#and I didn’t include grid in the analysis

[elderflowergin]

blood free v secret forest, a quick and dirty comparison:-

As someone who fell for Kdrama through Stranger, i loved it because it appeared seamless, grounded and weaved several systems and levels of privilege very elegantly. Most of all it seemed morally urgent, even if it was at its core a detective mystery. (Which, to be fair, Blood Free is as well.)

Secret Forest’s first success was that it held nuance for everyone in the middle of the road; LSY afforded so much thoughtful shading to those men. I often think they will never look as beautiful as they do on SF, and that’s only partly because of whoever did the lighting etc, but they’re not Kdrama glossy perfect; they’re real people trying to reckon with themselves and the moral calculus they have agreed to, and their dignity comes from the reckoning. Lee Chang-joon, Kang Won-chul, Lee Yeon-jae, even Seo Dong-jae for that matter, all have that advantage. LSY managed this for Jung Sung-il in the scant few minutes of screen time he had.

The second success was Cho Seung-woo and Bae Doona. If Secret Forest was a universe they were its gravitational field; it was their fierce sense of honour and morality that drives both seasons. And their moral decency is hard-won; it is tested constantly, and it’s burnished at each opportunity, which is why they are respected. It is a dream that people like that can influence or impact those around them, but you don’t question that they do, by the end of each season, and that’s the victory of writing, casting and the charisma of both leads.

That’s why that funeral scene in season 1 is so important (to me); it shows the gravity shifting. The prosecutors rely on their forest of secrets to keep the centre together, but Hwang Si-mok demonstrates how untenable this has become, how the roots must be pulled out so the weeds die; so new healthy things can grow. The chaebols are at the periphery, and they continue to be there because, most audaciously of all, they don’t matter if enough people shift their moral calculus. I think this gravitational pull happens to Lee Chang-joon in season 1 thanks to Hwang Si-mok and it happens to Choi Bit in season 2 thanks to Han Yeo-jin. They are easily some of the most powerful parts of the show.

On the other hand, we have Blood Free. I’m not sure who the moral gravitational field of this show is meant to be. Maybe it’s Yun Ja-yu and/or Woo Chae-woon. Maybe it’s Lee Mu-saeng. Maybe it’s about the ethical dilemma of experimentation and whether that’s a worthwhile price to pay for the scientific advancements in cultured meat and seafood. Perhaps we need more time to really see the middle of the road characters, but four episodes in there’s not much to go on: there’s Lee Mu-saeng, there’s Queen Dowager as a VP, here’s Jeon Seok-ho. There are three chaebols, all of whom seem like one-note characters to me. (Why ask a talented sketch artist to produce cartoons like these? Unless they’re not, but nothing seems to suggest otherwise.)

The most interesting insight from episode 4 was about Yun Jayu - when offered 72 trillion won for her company, she actually considers it because it means she doesn’t have to face investors and can focus on research. She has influence and money but these are means to an end, for her. I wish we could see more of that, and not necessarily through exposition alone.

When she gives deft, cool answers to reporters, did that come naturally to her or did she work at it? Is she the face of the company because she hated it a little less than Lee Mu-saeng did? If so, why? What comparative advantage did they determine she had? When she wears Chanel tweed skirts and smiles her way through presentations, is that a natural extension of her work or is that a mask she wears? Give me process, guys! Give us the backstory, the way the markets work, the environment for cutting-edge bio research in Korea, the reaction of Big Meat, the interplay of new rich and old rich, some indication of her actual influence (which must be considerably more than what we see on the show, although what little we see, while uncomfortable, is frankly not that inconceivable in a world where you’re constantly connected.) I am so interested in her, and yet I feel I am made to watch the story of her reacting to chaebols and to the mystery of corporate sabotage rather than her being the fulcrum of her own universe. And at no point does the mystery seem morally urgent to me, and it’s because 1) why does it matter if all this is is a giant M&A negotiation 2) why should we care if it doesn’t feel real to us? So what if there’s sabotage? Why on earth isn’t this company guarded like fucking Fort Knox? Why is this company ostensibly so influential, so powerful and yet capable of unusually amateurish errors that are the centre of the show so far and not on the periphery of it? Where is the moral quandary that is meant to grab us by the throat?

Is it a question of the writing? Have her interests shifted and did she want to do a show without having to do too much character work? If anyone has earned a vibes-only moment it’s Lee Soo-yeon, and I respect that for her. I hope the direction isn’t stifling the writing, because that means there is an arresting, politically trenchant drama underneath this dry procedural, and that’s upsetting to consider. We still have a ways to go and I think there is potential, but I have to remind myself not to expect something like SF, that maybe you can’t bottle that formula. That it’s the gold standard for a reason. But honestly, Disney, in the words of TikTok star imo_unusual, you’ve made this show like God was dozing off when the angels were working, now RELEASE US (and LSY writernim)

[angael-a]

There weren’t a lot of things that could set Oscar off. He was stable, consistent, unbothered. It was something that everyone around him noted, and he took pride in it. 

If there was one thing, however, it would be pre-season testing. Don’t get him wrong—he loved the track, loved racing, and that first lap in the car after the off season was always exhilarating. 

It was the stuff after the rush that was unbearable, the hours of data analysis, fussing with equipment, and random runs on track. The time where you discover two things: 

1.) The car is shit. (Except, of course, you’re a Redbull driver, which Oscar is not.) 

2.) Nobody knows what they’re doing. 

These complaints resonated throughout, well, the entire grid. Nobody wanted to listen to engineers talk about something they didn’t understand while nodding at what seemed like the right times and trying not to go insane. 

So, in true racing driver fashion, they designed a competition. 

The premise of the game was simple: whoever could slip the most song lyrics into casual conversation without being noticed is the winner. The only rules were no teaming up, no quoting casual phrases (it has to be obnoxious), and if you get called out five minutes or less after quoting, you’re eliminated. 

Thank you @2bluetwo85 for editing !!

-DAY ONE-

The first person Oscar sees when he arrives on track is Lewis, walking down the pit lane. As he passes the commentary box, his eyes latch onto something--or someone-- inside. There’s something unreadable in his expression, something Oscar's never seen before. 

He thinks about it, walking towards the Mclaren garage. There's only two people commentating today, and only one of those people mean something to Lewis Hamilton. Nico Rosberg, 2016 F1 World Champion, and Lewis' ex-teammate, rival, sort-of-kind-of-not-really lover. It's not a secret within the grid--both parties aren't exactly subtle, as recently demonstrated. 

When he steps into the hospitality and finds one beaming Lando Norris, he tells him as much. Lando grins, and points: 'I know someone even less subtle.' 

Behind them, at the entrance of the Redbull garage, stand Charles and Max, engaged in conversation. He's not quite sure what they're discussing, but it involves a lot of hand-waving and exaggerated expressions. 

(Although, he supposes, Charles and Max always look like they're in the middle of a presidential debate.) 

At that moment, Zak calls them over, urging everyone into a meeting room. It's wholly pointless, just a lot of emotional speech and encouragement for the coming year, even if it comes in the form of trashing last year's car. 

Oscar seizes the opportunity: straight-faced, he says, 'Just because it didn't work, doesn't mean it's meaningless to me. Just wasn't meant to be.' 

He gets a few strange expressions from the crew around him--Lando included--but Zak says, without missing a beat, 'That's right. THREE CHEERS FOR MCLAREN!' and the attention is, thankfully, taken off him. 

He silently thanks Zak Brown and his endless optimism.

*

It’s only after the first session ends and Oscar is listening to radio replays--one of his favourite pastimes, both because of the data and because of the entertainment he gets from it—that he realizes a good amount of the grid has gotten a lot more done than he has. 

It seems that, during the several runs used to collect aero data, the drivers took it upon themselves to throw quotes at their engineers through the radio. 

The engineers that were completely oblivious of their shenanigans, and hence unaware of the game. 

(Looking back, he should have expected this. It was completely in character for the grid to find loopholes in any situation.) 

A few highlights: 

Valtteri saying, voice wistful, 'And it’s been ages, different stages…'

Alex, proclaiming 'I WANT IT THAT WAY!'

Charles, completely emotionless, 'Am I the only, only believer?' 

Lewis, telling Bono 'You and me got a whole lotta history.' 

Pierre, complaining, 'I’m like a boat on the water.' 

And, finally, Logan, who came through with a beautiful 'You’re turning heads when you walk through the door.' When someone asked if their hair was standing up. 

By the end of it, Oscar’s had enough. He pulls up Google, and, face determined, starts researching song lyrics. 

(In the back of his head, he wonders, slightly hysterically, what this sport has come to.) 

Will possibly maybe probably have a part 2?? If I have the motivation??

[iamchangingwind]

I am really disgusted by this but not surprised in any way. Please write EPA Administrator Zeldin at the EPA at <education@epa.gov>

Use this from Earth Justice, but of course personalize it.

“I am disappointed to learn about the Environmental Protection Agency’s policy allowing companies to request a Presidential Exemption to bypass clean air rules.

The law says the president can only issue these kinds of exemptions in very limited cases. That didn’t happen here. There was no real analysis, no real justification, just a blanket exemption for polluters who asked via email to emit more mercury and arsenic.

Many coal power plants already meet the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, so clearly there is no national security problem, and the pollution technology is out there, it works, and it’s affordable. Giving exemptions now just rewards the few who chose not to act.

According to your own agency, the 2024 MATS rule delivers $33 million in annual health benefits and $14 million in climate benefits. It has minimal impact on the power grid, with no expected retirements of coal-fired capacity.

The real emergency is the havoc the unlawful policy will wreak on public health with increased non-fatal heart attacks, higher cancer risks, more hospitalizations for respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, and premature deaths. Why give companies the option to opt out of implementing these life-saving measures?

Communities exposed to cancer-causing pollution deserve health protections, not to be ignored in backroom deals. I am asking that the EPA prioritize people over polluter profits.”

Thank you so much!!! We must fight back, even if it is not in our backyard. Especially with them kick between 8 - 16 million people including children with asthma and other respiratory problems/diseases.

Please write the Administrator of the EPA.

[formulatrash]

super sorry if this is a dumb question but i’ve getting stuck into f2 and f3 this year and i’ve tried to find videos about this but didn’t really find the answer i was looking for.

if f2 and f3 are spec series, other than maybe having more experienced personnel i guess, why are some teams better than others? is there a difference in set up or better tools depending on the team?

also, side question, what is the whole thing about like the cursed second ART seat like how is it cursed lol?

it comes down to resources and operational functionality. some teams will have more engineers and more data analysis capacity, better facilities at their factory, more simulation. it can come down to the tools they use and the amount of time they can spend on each car, with quite often one car in a team (the one that's paid the most for the seat) having an advantage. things like knowledge of tyre management and being able to properly prepare the tyres make a huge difference to a driver's ability to perform.

that can mean and certainly has that talented drivers get buried by their car just not being anywhere near the pace. you can be the best you can but if you've got an engine that isn't performing and a car that can't find the balance then you'll struggle. Screaming Meals is a really good intro to this; in amongst all the wine chat they do definitely get into how different the cars are between teams - the episode with Max Fewtrell talks about it quite a lot.

which isn't to say talent doesn't stand out or that you can cover for a lack of it with a good car. you have to be genuinely good to win an F2/3 race, it's just that you can also be genuinely good and not be able to show it.

I don't know if I really believe in there being a curse on the second ART seat but it sort of started in this era of the new F2 cars when George Russell and Jack Aitken were there, in 2018. Jack was George's closest rival for the GP3 title the previous year, they were absolutely on a level; they get to F2 and Jack's car makes him look like a fucking idiot who has no idea what he's doing.

the current F2 chassis had a very difficult teething period including an extended chunk of that first season where they couldn't do standing starts (so had to start behind the safety car) because clutch mapping was so hard multiple cars were stalling on the grid. they had to be given extra testing to try and sort it out and it was extremely difficult for a lot of teams to get to a place where the drivers could have any confidence whatsoever that they'd make it off the grid.

it's true that it tends to be one driver performing better than the other in ART but some of the time that has a reasonable explanation. do I, for instance, think there is a reason that Nyck de Vries won the year Nikita Mazepin was his team mate and came 20th? yes and it's a skill issue.

Martins and Pourchaire are fairly evenly matched, so far. Martins has the advantage of maturity (he's "too old" for F1 which is stupid given Pourchaire clearly did not get an advantage in showing his talent by moving up so young) but F2 is tricky.

[frostythefrostedfox]

Overanalysing Analysis

Me, sitting at the desk, suit and tie, glasses on: Ladies and gentlemen, today I regret to inform you that I have been overanalizing something that doesn’t needs to be analized to begin with, I completely lost about 3 hours of my life rewatching the same footage over and over, in very bad quality as well, so I could bring you content, not high quality content, quality is sold separatedly as DLC, just content. And that is: The brilliance of the only good parts of Cars 2, The race scenes.

So you better click out of this post right now else you’ll be reading the ramblings of a madman, don’t say I didn’t warned you.

Also, the less quality screenshots belong to the few footage of the Cars 2 DVD, that includes the deleted scenes of the movie.

First of all, the mockup SPEED Network titles and presentation, which resembles the official intro sequence of all FIA championship races, also the fact that they are using 3 official motorsport commentators.

They kept the logo on as the camera goes around as if this was the live feed from any race day. Normally this type of thing is done on the grid as these are the moments that preface the formation lap on any discipline, but I can see why they kept it inside the pits, else the pre-race chatter and the warmup wouldn’t be noticeable, also to cut production time, as pre-formation lap preparations tend to look like this

A bunch of equipment, umbrellas, engineers, media and overall clutter all behind the SC, considering that in Cars everyone is a car (duh, is in the name), this wouldn’ve been hell to fit in without making a random ass huge main straight, or making everyone be so awkwardly positioned on the grid.

Then we get the cars themselves

Francesco, obviously being a Formula 1 car, according to my guess (Source: trust me bro) being a hybrid between the F2004 and the F248 (2006 season), his swaying on the heating is minimal, slow reduced speed and pace on the out so the engine, electronics and brakes won’t overheat.

The GT cars (I actually have no idea who that is supposed to be), strong swaying and quick revving to keep the engine on the mark, as those cars, although specially fitted for racing, are still commercially available cars that you can buy, so keeping perfect temperatures and being “on the zone” at all times is not their main purpose unlike the LMP1, 2 and Formula cars

Next we have “Raoul ÇaRoule“, or, as I like to call him, offbrand Sebastien Loeb, because that’s totally who he is supposed to be, the french flag and the “rally champion” title give it off, considering he is still the one with the most titles in the WRC, which in the Cars universe is called the GRC but for just a name usage and some vague likeness, it just wasn’t worth the money, which is honestly an understandable choice; notice how his swaying is the most pronounced, and his rev periods are longer than anyone else’s, and that’s on point with rally cars, they are high torque high accleeration cars with a very open differential and a loose steering to allow for easy corrections and compensation without overdoing it, as they usually race on ice, dirt and other slippery surfaces that would make precise track-like steering a one way ticket into a tree.

A deleted shot, see the ammount of detail on that Vanquish GT.

Yes, that’s motherfucking Lewis Hamilton, portrayed as none other than a McLaren, as that’s the team he was racing for in 2011.

They even included a DMT/WTC car! And it seems to be a Mercedes CLK.

This shot is just beautiful, I’ll allow my suspension of disbelief to simply take the wheel here as those boxes are too close together and right next to each other, but who cares, the painted-over asphalt like the one in street circuits, the small “belly” at the bottom that McQueen’s tires get as his car-type is on the quite heavy side, the stiffness of Francesco’s tires with the toe in camber at the front wheels, the different tide width for each car, this show is just amazing.

A small shot that we get from McQueen’s POV, you can see the heat thing where it becomes blurry, you can see the details on that (obviously not licensed) LMP1 car with all the details on it, the classic Aston Martin GT body 3 places ahead of McQueen is also a lovely sight to see, with the high wing as they tend to have on GT Competitions.

The starting sequence is a pale where I can see that they put a lot of work and detail on, the rally car and the TOCA cars simply taking off as soon as the lights get green while the GT cars like the Corvette and the Aston Martin taking a bit longer, moving off the grid slower

But as soon as they move forward, they build speed insanely fast, also the huge detail of the Corvette’s bad start as he gets stuck on the first gear and can’t advance until a few seconds later, when he has the McLaren behind him already taking an overtaking line on the left. And don’t forget the AM’s diffusor almost touching the ground.

Another great shot, you can see all of their eyes looking to the left, where the distance to corner indicators are on, everybody looking for their insividual braking point, cars with slower speed but higher acceleration stay on the middle while high aero cars try to go for the inside like the LMP1 as it can brake faster than any other, or Francesco going for the outside so he can do the corner while braking the less, relying entirely on his aero.

Although out of focus, time to appreciate the detail of the back of Francesco, that’s some high detail modelling right there, you can see most of the components and how most of the car is actually empty underneath, you can even see how the suspension moves up and down as he goes thru the track, if I were to be picky the only thing he is missing is the recovery light at the bottom.

A million different lines all based on the specific car taking the turn, TOCA cars going for the inside at all cost so they can accelerate quicker, GT cars preferring a more open line to use the entire width of the track to be less aggressive on the tires as they weight a hell of a lot more.

Now the boxes are also a delight to see

“Gorvette” the GT Corvette gets an F150 (another Ford manufactured car) as its engineer.

A french car, the Citroën DS for the french offbrand Loeb.

A japanese car for the Japanese LMP1 car.

Francesco gets a 250GT Convertible, of course it is another Ferrari, lol

And you can see it on the back of the shot, the Spaniard racer gets a SEAT (possibly a SEAT Leon) as his engineer.

First of all, great lighting and great detail on the track; second, everyone but the rally car is racing on the wrong line, trying to take the path that is the straightest and with the least elevation changes, yet the rally one is the only one that takes the right one, the side with the most camber to help reduce the speed coming into the corner without having to touch too much of the brakes, an enviromental lift and coast if you must, and at the same time it takes advantage of his higher suspension rebound as he has less of a cahnce of bottoming out, unlike literally all the other cars.

OMG Is this Dirt 6?

That’s a pretty good shot right there, a classic “Left 4 DC Tightens, Right 4 Cut Opens”

Those red brakes, THOSE RED BRAKES, Beautiful.

Again, suspension of disbelief taking the wheel because that shot was amazing, but McQueen got the plot armor, do that big of a jump and see how you faceplant the dirt and roll over.

But at the same time, great how the other car is doing it the way it should be done, and even in the next shot you see how it has gained on McQueen by doing that.

The dirt on his body. The sense of speed of the scene. The way the sound echoes. I know this is “average japanese tunnel” but this whole sequence gives me “Monaco Tunnel section” vibes. If only this movie was as great as these shots

Another great backshot, nothing else to say.

Another deleted shot, this is what I meant by Monaco vibes, seeing his wheel so close to the wall and have the sound reflect that by echoing even louder is just great.

Absolute classic TV coverage angle, simply great.

Turn 13 Singapore my beloved, the section is longer than it is IRL and for obvious licensing issues it doesn’t has the metal arch that oversees the straight between 11 and 12, but it even has the small kink right that is turn 12 into the hairpin of Turn 13 just like in the real track

Even on a movie, Lewis is an asshole, brake-switching lanes and not allowing anyone to race on his side of the track, very IC representation of him (and this was in 2011 mind you, even before we saw more his.. interesting... interpretation of the F1 rules, was this some next level foreshadowing?)

Singapore Sling my beloved, I miss you (actually I don’t, I hope you never come back).

Notice how McQueen doesn’t even blinks until he is out of the section, and how every driver that comes moves their eyes from apex to apex

More Sling pics with moving eyes, I love it, also, look at the tyre marks, so beautiful, also that Vanquish nose, so beautiful x2, and lets not forget Loeb in the back doing the most open turns known to man (car?) so he doesn’t has to press the brakes and can just high-rev the entire section like in RXC.

Look at the muddy teardrop, look at the exhaust gas, look at the everything. I’ll never have enough of these low angle sideshots in any Cars movie. Also, mandatory Wangan mention.

You guys really pushing the suspension of disbelief here lol, no way in hell that a NASCAR (insert laugh emoji) car is able to hold back and gain from two prototype racers and and F1 car. Although Francesco is really pushing forward in that shot, but still.

But.

I don’t care, still a great shot, nice to see how much depth and detail is actually there.

He readies it and...

Amazing, as it should be, right on the tail, getting all the reduced drag possible before pushing out into clean air and passing the car like its standing.

Forget what I said earlier, no I am not going all the way up to correct it, if you made it all the way down here you can just pretend that I did, he has the recovery light, and is so pretty, the wing is so on spot, everything really, look at the dirst from earlier, how it splashes back, look at the closeness to the ground, everything is there, absolutely everything.

It’s such a shame that we really only have 1 full race, and the racen is constantly being cut out by some decaf 007 bs that nobody actually cared about; the whole plot of “multinational racing event that is just a big conspiration” was great as it was, because the sport has had lots and lots of those, just the name “Briatore” should be enough to make like 3 movies out of that, and that’s leaving out the lesser known but equally interesting scandals like Multi 21, and the sport defining moments like Jules’ incident (RIP), both the FIA and the FIM have enough drama by themselves to make a movie with this plot interesting enough with just that, racing, cars doing car things like the first movie (Even tho the first one is based off the year-round april’s fools joke known as NASCAR), zero need for Mater to be turnt into a James Bond LARPer

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Laundering torturers' reputations with copyfraud

The wildest forensic stories are the ones where you pull at a loose thread and discover that you've got hold of a the tip of the tentacle of some kind of cthulhoid monster from the depths of hell. That's the story of Eliminalia, global fraudsters for hire.

The story starts with Qurium, a secure hosting provider that focuses on at-risk civil society groups, the kinds of people who piss off dictators with their own snatch-squads they can use against their enemies.

Two of Qurium's clients are Maka Angola and The Elephant, who had done extensive reporting on corruption in Angola related to Isabel dos Santos ("Africa's richest woman") and Vincent Miclet ("the Gatsby of Africa").

https://www.qurium.org/forensics/dark-ops-undercovered-episode-i-eliminalia/

These articles attracted a flood of fraudulent copyright notices claiming the articles were infringing, as well as fraudulent GDPR notices claiming they violated EU privacy law. The letters were signed by fake lawyers, with whom Qurium struck up quite a correspondence.

Qirium also engaged in digital forensics. They found that the fraudsters had created lookalike websites that purported to be news sites, had plagiarized the real sites' articles, back-dating them so they looked like the real sites had copied THEM.

This is an exotic, but not unheard-of, tactic for censoring the internet, and it's the kind of thing that generally works well.

"Notice-and-takedown" laws like Section 512 of the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act exempt web-hosts from copyright liability if they "expeditiously remove" content upon notification.

Web-hosts *might* do a little sleuthing to make sure the notice passes the giggle-test (checking to see if there's an earlier, identical article, say) but they're unlikely to do any real forensic work before removing content, and if there's any doubt, they'll take it down.

This back-dating scam was augmented by filing false registrations with Safe Creative, a Spanish copyright registry, to give the fraudulent representations a sturdiness that would survive secondary investigations.

Qurium is exceptional in its censorship-resistance specifically because they host high-risk content for NGOs and civil society groups whom ruthless, powerful people want to censor in order to protect their reputations.

In fact, Qurium is doubly exceptional, because they didn't just ignore the takedown demands - they also dug through the headers of the emails and found themselves tugging at a thread that turned out to be a tentacle of a horrific monster.

Specifically, they found themselves unraveling the "Eliminalia" network, a grid of 300+ fake newspaper sites that exist entirely as part of a commercial reputation-laundering service that purges the web of damning evidence of terrible crimes.

Exploring this collection of fake sites, Qurium was able to group Eliminalia's clients into six thematic areas:

I. People who committed business and financial fraud, including surgeons who maimed their patients and fake universities who suckered would-be students.

II. Finance corruption, including money laundering.

III. Sexual abusers and harassers.

IV. Organized crime figures and groups.

V. Environmental crimes.

VI. Human rights violations.

Naturally, the Eliminalia fraud service also operates a vast botnet of Twitter and other social media accounts that help to suppress certain news stories for their clients.

All this begs the question, who is behind Eliminalia? Its corporate entities are registered in Spain (Eliminalia 2013 SLU), Maidan Holding/Eliminalia USA LLC in Florida and in Ukraine. All of these entities list "Diego (Didac) Sanchez Jimenez/Gimenez" as a director.

A separate entity called "World Intelligence Ltd" - a UK company also registered to Sanchez - runs the 300+ cloned news websites with plagiarized articles sporting doctored timestamps.

https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/11095218/officers

The syndicate's fraudulent legal demands are sometimes signed by "Raul Soto" of "Legal Department of the Brussels EU Commission" (the address given is a "virtual office" location near a real EU Commission building).

They send these fraudulent emails using ohv.fr servers, from the "abuse-report.eu" domain.

But that's just for starters. Things really get gnarly in Qurium's followup post:

https://www.qurium.org/forensics/dark-ops-undercovered-episode-ii-eliminalia-analysis-of-fake-dmca-complaints/

That's where the investigators describe what they found when they plugged all this intel into the Lumen Database of takedown notices and legal threats. These are pretty hair-raising.

For example, Eliminalia worked to remove articles from a Chilean website that identified doctors who worked in the dictator Augusto Pinochet's torture program.

Advocates for strong copyright and privacy protection have pointed to notice-and-takedown as a workable compromise, an alternative to the lengthy court processes that would be required to get content removed from an offline source, such as a bookstore.

But while notice-and-takedown may work well, it fails very, very badly. Torturers, mafiosi, corrupt officials and scammers can use these same expedited, low-evidence systems to remove material that truthfully describes their crimes.

This was - and is - the utterly foreseeable outcome of a "streamlined" process for censoring content without due process. It's a lucrative business that produces enough surplus capital to support full-time professionals who do nothing but find ways to game the system.

Today, we hear calls for an expansion of notice-and-takedown, often to remove content that I personally want to see obliterated: Holocaust denial, hate speech, etc.

But each one of these exceptions to hard-fought-for due process protections for speech inevitable ends up swallowing the rule. Full-time Nazis have all day to figure out how to use these rules to get evidence of their bad acts removed.

While the survivors of their bad acts struggle to master the arcane process for having their truth restored to the internet.

[f1]

Home favourite Piastri on the Daniil Kvyat connection behind his previous visit to Albert Park

Oscar Piastri is gearing up for his first-ever race at Melbourne’s Albert Park Circuit this weekend, but while he has never tackled the Australian Grand Prix venue, it will not be the 21-year-old’s first experience of F1 Down Under. Piastri, who grew up near the circuit in the suburb of Brighton, explained in Thursday’s driver press conference for his home event that he was selected as a ‘Grid Kid’ for the 2015 Australian Grand Prix, the year in which he raced to third place in the KF3 Australian Kart Championship. READ MORE: Home hero Piastri describes ‘special feeling’ ahead of maiden Australian Grand Prix Daniil Kvyat, then driving for Red Bull, was the driver Piastri was paired with ahead of the race, only for a gearbox issue to prevent him reaching the grid – and thus meaning no exchange between them. Sharing some memories from his previous visits to Albert Park, Piastri said: “I was here last year as reserve driver [with Alpine], and I was here [in] 2015… I was a Grid Kid, actually, for Daniil Kvyat. “I was holding Daniil Kvyat’s flag and he broke down on the lap to the grid, so I never actually got to see him! It’s pretty special to have someone holding my flag this time, but hopefully I have better luck.” Piastri has been busy meeting and greeting fans ahead of his first F1 race on home soil He added: “The last time I raced in Australia I was still in go-karts, I think it was seven years ago now, so it’s nice to get out on a race track in Oz.” As for what Piastri can achieve at home, the former F2 and F3 champion took confidence from his performance last time out in Saudi Arabia, which included a run to Q3 in qualifying. BEYOND THE GRID: Oscar Piastri on his F1 debut, dealing with the pressure and bringing back McLaren’s glory days He was keen, though, to avoid the first-lap drama that saw him pick up car damage and dive into the pits for a new front wing, with team mate Lando Norris having to do the same after running over the debris. “I think compared to the previous two tracks, here should be more like Saudi, I hope. The tarmac is quite similar, the layout is a bit more similar to Saudi compared to Bahrain, so hopefully that is good for us,” he said, with McLaren one of two teams – alongside AlphaTauri – yet to score a point this season. “I think in Saudi we showed we can get into Q3 and fight for the back end of points on our good days, so hopefully we can just have a clean race and my front wing doesn’t wipe out Lando this time! We’ll see what we can do.” Piastri and Norris were both caught up in Lap 1 drama in Saudi Arabia Norris was also keen to focus on the positives after McLaren’s point-less start in 2023, saying: “I should have scored points in Bahrain and I should have scored points in Saudi. “We’ve been a little bit unlucky with certain things like the debris in Saudi, but if I didn’t make my mistake in qualifying [when Norris hit the Turn 27 wall] I wouldn’t have been in that position and I wouldn’t have hit any debris. ANALYSIS: McLaren hit the reset button in a bid to revive their F1 hopes “Some ‘shoulda’, ‘woulda’, ‘coulda’, type of things, also reliability hit us in Bahrain, so definitely not as bad as everyone, [the] media, headlines are saying. “I have confidence that if we have a clean weekend and perform to where our performance should be at, we can score some points.” via Formula 1 News https://www.formula1.com

[tyremarbles]

Post-Race McLaren Strategy Analysis

Foreword: Y’all know me, I try to make sure I know everything I can before I actually say anything, and this analysis took me nearly 5 hours last night. I didn’t go to bed until like 3am because I was so busy double-checking all my facts lmao. Special thanks to @imthebadguyyy & my dad for being my test readers :)))

During the Dutch Grand Prix Race Session this past Sunday, September 5th, 2021, McLaren made some strategy calls that presented as the team favoring Lando over Daniel. The opinion that came to light was that McLaren were making Daniel into the secondary driver, which is something he had come to the team in hopes of avoiding. This opinion, while it is a valid one to express, isn’t one that holds much water when you zoom out from the context of that set of radio transmissions.

McLaren is a midfield team. They aren’t focused on winning the championship; just on getting the highest place they can in order to get the most money. Their best chance of doing that is by ensuring they get the most points out of each race.

Despite the fact that Lando has been with McLaren for five years now, he isn’t their number one driver; McLaren doesn’t have one. They can’t if they want to maximize their opportunity for points. What they can do, though, is prioritize whoever is consistently delivering the better results on a week-by-week basis. Thus far, that driver just happens to be Lando. Which makes sense, considering that Daniel is just starting to really feel comfortable in the MCL35M.

Lando has felt more comfortable in the car over the course of the 2021 season. An obvious explanation for this is that Lando has been with the team since 2017, where he signed as a Junior Driver, and has had much longer to adapt his driving style to the car. This is Daniel’s first year with McLaren. His previous seasons have been spent, for the most part, in a RedBull-designed car. Even when he was at Renault, it was expressed that the cars handled very similarly to a RedBull. The MCL35M, as he has expressed, handles very differently than what he had grown accustomed to, and doesn’t particularly seem to fit his driving style. As the 2021 season has progressed, however, Daniel has shown he has made progress in adapting to the car.

Comparing qualifying results to race results, Daniel has consistently started further back on the grid. This puts him at a disadvantage from a points strategy perspective. The further back you are, the harder you have to work to gain places over the course of a race. I’m not saying he’s incapable of gaining those places back; he’s shown quite the opposite actually, most notably in Portugal and Austria this season with a 7-place jump from 16th to 9th and a 6-place jump from 13th to 7th, respectively. What I am saying is that if you’re not comfortable in the car, or you’re at a track where overtaking is nigh-impossible, or you’re already close enough to the points to get there on your own, team strategy may not fall in your favor.

But despite his difficulties adjusting to the car, Daniel is in no danger of dropping off and playing second fiddle to Lando like you all suggest. Daniel is a talented driver. If he wasn’t, would he really still be in the sport after a decade? Would McLaren have followed him for years, determined to add him to the team? His move to McLaren, while still in its adjustment period, is one that’s beneficial and positive for all parties involved. Lando may have talent and skill, as clearly shown by his F3 Championship title and frankly outstanding performance the past couple seasons (4 podiums, a front row start, most consecutive points finishes), but he’s still very young. This is only his third year in Formula 1, and he’s only older than me by three years. Compare that to Daniel, who’s been competing in Formula 1 for ten years now, was a driver for one of the two top teams for over half of his career (7 years, counting Toro Rosso), and placed 3rd in the WDC for said team twice in 2014 & 2016. Do you seriously think that McLaren gives him a multimillion dollar paycheck because they want him to play racetrack bodyguard for Lando?

Bringing in someone like Daniel, who has years of training, skill, and knowledge, and an invaluable perspective on not only racing, but on one of the title contenders, is a major asset to all aspects of the team. Sure, he may be new to McLaren, but he is a long way off being new to racing.

Was the strategy this weekend arguably a hot mess? Oh, absolutely. But it wasn’t a one-team phenomenon. Strategy overall this weekend has been all over the place, and I kinda see why. We haven’t raced at Zandvoort since 1985, when the track itself and the cars were much, much different. You can’t really go off of race strategy from the mid-80’s when the track did not include the bankings it currently has and when the car and tyre specifications have changed drastically. Everyone was basically flying in blind.

What the teams could rely on, was all the data they were getting from practice sessions (even if every single one was red-flagged at some point). And the data that McLaren was receiving likely suggested that Lando would be a stronger contender for points, based on comparative lap pace alone.

Over the course of 18 laps in FP1, Lando’s lap time was quicker than Daniel’s by 0.402s, or an average of 4/10ths.

Over the course of FP2, where Lando ran two more laps than Daniel, Lando’s lap time was quicker than Daniel’s by 0.669s, or nearly 7/10ths.

Over the course of 19 laps in FP3, Lando’s lap time was quicker than Daniel’s by 0.232s, or an average of 2/10ths.

During Qualifying, Daniel actually had the faster lap time, pulling an even 0.24s on Lando, and only just squeezed his way into Q3.

The gap between Lando (P13) and George (P11) was 0.074s. That is a tiny gap to cover, and had there not been a red flag to close out Q2, I feel like Lando could have easily cinched a Top 10 start.

During the race, did the strategy of McLaren look as if it was all being done in the favor of Lando? Yes, it kinda did. But when you look at things like race pace, tyre degradation, and what other teams are doing, it’s not necessarily difficult to see why. Over the course of the weekend, Lando consistently put out faster lap times and gained three places on his own during Lap 29, when the three cars in front of him all decided to pit at once. And yes, Daniel did pit first out of the two McLarens, but he was going to have to do so anyway. He started the race on the set of Softs he ran during Qualifying, and Lando started on Mediums. Mediums last longer than Softs. Later in the race, it looked as though Lando had the pace to push past the Alpine cars ahead of him & Daniel, so a call was made to basically switch the two of them around. From what I saw, this call is what made people the most upset. I, as a big fan of both drivers, was also upset at the time, as it felt strange to not just have Daniel try to gain places he was already closer to. But the longer I put thought and research into this analysis, the more I think I see what they were trying to do.

Had this moment of strategy been implemented a few laps earlier, and had it gone according to plan, Daniel could have held off Checo until Lando passed them both (making it a P9/P10), then followed Lando until he got around Esteban and then try and take his shot as Esteban as well (which could’ve given them a P8/P10 or P8/P9). At no point does this potential line of strategy truly favor either driver. Now, obviously I do not work for McLaren and have no true insight into their plans, but this is simply what made the most sense. Have the driver who’s already there hold off the car in between until the other driver can overtake/pass, and then have the first driver follow behind until there’s an opening to make the same move on the next car. Easy points, easy money!

But, mistakes were made. That call came much too late for it to truly work, and that’s just the risk they had to take. At the end of the day, it was not a call made to screw Daniel over, or to play favoritism to Lando. It was simply what could’ve been a good call made too late for good execution.

[I made some graphics to aid my own thought process and I’ve stuck them under the Read More for y’all to look at if you want!]

[kyidyl]

Kyidyl Does Archaeology - Part 2

Ok, part 1 can be found in my KyidylCL tag.  

Prep Work!

Digging up something as large as an entire settlement involves a lot of prep work.  You can’t just like....start digging.  Archaeologists view prep work the same way that doctors view tests - do as many as you think are necessary and gather as much data as you can *before* you make the first cut so that you inflict as little harm and destruction as possible.  Archs only have one shot at getting it right because after we dig it’s destroyed.  That’s it, it’ll never be in the ground the same way ever again.  Archaeology is also time intensive, painstaking work so you want to get the most you can out of your digging.  There are tons of ways to do prep work for a site - test pits, ground penetrating radar, resistivity tests (run a current through the ground and if it hits something different than dirt it tells you that.), metal detectors, drone mapping, satellite images, historical research, etc.  You have to determine where to dig and what method you’ll use, because the size of things you’ll dig up ranges from easily visible artefacts to near microscopic seeds and - in the case of biological remains - sometimes actual microscopic and chemical analysis of the soil itself.  

Further, if you’re the first people to formally dig a site you are going to need to establish the stratigraphy.  This is the order of layers, how old they are, and what’s in them.  That way it can serve as a guide to anyone who comes and digs the site after you.  This is the biggest reason why we record things like a Munsell (soil color.).  This is why we argue over the color of dirt because if the color of the dirt changes then you’re either in a feature (YAY!!) aka something a human did, or you’re in a new layer and that means a new time period.  This is how we keep track of where stuff is located and how old it is.  IE, finding plastic like 2ft down (~.75m for my non-American followers.) is a *problem*.  This is also why a lot of archs have some side knowledge and training in geology and soil deposition.  It’s really important for determining the order of events.  

Back to my site specifically.  We don’t have any money so all the fancy ground penetrating stuff was out, and we went with shovel tests.  So step 1 was making a grid, and we do this with GPS coords.  Basically you start somewhere you know the coords for and then you draw lines every however many yards.  In our case it’s 50 feet on the X-axis and 25 ft on the Y axis.  Where these lines meet, we dig small holes.  This happened at this site in June 2018, while I was still in the UK and not there to help with it (TBH, lucky me.  Digging test pits in June isn’t exactly my idea of fun.).  When I got back to the states I joined up with them and one of the first things I did was sort, catalogue, and record all of the finds.  The arch society has basically zero digitization so I started doing that with these test pit finds.  

Normally, the numbers of artefacts isn’t *as* important because it doesn’t include features, or tell you what kinds of artefacts, or any of that.  But in this case it actually was important because the site is so disturbed.  We’re not going to find as many features (like post holes, fire pits, etc.  I’ll explain those more when I do the post about the pits.), so we won’t be able to tell the layout of the settlement as well.  But because farming doesn’t move the artefacts far away from where they were buried - it just uncovers them and brings them to the surface - if we superimpose the artefacts onto a map we can visualize where things might have been.  Basically, farming moves things out of place in *time* but not in *space*.  

So I set about doing this.  I basically just inserted myself into this planning process and took it over.  I *was* going to use GPS, but I didn’t have enough coords nor did I know at the time how far apart the grid lines were.  Instead, I superimposed the grid over a newer sattelite image of the site from google.  Then I imported it into Procreate and I started adding colors.  Each artefact type is a different color, and so I wrote the number of each artefact in its color.  And that looks like this: 

Which for me was still difficult to visualize, so I used the same colors but removed the grid and used darker dots depending on how many of each thing we found.  That was a lot more digestible and looks like this: 

NOW you can see where things are.  I made some recommendations for pit locations based on this work and the site director used that, in combination with the recommendations of the people who’d dug the test pits, to decide where to dig.  This is a map of my informal guesses for how the settlement might have been laid out: 

Fun fact, and I didn’t know this at the time I made the maps, but you see where I’ve written “main thoroughfare?” there on the right? Yeah, that’s almost exactly where the civil war era trench was based on my later research.  So while here I’ve kind of marked the intense bit off to the left of that as the main occupation, it’s likely that the civil war trench cut right through the main occupation and ruined the archaeology there.  Weirdly, honestly, because D900 is right in the middle of that and it’s been our most interesting pit so far.  

But you’ll have to wait for the next post to find out about that. 

[ssa-babygirl]

Out of My League [Part 3]

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Single mom!Reader

Word count: ~4.5k 

Summary: Nothing brings two friends together like a bit of grief with a side of daddy issues. (Mixed POV, includes flashbacks)

Warning(s): As the summary states, angst, grief and daddy issues, mentions of kidnapping, mentions of cancer, a few swear words, i think that’s it??? i use the word “smile” like 138407894 times i’m so sorry i hate noticing my crutch words

Author’s Note: I am SO sorry how long this took I honestly have no excuse, this chapter isn’t even that great but this is only two thirds of what I actually intended this part to be so GUESS WHAT I SPLIT IT UP!!!! the next part shouldn’t take too long (I say that but watch it’s gonna take like another year) and it’s gonna be super fluffy so DON’T Y’ALL WORRY IT’S GONNA BE FLUFF CENTRAL FOR THE NEXT COUPLE OF CHAPTERS

[Previous Part] [Series Masterlist]

WASHINGTON D.C., 2007

(Reader POV)

You had only been to D.C. a few times before to visit your dad, normally under happier circumstances, such as him getting sworn in for another term, but this time was not the case. You got the phone call from your mother the evening before when you quickly packed yours and Jamie’s bags for the flight that left later that night. The few hours you had spent in D.C. already felt like long days. You were physically and emotionally exhausted. Jamie had never been on a plane before and was grappling with the effects of jet lag.

You needed a bit of a pick-me-up yourself, so you ran over to a coffee shop for a bit of a change of scenery. It was about eight o'clock in the morning when you heard your name being called, but not by the barista making your drinks, but by a familiar voice that you had only heard over the phone for a couple of months since his last visit home. You turned around to face the source and locked eyes with Spencer.

“Hey!” You smiled, trying your best to not look like you had just had the longest 24 hours of your life.

“What are you doing here? Why didn’t you say you were gonna be in town?”

“I didn’t know I was gonna be in town until last night!” Spencer could see right through you. He pursed his lips, not asking what was wrong yet, but still opting to check-in and make sure you’re okay.

“How are you feeling? Jet lagged?”

“Some profiler.” Your chuckle came out more annoyed than you would have liked it to. 

“What’s up?”

“Nothing, just getting some coffee--”

“No, like, are you okay?” He knew something was wrong, he wasn’t stupid, quite the opposite, by a long shot.

“I’m fine, Spence,” you lied through your teeth.

“Then who isn’t?” Panic and worry flashed across his face, “Is Jamie okay?

“Yes! He’s fine!” You couldn’t help but smile at the relief Spencer displayed that your son was safe and well, his hand coming up to rest over his heart. You hesitated for a second before giving in and telling him why you seemed so off, “My dad’s sick in the hospital.”

“Oh! Do they know what’s wrong with him?”

“Yep. Stage 4 lung cancer.” Your dad had been a smoker for most of your life. He tried to quit after Jamie was born, but the damage had already been done.

Spencer looked genuinely heartbroken as he chewed on the inside of his cheek, trying to think of what to say next “Do you know how much time he has?”

“Couple of weeks if we’re lucky.”

His eyebrow furrowed and his golden eyes softened to an impossible degree, “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. This wasn’t sudden, we’ve been expecting it, but when the doctor says eight to twelve months, and you get through month eight, you start hoping it’s gonna be twelve.”

“Are you going back to the hospital now?”

“Yeah-”

“I’ll come with you!”

“Don’t you have work?”

“I don’t have to be there for another hour and,” he checks his watch, which was pulled over the sleeve of his dark gray cardigan, “fifty-six minutes.”

“The hospital’s out of the way and you hate being late.”

“I hate the thought of you going through this alone even more.” You tried to ignore the warm and fuzzy feeling that gave you but ultimately failed. Those big brown eyes refused to stop studying your face, analyzing any signs that you needed him, which to be fair, you did.

“I’m not alone, I got Jamie and my mom.”

“Even more the reason for me to want to go with you.” He finally dropped the solemn frown and took up a bright smile instead. You swore his grin was contagious because, by the time you both got your coffees, you were smiling just as wide.

You drove back to the hospital in comfortable silence. Walking back to your father’s room felt easier with him by your side. Jamie looked up from his drawing as he saw you approach, beaming at you and his favorite federal agent.

“Doctor Spencer!” He came running up to him and hugging his legs.

“Hey, little man!” Spencer ruffled his hair and grinned down at the tiny human squeezing his arms around his thigh.

Your mother looked up from her book, “Doctor? Spencer? Wait. As in…”

“Yeah, mom.”

She stands and wraps him in a hug, “Oh my goodness, sweetheart, you got so big! You’re all grown up! Oh, and you’re cute, too!” She pinched his now pink cheek as his face twisted into a bashful smile, “Right, Y/N? Spencer got cute!”

Now you were blushing a little.

Why am I blushing? I don’t blush over Spencer!

You pursed your lips and looked him up and down. His striped tie was crooked under his cardigan. His long hair was a bit shaggy, as if he rolled out of bed, showered, and decided to go to work. You just laughed nervously as you met Spencer’s eyes. God, those eyes. “Yeah… I’d say so.”

“You definitely grew into your looks. Honey, this is Spencer. Remember the boy that used to tutor Y/N?”

“Oh, nice to finally meet you, son, I’ve heard a lot about you.” Your father shifted in his bed, managing to sit up slightly.

“You too, sir, I just wish it could have been under better circumstances.”

“Don’t give me any of that ‘sir’ crap, I got enough of that working on the Hill,” your father chuckled but his hearty laugh quickly devolved into a coughing fit. Your mother sat back down on the bed next to him and fed him some ice chips to keep him hydrated.

“So, Spencer, Y/N says you work for the FBI now?” She turns her attention away from her husband and forces a smile.

“Yes! I do.”

You took a seat and sipped your coffee, “He was on the team that helped save Jamie, remember?”

“What division are you in?” Your dad asked.

“The Behavioral Analysis Unit.”

“I got some buddies in the bureau, who’s your supervisor?”

“Aaron Hotchner?”

“Oh, I knew him in his prosecutor days. Helluva lawyer, he got some of my clients put away.”

“Sorry about that.”

“Don’t be, they were guilty, weren’t they?”

Spencer’s phone rang in his pocket, “Speaking of which, I have to go. Got a case.”

“Go! Don’t be late!”

“Go catch the bad guy, Doctor Spencer!”

“Will do, Jamie.” He ruffled his hair before turning to your parents, “Goodbye, Mr. and Mrs. L/N, it was great seeing you.”

“Bye, sweetheart, don’t be a stranger!”

“I’ll walk you out, return the favor.” You walked quietly with him.

“Listen, I don’t know when I’ll be home from this, but I’ll let you know when I get back, and if you’re still here just give me a call, okay?”

“Of course, Spence. Now go catch the bad guy!” You grinned as you parroted your son’s words. He returned your smile and pulled you into a hug. You could feel tears brimming in your eyes, but you fought it off best you could. Spencer could still sense your pain and hugged you as tight as possible. You were the one to pull away first, patting his back and forcing your pursed lips into a smile. His phone started to ring shortly after.

“Don’t let me keep you.”

            (Spencer’s POV)

The case went on for too long. Two whole weeks passed before we were able to come home from Minneapolis. A man was strangling women with short black hair between the ages 30-40 because they reminded him of his mother, it’s standard stuff, it should have been a pretty cut and dry case, but the guy was almost impossible to find, he was completely off the grid. It took Garcia days to just get us a name, let alone contact information. He killed two other women while we were there. One of them was a mother, she had three kids all under the age of 10. Cases like these were always tough, but Gideon had seen enough to talk us all through it. I still wasn’t used to him being gone.

I couldn’t get any sleep on the jet. The nightmares have been coming back with a vengeance since Gideon left. He was like a father to me, my protector, my mentor, and now I have no one.

That’s hyperbolic; I do have the team, and they miss him too, but I’m pretty much alone out on the field. I know I can go to them, but it doesn’t feel right. I don’t like to rely on others because when they leave, I’m by myself.

Which is exactly why I am the only one awake on the jet home.

I suppose I wasn’t totally alone, I could call Y/N, but I wouldn’t wanna bother her if she was with her family. She only has so much time left with her dad. I took my phone out of my pocket anyway and saw a missed call from her last night, I hadn’t seen it before because of the case. If she wanted to talk she probably needed to, right?

I mulled it over in my head, and before I could even come to a decision, my fingers worked on autopilot, dialing the same number I had memorized years ago, and hit call.

Las Vegas, 1994

I picked up the book from the top of the pile she set down on the counter, “You’re reading A Midsummer Night’s Dream?”

“Yeah, for class.”

“If you need any help with that, my mother was a classics professor, I’ve read most of Shakespeare’s works.”

“Really? That’s cool. I’ve read the basics in other classes, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Macbeth, all that, but this one is definitely my favorite so far.”

“Really?”

“Yeah! I don’t know why, but the idea of falling in love with the wrong person just sorta… I dunno… resonates, I guess.”

“Yeah, same here.”

She snorted, “You’re like 12, how would you know about that?”

I bit my lip before explaining, “Reminds me of my parents. They loved each other at one point, obviously, but not enough to stop my dad from leaving us.”

She cringed to herself as if she realized some horrible mistake, “Jeez, I’m sorry, man.”

“It’s okay, you didn’t know.”

“How long ago did he leave?”

“Two years ago.”

“So it’s just been you and your mom?”

“Yeah.”

She stared at the pencil as she twisted it in between her fingers. Her eyes refused to meet mine. “My dad has worked in D.C. pretty much my whole life, and a lot of the time it was just my mom and me. He was always home for Christmas and birthdays, he came to all my recitals as a kid, but he was gone the rest of the year. I see him maybe… fifteen days out of the year?”

She finally looked up, if only for a second. Seeing her eyes, at last, I took note of the sadness behind them, “Which is fine, it’s better than nothing, but I don’t really have a dad the other 350 days of the year, you know? I could call him, but I don’t, it’s always ‘Sorry sweetheart, I’m a bit busy right now.’”

“Yeah, my dad was always too busy too.”

“I know our situations are still really different, and you probably already know this after two years, but it does get easier.”

Present Day

(Reader POV)

You click the button to answer the call, “Spencer?”

“Hey! We’re landing soon, you still in D.C.?” His voice is scratchy like he had just woken up, or like he hadn’t spoken to anyone in a couple of hours.

“Y-yeah! I’m still staying with my mom.”

“How’s your dad?”

You didn’t answer. You didn’t have to, your silence answered his question well enough.

“Oh, shit…” Spencer groaned, “God, Y/N, I’m so sorry…”

“Don’t be, you didn’t know.”

“How long ago?”

“Last week, the funeral was yesterday.” You could hear him grimace over the phone.

“Y/N I am… so sorry I couldn’t be there for you—”

“Don’t be! You had to work, it’s okay, Spencer.”

“I should have called sooner.”

You almost laughed at his tone, “Spencer, you were catching a serial killer, it’s not your responsibility to make sure I’m okay.”

“I know, but—”

“But nothing. I’m fine.”

“How’s Jamie, god, how’s your mother?”

“She’s holding up. I’m helping her out for a while, I don’t want her to be in this house alone.” You decided to leave out the part about you putting a downpayment on an apartment a couple of blocks away from your mother’s house for now.

“How’s Jamie doing?” He asked with perfect timing as Jamie flopped onto the couch behind you.

“Wanna talk to him? He’s right here.”

“Can I? Please?”

“Jamie, baby, wanna talk to Doctor Spencer?” He didn’t even say yes before he leaped up from his seat and grabbed the phone from your hand.

“Hi, Doc!”

“Hey, little man! How’s it going? How are you?” You could still hear his excited voice even though it was nowhere near your ear anymore. It brought a smile to your face as you saw Jamie light up at the sound of your friend on the other side of the call.

“I’m okay. Did you catch the bad guy?”

“Yes, Jamie, we got him. How’s your mom?”

“She’s saying she’s fine, but she’s still really sad.”

“Well, can you put her back on with me?” Jamie hands the phone back to you and runs off to return to his coloring book and crayons.

You sighed before putting the phone back to your ear, “Don’t worry about me, Spence—”

“Come to the BAU.”

He said the words so fast you almost needed him to repeat it, “What?”

“I mean it, I’ll call you when we land, come visit. Bring Jamie and your mom.”

“Won’t you have a ton of work to do when you land?”

“I couldn’t sleep, I did all my paperwork on the jet.”

“Spencer—”

“Please. I need to see you guys.” He was practically begging. It tugged at your heart in a familiar way, but there was a pit in your stomach that you couldn’t place.

“What happened on the case?”

He sighed, “I don’t want to talk about it, okay? Just come in like, an hour.”

You tried to lighten the mood just a little bit, “My mom’s been obsessively baking, want us to bring you your favorite?”

“Did she make her famous oatmeal cookies?” You could almost see his face and the way his brown eyes lit up, even while he was on a plane hours away.

The image brought a soft smile to your face and sparked a tiny bit of light in your heart, “Yep!”

“Y/N L/N, if you bring me some, I will be forever indebted to you.”

“You owe me nothing, Doctor Reid.”

               Security waved you through to the elevator, Spencer had cleared you for entry already. One guard hit the button for the sixth floor and sent you up, one hand holding Jamie’s and the other holding a Tupperware of your mom’s cookies. When the doors opened, you saw the entrance to the bullpen, desks filled with paperwork, and busy agents trying to get it all done. As the three of you crept through the hall to the glass doors, your eyes locked onto Spencer, who was sprawled out in his office chair with a thick book, legs propped up on his desk, and glasses balanced on the ridge of his nose.

“Hi! Who are you here to see?” A chipper blonde with purple cat eyeglasses and curly ponytails waved at you from down the hall.

“Spencer Reid?”

“Oh! He mentioned he’d have visitors, you must be Y/N! I’m Penelope.”

“That’s a pretty name!” Jamie beamed up to the woman, who clutched a hand over her heart and returned his smile.

“Oh! Thank you, sweetheart! What’s your name, kiddo?”

“Jamie!”

“Oh you are just precious, he is precious, Y/N, good kid.”

You laughed at the pair’s enthusiasm, “Thank you, can we just go straight in?”

“Yep! Go ahead!”

You walked up to his desk and placed the cookies next to his computer, pulling his attention away from his book. He turned to look up at you, closing the book and throwing it where his feet rested before he jumped up to wrap his arms around you. Jamie hugged his leg and your mother pressed a kiss to his cheek.

“Hey, how are you guys doing?”

“Spencer, we’re fine.”

He didn’t say anything, just examined your face for any sign of a lie. The frustration on his face said he didn’t find one.

“Stop profiling me, I’m okay.”

“Mommy, can I have a cookie now?” Jamie eyed the container like a hawk; he shared Spencer’s love of oatmeal cookies, especially from your mom.

“Right! You brought your cookies, thank you so much, Mrs. L/N.”

“You’re not a kid anymore, honey, you can call me by my first name.”

“No, I absolutely cannot,” he laughed.

“Y/N?”

You turned around and saw the woman who hugged you while you cried when you thought your son was gone: JJ.

“Hi! Good to see you again!” You brought her in for a hug while Spencer continued to catch up with Jamie and your mom.

“You too! Jamie got so big!” 

“Yeah, he’s starting 3rd grade soon!” You reached around to ruffle Jamie’s hair.

“When does he start?”

“A few weeks! We gotta go back to school shopping!”

“Ooh, that’s exciting! So you’re heading home soon?”

“Um…” You glanced at Spencer and your mom, who was pestering him about whether or not he had a girlfriend, “Actually, I just thought it would be best for us to stay close to my mom. Jamie likes it here, so we’re actually going to be moving here before school starts.”

“A new school! Are you excited, Jamie?”

“Yeah!”

Spencer, still a blushing mess thanks to your mother’s nosiness, sputtered out “Uh… Excited for what?”

“To move to D.C.!” You raised your hands in a little “Surprise!” motion.

“W-what?” He couldn’t stop himself from looking delighted even if he tried.

“We’re moving here to stay close to my mom.”

“She’s been such a good help,” she gestured to the cookies, half gone over the course of the conversation, “I’m not really ready to give her up just yet.”

“Spence, you should show her around!” JJ’s face had an unreadable look, but I guess that’s what profilers are for “Take her sightseeing. Jamie, have you been to the Washington Monument yet?”

“Nope! Doctor Spencer, can you take us?”

“Sure, little man, you want your mom and grandma to come with?”

“Yes!”

Spencer grinned at him, ruffling his curls before smiling at you. His eyes were scrunched into thin lines from his cheeks, but there was still something behind them. Something you couldn’t quite read. His smile softened slightly and you finally got a clear view of his hazel eyes. His lips parted like he was about to say something, but Jamie cut him off again.

“Ooh! Ooh! Can we go to the Smithsonian?”

“Oh, honey, you’re gonna wish you didn’t say that,” JJ joked.

“The kid knows everything, you’ll be there for hours,” a deep voice said behind you.

“Morgan!” You smiled and stretched your arms out to hug him.

“Good to see you again, Y/N.”

When you turned back to Spencer, his warm grin was gone, replaced by a glare directed at Morgan. Had something happened with them? Last you heard they were best friends. Maybe that’s what happened on the case? Maybe that’s why he was so upset on the phone? Whatever it was had to be bad because he barely spoke for the rest of the visit.

               A few weeks later, after you were all moved into your new apartment and Jamie was settled into his new school, you called Spencer. He owed you a trip to the Washington Monument. On your little day trip, there was no such thing as silence. Even in the quiet museum, Spencer’s voice filled the air, spewing facts about the monument, the memorial, the exhibits, and everything in between. Jamie loved to learn, so he hung onto every word that he heard.

“Plans for the monument’s development actually started in 1783, before Washington was even elected president. D.C. wasn’t even the capital of the country yet. Washington was actually against the monument because he didn’t want to use public funds for it, but after his death, Congress wanted to build him a mausoleum--”

You didn’t mind the rants. You still loved to listen to him ramble. Even if you didn’t understand what he was talking about sometimes, the sound of his voice was just soothing, especially after the stress of moving across the country. 

Jamie got tired after walking around all day after the tour of the National Museum of Natural History and the Washington Monument, so your mom offered to take him home. You planted a kiss to his forehead and ruffled his hair, hugging your mom goodbye as Spencer high fived him and waved as they went off in the direction of home.

“You know, you didn’t have to stay with me. If you wanna go home too, you can.”

“No. I wanna stay with you.”

A small smile crept across his lips, blush rising to his cheeks. He bit his lips and looked down at his feet as he started walking off to the next stop on his little tour.

“Where to now, Doc?”

“It’s a surprise.”

“Come on, tell me, tell me!”

“No, ‘cuz then it’s not a surprise!”

“I’m aware of the definition of surprise, you don’t need to have an eidetic memory to know that.” You would just have to rely on your less refined profiling skills to figure out where you were going. You were on foot, so it couldn’t be too far. 

“Why aren’t we taking a cab?”

“Because I wanna walk with you.”

Just hail a cab, it takes way less time than--

Oh.

You walked side by side for the remainder of the distance. He did most of the talking, telling you stories about the team. You took notice of the softness in his voice when he talked about Morgan. He wasn’t bitter anymore. 

“--And then Garcia answered the phone.”

“Oh, god, what’d she say?”

“‘Talk dirty to me.’”

“No!”

“Yep!”

“She said that to your boss.”

“Morgan was mortified, you should have seen his face.”

You looked at him while he grinned at the memory. It was the most at peace you’d seen him in… well, a while.

“So… you guys are cool now?”

The peace was replaced with confusion, “What do you mean?”

Your pace faltered, but you kept walking, “Didn’t you guys…? Weren’t you fighting?”

“No? Why would you think that?”

You pursed your lips and furrowed your brows, “No reason.”

Why else would he have been mad at Morgan when I went to visit? You thought, There’s no other reason! Unless… 

Oh--

“We’re here!” Spencer stopped in his tracks, looking up at a large white structure with tall windows and stone carvings decorating the walls. You turned and saw the sign out front that read: “Folger Shakespeare Library.”

“Spencer…” You gaped at the sign, a small, awe-filled smile tugging at your lips.

“I remembered how much you loved Shakespeare in school, I thought you’d get a kick out of this.”

“Spencer, this is… This is wonderful!”

“Good surprise?”

“Great surprise!”

You grabbed him by the arm and tugged him up the front steps as he digs through his pockets for his wallet. Once inside, he bought two tickets for the next show: Midsummer Night’s Dream. Your favorite. It didn’t start for another half hour, so he led you to the reading room.

The room was beautiful, to put it lightly. Three ornate chandeliers hung from the ceiling. The furniture and accents were all done in a dark wood, shelves packed tightly with books. The setting sun shone through the breathtaking stained glass windows. An unlit fireplace rested against the wall. Spencer led you up to the second level, a balcony wrapping around the border of the room. 

“Thank you for today,” you beamed, “I haven’t seen Jamie that happy since…”

“I know the feeling. I haven’t felt this okay since…” His gaze dropped to his feet, trying to swallow the words that came out too soon.

“Since what?”

“Since uh...” He glanced back up to your face, “Since Gideon left the team.”

Spencer never told you he left. Agent Gideon kept tabs on Jamie after his rescue. For the last three years, he got a card in the mail on Christmas and his birthday. He always checked in and asked how he was doing. When you went to visit Spencer at the BAU a few weeks ago, you wanted to say hi to Agent Gideon and thank him for his consideration, but you hadn’t seen him. You thought he was just taking a personal day, he worked too hard anyways from what Spencer told you. 

“Spence, why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t think you’d care.”

The words were like a spark that shocked your heart awake from a lovely sleep, and now it was upset to be so rudely awoken, “Of course I care! What kind of friend would I be if I didn’t wanna know the reason you’ve been so… off.”

“What do you mean ‘off?’”

“You don’t have to be a profiler to see you haven’t been yourself in… when did Gideon leave?”

He played with a loose thread on the sleeve of his sweater and looked back down at his feet, the toe of his converse nudging at the emerald green carpet, “Couple of months ago.”

“You could have told me.”

“You’ve had your own stuff going on. It’s not that bad.”

“You don’t have to convince yourself that you aren’t having a hard time just because I am. You don’t always have to be the hero.”

“Neither do you, you know.”

“I really am fine.”

“Y/N, he was your dad, you’re allowed to be upset.”

“I am, okay?” You snapped, “I miss him like hell! He was always just one phone call away and now…” One hand carded through your hair as you inhaled deeply, placing your other hand on the banister beside you to steady yourself.

“I’m not going to pretend that our situations are the same because they aren’t, but I’ll tell you the same thing you told me when we were kids.” He placed his hand close to yours on the banister, your fingers almost touching. Almost. “It gets easier, not seeing him every day. But just ‘cuz he wasn’t around doesn’t mean you can’t feel bad.”

You force a smile, “Thanks, Spence.”

“Of course.” He wrapped his arms around you and held you tight. The hug wasn’t particularly emotional. Neither one of you felt like you were about to cry, it just felt nice to be in each other's embrace.

“Show’s starting soon.” He muttered into your ear before pulling away, walking off towards the theater with you following close behind.

Taglist~~~

Lmk if you wanna be added! Some names didn’t work so if you don’t see your name as a tag just dm me a url and I’ll try to fix it

@lawnmoa @ellvswriting @baby-pogue @rottenearly @confused-and-really-hungry @thatsonezesty13 @deni-gonzalez @irjuejjsaa @randomfandomshitposts @bisoner @moonstarrnghtsky @smurfflynn @eldahae​ @t0xicllama​ @undeniablyyou​ @staplernpaper @theweirdobella​ @sammypotato67​ @k-k0129​ @helloniallslovelies​

[race-week]

What makes a Future World Champion?

An analysis into Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen

I recently got an ask regarding about what makes a “future world champion” and honestly this phrase is thrown around a lot by F1 media in regards to the younger generation of drivers. Does it hold any substance, it’s hard to tell - we’ve had a lot of really talented younger drivers on the grid for the last few years and I honestly think that for most of them (if things fall their way) they could be World Champions at some point.

This question though is in specific regards to the extra special drivers, the ones who would go on to win multiple World Championships, can you really tell at this point and what characteristics do they have that set them apart from so early on in their F1 career.

In the original ask it was Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc who were mentioned as potential multiple time Championship winners, personally I’d usually include George Russell in this group, but until we get some clear evidence of what he can do in a decently competitive car I’m going to focus on Max and Charles.

This is going to be really long so I’m warning you here

Usually one of the first things people look at when touting which drivers to be future talents is their junior racing career, through karting and into single seaters. Max didn’t have a typical single seater career, only contesting one year in 2014 where he finished 3rd in the Florida Winter Series and in FIA European Formula 3 Championship (where he was beaten by Fuoco and Latifi in FWS and Ocon and Blomqvist in European F3.) He also competed in the Macau Grand Prix that year finishing 7th and he won the Zandvoort Masters. After that it was deemed that he was ready for F1.

There’s more to talk about with Charles’ junior career; he came 2nd in the 2014 Formula Renault 2.0 Alps (behind Nyck De Vries and ahead of George Russell in 4th,) came 4th in the 2015 FIA European F3 (which was won by Felix Rosenqvist, but Charles won the rookie championship), and came 2nd in that years Macau GP (again behind Rosenqvist) before winning the 2016 GP3 championship and the 2017 F2 Championship. In all of his junior career Charles never finished a championship outside of the top 4 (oftentimes winning or being second.)

Success in the junior series, isn’t always the best benchmark for success in F1 but both of the junior programmes that they belonged to thought that they were ready for F1 in 2015 and 2018 respectively.

So Max joined Toro Rosso for the 2015 season partnered alongside fellow rookie Carlos Sainz, he finished the championship that year 12th with 10 points finishes and 49 points, to Carlos’ 18 points and a 15th place in the drivers. Most notably Max achieved two fourth place finishes that year, one in Hungary and one in COTA, both pretty challenging tracks.

Charles debuted in 2018 alongside Marcus Ericsson at Sauber, he also outscored his teammate in his debut season (except this time his teammate was an experienced driver.) He finished the championship in 13th also with 10 points finishes totaling 39 points, whilst Marcus was in 17th with just 9 points.

Both Max and Charles’ rookie performances obviously rocked the boat at the parent teams as they were both moved up into the main teams during their second season (Charles for the start and Max a few races in.)

This was definitely when they both got to shine even more so, both achieving at least one win as well as many podiums and they both showed that they could perform under pressure.

However what stands out most to me as to why they are likely to win multiple world championships is their ability to adapt their driving style to suit the car, you see it in drivers like Lewis and Fernando where they are able to adapt how they do things to suit the car and be able to push the car to its absolute limits.

You saw it with Max in Spain in 2016, his first time in the Red Bull, he got in the car and he won the race, yes he was helped by the Mercedes taking each other out but even still P3 in a car you haven’t driven properly, before is impressive and how he kept the Ferrari’s behind him was astonishing. He definitely developed a certain name for himself over the years as an aggressive driver, getting into a fair few avoidable incidents.

I don’t think Charles’ best year is 2019 with his wins and poles I think it was 2020 as I really think that having that dodgy Ferrari really helped him to grow as a driver and become stronger, yes he had some stupid crashes because he was driving on the limit but they were important to let him figure out the limit of the car and he still managed to pull some incredible results out of it.

So what makes a future multiple time World Champion; a few things, a decent junior career, an impressive rookie year, something that sets you apart (Max’s driving style, Charles’ qualifying laps), and most of all adaptability.

[suckmyballshoney]

Could you maybe recommend some good fics?

Okay mom, this is the list of the best things I’ve read ! And because I am incapable of choosing only a few, there is like 100 fics in there, it’s crazy. I’m a fucking mess, it’s a fucking mess, there are all amazing fics and I have no self-control so take it all 😂 (please appreciate it, I spent so loooong on it ! 😂)

For anyone reading this, here’s an important note I need to make before we start : this only comes from my opinion, with ships I like and my own preferences in themes. If one of your fics or a fic you liked is in there, well good for you because I loved it ! And if it’s not, it doesn’t mean that it’s bad or anything like that, just that I haven’t read it or that I missed it yesterday when me and my tired eyes went through the historic of the THOUSANDS of fics I’ve ever read in the fandom, it’s a fucking lot and I surely missed some.

Also, some fics are locked so if you don’t have an account, you won’t be able to see them.

I tried to organize it, I really tried, and for the sake of safety I’ll note the NSFW ones, if you go read, take care of yourself and read at your own caution, because I can read pretty much about anything doesn’t mean anyone can and have too so check the tags every time ! Take care of yourself and enjoy the ones you read ! 💙

Emotional fics

Like ribbons by heroics (Dan/Max, NSFW)

I will always be there for you, brother by someone_worth_racing_for (Nico/Carlos, NSFW)

And in the end I will seek you out amongst the stars by mandzilkos (Charles/Max)

Bitter/Sweet by Tianvette (Seb/Mark)

Night Bus by EverythingIsAJokeIncludingMe (Lando/Carlos)

Black Over Red (the death of a King) by onehonor

not magnificent by secondlifetime

toffee by simplyverstappen (Dan/Max, NSFW)

terrible sting, terrible storm by singlemalter (Lando/Carlos)

I got everything at my fingertips (How can I resist when it feels like this?) by komkommertijd (Dan/Max)

Holding together what can not be held by Quagswagging (NSFW)

The spleen of monte carlo (and how to deal with it) by altissimozucca (Charles/Max)

Interlude/infatuation by toro (sapoeysap) (Alex/George)

I’ve not hate (that’s how I know I lied to you) by GufettoGrigio (Lewis/Nico)

Phantom limb by Charona (Dan/Max, NSFW)

(Dis)closure by Charona (Nico/Kevin, NSFW)

Under Greece’s stars by Lily_Anna (Lewis/Nico)

Hate is a terrible feeling by scarletred

Fluff and/or funny fics

be still my foolish heart by jorgelorenzo (Carlos/Lando, NSFW)

That's What Friends Are For by KyoukayKanata (Carlos/Lando)

Some Boys Just Wanna Watch The World Burn by onehonor (Lando/Charles)

you ('cause you feel like home) by maxverstappens

amor (la leche style) by toro (sapoeysap) (Carlos/Lando)

Nico’s Greatest Achievement by F1_rabbit (Lando/Max)

Mystery Man by simplyverstappen (Lando/Carlos, Dan/Max)

There’s love in this life, there’s no obstacle by Pericardiaca (George/Alex)

Drowned in oxygen by scarletred (Lando/Carlos, NSFW)

We’ll Always Be Okay by Thatsrightmyhype (Max/Lando, NSFW)

Tying Cherry Stems in Knots by WhiteWolfCraft (Lando/Carlos, NSFW)

And they were quarantined by scarletred (Charles/Max)

50 Sentences of Carlos and Lando by palalabru (Lando/Carlos)

The Day Kevin Magnussen Attempted Murder (and Fernando learned not everyone likes to be babied) by Quagswagging

You Say We're Just Friends (But Friends Don't Know the Way You Taste) by WhiteWolfCraft (Lando/Carlos, NSFW)

it's not that hard to open eyes that close when they couldn't have by circuitricardoporno (Lando/Carlos)

An analysis of inappropriate behaviour between teammates, featuring Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz Junior by WhiteWolfCraft (Lando/Carlos)

Darling, we’re a paradox (but I think we’ll manage) by altissimozucca (Pierre/Daniil)

Far away truths by raikkonen (armario) (Lando/Carlos, NSFW)

Thank you, Anytime by sensibleshoes28 (Charles/Max)

Game Stops and Spanish Restaurants by Anna_banana (Lando/Carlos)

Catch you when you fall by maxverstappens (Dan/Max)

soulmates (or: max has a love-hate relationship with coldplay) by altissimozucca (Charles/Max)

your love I’m lost in by maxverstappens (Lando/Max, NSFW)

Last night you were in my room (and now my bedsheets smell like you) by LostInSpace and MerlinSpecter (Dan/Max)

Abu Dhabi 2035 by Charona (Dan/Max)

A Drink Too Many, Or Maybe Less by ColdWhiteLight (Kimi/Seb, NSFW)

Oh, Sandman, bring us a dream by bonotje (Lando/Max)

So happy Christmas (back on the bad list) by toro (sapoeysap) (Alex/George)

You’ll pull at my neck and we’ll break what can’t be broken by grwyish (Charles/Max)

Set alight my skin (and I’ll melt like ice) by Directionless_Foray (Lando/Carlos)

irish spring 5-in-1 by Anonymous (Pierre/Daniil)

Others

Like Magic by Rizz07 (de-ageing fic)

Even though you know we fly (Don't call me angel) by Alexa_Plays (George/Alex)

Have You Come Up A Name For Your Chassis? By Asahi_9L1314

Rule 63 by WhiteWolfCrack (George/Alex, NSFW, genderswap)

I took the stars from our eyes and then I made a map by Directionless_Foray (Lewis/Seb)

kiss me under the light of a thousand stars by altissimozucca

if you wanna come back, it’s alright by raikkonen (armario) (Pierre/Daniil, NSFW)

F1 Rarepair Drabbles by raikkonen (armario) (NSFW)

Fringe contender by redpaint (Lando/Carlos, NSFW)

www.tumblr.com by legolasass

Lady, I need my dog back now…and my Nico too by Anonymous (Lewis/Nico)

A moment you need me to stay by circuitricardoporno (Lando/Carlos/Isa, NSFW)

McLaren Unboxed | The Papaya Boys | #2020 by legolasass (Carlos/Lando)

The Performer by theinanitor (Jenson/Seb)

spotlight on me and i'm ready to break  by Pericardiaca (NSFW)

The banterzone by groooovybaby

Lance stroll’s exclusive hallowe’en party by raikkonen (armario)

So, let’s dance (when we’re not supposed to be) by Directionless_Foray (Lando/Carlos, NSFW)

Long fics/series

Three Wishes For Verstappen by PoemAboutCitylights (Dan/Max)

Solar Flare by Tianvette (Jenson/Seb, NSFW)

Baby I'll Rule (Let Me Live That Fantasy) by komkommertijd (Dan/Max)

knife's edge by restless5oul (Charles/Max, NSFW)

In High School by Zig_Zag_F1 (Charles/Max, George/Alex, Carlos/Lando, NSFW)

Everyone’s shagging because I said so by Wellthisdidntgotoplan (serie, NSFW)

The Experiences of Blossoms by magic_one (serie)

New love old love by circuitricardoporno (serie, Alex/George/Lando, Lando/Carlos, NSFW)

Every colour illuminates by circuitricardoporno (serie, Lando/George, NSFW)

Bad baby by Directionless_Foray (serie, Charles/Seb, NSFW)

Max and Pierre by kakkakerssi (Pierre/Max, NSFW)

The five last fics of sirius (Alex/George/Lando, NSFW)

All Behind A Mask by JustAnotherF1Fangirl (Lando/Carlos)

Youtube AU by simplyverstappen (serie, NSFW)

Sons of the gods by EverythingIsAJokeIncludingMe

Falling and finding by Directionless_Foray (serie, Charles/Seb, NSFW)

Can’t go on without you by FadingDragon (Dan/Max)

Magic verse by simplyverstappen (serie, Dan/Max)

The higher we soar the smaller we appear to those who cannot fly by RosaNautica (Romain/Kevin, NSFW)

Ten Important Events In My Life by komkommertijd (serie)

Crowns by simplyverstappen (serie, NSFW)

Sebastian and Kimi raising the chaotic trio (aka a Highschool AU) by greeny1710 (serie, NSFW)

The Grid’s Apocrypha by singlemalter (serie, NSFW)

Quiet healing by Directionless_Foray (serie, Charles/Seb, NSFW)

Max and Lando by kakkakerssi (serie, NSFW)

Our families by greeny1710 (serie, NSFW)

French fics (of course I had to include that category)

Passer le temps by Jae_Universe

Dead Hearts by Laeana (serie)

10 façons de mourir by Laeana (serie)

Love is a seduction game by Laeana (serie)

Pffffiouuuuuu that is DONE ! So long 😂 MP/mom I hope you have enough to read for the next WEEKS !

All the writers mentioned above that have a tumblr are here and they deserve a fucking lot of recognition : @someone-worth-racing-for @onehonoramongstthieves @verstappened @nicorosberg @komkommertijd @bwoahtastic @havertzs @alphatoro @gufettogrigio @kyoukai-kanata @landonenorris @f1rabbit @shellhaeds @scharletred @palalabu @landolait @bottasvaltteri @sleepyverstappens @yxllowish @storm-in-my-teacup @rizz07 @redpaint @nxrrislandx @laeana @lilyanna13 and all the others that I didn’t find their tumblr account 😂

[solarscholarsofmagick]

few people have come to me asking for recommended reading regarding astrology, and my answer is constantly changing, as it really depends on your level of knowledge. So here I’m going to share a few of my favorites off my Astrology bookshelves (yes, I have more than one shelf dedicated to astrology). This is a guide for the self-made, self-taught astrologer! - Our Astrologer, Cosmic Love

1.

For Beginners! Learn this name. Linda Goodman. This woman was my introduction to astrology. I read her book, Sun Signs, when I was 8 years old and it hooked me. This book came out in 1968 and was the first book on astrology to reach the New York Times Best-Seller list. Her writing is very clear to complete beginners, and entertaining to read even for more experienced astrology students. Her writing style reminded me of my grandmother, who gave me the book, so it was a very familiar-feeling and easy-to-read book.

2.

Many of you will recognize the name “Llewellyn” if you’re involved in the metaphysical or magickal community in any way. They have a great introductory book on astrology, called Llewellyn’s Complete Book of Astrology: The Easy Way To Learn Astrology. It is a good resource for anyone learning astrology, and will give you a decent grasp of the basic factors involved in a chart.

3.

Another great resource for any astrologer looking to learn is Astrology: Understanding The Birth Chart by Kevin Burk. This book has a lot of very useful information and is an excellent tool, especially for those interested in a more classical approach to astrology. This book is aimed less at modern astrology, and more at the carefully calculated science that ancient astrologers practiced in Greece.

4.

One of my personal favorite textbook-like astrology books is A Spiritual Approach to Astrology, by Myrna Lofthus. This is an incredible book with a whole load of information useful to any level astrologer. It even includes a spiritual view on aspects and placements. This book dives into overviews of the planets, signs and houses as well as aspects from a karmic and spiritual perspective. If you’re looking for soul development, this is your astrology bible.

5.

I found this next one at a garage sale one day for $1 and just had to call it destiny. The Compleat Astrologer, by Derek & Julia Parker, was published in 1971, and was such a great find! It’s a beautifully illustrated collector’s book with lots of good information for the beginning astrologer. It goes through the signs one by one and includes a historical timeline of astrology and “The Astrological Ages of Man,” which the history buff inside me finds incredibly fascinating! Maybe I’ll do a blog post on astrological ages of man soon…

6.

One of my more recent favorites, The Astrology of Fate by Liz Greene, presents astrology from a somewhat classical perspective, yet also slightly modern in her psychological analysis. She uses Greek myths and ancient archetypes to describe the patterns of the planets involved in major life events and makes some very interesting connections! This book also gives many examples and may use technical jargon, so I recommend this book for after you’ve read the previous books listed.

7.

I personally did not have as much interest in this book, but it is a good beginner resource, so I feel obligated to list it here. The Inner Sky by Steven Forrest was recommended to me by a friend years ago, and I didn’t connect very well with his writing style, but he does have great information here. Steven Forrest also has a whole series of astrology books for different levels of learning, so there is something for everyone with his work.

8.

An excellent book for anyone struggling to understand the concept of the houses and their themes, The Twelve Houses by Howard Sasportas is a wonderfully informative book specifically about the houses and the planets throughout the houses. This has some great information on aspect patterns involving houses as well.

9, 10, 11.

There is a series of astrology handbooks by Frances Sakoian and Louis S. Acker, all of them very good resources. First, there’s The Astrologer’s Handbook, which focuses mainly on natal chart interpretation. The next one I would look into is Predictive Astrology, which mainly focuses on the meanings of transits. Then there’s another book on reading synastry charts (relationship astrology) called The Astrology of Human Relationships.

12.

If you’re interested in learning specifically about the ancient Hellenistic tradition of astrology, this list would not be complete without Hellenistic Astrology: The Study of Fate and Fortune by Chris Brennan. This book is a textbook for the ancient Hellenistic way of learning astrology, complete with chart examples and analyses. Chris Brennan offers astrology courses on his website as well and is the host of The Astrology Podcast.

13.

Another one, Llewellyn’s Complete Book of Predictive Astrology: The Easy Way To Predict Your Future, is a good resource for beginners of predictive work. It has a lot of information and great example charts to help grasp confusing concepts.

14.

Another great book is Predictive Astrology: The Eagle And The Lark by Bernadette Brady. This one has a huge amount of information stuffed into such a tiny package. It includes descriptions of the planets, signs and aspects and how they translate to predictive work. It also includes transits and progressions, as well as time maps, transit grids, and how to use them all.

15.

One book I’ve worn out with predictive astrology is Planets in Solar Returns: Yearly Cycles of Transformation and Growth by Mary Fortier Shea. This book is specifically written for solar return charts, but has some very helpful information on how to translate a solar return into something that makes sense. This book includes placements as well as aspects.

16.

Another great book on solar return predictions is The New Solar Return Book of Prediction by Raymond A. Merriman. This book goes into all kinds of detail regarding solar return charts and how to interpret them.

17.

For a great guide book on transits and progressions to natal planets and points, look for Roadmap To Your Future by Bernie Ashman. It contains symbolism of all of the planets, example charts, as well as a description of all of the transits and progressions.

18, 19.

If you’re interested more in Vedic astrology, check out volumes 1 and 2 of Brihat Parasara Hora Sastra: A Compendium in Vedic Astrology. This massive collection of knowledge may be a little advanced for those just starting in astrology, but if you’re already familiar with the basics of Vedic astrology, go ahead and give it a shot!

20.

For people interested in predicting events with astrology, I have a few books that have helped me! First, Predicting Events With Astrology by Celeste Teal. This book is textbook-like and very informative regarding predictive astrology. It goes over using decans as well, which is very important in getting specific information from a chart.

21.

For those of you interested in a karmic approach to astrology, Astrology, Karma & Transformation: The Inner Dimensions of the Birth Chart by Stephen Arroyo is a great informative read, and includes the karmic ideas of the outer planets and their transits. Also, any and all of the Karmic Astrology series by Martin Schulman. I still haven’t been able to get all of this collection, but I have a few and they’ve all been quite interesting to read.

22, 23.

For anyone interested in the complex world of medical astrology, I have two books to recommend. First, Your Health in Your Horoscope: Introduction to Medical Astrology by Stefan Stenudd. This book is a great introduction, as it says in the title, but doesn’t get into extensive medical correspondences and specifics. I just ordered The Encyclopedia of Medical Astrology by Howard Leslie Cornell, and I’m so excited to see what information it holds for me!

24.

Anyone who likes lists and textbook learning will love The Rulership Book by Rex E. Bills. This book is essentially a book of lists relating to astrology. It includes correspondence lists for each sign, planet and house, as well as a “dictionary” in the beginning to look up almost anything you can think of. I use this book ALL the time when writing my articles as well as for reference sometimes when I’m blocked reading a chart. I highly recommend this one; I feel it’s essential for any astrologer to have.

25.

For tarot readers out there, I just bought a book called Tarot and Astrology: Enhance Your Readings With The Wisdom Of the Zodiac by Corrine Kenner. This book is excellent for those with an understanding of tarot who are trying to learn astrology to help their readings. It has tables for reference as well as corresponding cards for each sign and planet placement. Very useful book already and I’ve barely even gotten a chance to read through it yet!

26.

Another book I just bought and am already enjoying is Pam Gregory’s You Don’t Really Believe in Astrology, Do You? I really love a good astrology book that gets technical with things. Pam Gregory is someone I’ve already been following on YouTube and online, and now I’m so excited to be reading her book!

27.

For anyone looking for information on working with the Moon’s timing, Living By The Moon: A Practical Guide for Choosing the Right Time by Ute York is an excellent addition to your library! A must-have, in fact. This book packs all kinds of lunar information into a small package and isn’t astrologically complex at all, so any level of astrologer can use it!

There are a few more on my shelf that are great books, too, but I think this is enough for a good, well-rounded reading list. I hope this list will be a helpful tool for your journey of self-discovery and healing, and I hope that you continue to learn the path of the stars!

Please consider supporting our astrologer by tipping her here!

[goldenchocobo]

Kingdom Hearts Disney Character Daemons

I’ve finally done it, and made a list of all 59 human Disney character’s Daemons that appear in Kingdom Hearts.

I’ve listed them in Game Order and then World Order, with Worlds appearing in subsequent games only listed in the first game they debuted in including all characters, even if they themselves didn’t appear in that game (eg. Olympus is only listed in KH1, but includes Meg). I’ve added notes as well for a ‘quick analysis or things I’ve found out while researching the animals, names or characters.

Since it’s a monster of a list, I’ve saved everyone some Dash space and listed everything under the cut.

Kingdom Hearts

Wonderland

Alice: Unsettled, usually in the form of a cat. Jacob (Dinah)

Queen of Hearts: Anna’s Hummingbird. Basil

Notes: I wasn’t sure if I was going to include the Queen or not- but I decided to, since there isn’t anything that says she’s not human. I chose a hummingbird for her for her frequent mood swings due to the fact that (male) hummingbirds can get very aggressive.

Olympus Coliseum

Hercules: Pegasus (he’s half mortal so, they’d be extraordinary)

Megera: Ferret. Creon

Notes: I’ve found myself with a stereotype that if I can’t find a particular animal for a Daemon, I simply make them a mustalidae, but I think it works with Megera as she gives off a fem-fetale confidence.

Deep Jungle

Tarzan: African Fish Eagle. Juana

Jane: Jewel Beetle (Chrysochroa fulgidissima). Iain

Clayton: Sabor

Notes: These were some of the hardest Daemons I’ve had to place, since I could not think of what to give them (apart from Clayton). But looking closer at Tarzan and Jane’s personalities, I chose what I feel are fitting Daemons, with the Eagle being a symbol of bravery, and the Beetle being a symbol for intellect and quirkiness.

Agrabah

Aladin: Sadaf (Abu)

Jasmine: Arabian Mau. Dara

Jafar: Jacqueline (Iago)

Notes: I did almost give Jasmine Rajah for her Daemon, but wanted something smaller and less imposing, but equally as outgoing, so I decided to keep in the Feline family. Also, TIL; Iago is Welsh for Jack.

Monstro

Gepetto: Fidela (Figaro)

Notes: I do want to say that I think that once Pinocchio becomes human he would get a Daemon, and that Daemon would be Jimminy, granted by the Blue Fairy. But considering Jimminy’s role in the KH franchise, I thought it would be weird for him to be traveling with Sora + co.

Neverland

Wendy: Unsettled, Mostly takes the form of a Bluebird. Geoffrey

Peter: Unsettled, usually the form of a Cuckoo. Ceil

Slightly: Unsettled, usually in the form of a Vixen. Jackie

Cubby:  Unsettled, usually in the form of a Black bear cub. Thea

Hook: Slender Mongoose. Adelaide

Mr. Smee: Mallard duck. Deryn

Notes: Smee’s Daemon was going to be a Schipperke (a small black dog) until I looked up Smee’s name and found it was a common old name to call Waterfowl (mainly ducks and Smews), and his personality fit!

Kingdom Hearts II

Land of Dragons

Mulan: Cri-Kee

Le Shang: Pallas Cat. Ushas

Shan Yu: Hayabusa

Ling: Japanese Macaque. Binh

Yao: Hamadryas Baboon. Jie

Chien Po: White-Cheeked Macaque.Yu

The Emperor: Indochinese Tigress. Indrani

Notes: I based Ling, Yao and Chien Po on the three wise monkeys in terms of Daemon themes. The White-Cheeked Macaque isn’t the best choice, however, since it was only recently discovered..

Beast’s Castle

Belle: Eurasian Jay. Clarus

‘Beast’: Wild European Sow (Boar). Addison

Notes: I wasn’t going to give Beast a Daemon at first- she’d only appear in his human form at the end credits scene anyway, but I chose to give him one of his design inspirations, since the personality matched.

Port Royal

Capt. Jack Sparrow: Sparrow Hawk. Wyleye

William Turner Jr: Arctic Tern. Vilma

Elizabeth Swann: Barnacle Goose. Aaron

Capt. Hector Barbosa: Great Skua. Rossa

Notes: Yes, they’re all birds because all of their names (apart from Barbossa) were names of birds. I changed Jack’s from just ‘Sparrow’ to ‘Sparrowhawk’ since I think that suited him more. Also, Skuas may look like a drab seagull, but they are mean little things that rob other birds for food and eat chicks!

Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep

Enchanted Dominion

Aurora: Boreal Owl. Garrik

Maleficent: Diablo

Flora: European Robin. Zephyr

Fauna: Dunnock. Silvius

Merryweather: Great tit. Onofrio

Notes: I’ve already talked about the Fairies before and haven’t changed their Daemons. Aurora is an owl because owls are stereotyped into two things: being knowledgeable, and being tired all the time. Disney themselves play to this trope a lot too.

Castle of Dreams

Cinderella: Jaq

Lady Tremaine: Lucifer

Anastasia Tremaine: Lion Tamarin. Bion

Drizella Tremaine: Peacock Pheasant. Felix

Notes: I chose the sister’s Daemons for specific reasons. They’re both prideful in their looks, singing voice and being ‘better than’ Cinderella. the two most common animals that symbolize pride is the lion and the peacock. giving these animals as Daemons to the sisters gives them a falseness about them. They may see themselves as all these good things, but in reality- they’re nothing but a sham.

Dwarf Woodland

The Queen/Witch Hag: Panther(leopard)/Rook. Gunnar

Snowwhite: Bluetit. Vardan

Notes: When matching Daemons to characters, I like to do research on those characters, and as it turns out- the Queen was going to be given a black panther as an animal companion in early drafts of Snow White. This was changed to a crow that lives in her potions’ lair later on. I gave her two forms, because I could foresee her using magic on her Daemon to make the disguise more complete.

Dream Drop Distance

La Citè des Cloches

Quasimodo: White Dove. Natalie

Judge Claude Frolo: Silver Fox. Agrippina

Esmerelda: Djai

Captain Phoebus: Goldcrest. Petra

Notes: I don’t have much to say here other than Pheobus’ Daemon was chosen based on his name alone, since they are small birds with a very bright crest that looks like sunshine when it catches the light.

The Grid

Kevin: Tarsier. Doireann

Sam: Marva (Marvin)

Notes: I did this very late on and very quickly due to me forgetting that Sam and Kevin are humans in this world! even at a quick look, I think I got them right.

Kingdom Hearts III

Kingdom of Corona

Rapunzel: Pascal

Flynn: Eurasian Magpie. Owena

Mother Gothel: Orchid Mantis. Chrysanthos

Notes: I only really had trouble with Flynn’s Daemon, but landed on a magpie because they both like shiny things- like enormous piles of money.

Arendelle

Elsa: Ermine. Vetle

Anna: Mountain Hare. Kai

Kristoff: Svalbard Reindeer. Bae

Hans: European Wolf. Gerda

Notes: I based Elsa’s Daemon from the early concept of Frozen, where she was going to be an evil queen with a coat of living Ermine. Other than hers, all other Daemons are based on the original Book’s characters, with Hans’ Daemon being named after the main character, which further amplifies the end twist.

San Fransokyo

Hiro: Japanese Beetle. Kei

Gogo: Hedgehog. Hwan

Honey Lemon: Bumble-Bee. Benigno

Fred: Iguana. Pamela

Wasabi: Mediterranean Mantis. Ginger

Notes: I originally had them all as Insects, but I have forgotten what other insects I had for Go-go and Fred, but I still feel I gave them the right choice.

END If you’ve made it this far, congratulations! my days of hard work was not wasted!

[gibbyt]

IDEATION

My group decided to first take three days to do independent idea dump brainstorming sessions. We then agreed to come together via zoom each with our three favored solutions and narrow in on our overall top three.

I didn’t feel I knew enough about our user group thus I decided to first do a bit more research to hopefully produce more substantive solutions. I watched a few interviews of persons from the visually impaired community describing their travel experiences and took a short train ride to see if I could further empathize with the other user categories as well. I then briefed myself on the history of the ADA and reviewed our original morphological grid line by line to further understand our user group. I began writing out my various solutions in sharpie on a spare piece of cardboard so I would have a bold visual of all my text. Hitting various mental blocks on ways to incorporate all differently abled communities, I decided to create another morphological analysis pulling from our problem statement. I placed our three inconsistencies on one axis and our pain points on the other. I had a hard time filling in the grid and referred to our original morphological analysis and research documents often.

The three ideas I ended up presenting to my group were a sort of patchwork from my idea boards. All three require the user to provide information about their impairment and service preferences ahead of time. In order of preference my solutions were as follows, Google Live View adaptation, a Real ID incorporation, and a personalized notification system.

When we came together each member pitched their three favored ideas to the group. We had several obvious overlaps including some sort of crowd sourced review process and a type of ID/Passport or identifying element. We merged each of our similar ideas in those categories creating our first two solutions. We then decided to add in one of the big sky or off the beaten path ideas centered around AR/VR for balance. We did a team check in to make sure everyone felt okay about where we ended up and closed the session. I felt our system of individually diverging/converging prior to doing so as a group streamlined our brainstorming session.

[f1]

I took a bit of a gamble Ricciardo reflects on decision to leave Red Bull and if he has any regrets

Daniel Ricciardo insists he has no regrets about leaving Red Bull at the end of the 2018 season, despite moves to Renault and most recently McLaren yielding comparatively limited success. After debuting with Hispania in 2011 and swiftly moving over to Toro Rosso (now AlphaTauri), Ricciardo secured promotion to Red Bull for 2014, going on to claim three pole positions and seven race victories during his time at the squad. READ MORE: ‘It was something I couldn’t really grasp’ – Ricciardo pinpoints the main cause of his struggles during two-year stint at McLaren However, in 2018, and after younger team mate Max Verstappen had signed a lengthy new contract, Ricciardo opted to depart the team in favour of a fresh start at Renault, a two-year stint that brought a couple of podium finishes, before embarking on another new adventure with McLaren. While Ricciardo claimed a victory during his first season racing for McLaren at the 2021 Italian Grand Prix, it proved to be the highlight of an otherwise difficult spell that saw the two parties go their separate ways after the 2022 campaign – one year before his contract was due to expire. Ricciardo won seven races for Red Bull, including three during his first season with the team in 2014 Recently appearing on F1's Beyond The Grid podcast, Ricciardo was asked if he ever pondered what might have been had he stuck with Red Bull, given that Verstappen has claimed 30 wins and two world titles since his exit. “I don’t look at it like that, because nothing is sure. If I stayed there the last four years, could I say I would have had more podiums than I’ve had? What have I had, maybe three or something? Yeah, I’m confident to say I would have had more podiums than I’ve had,” said Ricciardo, who has rejoined Red Bull in a third driver role for 2023. READ MORE: From battling in Baku to magic in Monaco – Daniel Ricciardo’s 8 Grand Prix wins ranked “But you just don’t know. Obviously at the time I felt like it was right for me. I felt like I needed a change and I needed to kind of just remove myself a bit. If I continued [at Red Bull], would that urge have grown? Would I have become, let’s say, more curious or less happy, or whatever? “It’s not a sure thing that it would have been great if I stayed. I don’t look back and say, ‘Man, I shouldn’t have [left]’. But, of course, I can be honest with myself and say, ‘Yeah, I took a little bit of a gamble on myself’.” This feature is currently not available because you need to provide consent to functional cookies. Please update your cookie preferences Watch: Daniel Ricciardo sending it Ricciardo added that he remains proud of elements from his time at Renault and McLaren, having returned the former to the podium and the latter to winning ways, while taking a philosophical approach to his recent struggles. “I still feel like the Renault [move] was pretty good, especially 2020 – [that was] one of the best seasons I’ve driven in F1. To get the team back on the podium, I was very proud of that,” he commented. ANALYSIS: Why are Ricciardo and Red Bull reuniting for 2023? “But obviously the McLaren one, even with the win… the win was a high and I can’t remove that, I can’t ignore that. I can look and say, ‘I tried as well with this one [and] it didn’t quite work out’. “You live and you learn, but I don’t look back with regret. I just say, ‘Okay, it was a challenge I took on, and it didn’t work out how I hoped'.” To hear Ricciardo’s full Beyond The Grid interview – which also covers his new role at Red Bull, his advice for McLaren replacement Oscar Piastri and much, much more – hit go in the player below, or head here to catch it on your preferred platform. via Formula 1 News https://www.formula1.com