or is this Hypagognia 2) (idk). The guy being made out of a collage (the picture thing, not the school) of various parts of Wills painted body reflecting the motifs of the album, how there is no static "self" and that one can choose to not have one I mean. Kinda ironic how Will said "The world doesn't revolve around you, so don't revolve round someone else" in Missanthropologyst, while here the world literally revolves around him (yes I know the scissors will separate him from the world, but it has not yet succeeded 😼)

2econd place: SELF-iSH (Remastered) (2020)

Literally what I just said but now the background is in a UV-ish blue and looks kinda poisonous. I want to eat this cover, it looks so good :3

1th place: The real (2018)

The cover of the live album recorded in Roxy & Dukes, the recordings were then later used for The real Will Wood. The SELF-iSH guy returned! The collage-y paisley art, the colors, I need to get this cover into my bloodstream somehow. Hands down best cover there is, not that much explanation behind it for me. If this would have been in color it would have been at 9th place I think, but without colour it's perfect.

These are my thoughts about Will Wood[('s) and the tapeworms'] album covers. I only did Will Wood, but maybe I could make a ranking of the pre-tapeworms-era-bands album covers, idk yet.

If you want you can also tell me your thoughts about the album covers and which are your favorite/least favorite :3

I like talking about albums and their covers because music and art are really important to me :D

Making this ranking was fun, goodbye!

[bloggingboutburgers]

Hi, big fan of your ace and aro art!

Genuine question here: How do you maintain a long distance relationship with your QPP (queerplatonic partner)?

Hey! Thank you so much for the kind words, that means a lot TwT

Regarding your question, apologies for the long shit incoming in advance, I'll probably share way more than what's needed, but anyway:

OK, to be honest, I should mention that I'm used to long-distance in most of the relationships in my life anyway, so that's kinda my bread and butter. I was bullied in my small town schools and later I went on to study foreign languages, so all of that created circumstances that made it natural for me to create real friendships mostly with people online or in foreign countries. I've always been more of a "next country rather than nextdoor" type of person to begin with, and my partner was no exception I guess.

We got to know each other online, so we were sort of used to the bulk of our relationship being online when we decided to be in a QPR. It was my partner's suggestion before we even got to meet IRL, and to be honest I'd never had a romantic or queerplatonic partner before and didn't fully grasp what it meant at the time, but it sounded nice, so I went for it! We met up IRL in 2018, a couple months after that (I was meeting up IRL for the first time with another friend who also happened to live in the area, in retrospect I really appreciate everyone's patience as I imposed a double visit and splitting my time in two between them TwT) and at that time it only cemented how much of a vibe it was.

After that, I was saving to visit them again in 2020, but... Y'know, the shit happened. The US (where my partner lives) enforced a travel ban on my country and several others that lasted until November 2021. It was incredibly hard during those times. We called very often, but since I'd been all riled up on the idea of hugging them again, and I was very affection-deprived because no one was allowed to see anyone or touch anyone (and that was pretty heavily monitored by cops for quite a while in my country), it wasn't enough for me to feel OK. The only way one could travel from a banned coutry to the US was to stay 14 days in a non-banned country and then travel from there – which I ended up doing in mid-2021 because I was basically going nuts. It was pretty damn expensive, but since nothing had been allowed for a while it's not like I'd spent my money on much, so I had savings, and I needed to prove myself that I could do it. We reunited IRL then for a good week. Then, because they'd fairly recently got a job (which meant more income for travel) and because US citizens WERE allowed to travel to banned countries, THEY visited me in September 2021 (and we formally promised to marry each other someday then, so even travel bans couldn't separate us in the future).

Despite all that, come late October 2021 and with no end in sight for the travel ban, I'd completely spiralled into despair over our future again. The travel ban and other restrictions made seeing each other so much harder and it was seriously taking a toll. Despite everything we'd managed that year, at that time, it felt so hard I was having serious self-endangering thoughts for the first time in my life, and I wanted to give up. That lasted about a couple days until I talked about it to them over videocall and heard their words of support and saw their face and got all angry like "fuck no, they can't take that away from me". So, because they're who they are, and because of extra support from some friends which meant a lot, despite everything, we didn't give up.

Now I'm free to travel to them again so honestly? Maintaining a long-distance relationship feels really easy right now. We text every day, videocall at least once a week and send each other care packages with gifts for our birthdays, holidays and special occasions. (Our time zone difference is 9 hours, which is convenient, cus when I wake up they're more or less about to go to bed so we can chat for a bit, when my workday is over theirs hasn't started yet, and when they're having lunch I'm having dinner, so we often share meals and watch stuff together over video calls.) We're both working adults with a stable source of income, which definitely plays into a lot, cus that means we're much more free to save up and make plans to visit each other – and by god ever since 2021 we've been making much more frequent plans, as of today we have 3 meetups more or less planned, one of them coming up this month actually, so that's pretty great^^

I do live in fear of another travel ban coming out of nowhere, so I do hope we can marry someday – though that'll be its own whole can of worms in terms of coming-out and immigration hardships, but we're determined to work through it. We're determined not to be long-distance forever. Kinda sucks that we have to go through something as amatonormative as marriage to achieve that, but also, ehh, y'know what, if that means someday I get to hang out with them in person everyday, it ain't that bad. It's a means to an end. And I guess it's a cute idea in a way.

...Welp that was way too long. tl;dr it's not easy every day. Some circumstances out of your control can really put you through the ringer sometimes. But on the flip side that means you get out of it stronger and the whole thing's kind of a virtuous circle. The more you fight for it, the more precious it is to you, and the more precious it gets to you, the more you want to fight for it. Kinda comes naturally to me at this point, so, I guess, don't make it a chore. It never felt like one to me. It's all a treasure if anything.

[muxas-world]

marriage story might not have it, but dare i say scenes from a marriage (2021) has the powerful rancid vibes of rosquez. vale and marc, one being unhappy with the other in silence or one feeling like they don't have control or autonomy over their body even though they're seemingly presented with Choice and Companion but is actually blissfully unaware, then bam absolute delusion and not understanding each other, leaving, hurting one other but not being able to stay away, staying away, blaming, using, divorcing, hate sex, breakup sex, fubu sex, every kind of sex, getting back together but still just hurting and hurting others and not being the same people they were since they met because of how they fundamentally impacted each other with their words and actions, or at least made them realize awful things about themselves. the entire series as a critique to society's performances especially in marriage, paralleling the sport's high competition and expectations to just race and win at every turn. two characters that are very Very flawed with many Many faults. but who was doomed from the beginning anyway.

Ok, now you've hooked me into this series—I need to see it all! Cause it givin all tje racing vides i get from my personal au in my head I'm thinking and I believe I posted before about whether they stayed together after 2016, assuming 2018 didn't happen and if it did, it wouldn't have been as awful as it was way for the relationship to break. They might have stayed together, but they would have never resolved the sepang incident. That incident would haunt them forever, and its repercussions would remain. If they stayed together like they were in 2016, they never discussed, forgave, or forgot sepang. They just went back together and decided never to speak about it, but sepang would always be in their heads during every argument, disagreement, etc. 2015 would follow them.

Maybe they were ready to separate in 2019 because vale couldn't handle his poor performance and seeing marc dominate. Then in 2020 the accident happened and because there's still love there he stays. He can't do that to Marc and their public image, so they keep being a couple, but it's strained. Marc is always at home during the pandemic, and vale has to be nice to him but can't, and Marc resents Valentino for that. Worse, post-valentino retirement in 2022, Marc is still not fully recovered, so he expects his husband to be there. Instead vale picks another racing hobby to avoid being with marc.

And that's how we arrive at today. They stick together for the world, presenting themselves as the perfect couple marc performs his wags duties in wec gt and they play their part in the paddock but t inside their marriage is dead. They are not going to separate because, at this point in their lives, vale is 43 and isn't going to start again, leaving marc to live his young, successful life with someone else. Marc has spent 10 years in this relationship; he's not giving up on it both th are unhappy but never willing to let go of each other because it's not fair to leave just so the other can start a new chapter. After all this time, just to be lost? No, they are staying unhappy in the marriage.