#2008 and 2016 were turning points

[somethingusefulfromflorida]

If the tables were turned, if a Democratic president were ignoring the Supreme Court and disappearing right-wing activists, we would be in the middle of a civil war right now. There would have been zero hesitation from red states to formally unite and declare themselves the "legitimate" government (they wouldn't secede, they would say that the president and his enablers in Congress were rogue and lead an internal fight against them). World leaders would currently be taking sides, there would be a Wikipedia article about the constitutional crisis and competing claims to the presidency, competing claims to the nuclear chain of command, the joint chiefs would coup and march on the White House. But that's not where we're at, and we never will be. Blue states will never unite, they will never petition our allies for support against the regime, they will never openly rebel against the system; instead they will slowly fall to fascism, one by one, accepting the state of affairs and offering nominal opposition until they've been shut out completely. "We do not agree with what is happening, so you need to get out and vote to stop it! Oh, the fascists won the vote? They flipped the state houses and are enshrining their power forever? Well, maybe they'll let us try again in two years and you can vote even harder!"

[wilwheaton]

Democratic donors — from bundlers to small dollar donors — say they are still angry about the election results and uninspired by anything their side has put forward since then. “I’ll be blunt here: The Democratic Party is f‑‑‑ing terrible. Plain and simple,” one major Democratic donor said. “In fact, it doesn’t get much worse.” A second donor was equally as pointed. “They want us to spend money, and for what? For no message, no organization, no forward thinking. … The thing that’s clear to a lot of us is that the party never really learned its lesson in 2016. They worked off the same playbook and the same ineffective strategies and to what end?” Much of the consternation among the donor community stems from the unprecedented 2024 election cycle, where many felt misled by the party and former President Biden’s reelection campaign. Until the Democratic debate in June, donors and fundraisers were led to believe Biden could once again defeat Trump, even as many had serious reservations about it.

Angry Democratic donors turn off the flow of money

When the consultants forced Governor Walz to be a Generic Democrat, when they forced him to stop talking about how weird and weak and lame Trump and Vance are, that’s when I knew we were fucked.

We need to get a bus, put these consultants who have been losing elections since 2008 on it, and let James Carville drive it away forever.

[keepthedelta]

hi, do you think lewis and nico were really best friends at some point? whether it was in 2013, 2014, 2015 or 2016? bc i was seeing some blogs that they do not think they were really that good of friends, but the way they did hurt each other, and hurt themselves in 2015 and 2016 really screams "you were my best friend and u betrayed me " kind of thing

i mean, as adults maybe not so much, but as children absolutely.

one quality of both nico and lewis that i personally think is really really important to them and their characters is that they were both very lonely little boys. lewis grew up as a mixed race child from a working class background moving between the households of his divorced parents in the notoriously welcoming, racially equally, class blind nation of england. he faced racial abuse from grown adults as an incredibly young child at remote control car events (and i do mean young, like 5 years old) and took up martial arts as a child to learn how to defend himself from bullies. nico grew up on the opposite end of the spectrum as the beloved only child of a millionare formula one world champion, and spent a lot of his early childhood travelling with his parents. he's said before that because of this he was very lonely in his early childhood, as he didn't really know any other children, and he couldn't even really connect with an entire section of his family because he was never taught finnish. then, when he did go to school and meet other children he didn't quite fit in there. he was too awkward, too pretty, too nerdy. it wasn't that he had no friends, but he didn't have many, and he was bullied a lot by other children who would stick things in his hair and hold him down, and because the adults did nothing, he had to learn how to deal with it himself.

so their early lives, although very different, share the quality of loneliness and isolation, and being excluded by their peers. this continued when they began karting. lewis was ostracised because of his race and his class (and almost certainly because he was much better than them and they were jealous) and nico was ostracised because he had a famous and successful father, because he was pretty and awkward (and again, because he was better than a lot of them, and there was a lot of jealousy involved). from the very first time they raced together, it was lewis and nico out way ahead of everyone else, peers as both racers and lonely children. so much of their bond as children came from being lonely and excluded by others, but in each other they finally found a friend.

the first time lewis ever came to monaco was to visit nico. he has said multiple times how visiting nico, seeing how the rosbergs (and other monaco residents) lived became the foundation for the life that he wanted to live and has since chosen to live. when he moved to monaco in 2012/2013, he moved into the same building as nico, which is also the same building as nico's childhood apartment (he just moved into another unit in the same building when he turned 18), therefore the exact same building that lewis first stayed in when he came to visit nico.

i think it's fair to say that they weren't necessarily best friends during their adulthood. after karting they went into separate single seater series (lewis to formula renault in the uk, nico to formula bmw in germany) and although they spent a year in f3 together in 2004, they were in separate teams and developed other relationships along the way. but i don't think you can say they weren't friends. lewis went on holiday with the rosbergs when he and nico were 17, at least a year after they stopped karting. there are photos of him partying with nico and vivian, who got together when they were 18. he and nico went on holiday with adrian sutil after they had begun in formula one. their reaction to their first shared podium in 2008 is not the reaction of people who are not friends. they literally did interviews talking about their friendship. when lewis moved to monaco, if he didn't have food in the house he would go upstairs to nico and vivian and eat with them. they might not have been best friends by that point, but they were absolutely still friends in some sense of the word.

to me, one of the major reasons why that silver war time period reads so much of "being betrayed by your best friend" is because lewis and nico were formative friends. the closeness may not have been the same all the way to the end, but it was the foundation for who each of them became. two lonely little boys who filled in the cracks of their lives with each other because it was the first time, at least in racing, that someone else was actually nice to them. lewis's dad still has photos of lewis and nico as teenagers and voluntarily brings up that time of their lives and the importance of it even after everything that went down. nico once got given an old karting magazine that had him and lewis on the cover and immediately turned all nostalgic and wistful. lewis has repeatedly said that karting with nico was the best time of his life.

as people, everything that we are is fundamentally a collection of memories and experiences and reactions to those moments. we learn and grow, and none of us are the same when we're thirty as we are when we're thirteen. but if you're thirty and the person that you're fighting against, even just professionally, was someone who helped make you who you are by being nice to you when you were thirteen when no one else was nice to you, hurting them is always going to hurt you because they are a part of you, and you are a part of them.

[qqueenofhades]

re your tags on that last post, you could say he was...biden his time

BA DUMP TSHH.

I think that everyone, having gotten through the initial 24 hours of rage, fear, terror, confusion, anger, and frustration, is coming around to the idea that this was possibly a good thing and has undoubtedly given the Democratic ticket a much-needed jolt of energy. There are still all the very valid conversations to be had about the sway of a tiny group of billionaire donors, the media and Anonymous Democratic Sources bullying, the decision to torch Biden when they could so easily (so! easily!!!) have done it to Trump at any time and have clearly decided to go FULLY into the tank for him instead. This has many worrisome implications for democracy, and it's not something to be celebrated. All of that is still very much true.

However, now that we have had concrete evidence of the party immediately cohering around Kamala and the grassroots donors busting down the door to give her money, it may also turn out that this was a very wise political jiu-jitsu move by a very crafty political veteran like Biden. As the post I just reblogged pointed out, he did it AFTER the GOP convention, when the Republicans had already locked in (by any reasonable metric) a terrible, terrible ticket. It makes the Democrats look like the ones responsive to the American people demanding a younger and more mentally "with it" candidate (no matter how obvious the slurs about ageism were in regard to Biden when Trump is literally THREE YEARS YOUNGER and far more obviously scrambled). It opens all the excitement and historic firsts of Obama in 2008, it gives the perfect "Prosecutor vs. Felon" tagline that's really easy to run with and stick in people's minds, it is beautiful revenge for all Trump's horrible sexist behavior in 2016 (and really, his whole life) and it gives the Democrats the narrative, if they can FUCKING STICK TOGETHER AND STOP STABBING EACH OTHER IN THE BACK. Now we get to hear about Kamala's running mate, Kamala's plans, feel-good pieces about how she appeals to youth, women/people of color, etc. etc. ALL THAT IS GOOD.

I think/hope the DNC will now be a massive celebration of Biden, who after all came out of retirement when he was already old to take on Trump, beat him, deliver an incredibly successful presidency, and pass the torch on to Kamala. I saw some criticism of Obama yesterday for not endorsing her immediately, but what I read is that he/the other Democratic big beasts (Pelosi, Schumer, etc) want to be a uniting figure with an endorsement of the final candidate, if there was a contested primary beforehand. Thank fuck, it doesn't look like there will be, but it also means that they might wait until the DNC before openly endorsing her. Now, I am still angry at the Biden knifing that all these three were complicit in to some degree, BUT I also have no doubt that if/when Kamala is confirmed as the nominee, they will line up behind her to endorse her and her VP pick. I have seen Mark Kelly, Roy Cooper, etc as possible picks (since alas, she will probably have to pick a straight white man; Kelly would be replaced in the Senate by Democratic AZ governor Katie Hobbs; Cooper is term-limited as governor in NC and might help us target that state for a flip). But what is number one most important is that we support her and whoever she DOES choose. I have also heard that she is already in the process of vetting picks and this is exciting news.

I am thrilled to vote for a woman for POTUS the second time in a few years, I think she has a real shot at winning, and I am heartened by how the base has rallied to Kamala in 24 hours. Let's fucking go. As my new office decoration says:

[felassan]

Mark Darrah YouTube video: 'BioWare's 30th Anniversary. What I Remember from 3 Decades'

Video description:

BioWare turned 30 on February 1st. Can i remember something from every year they existed? Can I do it in less then 3 hours?

[source]

Mark Darrah recently released this YouTube video in which he goes through thirty years of BioWare, it's definitely worth a watch.

Some notes and quotes from the video under the cut. In places it goes into the behind-the-scenes of DA4 development.

In 2005 and 2006, Mark Darrah was working on Jade Empire 2, which would ultimately become Revolver. In the early days JE2 was seen as a direct sequel to JE. About halfway through the year there was a pivot to moving it into a modern setting. Originally it was 'Jade Modern', set in a modern world that existed if you had taken the secret ending of JE and agreed with the Emperor. But over time it shifted to be a different setting that had nothing to do with JE

Mark: "I guess if you really wanted to try you could make the argument that because Sonic Chronicles shipped in 2008 and DA:O didn't ship until 2009, that actually DA:O actually shipped using the Sonic Chronicles dialogue system"

Mark: "At the end of 2009, I think it was the last day we were working before the Christmas break, that's the time when the leadership of the DA franchise had the meeting where we decided that we were going to make DA2, that we were going to essentially jump on the grenade that was being placed in front of BioWare and try to fill the revenue gap that was left by SW:TOR [slipping]"

"2010 is also when we are trying to make DA2, in a really fast rush. We started working on it before DA:O - Awakening had even shipped. What's happened is that SW:TOR has slipped again and EA is basically telling BioWare to make up the revenue. So we are trying to create a product in a very restricted timeline in order to do what EA wants, which is to fill a revenue gap [in that fiscal year]"

"2013 is when the PAX presentation for DA:I happened. [...] It carries some controversy because the game definitely shifted from there to the game that shipped 14 months later. There are things that are represented there that imply a more army-controlling, grand military strategy kind of game that ultimately proved to not be the game that DA:I was supposed to be. But at that point in time those elements still existed in nascent form, or were trying to exist at the very list, so they exist in that demo as well"

DA:I was a very tiring project

After DA:I shipped some of the team went onto Anthem, some went onto ME:A, and some stayed on and made DA:I DLC

DA:I DLC was mostly made in 2015. Leadership on it was largely given to more junior leaders to help them grow and potentially move them into more senior positions

The senior leadership of DA:I spent most of 2015 laying very early frameworks and concepts for what would become DA4 Joplin. The idea was to take a technology that they knew and try to fix their processes and tools pipeline to allow development in this pipeline to go more smoothly

In 2016, all of the people who were on DA:I DLC moved onto ME:A or Anthem. 2016 is the point when most of Mark's time was spent fighting for resources to get them onto Joplin

^ "Periodically EA pushes for franchises to be bigger. They want billion dollar franchises, or they only wanna make the best six games or the best twelve games. In 2016 I built a plan to ship Dragon Ages. The idea was to make Joplin on a relatively regular timeline. At this point in time I believe Anthem is still supposed to ship in 2018 so probably Joplin was supposed to ship in 2019, maybe 2020. But the idea was, ship Joplin, and then we would do two fast-follow sequels, each taking 18 months, and then we would retool after that happened. Did it get Dragon Age to be a billion dollar franchise? It required a little bit of creative accounting to make that work, but it got closer than you would think. The idea was to have minimal DLC or even an expansion pack, and then quickly move onto the sequel. So the idea of increasing the revenue stream was simply to have games come out faster, which I think is not a terrible idea, but this is also the height of infatuation with the concept of live service games"

"In 2016 as ME:A is trying to ship, they are looking for more resources including leadership, and this is when I led a bunch of people that are still on Joplin onto ME:A. The Dragon Age Finaling Team is that group of people. And I'll say that if you see an acronym and it includes 'The Dragon Age Team' in any way you can probably assume that acronym was intentional. Dragon Age Finaling Team is 'daft', and yes it was basically us sort've passively aggressively rebelling against this resource draw"

"ME:A ships in 2017 and what's supposed to happen is that most of the people who were working on ME:A from Edmonton are gonna move onto Anthem, and the people who were working on ME:A in Montreal are supposed to form a large part of the team for DA. But that's not what happens. The team in Montreal ends up getting moved over to the actual leadership in Montreal. There's a point in 2017 when I tried to force Joplin through one of the production gates, to basically make the argument that it actually deserves to be much bigger. It doesn't work and it probably wouldn't have worked anyway"

2017 also marks when Joplin pivots to become Morrison

2017 is also when Mark moved from DA leadership to Anthem leadership. "Theoretically DA and Anthem simultaneously, but I think even in the earliest moments it was obvious that's not what was going to happen"

2017 was a very busy year at BioWare, a lot of things happened and a lot of changes occurred within it

In 2018 Mark was 110% focused on shipping Anthem. "The DA team was trying to do what it can with its very restricted resources with its pivot to being a live service. This is also when it releases the Dread Wolf trailer at the VGAs. That trailer exists in large part to just anchor the title in the public consciousness because there isn't really any massive development happening on the franchise at this time"

When Anthem went to PAX, this was right after a security incident with one of EA's sports franchises. As a result, EA was very concerned about security, so the Anthem team at PAX had a security presence provided by the Pinkertons (private security company), protecting the Anthem people at PAX

In 2019 Anthem shipped. Some of its resources remained to support it in live service and the remainder moved over to DA4. Mark went back onto DA after being away for 16 months and found that things had moved on and that it was a very different landscape. "Coming back from Anthem to a very different DA is pretty hard for me because the game has shifted underneath. My natural instinct is to move forward with whatever we currently have, but in this case because the landscape has mutated so heavily, it takes me quite a long time to find my footing again"

In 2020, for DA4, "We are starting to get some traction, the game is starting to look like something", but then "in March of 2020, COVID hit. Everyone goes home, that is definitely highly disruptive to the development of DA."

In December 2020 “I resign from BioWare, but I actually remain on at BioWare until February 2021"

In late 2022 Mark played a build of Dragon Age: The Veilguard. "It's not called that yet but this is when I start to be involved in the franchise again"

“By 2023 in April I am working with BioWare publicly again, helping them finish DA:TV, and I do that through 2023 and 2024"

"So it's 2025 now and things are changing at BioWare. I hope that BioWare still has a lot of strong years ahead of it. I hope that we willcontinue to see great games come out of their doors. I guess we will see what the future brings. I hope that everyone whose job was lost finds a new place to work, and hopefully it's an even better place, hopefully the situation you find yourself in in the future is better than the one that you come from. Some people are moving around within the EA organization. Some people unfortunately have lost their jobs completely. This is going to be a tough time for a bunch of people and I hope that everyone can show empathy and compassion to people whose lives have been disrupted."

[source]

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Derek Thompson at The Atlantic:

For decades, America’s young voters have been deeply—and famously—progressive. In 2008, a youthquake sent Barack Obama to the White House. In 2016, voters ages 18 to 29 broke for Hillary Clinton by 18 points. In 2020, they voted for Joe Biden by 24 points. In 2024, Donald Trump closed most of the gap, losing voters under 30 by a 51–47 margin. In one recent CBS poll, Americans under 30 weren’t just evenly split between the parties. They were even more pro-Trump than Boomers over 65. Precisely polling teens and 20-somethings is a fraught business; some surveys suggest that Trump’s advantage among young people might already be fading. But young people’s apparent lurch right is not an American-only trend.

[...]

There is another potential driver of the global right turn: the pandemic.

Pandemics might not initially seem to cash out in any particular political direction. After all, in the spring of 2020, one possible implication of the pandemic seemed to be that it would unite people behind a vision of collective sacrifice—or, at least, collective appreciation for health professionals, or for the effect of vaccines to reduce severe illness among adults. But political science suggests that pandemics are more likely to reduce rather than build trust in scientific authorities. One cross-country analysis published by the Systemic Risk Center at the London School of Economics found that people who experience epidemics between the ages of 18 and 25 have less confidence in their scientific and political leadership. This loss of trust persists for years, even decades, in part because political ideology tends to solidify in a person’s 20s.

The paper certainly matches the survey evidence of young Americans. Young people who cast their first ballot in 2024 were “more jaded than ever about the state of American leadership,” according to the Harvard Political Review. A 2024 analysis of Americans under 30 found the “lowest levels of confidence in most public institutions since the survey began.” In the past decade alone, young Americans’ trust in the president has declined by 60 percent, while their trust in the Supreme Court, Wall Street, and Congress has declined by more than 30 percent.

[...]

These changes may not be durable. But many people’s political preferences solidify when they’re in their teens and 20s; so do other tastes and behaviors, such as musical preferences and even spending habits.

[...]

New ideologies are messy to describe and messier still to name. But in a few years, what we’ve grown accustomed to calling Generation Z may reveal itself to contain a subgroup: Generation C, COVID-affected and, for now, strikingly conservative. For this micro-generation of young people in the United States and throughout the West, social media has served as a crucible where several trends have fused together: declining trust in political and scientific authorities, anger about the excesses of feminism and social justice, and a preference for rightward politics.

The Atlantic had a story on why a portion of Gen Z went rightwards, and COVID played a large role in that.

[dynamicity-keysmash]

The Democratic party needs to stop using female candidates for human sacrifice.

That may be hyperbolic, but it is true that both female candidates for president were put forth in years with strong headwinds and rough political environments for the democratic party.

Hillary Clinton ran after two consecutive Democratic terms that left voters feeling uneasy about the nation's economic recovery. I don't think it's widely understood how difficult it is to win a third consecutive term for a political party. I think that if a more mainstream Tea Party Republican had been nominated instead of Trump, as was expected, Republicans would've even had a shot at the popular vote. After all, Republicans did win the congressional House popular vote in 2016. When factoring in a strong electoral college bias on top of the general national mood, it was never going to be an easy year for Democrats.

I do acknowledge that if Clinton had run a scrappier campaign with a central narrative more focused on working-class perspectives, she could've won. She was certainly a very flawed candidate, but my point is that 2016 was not a fundamentally easy political environment for Democrats in the first place.

Harris, on the other hand, was quite plainly fed into a wood chipper. It's finally a woman's turn again, just in time for her to enjoy a political environment in which 75% of the country thinks we're on the wrong track, the party's incumbent president has horrible approval ratings, and she has 3 months to catch up to an opposing presidential campaign that has effectively been weaving its narrative for 9 years. 2024 was an awful political environment for Democrats.

Given that the Democratic party has never nominated a female candidate in an election with a favorable political environment, It is an absolute tragedy that many are coming to the conclusion that Democrats categorically shouldn't run a woman in 2028, which is likely to be a highly viable election for the party. A woman definitely could've won in 2008. A woman likely could've won in 2020 as well. We cannot allow the Democratic party to continue to save fundamentally advantageous elections for male candidates and only give women a shot when the party's standing is shaky at best.

[batboyblog]

2016 is often considered the point when leftism managed to get itself into the mainstream and became more popular, but I honestly can't help but wonder, given the sheer descent into conspiracy theory and selfish cruelty of the current state, whether in hindsight it was actually leftism's step into decline.

I've been thinking about this a lot, sadly I'm getting the start of a Migraine, so the edges of my thoughts are all fuzzy so idk if I'll be able to do what I think justice, but lets try.

The human mind doesn't really like complexity, it'd a pattern recognition machine built to find food and stuff that thinks you're food in the African brush. So we like to find patterns and lump stuff together, its hardwired in.

so "Leftism" I do understand what you mean, but I think it covers a really wide area.

and I think in politics we like to assign ideological and policy logic to things to political movements, it has to be about a coherent and rational ideology and world view we think. But... I think, often times it's emotional as much as anything. Did people vote for JFK or Reagan so much for policy as they, personally in their person, seemed to be the antidote to what was wrong in the moment? JFK seemed young and energetic when compared to an elderly and ill President Eisenhower, Reagan had the claiming aging leading man energy to make everyone feel like it'd be okay, a movie cowboy to lead us against bad guys we didn't understand while nice guy Jimmy Carter seemed stuck.

So back to 2016, I think there was so real ideology to start. The Left of the Democratic Party felt empowered after 2006, the left of the party had been against the Iraq War from the jump and that turned into the organizing issue that pushed Republicans out of power in 2006. A San Fran liberal, founding member of the House Progressive Cause was the first woman Speaker (and in favor of gay marriage too). In 2008 the Left of the party for largely emotional reasons sided with Obama over Clinton, even though they largely overlapped on policy and where there were (minor) differences she was to his left.

so riding high from two back to back wins, having gotten a lot of progressives elected to the House and Senate (like Bernie Sanders) progressive Dems were pretty let down by the real results, the ACA got bogged down and their dearest wish list item, the public option, which Pelosi fought for so hard, failed to make it into the final bill, and then 2010, a blood bath. And understandably there's been some frustration with Obama for not living up to the hype and also failing to really focus on state level races, Democrats got tarred hard

BUT! there's also an emotional side, Occupy Wall Street. I remember at the time being interested in it, I was young and more radical, but soon I got really frustrated because they had no demands, I watched every night MSNBC which was very sympathetic, but no one could articulate what it is they wanted, past a vague idea of "punish" the guilty.

I think there's a lot of restless frustration, some of it grounded and based in reality some of it not, in this country and its only grown over time as well as a contempt for and a break down of any kind of respect for experts and norms any anything established.

SO! I think that emotion latched onto Bernie and the left of the Democratic Party. As someone who worked that election I can tell you, at first knocking doors in New Hampshire, I got the taste of the very start of the campaign. And people would say "oh I'm voting for Bernie now, but I'll vote for Hillary in the general" but soon it went from friendly, from "we're pushing her to the left" to something bitter and angry. I had Bernie supporters tell me 1990s Fox News conspiracy theories around the Clintons, I had a Bernie supporter (in the general election) follow two college girl volunteers for blocks back to our office to SCREAM at us all.

Bernie won the New Hampshire Primary pretty commandingly that year, and partly because he had a strong volunteer network. But in the general despite many efforts we could barely get any of his regular volunteers to come work with us against Trump. I remember one lady who showed up just once and looked RIP SHIT! to be there, I think she said that all the positive stuff we said about Clinton, at a canvass launch for Clinton, made her "sick" and "don't expect me to say anything nice about her!" and she was one of only a tiny number of Bernie people who showed up in the general so she was better than some.

I remember the only Bernie Volunteer we got to become a regular. He'd knocked doors for months in New Hampshire for Bernie, organized his own phone bank into Nevada for their primary, drove down to South Carolina and spent the week before their primary knocking. Clearly a true believer, and when he decided to volunteer with us they kicked him out of the Facebook group he started and stopped speaking to him. I'll always remember what he said, that around the Bernie office they used to say that "a Trump voter was just a Bernie voter who hasn't been educated yet"

So I guess what I'm trying to say is, there were real motivations of the progressives and the left of the party, real policy based frustrations, particularly around how health care worked out, and I think Bernie Sanders himself was running because of that and to express that. But it tapped into something else, something not really political and much more emotional, rage and bitterness and a need to punish, the same energizes Trump taps into. It made a permission to be nasty to people you don't like, particularly women, I won't repeat the things people said on the phones, horrible.

now in 2024, almost 10 years later, there's a lot more depression mixed in, Trump talks about America as a 3rd world country all the time, there's just a vibe of having given up, hopelessness. There's a genocide and everything is horrible and hopeless and give up and die.

I don't believe in giving up, I don't believe in bitterness, I'm not a sunny person in real life, but I believe the point of politics, the politics I'm a part of, is lifting people up. It might be corny and uncool, but I believe in America, not that we're prefect, no, we're not, but together we've done great things, we fought a world war and went to the moon, and we can do great things together still always if we believe in each other, build each other up, stop being so afraid and weak and sad. I want to be beat fascism again, I want to go to the moon again, I want to beat climate change, and finally finally make the promise that all men are created equal REAL, and I don't believe in hiding behind walls, and crying that we can't do it any more, fuck that shit.

[dear-ao3]

new to f1 - can i ask for some team history? have red bull always been so dominant? how often do the cycles change??

yes yes ok So who’s dominant depends on a lot of things, drivers yea but mostly the car and who can make the regulations work for them. you can be the best driver but if you’re in a shit box you’re Fucked.

so presently red bull is dominating, max won in 2021 but they properly started dominating in 2022. this was cause of the big change in regulations mostly.

they change the regulations all the time but big changes are every few years for a variety of things: driver safety sometimes, making the cars have a lesser environmental impact, making things just plain more interesting, putting people on a level playing field etc etc. the last batch of regulations that caused mercedes fall from grace was i believe the cost cap. previously you could spend whatever the hell you wanted on the car and everything else. and Now there is a cost cap. this was done to try and bring the teams all closer together because previously it was all the top four or so teams that had all the money and would win things and then the back marker teams were just there. i don’t remember offhand what the cost cap is but i do know you can’t spend more than that each year on Everything (including crash repairs i’m Pretty sure) which keeps things interesting. anyway that and the other changes that got implemented in 2021 (?) caused red bulls rise to dominance.

mercedes had been dominating before then and won the constructors (team championship) from 2014-2021 (max won the drivers in 2021) and lewis hamilton won in 14 and 15 and then 17-20. nico rosberg won in 2016 (lewis’s teammate. he then retired after his first win. no one has ever done it like him and no one ever will again but we do Not have time for that). mercedes i believe only became a team in 2010 (?) they had been on the grid previously like Years ago but made a return in 2010 and had a few shit years before, surprise surprise, a regulation change went in their favor and they built a rocket ship.

prior to mercedes it was back at red bull. they won in 2010-2013 both constructors and drivers with sebastian vettel winning the drivers championships all 4 years. and i’m pretty sure it was another regulation change that caused them to rise to the top. red bull had been doing Okay prior to then but they i think only entered the grid in 2004(????) after buying the jaguar team

prior to 2010 there were several years where there wasn’t really multi year dominance by any one team.

jenson button won in 2009 with brawn (???) and that was a surprise to everyone especially the team and turns out they just so happened to build a good car that year.

lewis hamilton won at mclaren in 2008 at the end of a very very close season. i believe he won in the last race and it was a matter of a few points separating him and felipe massa at ferrari

2007 was won by kimi raikkonen at ferrari in yet another close season, lewis hamilton nearly won this season and it was his rookie season

then we had two years of fernando alonso at i think it was renault (which is now alpine) in 2005 and 2006.

prior to that was the real era of dominance from 2000-2004 with michael schumacher at ferrari

prior to that i’m not really sure of the teams and i’m in a car and not fact checking Any of this so i could be totally wrong about what i’m saying lol. but there were several years of williams dominance in the 90s and mclaren again had another few years i Think.

anyway. to answer your question. yes there are eras of dominance but it is far more interesting when it’s not because then multiple people are winning the races. like this season is the first time since 2021 there’s a proper title fight (at least for the constructors) since 2021 and we’ve had something like 7 i think different race winners, which hasn’t happened in A While

i hope this was helpful? if not feel free to ask me more questions

[pokeybananas]

I was on the r/GaylorSwift subreddit and something someone said in passing is a very interesting thought: dating Travis is all part of Taylor's Coming Out(ler).

Since the Eras tour has been over, we've been in a bit of a Taylor drought. We went from hearing/seeing her nearly every week to a social media hiatus longer than the one she took after clearing her social media during Reputation era (not by much). The woman deserves a break! But, let's face it, Taylor is always at least 13 steps ahead of us.

First off, let's imagine a world where Taylor is out. Travis and all the other silly boys are out of the picture (besides Benjamin, he's the only silly boy who gets to stay), maybe Taylor is more public with her relationships, maybe not. But What would need to change for that to happen? I would like to possit a theory: she needs more attention, now, before the Coming Out.

(I'm not sure the time stamp will transfer over, it's 49:08). Essentially what Chely said was that in order to come out You have to be on the top of your career, so as to be the most impenetrable, To be able to scream it from the tops of the mountain, so it can reach the maximum amount of ears possible.

I would argue the Eras tour was the biggest point in her career, thus far. So, she must be planning something bigger? A scary thought!

So, let's go to the place where all the roadmaps lead: The Man subway wall (a tangent!)!

Zoom in...

WHAT IS THAT?!

Were we supposed to get Rep TV in November 2024? At the end of the Eras tour? Now, Taylor obviously couldn't have predicted COVID, which is the time when she came up with the idea for the Eras tour, but the fact that Eras did end in November 2024 is EXTREMELY SUSPICIOUS!!! Also ..

Is this supposed to be Taylor Glitter blood? Does Tyler Swift (aka the Man) have a UTI? Is the Man sick of fame?

Anyway, back to attention (can you tell I have ADHD?). What causes Taylor to get some of the most attention? Her dating life! Men! Okay, on to my next point...

We sure have been seeing Taylor reference a lot of celestial bodies lately! I highly recommend reading this post here to catch up, it's not too long (look at Pokey linking to other posts, someone give her a gold star!)!

Anyway, Taylor's stardom is fueled by attention! She's a people pleaser (insert other relevant lyrics here). So, Let's look at the life cycle of a star (there's a graph, it's fun, I swear!)

So, Taylor is a high mass star (high mass just means it's dense, it's got a lot of attention on her!) (so the line to the left!) Basically the "attention" a star gets (like say, from coming out), the bigger it gets, the more likely it is to blow up (picture Britney Spears in 2008, or of your too young Taylor in 2016). The pressure of fame gets too much and they can't stand it anymore. They collapse in on themselves (like a black hole). They then become a gapping hole of their former selves. And their celebrity status gets everyone who comes after them compared to them for the rest of forever (See the lyrics for Clara Bow). Aka stars require more energy (attention) right before they explode and turn into a black hole (which I personally think will turn into the Queer Black Hole, where anyone famous who comes out ever will be compared to her)

In summary, she's dating Travis so she can get bigger and come out.

Anyway, I'm going to bed. Maybe I'll edit this tomorrow. Maybe I won't, who knows

-what will get her the most attention possible? To cause her to go supernova (the supernova is the explosion)

Supernova theory, will she go out with a bang or a whimper

1) now the Eras tour is over, she's not reloading the rerecords at the previous rate

-she gets the most media attention when she's with a man

-when is big Taylor waving at us demanding attention

-i think he coming out will be the explosion

-

[toasttt11]

never grow up; lando norris, jack hughes

summary: memories of estella leclerc

estelle leclerc x lando norris, estelle leclerc x jack hughes

tag list: @chelawrites @faithm120601

estelle soleil leclerc the only leclerc sister, the older twin sister of arthur leclerc, a formula one driver for red bull racing, being the youngest world champion and only female to win a f1 race as well as a championship, an ambassador for nike and louis vuitton, the youngest face ever on a vogue front cover and to date the most vogue covers belong to her.

name: estelle soleil leclerc

birthday: october 13, 2000

age: 22

height: 5”6

racing career:

karting 2008-2014

ferrari driver academy 2013-2018

formula four- 2015-2016

formula three- 2017

formula two- 2018

formula one-2019

red bull racing- 2019-2023

championship win 2019, 2021

vogue partnership started 2009

sponsors-nike, lululemon, apple, louis vuitton

siblings- lorenzo tolotta-leclerc, charles leclerc, arthur leclerc

godfather- jules bianchi

love interests- lando norris, jack hughes

May 22, 2008

Estelle walked around with her sage green helmet in hand and her overalls on seeing all the other kids around her age and seeing no girls just boys, it started a fire in her to prove everyone wrong and show girls can kart too, she lost her younger twin brother who was with their parents.

All of sudden a boy with brown hair tripped in front of her and another boy running behind him with black curls on his head, the boy who fell lifted his head seeing a girl with perfect chestnut brown curls and sparkling hazel green eyes, she raised a brow with a hint of a smile gracing her face as she reached down a hand for the boy, he grabbed scrambling up, “T-thanks i’m Lando.” He grinned with all his teeth, a gap between his front two teeth, he pointed towards his best friend Max, “And this is Max.” Max waved with a smile.

“I’m Estelle.” She smiled her french accent coming out before the boys could reply they heard a voice shout and a boy come running towards them.

“Essie!” Arthur shouted running over to his twin taking her hand and starting to pull her back to their parents, she turned around waving bye at the two, not knowing in the future they would become best friends.

“Who were they?” Arthur questioned in french.

“Their names are Lando and Max.” She responded back in french, before they got to their parents and older brothers.

“Oh there you are darling we were looking for you.” Pascale grinned seeing her twins, looking happier knowing her daughter was fine but she usually tends to wonder off.

“Je suis désolé Maman.” Estelle apologized knowing her mother is protective of her, Her mother dismissed her apology with a fond smile.

Estelle was suddenly picked off from behind and tossed over someone shoulder who was spinning her around, she giggled knowing exactly who it was, “Pear stop it!” She giggled as she got gently set down looking up seeing Pierre Gasly, her brothers best friend and a family friend, basically her fourth brother.

“Sorry petite étoile.” Pierre cheekily grinned calling her little star, as he has since she was born.

“No you’re not.” Estelle sassed back cocking an eyebrow and a hand on her hip.

“Someone’s sassy today.” Chalres fond voice came by her ear as he leaned kissing her cheek twice.

“Hi cha.” She smiled sweetly kissing his cheek back.

“You excited for your first race.” Charles looked between his little twin siblings, getting two identical nods in return, “Good you’re both going to do great!” He kisses both their heads.

“Duh! We’re Leclerc’s!” Estelle sassed with a smile, as Arthur nodded along with her, Charles fondly laughed, Pierre smiled down at the twins. Herve and Pascale shared a fond look glad their family is so close with each other.

January 4, 2010

Estelle walked into her house her foot shutting the door behind her as she held the handful of mail she got from the mail box for her parents, she knew her family were waiting for her so they could eat lunch together, she walked towards the kitchen entering it when she saw the magazine, she squealed jumping up and down as the other mail dropped on the ground, her whole family looked up seeing her squealing jumping, as her perfect chestnut brown curls bounced with her around her pink headband on her head.

“What is it darling?” Pascale looked up from the kitchen island, Herve looked up from his newspaper as well.

“Maman Papa it came.” She grinned her beautiful bright smile turning the magazine towards them, revealing her face on the cover of vogue becoming the youngest ever to do so.

“Oh petit soleil that’s wonderful.” Herve grinned proudly of his daughter who is already accomplishing so much and he couldn’t wait to see her continue to do so, he wrapped his arm around her pressing kisses on her head.

“Mon cheri!” Pascale gasped looking at the cover as her filled with fresh wet tears, she scooped her only daughter in her arms rocking them back and forth, “I am so proud of you my darling.”

Estelle giggled happily just as Chalres stood up and picked her up spinning her around making her giggles fill the room.

“That’s so cool petite soeur!” Charles grinned setting his favorite sibling down gently.

“Merci Cha!” She grinned up at him, before getting pushed back as Arthur tackled her into a hug, wrapping his arms around his twin tightly, “Congrats mon jumeau!” She giggled kissing his cheek.

Lorenzo walked over gently hugging his little sister tightly and kissing her forehead.

Jules stood grinning proudly at his goddaughter, he scooped her up spinning her around making her laugh, “Ah ma belle, i’m so proud.” He pressed kisses to top of her head making her giggle.

“Merci juju!” Estrelle grinned at her godfather.

“I think this calls for chocolate cake to celebrate.” Pascale smiled watching her twins heads snap towards her in unison.

“CHOCOLATE CAKE!” Estelle and Arthur gasped in unison, their favorite food, dessert, anything to do with food is chocolate desserts especially their mothers chocolate cake.

“Please Maman!” The twins sent their identical puppy dog eyes towards their mother.

“Of course my darlings.” Pascale fondly smiled kissing both of their cheeks.

April 20, 2015

Estelle a year ago joined the Ferrari Academy and had started driving with Prema this season in formula 4, with her teammates Zhou Guanyu and Ralf Aron, she currently dominating all the rookies in the series and putting up a good fight with the rest of the grid, the team thinking the next year will be more her year.

Estelle has becoming more familiar with the Prema team as her brother is also apart of the team and her godfather was also once a part of the Prema team, so she’s began to find a family there but more so with the ferrari academy.

She accepted to go with Angelina Ertsou, one of the more important and influential people in the series’s before formula one and someone who’s has began to care lots for the young girl who’s very determined to prove herself.

Angelina has been going to different karting races when she has the chance to look for upcoming talents and kids Prema may want to have on their teams and where they would recommend them to sign to a junior team. Also seeing kids who they have to talked to already who they know they want to have in the future.

Estelle eye was caught of on the kart with number 8, happening to watch the person driving with her number, who was leading the race almost the entire time until the last lap when someone behind the kart clipped it and number eight was pushed off the trac as the back of the kart was ripped off, and Estelle couldn’t help but frown seeing the kids race be ruined because of someone behind him knowing how much that’s sucks. She watched the race finished and saw the kid who clipped the kart being happy and arrogant with his win.

Estelle saw the kid in number 8 take the helmet off showing a younger boy with light brown hair, she could she the way he frowned and walked off towards one of sides of a building, she kept that in mind when she felt Angelina tap her arm to get up and walk to set a of parents that Angelina have talked to before.

“David! Terri!” Angelina smiled as she walked over the two but she could feel her face slip into concern as she saw them turn around and both looking distressed, “Is everything alright?”

“Our son we turned to see the end of the race and when we turned back he was out of his kart and gone.” Terri hurriedly explained looking worried not wanting to move knowing their son saw them their last.

Estelle couldn’t help but frown thinking of a boy that she saw walk away, “Was his number eight by chance.”

The parents turned slightly noticing the younger girl who’s face was covered in freckles and had beautiful green hazel eyes, her chestnut brown hair was in high ponytail spilt into two braids, a green quarter zip jacket with a black puffer vest over it, black leggings, and black leather boots.

“He is, did you see him?” David looked concerned as he hoped for good answer from the young girl.

“I think so i can go bring him back if you would like?” Estelle kindly offered having a feeling they woundnt want to leave as she saw they also have two younger children as well.

The parents both breathes a sigh of relief thanking the girl profusely who waved it off with a kind smile excusing herself walking over to building seeing a young boy sitting against the wall crying.

Estelle sat down slowly next to him not wanting to frighten him, “You know when i got clipped out i cried for a long while.”

The young boys head lifted up seeing someone sitting next to him with a kind smile towards him, He sniffed whipping his face, “Did you ever get over it?” He knew this was only his second year in karting but he wanted to prove himself so hard and that was difficult when his race was ruined with something out of his control.

Estelle gently scoffed, “Not for a long while. I cried for so long, i think my eyes were permanently red for a long while!” The boy smiled slightly making Estelle happy she is making him feel a bit better.

“But what i did learn later on was that to be a great driver you have to bad races and make mistakes because that’s how you get better. It’s okay to have a bad race or for it end with something out of your control but if you gave it your all then that’s all that matter. We are human and at the end of the day we aren’t perfect. So losing is okay even though it doesn’t always feel the best.” Estelle gave the advice she wished she knew when she had bad race days and would beat herself up for along time, something she still try’s not to do anymore.

The boy slowly nodded listening intently to the older girl, he didn’t feel completely better but he did feel a lot better than he did a few minutes ago, “Thank you.” Before his eyes opened wider sheepishly realizing he doesn’t know her name yet, “I’m Ollie, Ollie Bearman.”

Estelle smiled at the younger boy watching him put his hand out for a handshake, she gently took his hand shaking it, “Hello Ollie, i’m Estelle Leclerc.”

Ollie gasped in recognition, “Your the only girl driver in F4!” Ollie smiled having been rooting for her since he started watching the series.

Estelle smiled and nodded, “I am, but we do need to get you back to your parents buddy they’re looking for you.” She stood up brushing herself off holding a hand down for Ollie who gently took and stood and when Estelle was going to take her hand away Ollie just tightens his grip on her hand, Estelle just smiled at the young boy and walked over to where his parents were, seeing Angelina talk with another set of parents in the distance.

She watched the two parents both gasp in relief hugging their son tightly who was apologizing realizing he scared them.

Terri and David pulled back from their son looking at the young girl who found him, “Thank you so much.” Terri smiled in thankfulness at Estelle.

Estelle just smiled, “It’s not a problem.

“Where are my manners, I’m Terri Bearman and this is my husband David.” Terri smiled holding her hand out to Estelle who smiled seeing where Ollie got it from.

“I’m Estelle Leclerc.” Estelle politely smiled shaking Terri’s hand.

Angelina finshed talking with the other parents she had to talk to walking over seeing Estelle had found Ollie.

Angelina was talking with David and Teri, as Ollie walked around them and stood with Estelle who kneeled down to be level with him as she talked to Ollie.

The conversation with the three of them was at the end when they heard two loud laughs they looked over seeing Estelle and Ollie both laughing hard, and Ollie was naturally leaning on the older girl, who was about five years older then him.

“Ollie doesn’t usually get comfortable with people that fast.” Terri smiled seeing her son laugh and be comfortable with another person.

Angeline fondly smiled, “It’s Estelle, she has that effect of people.”

“We can see that.” David smiled seeing the two both talk so animated with each other and he had a feeling this would not be the last time they saw Estelle.

“I’ll see you again right?” Ollie looked hopeful as he looked at her.

“Promise buddy.” Estelle gave his hair a ruffle having a feeling Ollie will be joining Prema sooner than later.

The Bearmans watched the two walk away, “We’ll see Estelle again won’t we?” Ollie looked at his parents in hopefulness.

Terri brushed his hair smiling at her son, “You really like don’t you?”

Ollie rapidly nodded, “She’s awesome!”

The parents shared a look figuring they could ask Angelina a way to have Estelle be able to talk to Ollie.

What they all didn’t know what that it was the beginning of a amazing friendship and mentorship between the two racers.

July 21, 2015

The air just felt bare, silent, stoic. Estelle didn’t know but it just felt wrong knowing there would never be a time to make new memories with Jules again, never a time to go to a baseball game with him again, never a time to get a hug from him again, never a time to have sleepovers at his house for godfather-goddaughter days again. She knew there was never going to be a day she didn’t miss him.

Jules has been there for everything, he’s been there for her whole life, most of every family memories include Jules, he’s family he always will be.

Estelle couldn’t help but think that Jules would be lonely wherever he’s ended up and she hoped she’s wrong she couldn’t live with herself if she knew Jules was alone and without any family and friends.

Estelle leaned against the outside of church after his funeral, not even knowing how it already ended, she was trying not sob the entire funeral as she helped her two brothers hands.

She felt someone sit next to her and a hand intertwines with hers and head lean on her shoulder, she knew it was her younger twin brother, who was hurting as much as her.

“You’re not dying without me.” Arthur’s voice was raspy from not talking for awhile.

Estelle knew what he meant, they all could see Lorenzo become broken without his best friend and she knew exactly what Arthur meant. She looked over seeing the dry tear marks on his cheeks kissing the top of his head before leaning her head on his, “Never Arty, Never.” She knew it would destroy then if the one of them died before the other. She didn’t want to live in a world without her other half, a feeling she knew was mutual.

Charles walked out of the church looking to the side seeing his younger siblings curled up together, Arthur his eyes were red from crying and cheeks cried with tears, but Estelle’s face was blank but her eyes were what showed all the pain, the beautiful sparkle in her eye gone, he hoped he never had to see that look on her again.

Charles walked over sitting next to Estelle taking her other hand kissing her head letting her lean on his shoulder he wrapped one arm around both of his twins and his other holding Estelle’s hand.

The siblings sat for the rest the time in silence, cuddled up with each other for the rest of the funeral.

June 20, 2017

A seventeen year old Estrelle who looked heartbroken as she stood in the doorway to her fathers hospital room, she knew this was goodbye and the last time she could ever speak to her papa again, her mother gently touched her shoulder giving her a sad but encouraging look as she is the last one of her siblings to say her goodbyes.

She told a deep breath slowly walking in seeing the oxygen mask over his mouth and nose, she scooted the chair closer to his bed sitting down holding her fathers hand resting it against her lips kissing the back of her Papa’s hand.

Herve eyes weakly fluttered open looking to his right seeing his beautiful little princess who isn’t so small anymore and knew this was the last time they would see each other, his other hand weakly tried to get to his oxygen mask to speak, Estelle quickly helped him slip it off slighty.

“I’m so proud of you petit soleil.” He weakly croaked out his hand tightening around hers.

She shallowed before before she spoke, “I got into formula one papa, i’ll make you proud i promise.” She knew she lied as she just got accepted into formula two after winning the formula three championship this season, but she knew it’s always been her fathers dream to see her get into formula one and he’s been her biggest supporter and if she has to lie to make him happy, it’s fine by her. It just means she needs to make sure she gets into formula one after the next season.

Herve eyes lights up with happiness and proudness, tears filled his eyes as his hand weakly reached for the back of her head pulling her closer as he kissed her forehead, “Je t'aime petit soleil.”

“moi aussi, je t'aime papa.” Estelle mumbled back telling her father she loved him for the last time trying to hold her tears from falling, she felt the hand of her mother on her shoulder she gently pulled back from her papa looking at his face once more, the twos eyes connecting saying everything that was not said out-loud, she turned around holding a hand over moth to hold back her sobs as she walked into the hallway where her brothers were waiting, her twin who was crying into Lorenzo’s shoulder and Charles who was staring into the distance.

Estella sluggishly walked towards Chalres sitting next to him, “I lied i told papa i got into F1.”

Charles blinked hearing his sisters voice he reached his hand over holding hers, “I told papa i got into Ferrari.”

“Then we have to do that.” Estella declared making sure the last thing she told her Papa will come true.

“We will.” Charles leaned his head onto top of her head as they listen to the sound of their father’s heart monitor stop, both of their identical eyes losing its sparkle, again.

December 17, 2018

Estelle who just turned eighteen a few months ago finally has got the time to see the penthouse she bought the day she turned eighteen.

She picked her favorite place New York. Jules took her many times when she was younger, they would take a trip together, sightseeing around New York, going to see a yankees game and ever since the first time Estelle loves New York, and has been yankees fan since.

She’s wanted to have a place in New York since she could remember and the day she turned old enough she signed the papers.

Estella knows starting in Formula one in a few months she won’t get as much time as she will like to come visit but it will be nice to have a place where she can go and relax and just be herself even if it’s for a few days, she is also close to the yankees stadium and she close to Vogue headquarters which is where she has to go to a lot anyways.

She bought a penthouse that has two stories and a loft in it, The view of the city is beautiful and almost all the windows are from the floor to ceilings, the whole bottom floor is very open and feels spacious. A lot of metal and glass around the whole penthouse, very open floor plan on the bottom floor, her kitchen is very open with a large island, four guest bedrooms and her master bedroom, a huge bookcase that’s she already planning to fill with many books, a office that has the perfect view of the city, and her own at home gym, her bathroom has a huge bathtub perfect for relaxing where she can see the city from the bathtub, both stories have a balcony that wrap around the outside of the building and she has to have her key or a code to get to her floor from the elevator which is good for safety, and there is security in the apartment building twenty four seven.

She unlocked her beautiful door walking into the home that’s fully furnished alreadly and she already felt at peace.

She walked across the center of the room towards the other side that’s filled with large window loving the view she has of New York City.

Estelle turned her head taking everything in she walked down the hallway to the right of the front door that she knows is her side, she opened the door to her bedroom locking the open and simply look, she walked across towards her closet, that she already loves as it has so much room for close, Estelle always has to much clothing and she knew it would not be difficult for her to fill it fast.

Estelle turned to the other side of her room that had the bathroom door reaviling her beauty of a bathroom, a huge glass shower with a rain shower head, a giant bathtub by the windows, two matching sinks with large mirrors, and a vanity with a stool and mirror on the other side, she closed the door walking out of the room back to hallway passing the front door again heading up the first flight of stairs where she knows is her gym and all of her guest bedrooms, she walked towards the next set of stairs that leads to her loft is what she picked for her office.

Estelle walked towards the desk sitting in the chair looking out the window and smiled she got her dream house. A place she can choose to call home.

Having a hard time call Monaco home after her Father and Jules death.

September 8, 2019

“MERCEDES THREW EVERYTHING AT THEM TODAY, CHARLES LECLERC COPED BRILLIANTLY. HE WON IN SPA, HE WINS IN MONZA. ESTELLE LECELEC THE ROOKE EVERYONE WAS TOLD TO LOOK OUT FOR, HAS JUST PROVED WHY WITH A SEOND PLACE PODIUM IN HER ROOKIE YEAR, NOT ONCE HAS SHE FINISHED LOWER THAN FIFTH THE WHOLE SEASON.”

Chalres cheered as he pulled his car into the first place spot, running towards his team getting hugs and pats on the back, before he heard more cheers again and turned seeing his sister getting out of her car in second place, and he couldn’t help the tears fillings his eyes seeing his little sister grow up and accomplish a piece of her dream he quickly ran towards her not being able to the see her bright smile that he knew she had under her helmet, he pulled her into a tight hug feeling her arms tighten around him.

They pulled back the two siblings looking at each other, placing there for heads together through their helmets.

“A sibling 1-2!” Charles grinned as he spoke to his sister knowing it’s been their dream to get a 1-2 together.

Estelle laughed full of excitement, “We’ll have to get a 1-2-3 next!” She grinned under the helmet knowing sooner than later they will be joined by Arthur and they will have a podium of just Leclercs.

Chalres fondly laughed, putting his hand where her buckle is on her helmet helping it undo, watching her pull it off head as he undid his, He threw a arm around her shoulder, as they walked to the weight scale.

Estelle was the first to walk in the cool off room she put a finger over her lips as she looked at the cameras before walking towards the winners seat which should be Charles seat today but Estelle quickly sat in it grinning as she drank from her water bottle.

Lewis walked into chucked shaking his head seeing where Estelle sat, patting her on the head congratulating her for her first podium. Lewis has followed Estelle career for awhile and has been one of her biggest supporters since she joined Formula one.

Charles walked into the cool off room setting his helmet on the table drinking water and wiping his face, as he turned around seeing Estelle sitting in his seat with an innocent face, Charles raised an eyebrow laughing, “Really?” Estelle just smiled in reply.

“Alright off ma cherie.” He gently pushed her off and toward her seat, “Don’t worry soon it will be your seat.”

And Charles wasn’t wrong the next race, Singapore, Estelle got her first win, as a rookie in Singapore. She continued to win the rest of the races thought our the season, fighting until the last race to win the championship against Lewis and gaining the championship title, as a rookie and a female.

December 12, 2019

Estelle was in one of the many Vouge headquarters seeing the young and upcoming models and doing a talk day for them all, especially as she just became a formula one world champion at 19 and have been working with vogue for 10 years already.

The talk was her giving tips and advice in the model world, talking about the highs and lows of being a model and she showed them a few different model walks and had the group of around 20 young girl teenagers copy her, the hours went by fast before she knew it almost everyone was gone and she had finished answering anyone who came up to her for questions.

Estelle saw a girl who looked a few years younger than her sitting on a bench packing up her bag and sliding off her heeled shoes, wincing slighty, Estelle walked over stopping in front of her, “May i sit?” She gestured to the spot next to the the girl.

The girls head snapped up nodding, “Sim. I mean yes.” She answered in Portuguese before giving a sheepish smile, Estelle smiled sitting down looking at her sore feet, “My feet used to the same, so i started putting plaster on the parts that got hurt and i never had a problem again.” Estelle gestured to the girls feet knowing what’s it’s like to get use to heels.

The girl blinked in surpise nodding, “Oh thank you.” She smiled slighty putting her hand out, “I’m Fransicia but everyone calls be Kika.”

“It’s nice to meet you Kika, I’m Estelle” Estelle smiled shaking her hand, having a feeling Kika was going to become someone pretty special to her.

“Oh i know.” Kika smiled slighty shy having always looked up to Estelle as she is so young and is already the top model worldwide.

“Well can i have your number then Kika.” Estelle gently smiled at the girl, knowing she was going to great things in the modeling world.

“Course.” Kika blinked slighty shocked that she wanted be number but then realized Estelle is still a regular person too and she is only three years older than her. Kika took the phone Estella passed to her typing in her number real quick, before passing it back.

The two said their goodbyes to each other and it was the start of a beautiful friendship.

May 24, 2022

Estelle parked her Porsche 911 Turbo S Carbriolet, That she of course bought in a dark green color. She grabbed her green Dior saddle bag, slipping on her Prada sunglasses getting out of the car, walking up towards the hair salon that her mother owns, Estelle knew her mother didn’t have any clients today but she would be at the salon, She walked into the salon putting sunglasses on the top of her head smiling as she watched her mother head look up to tell whoever was coming in they weren’t open for business today but stopped when she her daughter.

“Oh my darling!” Pascale gasped in delight rushing forward pulling her daughter into a hug, feeling a rush of nostalgia when they hugged and Estelle taller than her when she used to be shorter than her. Pascale pulled back cupping Estelle face having missed seeing her the last few week in person, “Mon amour your aren’t suppose be here till tomorrow night?” Pascale questioned knowing it was a rule in their family when it was Monaco race weekend all her children come home and have dinner together and that is tomorrow night.

“It was a surprise thought we could have the day and tomorrow just us before the boys come over.” Estelle smiled watching her mother light up in excitement knowing she missed her children a lot and is glad to have anytime with them.

“Of course darling!” Pascale smiled kissing her daughters cheek, “Is this why your brother dropped me off today?” Pascale smiled watching the slight sheepish look cover her only daughter’s face, a look she saw more often with Estelle as she grew up.

“Yes Maman.” Estelle knew her mom would figure it out quickly, As her mother knew all her children the best.

Pascale fondly smiled, “Now it’s time to do your hair mon cher!” Always loving to do her daughters hair as they don’t get as much time anymore.

“Of course Maman.” Estelle fondly smiled letting her mother drag her to Salon chair and tying the cutting cape over her.

Pascale looked over her daughter’s beautiful hair deciding what to do, “Hmm what about a gloss?” She looked through the mirror seeing the nod of approval, Pascale knowing that her daughter doesn’t love to dye her hair and would rather it be her natural color.

“Your shoes were beautiful in the picture you sent.” Pascale complimented her daughter, Estelle always made sure to send photos and videos when she was away of everything and anything so her mother could still be a big part of her life.

“Good, i have a pair in your size Maman.” Estelle cheekily grinned knowing her mother didn’t love how all her children spoil her as they have grown up and earn their own money.

“Of course you did cheri.” Pascale fondly smiled knowing she couldn’t stop her children from spoiling her, she’s tried.

The mother and daughter just talked for hours as Pascele did the gloss, before she cut Estelle’s hair and gave her a blow out.

Estelle stood up gently taking off the cutting cape fixing the white and black stripped sweater that’s tied across her shoulder, with her black cropped shirt with blue jeans and white converse, as she smiled at her hair gently touching always loving it the best when her mother did it.

“Merci Maman!” Estelle kissed her mother cheeks in thank you. She linked arms with her mother as they walked out of the salon locking it up, before walking over to Estelle car going to get lunch together before they shopped the rest of the day.

[spaceguy44]

2024 US Election Post-mortem

I need to get my thoughts out about the election. I'll split it into a few main parts. (This will be long) 1. Why did Kamala lose/Trump win?

There's 2 main reasons for the result.

1. The biggest thing isn't that Trump gained a lot (he did somewhat), but that Kamala lost hugely. Kamala ran an "strong" but status-quo style center-lib campaign. This was not the right move to capture the electorate in today's America. It hasn't been since 2012. People at every part of the political spectrum have expressed disdain with the way establishment Democrats have run things. People want change! They have since 2008. Obama convinced everyone that he represented change. Hillary lost in 2016 because they didn't get that change after 8 years, and wanted something new no matter what. Biden did a good job in 2020 of being somewhat of a change candidate, but it was really COVID that allowed him to win. I do think Trump would've won in 2020 if it weren't for the pandemic. Kamala had momentum at first because she literally was "change." Biden was hugely unpopular, and people didn't like the return to liberal status quo, even if he did do more than even Obama to bring (domestic) left-wing policies to the forefront imo. Kamala represented hope at first that we could get away from the Biden that everyone hated, and bring in a whole new kind of politics and movement that would take us out of the neoliberal malaise that was the again Biden. What happened in stead was the establishment decided that there was a contingent of Americans that were allergic to left-wing politics, and they need to be captured.

THIS IS THE MAIN POINT OF FAILURE FOR BOTH HILLARY AND KAMALA. I do not believe there is a (large) population that is inherently right-wing, and another that is centrist, and another that is left-wing. I do think there are some that you could never convince one way or another, but it's just impossible that so many people could vote for Obama, and then turn around for Trump if people had some sort of weird internal political compass that they adhered to regardless of policy. No, Trump (and the right more broadly) MADE his base. This is the other reason Trump won.

2. Trump did make some gains, though I believe the right campaign from Harris could've overcome that. I think the Trump gains are more indicative of what Harris lacked. Kamala tried to adjust her campaign to match an electorate. Trump didn't give a fuck. He said what he wanted, and people liked that. They don't care about decorum. They don't care about "unity". They want someone they think will "fight" for them. People saw Kamala bringing in the Cheneys and just saw another neolib that would flake on any conviction to grab a vote. People don't want a policy. People want a candidate with conviction. Trump was also adept at playing on people's fears and insecurities. He MADE them into Trump supporters by playing on those fears. Harris did not try to make Harris supporters by playing on fears (at least enough). She was best with the abortion stuff, but that wasn't the issue that exit polls showed people care about. The top issue was the economy. Yes, "the economy" is objectively doing better if you look at the stats, but people don't feel like it because prices are still high despite the buying power of the dollar recovering (inflation was reduced!). People felt that because corporations kept prices at pre-inflation reduction levels. Harris briefly flirted with price capping, which would be the exact sort of populist policy that directly addresses people's fears/insecurities and breaks from the status quo that could excite a mythical "Harris base" that maybe existed for 2 weeks.

It's the same with immigration. Trump created a "big lie" about the border being in crisis, and played on the truly hurting average middle-American's insecurities. You have a population that is hurting for corporate consolidation destroying small local business, that has been devastated by opioids, and is seeing the towns and culture they grew up with decay and seemingly leave them behind. Are Trump's policies going to uplift them? Hell no! Does he talk to specifically them all and directly address their insecurities though? Absolutely. In stead of addressing these people (these are the ones on the red arrow map that's been going around), she accepted the lie about immigrants and rejected making any radical policy change from the system that threw middle America under the bus.

I should say I am literally living in a small rural city in a deep-red state, so I know what they're saying. These people aren't necessarily bigots. Some are, but I think most think they aren't. I think anyone can be prone to getting caught up in a hate movement if the right buttons are pressed, and Trump deftly presses those buttons. What needed to happen was pressing the right buttons to address their insecurities and fears that doesn't rely on hate and scapegoating. This is what I think Bernie Sanders does well in general polls, but there's too much movement within the Dems to preserve the liberal status quo. That needs to change or, the Dems die. LIBERALISM IS DEAD. We address the fears that made people Trump voters, or democracy dies! Here are 2.5 other smaller reasons: 3. Sexism, Racism, and Religiosity. I will not deny that these do play a part in certain parts of the electorate. However, I don't think they're insurmountable hurdles in a general election. I think Obama's campaign is proof of this. But we shouldn't deny that there are a significant portion that wouldn't vote for Kamala for purely bigotry reasons. Hell, I know some personally. But I do think it is a mistake to blame these for our failures. WE LEARN NOTHING OTHERWISE! 4. Believe it or not, but there's just a lot of people out there that just don't care or avoid politics all together. These people aren't bad or deficient, but they just don't include thinking about politics constantly as a part of their lives. They think about the election for a few days, and then get on with their lives for 4 years and tune out everything. Generally, these people are privileged, though there's also some that have been so hurt by our system and policies, that they tune out in pure nihilism about it all. These people vote on vibes, they vote based on what those they care about support, and many just sit out the whole thing. Voter apathy is definitely a thing, and it hurst especially the left imo. I do believe the majority of people would loath Trump's policies if they actually knew what they entailed, so this apathy only takes away from the left. 5. Kamala did NOT lose due to the Gaza protest. She might have lost a bit of support by not being an empathetic foil to Trump's "glass the whole strip" rhetoric, but I don't think it made a significant difference. And I'm gonna be real with y'all; Tumblr is mostly full of it if they think they can accomplish anything with a protest vote for Gaza. I learned this in 2016. That action won't do anything, and it's too risky when a literal fascist is on the other side of the ballot. Yes, I hate that Kamala did not oppose the current Biden policy of letting genocide happen, but Jill Stein/no vote can't pressure these people in the establishment without hurting their campaign financing. The votes are in, and 3rd party votes would not have saved Kamala.

2. What happens now? What is a 2nd Trump admin like?Maybe this is a bit of copium, but I do think that Trump will still be overall very incompetent and unable to enact the worst of his policies. Terrible things will still happen (and I'll get to that later), but I think some of the catastrophizing is a bit overblown. Let's take the mass deportation policy for example. This would be a horrible campaign on the level of the worst historical genocides. He would need to create an ICE apparatus so large that it would rival the fucking gestapo. Just think of all the agents and infrastructure that would need to be developed to round up ~20million people and transport them to the border and detention facilities. There's no practical way to deport that many people. The logical end point is concentration camps. Yes, we have them already to an extent (I mean the euphemistically named "immigrant detention facilities"), but we don't have anything that could handle "mass deportation." Building the facilities, hiring the agents, buying the buses and trains, and executing the warrants all takes a lot of time and money. None of this goes unnoticed, and it won't go without resistance today. Congress still controls the purse, despite what the supreme court says about Trump's immunity to do whatever he wants. SCOTUS said he can't be prosecuted for committing a crime, not that he can break a constitutional rule. The margins are too thin in the new congress, and I genuinely do not think that he has the political tact to navigate around how much resistance he'll get. My main evidence for this is the border wall. He had all the support he needed within congress and his base to try to "build that wall." The GOP even controlled both branches of congress, and shutdown the government multiple times to try to get his way. They had a majority in the house his first 2 years. It meant nothing! He got a regressive tax cut passed, and that's about it. I know there's a lot of bullshit he can pull to push terrible things through, and he'll have ghoulish cronies that will be the actual brains behind things, but honestly, they're dumb as shit too. They're too evil for their own good. They will eat themselves alive through infighting and liberal resistance before they can start a genocidal campaign on American soil. That's not to say there will be some horrible things. Here's what I do think he'll be able to do: - Ban abortion nationwide either through the Comstock Act or SCOTUS. - Completely fuck up half of our federal institutions that keep us informed and safe (ie. dismantling or gutting of Dept. of Education, EPA, FTC, NSA, HHS, and more). - Allow for more religious integration into our public institutions like schools - Essentially turn our government into an oligarchy (or more of one than it already is) - Reverse gay marriage rights (overturning obergefell) and restricting the rights of LGBTQ+ in the public sector overall. - Exacerbate the Gaza genocide - Let Putin have his way with Ukraine - Royally fuck up the economy with Tariffs - Probably get us into some kind of overseas war - If he survives to the end of his term, I do think that our democracy will be incredibly fucked. Like, I think they'll be able to push through so many bullshit rules that we won't be able to come back unless an actual leftist populist makes huge rounds.

Overall, it's gonna suck, especially if you're LGBT in a red state. I think he'll also continue targeting undocumented migrants, but I doubt he'll be able to put together the infrastructure to genocide them. Yes, Hitler and his regime were incompetent too, but it was really the enabling act post-Reichstag fire that allowed for him to start pushing the policies that would become the holocaust. It was only at that point that he had no more resistance, and could order whatever he wants. We're definite not there yet with Trump.

3. What do we (the left) do now?Honestly, just stay vigilant, be active within your community, make connections (even with Trump voters), and don't give in to the despair. Once you're hopeless, it will only make it easier for them to keep winning. We fight against the fascists until the bitter end. The only endpoint of fascism is self destruction. I am a leftist, but I am not a revolutionary. I think armed action rarely leads to good outcomes, and history shows that. However, if we get a Reichstag fire moment or an enabling act moment, that's not the point to lose hope. If people start turning their neighbors into the gestapo-fied ICE, that's not the point to hide. These represent the time where politics should be abandoned, and an actual violent fight for freedom and liberty should begin. I pray we never come to that point. Hopefully, these next four years will look like a continuation of 2016-2020. We'll have a slow degrading of our rights, but if too many of those we all care about are hurt, we can come together and help to reverse it. I know things are super polarized and we all have our own little bubbles in society, but there comes a breaking point where too many people are hurt, and even the biggest MAGA head will have someone they deeply care about that is very hurt by Trump. This is my hope, though it unfortunately relies on things getting worse first before becoming better. 

[dappersappho]

I was almost 16 (like my birthday was literally two weeks away) on Election Day in 2008. Not old enough vote yet, I could only hold my breath. After the disaster that was the Bush administration, all I wanted was to see if a Democrat, any of them, could sort things out.

I was terrified that I wouldn’t see that happen because, of all people, the Democrats chose a barely known senator from Illinois, who just so happened to be a black man. Even my own friend group was saying pretty heinous and disparaging things about him. When I called them out, they would say, “Look, he’s just not experienced enough.” Or they were calling him a socialist even though they definitely didn’t know what that meant.

Even then I knew they were a product of their upbringing. In other words, their southern white parents who could vote. My mother and grandmother, both black, were the only people I knew who were openly supporting Obama. Well, them and my English teacher, who was white and a single mother. Nothing gave me hope that it would be enough.

Since Election Day is held on a Tuesday, I would’ve had school the next day and needed some sleep. But it was almost 11pm and a decision still wasn’t made. I tried to turn off the TV and go to bed, but I couldn’t. I just had to know. I had to see it for myself. I turned the TV back on. Five minutes later, Barack Obama surpassed the number of electoral votes needed to win. I looked around my room then back at the TV. This was real. I just witnessed something huge.

Suddenly, I heard my mom screaming from her bedroom across the house; I guess she couldn’t sleep and kept her eyeballs on the TV as well. I ran to her and we hugged, jumped, screamed, and cried. I don’t think we’ve ever seen each other so emotional before. She pointed to the TV, which was showing Obama’s electoral votes continue to rise, and said, “Look at this! 16! You were 16 when you saw this!”

The next 8 years were met with ups and downs. But I never turned on the news or opened social media and dreaded what I was about to see. I was open to learning new things and keeping up with what was going on. It was easy to care about others because I felt at ease with myself and my country. Was I proud to be an American? Debatable. But I wasn’t really ashamed either.

Then 2016 happened. I voted third party because I naively believed that I could make a statement in doing so (I deleted my tumblr account at the time because I kept getting into fights with people who tried to convince me it was a bad idea). That and I thought Hillary Clinton would win anyway.

I felt sick to my stomach. Once again, I couldn’t sleep, but for a different reason this time. I was almost 24, a super senior in college. A friend of mine and my roommate’s spent the night with us. They got more sleep than I did. The next day, all three of us skipped class. We spent the morning together in our dorm with cookies and hot cider. The rest of the day, we tried to avoid any place on campus that had a TV since the news would be on.

The next day, I had an afternoon class. We spent almost the entire hour discussing just how much of an epic disaster a Trump administration will be for our country. I didn’t say anything. I would’ve started screaming incoherently in the face of anyone who minimized my concerns if I did. I could feel it in my chest. At the same time, I was feeling guilty. Why didn’t I just grit my teeth and vote for Hillary? Why?! Would it have made a difference if I did?

My mind has been in the dark since, made even worse during everything that happened in 2020. Sure Joe won - I even voted for the guy - but at what costs? I still didn’t feel relieved. I felt no hope. An oncoming Biden administration felt like the storm would continue, but hey, at least it isn’t flooding anymore.

Now, at almost 32 and bound to witness a historical election once more, I see a light again. We’re not out of the woods yet. Even if Kamala wins, we won’t be. But, just like I did 16 years ago, I feel hope. I’m once again able to believe that things will get better. I’m scared of being optimistic, but I can’t help it. I need this. I need to believe we’re closer to a leader who can and will do right by us, who will listen to us, and represent us in the best way. If it’s not Kamala, she sure as hell will be one giant step in the right direction.

[suzuran777]

Revisiting Gakuen Handsome: Backstory + short review

I think every BL fan has seen something related to Gakuen Handsome at some point in their lives, it's a parody BL visual novel with quite the legacy. It was originally released in 2010 by Team YokkyuFuman and it also got its own OVA and anime adaptation in 2015 & 2016. The protagonist, who is an unnamed seventeen year old boy, moves back to the city after a seven year absence. He enrolls into Baramon High School, a prestigious all-boys school which takes pride in being the best of its prefecture. From now on, his life will be changed forever...

First of all, the developer team's backstory is probably one of the most unique ones. In 2008, eight film students from the Tohoku University of Art and Design formed Team YokkyuFuman (チーム欲求腐満). Their blog mentions that a year later, they attempted to submit the Gakuen Handsome opening movie to the 9th edition of the Niconico Film Festival (their submission was completely ignored). After that, the opening movie was uploaded on NicoNico Douga, where it was quite well received. The description of the video mentions “to be released in 20009”, as they originally probably had no intention to create a full game.

After it became a hot topic on NicoNico Douga, the team decided to continue production, and in 2010 they released the game "Gakuen Handsome". Their university even gave them permission to organize an official exhibition: Gakuen Handsome Matsuri (or just Gakuen Handsome Festival). Visitors could watch the opening movie, learn more about the characters and take pictures together with the life-sized cardboard cutouts. The exhibition also featured rare merch: A drama CD which would be released in "20009" and canned bread.

This exhibition was apparently not only held once, but many times according to their blog. The game was finally released in 2010 and many fans were happy to finally play it, supporting the team that created it. Togo Mito, who many of you know as the creator of (in)famous BL game Hadaka Shitsuji, also collaborated with them. These are some pictures I found on Togo Mito's old blog, Mizoguchi and Juro drawn by Togo Mito and the Hadaka Shitsuji cast drawn by Team YokkyuFuman.

Even after graduation, it seems like they would occasionally invite some of Gakuen Handsome's creators. In 2014, the university tweeted that they would not be able to host the exhibition that year due to renovations, but visitors could take pictures with the cardboard cutouts. There's also an interview from 2016 on the university's website, in which they talk about how things have been after graduation! I absolutely love how the university supported all of this.

Now about the game itself... Where to even start? You'll have to trust me, but the game is actually good. Many parody games can be quite a hit or miss, but this visual novel is something I still catch myself laughing at years later. The inconsistent art, pointy chins and strange jokes really create an experience unlike anything else. I don't think any commercial company would be able to create something like this, even if they tried. One detail that the anime adaptation doesn't really show is that many different artists worked on this, whose styles widely vary from each other, making absolutely no attempt to create one consistent artstyle. Most characters have at least 2 ~ 3 sprites that often look completely different from each other. For example, sometimes Saionji sensei looks like a clean-shaven teenager/young adult, but in the CGs he suddenly turn into an older looking man with a stubble.

Yes he's talking about eating paint in the screenshot above, why not. Anyway... the voice acting in this game is something else I wanted to talk about, because it adds so much to the game. Of course it's not professional, but I think that's what makes it amazing. You can sometimes hear the voice actors trying really hard not to laugh, and they will occasionally completely mess up their lines. Of course all of those lines are kept in the game and they didn't re-record them. I also loved it when they started swearing in English for seemingly no reason. Also, instead of just avoiding the name of the protagonist (who you can give any name you want) they pronounce it... by improvision. Just imagine how one would try to pronounce a "adfgdf" keysmash and you'll get an idea what it sounds like.

There are 6 characters in this game who you can romance. The protagonist's childhood friend Takuya, who is a bit obsessed with the protein bar Calorie Mate (which is censored in the new version of the game, so you just hear a BLEEP sound), outlaw teacher Saionji, school principal Juro who basically only functions as a save point, student council president Kagami, chuunibyou transfer student Shiga, and last but not least, the captain of the soccer team Mitsurugi, who also murders people with his chin sometimes. The protagonist's sister also has a (non-romantic) ending, which you need to play in order to unlock the extra scenario (which... is a ridiculous murder mystery story for some reason). I also could not find the guide I used a long time ago, so I just looked at some videos on NicoNico to see what others were doing and that worked pretty well...!

My favorite scene is probably still that one scene in Mitsurugi's route, in which he stabs people with his chin. It's also one of the scenes that gets referenced the most in fanart. The context makes it even more ridiculous, Mitsurugi gets really upset that some people like the chunky variant of red bean paste (tsubuan) and decides they should die. After stabbing his teammate and multiple other people he runs outside. The protagonist however, isn't safe either and also gets accused of being a "tsubuan supporter". If you survive though, you get a chance to marry Mitsurugi!

Honestly one of the reasons I wanted to write about this game is because many people only know the OVA and/or anime, but the game is so funny I think everyone should play it if they're interested. I also think the team behind it has such a funny backstory and I love seeing how supportive their university is. Right now the team is still active on their Twitter account and they sometimes create new content. Last year they released Gakuen Handsome Fighters, a short fighting game featuring the Gakuen Handsome characters.

If you are interested in purchasing it, I recommend getting the "Special" edition which can be purchased on DLsite! I couldn't find a working download link anymore of the older version, but I think the creators deserve the support, so I don't regret buying it (it was about 15 USD). It includes the original game and 5 shorter stories which were originally released as smartphone apps. While I think the original game is still the best one, it's fun to explore some of the extra scenarios as well. One of the shorter games takes place in an alternative universe in which the boys live in the Heian period, and for some reason some of the sprites are animated... yeah.

[jeannereames]

Hello Dr. Reames, and happy holidays. I was wondering if Eurydice I, the mother of Philip, was genuinely involved in the conspiracy against her husband. Was she a woman who wielded significant power in her own right? Additionally, what was the role of Ptolemy of Aloros at court during that time?

Eurydike, Mother of Philip of Macedon

So...answering this turned into 10 pages (single-spaced) and I realized I have an article on my hands with something maybe not proposed before. Ergo, I'm going to give a pass on answering in full, but instead point to some prior work on Eurydike that I mentioned in my original opening, as it's not stuff I'd put in the article (except by way of footnotes), plus a short summary on S. Greek views of Macedonian/Illyrian/Epirote women, and a very quick background sketch on Eurydike herself.

The short answer is that nobody much today in Macedonian studies puts any credit on Justin's story about Eurydike as a duplicitous, evil mother. In her write up in the Lexicon, Sabine Müller puts it: "Trogus-Justin's tales about Eurydike as a vicious, murderous, scheming monster to whom a reprehensible trustful, even naive A(myntas) is completely devoted...deserve no credence" ("Amyntas III" LexAM). Although you will sometimes see this stuff recounted when written about by non-specialists, as a lot of the work on the topic has been done in article-form, or books more out of the mainstream.

----

I’ll open by pointing to a book that came out not too long ago and, in paperback, isn’t horribly expensive: Elizabeth D. Carney’s Eurydice and the Birth of Macedonian Power. I’ve recommended it before. It really is the place to start with Eurydike and the rise of Macedon women in the fourth century.

As many of you know, if you’ve been reading me any length of time, if you want to learn about Macedonian women—any of them—start with Beth Carney. In addition to Beth's book Kate Mortensen was the one to examine more carefully the negative stories about Eurydike, but Kate left academia, so her stuff is all earlier. In fact, Beth will cite her work in the monograph, so I don’t want to leave out Kate and her seminal “Eurydice: Demonic or Devoted Mother?” Ancient History Bulletin 6 (1992) 156-71. And of course, Kate was leaping off the work of Helen Macurdy much earlier. We must also note Sabine Müller’s Die Argeaden: Geschichte Makedoniens bis zum Zeitalter Alexanders des Großen (Schöningh Paderborn, 2016), as she discusses it as well there. Finally, William Greenwalt also works in early Argead Macedonia. Although he doesn't have a monograph, his “Amyntas III and the Political Stability of Argead Macedonia,” The Ancient World 18 (1988) 35-44, may be of interest to readers, as well as “Philip II and Olympias on Samothrace: a Clue to Macedonian Politics during the 360s” in Macedonian Legacies: Studies in Ancient Macedonian History and Culture in Honor of Eugene N. Borza, Howe & Reames, eds., Regina 2008, 79-106.

Yet where I want to begin isn’t with Eurydike, but with southern Greek male problems writing about (and understanding) Macedonian/Northern women. Basically, they didn’t “get” them.

Remember that, to southern Greek men, women should be neither seen nor heard. In his funeral speech, Perikles says (Thuc. 2.45.2) “…the greatest (glory) will be hers who is least talked of among the men whether for good or for bad” (Strassler). Even if that speech was made up by Thucydides (in typical Greek literary style), it still reflects what he thought Perikles might have said—and thus, reflects elite southern Greek values. (Thucydides and Perikles came from the same basic “class” in Athenian society: the military elite.) Athenians were among the more repressive societies for women in south Greece, but they still embodied general Greek ideas about women.

And women shouldn’t be involved in politics, dammit!

So, to the southern Greeks, those Meddling Macedonian Women were right up there with Meddling Persian Women—and both were bad, bad girls. (Never mind that especially Persian women were expected to be somewhat involved in politics, apparently….)

A few quick things on Eurydike herself. She belonged to the Lynkestian royal house; Leonnatos was apparently related to her, as was Alexander of Lynkestis. Her father’s name was Sirras, which isn’t a Macedonian name. It’s an Illyrian name. Her mother was the daughter of old King Arrhabaios of Lynkestis, who’d revolted against King Perdikkas II of Macedon—part of what got Brasidas of Sparta involved up there during the Peloponnesian War. Amyntas III had trouble with the Lynkestians as well, and his marriage to Eurydike may have been part of a peace deal.

While there’s no complete agreement that she’s half Illyrian, it’s more often accepted than not. If true, this might explain Eurydike’s tendency to “meddle” in politics. Illyrian women had power, and even fought. Famously, Kynanne learned arms skill from her mother Audata, and then taught her own daughter Hadea Eurydike. It’s really with Eurydike that Macedonian women began to assert themselves directly, rather than just influence brothers, husbands, and sons. Olympias is another example…and she’s from Epiros.

Culturally, Macedonia and Thrace appear to have shared a fair bit. Similarly, with Illyria and Epiros, at least when it came to women. So, it seems to me (and others, starting with Macurdy) that the rise of women’s influence at the court may have come from “outside” Macedonia. Eurydike is interesting as we have TWO quite different traditions about her.

....

And the rest may appear in the future in an article. But this should at least give some kind of answer to the asker. As much as I'd like to share my burgeoning theories, I need to chase down some additional material...and be sure Sabine hasn't beaten me to the punch. LOL

[batsplat]

Loving all the casey takes, I missed reading about him.

tyvm! here's another underrated casey moment for your troubles (heavily featuring valentino and jorge):

casey's 'mystery illness' struck in catalunya 2009, leaving him feeling incredibly tired after the warm-up and he slept for two hours right before the race. while the conditions were tough for everyone in what was a very hot and humid weekend, nobody was affected as badly as casey was and he was hit by sudden and serious fatigue about five laps into the race. he managed to finish - but after initially scrapping with vale and jorge, the two of them cleared off in the front, leaving casey to ride in a lonely third place. in the late stages of the race, he was coming under considerable pressure from dovi, but somehow managed to find something extra and limped home to third. it was immediately clear he was struggling in parc fermé, doubled over and barely staying upright as he went over to his team, and was eventually provided with a chair before the podium celebrations. on the podium, he looked like he was on the verge of collapsing throughout, managing to spray champagne but staying rooted to the spot. he also made it to the press conference and after moderator nick harris was finished with his questions for casey, he thanked casey for coming (leading to the room, including rossi and lorenzo, applauding him)

after this race, casey would continue to struggle on with his season, with doctors unable to explain his condition and ducati treating their sole world champion increasingly poorly. eventually he made the decision to put his season on hold to try to figure out and fix what was wrong with him, and he ended up missing three races. but of course, this is not what catalunya 2009 is primarily remembered for. it was the race that featured probably the finest rossi/lorenzo battle (and one of several classic vale fights at catalunya, cf 2004, 2007, 2016) - and was also the turning point of that title fight, shifting the momentum fairly decisively in valentino's favour. going into the race, the sixth round of the season, stoner was leading the championship, with lorenzo in second place and rossi in third. both casey and jorge had already won two races, with valentino on a miserable singular win. catalunya followed vale's comedy of errors at le mans (trust me, it's bad) as well as the race that finally snapped vale's seven race win streak at his beloved home grand prix at mugello. his biggest rival stoner had won that race and to make things even worse, valentino's dangerous young teammate had comfortably taken second place in a wet race that vale approached cautiously after the le mans fiasco, beating vale at home and leaving him to salvage a mere third (still better than le mans is all I'll say). the italian press were on his back, they were calling him washed, they said he was finished, he was fighting the fraud allegations (he was down by nine points in the championship standings)... and then motogp came to jorge's home. in contrast to his brash approach in 2008, lorenzo had spent the early season playing down that he was even IN the championship fight, but nobody was fooled. everybody knew how badly both vale and jorge wanted this

if anybody reading this hasn't watched the race, go watch it (available on youtube dot com) - it slaps. it's a close, tense fight between jorge and vale that lasts the whole race, both of them leading at times but unable to make a break for it, a stretch where valentino probably deliberately let lorenzo pass to try and mess with him from behind, plenty of exciting overtakes, an engaging tactical battle with both guys desperate to win and to assert themselves both in the title fight as well as within yamaha: basically all the greatest hits. and of course it ends with valentino's classic last corner overtake that encapsulates his burning desire to win as well as anything else does, executed at what is not a traditional overtaking spot on that track (though recently also pulled off by toprak in wsbk, if you haven't watched the clip do it right now) - and remains one of valentino's most famous career overtakes. vale goes nuts with his celebrations, ecstatic fist pumping while on the bike, ILLEGALY breaking out of parc fermé to receive the adulation of jorge's home crowd (jorge then of course has to do the same thing once vale's gone back in, great stuff), his team's going crazy like they've won the title - and he points at the number 99 on lorenzo's bike, the first year jorge's riding with that number, because it also just happens to be valentino's 99th career win

so basically they're busy having their intra-team pissing contest, though at this stage they're both still outwardly pretty warm with one another. all this serious turf war business means both of them are mostly ignoring casey looking like he's two seconds away from keeling over dead about one and a half metres away. valentino interrupts jorge's tv interview to shake his hand and congratulate him for the great race, presumably so that if lorenzo reacts badly there'll be a camera and microphone to pick it up (he pulls the exact same trick with stoner at laguna seca in 2008, leading to the "that's racing, casey" line) - and jorge goes 'bring on the next race'. in the dorna-produced documentary about his 2010 title, him and his team make it clear they were extremely miffed by vale's pointed celebrations, but here he's still working incredibly hard to fend off any sore loser allegations and does a good job of it too. after this race, all three title contenders are tied at 106 points, so everybody's very excited and it's looking like we're setting up a season-long thriller of a title fight (which in the end failed to quite materialise, though 'twas still a good one). the whole motogp world is buzzing, lauding valentino and jorge for their amazing performances and immediately memorialising vale's final overtake as one of the finest anyone had ever seen

anyway, let's get casey stoner's take.

and here was his reasoning:

which, to me, is really what casey is all about. some might say it's not the most tactful thing to say about one of lorenzo's career best races, some might question the wisdom of diminishing the skill involved in rossi's overtake while everybody else is falling over themselves to celebrate this race as one of the greatest in recent memory, some might even say stoner was somewhat misreading the mood of the moment. but casey took a break from half-dying and managed to take a swipe at both of his rivals, saying jorge had made a 'silly mistake' and that valentino's pass, which vale had been visualising in his head for a week just in case he needed it and was clearly immensely pleased with, was 'easy'. casey looked at one of the most famous last laps of all time and went: wow. skill issue. we salute a real one