#this isn't a mixed race narrative

[reshirfuse]

real tired of blue eyed samurai being seen as "novel approach to the take down of japanese xenophobia" and not literally as "japanese people are fascinated by whiteness, were axis power aligned, and only want to dip their toes into the idea of being different but only in a whiter way because they're racist to literally anything else" masked as "mixed race narrative"

[grey-sorcery]

New to witchcraft? Awesome! Here's some things you should pursue.

An understanding of sympathetic magic: Correspondences, their metaphysical and theoretical framework, and their derivation.

Magical systems that incorporate the entire gender spectrum.

Energy work that isn't based on visualization.

The means of manifestation: How, where, and when spells affect physical change. The physical mechanisms through which witchcraft manifests beyond just willpower/intent/wishes/etc.

The history and subsequent influences of, and on, popular contemporary practices like Hermeticism, "Ceremonial Magick"/Golden Dawn, Wicca, and New Age/New Thought/LOA/Reiki.

How to approach and practice magic with critical thinking skills.

Influence of consumerism on contemporary practices.

Divination as systems: all methods of divination beyond tarot, their statistical applications, and their different methods of use.

The anthropology of medieval Arabia, Europe, Near East, and Asia relative to the magical or occult publications of the era. What is purely religious, parareligious, or syncretist and what does that mean for the interpretation of the text?

The genuine limits of our knowledge of the ancient world, what's possible for us to know and what can't we know?

Conversations with practitioners of closed or semi-closed practices and perspectives of POC when it comes to what the western world would label as "witchcraft".

The differences and similarities between superstition and the practice of witchcraft.

An understanding of the influence of colonialism on modern witchcraft and the language used to discuss magic.

Critical Race Theory (CRT), Queer Theory, and systems of oppression.

Botany and herbology: An understanding of the physical and medical properties of plants.

Building a personal lexicon for modern and/or colloquial terms used in and by the witchcraft community to describe and discuss practices.

Spell design: What makes a spell a spell? What is the smallest or slightest action that can be considered a spell and why? What are the most important and influential elements of the design and application of a spell?

Altars: Their use, design, and potential; whether or not an altar would benefit your practice or goals for practice.

A critical approach to spirit work and astral projection, being able to discern between personal narratives and probable experiences.

A safe and solid community to become a part of. One that does not allow the influence of personal narratives (Without addressing them as such), doesn't allow for the mixing of adults and minors, and with established and enforced logical and reasonable rules.

Collect and cross-reference correspondences from as many sources as possible, then start to create your own.

Try to find a STEM subject that interests you and study it through any non-dogmatic avenues available to you.

The items highlighted in blue are things I highly recommend!

Here is a list of things to avoid.

This is, of course, not an end-all-be-all list of possible responsible and healthy pursuits.

You can learn more about me, find my master-post, check out my Patreon, and suggest content here.

[apropensityforcharm]

I don't know anything about anything, but I'm fascinated by the PR angle of that Daniel and Max interview. The Project (the show this aired on) is an popular current events show in Australia, so there's going to be a lot of general audience members who don't know a thing about F1, and this will be their first time being exposed to either Max or Daniel - so imagine you don't know them, and the first thing you see is a character interview designed not only to make these two drivers likeable, but also as if they like each other.

Daniel's team want general audiences to look at Max and think of Daniel. They want people to think Daniel and Max are 'bound' in some capacity, even though they're technically no more connected than any other drivers on separate teams. It lends credibility to the bid of Daniel at Red Bull, without explicitly saying so. Even if audience members don't know anything about F1 or Max & Daniel's history, they're going to understand on some level that you wouldn't be doing a cheesy fun interview together if you were only 'competitors'. Some might be interested enough to google Daniel after the show, and find out that he's in the mix to go to Red Bull, i.e. the team that's been dominating for the last few years - and an Australian audience will respond very well to that.

Meanwhile, Max has been dogged by his reputation of being rude and standoffish basically his entire career, so imagine the benefits of a primetime show introducing him to a whole group of new people as basically this giggly, sweet guy who happens to be very good at racing. What about that 'domino' effect of easily likeable Daniel liking Max, aka "we like Daniel and Daniel likes Max, so we like Max"? There have already been Australian shows perpetuating the narrative that Max's dominance is boring, and this is a counterweight; he'll win, but that's okay because we (the audience of the Project) like him. Max is a polarising figure in the sport, but this interview isn't about F1 fans - it's about the general public, and getting them on Max's side.

It's all just interesting to me!

[piratecaptainscaptainpirates]

My own fault for going on Twitter, but I just saw the most astounding argument I've ever seen, and I can't believe this has to be said, but the phrase "White savior narrative" means something and you really shouldn't use it if you don't know what it means.

What a White savior narrative is: a story where a White character rescues non-White characters, taking up the "White man's burden" of moral and ethical leadership because, in the text of the story, non-White characters are unable to help themselves and each other and need a White character to save them from their suffering.

What a White savior narrative is not: one partner in a romantic couple helping their partner in hard times while consistently treating them with love and respect.

I have to believe that this is not a common idea even in certain circles of the OFMD fandom for my own sanity, but if your argument for why Ed hasn't been abused in the text of the show is because "that would mean Stede saving him is a White savior narrative," please examine why you think that. Ed is a survivor of abuse, this is simply a fact, but Stede helping him work through the resulting trauma isn't a White savior narrative, that's one half of a couple loving and supporting his partner. I get that there aren't a lot of mixed-race couples in fiction, but if you think that a White man in a relationship with a brown man can't support his partner without that being Problematic, then it really just implies you don't see people of color as, like, full people who are just as deserving of support and sympathy as anyone else.

[freyjas-musings]

I just don't understand how I end up becoming a part of Elriels shit ? I am literally trying to find a way to sleep well without medication.... I am bursting out in tears at random times .... and solving that has been my only focus in the last couple of weeks and people truly think I am here running Gwynriel Mafia ... pushing Gwyn is High Queen agenda .... like please I need everyone to be real ...

I love Gwynriel with a passion and anyone who knows me knows I am just here to make some friends with common interests and gush over characters I like .... yet somehow .... I am the first name that's thrown into the mix when elriels want to push some asshole agenda . Like stop being such obsessed losers .

New accusation - That I implied Gwyn will save Illyria ... when and why you MFs what happened to Emerie ? She is a pioneer in that place not only is she the first female business owner , she is also a bloodrite winner , she stands strong despite the oppression she faced and the abuse she faced ... she is all they need .. one of their own ... she is the hope and inspiration Illyrians females need... illyrians don't need a white saviour... they need some of their own to set examples ... I am someone who believes Em will be instrumental in helping Az through his prejudice against Illyrians and I have always pushed an Em and Az friendship. Find me one post where I have implied Gwyn will save Illyria and i will apologise personally !!! I know you won't... because the entire narrative is illogical and I have never said that .

Where have you guys ever found me saying Gywn will be the one or even Nesta ? Saying Gywn could be involved with the illyrian "plot" through the Valkyries isn't the same as her reforming Illyria ... like fuck do they need someone who is not of their own race to set an example for them . Even the dusk plot ... that's Nesta ... Nesta will lead the Valkyries... Nesta is the owner of the troves ... these are just common sense points ... liking a character doesn't mean you run wild with your imagination

Just take a break and leave me the fuck alone ... I will continue making Gwynriel content because I enjoy it .... I don't do it for an agenda ... believe it or don't... just try not being such creepy stalkers.

[randomnameless]

Why do the FEH devs insist on ignoring Nabatean lore so much?

I recently had a surprisingly cordial discussion on redshit with someone about the "nabateans = colonisers" take, and one of the main points raised was that the game was purposedly foggy around Nabateans/Sothis/their story because it would obviously favor a certain narrative (and thus make another narrative look, uh, not that marketable anymore).

To be honest, we still ended up with a product that had a lead go "this race and its blood* is the reason why the world sucks" and yet that lead is still marketable enough to have raunchy cipher cards and 5 FEH alts, so I actually wonder if, while pissing on that lore had that purpose, it was ultimately pointless since Supreme Leader can still sell goodies despite her incarnation in FE16.

And not only Supreme Leader - but the entirety of WC where we basically have 70% of the cast crying/complaining about their "mixed blood" or lack of and basically adding their 10 cents to the "this race and its blood is the reason why the world sucks".

I mean, can you imagine Sylvain selling any goodies and alts if Flayn replied to his "wah wah people only are kind to me and want to fuck me because I have Nabatean blood :(" by some uncharacteristic "good for you, I have to hide my ears, had to dye my hair, have to lie about my family because if the truth is found out about my identity, I will be hunted and vivisected like an animal and harvested for parts by people who call my kin abominations - just like what happens in the game where the same people who call my kin "abominations" ally with a classmate who calls me a creature and pretends I am incapable of human feelings based on my race".

FE Fodlan's main selling point is its cast of students, for various reasons, but even if I tried to kid myself, Nopes and FEH made it clears : students are the main selling point.

If you spare more time and attention to the Nabatean plot/lore, the students either grow from "likeable" to "despicable" or worse, you won't gaf about them because yeah sure, Hilda might be upset because people expect things from her due to her crust, but it would feel like a "peanut" compared to Seteth's irrational (granted, it's not so irrational since GW exists) fear that Flayn's newest friends would dissect her if they learnt she was a Nabatean, and being conflicted by finally letting her have human friends and form bonds she crave, or protect her due to the trauma from the genocide of their species.

Don't get me wrong, I love peanuts, I mean, not everyone can have a tragik of loaded backstory!

And yet, given how this verse's DNA is "can you fight against the red emperor who uwus about you", they had to add copious amounts of Earl Grey to their games so there's no clear-cut factions :

The "Your alien blood and its influence on the world corrupted it, so I want to reform it under my command" vs "I don't want to die and you oppose me due to my race and side with the people who genocided my kin"

is turned to :

"Your alien blood Crests and its your church's influence on the world corrupted it, so I want to reform it under my command"

"I don't want to die and you oppose me due to my race and side with the people who genocided my kin"

Sprinkle with the cast's hammering here and there that the "reforms" might be needed - but never develop on what they are - and add a few baseless and groundless takes as a toping (basically everything Claude says about tolerance and the general "isolationism/foreign policy" stuff) and you get FE Fodlan where the Red Emperor's war isn't seen as the catastrophe it is in the other entries from the series!

Now, for FEH...

FWIW, the F!F!Billy's trailer had them try to explain that Sothis was a bit pissed about her slaughtered/massacred children when Nopes never gave any reason about why she was pissed - maybe on Billy's behalf bcs Jerry's dead, but come on, she would indeed deserve the medal of the worst parent in the franchise if that was the case, since Billy can murder her daughter without Sothis taking over ! - but given that they cannot write/go against the source game those characters are from.

They tried a bit, with B!Supreme Leader and Hegemongard's FB, but then it stopped (because she had no "new unit" released since then lol) and I can understand why : Hegemongard came out before the Supreme Emblem, and Hegemongard hates dragons who are seen/perceived as gods by some of their human followers. Come FE17, and now Supreme Emblem accepts Alear because they are "one of the good ones". We can come up with HCs and details and talk about what are emblems or if Hegemongard's views were only hers at the end of AM all day long... But imo, Doylist wise, it still feels it's a retcon because the devs from the main games tried to scrap and remove the most "controversial" traits she had.

For the other characters... Well, you see what Marianne is in FEH (but even in her base games), she's one of the few characters who reacts - in a way - to the partial history about relics and demonic beasts and all... only to give sad uwus to Maurice.

FE16 (and Nopes) refused to have any "student" character react to the Nabatean lore/reveal, about what are relics and all. There are no lines, Claude shared some knowledge in the explore section of VW's last chapter, but we don't have anyone muse or think or even talk about what are relics, what are crests, and what kind of fuckery their ancestors or the ancient humans of Fodlan did.

With that in mind, FEH can't do much : either they write Marianne in a retcon-y way like what happened for Hegemongard (and they're not afraid to piss on characterisation, look at Lyon!), or they flanderise her "character" and develop her around 3 lines she had in the game in her paralogue, and continue to give sad uwus about Momo when he was at best a guy who slaughtered and murdered so much that he abused the Nabatean turned into a relic to the point where he turned in a demonic beast even if he had a matching crest, or at worst, had been part of Nemesis's piñata party in Zanado and was something of a genocider.

Tldr :

Why FE Fodlan never gaf about Nabateans : earl grey + the marketable cast has to stay marketable and you can't sell peanuts at the same price you'd sell swordfish

Why FEH dgaf about Nabatean lore : they can't afford to retcon characters + they have to sell peanut alts with the same seasoning they had in their base game.

For what it's worth though, I think FEH is more daring than the base game(s) given how they gave more lines and screentime to Rhea - through her different alts - than GW. And they even designed her Halloween!alt's lines to piss on some of Claude's assertions, while the various FB involving members of the church also - indirectly - reply to some accusations thrown their way in FE16 when, FE16, never gave them an opportunity or lines to explain that those takes were full of dung.

*"but random, maybe she doesn't know that the crests she often decries is "dragon blood"!"

It's highly debatable, especially given what she and Hubert throw to Billy in CF - but even if she doesn't, Doylist wise we still have a character who, knowingly or not, says "this race and its blood* is the reason why the world sucks" and who is never called out on her prejudice. That's more of an issue regarding the general writing though, she has to be a red emperor and took pages from Ashnard's book, and yet, the player must still feel bad and want to romance her, so her mindest/goal cannot be looked at too closely, because, I guess, even the devs thought it would be difficult to romance her (thus sell goodies!) if more light was shed on the "blood from this race corrupts our people" schtick -> which in turn would also make characters whose backstory and gimmick rely on "crying about crests" be way less likeable, thus marketable and able to sell goodies.

[nonasemporium]

John and Colorism

John is Māori. He is a man of color, and he is coming from a society where he was racialized. Specifically, at least as a general consensus, his "faceclaim" in a sense is Taika Waititi.

Anyway, without getting into every facet of how I think the series and fandom engages with and addresses men of color, because that scope starts getting out of this specific topic and into a different one, I want to state that I think the relationship John has to both Alecto and to G1deon actually further represents themes of colorism.

John makes himself God. He makes himself god and to him that becomes some strange performance of western civilization roman empire 2.0 space imperialism planet consumption speedrun mixed w New Catholocism or whatever, but where there's a PERFORMANCE of equality where there actually isn't. Just like I argue John not ONLY makes new classes with necromancers and cavaliers (I'm not even getting into everything else with this), but ALSO he did not in fact shatter gender oppression, he just shifted it and patted himself on the ass for it.

YES it is queernormative and as a queer man himself, it makes sense this would be important to him, just like it makes sense for it to be important to him that race manifest very differently (go pretty unacknowledged really*) across his New Roman Empire in Space. But he has his own limits and biases and I would argue both colorism and misogyny are present for him.

He chose to make Alecto the way he did. And he had all of his own reasons for it, but surely it can also be noted how linked those reasons can be to both colorism and misogyny as well. I know he made her a specific barbie that had specific history to him, but does this barbie and his choice in her also highlight his priorities, just as blatantly as his choice of empire?

I need Alecto to come out so I can finalize some of these concepts, but it is still colorism for a man of color, especially one wounded by rejection (as we see in Nona) to see power in dominating a white woman. To see a SUBVERSION in the act of it. I think John sees a lot of things as subversion without seriously considering the levels he's actually engaging in. I think John is shallow.

Which brings me also to G1deon and Pyrrha. I think John had some concepts around their dynamics, their relationship, in their interactions that was in these same lines. I think John saw G1deon a specific way, I think he passively compared himself (including how he discusses it in Nona, again), I think the way he engaged with G1deon did not show solidarity or equality (G1deon was also an engineer!) but showed presumed superiority on John's end. Also he made G1deon how he did before he crafted his 10,000 year old weird empire. If I could put it into words more eloquently, I would, but I feel like John saw triumph in G1deon being Pyrrha's necromancer and I also think he then delegated him to "attack dog" for himself (as we see in Harrow the Ninth especially!!!)

I genuinely think 100% that regardless of if G1deon is racialized as black (I think he is personally), he is meant to be darker and racialized more than John was. And I think John subconsciously compares that! I think it is instead further evidence towards a narrative on colorism, including the way he's separate from Mercymorn and Augustine through HtN.

This is without getting into Pyrrha as a cop.

*I actually don't know if I should say "unacknowledged" here, because the cavs being almost always darker than their necromancers seems really notable.

[ride-thedragon]

Part 1: Why is Nettles black?

TLDR: George subverts a bunch of stereotypes specifically tied to black women in media with Nettles, she's black, innocent, not practising magic, young, doesn't nurture or take care of anyone and her own sexual experiences aren't exploited in her narrative rather in a projection of someone. The closest she comes to any other race is when they call her a dragon lady at the end, which is an Asian stereotype but not something invoked to critique. Nettles is black.

So I said it before, but now again, this is a two part post because when it comes to this character, I think the relevance of her race is often lost because of what is percieved as a greater narrative purpose. But Nettles race and specifically her being black is important to her story. The next part will delve into her role in the narrative as a black girl, but this part is generally why I can say she's black with confidence using the written narrative.

STEREOTYPES/ TROPES

There are multiple stereotypes used to box black women in specifically from the inception of race in media. Some of the most prominent are the (in great reduction to the nuance):

Sapphire: angry, loud, and rude black woman

Jezabel: sex driven, lust bound, and seductive black woman

Mammy: nurturing, sexless and typcially bigger black woman.

Magical black woman: linked to some sort of witchcraft practice but not central to the narrative. Not to be confused with the magical negros trope which is different.

Tragic Mulatto: mixed raced stereotype that they belong no where.

Ghetto: I saw this recently, but this is basically the hood girl trope.

Grown black girl: this is when they treat black girls as older than they are, like adults when they are kids.

These concepts have smaller sub tropes, and there are more stereotypes, but even to this extent, there is a battle with media literacy when it comes to the way people see black female characters in media.

For the sake of Nettles, we'll be covering all in the next part. Along with the history, seeing as most if not all the origins for these tropes can be found in Slavery.

SUBVERSIONS.

With the sapphire trope, George manages to give Nettles these characteristics and add on to them, so while they are a part of her character, there is depth and nuance. She is rude, called foul-mouthed in the narrative, but she is also fearless and smart. She never gets angry in the written narrative, but she does cry and mourn and show an emotional intelligence we don't get from all her peers. She defies the expectation of a rude, lowborn character being crass, lusty or power hungry, and jealous alone.

The Jezabel story is a perverse fantasy. A black woman is solely driven by lust and desire, nothing more than a sexual object. It's a trope that actively harms young black girls as well. So, in the books, whether or not you believe Nettles has sex, she isn't solely there for it. She isn't just there to have sex with Daemon, and when it is brought up, the men around her prioritise the innocence of her youth rather than the treason she is said to commit.

Nettles doesn't really fit the many trope as she is younger than the trope typically allows for but within the narrative of all the connections we could've gotten we got one with a Prince rather than with children to communicate the fact that she loves but she isn't a care taker.

The magical black woman stereotype or black witch stereotype is rooted in the both spirituality and abuse. White women would use both the Jezabel stereotype and this one to claim that the reason their husbands would sleep with the enslaved women of the plantation were because they were sexually deviant seductresses who ensnared the men basically.

This is the clearest stereotype George both evokes and subverts. He purposefully wrote that in to draw a real world parallel and subverting it in his book.

Lastly, the tragic mulatto stereotype is the trope of two white for the black side to black for the white side. Basically, they are sad because they have nowhere to belong. Interestingly, George doesn't use this at all. Which to me was an indicator that Nettles doesn't have this complex. All the people of colour, especially the brown skinned ones, have a complex relationship with the Valyrians, but Nettles doesn't.

ONE EXCEPTION.

This isn't really an exception, but more so a name he uses that is tied to a trope. Nettles is called a dragon lady out of context of the stereotypes in the books. The reason I brought it up was because a lot of people seem to think Nettles could be any kind of brown in the narrative, which isn't exactly correct. The dragon lady stereotype is tied to many Asain women, but the content of it isn't tied to Nettles past the name.

I think we have moved past the need for the Ghetto trope. It's basically someone who grew up in an urban, low income area and whose behaviour represents the culture there. I don't think Nettles is a victim of Reaganomics so I don't think she's affected by this.

Nettles is also purposefully treated as a young lady in the narrative. She's the Westeros equivalent of 18 and is treated by the men of her narrative as a girl. She's called a child, said to be innocent and freed from her sentence because of it. The exception to this is with Daemon Targaryen, who sexualises her narrative, but it isn't meant to be explotative AS IT IS WRITTEN. It's presented as love.

OVERALL.

George uses black women stereotypes and tropes in media and subverts them with Nettles. He specifically uses her appearance to justify it and allows him to communicate with race without saying it out loud. Nettles is a black character written in a story where she can defy the media conventions of her identity. She is back for a reason and none at all.

[bitchiswild]

Right Where You Left Me

Jennie Kim X F!Reader

Warnings: Sad

Word Count: 2.3k

A/n: angst time?

Requested

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

Their love story was everyone's favorite tale—a charming narrative intertwined with childhood memories and serendipitous meetings. Everyone, from their families to friends and the media, adored Jennie and Y/n. Their families' close bond meant She crossed paths frequently, filling their early years with shared laughter and adventures.

In the midst of these cherished moments, something changed. Y/n's heart began to flutter whenever Jennie was near, convinced that destiny had a hand in weaving their story together. However, Jennie's feelings danced in a more mysterious rhythm.

For Y/n, each stolen glance and shared conversation painted a picture-perfect romance, a story spun by fate itself. But love isn't always a symphony played in unison; sometimes, one heart sings a little louder than the other.

In Y/n's eyes, the love story felt like a beautiful fairytale in progress, orchestrated by destiny's gentle nudges. Yet, beyond this enchanting narrative lay a more intricate reality, where Jennie's emotions might have swayed to a different tune, creating a delightful yet perplexing harmony between their feelings.

The delicate dance of affection and perception began to shape their relationship. While Y/n's heart soared with affection, Jennie might have been composing her own version of this enchanting tale, leaving Y/n to cherish the moments with hopeful longing, unaware of the subtle nuances in Jennie's feelings.

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

Jennie was fashionably late, as always, but this time, it felt different. Y/n had arrived punctually at 9:30 pm, heart racing with nerves and excitement, knowing this night was going to change everything. As the hours stretched past 11 pm and still, there was no sign of Jennie, anxiety coiled tighter within Y/n's chest.

The persistent waiter kept returning, a mix of concern and annoyance etched on their face. She'd inquire if Y/n was ready to order or if their date was en route, but Y/n, clinging to hope, asked for more time, pleading silently for Jennie's arrival.

As the clock struck midnight, the atmosphere shifted, the once-bustling restaurant now quiet, the waiters' patience wearing thin. Their eyes conveyed sympathy for the hopeful figure sitting alone, holding onto an unraveling dream.

"She's fashionably late, but this... this isn't like her," Y/n whispered, a hollow attempt at humor failing to mask the heartache.

The waiter, now more understanding than amused, offered a comforting smile. "Some detour, huh? Maybe I should've put a tracker on her for you."

Y/n managed a weak chuckle, their heart heavy with the weight of disappointment. "Might need that, or a crystal ball. Seems like tonight took a different turn."

The restaurant staff exchanged resigned glances, silently empathizing with Y/n's silent turmoil.

"I'll go prepare that 'search party dish' now," the waiter joked half-heartedly, trying to ease the palpable tension in the air.

Y/n forced a smile, a tear threatening to escape. "I think I'll pass on that. Thank you, though."

As the night wore on and the restaurant prepared to close, Y/n signaled the waiter with a defeated expression. "I'll... I'll just settle the bill, please."

The waiter nodded solemnly, "Sure thing. Sorry about tonight. Some people don't realize the value of someone else's time."

Y/n managed a nod, a pang of hurt lingering in their eyes. "Yeah, some clocks just don't sync up. Thanks for understanding."

As Y/n settled the bill, the weight of the evening's unmet expectations settled in. The ring in their pocket, meant for a proposal, felt heavier than ever.

In the eerie quiet of the near-deserted restaurant, Y/n sat, lost in a vortex of emotions, feeling the weight of shattered expectations. With a heavy heart, She remained in the corner She'd chosen earlier, the dim light casting elongated shadows across the table.

As the minutes ticked by, each second seemed to stretch into an eternity. The silence was almost tangible, broken only by the faint murmur of the staff cleaning up and the distant sound of a glass shattering on the pristine white tablecloth.

Y/n's heart skipped a beat, their head jerking up at the sudden sound. For a moment, the entire room seemed to hold its breath. In the fragmented reflection of the broken glass, Y/n saw a distorted image of their own shattered hopes and dreams.

The staff rushed to clean up the mess, a flurry of apologies and hasty attempts to rectify the accident. But for Y/n, the shattered glass felt symbolic, mirroring the fragments of their carefully laid plans and the fractured expectations of the night.

Feeling a wave of emotions crashing over them, Y/n rose slowly from the seat, their movements mechanical as She retrieved their jacket. As She walked past the broken glass, She felt an odd kinship with its brokenness.

Outside, the cool night air enveloped Y/n, a stark contrast to the stifling atmosphere inside. The street lights flickered, casting uneven shadows on the pavement. Y/n paused on the sidewalk, taking a deep breath, trying to gather the scattered pieces of their composure.

With each step away from the restaurant, Y/n felt the weight of the unspoken words and unfulfilled plans grow lighter. The ring, tucked away in their pocket, now felt like a burden released, a symbol of a future that might have been but wasn't meant to be.

Despite the heartache, a glimmer of resilience flickered within Y/n. She squared their shoulders, taking one last look at the restaurant's dimly lit window, where moments ago, She had hoped for a different outcome. With a bittersweet sigh, Y/n turned the corner, stepping away from the haunting scene and into the uncertain expanse of the night, ready to navigate a new chapter, one step at a time.

The encounter was surreal, almost like a scene from a nightmare that Y/n desperately wanted to wake up from. As Jennie appeared suddenly, the shock on Y/n's face was evident, her eyes a mirror of hurt and disappointment.

"Jennie, you're late," Y/n's voice cut through the air, icy and laden with the weight of dashed expectations. Jennie's response was callous, her eyes void of remorse. "I know," she replied, the indifference in her tone hitting Y/n like a physical blow.

"Why, Jennie?" Y/n's voice cracked with hurt, a plea for an explanation.

But Jennie's expression hardened, her words cutting deeper than any knife. "I never really liked you. Everything we had was fake. I want to break up."

The revelation hit Y/n like a sudden gust of cold wind, knocking the breath out of her. The realization that she had been used for years by the person she loved most shattered Y/n's world.

"Please, Jennie, don't do this," Y/n begged, tears threatening to spill over, her heart breaking into irreparable fragments.

But Jennie remained resolute, her demeanor unyielding. "Get it through your brain, Y/n. I. Don't. Like. You," she emphasized each word, her cruelty cutting deeper than any insult.

Y/n pleaded, her heart laid bare, but Jennie pushed her away, callously leaving her sobbing on the unforgiving streets. The onlookers in the restaurant felt the weight of Y/n's despair, their empathy palpable as She witnessed the shattering of a heart in real-time.

Alone and broken, Y/n crumbled onto the sidewalk, the world around her blurring through the tears. The pain was unbearable, a piercing ache that seemed to echo through every fiber of her being. Despite the betrayal, the love she held for Jennie lingered, an agonizing reminder of a bond that was once cherished.

Amidst the overwhelming sorrow, a glint of silver caught Y/n's eye—a small velvet box, now crushed within her pocket. Inside rested a ring, a symbol of a future Y/n had eagerly anticipated, a future where she wanted to propose to Jennie, to solidify their love forever.

Clutching the now crumpled box tightly, Y/n's sobs grew louder, the weight of unspoken words and shattered dreams pressing down on her. The night seemed to close in, the stars blinking dimly above, as Y/n wrestled with the heartache of a love that had soured so painfully, a love that had crumbled before it could bloom fully.

In the wake of Y/n and Jennie's abrupt and publicized breakup, the once vibrant presence of the favorite couple vanished into an eerie silence. Speculations buzzed for a brief moment before a thick veil of quietness descended, muffling the once-lively discussions.

Online spaces, once adorned with the shared adventures and affectionate moments of the beloved duo, now stood starkly empty. Social media feeds that had once overflowed with snapshots of their happiness became barren landscapes, void of any trace of their past romance. It was as if a digital eraser had swept through, wiping away their shared history in a blink.

For days, the absence of any updates, posts, or mentions of Y/n left a haunting void in the virtual world. Fans and followers, once avidly following the couple's every move, found themselves met with a wall of silence. The absence of any explanation or closure only added to the mystery surrounding the sudden disappearance.

Rumors swirled like dust in the wind, attempting to fill the void left by the absence of information. Some speculated about Y/n's well-being, concerned whispers echoing in online forums. Others pondered the reasons behind the breakup, piecing together fragments of information from the past in a futile attempt to make sense of the situation.

The restaurant, once a witness to hopes and dreams now shattered, held an eerie familiarity that Y/n couldn't shake. Despite the passage of time and the vanishing traces of their shared past from the public eye, Y/n found herself drawn back to the haunting scene of their failed rendezvous.

Sitting in the same corner, amidst the tables that once held promises and tender whispers, Y/n's heartache seemed palpable in the dimly lit space. The memories flooded back, an uninvited cascade of emotions that refused to fade with the passing days.

The silence of the restaurant echoed the hollow ache within Y/n's chest. Every corner held a ghost of a moment, each table a reminder of laughter and stolen glances. The weight of unanswered questions hung heavy in the air, mingling with the scent of forgotten dreams.

Lost in the melancholic ambiance, Y/n traced invisible patterns on the table, thoughts swirling like a tempest within. The pain of betrayal and heartbreak lingered, refusing to dissipate with time, as if frozen in that moment when everything fell apart.

Despite the emptiness that surrounded her, Y/n found solace in the familiarity of the space. It was a paradoxical sanctuary—a place where the heartache thrived, yet where Y/n sought refuge to confront the remnants of a love that once defined her existence.

As the restaurant stood frozen in time, a relic of memories now tainted with heartache and unanswered questions. Yet, amidst the bustling city, in the corner of that hauntingly silent eatery, Y/n remained.

Days turned into weeks, and weeks into months, but Y/n seemed anchored to that spot, a specter haunting the table where promises were shattered and dreams turned to dust. The world around Y/n continued to move forward, but for them, time had halted, trapped in a perpetual loop of anguish and longing.

The once-vibrant spirit had dimmed, eclipsed by the overwhelming weight of abandonment and betrayal. As days stretched into an eternity, the restaurant staff grew accustomed to the solitary figure, a silent witness to the ebb and flow of patrons who filled the once-empty seats.

Y/n sat, cross-legged in that corner, surrounded by the echoes of past laughter and whispered confessions. The lyrics of a mournful song played on repeat in their mind, a haunting melody that mirrored the ache in their soul.

"You left me, you left me no, oh, you left me no. You left me no choice but to stay here forever."

The words reverberated in the emptiness of the restaurant, a haunting refrain that echoed the resignation and heartbreak Y/n felt. The outside world had moved on, but for Y/n, time had crystallized in that desolate space, a prison of their own making born from shattered love and unhealed wounds.

Yet, in the midst of the desolation, a glimmer of hope flickered faintly. A distant voice, a gentle reminder from within, whispered of resilience and the possibility of healing. It was a beacon in the darkness, a whisper of courage urging Y/n to break free from the chains of heartache and reclaim their own narrative.

With a deep breath, Y/n stirred from the corner She had haunted for so long. Slowly, She rose from the seat, a newfound determination sparking in their eyes. The restaurant, once a symbol of despair, now became a backdrop to a newfound resolve.

Leaving behind the echoes of a shattered love story, Y/n stepped out into the bustling world, embracing the uncertain expanse ahead. The haunting refrain faded into the distance, replaced by the symphony of life's possibilities, signaling the beginning of a journey toward healing and self-discovery.

Life carried on, as it always does, with the bustling energy of the city engulfing the restaurant in its perpetual motion. Patrons came and went, the memory of Y/n's prolonged stay slowly fading into the recesses of their collective consciousness.

For Y/n, the world outside that corner had beckoned with its promise of new beginnings. She had ventured beyond the haunting confines of the restaurant, stepping into the unknown expanse, their destination shrouded in the veils of anonymity and healing.

The whispers about Y/n's departure dwindled, replaced by the ceaseless rhythm of the city. The patrons eventually moved on, their curiosity giving way to the everyday bustle of life, leaving behind the enigmatic figure who had once haunted the corner of the restaurant, their story and destination a mystery lost in the passage of time.

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

[batsplat]

Hi bat!!! I was the motogp beginner anon from a while back... About a month later and working my way thru old races from 2000 I have accidentally developed a deep and profound fondness of Sete Gibernau... is it fair to say he is THE prototype for everything Vale did to his later rivals? Your posts on him and their relationship are everything to me - they have given me much to think about, and also facilitated the brain rot! Any thoughts on their 'reunion & make-up' from 2014 onwards?

hi!! I really hope the race recs tag was useful lol, despite my obvious failure to actually finish answering that ask. and omg a sete convert!! it really is going to be half a dozen people soon, exciting times. I'm going to put a pin in the 'reconciliation' half of the ask because the other half was already long enough... and I decided to focus here on valentino's actual tactics rather than his emotions. I still think the sete rivalry did lay the emotional groundwork for subsequent rivalries - but I don't currently have all that many more thoughts from what I said here, here, here, here, here, here, and here (lol)

so yeah, I think the sete rivalry functions as a mix of a prototype and a warning - and it's the first bit I'll be talking about in this post. valentino does have a few rivals pre-sete who he has at least a little bit of tension with - biaggi most infamously, but also jorge martinez and harada in his 125cc/250cc days. and while all these rivalries are formative in their own right, they also come with a certain... spontaneity. valentino makes a flippant comment about biaggi to some reporters, a feud is born as a result. it's kind of the training wheels feud - valentino's just saying shit really, he's provoking biaggi sometimes deliberately and sometimes less so, it's all very earnest and youthful and unrestrained. while he's already a natural communicator, he's a lot less skilful in actually using the media to his own ends, to pursue an agenda or press home an advantage. he's just reacting to every situation as it occurs, leaving us with a feud that consists of mostly isolated flashpoints. that isn't to say there wasn't a sense of escalation - catalunya 2001 and its fistfight beckons - but it's missing a narrative arc... and the reason for that is that valentino is not quite yet exerting his authorial hand on events. obviously valentino is not, in fact, a god and isn't exerting perfect control how each rivalry unfolds - but it is noticeable how many of them end up having such a scripted feel to them. sometimes, this stage-managing didn't work out for him and he came out second best when the dust had settled - but more often than not, he played it to perfection. hence the nine titles

and it's that narrative autonomy that really becomes a feature of valentino's game during the sete rivalry. at first, this magic touch isn't really maliciously wielded against sete... they're not enemies, they're still going on holidays together, valentino is just using sete as a sounding board to work through some things. the stakes in 2003 aren't as much directly competitive as they are psychological - despite 'only' having a 29 point advantage 9/16 rounds into the season, valentino was probably always going to be fine on that front. he's not worried about losing the title... but he is feeling unhappy at honda, he is frustrated with how much he's being criticised, he hates to lose to sete. and so, he uses the humiliation of his sachsenring loss that immediately preceded the summer break, twisting it so that it becomes an inflection point of that season (and also that rivalry). he does all the mind games hair dyeing and decides to sign for yamaha and all of it, and then he bounces back to claim the victory at brno by .042s. where he does his extremely on the nose prisoner's celebration to perfectly define what that season was all about - he's breaking free and taking control of his own story. zero subtlety whatsoever. and that's the climax of the season... like, he's crowned champion in sepang (where he crucially brings back the prisoner celebration but indicates with the novelty lock that he is now free), and his defining victory that year is probably at phillip island... but essentially, his arc that year is resolved at brno. after that, he's reaping the rewards

this is still valentino playing it on easy mode relatively speaking but it's kinda freak behaviour to just decide he 'won't be taking any more prisoners', as he puts it in his autobiography, and then basically stops losing. uses his fury to drop fifteen seconds on the field in australia. remember this is the first time he wins valencia too, because he needs to say goodbye to his bike the correct way or whatever. okay

sete is a little bit incidental to the narrative that year - they're mostly just setting the stage for what's to come. we do get little hints... suspicions on valentino's part (whether founded or not) that sete was taking this competition business rather seriously after all. valentino's remarkably out of character face of thunder after losing at the sachsenring. how they're both playing off this rivalry as so so different to the valentino/biaggi fiasco... they're different, you see, they're friends! you can be rivals and respect each other. it's all fine. sete mainly functions as a plot device to put pressure on valentino - a new consistent rival emerging, one who wasn't supposed to be the challenger, a little older and smarter and without much of a track record of success. not the guy who should be challenging valentino. valentino is generally very pro the concept of rivals, even when he's obviously attempting to destroy them. he's aware that they're part of the show, that you need a great rival for a great fight, that beating the very best is what it's all about. also, obviously, it's an important way of motivating himself. valentino is made better for that sachsenring defeat, for having to sit with his mistake at the very last corner, for knowing he should have won that race and had allowed it to slip through his fingers. for that first half of 2003, he's all over the place, error prone, emotionally a bit of a mess - he's been winning so much, it really isn't hitting the same way anymore. he hasn't been winning the right way. sete reminds him of just how much valentino hates to lose. and valentino learns the lesson gladly

now, 2004 doesn't have quite so neat a turning point, and instead features multiple moments where valentino acts to take control of the season. the drama starts early, at welkom, featuring a bit of a biaggi cameo appearance at a time where biaggi was no longer valentino's major rival (though he does still feature in that year's title fight). as valentino describes in his autobiography, he knows demanding victory of himself and his team wasn't a realistic expectation for that race - but sometimes, you just have to tell yourself a story, engage in a little self-delusion... and, hey, maybe you can turn that delusion into reality. after that, it looks for a little while like that success might have been illusory, like valentino might be on the back foot on his weaker bike after all, with sete's back-to-back victories at jerez and le mans. and then you get another inflection point - the trio of races, mugello, catalunya and assen, where valentino takes control of the season after duelling with sete for the victory back-to-back-to-back. each race comes with its own special significance, from sete's rain dance comment at mugello and alleged yellow flag infringement, to his defeat on home turf at catalunya, to his inability to successfully play the gracious loser at assen. the cracks are appearing in the friendship, yes, but valentino is also wrenching back momentum to his side in rather a dramatic fashion. from then on, it looks like he might be able to see out the season in a straightforward manner

except, of course, he can't. because then you get qatar. I do increasingly feel like I have a fairly good grasp of what Really happened, but that's for another time... the key point is that it's a humiliating experience for valentino, both the penalty itself and then the crash, and it's one where he completely loses his head in a fairly uncharacteristic manner. plus, he hurt his pinkie finger. valentino could have emerged from that weekend cowed and chastened, having to backpedal on some of the... more creative remarks he'd made about sete. clearly, sete was expecting that valentino would do so - or at the very least not continue to escalate the hostilities. and it is during that sepang 2004 weekend that valentino's stage managerial skills are truly allowed to shine. the high drama of the presser, valentino's refusal to concede any ground to sete as sete had to realise in real time he'd wandered into the wrong genre and his previous close friendship with valentino counted for nothing. valentino's subsequent domination of the weekend, the imperious form as sete buckled when the title was in sight. the cruelty of valentino's celebrations, making sure to properly twist in the knife while he had the chance. title fight back on track

after that, of course, comes the process by which valentino unravels sete entirely. he presses home the advantage at phillip island, taking quite a few risks to snatch the win from sete on the very last lap - he did not have to win the race to win the title, but he did so anyway because he needed to beat sete. call it an investment for the future. the opening round of the following season brings with it the rivalry's single most dramatic moment that... well, it doesn't quite end the rivalry, as discussed in this post sete does still have plenty of chances to win in 2005 - but essentially valentino ensures at jerez that he will have an enduring psychological advantage. a victory that really should never have been dramatic! valentino learned his lesson from the sachsenring, he wasn't trying any dramatic last lap overtakes. he overtook sete with three laps to go at jerez, which should really have been that. as detailed in this post, it's his last lap mistake that even necessitates that dramatic final corner overtake. now, as it happens, everything works out perfectly for valentino. losing a home race like that on the final corner is absolutely brutal, valentino's deftly played post-race theatre and the perception that sete didn't stand up to him only makes things worse. valentino was always going to win the 2005 season, but he ensured in the very first race that there would not even be a title fight. but again! crucially! valentino was not planning this! the last lap of the race was very much not what he was intending to happen - it was an error on his part that could have easily cost him the win in rather painful a fashion that started all of this. valentino is ready to risk a crash when he shoves it up the inside of sete... his desperation is key, but so is his lack of planning

so that's where we're at with the sete rivalry... high drama, all these turning points and on-track and off-track theatre that coalesced into a narrative - of which valentino was the master. it feels different from the biaggi rivalry... this isn't just two guys that hate each other, it's a story. and when you frame it in those terms, when you speak to how it feels like valentino is flexing his authorial hand in helping these events unfold... well, then you do start seeing the blueprint for subsequent rivalries. the 2008 and 2009 seasons have a key similarity: a single race that completely changed the momentum of the season, remembered in part for a single highly memorable overtake that valentino inflicted on his title rivals. so if you take that trio of races - jerez 2005, laguna 2008 and catalunya 2009 - you're in a situation where valentino's three most famous overtakes weren't just fun or memorable in their own right, but fundamentally changed the dynamic of their respective rivalries. which... I mean, that feels unlikely, right? sometimes, dramatic races just happen - there's no guarantee they're going to completely transform the rivalry as well as the season. once can happen to anyone, twice is pretty striking, but three times? bit odd innit

I've already talked about this a bit here:

and I've just posted about this in considerable more depth in the context of the 2008 season, which we'll circle back to later. it's one of the most interesting seasons in terms of how the momentum shifts happen over the course of the year, which is why I've detailed the build-up to laguna in considerable detail on this blog. see posts on mugello, catalunya, donington, assen, sachsenring, and laguna itself. here's a basic overview of how the 2008 season unfolds:

the key turning points are valentino getting to grips with the bridgestones, the post-race catalunya test where ducati finally gets their shit together, and then the race at laguna. I don't think you quite get the sense of how dramatic a turning point laguna was if you just look at the results - it's important to emphasise that despite still being behind in the points, casey was the title favourite headed into that race. the idea was that once casey and ducati got going, we could easily be in for a repeat of 2007. just total domination. casey wins those three pre-laguna races very comfortably, having basically led every single practise session throughout those weekends. by the time you get to laguna, it's his fifth straight pole position. even if valentino comes in second to casey every single time for the rest of this season, the points gap is at this stage still way too small for that to work out for him. if you told someone before the race at laguna that casey would win every remaining race that season - sure, it wouldn't have been likely, but it definitely would've been seen as plausible. quite frankly it would've been seen as plausible even right after the race at laguna itself, as is reflected in the discourse in the immediate aftermath of the race

in 2009, the title fight is looking extremely open headed into catalunya. valentino is actually third in the standings before that race, behind casey and jorge - though of course nobody knew at the time that casey would not be in title contention for much longer. there is again this slight sense of valentino having his back against the wall... horrendous race at le mans, then brings it home to third in a similarly messy race at mugello because he knows he can't afford to be throwing away any more points. which... losing at mugello? the race he'd won seven times in a row? the one race in a season where you could reliably pencil in valentino's name as the winner, even if he often achieved his victories in rather chaotic a manner? the italian press was not happy with him, and even less so when jorge beats him to pole at catalunya. there are several references in the race commentary to the italian press writing valentino off, calling him washed (to paraphrase), which is objectively a teensy bit of an overreaction but. y'know. getting consistently beaten by your younger teammate is just not a good look. valentino needed that win at catalunya, both him and jorge desperately wanted to beat each other in a direct duel - and all in front of jorge's own home crowd

which, again. it all just feels scripted, doesn't it. that's what we're coming back to here - this feeling that from the sete rivalry onwards, valentino somehow manages to control the narrative to such an extent that things just keep perfectly working out for him. he wins both laguna and catalunya, everyone remembers those as two of his greatest victories - not just because he needed the win but because of how he executed them. the corkscrew, catalunya's final corner... these defining images that have outlasted the context of the seasons in which they happened. and crucially - crucially! they actually do manage to completely change the profile of their respective seasons. 2009 is a bit messier, though broadly speaking valentino is in control of that year's title fight post-catalunya. let's bring back 2008's results:

that laguna to motegi run? absolute sicko behaviour. casey is the faster rider at the very least in laguna, brno and misano. motegi is valentino's title-sealing race. valentino isn't really the title favourite anymore headed into laguna, and he literally does not lose another race until he wins the title. competing against prime casey. how does that happen, right

so that's the case for sete being the prototype: it's the authorial intent that's striking in these subsequent title-winning seasons, something that originated with sete. you just have these races where it's like valentino draws a little red circle around the date on the calendar and goes, 'okay, this is my momentum switch race'. like sepang 2004, his back is against the wall and he manages to change the complexion of the title fight in a single weekend. like phillip island 2004, he won't be denied his fairy tale victory. like jerez 2005, a single dramatic overtake permanently changes the rivalry. which is all well and good, but there's an obvious follow-up question. how is valentino doing this? why do his rivals not simply say no to being woven up in his dramatic narratives? why is he being allowed to pick and choose his momentum switch races? how does he keep getting away with this...

and it is at this juncture that I will present my five-step plan to playing god in local motorcycling competition, a foolproof (mostly) way of ensuring that the fates intervene on your side. here goes:

choosing the occasion

going in with a plan

playing the 'joker'

milking the moment

bite harder when the opponent is already bleeding

there you go. that's the lessons he learned from fighting sete that later allowed him to script his rivalries. I've cracked the code

let's go through them one by one. the thing is, valentino really did pick his momentum switch races in both laguna 2008 and catalunya 2009. obviously, he couldn't have predicted things would've worked out quite so perfectly for him, but he wasn't just playing it like any other weekend. and both times, he made a great call. at laguna, it's notable that he tells his confidantes he does not intend to let casey win the eve of the race - aka after qualifying has already taken place. laguna might be a track casey was incredible at the previous year and valentino had a rather mediocre record at, but at least valentino knew he'd be lining up right alongside casey. he still needed to get a decent start, a metric in which casey is exponentially more accomplished than valentino, but at least it was theoretically possible for valentino to be in casey's vicinity (unlike at the sachsenring). the track layout of laguna also lends itself to the kind of race valentino was intending to execute in a way that, for instance, the next race at brno just wouldn't be as suited for. laguna is narrow, fast, scary - not a great track for overtaking. which makes defending against a substantially faster rider a way more feasible proposition than it would be on the considerably wider brno track. laguna was also just before the summer holidays, which is kind of a great time to inflict a humiliating defeat on your opponent - you're making them sit with the defeat for a few weeks, rather than letting them wipe the slate clean a few days later. (some might say it's preferable to immediately have more races so you can strike while the other party is still vulnerable but, well, that kind of summer break gap is fantastic for lasting psychological damage.) plus, the mismatch between casey's and valentino's laguna record was such - the momentum casey had built up was so considerable - that absolutely nobody was expecting valentino to challenge for the victory. more detail on the pre-race chat here

biblical levels of over

so yeah. this is obviously easier said than done, but there's really no better race to win when the pre-race rhetoric reads like that. catalunya 2009 has a similar combination of circumstances that make it the ideal momentum switch race... like laguna, it's when valentino really really needed a win. unlike laguna, it's a circuit where valentino has an excellent record at - and has been known to win quite a few duels in his time (as well as lose a rather memorable one to casey two years ago). it's also a circuit where jorge is strong, and unlike with laguna it's no real surprise that the two of them will be fighting for victory. a good circuit for racing and crucially also one that is good for valentino's racing - obviously, it's the last corner overtake that lives on in everyone's minds, but valentino has made much use in his time of his ability to brake particularly deep into the infamous turn one. and of course, it is jorge's home circuit. after beating valentino at his home track at the last race, there is nothing jorge would have liked more than to win in front of his own fans. he's even got a special livery... his celebrations if he'd won that race would have been something to behold. no better time to beat him... even better that there was a moment when jorge will have thought he already had the race won... like casey, element of surprise - just at a different point of the weekend

so, onto the next step. going in with a plan. again, obviously valentino could not have foreseen either of his infamous overtakes unfolding exactly as they did - but it is a case where you can trace back the overtake itself to his intentions going into the race. it's not just a complete coincidence he happened to pull off these specific overtakes in the most dramatic manner possible in what happened to be very important races... in both cases, the overtakes were a logical consequence of valentino's pre-race planning. at laguna, valentino knew that he could not allow casey to get away in front. the entire race was built around the single principle that he had to discard his preferred approach of shadowing his opponents, and instead had to go all in on disrupting casey from the front. by the time the corkscrew overtake happens, lap four, it's also pretty clear where each rider is strong and where they are weak. for all the fighting between the pair of them, casey doesn't actually cross the line of any single lap in first position. that's because valentino knows that casey cannot be allowed to do so - with the ducati horsepower and casey's own skill, casey is inevitably stronger out of the final bend and into the first corner. if casey is allowed to lead there, it's basically game over. all the overtakes in that race between the pair of them happen in the bits of the track that are at or before the corkscrew - and the corkscrew is the last bit of the track where valentino has an actual edge over casey. so, if you've committed yourself to beating casey whatever happens, if you know that you cannot allow him to lead out of the final bend and you're basically on your last chance to prevent it, if you've committed yourself completely to that strategy... well, you're going to stick it on the inside of your opponent, come what may. obviously it still takes a lot of skill and luck for valentino to survive that off-track excursion, but it is essentially a more dramatic repeat of the overtake he executed on lap one. it's a consequence of actual strategy, not just spur of the moment genius

with catalunya, if anything it's even more straightforward than that - valentino tells reporters afterwards that he'd been visualising that final corner overtake in the week leading up to that race. obviously, he would have preferred not to be behind jorge at this point of the race but... well, he knew he had an ace up his sleeve, if he could just pull it off. and he knew he could pull it off, because he'd executed that exact move on casey two years before - as casey jokes about in the presser - just not on the final lap. obviously this is also a case of dramatic irony very much haunting jorge - who, for reasons that remain mysterious to me, went around the week before that race telling reporters that whoever was leading into that part of the track would have the race won. jorge's mental rigidity and his refusal to defend the line properly headed into a corner he assumed valentino would have no hope of overtaking him in is what cost him that race victory. so again, like with laguna, obviously this could very easily have not come off for valentino, obviously it could've gone pretty disastrously wrong. but also... well, valentino had thought about the possibility of needing that move before the race, he was mentally prepared, he'd already tried it out a couple of years earlier - it didn't just come completely out of nowhere

the next step is pretty simple. 'joker' refers to this clip of valentino talking about having bonuses... these moments each season where you can risk a lot and go beyond your limit. don't try your luck too often, but you've got to have a few times where you go that extra step. this obviously doesn't really make sense in terms of like,, tempting fate, that's not how probability work - but it is useful in terms of the underlying psychology. this way of allowing valentino to let go of any inhibitions, to ignore any considerations for his own safety, and instead make a deal with fate... these are the races where he will do whatever it takes to win and he trusts that fate will have his back. and yeah, various races that have been mentioned in this post must surely fall in this category. phillip island 2004, where he makes daring last lap overtakes in the penultimate round of the championship - if he crashes, he's going to have to try and wrap up the title at his bogey track. catalunya 2009 - that last corner overtake could easily, easily, easily have gone wrong, and left valentino in the extremely awkward position of having taking out both himself and his teammate to leave their chief rival with a cushier championship lead. both valentino and especially jorge have alluded to the risk of that move... yes, it's not discussed in quite the same terms as jerez 2005 or laguna 2008 - there was nothing wrong with the move, no contact, it was completely clean. but but that didn't make it any less risky

and the most obvious example is, of course, laguna 2008. valentino has straight-up admitted he was willing to do whatever it takes to stop casey from winning that race, which could easily have involved taking out both of them at a downright terrifying track. it's part of the reason why casey took so poorly to valentino's conduct - less than the actual moves, it is the mindset behind them that was so objectionable to casey. valentino made a bargain with the universe that he would ride without any fear or caution on a track that generally tended to make him quite nervous (didn't even think the corkscrew was suitable to walk down, mind you) - and it's that bargain that allowed him to throw the bike down a terrifying blind corner into the direct path of his title rival. which is all well and good, but. uh. casey didn't get to sign up for this

then you've got milking the moment, which is such a key element of immortalising these races. at sepang 2004, valentino has his nasty pre-planned sweeping celebrations to make fun of sete. at jerez 2005, it's all spontaneous - he's reacting to the animosity of the crowd and hamming it up with absolutely zero restraint. pumping his fist, waving at the crowd, jabbing his finger around... the drama of parc fermé, the fourth wall break to take the piss out of sete's injury en route to the podium, the performative celebrations to really stick it to the spaniards on the podium. the way valentino makes use of his celebrations as another weapon in the psychological warfare arsenal is discussed a bit in this post, including with a pretty lengthy section on the laguna 2008 celebrations. the key bit is that he already knew the lap four corkscrew overtake would be everyone's defining memory of the race - so that was the thing he immediately paid tribute to

the post also discusses how he behaves around casey in the immediate aftermath - how he just will not leave the poor bloke alone... it's something valentino doesn't really do with rivals who have just lost a race, he's not that type of confrontational character. which partly reflects the specific shape of his relationship with casey, but most importantly comes from an awareness that casey is not doing himself any favours with any of his post-race reactions. like, yes, valentino is clearly having fun teasing casey - but he also knows that casey is going to get shit for this behaviour, and the more of that is caught on camera the better. valentino even gets such a lovely rise out of casey when he interrupts casey's tv interview - giving us casey refusing valentino's handshake with cameras and microphones conveniently at hand - that he deploys the exact same tactic with jorge at catalunya 2009. to jorge's credit, for all that he clearly was very pissed off with valentino's celebrations, he manages to play it cool in front of the cameras and puts in one of his better performances as the gracious loser. which (beyond reflecting how valentino feels towards jorge vs casey) probably also helps to explain why valentino wasn't bothering him for the rest of the podium ceremony - it is jorge who pulls valentino off the podium to give him a proper hug, not vice versa

still, catalunya 2009 is in the same camp - because jorge and his team were pretty vocal in the 2010 title-winning documentary how irritating they found the triumphalism of the celebrations valentino and his team put on. again, it's valentino going full ham - yes, valentino likes his celebrations, but he does generally like to play it a bit more cool and jokey and above it all... not shaking his fist about so ferociously you worry he'll throw himself off the bike. there's also of course the lovely little touch of valentino securing his 99th win at catalunya 2009, a sign that the fates may actually for real be on his side -

- which, like with the corkscrew at laguna, is of course something valentino had the presence of mind to pay attention to. more discussion of this too in the 2008-10 jorge/valentino rivalry post

so yeah, milking the moment. making sure everyone remembers the race - and everyone remembers the best bit of that race. making sure it hurts as much as possible for the opponent, whether that takes the form of consistently hounding them or just being incredibly triumphalist in front of their home crowd. if possible, have a stab at letting them stitch themselves up as publicly as possible

might not be a lesson valentino learnt directly from how sete's reaction at jerez 2005 in parc fermé was seen as inadequate - but it's the kind of thing that does make you understand the importance of The Moment. these immediate reactions matter... valentino could play the gracious winner easily enough, but his rivals might well have been doomed whatever they did. sometimes it's about ensuring your opponents only have bad options, right?

and lastly. all of this would have been completely pointless, just an utter waste of time, if valentino had then gone off to crash in the next three races. this feels like one that's flirting with stating the obvious - yeah, no shit, it's better for you to keep up momentum after your big momentum switch race than to lose it again. but it is key! if you're making such a big fuss about your big dramatic win, then you've got to lock in and actually make them suffer... hurt the opponent when they're already bleeding etc etc. again, the 2004 playbook is instructive here - valentino promises sete won't win another race, and then he locks in to win the next three himself. one pretty comfortably after tormenting sete all weekend, one after a dramatic last lap battle, and the last at his bogey track (the final time he won there in his career). in 2009, this isn't all that spectacular - valentino wins the next race reasonably comfortably, but also... y'know, it's assen, he's good at assen, jorge has a more complicated record there. does allow him to secure his 100th win at the first time of asking. the other key moments that season is pulling off the sachsenring win by 0.099s (a margin he didn't commemorate but I'm sure he noticed), the misano win after the indy flopfest where he did the donkey ears celebrations, and doing such a good job phillip island pre-race that he managed to spook jorge into a first lap error. catalunya is the clear turning point that season, but valentino is also helped out by how casey becomes increasingly competitively irrelevant after that point. who knows how that season would have gone if casey, who obviously had not been psychologically affected by catalunya, had still been healthy. 2008 is more clear cut in that regard... I've just put out a post that discusses in plenty of detail how the immediate post-laguna stretch goes horrendously wrong for casey, but of course it is pretty notable that casey has his first ducati race crash at laguna and then immediately follows it up with another two out of the lead at brno and misano. it is also a span of races that is EXTREMELY relevant to the thesis of this post, since the writing around those races repeatedly pays direct tribute to the idea of valentino the storyteller:

or valentino the witch, whichever you'd prefer

as I repeatedly stressed in that post, there are absolutely other reasons why casey just happened to have that particular string of poor results - ones that have nothing to do with valentino's ability to exert pressure or cook up nasty spells. obviously, a big caveat in this entire discussion is that however you slice or dice it, the way all of this unfolded for valentino still involves a heavy helping of good fortune. but, well, you make your own luck!! valentino built a reputation for breaking his opponents off the back of putting a curse on sete - which means that by the time you get to casey, you've got people speculating about whether valentino is using black magic on the guy. it's a reputation valentino built on merit, but it's still one that acquired a kind of mythical status... and valentino was able to use that in its own right. those infamous skills of putting pressure on his opponents - ones that for a while there had extremely noticeably (and worryingly) not been working on casey. pick your fighter, a voice in your ear whispering to you mid-race or an invisible hand prompting you to make errors

and that, ladies and gentlemen, is how you write your own sports narratives. make your rivals despair in five quick and easy steps

IN CONCLUSION. obviously there's also other ways in which sete served as the prototype for later valentino rivalries - again, plenty of this blog has been dedicated to detailing the emotional repercussions of that feud and how it may have affected valentino's approach going forwards. but!! I wanted to take a different approach in this post and really just focus in on the actual sporting implications... how interesting and intricate momentum is in terms of its sports psychology, how adept valentino is at deliberately picking and choosing his moments to rewrite the narratives of a given season + rivalry. momentum is one of the most important psychological aspects of competition and obviously valentino is hardly the first athlete to be particularly skilled at twisting it to his advantage, but you have to give him credit for doing so in such a dramatic and also fun manner. not everyone can use curses to ruin their rivals

and yes, of course valentino did get lucky for some of these races to go so perfectly for him - you cannot plan the corkscrew overtake or that final corner catalunya drama, and both of them are so risky he would rather have avoided him. but on the other hand, yes, I still think there's enough evidence here to suggest he also made his own luck. very accomplished in using the psychology of competition to his advantage! and a lot of it did start with sete - the first rival against whom valentino wasn't just reacting. what valentino did to sete was more than that... it was about taking control of the narrative. a lot of what valentino did to his subsequent rivals, especially in the context of winning the 2008 and 2009 title fights, can be traced back to tools and tricks he first started wielding against sete. sete was the emotionally fraught trial run - what valentino did in 2008-09 was the actions of a man who had already mastered his craft

[murfpersonalblog]

IWTV S2 - Three spicy/spoilery reviews

The reviewers are just saying whatever they want, I guess! O_O

Here's my favorite bits from TheWrap, ComicBook, and IGN.

I've decided to mix and match them, comparing what they each say about similar themes/topics/reveals.

ELEVATING THE SOURCE MATERIAL

TELL IT! It's about adding DEPTH, y'all, not just a 1:1 page-to-screen.

Intellectual horror, instead of psychological horror--fascinating.

An "even more authentic adaptation" -- WE BEEN KNEW!!! I roll my eyes at book stans who hate on the show, acting like the movie was more accurate just cuz it was set during slavery times with white actors. 🙄 Like PLEASE, there's so much missing from the movie, or glossed over, or straight up changed, that the show-antis just demonstrate how shallow they are when their every attack hinges on the timeline/race/age changes. Cry harder.

MORE elevated than Season 1--you love to see it.

Yaaas, bring on the petty melodramatic mess, and fierce performances! 👏

CLAUDIA & MADELEINE

Because Bailey used profanity to convey her agony being a woman trapped in an adolescent's body in S1 too, I'm assuming Delainey will just cuss more? But cussing is all over the show, so I don't get it.

Everyone keeps raving about Roxane as Madeleine, but they've been SO CLOSE-LIPPED about her scenes, and it's KILLING me. 😭

"Deeply willful around Louis"--yeah, we saw a glimpse of that in the trailer; it's what he deserves. Give 'em hell, Claudia!

And yeah, she's PISSED that they cast her as Baby LouLou--imagine, being infantalized, and given the name of the father you've already gone through so much to emancipate yourself from as a "Brother" instead of "Daddy Lou." 😒 Eff Louis--where's Claudia's scythe at!?

LOUIS / LOUMAND

"Nonsense--" TheWrap isn't holding back a single punch huh?

"dating show contestants feigning authenticity to clumsily present themselves in the best light--" oof. 💀

Holy god; "begging the question...if Louis has just traded one abuser for another" GO AWF! 🚩🚩🚩

DANIEL / DEVIL'S MINION

Wow, so this must refer to Episode 5 from the episode titles list released recently. "Genuine horror".... 😈

RIP. 💀 Youngmaniel might see some action, but Oldmaniel's "utterly allergic and adversarial;" OOF. 💀💀

ARMAND

They keep saying petty. 😅 These messy queens are a trip!

"Far more powerful" -- I am SEATED~! I wanna see THE coven master!

Yaaas, come through Children of Satan/Darkness acolyte! 😈

"Scarred and transformed by the same man" -- they sound like war veterans. U_U

LESTAT / LOUSTAT

"the show's primary villain--" say it louder. Book stans need to stop projecting post-IWTV Lestat the hero/protagonist/MC into the narrative that LOUIS is telling, as a guy struggling to get over his ex.

"There to berate him for his poor choices--" this tracks with the trailer released today, too, where the producers said Dream-Stat would "pass judgement" on Louis' pisspoor actions.

PRODUCTION (Sets, Costumes, etc)

Yes, IWTV S1 was absolutely gorgeous; their attention to detail was immaculate. And so far it looks like S2 is gonna be just as nice. I REALLY like what I've seen of the Threatre's aesthetic.

THEATRE DES VAMPIRES & SANTIAGO

I freaking love this. XD

Agreeing with him about WHAT though? 🤨 That Louis & Claudia are hiding things? Or that they deserve to die because of it? (Especially since Lestat is OBVIOUSLY not actually dead, so what "crime/rules" are they actually breaking, Lord Kangaroo Court?)

TALAMASCA & CRITIQUES

Thank you lord god kamisama flying spaghetti monster he's a Talamascan, not another secret vampire.

But now I'm nervous, thanks to the ComicBook review:

Uh oh. The Talamasca feels forced & out of place. 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

The AVENGERS INITIATIVE. 💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀

But they say it feels like "Daniel's being recruited--" YES PLEASE. 🙏 If Daniel's not gonna be a vampire, at least let him be a Talamascan. Ain't no way he can return to the mundane world after all this.

My BIGGEST complaint about IWTV as a franchise is its tenuous connection to the Immortals Universe. AMC is dropping the ball hard on creating an ARCU--Anne Rice's Cinematic Universe. There are SO MANY immortals & supernaturals we should've BEEN seen in S1, walking the streets of NOLA. I will say this every time: Oncle Vervain Mayfair should've been brought in from the OG pilot script. We should've seen Louis go to him for gris-gris before the poker game, and introduce Lestat to Vervain as a practitioner of what Louis thought was "European voodoo." Also: we should've seen Lasher. There should've been a scene where the Mayfairs told the vampires to GTFO their territory, and keep their hunting grounds on the other side of town. Like, the Mayfair Witches show sucks like you wouldn't believe, it's so stupid (looks gorgeous though), but the WORLDBUILDING is ripe for the taking! And AMC did squat with it!

Like, tbh, I don't see the point of a whole Talamasca show, and if it's handled by Esta & the gang from MW, then I don't wanna see it--I WILL, ofc, but I won't WANT to. Especially since we haven't seen any ghosts. ISTG, PLEASE have Merrick Mayfair in Ep7 or Ep8--not only will that bridge IWTV with MW, but it can perfectly lead to Blackwood Farm., while keeping the threads between vampires, ghosts, AND the Taltos (if they're determined to do a Lestat/Rowan crossover from Blood Canticle 🤢🤮).

I was wondering why so many reviews were giving it 4/5 or 9/10, like wtf are y'all being so stingy for!? But if this is the problem, then I'm not surprised, I've been complaining about it the whole time.

[electronickingdomfox]

"Uhura's Song" review

Novel from 1985, by Janet Kagan. I have mixed feelings about this book. For starters, if you're looking for a story focused on Uhura, this isn't it. She plays an important role in the very first chapters, but then she goes to the background, and doesn't have more protagonism than, say, Chekov.

Anyway, misleading title and cover aside, there are good things about it. The culture of the Sivaoans (some kind of anthropomorphic cats) is well fleshed and described in detail. Little by little, we learn a lot about this people: their social structure and rites of passage, the importance they place on names and oral tradition, their linguistic quirks, taboos and legends, etc. By the last third of the novel, when the crew goes on a quest along the main Sivaoan characters, we've come to understand and care about them. So yeah, as an exploration of an alien culture, it's alright.

But on the other hand, there's an incredible amount of filler in this novel. It's about twice as long as the average TOS novel of this era, but a great chunk of it is just pages and pages of the Enterprise crew doing cute things and playing with cats. With little development in-between. The narrative has a tendency to overindulge in the most insignificant events. Sometimes, after several pages of this, I'd stop and think "Are they really STILL talking about that!? It wasn't so interesting to begin with!" Granted, the main mystery is engaging enough to keep going: I wanted to know what had happened between the Sivaoans and their distant relatives thousands of years ago; and I wanted to know how they'd find the cure for the plague that's at the core of the mission, and what had songs to do with it. Those things kept me going... but with a lot of struggle to wade through the fluff.

Another problem is the guest character, Dr. Evan Wilson, who's not just a doctor, she's a... (insert anything you can think of here). No, really, whatever you can do, be sure she can do it ten times better: she beats Sulu at fencing and Spock at computers, she's a better engineer than Scotty, she's the best friend of everyone and is impossible not to love her (including the Sivaoans), she will develop a new vaccine and then kill a dangerous beast with a spear in the same breath, all the time being "super funny". Even when she's not present, other characters' conversations tend to gravitate towards her and comment on how awesome she is. (For those that get "The Simpsons" references: she's a Poochie, literally). But it's not just that she's a blatant Mary Sue; after all, a Mary Sue may fulfill an important role in a story, provide the plot or be the key to solve a conflict. The main problem with Dr. Wilson is that I see no reason why she needs to be in the story to begin with. She just steals McCoy's role as chief medical officer, and doesn't offer anything that couldn't have been done by other character (like Uhura, for example). There's some mystery about her identity, but its resolution doesn't explain why she's important for the story either.

To summarize, this novel has an interesting premise, but would have been much better without Dr. Wilson, and cutting corners on the fluff. If you want to read an actual Uhura story, go get "The Tears of the Singers" instead... Unless you absolutely need lots of cats, I don't know.

Spoilers under the cut:

The Eeiauoans (some sort of cat people) are being ravaged by the worst outbreak so far of a deadly disease: ADF syndrome. Sick Eeiauoans start losing all their fur, bend in pain, and in the final stages, enter a coma and die. At first thought to be exclusive to this race, the disease starts propagating among humans, and Chapel is one of the first to fall sick. So while McCoy battles the disease planetside, Uhura tries to find a solution in the Enterprise. She's good friends with Sunfall, an Eeiauoan dancer, and suspects there are clues about a cure, hidden in the ancient songs that Sunfall passed to her.

Thus, Uhura starts working with Spock to analyze the songs. Some of them seem to allude to a different origin for the Eeiauoans, as if they were colonists or exiles from another planet. And Uhura believes the cure is to be found in their planet of origin; one of the songs mentions similar symptoms as ADF, but unfortunately, the part about the cure was cut out. Speculating about some astronomical references in the songs, they narrow down the search to a certain quadrant. But the Eeiauoans refuse to help, or even acknowledge this extra-planetary origin, as if they were hiding something. Finally one of them, desperate about her sickness, confesses that the planet's name is Sivao, which helps Spock and Uhura to pinpoint the place. And considering how difficult was this search, and how vague the references in the songs, they solve this part of the problem with relative ease.

McCoy is left with the medical team in the planet, so Dr. Wilson takes his place in the Enterprise. Once in Sivao, Kirk, Wilson, Spock, Uhura and Chekov beam down to contact the aliens. They're very similar to the Eeiauoans, suggesting a common ancestry, though their language is a bit different. And unlike the Eeiauoans, they still live as nomadic tribes. They're amicable enough at first, but as soon as Kirk mentions the Eeiauoans and the plague, they become really hostile, and refuse to talk about the subject. Just as happened with their relatives, the Sivaoans don't even recognize the existence of the others. Nonetheless, the crew stays with them for several days, in the hope that they reveal something eventually. Uhura trades songs with the local bard, Chekov builds shelters and plays with the kids, Wilson befriends Brightspot (the local chief's young daughter) and Jinx (a kind of outcast among her people). They also discover that the Sivaoans have perfect pitch when singing, and perfect memory of events, so they don't need books. But although some Sivaoans seem to be itching to help them, they still can't acknowledge the existence of the Eeiauoans. Besides, a description of ADF syndrome doesn't ring any bells with the town's doctor.

Meanwhile in Eeiauo, McCoy has contracted ADF too, but a new treatment developed by Wilson before her departure can slow down the symptoms, though it's not a cure. (And there's a big mood whiplash here, since Kirk and co. are having so much fun with the cats, while McCoy is having the shittiest time of his life...).

In the Sivaoan village, the crew finally gets one of the natives to speak, even if she can only confess it to the tricorder: two thousand years ago, their civilization split between a technologically-advanced one, and a tribal one; but technology and urban dwelling brought disease and the extinction of several species, so that part of the Sivaoans was forced to leave the planet, and establish a colony in Eeiauo. The two branches have tried to ignore each other ever since, out of guilt. However, if the crew wishes to learn more, they'll have to undergo a rite of passage to be considered real adults for the Sivaoans. So the crew, together with Brightspot and Jinx (who was ostracized for having failed the rite several times) go out on a quest. They need to traverse a dangerous part of forest to the nearest village.

For the following days, the crew fights against wild animals with primitive weapons, survive a fall into the river, and must take care of Chekov, who has fallen suddenly ill with ADF. It turns out that Chekov was specially sensitive to the disease, and he will die even before reaching the next village. Then Uhura decides to sing again the song about the cure, but this time varying the pitch, in case that makes Brightspot and Jinx recognize it. Effectively, one of the variations matches a Sivaoan song about some mild chidren disease. This way, they find out that this minor disease in Sivao, has evolved into the lethal ADF among other populations. Chekov caught the disease because he was playing a lot with the cat kids. Once they know this, Jinx quickly concocts a cure with local plants, and Chekov starts recovering.

After finishing the quest, the crew is able to confront the local chieftain as adults, and several Sivaoans choose to go with them to Eeiauo, to help with the cure (among them, Brightspot and Jinx). Everyone is cured and vaccinated, and it's time for Dr. Wilson to depart. Spock, who had grown increasingly suspicious about Wilson, starts investigating her records. And he discovers she's not the real Dr. Wilson, but some kind of "space pirate" or benevolent trickster, who goes around impersonating other people and helping here and there... Okaaay. In her last message, Wilson challenges Spock to keep searching for her across the galaxy (but I'm pretty sure Spock will have forgotten everything by the next novel).

Spirk Meter: 2/10*. There's the usual mind-link between Kirk and Spock, so the latter is certain that the Captain's alive after falling into a river. Kirk is often amused by Spock's idiosyncracies. And one night, he wakes up from a nightmare, to find Spock's "reassuring form" next to the fire. Also, Kirk teases Spock saying that "some of my best friends are devious- isn't that right, Mr. Spock?" However, there's only timid examples like these. Compared with other novels, there's not much more.

A bit of McKirk as well. McCoy is reaaally happy to have Kirk back in the end. And Kirk comes to a sleeping, sick McCoy (who's cuddling with the cat kids; you know, the ones that carried the infection... WHY!?), and wakes him gently to tell him everything about their adventure.

*A 10 in this scale is the most obvious spirk moments in TOS. Think of the back massage, "You make me believe in miracles", or "Amok Time" for example.

Tagged: @agenderlessrat

[piaspintogf]

Worth it - pt. 2

The decision to break free from the toxic relationship with Mason weighed heavily on your heart, and the night you finally mustered the courage to confront him was fraught with tension.

The clock struck midnight as you sat across from Mason in the dimly lit restaurant, the flickering candlelight casting shadows on the strained lines of his face. The anniversary dinner that had been a symbol of your commitment now felt like a somber reflection of what once was.

"Mason, we need to talk," you began, your voice steady but laced with a vulnerability that echoed the cracks in your heart.

He looked up from his plate, an indifferent expression masking the turmoil within. "What's there to talk about? Can't you see I'm tired of fighting?"

The air hung heavy with unspoken words as you took a deep breath.

"Mason, this isn't working. We've reached a point where the pain outweighs the love. I can't keep living like this, and I deserve better."

He scoffed, a bitter smile playing on his lips.

"Better? You think there's someone else?"

Your heart skipped a beat, but you held your ground.

"It's not about anyone else. It's about us, or what's left of us. I can't continue down this path of heartache and betrayal. I deserve a love that uplifts, not one that tears me apart."

Mason's indifference morphed into anger.

"You're making a mistake, Y/N. You'll regret this."

Tears welled in your eyes as you pushed back the pain, steeling yourself against his emotional manipulation.

"I can't keep sacrificing my well-being for a relationship that's become toxic. It's over, Mason."

As you stood to leave, the weight of the decision settled on your shoulders. The restaurant's ambiance, once a backdrop to romantic evenings, now bore witness to the end of a chapter. The door closed behind you, and with each step away, you felt a mix of relief and sorrow.

___________________________________________

In the aftermath of your decision to end things with Mason, the drama unfolded like a storm. Mason, fueled by anger and wounded pride, confronted you one evening.

"You think you can just leave me for that Torres guy? After everything we've been through?" he shouted, his face contorted with a mix of rage and disbelief.

Your heart raced as you faced the person who had been a significant part of your life for years.

"Mason, it's not about him. It's about us, about the pain I can't keep enduring."

His eyes narrowed, and a bitter laugh escaped his lips.

"You'll regret this, Y/N. No one will love you like I did."

But Ferran stood by your side, a pillar of support amidst the storm. The drama escalated when Mason, unable to accept the breakup, started spreading rumors and lies about you and Ferran.

Social media became a battleground, with hurtful comments and accusations flying from all directions. Ferran, being a public figure, found himself in the center of the storm, facing scrutiny and criticism from fans and the media.

Amidst the chaos, you and Ferran clung to each other, finding solace in the love that had blossomed from the ruins of your past. Ferran's unwavering support became a shield against the storm, and together you weathered the drama, emerging stronger than ever.

Mason's attempts to tarnish your reputation only fueled the fire of determination within you. You decided to take control of the narrative, addressing the rumors with grace and truth. Slowly, public opinion shifted, and the storm began to subside.

Through it all, Ferran stood tall, his commitment to you unwavering. The drama had tested your relationship, but it had also proven the depth of Ferran's love and your resilience.

Months passed, and the drama surrounding Mason faded into the background. In its place, a calm settled over your life, allowing you to focus on the love that had prevailed. Ferran continued to be your anchor, and the happy ending you had envisioned became a reality.

As you walked hand in hand with Ferran, the city lights twinkling below, you realized that the drama had been a necessary storm—a tumultuous chapter that paved the way for the serenity and joy you now shared with the man who had truly captured your heart.

The end.

Pt. 1

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Hiii! Hope you liked this and sorry for taking so long, i literally have no idea how to end this but i think this turned out good.

(Its a bit longer than the other part cuz i didnt want to make 3 parts jeje)

[dailyadventureprompts]

What of vampire races? Like there's a primordial "source" that represent the abstract ideas of "being a vampire", and it splits into different forms?

There's a vampire infection that creates the dramatic, domineering, "superior race" type of vampires. There's a bloodline infection that creates the bestial, or chaotic vampires. There's a bloodline creating the hyper intelligent, 'prophetic" vampires that use science or mystics to gain knowledge. These "types" of vampire characters can be diversified as different bloodline infections, which creates the vampire's with different motivations to ....*be vampires*.

Why do some vampires want to continue progressing in their inecion till they reach a sort of evolution, while some just like to be constant beasts, while others are basically forced to feel like they're starving all the time which is why they hunt humanoids? Why are some vampires only able to sustain themselves from humanoid blood (even it only being humans sometimes), while others can mix blood and are shown to just like draining people of their blood? Why are some vampires more scientific, while others are using dark magic and behave more supernatural?

Maybe all the "visions" various vampire groups or lineages have of a vampiric "holy land" and Utopia, are memories of a "blood world". Where their specific vampire infection,is able to thrive the way it behaves. This "race" idea, isn't involving physical body morphology nor does it need to separate infected individuals of other races and "born vampires" (however that works in your story), from eachother. But its extending vampirism to a bigger conspiracy. Of an extraterrestrial infectious existence, that has their own "home worlds".

The cosmic history of those vampire bloodlines and "blood worlds" affecting eachother, or other races of beings can be to your advantage. It also provides vampires identity outside of an individual lineage of a specific species.

Friend, this is a d&d blog. If you want vampire the masquerade/requiem try the place down the block.

Jokes aside I find it funny that whenever you get an intersection of nerds and vampire groupies you end up with this idea of "superior bloodlines" that fundamentally separate vampires from what makes them narratively relevant.

I'll probably do a monsters reimagined about it later, but as undead vampires are only interesting when you consider how their vampirism reflects who they were in life, and how their nature as a bloodsucking monster relates to the themes of the story they're in.

I understand the desire to identify with monstrous outsiders, but when you distort the concept by piling in more and more powers and talking about how special and cool you they are, you dilute what makes vampires fun and just make them into goth-elves.

A vampire story that isn't in some way based in tragedy isn't really a vampire story at all, now is it?

[itsblasttothepast]

I can't stand it anymore, I don't know if it's better to cry or laugh Have you seen the offcial F1 page? I'll post you quotes:

"Mexico up next

Ferrari looking strong, Red Bull still struggling in race trim and as for McLaren - will they be stronger in the high altitude of Mexico City? Mercedes might come back into the mix too, but all eyes will be on Perez to see if he can have a stronger race on home soil." First part is okay, all truth and all but what was next?

"He delivered points today, but lost out to Russell who started from the pit lane and could only come home seventh. And that isn't enough for Red Bull in the constructors', with Ferrari and McLaren delivering bigger hauls with both drivers." Okay, P7 isn't the best, if the Quali didn't end the way it did maybe he would do better but it wasn't the worst. Pointing out (again) why RBR needs both dirvers (as if Checo was just sitting in that seat doing nothing) and the fact that George (who did amazing) started from a pitlane - as if it means Sergio was worse than all of those drivers who finished below P7????? What? And then of course we have the narrative of RBR looking for a new driver: "Hats off to Lawson in his first race back for RB, and first race of any kind since this time last year. He brushed off some rust yesterday in the Sprint, and then looked the real deal today. P19 on the grid to P9 at the flag, and two valuable pints for RB to keep them in striking distance of Haas in the fight for sixth." Yes he did great, yes it's amazing that he basically has no practice and does this well but guess what? There is nothing written about Yuki anywhere, because you know, his defending masterclass today and the way he was out for blood was somehow worse than Liam's for... reasons I guess? I know I might be reading too much into it but please, isn't it weird that even with all the drama between Max and Lando it's not them F1 "journalists" are talking about but Sergio and RBR?

Oh anon, I understand you completely! it's crappy that Checo is always the focus of the press negativity. Lewis abandoned, Fernando dropped places, and many more made mistakes, but Checo is the solely focus of screwing up things.

As long as Checo stays at RBR (or any big team, if he changes to Ferrari or Mercedes, I feel it would be the same, perhaps less toxic) he will be the main focus to criticize, even with all the other drama going around the drivers.

And I just read that Horner warned Checo for the next race, like he does in every race, and yet he doesn't change his car or makes the settings he needs. At least Checo speaks about it now, and tells things as they are.

I'm still hoping he moves to another team (Sauber is taking his sweet time announcing his other driver), and be free from the nightmare that RBR is.

[darkstar225]

Twice's 10th member gets the girls falling in love with her

A/N: I got an ask on Tumblr and I loved writing it, ty and I'm sorry for taking some time but studying sucks. This one is being posted as thanks for 24k views on Wattpad :D

The request: Hi! Can I request on Twice 10th member? Twice always treat 10th member as their baby sister, if you comfortable can you make where Twice start feeling different toward 10th member? Like they see/treating 10th member as lover and want to be her girlfriend something like that. Btw, 10th member's physical start to change like they became little bit muscular and taller than Tzuyu also her voice became little deep bcs of puberty. Have nice day :)

PS: Tysm for everyone who reads what I write, I hope I can bring a smile to your faces every time I post! I'd like to thank whoever sent me this idea 'cause I loved to write it <3

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In the vibrant heart of Seoul, amidst the urban hum of energy and dreams, the enchanting realm of TWICE thrived. Nine radiant stars illuminated stages and captured hearts, but the story was evolving, as the 10th member and maknae, Y/N, incorporated her own narrative into it.

Y/N, the newest addition to TWICE, had entered their lives with a captivating smile and quiet confidence, becoming an instant favourite. Her journey with the group had been a mix of shared laughter, tears, and unforgettable moments. However, something was shifting now, both within her and among her fellow members.

Subtle changes in how the others regarded Y/N started rippling through the group's dynamic. At first, it was easy to dismiss as imagination. Sana, known for her liveliness, now blushed at Y/N's mere presence. Dahyun's playfulness had taken on a more tender touch, often finding reasons to make physical contact. Jihyo, the leader, couldn't help but steal glances imbued with a depth beyond friendship.

Y/N's physical transformation, a natural progression of growth, was hard to overlook. Her muscles had refined into sculpted strength, proof of her unwavering dedication. A growth spurt had rendered her slightly taller than even the (once) giant Tzuyu. And her voice, now tinged with a deeper resonance, marked the passage of time and the changes that came with it.

Within TWICE's close-knit circle, these changes weren't just mere observations. They ignited a quiet revolution of emotions. Sana, usually the group's naughty soul, found herself mesmerized by Y/N's focus, the way her powerful arms moved with purpose. Chaeyoung, the artistic heart, found herself drawn to sketch Y/N repeatedly, capturing the essence of her newfound strength.

Tensions brewed beneath the surface. Tzuyu, who was typically unshakable, wrestled with a pang of jealousy whenever the youngest drew others' attention. She couldn't deny the admiration that stirred whenever her dongsang showcased her physical accomplishments. The sisterhood that had happened at first was evolving, and emotions were its unknown territory.

Y/N sensed the shift (girly isn't that dumb, neither blind), though she couldn't quite grasp it. The exchanges with her fellow members held an electric intensity she couldn't explain. Nayeon, the outspoken one, stumbled over words when Y/N was near. Jeongyeon, the protective sister, found herself lost in Y/N's eyes during conversations.

One evening, as the sun painted the sky in hues of amber, tension reached a breaking point. Mina, the embodiment of grace, approached Y/N with a tentative smile. 

Mina - Honey, can we talk?

Caught off guard, Y/N nodded. 

Y/N - Sure, Mina unnie. What's on your mind?

Mina took a deep breath, fingers fiddling with her shirt hem. 

Mina - Lately, I've been feeling something different. My heart races when I see you, and I can't explain it.

Realization dawned on Y/N. 

Y/N - You mean...?

Mina nodded, cheeks flushed. 

Y/N - I think I might be falling for you, darling.

The confession hung, palpable. Y/N's mind raced. One by one, members stepped forward, confessing their own emotions. Momo's sincerity, Sana's directness, Nayeon's vulnerability, each revelation stripped away barriers.

Vulnerability spawns honesty. Emotions spilt forth, exposing the intricate combo of feelings that had appeared. Momo, Sana, Nayeon, Jeongyeon, all of them laid bare their hearts, revealing the depth of their affection.

The moment shattered the building tension, giving way to an overwhelming mix of gratitude, surprise, and uncertainty. The group's dynamics had shifted irrevocably, and the path ahead was uncertain.

In the following days, Y/N embarked on heart-to-heart conversations, learning the extent of her members' feelings (even if she engaged with none of them). Each confession was a unique melody of emotions, some songs of love, some poems of admiration, and others yearning for undefined connection.

As the group navigated these uncharted waters, their bond proved resilient. Laughter blended with tears, and gradually, the dynamics found a new equilibrium. Y/N's presence had redefined the group, yet their sisterhood remained unbroken.

TWICE's sweetheart's journey with TWICE continued, marked by newfound understanding. Love, which had simmered beneath the surface, now danced openly in their interactions, enriching their shared experiences (created a lot of ships). As Y/N stood tall, strong, and confident, her place in TWICE was secure. Not just as the 10th member and their cute maknae, but as a cherished inhabitant of each member's heart. And this made all the members have only one thought:

We love our dear youngest.

A/N: I apologise for any errors, English is not my first language. Pls, let me know if there's something wrong, ty for reading <3