#pre 2020 i got sick ALL THE TIME

[taweretsdagger]

also want to add that you can wear masks when you’re NOT sick/symptomatic too! a lot of people don’t realize that communicable illnesses can be spread asymptomatically/pre-symptomatically, and that wearing a mask can prevent you from getting sick in the first place. (any mask will offer some level of prevention, but respirator masks like KN95 and N95s will work best since those fit your face more snugly.)

it’s a really good and community oriented hygiene practice to mask up as much as you can in public, especially in any spaces where you HAVE to be like public transit, grocery stores, and medical offices.

I know I'm preaching to the choir but like. You know you can wear masks for other sicknesses. Not just covid. If you have the flu or a cold or a stomach bug you can still wear a mask to help prevent the spread of it to others if you insist on going out! I just think it's the polite thing to do

[httpsserene]

can you do a smau if you want where the reader is a driver and makes music on the side (music like sza or Megan thee stallion and kaliii) and she makes a music video for area codes and all her other music and it has the drivers in it

girls just wanna (f1) — 𝐲𝐧. 𝟎 platonic f1 grid x driver! fem!black!reader smau. requested! driver!reader makes music. ex-haas driver, current aston martin driver!reader. reader is american. toxic internet culture. profanity. hateful comments. attempt at humor. fluff. light angst. there's no specific face claim, just pretty black women! lando norris and george russell get bullied (humor). light british slander. (seb retires in 2021, fernando is on the grid just not with aston martin).

synopsis: you make hit songs when you’re not driving a formula one car. your fellow drivers love to feature in your music videos.

༊࿐ ⊹ ˚. i have a disease and it's being unable to make a normal length smau. it's a sickness, idk if i'll ever be abl to fulfill a request without the plot running away from me.

⌕ join taglist | feedback & requests | upcoming chapters | table of contents ↻

yn ln signs multi-year contract with aston martin • espn f1 • 2021 post-season

ESPN F1 yn ln has signed a multi-year contract with Aston Martin! The American driver completes the team’s lineup with Lance Stroll. Even though she was an F4, F3, and GP3 Champion, and she won the F2 Championship on her first try with Prema; her F1 career began with unexpected opportunities and last-minute substitutions—becoming a reserve driver for Haas and filling in for Romain Grosjean after his accident in 2020, and then replacing Nikita Mazepin halfway through the 2021 F1 season—an official seat of her own in Formula One was a long time coming and well deserved. Congratulations to yn ln, the first Black woman to race in Formula One!

instagram • yn0 • 2022 pre-season

liked by astonmartinf1, lewishamilton, maxverstappen, sza, and 3,451,967 others

yn0: i have always believed that being an f1 driver would become my reality. it was a never a dream to me because i KNEW i was going to make it here. i’m incredibly thankful to haas for giving my first chance to race in the big league and i will miss all the incredible people who helped me grow and improve while i was there. however, i am extremely grateful and excited to have a seat of my own at aston martin in 2022 and onward. some critics have called me "conceited" to bet on myself, so i made a song just for them < 3

tagged astonmartinf1

view comments

yn0 on sundays, we wear green 💚

➥ user1 you're an inspiration to all women in motorsport, especially women of color 💚💚💚

➥ user2 praying that your aston is quicker than your haas! prove the haters wrong 😤

astonmartinf1: we'll bet on you every race! can't wait to play this in the garage 💚

haasf1team: take care of our songbird 🥲

➥ haasf1team: and keep the tea and honey STOCKED for her vocal cords

➥ user3: i’m gonna cry :(

user4: yeah who paid for her seat? no way she got it off skill. she's never been above p12. f1 has changed for the worse now that a woman's out there. she's a hazard.

➥ user5: incel mindset 😒

➥ user6: bro she was in a haas. reaching p12 in that car is enough of an achievement. better than mazepin ever did, even with his daddy's money 🤷‍♂️

lewishamilton: LFG 💪🏽💪🏽💪🏽 can't wait to see you in the paddock

➥ yn0: lfgggggg 🤸🏾‍♀️🤸🏾‍♀️🤸🏾‍♀️

➥ yn0: i wouldn't be racing at all if i didn't see you do it first :)

sebastianvettel: prove them all wrong and never apologize for it.

➥ yn0: i learned from the best 🥹 happy retirement, seb!

mickschumacher: "no reason to make friends, i'm cool"??? is that line about somebody else or should i be worried 🤨

➥ maxverstappen: yeah let us know 🙄 your seat on the jet can be revoked

➥ yn0: bros...we all know who it's really about

➥ user8: you can say it's about mazepin nobody will be mad at that 🤗🤗🤗

landonorris: wish it was papaya, but i can't wait to see you in green!

➥ yn0: you know what?i think I CAN wait

➥ yn0: i'm actually going to quit f1 rn i think 😐

➥ user9: lando stop, get some help

lancestroll: hi teammate!

➥ yn0: hi teammate!

➥ user6: oh,,, this is awkward

charlesleclerc: finally 🙌🏻 i thought you would never drop this song

➥ yn0: the music is more important than my f1 seat to you 🙂

➥ charlesleclerc: encore encore encore 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

georgerussell: i would be happy for you if i didn't know this meant you'll be bullying me every race weekend

➥ alexalbon: she smells your fear which makes you an easy target

➥ alexalbon: CONGRATSSS 🥳🥳🥳🥳

➥ yn0: 🤭

instagram • yn0 • 2022

liked by charlesleclerc, lewishamilton, megantheestallion, and 2,191,042 others

yn0: thee "cognac queen" learns how to celebrate their FIRST EVER f1 points in italy with their honorary prince 🇮🇹 im in my gacccc, i wanna danceeee, come get yo man, come getcho maaaannnnn 🍾🍾🍾

tagged charlesleclerc

view comments

user10: WOOOOOAH WHATS ABOUT TO PLAY ��

➥ user11: she PUT IT ON HIM last night apparently 🫣

➥ user12: he calling her BACK TO BACK????

astonmartinf1: you only win first points once but you only have one liver. please show up to the paddock next week 🥴

➥ yn0: don't worry admin i'll be there bright and early!

➥ user13: drink responsibly kids alcohol poisoning is not fun

➥ user14: aston martin shouldn't stress. it sounds like charles took very good care of her 😏😏😏

user15: i feel like i shouldn't be allowed to watch that video (i'm 23)

➥ user16: they were having a tiiiiiiiiime out in italy 🫦

➥ user17: if she was all over me like she was on charles i would be asking about marriage. he's so much stronger than i am 🙂‍↔️

charlesleclerc: went courvoisier crazyyyy

➥ charlesleclerc: je suis très fière de toi (i'm very proud of you) ❤️

➥ yn0: thank you charlieee (for the mv too x) 😚

➥ user18: oh so she really got charles thinking that he's her man???

➥ user19: you were DOGGING it? i didn’t know charles had it in him 🐶🐶🐶

user20: ew this is gross. charles is in a happy relationship and we're all going to pretend like yn isn't a homewrecker???

➥ user21: i was waiting to see this comment! this is like proof she used her body to get on the grid 👀

mickschumacher: no way you put charles in a video before me...i thought we were locked in 😞

➥ yn0: mick be so for real. you hate cognac :(

➥ user22: mick said we suffered through haas together and you already forgot about me

landonorris: are you looking for a cognac king?

➥ alexalbon: boys point and laugh 🫵🏼🤣

➥ charlesleclerc: 🫵🏻🤣

➥ maxverstappen: 🫵🏻🤣

➥ georgerussell: 🫵🏻🤣

➥ mickschumacher: 🫵🏻🤣🤣🤣💀

➥ user23: 🫵🏾🤣

lewishamilton: xnda feature when you make it on the podium

➥ yn0: i'll be up there next week.

➥ user24: bring back xnda girl !!! for all of us 🙇🏽‍♀️

instagram • yn0 • 2022

liked by alexalbon, astonmartinf1, maxverstappen, sza, and 4,233,761 others

yn0: my girl is my girl, is your girl, heard that's his girl too...he's like 9 to 5, i'm "the weekend"

tagged alexalbon, lilymhe

view comments

astonmartinf1: highest race finish of your career can you drop a fire song to celebrate 🥵

➥ lancestroll: team karaoke when????

➥ yn0: make it happen and i will show out for y'all 💯

user25: this video was funny af! my favorite song from you so far 😁

➥ user26: yessss i was not expecting her to flip the song in the video like that 🤌🏻💋

➥ user27: the premise of her and alex fighting over lily was perfect 👌🏽

lilymhe: make me lose my mind every weekend 😮‍💨

➥ alexalbon: you take wednesday thurday 🧎🏼‍♂️‍➡️

➥ yn0: then just send her my wayyyyy 🤤

➥ user28: think i got it covered for the weekend 🎤🎶

landonorris: i'm available any day of the week with no other commitments blocking my schedule ☺️

➥ georgerussell: mate this is embarrasing

➥ mickschumacer: lando no wins & no rizz what a shame 😒

➥ user29: MICK CHILLLLL ⁉️⁉️

➥ user30: whatdidhedo to deserve that calm downnnn

➥ charlesleclerc: lando please just listen to the song like everybody else this is painful to see 😣

maxverstappen: you laced this song with something addictive

➥ schecoperez: i hear it on repeat through the wall he is not lying

➥ user31: yn ln gives you wings 🤪

user32: just because lily was in the video and yn made the focus of the song about her doesn't mean that the orginal song is okay? it's not like she stopped singing about being a side chick.

➥ user33: no, it literally IS okay. because lily and alex both said they made the song with her and were happy to be in the video 🙂

➥ user34: i don't know, lily agreeing to the video makes me dislike her

➥ user35: yeah this song was a miss not a good message at all

instagram • danica patrick • 2022

liked by 10,764 others

danicapatrick: “This past weekend the Aston Martin F1 crew celebrated yn’s P5 finish track side and, honestly, that was unnecessary. It’s not like she managed to reach the podium and personally, I feel like she doesn’t take F1 seriously. I mean, it seems like she spends more time making explicit songs than she does preparing for a race weekend. Her little songs are a distraction to the men on the grid and she appears as a promiscuous, immature, and unfocused girl. She’s not the formula one standard, in my opinion.”

I discuss yn ln’s career in the new episode of my podcast, Pretty Intense! Click the link in my bio to hear it all!

tagged prettyintensebydanica

view comments

user36: ms. patrick are you familiar with the idea of having a hobby 🤔

nicorosberg: how are you qualified to be an expert on sky sports?

user37: woman who's never raced in f1 gives her unsolicited opinion on the only black woman to race in f1 😂

user38: danica this screams jealousy girl

user39: nothing is worse than hearing a fellow girl hate like a man smh

user40: "her little songs" disrespectful as hell don't forget one of them charted on billboard's top 10 😤

user41: SHE GOT P5 IN AN ASTON MARTIN how is that not taking f1 seriously????

user42: if her songs were a distraction to the men on the grid aren't they the ones who should be described as unfocused🤫

➥ user42: anyways, yn would be doing us a favor. maybe max wouldn't win as many races if that were the case

instagram • yn0 • 2022 post-season

liked by dominicfike, keithpowers, tchalamet, summerwalker, and 7,988,531 others

yn0: "girls need love," too.

view comments

user43: OH MY GOD the drought is over 😭😭😭

➥ user44: i thought we'd never get another song after the hate she was getting for it 😫

michaelbjordan: are you interested in a private studio session?

➥ landonorris: she don't want u lil bro 🤣

➥ user45: yn's pulling with three photo's and a song,,,teach me your ways

astonmartinf1: the spine tattoo 😍 good choice to get it during the off-season 💚

➥ user46: i misjudged you aston... i thought y'all told her to stop making music glad to see the support is still there :)

mickschumacher: let’s go get some gelato?

➥ yn0: as long as you don’t snitch to my trainer 😚

➥ mickschumacher: i’ll pick you up 😇

➥ landonorris: imma bout to crash TF out ong 💢💢

patriciooward: there's a spot on my side of the garage whenever you want to watch an indycar race

➥ landonorris: oh wow is this really what we're doing pato 😐

➥ user47: the tension in this comment section scares me

jjetas2: if you're near minnesota one day fall through

➥ landonorris: win a superbowl first 🥱😴

➥ user48: LANDO you haven't won a race or a championship either 😭

judebellingham: have you gotten any better at football since the last time we spoke?

➥ landonorris: knew i supported man united for a reason 😒

lore_musetti: call me if you want a real italian to give you a tour of italy x

➥ landonorris: didn't know an italian could disrespect charles like that honestly 🤨

➥ user49: 💀💀💀

instagram • yn0 • 2023

liked by georgerussell, mickschumacher, megantheestallion, and 4,178,063 others

yn0: japanese nightlife captured in my new music video “mamushi” !!! thank uuu yuki-san for being my tour guide 💋💋💋💋💋💋

tagged yukitsunoda

view comments

georgerussell: i quite enjoy this song 😌

➥ alexalbon: bro what

➥ yn0: tEa aND cRuMPets SConEs AnD biScUIts 💂🇬🇧

charlesleclerc: triple platinum in my house rn ⭐️⭐️⭐️

➥ alexandrasaintmleux: i'm responsible for at least a million views on my own 🥱

➥ yn0: 💚💚💚💚💚

user50: at least we know that yn and yuki can qualify for formula drift if they ever lose their f1 seat

➥ user51: 95% of the driving they were doing in that video looked illegal (but fun asl i'm not a buzzkill)

➥ user52: she's a bad influence on yuki 🙄

➥ user53: i don't think you're familiar with yuki tsunoda at all @/user52

maxverstappen: yeah the song is catchy; where's mine 🥱

➥ yn0: damn you're gonna win a third championship this year and you want a song too 😱

➥ yn0: just big and greedy fr 😒

➥ user54: big back attitude

➥ user55: like sheesh leave something for the rest of us 🤯

user50: gets p3 in suzuka driving an aston 🗿-> shrugs when asked how she did it 🗿 -> makes a banger mv in japan with yuki 🗿 -> refuses to elaborate 🗿

pierregasly: yuki explain your behavior in this video

➥ yukitsunoda: no 🤗

➥ user56: maybe he would've told you if you stayed at alphatauri

➥ user57: now you're in an alpine 🫵🏻😭

instagram • yn0 • 2023 post-season

liked by charlesleclerc, logansargeant, glorillathepimp, and 9,337,272 others

yn0: he don't "wanna be" saved don't save him 🤫

tagged maxverstappen

view comments

yn0: i don't need insurance cause a bitch CAN'T WRECK ME

➥ user58: no like she's never been in a crash her entire f1 career 🤓

➥ user59: she's untouchable srs

logansargeant: WHITE BOY WASTED CHANNING TATUM

➥ yn0: hoes love me like justin bieber 👅👅👅

user60: omg an old picture from yn's haas era when max's redbull wasn't a rocket ship 😩

➥ haasf1team: good times

➥ astonmartinf1: 💚💚💚

maxverstappen: you graduated from the max verstappen school of being unstoppable 😼

➥ charlesleclerc: austria 2022

➥ georgerussell: brazil 2022

➥ mickschumacher: my dad’s 7 championships

➥ alexalbon: i have nothing to add (literally)

➥ maxverstappen: out of the five of us we have three total world championships and they're all mine 😐

glorillathepimp: go yn 🥵

➥ yn0: get it glo 👅

➥ user61: i am no better than a man

➥ user62: i want this video tattooed on my eyelids

mickschumacher: i don't wanna be saved don't save me

➥ yn0: on gang 🤞🏾🔒🙅🏾‍♀️

kellypiquet: twenty missed calls...

➥ yn0: i would like to initiate a trade! i offer: max :) in return i receive: my twin p 🤲🏾

➥ kellypiquet: i will have a bag packed for her TONIGHT

➥ user63: kelly definitely won in that trade agreement! a childfree night??? sign me the fuck up ‼️

user64: i didn't think it was possible but this song is the worst thing she's ever made 😂

➥ user65: it's weird. max is in a committed relationship with a woman and has bonded with her kid. yn's getting involved with him when she shouldn't be 🤷‍♀️

➥ user66: girl she's been around since wayyyy before kelly as max's friend.

➥ user67: she forced max into friendship when they were karting back when he thought he couldn't have racing friends🥺

➥ user66: trauma bonded besties fr

sky sports f1 • 2024 testing

instagram • yn0 • 2024

liked by natalie_pinkham, danielricciardo, laybankz and 5,438,023 others

yn0: (my honest reaction when the internet can't stop talking shit about me) can't i make fun music videos without being called a homewrecker or a whore? sometimes "girls just wanna" f1 !

view comments

user68: no bc she makes hot girl music and y'all dont appreciate it 🤷🏽‍♀️🤷🏽‍♀️🤷🏽‍♀️

➥ user69: if you don't like her music you're not a baddie i don't make the rules 🙅🏻‍♀️

user70: did she just make the song of the summer 😱😵‍💫☠️

➥ user71: song of the YEAR !!! and people calling her a whore smh

landonorris: what if you make an mv with me and instead of being called a whore i call you my girlfriend?

➥ mickschumacher: corny. delete your account 🚮

➥ user72: i disagree with mick, he ate that up imo 👀

➥ user73: isn't he messing around with that model/actress though…

➥ user74: you mean m*gui lol

➥ yn0: who's that

➥ user74: lando's recent sneaky link or gf i thought

➥ yn0: oh

charlesleclerc: if i were to call you one thing it would not be homewrecker or whore ✊🏻

➥ charlesleclerc: it would be hit-maker because you DO NOT MISS 😩

➥ alexalbon: one could even call her the 🐐

➥ georgerussell: grammy caliber artist

➥ maxverstappen: they compare her to lebron and simone biles in discussion of being the greatest of all time 😌

➥ yn0: just yesterday y'all said i give slut energy (affectionately) 😕

➥ maxverstappen: many things can be true at the same time

➥ charlesleclerc: false ‼️ accusations

sabrinacarpenter: girls just wanna have fun 😋

➥ user75: OMG sabrina what are you doing here

➥ user76: what in the disney channel crossover episode is going on

imessage • yn -> lando

instagram • yn0 • 2024

liked by mclaren, mickschumacher, lewishamilton, laybankz, and 8,765,392 others

yn0: dropping the "tell ur girlfriend" video tonight as celebration for lando's first win (me next please!) i DO NOT codone cheating but the song is too hard for me to pretend like it's not a banger 🤪

tagged landonorris

view comments

landonorris: you look good in papaya 🧡🧡🧡

➥ astonmartinf1: it's a little too much for our tastes 🤢

➥ yn0: i look good in any color but i do happen to prefer green 💚

➥ user77: i think lando's on to smth w the orange tho 🤔

landonorris: that's my girlfriend !!!!

➥ yn0: NO I AM NOT ❌❌❌

➥ yn0: WE WERE ACTING IN THIS MUSIC VIDEO

➥ yn0: LANDO I WILL SUE YOU FOR DEFAMATION 🤬

➥ landonorris: i'll wait for you 😔

➥ mickschumacher: she's so uninterested in you mate 🙃

user78: he gets his first win and a yn ln music video i know he's on cloud nine 😭😭😭

➥ user79: lando how does it feel to be living my dream 😩

oscarpiastri: oh thank god maybe he'll stop talking about you nonstop now that he got a video 🙏🏻

➥ landonorris: bro delete this comment

➥ user80: i screenshotted it too late 🫡

user81: she doesn't condone cheating but makes a song promoting it anyways 😑

➥ user82: she doesn't condone cheating but messes with lando even though she knows he's taken by magui 😑

➥ user83: she doesn't condone cheating but makes a song about it because it sounds fucking fire 🫦👅🔥🔥🔥

alexalbon: great video too much lando for me 😪

➥ georgerussell: he really just ruined the vibe

➥ charlesleclerc: y'all just mad you haven't been in one of her videos yet 🙂‍↔️

➥ maxverstappen: i don't see how you can hate from outside of the club 🤷🏼‍♂️

➥ landonorris: you can't even get in 🫵🏻🤣

twitter • yn0

instagram • yn -> the day ones

instagram • yn0 • 2024 post-season

liked by maxverstappen, fernandoalonso, zhouguanyu24, kaliii and 12,779,436 others

yn0: hoes mad about my roster being INTERNATIONAL smh stay mad and watch the music video for "area codes" it features all the men (my FRIENDS ✨) you'll never have a chance with 😇😚🤗🤭🤤💚💚💚

tagged f1

view comments

user84: no xnda feature but she got lewis in the fucking video

user85: i just wannna know hwo the fuck she got checo to be in the video 💀

user86: idc what the haters say: she just said y'all have no motion, no aura, no bitches and what are you gonna do about it 😳😳😱

user89: she got lando and mick in a photo together??? how they've been beefing in her comments for years 😧

➥ user90: can't believe im saying this but esteban did not deserve to be punished like that 😬

georgerussell: i am the one feeding her pasta and lobster btw

➥ yn0: you don't send me money tho :(

➥ georgerussell: you are an f1 driver too you don't need my money 🧐

charlesleclerc: can you leave some talent for the rest of us 😒

➥ yn0: bro u are mozart on your days off be serious

lilymhe: cause why are u never in town 😞

➥ alexalbon: cause she'll steal you from me 😭😫

➥ yn0: i'm pulling up rn lils 🫦

lewishamilton: you want a mercedes or a xnda feature?

➥ yn0: im tryna take the mercedes seat you left behind 👀

➥ user91: omfg toto sign herrrrrrrr ✍️

maxverstappen: anything for my favorite lady 🙇🏼🧎🏼‍♂️

➥ yn0: i gotta go they just lmk that i could pick up my mercedes 🏃🏾‍♀️💨

user92: lando in two photos? sus

➥ landonorris: you said it not me 🤫

➥ mickschumacher: bro you acted like her shadow the entire night don't let it go to your head 😠

fernandoalonso: very fun song!

➥ user93: you too old to be doin all that fernando :/

➥ user94: literally choked when i saw him in the video

logansargeant: hey you did manage to get me in "one of your little music videos" 🤭

➥ yn0: if only they knew that you agreed with a bribe of two zebra cakes

➥ user95: they couldn't fathom the delicacy that is a zebra cake 🤤

yn0: stop pretending to dislike my songs and realize that the boys are my homies. you'll be a lot happier when you come to terms with that 🥱

© httpsserene - do not reupload. photos in header image are from pinterest. divider by @cafekitsune.

[slaaverin]

So I had a random thought yesterday, after reading someone’s post about Jikook enlisting together and whether it was a recent decision, or whether they had thought about it in 2020, when they were originally due to enlist. And none of us know the answer to that.

But, what the blogger answered so well, is that 2023 jikook were ready to be ‘loud’ about their relationship, which in turn allowed them to want to show themselves more, with the show, and be more sure of what they want, hence the enlistment.

What my thought was is that do you think they expected there to be more of a storm with their actions than they got, and by that I am excluding the hate they got from solos and the cult, but moreso in terms of speculation about the true nature of their relationship?

Because when I thought about it, they were maybe/surely prepared for them to blow up after the enlistment news and become something bigger, but instead they got hate, not an outing, so to speak.

To further emphasise this, when the show aired, they also maybe expected a storm, instead again, they got hate, shouts of forced fan service, and people shouting THEY ARE BROTHERS!!!. We had the producers in the last episode saying about them being worried about it airing, JK agreeing with them. The whole show was called ‘are you sure’ and they were worried the whole time about whether they can show it, for various reasons from what we have seen (lmao)

So, we have a situation where essentially JK can snuggle up to JM in bed, and slap his ass, and people will be like, they are brothers. Or where JK gently rests his head on JM on a romantic train ride watching the ocean and snow, and its all they hate each other blah blah

They surely knew that is what was going to happen to an extent, they aren’t naïve or stupid, and they see what is said online. They would have had the first dose of vitriolic hate before the enlistment too, so they absolutely knew surely, about what would happen. And yet, since then, we have JK coming on weverse live telling us he showers and sings ballads in the shower with JM, that they spend vacation time together, send wreaths together, that they share a dorm, and they spend time talking about their futures at bedtime. They have not shied away from speaking about the other, albeit it is subtle bc of where they are, thus proving that the hate (hopefully) doesn’t stop them. Its not ott, but its significant, when you look at what they have said during their time in MS. JM’s family getting death threats pre-Christmas, and we got JK coming on live saying about showering, in the New Year we got JM saying about the bedtime routine, and then being on a call with Hobi saying about sharing a dorm, and just last week JM saying that JK was next to him, when we as jkks knew they were on leave.

I just hope for their sake, that they continue to live their lives how they want. That they do not hold back, or as you said in your other post, go backwards. Love is all that matters in the world and what they have is so beautiful and so rare, I just want the best for them. Solos and the cult be damned. I want them to literally come out of the military with two fingers up to all the naysayers and haters! That is what I would want for them!

I'm totally aligned with you anon,

I indeed do believe they expected way more backlash from the public than what they got.

That's probably why they were so worried to air the show and hell we were worried sick too.

Maybe they expected more hate also for enlistement.

But instead what they got is the same amount of hate than usual but it didn't make any type of scandal (which is crazy to think about...that bed scene alone in AYS was absolutely wild and it was an insane thing to show. Any other people would have gotten a scandal bcs however you turn it there was nothing brotherly about that scene.)

They definitely decided to show more of themselves and despite what the reactions could have been...we got crickets. (Except for the usual haters that dismiss anything and twist everything you know same old same old, nothing new here.)

It was on everyone's minds tho. Did you see the reactors on YT that reacted to AYS? You could see on everyone's faces that they saw the same things we did but everyone stayed silent bcs of fear of getting bullied by tkkers, and many of them actually were.

It's like jikook are an open secret nobody is actually allowed to talk about.

Which honestly goes to their favour.

The silence, usual hate, and also the support they got for AYS + enlisting just confirms them that basically they can do whatever they want and get away with it.

It must have reassured them a lot.

Now they can move forward knowing stuff like this are fine so that's why I think even more expansion is on the table now.

Bcs what else can can they get away with? Living together? It will probably fly under the radar if we think about it.

No one and I mean no one is ready to adress the elephant in the room. I think jikook can get away with quite a lot.

And of course they know this.

So - absolutely. They will come back from military holding hands on live and sharing stories, being all over each other. That's for sure. They could be even wilder than usual (since it will be the biggest jikook karma since a long time).

And haters will stomp their foot on the floor crying and screaming but jikook will not care lol screw them

The chance of the contrary is almost nonexistent.

They already took the next step in 2023 but now they will take the next, next step for real bcs what's holding them back? Nothing. And they will be happier doing so.

I'm very positive about this.

If their discussions in MS healed some wounds and fears, things could move pretty quickly.

They will choose the heart, don't worry. I fiercely believe in them about this. They have to. It's the right thing to do for their own happiness and growth.

People can be constricted only for so long. And I don't believe they will be able to help it, AYS was proof of that.

Whatever happens at discharge, damn I can't wait. I will be basking in the joy of seeing them again and welcoming however they want to present themselves. And laugh at the haters losing their shit. It's going to be soooo funny 🤭

A truly glorious day for all the jikookers.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts anon 💜🫂

[rycbarmerlin]

I remember how happy I was when Lando scored his first points in 2019. I remember seeing Carlos not letting Lando talk himself down when he was met with disappointment. We all watched as Lando brought Carlos out of himself, let him be himself in a way no one had really seen before, and together they drove the team forward.

I remember waiting in suspense after the Brazilian grand prix to see if Lewis would get the penalty that would give Carlos the podium after steaming through the pack from P20. Lando being so down and disappointed by his own performance, his own pace, but putting a smile on for the team, and Carlos acknowledging how much that meant to him.

And then we're back in Australia for the start of the 2020 season, only for the team to have to pull out due to a positive Covid test. The pandemic. The months away. MTC shutting up shop, making ventilators instead of F1 cars. Carlos announcing he would be leaving for Ferrari at the end of the 2020 season. The feeling of wanting to make every race count that bit more.

Then BAM, P3, Austria, first race back. First podium. Zac hugging him so hard Lando hurt his ribs. Monza - chasing down Carlos in for a podium but missing out. Wondering what it would be like for Carlos and Lando to feel what Pierre was feeling. Securing P3 in the constructors on the final day of the season against Racing Point, giving Carlos the best possible send off to Ferrari.

All the podiums in 2021: Imola, Monaco, Hungary, Austria, Monza. The one/two with Daniel at Monza - such happiness for the team he'd spent two years fighting on track for, but the bittersweet taste of first being just out of reach.

Anyone who watched Sochi knows how much that hurt. It was the perfect weekend; maiden pole, Carlos in second, George starting third in the Williams, but then it just gets ripped out from under you as the cars just fly past.

That one stings for a while.

Races continue and people say when are you going to get your first win? Can you do it with McLaren? Can McLaren get you fighting for the lead?

2022, there's Imola, but the podiums don't come like they did in 2021. The team isn't going forwards, and the happiness we felt when the team picked up a P8, P7, P10, isn't the same as it was in 2019. Faith in the team remains unwavering, but maybe a little tested.

2023. Pre-season testing. A sinking feeling. First race, double dnf. Oh, this is going to be a long season.

Miami 2023 felt like it lasted the whole day. The media pressure was unrelenting. Why can't anyone believe that McLaren is the place and people that Lando wants to win things with, win things for. Sure, the season has been bleak, but that desire doesn't fade.

Austria is the most unexpected, but most euphoric feeling. McLaren can do this in half a season... bring these upgrades and utterly transform a car that was by far the slowest? Seriously compete?

Silverstone. Front row. The ROAR of the crowd as Lando sends it past Max Verstappen to take the lead. And sure, it doesn't last for too many laps, but it was a pure, shining, tantalising moment where you realise once more what it could be like for Lando to win. You're transported back to all the moments that got you here, and he's not even winning. But now, now it really feels like this time, maybe this time, McLaren have really got something they can fight with.

A podium at Silverstone. A podium at Hungary. Oscar proving his class, and suddenly all the chatter on McLaren has become hype and excitement.

Feeling SICK as Lando defends against George at Singapore, working with Carlos in an instinctive, symbiotic way. Clipping the wall, and then seeing George go off. Fireworks. The dream one/two realised.

Ending the season in a place that felt completely unobtainable in Bahrain.

And now this year. Seeing where we were come the first few races, disappointed not to be as close to Red Bull, but in a decent fight with Ferrari.

A truly special podium in Australia. Shanghai too.

And now Miami.

This has been the journey. Small highs and lows, crushing lows, and euphoric highs, setbacks and disappointments, massive gains and top class drives. Rumours, gossip, media pressure, team pressure. Moving up in the championship, then sliding back. Coping with the messy fallout from the 2018 car. Learning how to be kinder to yourself, wheel to wheel racing with childhood heroes. Missing out by a tenth here, team orders, teammate victories.

Now finally, a win with the team Lando's stuck by, and that have stuck by him. An unwavering loyalty to papaya, a second family. A win from pace. A win from strategy. P6 to P1. The respect of the whole grid.

This has been coming for such a long time, and the journey to it has been long and winding. There is SO much more to come still. And we're with you, like we have been this whole time 🧡

[waitmyturtles]

Old QL Game

Rules: Think about the oldest BLs you've ever watched. They have to have been released prior to 2020. Now name 5 - 10 iconic scenes that you cannot forget.

(I sure hope I can find GIFs for these, otherwise I'll be using shitty screencaps from my old posts!)

I have been tagged by thee fabulous @bengiyo for this, and let me take a moment to acknowledge that I have been TOTALLY TERRIBLE with tag games this past school year/fiscal year/however you measure time, so to all who have tagged me recently in games, APOLOGIES! I feel compelled to do this one, since so many pre-2020 shows live in my brain rot basement.

I think about so many old Asian QL shows and movies. I've been doing my best to keep up with what's airing lately, but with many big studios generally prioritizing online engagement over show quality -- man, I've had a hard time sticking with a series these past couple months. Even though I'm still a new-ish convert to QLs, I've watched so much old stuff from Thailand through my Old GMMTV Challenge, along with my OG Japanese and Korean beloved shows, so here are some newly nostalgic memories from me.

The Love of Siam (2007): Ying's Reaction

When the Catholic-themed series Ticket to Heaven was announced during one of GMMTV's series previews last year, my mind immediately jumped to The Love of Siam, the seminal queer film that arguably serves as a cultural precursor to the rise of the Thai QL genre seven years after its airing. I hoped, and still hope, that Ticket to Heaven will recall that the thematic homophobia the main characters, Mew and Tong, experienced in The Love of Siam, was in part derived from Tong's family's Catholicism. I was thinking, at the time of Ticket's announcement, about a scene I love so dearly in The Love of Siam: when Tong's friend, Ying, cries over the fate of Mew and Tong not being able to have a relationship due to Tong's family intervening and keeping Tong from Mew.

As with so many seminal scenes in QLs, Ying crying for her friends took place on a rooftop. While the QL rooftop scenes that stick with me usually focus on the main same-sex characters, Ying's pain over her friends not being able to experience happiness together -- queer happiness -- has always stuck with me as a beautiful way for this film to address acceptance. I wrote back in 2023 that The Love of Siam, as a seminal queer Thai film, had a whiff of acceptance about it, all while the ending was particularly sad (and notable queer QL auteurs like New Siwaj and Aof Noppharnach have addressed TLOS's themes heavily in their work since the film's airing). Ying, while starting the film with having a crush on Tong, ends up becoming an emotional ally, and I think seeing that in an pre-QL setting is so important as compared to how we see allyship in shows nowadays.

Love Sick (2014): OG HOSES

I had already seen a few Thai BLs by the time I got to watching the OG 2014 and 2015 Love Sick as part of my OGMMTVC project. I mean! When I saw the hose and the suds, I was like -- oh shit, ICONS. These dudes literally created the STANDARD for soap and water in Thai QLs with this scene. So fun and lovable. OG Phun and Noh FOREVER.

Make It Right (2016): OG I LIKE ALL GENDERS

As with Love Sick and the suds, I went out of chronological order when I first started dabbling in Thai QLs -- so to see this iconic dialogue only after Pat uttered it in Bad Buddy first, before seeing King Ohm Pawat say it first as Frame in 2016's Make It Right, well, I yelped!

For me, these two scenes from Love Sick and MIR remind me of a major reason as to why I started the OGMMTVC: that so many shows that are airing or have aired recently refer back to this seminal time of the genre's birth nearly 10 years ago. I love digging into all these references, so to see the original sources of the references by actually watching the old shows thoroughly has been a joy. (I NEED AN MIR REWATCH.)

Love By Chance (2018): Pete Trying to Protect Ae

This scene reminds me of why the early years of Thai QLs were so incredibly exciting. From 2016's SOTUS, which had Kongpob taking a "don't say gay" stance with Arthit, we come to 2018's Love By Chance, where Pete is slightly puzzled by Ae's very eager attraction to him, and tries to warn Ae of what Ae's future may be like as an out queer man.

I adored this scene. Saint Suppapong has been such an advocate for the progression of QLs since he first started acting in them (despite my maaaajor quibbles with the editing of Idol Factory shows, they have to be so long why?!), and for Saint to take on this dialogue as Pete so boldly sticks with me every time I think of this show. As messy as this show ultimately was, LBC handled some major queer themes really well vis à vis AePete -- and they were handled well, I think, specifically because of the incredible acting of Saint and Perth Tanapon.

What Did You Eat Yesterday?/Kinou Nani Tabeta? (2019): Kenji's Gratefulness

The 2019 first season of What Did You Eat Yesterday?/Kinou Nani Tabeta? was my first-ever QL. And it remains the total gold standard for me for QLs by way of acting, writing, emotional balance, and narrative strength. Generally speaking, this show knows exactly what it's doing with every word and every emotion shown by its two phenomenal main actors, Nishijima Hidetoshi and Uchino Seiyou.

I've been re-reading the translated manga recently, heavily awaiting the release of volume 23, when a certain event will occur. So of course, at the same time, I've been thinking about the show, and how incredibly well Uchino Seiyou captured the free-wheeling, doting boyfriend to Shiro, the inimitable Kenji.

In this scene, Kenji and Shiro are sitting in a cafe, after much coaxing by Kenji to share a coffee and pastry with the usually stodgy (and cheap) Shiro. Shiro indulges Kenji, and Kenji knows that it's a gentle sacrifice that Shiro is making, as at the time of the point of this series, Shiro is still mostly closeted, and doesn't feel comfortable with public dating.

Kenji is so grateful. And I think in this scene, Uchino captures the silent appreciation that Kenji has for Shiro just magnificently. These are two actors that won't kiss in the series, as Shiro and Kenji are not shown doing so in the mainstream manga publication. So Uchino and Nishijima have to show Kenji's and Shiro's devotion much more similarly to the ways that are depicted in the manga. And with Kenji's silent headshake and wistful smile, Uchino captures Kenji's feelings completely. A magnificent moment.

I knew I'd repeat some of @bengiyo's referenced shows -- he's an original influential architect of the OGMMTVC project. Thank you for tagging me, friend.

[calm-with-anxiety]

If I see or hear people defending their votes for Trump with “well I didn’t really know her policies and plans for her presidency” I will burst into flames. We live in a time where almost every piece of information is in your hand, you could’ve Googled her plans, it was on her fucking website for weeks, it was 80 pages of policy and how they planned to pay for it. Like you chose to be an uneducated voter that got information from commercials and short form video.

The economy line is bullshit because his plans will make everything more expensive, tariffs are payed for by you, you think the multibillion dollar company will take on the extra cost to buy and ship goods by lowering the CEO salary, no, they will make the item more expensive because they never promised you a $200 tv, but they did promise stockholders a dividend of $10/share. His mass deportation policy will cause the economy to collapse because immigrants, legal or illegal, do the jobs that others look down on. You never see a line of white guys in overalls hoping to be hired for below minimum wage to pick fruit for hours in the sun, you don’t see young white men showing up to construction jobs that the builder has subcontracted so it’s cheaper to build. The bedrock of the U.S. economy is cheap labor and a majority of that is immigrants who are looking for jobs that don’t require knowing perfect English and have employers that look the other way when you don’t have documents because they know you will work for anything.

Don’t even get me started on healthcare, outside of women’s healthcare which will get worse, if he finally gets rid of the affordable care act, aka Obamacare, they will replace it with nothing. The man was president before and after John McCain put his thumb down they never tried to make a new policy that wasn’t throwing the whole program into the trash. Also the affordable care act is more than just low cost healthcare, it put in place pre-existing conditions, for those too young to remember, the insurance companies could deny you coverage all because you might get cancer one day because your mother had it, you would have to pay out of pocket for an inhaler because asthma was a pre-existing condition, even if you were diagnosed with it later in life. Don’t forget what the vaccine situation will be, especially if he puts RFK jr. anywhere near it, like there is actual fear that Polio will come back because guess what? Most people under the age of 40 are not vaccinated for it because it was considered eradicated due to the mass vaccination of children in the 50s and 60s. When you complain about feeling like shit after getting the flu shot or a Covid booster, that is the vaccine working in your body, your body is doing an internal workout so if and when you come in contact with those viruses you won’t be getting extremely sick or die because someone doesn’t know how to cover their cough.

I think this election was proof that you can have all the information and still know nothing because you chose to know nothing. People vote with their eyes, not their mind. Gas where I live has been under $3.00 for months, it’s been under $2.50 at the warehouse stores for weeks, but because an ad on tv said prices are rising people believed the tv over their own experience. People saw grocery prices increase and blamed the administration when in reality corporations took advantage of Covid shortages, raised prices, recorded historic profits, and didn’t start bring prices down until this summer after people realized what was happening to some extent and even then they didn’t return to pre-2020 prices because the profit still needed to be high, they looked at the $2 increase in a bag of chips over 4 years and blamed democrats and not Lays.

This is going to be a painful 4 years, for many people here and abroad, Ukraine will have to depend on Europe which is starting to lean conservative as well and the war in Gaza will take an extreme shift that will make the last year look like a paper cut in terms of humanitarian assistance and a possible end. It’s already getting on my nerves as people tweet “we keep fighting” and “we need to be strong so they can’t do all they plan to do like the first time”, it’s not going to be like the first time, the adults in the room he had with him, many who came out and supported Harris, are gone and now it will be yes men that he was told to put there by the extreme right like the supporters of project 2025 and billionaires. And for those saying “well maybe he will die in office”, you think JD Vance is better? He allegedly picked him because DT jr. suggested him and if you have ever seen jr. and his takes you would know Vance can be worse.

This is gonna hurt for many people that will now be seen as lower than second class citizens and you won’t even have lower prices to show for it as that seemed to be the reason you voted for him, enjoy your expensive goods as people lost rights.

[kichona-s]

You might have talked about this before, but what tool (device, programs, etc.) do you use for your art? I'm thinking about getting an iPad, but like...I've never really done digital, also never owned an apple product...I feel like an alien :D

i think i've answered something vaguely similar before, but fuck it new year new answer (entire thing below the cut because its long):

For most of my work now (since around Jun '24 onwards) I use the XP-Pen Artist Pro 16 with Clip Studio Paint Pro (perpetual license), total should set you back around USD560~ish. Key note is that this needs to be plugged into your laptop/pc, so if you have a shit computer this may not be the best option for you

Pros:

CSP is very full-featured, so pretty much anything you need it to do, it can do

Huge fuckin screen (16 inches) so you can have all your layer/brush menus out like a madman

Way more bang for your buck in terms of screen real estate/performance if you already have a good laptop/pc

Can work as a second monitor when you're not drawing

Cons:

Unportable

If you've never used any digital drawing tool ever, CSP is.. quite a bit to take in (dont let that scare you though, you can customize what menus you want to see etc to ur perference)

Needs to be plugged in otherwise its useless

No touch inputs (either use the controller they give u, a tourbox, or keyboard shortcuts)

If you dont need such a big screen though, theres definitely cheaper display tablets available (xp-pen artist pro 13 gen2, xp-pen artist line, huion kamvas line) -- thankfully we live in an era where Wacom's competitors are good and sometimes even better than it, so you can stretch your dollar a lot

For pre-Jun '24 I used a 2020 11inch iPad Pro with Procreate on it, which should set u back the cost of the ipad + USD13 + apple pencil -- note I still use this if I'm travelling (i drew the first mini norris on this while in japan!)

Pros:

Crazy portable - I used to bring my iPad to draw at malls with my friend (i also drew nsfw and a kid almost saw it so uh,, dont be like me)

Procreate is very stripped down in terms of drawing software so its really easy to learn the basics

You have all you need in 1 device (no need for another laptop/pc)

TOUCH INPUTS are SO useful when u first start when u need to rotate the canvas

Cons:

If you already have a laptop/pc this is gonna be more expensive

Procreate gets limiting over time - i used it from mid-2020 to early-2024 before i got sick and tired and swapped over

Apple pencil ergonomics is ass

Small screen unless u wanna splurge for the 12.9inch ipad

A fun third option if you wanna try testing the digital art waters without committing is a pen tablet (wacom intuos, xp pen deco, huion inspiroy), but those don't have screens so you need to look at ur laptop/monitor while drawing, and the hand-eye coordination may have a bit of a learning curve

Theres also free drawing softwares on both iOS and PC (autodesk sketchbook/ibis paint/krita) if you wanna fuck around on those first

But back to your main point - apple product software is generally a good experience (to me), and if you're mostly drawing on it you will learn the procreate interface more anyway so its not as important. The key between iPad VS Other Options is mostly portability & software (CSP on iPad is a subscription that I refuse to pay). And overall if you're not certain that you wanna stick to digital, get something that would be easy to sell off second handed in your country, so you dont lose your entire investment if you end up hating digital art lol

Good luck with your decision and if you have more questions, really feel free to ask -- i have a lot of fun doing product recommendation/comparison posts

[archoneddzs15]

Sony PlayStation 5 - Sonic Frontiers

Title: Sonic Frontiers / ソニックフロンティア

Developer/Publisher: Sega 2nd Development Division (Sonic Team)

Release date: 8 November 2022

Catalogue No.: ELJM-30201

Genre: Open Zone Action RPG

Talk about Sonic the Hedgehog's equivalent of a glow-up from Phantasy Star 4 to Phantasy Star Online right here. To be honest, I was getting sick of the PS5's somewhat lacking amount of quality titles that make it worth the investment, and then Sega dropped a bombshell by releasing this game right here. And yes. That's right - my first-ever PS5 game review! I was coming into this game with low expectations and while the game initially did not wow me judging from all the IGN FIRST hands-ons I watched pre-release, I have to say that I was mighty blown away at the final product. This game actually reminded me of a cross between Sonic Adventure 1, the Final Fantasy Sonic X flash games as well as the newest Final Fantasy games, and if you are old enough, the epic cinematic (though dull to me) intro to Burai Hackigyoku no Yuushi Densetsu on the Mega CD, as well as Phantasy Star Online on the Dreamcast.

I was sorta flip-flopping on whether it was good or bad but personally, having played it for some time and even 100%-ing it with the Content Updates (Update 1: Sights, Sound and Speed; Update 2: Sonic's Birthday Bash; Update 3: The Final Horizon) that Sonic Team delivered, the game itself is mighty excellent for PS5 Sonic game standards. I am personally playing this game using Japanese audio and English text and I think that language combination works wonderfully. The English story is written by Ian Flynn of IDW Sonic Comics and Bumblekast fame, and while the story is a major improvement over the Happy Tree Friends vibe that Ken Pontac and Warren Graff gave I still have yet to play it again on English audio though. Sonic controlled weirdly for the first time I played, but I pretty much got used to the control scheme after learning through it and configuring the settings to my own personal preference. The in-game soundtrack is all sorts of excellent. A mix of melancholic mixed with hard rock, and ONE OK ROCK did a stellar performance with the in-game version of Vandalize. Shame I did not get to see their December 15 2023 concert in Kuala Lumpur though.

The graphics are not the best compared to all the PS5 exclusives (this game is also on PS4, Switch, and PC - at least in my country the XBOX version is not sold here) but for my first ever (and probably only) PS5 experience, it's not bad. Could've been Spider-Man 2 great though, but that would be me pulling the Sony fanboy card. Instead, I'd say, it reminds me of the Shenmue games mixed with Ridge Racer 7, Sonic Generations, Phantasy Star Online, and Need for Speed Most Wanted 2012.

Here is something cool. My copy of Sonic Frontiers for PS5 also came with a flyer for Sonic Movie 2 (a great Sonic movie honestly), and a promo sheet that I forgot even existed. That promo started players off with extra Blue Defense Seeds, Red Power Seeds, and Skill Points.

Overall, if you are looking for a great Sonic game for your new PS5, why not look at Sonic Frontiers? I mean, with Sonic Superstars and Sonic X Shadow Generations doing quite well, the 2020s is probably going to be a wonderful Decade of Sonic. Next up on my bucket list is to collect the two Sonic Frontiers soundtrack CD's that were released.

[batsplat]

hai hai i just read ur aliens aesthetics ranking and while yeah i get the boredom with honda's liveries, r any other teams really doing anything interesting w/ their liveries/aesthetics? maybe im just new but i feel like there's too much red on the grid rn

(aesthetic post) there IS too much red on the grid, though the red situation I imagine is about to get somewhat better. my understanding is that tech3's rebrand to bring it more in line with the general ktm ethos (bankruptcy) is also probably going to make it look quite similar to the main ktm. so like. more brown. the perception of a lot of red is also inevitably related to who's WINNING most of the races (and who the tv cameras show). if, say, the top 5 in 2025 is in any order martin, acosta, diggia, marquez and bagnaia... then that'd be two red bikes, a brown bike, a black bike, and a wonderfully yellow bike. red bikes winning THIS much is a disease of the early 2020s and it will eventually pass

I don't think anyone is doing something particularly interesting with their liveries right now... it's specifically repsol honda I'm bullying just for doing the SAME thing for about twenty years. I Would Like to make it very Clear that I don't have anything against the concept per se!! it's literally just... look. if I put on a race in 2005, I might see a yamaha, a ducati and a honda (admittedly in that year probably not a repsol honda but let's ignore that) fighting for position

and if I put on a race in 2010, I might see a yamaha, a ducati and a honda fighting for position

and if I put on a race in 2015, I might see a yamaha, a ducati and a honda fighting for position

and if I put on a race in 2020, I might see a yamaha, a ducati and a honda fighting for position

look, I'm not saying ducati in particular are reinventing the wheel here but... I mean, come on. you've got to admit I've got a point here. also historically yamaha and ducati had the decency to occasionally suck, which meant they're less ever-present on my screen. during the early 2010s for ducati and late 2010s for yamaha, I will be seeing considerably less of them than I do honda. whereas repsol honda only kinda sucked for very select periods in the noughties

so I've just seen too much of that livery!! it's ALWAYS the exact same two shades of orange with the white in between, very minimal variation. at least ducati switches up the shade of red!! obviously honda suck NOW, which has at least caused repsol to pack it in - giving us a quite different livery in 2024 and presumably a completely different livery this year now that repsol's properly gone. except the problem is they suck SO bad that when I try to picture the 2024 honda in my head, what my brain does is 'take a 2002 honda and stretch it out' because I barely SAW the repsol honda on my screen. so the thing that has made the aesthetics more tolerable to me results in me no longer seeing the bike at all. I would actually say last year's honda was one of my favourite liveries!! like. look at it (this post may be the first and last time seeing this bike for some people)

it's nice!! arguably a bit busy with the colours but, again, honestly at this point that's a plus as far as I'm concerned. it's distinctive, clearly recognisable... I mean the repsol thing at the bottom is probably the worst part of that livery and it does feel a bit two concepts at once, but honda's lost repsol now so. fine!

the problem pre-2024 is just how LITTLE variation there was. like I'd even have supported if they just changed the colouring of the front and back bit, as in the aforementioned 2002 livery (ignore how badly the yellow clashes with the orange, admittedly watching two years' worth of races with this guy winning also didn't help my feelings towards that livery)

but even the front thingy is orange from 2006 onwards!! at a certain point I'm just sick of seeing it!! and I get that neither of these liveries would be workable all-year round, but valencia 2003/aragon 2011 did show that there are theoretically different ways you can make a motorcycle orange

also the lack of individual variation between most repsol honda riders over the years... I'm not even getting a bit of a switch-up in colours depending on WHICH honda rider I am currently watching win. compare and contrast the honda and yamaha situation

but to bring it back to like. the actual subject of the ask. I think part of the issue with the current lot is that it's tougher these days anyway to come up with particularly nice designs for these bikes. partly it's because they're rather bulky now. though.... I mean, looking at some of the special liveries from last year silverstone.... the honda in particular made me go 'okay so you guys CAN come up with nice designs'. also people understandably ragged on vr46 for not just copying one of the countless nice liveries valentino had over the years, but I actually reckon I'd quite like it as a normal livery. nothing special in a still photo but it looked really nice in action tbh, partly because.... again. it does have to be said that the yellow in moderation does wonders for visibility

the vr46 livery does, however, kinda point to the big problem.... sponsorships. too many bloody sponsorships. it's really escalated over the past decade and it just makes it harder to do nice stuff with your liveries. in a way you HAVE to keep it simple so there's enough space for all the clutter. this is why pecco had his extremely justified whinge about HIS special livery last year

yes, ducati did half-ass it, but a big problem is the massive lenovo logo. also, the energy drinks. I don't massively mind either logo per se but I'm also sick of seeing those by now and it's not really making me more inclined to buy either brand if I'm being honest. though the worst sin there is still not what they put on the helmets or leathers or bikes or whatever else they can get their hands on - it's how they make the riders awkwardly carry the cans every time they pose on the podium. the only things riders should be holding on podiums is helmets and each other

anyway in terms of current teams' liveries (just going off 2024 since we've only seen a couple new ones)... I mean, look, you might dislike it on grounds of 'taste' or 'basic aesthetic sensibility' or 'health of your ocular nerve' but the vr46 livery unquestionably clears the 'doing something interesting' hurdle. I don't massively mind the yamaha livery per se but I DO mind that they stopped updating it several years ago, and I've already made my feelings on THAT kind of behaviour very clear. ducati I think could do with a slightly brighter livery again. ktm looks Fine but it's also mostly just a massive red bull logo, which... I've seen enough of. as previously discussed wrt gresini... I do think they were doing something interesting with the red stripes, it's just that I'm not a massive fan of the actual bike colour

I liked pramac last year and the year before!! I'm not saying I think the purple/red combo is the height of good taste - but it's clearly visible, memorable, and at least they're doing SOMETHING

it's more interesting than the blue and red they used to have - I think the one with the white base colour probably works better, especially given how dark a lot of the bikes it's fighting were, though I genuinely did like both

and the other one that's generally a winner year on year is aprilia

which, yes, it's mostly just a black bike. but it uses its highlights well - including on the livery - and the black base colour means that it doesn't look super cluttered with the sponsors. also aprilia doesn't have a title sponsor to take up a lot of space anyway, and their poverty is our gain

in conclusion. I really do just think teams should properly switch up their liveries every few years. I'm not even super picky WHAT the switch up is, it's just about giving my eyes something new to look at every now and again. this post is two years too late since honda has by now at last listened to my advice and lost their biggest sponsor because they suck so badly. but unfortunately they have left me with an obscenely large back catalogue of races featuring hondas that look too similar to each other, which. disappointing

[marvelmaniac715]

Some entertaining stories about how I got into Sims:

When I was young I watched a lot of Laurenzside videos (she was the funniest person in the world to me at one point), and I got super into her Sims content, particularly Sims 4 Meme Theme and her Creepypasta series, though I wasn’t as familiar with Creepypastas, so I asked for Sims 4 one Christmas (can’t remember how old exactly but it was before I was a teenager)

The day I got the game, it is important to understand that I had no understanding of the game’s mechanics or controls (I was very much not a gamer - before this I’d only played games on my iPad/phone or one of those kids gaming tablets like LeapFrog), so I didn’t know how Create A Sim works (for further context this was all on an XBox), so I just randomised the character until it looked a bit like me… my first ever sim was Eliza Pancakes…

I didn’t realise that there were more pages of traits or how to reach them so all of my sims practically had the same traits for like an entire year

When I first played, I had the sound on, and I distinctly remember my mother saying “You’ve set it up wrong, they’re speaking in German!” (Sims speak their own language called Simlish)

My older sister was playing with me on that first day and just sent my sim on a lot of jogs for no apparent reason

I didn’t know how to create kids or adopt them, so, uh, I stole a family from the gallery (the Pancakes) who had a toddler and deleted both parents to take the child for my own (I was like ten at the time, yet so cruel)

I didn’t realise that you could get into houses by clicking on sims so whenever I started a new household in a pre-existing house I would use a sledgehammer to remove the front walls like my characters lived in some sick and demented dollhouse

I once built an entire house but forgot to put in any doors

I specialised in houses that were all one room… I have no clue why

When a sim got pregnant for the first time, I checked Google and found out that sim pregnancies last for three days… being a child, I closed the game and played again three real world days later and was very confused that my sim was still pregnant

One of my only memories from the day I got the story-driven Strangerville pack is me loudly screaming, in an incredibly upset and shocked voice: “They took my fridge!” because to kick off the story some secret agents come and remove your fridge… I was NOT having it

My memories of my thirteenth birthday in 2020 involve me playing the new Realm of Magic Sims game pack whilst my sister was very unwell on the sofa next to me but I’m vibing because I’m a gamer girl with a little wizard family

[tottymatsuno]

i just wanted to say that i really like your analysis of zaimokumatsu, it's very well thought out and i definitely think they're the most interesting pair because theres so little interaction between them. but like, the interactions they DO have say so much.

i don't 100% agree that totty HATES karamatsu, but I definitely think their relationship is the most strained by far. that being said, they do have very interesting moments in official content.

for example, in the 2019 anan movie book karamatsu says something along the lines of "the other day, totty told me "you've become a lot more honest" that's strange, i don't lie at all" in the same book, todo says that kara is the brother he admires the most because he never fights back after being beaten up.

according to people on jp twitter who went to an event for the movie, there was a cut scene where karamatsu felt like he was causing trouble for his bros and decides to go back to the past (ig the plot was different) and todomatsu says something along the lines of "tell me what you really think!"

i think it's their distance that allows todomatsu to really look at karamatsu with more clarity than the other duos, which gives rise to his complicated feelings towards him. on the other hand, kara kinda just lets his bros do whatever they want and lets things go really easily, but in return he closes himself off and doesn't really listen to them. i think karamatsu is just really distant from his brothers in general, so he doesn't have any specific complaints about anyone (todo included) besides osomatsu

ANYWAYS, sorry i just wanted to say as someone who is new to the fandom and a very passionate karamatsu stan that you cooked and i like the way you think

Ooh this is very interesting! I love the additional context you've added too bc i didnt know about the deleted movie scene.

This has me thinking, but I also like to point out that some of these moments are pre-s3e5! Which aired...god nov 10th, 2020. Its been four damn years 😭😭😭

I dont think karamatsu has any real localized animosity towards any of them, he doesnt hate ichimatsu, he doesn't even typically react to 110's physical bullying, the only one he tends to throw barbs at is Osomatsu, and sometimes he says a backhanded compliment to Choromatsu (i think kara just enjoys teasing him) but with 110, especially Totty there was never any like. Direct. Resentment.

Even when Todomatsu criticizes him, in many of the games Karamatsu is in friendly competition, or is just silly with him. There audio drama with Totoko is a good example of zaimoku's competition, as well as the one where Karamatsu is making excuses on why he cant talk to a girl.

I think Totty feels a lot of resentment towards Karamatsu bc he's authentically himself. Imo the read of Karamatsu secretly being super shy is kinda true, he def is timid but I think how he projects himself is how he truly is, and hes sick of hiding himself behind anxiety like in high school. However! Todomatsu isn’t ever himself, he isn't ever honest, and he tries very very hard to not be weird, be kind, be nonthreatening, be better than the rest of them, and despite Karamatsu often losing in canon due to his eccentricities he still beats Todomatsu. Because Todomatsu deserves to win, but ties.

In the host drama CD, Totty scored many points over but ended up tying, in the manga chapter where Osomatsu ranks their fashion I think either the same or Karamatsu wins for being interesting despite being dressed as a flower.

Even with the cashier, despite Todomatsu having more substantial reasons why he liked her, and the fact hes still pissed off about it being the biggest reason he bullies Karamatsu, they both got rejected. Imo, as a Totty fan, and knowing Todomatsu loses because he doesn't win, its very hard to watch. Todomatsu doesn't even get the added bonus of being more popular in real life.

I think for a long time Todomatsu respected Karamatsu for his resiliency and easy going nature, but personally I think his situation is a lot more sympathetic as someone who was told his entire life that he was Abel, and realized he was Cain.

Even other duos don't have the same mutual disinterest in each other. Osomatsu and Choromatsu default to each other, especially when they're both relaxed. Suuji has no real tension with each other aside from some brief friendly fire.

But Karamatsu doesn't seek out reconciliation with Todomatsu, and Todomatsu doesn't look for it either. I think their relationship had been strained since s1, but i wouldnt even consider them friends at this point. Theres the valentines skits from a few years back where Karamatsu was being very kind and a nice big brother towards Totty, who was so happy he was completely unguarded

But at this point, thats an anomaly of behavior. I think Todomatsu hates him because he should be better, seen as more attractive, smarter, cooler, harder working, more interesting and most importantly more popular than Karamatsu in every way. And he's not. In any way. He wins technically, he wins by his actions. And his victory is split in half because of Karamatsu's authenticity and charisma that others find literally annoying.

Imo its a very realistic development for someone like Totty who judges himself completely based on how others perceive him, and Karamatsu who has overcome the need for any one specific person's approval.

Its like seeing someone who rejected everything you learnt to not be, and seeing him succeed where you're failing.

[philosopherking1887]

Apparently Madeline Miller, of Song of Achilles fame, also still has Long Covid 3 years after catching Covid-19 in early 2020. Her op-ed is copied below (mostly under a Keep Reading link) for those who can't get past WaPo's paywall.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/08/09/madeline-miller-long-covid-post-pandemic/

In 2019, I was in high gear. I had two young children, a busy social life, a book tour and a novel in progress. I spent my days racing between airports, juggling to-do lists and child care. Yes, I felt tired, but I come from a family of high-energy women. I was proud to be keeping the sacred flame of Productivity burning. Then I got covid. I didn’t know it was covid at the time. This was early February 2020, before the government was acknowledging SARS-CoV-2’s spread in the United States. In the weeks after infection, my body went haywire. My ears rang. My heart would start galloping at random times. I developed violent new food allergies overnight. When I walked upstairs, I gasped alarmingly.

I reached out to doctors. One told me I was “deconditioned” and needed to exercise more. But my usual jog left me doubled over, and when I tried to lift weights, I ended up in the ER with chest pains and tachycardia. My tests were normal, which alarmed me further. How could they be normal? Every morning, I woke breathless, leaden, utterly depleted. Worst of all, I couldn’t concentrate enough to compose sentences. Writing had been my haven since I was 6. Now, it was my family’s livelihood. I kept looking through my pre-covid novel drafts, desperately trying to prod my sticky, limp brain forward. But I was too tired to answer email, let alone grapple with my book. When people asked how I was, I gave an airy answer. Inside, I was in a cold sweat. My whole future was dropping away. Looking at old photos, I was overwhelmed with grief and bitterness. I didn’t recognize myself. On my best days, I was 30 percent of that person. I turned to the internet and discovered others with similar experiences. In fact, my symptoms were textbook — a textbook being written in real time by “first wavers” like me, comparing notes and giving our condition a name: long covid.

In those communities, everyone had stories like mine — life-altering symptoms, demoralizing doctor visits, loss of jobs, loss of identity. The virus can produce a bewildering buffet of long-term conditions, including cognitive impairment and cardiac failure, tinnitus, loss of taste, immune dysfunction, migraines and stroke, any one of which could tank quality of life. For me, one of the worst was post-exertional malaise (PEM), a Victorian-sounding name for a very real and debilitating condition in which exertion causes your body to crash. In my new post-covid life, exertion could include washing dishes, carrying my children, even just talking with too much animation. Whenever I exceeded my invisible allowance, I would pay for it with hours, or days, of migraines and misery. There was no more worshiping productivity. I gave my best hours to my children, but it was crushing to realize just how few hours there were. Nothing was more painful than hearing my kids delightedly laughing and being too sick to join them. Doctors looked at me askance. They offered me antidepressants and pointed anecdotes about their friends who’d just had covid and were running marathons again. I didn’t say I’d love to be able to run. I didn’t say what really made me depressed was dragging myself to appointments to be patronized. I didn’t say that post-viral illness was nothing new, nor was PEM — which for decades had been documented by people with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome — so if they didn’t know what I was talking about, they should stop sneering and get caught up. I was too sick for that, and too worried.

I began scouring medical journals the way I used to close-read ancient Greek poetry. I burned through horrifying amounts of money on vitamins and supplements. At night, my fears chased themselves. Would I ever get relief? Would I ever finish another book? Was long covid progressive? It was a bad moment when I realized that any answer to that last question would come from my own body. I was in the first cohort of an unwilling experiment. When vaccines rolled out, many people rushed back to “normal.” My world, already small, constricted further. Friends who invited me out to eat were surprised when I declined. I couldn’t risk reinfection, I said, and suggested a masked, outdoor stroll. Sure, they said, we’ll be in touch. Zoom events dried up. Masks began disappearing. I tried to warn the people I loved. Covid is airborne. Keep wearing an N95. Vaccines protect you but don’t stop transmission. Few wanted to listen. During the omicron wave, politicians tweeted about how quickly they’d recovered. I was glad for everyone who was fine, but a nasty implication hovered over those of us who weren’t: What’s your problem?

Friends who did struggle often seemed embarrassed by their symptoms. I’m just tired. My memory’s never been good. I gave them the resources I had, but there were few to give. There is no cure for long covid. Two of my friends went on to have strokes. A third developed diabetes, a fourth dementia. One died. I’ve watched in horror as our public institutions have turned their back on containment. The virus is still very much with us, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has stopped reporting on cases. States have shut down testing. Corporations, rather than improving ventilation in their buildings, have pushed for shield laws indemnifying them against lawsuits. Despite the crystal-clear science on the damage covid-19 does to our bodies, medical settings have dropped mask requirements, so patients now gamble their health to receive care. Those of us who are high-risk or immunocompromised, or who just don’t want to roll the dice on death and misery, have not only been left behind — we’re being actively mocked and pathologized. I’ve personally been ridiculed, heckled and coughed on for wearing my N95. Acquaintances who were understanding in the beginning are now irritated, even offended. One demanded: How long are you going to do this? As if trying to avoid covid was an attack on her, rather than an attempt to keep myself from sliding further into an abyss that threatens to swallow my family.

The United States has always been a terrible place to be sick and disabled. Ableism is baked into our myths of bootstrapping and self-reliance, in which health is virtue and illness is degeneracy. It is long past time for a bedrock shift, for all of us. We desperately need access to informed care, new treatments, fast-tracked research, safe spaces and disability protections. We also need a basic grasp of the facts of long covid. How it can follow anywhere from 10 to 30 percent of infections. How infections accumulate risk. How it’s not anxiety or depression, though its punishing nature can contribute to both those things. How children can get it; a recent review puts it at 12 to 16 percent of cases. How long-haulers who are reinfected usually get worse. How as many as 23 million Americans have post-covid symptoms, with that number increasing daily. Over three years later, I still have long covid. I still give my best hours to my children, and I still wear my N95. Thanks to relentless experimentation with treatments, I can write again, but my fatigue is worse. I recognize how fortunate I am: to have a caring partner and community, health insurance, good doctors (at last), a job I can do from home, a supportive publishing team, and wonderful readers who recommend my books. I’m grateful to all those who have accepted the new me without making me beg.

Some days, long covid feels manageable. Others, it feels like a crushing mountain on my chest. I yearn for the casual spontaneity and scope of my old life. I miss the friends and family who have moved on. I grieve those lost forever. So how long am I going to do this? Until indoor air is safe for all, until vaccines prevent transmission, until there’s a cure for long covid. Until I’m not risking my family’s future on a grocery run. Because the truth is that however immortal we feel, we are all just one infection away from a new life.

[cyberpunk-20xx]

On Johnny’s trans journey

cw for internalized and externalized transphobia, lesbophobia, alcohilism mentions, canon-compliant violence

Yeah so one day (this is my hc in my CP15 AU where Johnny doesn’t get to stay with the Aldecaldos the whole time between summer 2013 and the 2020s and instead goes back to Kerry NC, thus leading to a Reunion Tour that gets Victor hired by Samurai’s label), there's yet another quidproquo between Victor and him.

In a panic, he suckerpunches Victor rasping "I'm not a fucking tranny [unsaid: like you]"

And something clicks inside Victor's head (probably their chrome thinly-veiled skull rebuffing against the impact) and everything falls to place. As comprehension sets in, their response is instantaneous:

"Well fuck, damn you stupid bitch, I didn't say you were, but now I know you are!!"

And they look at him in disbelief like he's pulled the biggest bit they've ever witnessed, there's a blank where Johnny is pale as a fucking sheet, looking like a ghost that got killed twice more, starting to hyperventilate as he stares at them, and they righten themselves, rubbing and cracking their jaw back into place (that's also when Johnny understand how borged out they secretly are), and they look at him, eyebrows rising, and whistles out,

"Fuck, that explains so much."

—

Johnny once fell upon an entire fortune. Literally. While raiding an abandoned house the enemy forces had been hiding out at, the poor kid had collapsed right onto some corpse of a guy still clinging to a wad of cash. Johnny did what any shellshocked underage impulsive teen soldier would have.

He pocketed the money and hid it, the stress and fear of being caught with it making him sick. He had to get rid of it and quick. And he couldn’t waste it.

He’d gotten the whole premium package: he’d already had a medium shit quality T implant, so he got a mammectomy he paid a fortune for, a scrotum and penis transplant, and a few months later, he got back to the clinic using the rest of the cash plus the little military credit and health care he had for cosmetic surgery that erased his chest scars, rendering him unidentifiable as trans to the naked, cis gaze.

Robert Linder died for good with Johnathan Nauman, and he was a pre-op trans man hopeful for a future that had more colours to it than just reds and blacks and maroons.

—

Only Kerry and Denny knew. Kerry only did because he was himself a semi-closeted trans man. And Johnny acted with such disgust toward the subject anytime he’d brought it up, unless it was about himself and then suddenly it was fucking magically fine (it made Kerry feel special, so he did not question it- if only he’d know just how special he actually was, so special to Johnny that Johnny had to resort to violence to deny himself another chance at loving a man the way he wished he could-) and Kerry’d always just assumed it was just yet another Raised in The Bible Belt thing.

He’d not been entirely wrong.

Denny on the other hand, knew about it because one day, she’d been the only one semi-sober– to this day she does not understand how nor why it had to be her of all people to learn this about their cryptical, aggressive frontman.

He’d been curled up in a corner and mumbling to himself, which wasn’t unusual but rare, but he was also sobbing and clutching his head. 

That, was not normal. It was fucking bizarre actually, and she felt even more mortified see this much from him than she’d been the first time she’d gifted a bouquet to a girl she liked (her name was Natasha, she had long auburn hair and a face like a gentle doll, lips pink like fruit) who’d then looked at her up and down and spat,

“I’m not a fucking lesbo.” 

As if just the thought had soiled her.

Well somehow that was worse.

And yet she’d approached him, and kneeled beside him.

Now, everyone in Samurai knew about Johnny’s horrid war-induced C-PTSD, and the first rule of thumb about Johnny’s horrid war-induced C-PTSD: You don’t talk about Johnny’s horrid war-induced C-PTSD.

If it needs to be brought up, Johnny is more than capable enough doing it himself and then by gods he’ll only stop when he’s done talking about it.

Many-a-one jaws and noses and ribs and walls and chairs and tables and car windows had beared the testimony of what happened if you broke that rule.

So they didn’t talk about it.

Then the 2013 raid happened. And it somehow got worse.

But let’s not get sidetracked.

Denny had sat next to Johnny, and a decade later she wonders if she wasn’t on some acid trip after all, when he’d not only not slapped her hand off of him, but collapsed against her chest, in the most uninterested way, and wailed just a tad louder, a tad clearer, about some guy he’d stolen everything from, the man who’d taken a bullet from him, and how he was a fraud and one day they would all find out, how he could only keep lying to himself for so long, he’d always just be the delusional bitch his older brothers said he was.

She had not even thought it was possible for Johnny Silverhand to have brothers, much less plural, much less ones that would have abused him and won.

More things were said. Garbled and disjointed, but Denny knew how to speak tongues with men who’d been swallowed by the bottle.

Oh, everyone assumed she was so patient with Henry because she was naive and stupid, but what they didn’t want to understand is that she just knew better. She knew that beneath the violence and the smell of chemicals lied terrified boys who’d grown into broken men, begging for anyone to just understand.

Her father had been such a kind man before the incident.

And so, she’d learned a secret Johnny hadn’t told anybody else, not even Kerry, and that was when she knew.

It was bad. She could never fucking mention it to anyone.

But Denny was used to taboos, and one more didn’t shake her. She just kept on drumming, taking out her rage at the world for burdening her with the pain of everyone around her by beating the shit out of her drumset and making bank off it.

She just knew some things were better left unsaid. Sleeping dogs lying and all that, y’know?

—

And then Victor had to go and fucking ruin it, making Johnny have to come out and say it.

And Johnny’s fists could barely scuff their face, it only broke the skin and bled but nothing underneath got any real damage, so, seemed they were all fucked.

They were gonna have to talk about it. Or at least put words on it, thinking about it, now.

Johnny hated them even more for that.

(That must be why he slept at their place, in their bed, for the next few weeks following.

Sometimes, Kerry would stay over so they could work on their songs, Victor keeping themselves busy with what the fuck ever it was that their imp ass did during their free time, and he’d sleep into bed behind him, or as the little spoon when Johnny felt small like humouring him.

Victor would stay on the same side of the bed and latch onto him one way or another, kissing his scalp softly, and he’d fall asleep, and if he were lucky, he dreamed of cocoa butter scented hair tickling his face, strong lanky dark skinned arms around his frames, two sets of dogtags clinking together softly under the rustles of the sheet.

Sometimes there would be blonde hair falling in a halo around a pale figure, but most of those dreams ended up as nightmares, so that’s not what we’re talking about if we’re talking about the times Johnny got lucky dreaming.

And when he’d wake up, there would be no blood. No screams. 

Just Victor’s stupid little hanging charms chiming softly as the AC droned on.

Just Kerry’s snoring against his neck.

Just peace.)

[miodiodavinci]

omg i get so excited hearing about dnd!!!! how many campaigns have you been in if u mind answering?

i don't mind at all ! ! ! ! i enjoy talking about dnd ! ! ! ! our group got together in 2020 has run a total of (counts on fingers) 6 campaigns and 5 one shots, with our average campaign length being around 20 to 30 sessions. each person's taken a shot at DM'ing thus far, but the forever DM and i have both run about four of those each w

also, outside of one or two one shots, it's all been exclusively homebrew ! ! ! which is fun because we've all gotten to create our own regions and design overarching lore that connects each campaign to the other ! ! ! (surprisingly, hannus barbarous is usually the connecting factor. we did not plan this but that's just how it is now KJSFLKJH)

and because i love talking about dnd so much i'm taking this opportunity to dump a whole lot of summary of each campaign/one shot in chronological order under the cut w

ON A SCALE of ONE to TWENTY .. campaign

After being shut off from the world for over a hundred years, the region of Celosia finally opens its doors, sending out an open letter to all would-be adventurers asking for help. Our party just so happened to be the fools who decided to answer (and who got lucky enough to not get eaten by wolves on the way there), and have been tasked with taking down the shadowy Emerald Division that has seemingly come to power. They'll get to it as soon as they visit the dump (it's on the way).

Our DM's first homebrew campaign and the result of all of us being stuck inside and realizing we finally had time to play together w. This was the origin of both Hannus Barbarous as a running gag (along the lines of "this is JUST like Thomas and Jeremiah") and the name Scott as a throwaway bit, and also the origin of "The Coolest Emerald Division" title w

Characters

Roachcock the Tiefling Barbarian (played by me) .. bastard at heart, just wants to split heads, get coin, and buy a boat

Babey Möd the Halfling-Tabaxi Cleric (played by @anonprotagging) .. here to eat gravy and spread the good word of Lyra

The Storm the Water Genasi Barbarian .. he's super famous dude just trust me i heard he once fought like thirty turkeys

In'hala the Tiefling Paladin of Pan .. looking for her lost moms and also stealing this guy's boots hahaaa sick

Opus Whitfield the Human Wild Magic Sorcerer .. trying to use this opportunity to set up a new storefront for his family's gem cutting business, is actually using this opportunity to get bullied

note: i don't know if the other players use tumblr so for now they'll just be identified as "Xs player" from here on out w

GRANNY'S COUNTRY APPLE PIE .. one shot

An aging wizard wishes to taste the sweet delight of Granny's Country Apple Pie™ one last time (despite the bakery closing decades ago) and thus tasks our heroes with scoping out the place and seeing if they can find a recipe. Somewhere along the way, things got weird and it turns out Granny was just an immortal 65 year old who was taking a vacation in the outer planes with her wife but she's back now :)

Pre-built one shot that very quickly went off the rails, as to be expected for my very first go at being a DM after being a player for less than 4 months. The first appearance of Hannus as an actual character and not just a running bit.

Characters

Hannus Barbarous the Half-Orc playwright and Bard (played by @anonprotagging) .. he's taking a break from his prestigious play writing career to see the sights and reconnect with the little piece of him that was shattered when his troupe broke apart (but not too much of a break not to sign every autograph he can eyyy)

Sir the Eternal Flame (and sorcerer i guess) (played by Opus's player) .. still frustrated at being locked in human form, this giant immortal moth is off doing busy work until his curse wears off (which apparently includes bakery heists???)

Tehn the Sun Elf Ranger (played by the Celosia campaign DM) .. with their giant bumblebee Spoobin and frankly obscene lack of dietary standards at their side, there's no meal that they can't tackle

THE OSSIFIED GARDENS .. mini campaign

Taking shelter from the rain in an unearthly structure, the gang is snatched away from the physical realm and into a crab bucket-like hotel for the fae. With their most prized possessions taken from them as an entry fee, the gang has to endure arduous tasks to receive the stamps of each of the five Managers in order to receive audience with the minor god who runs the establishment. Whether or not she'll be willing to give their possessions back, however...

My first solo campaign as a DM!! Heavily inspired by Spirited Away and mostly an excuse to put old game dev content to use (including a literal circus of NPCs), but ended up serving as an important event in the Hannus Barbarous lore.

Characters

Hannus Barbarous the Half-Orc playwright and Bard (played by @anonprotagging) .. on the road with Tehn to visit a trinket faire in the next town over, about to experience beginning of a long and scalding beef with a petty minor god

Tehn the Sun Elf Ranger (played by the Celosia campaign DM) .. Hannus and Tehn are best friends now—they're having soft tacos later! :)

Piers the Minotaur Cleric (played by Opus's player) .. he's just along for the ride—maybe there will be cool books! :oooo

Tess the Halfling Rogue (played by In'hala's player) .. laying low until the folks in charge of her latest warrant lose track of her (and by laying low i mean just stealing at waist height instead of top shelves)

ROLL to PHOTOBOMB .. campaign

A seemingly normal winter festival goes astray when our heroes poor fools accidentally soul-bond to an extraplanar device meant to be a birthday present for the renowned sculptor hosting the ball (spoilers: it's a camera). They have four months to take it north to Cobalt City, get the re-calibration redone, and get it back in time for her wife to give it to her for their anniversary. The only problem is, the mountain pass is closed and the only other way there is a several hundred mile road trip by wagon...

Time to take some photos in front of some kitschy roadside attractions, I guess.

Opus's player's first time DM'ing for our group (though they'd DM'd before, and frankly—their experience shows). This campaign was home to some of our most beloved NPCs like Cassidy the subterranean super organism, Barry the extraplanar knife slime, and Sir the Eternal Flame Moth (he got that curse figured out finally!)

Characters

Fafnir of the Boreal North, the human knight Mimic Berserker (played by me) .. they just wanted to leave their dungeon to find a better, damper place to sit and eat and somehow accidentally took part in the funniest case of mistaken identity this side of Alcione

Ranger Rain Rainer the human Ranger (and literal park ranger, played by @anonprotagging) .. originally here to supervise the environmental impacts of the ball on the local landscape, now soul-bound to an extraplanar camera and havin' a good ol' time hangin' with the boys :) y'want some soy sauce with that? i bought a gallon back in brass junction

Kit the Elven Ranger (played by Tehn's player) .. legitimately so traumatized he wraps back around to being the most normal person in this group—just don't mention Celestine Grove

Babu the Hobgoblin Artificer (played by the Storm's player) .. having been separated from his parents and raised by Kobolds, Babu, his steel defender Babu, and his clockwork creation Little Babu are on a long journey to reunite with them in Grand Arbor .. please do not look at him he's sensitive

THE GREAT COCKATRICE RACE .. one shot

It's that time of year—the Great Cockatrice Race is upon us!! But just as our party is soaking in the sights and staking out the perfect spot to watch, they witness a young tiefling have his cockatrice's racing gear shredded by a local gang. Desperate to win so he can help pay to treat his father's worsening eyesight (they're cartographers by trade), he asks the party for help, and they quickly oblige.

Another one shot run by me, based loosely on a one-page campaign document. Not much to say about this one beyond the fact that everyone was ready to kill for Noodles the bantam cockatrice.

Characters

Actias Saturnid the Aasimar Paladin (played by @anonprotagging) .. on a quest to popularize his deity's chosen form of entertainment—tinker vision (TV for short)

Squish the Changeling Bard (played by Tehn's player) .. here to have fun and maybe also look for his friend that went missing have you seen her please tell me i miss her ;_____;

Kai the ??? Swashbuckling Rogue (played by Opus's player) .. it's a big festival, and that means plenty of eyes and plenty of cash! not a half bad time to try negotiating some new patrons for her artist friends

TROUBLE at PORT MANDRET .. one shot

What was originally supposed to be the 58th annual showcase of Umbergate University's horticultural collection is turned sour as an incensed former professor unleashes a powerful awakening spell on the entire town. With only a few hours before the plants release spores that will spread the spell to the entire world, our party has to act fast and cooperate with a local mycologist who seems to know just the fix to this predicament.

Another one shot from me, this time entirely homebrewed! This is also the origin of Scott as a character and not just a throwaway bit, and very much the source of his dynamic with Hannie. They found him tangled up in a bunch of kudzu in a coffee shop and he sent them on a long fetch quest to help him make a cup of coffee using stolen coffee beans.

Characters

Hannus Barbarous the Half-Orc playwright and bard (you know his player by now w) .. you know, he was just trying to lay low after the whole "committing arson" thing, but now he has a gay little mushroom twink to look after and that's (????)

Tehn the Sun Elf Ranger (played by you know who w).. also laying low after helping Hannus commit arson, but mostly here to eat a bunch of plants when no one's looking

Hank the Aarakocra Barbarian (played by Opus's player) .. he's a goose who only says "HANK" and i love that so much about him

Quinn the literal, unawakened, plain old animal tiger and Rogue (played by the Storm's player) .. the reason Hannus and Tehn committed arson after discovering she was being kept in squalid conditions by a wealthy family .. i cannot stress enough that she is a literal, un-enchanted tiger

THE ENIGMA of DAHL CREEK .. campaign

Their boat having sank in a storm, the party washes up on a seemingly once populous island now drowning under webs of unidentifiable blue-green vines and the eerily human-like shapes it creates. Working to unravel the mystery of how the entire town disappeared one August day, they find the past and present blurring together in a strange and haunting way.

The Celosia campaign DM's next big campaign, and frankly the one that haunts me most to this day. I cannot put into words how fucking good this campaign was. Legitimately gave me chills and occupies a region of my brain that cannot be vacated.

Characters

Hannus Barbarous (you know him) .. just trying to recover from the fae thing and the tiger incident and then the Port Mandret fiasco and really doesn't need this right now (but deal he will)

Biscott Cortinarius the human mycologist and Necromancer (played by me) .. putting a little distance between himself and the university due to the ""legal ramifications of interviewing university property without familial consent,"" but mostly sticking with Hannus because he's a bard and... well... bards aren't exactly beefy are they ;)

The Destitution of Mires the Lizardfolk Circle of Spores Druid (played by the Storm's Player) .. to this day i still don't know what their deal was, only that they sensed and so they came, and they left just as easily

Theo the ??? Circle of Dreams Druid (played by Opus's player) .. wanted to get out there and see the world, managed to sneak onto the one and Only boat that shipwrecked that day, now paying for it dearly

TIDECLEFT ISLES .. campaign

When the great Captain Wicke died, he arranged in his will that his treasure was to be given to the pirates of Tidecleft—so long as they could find it. Having arranged a massive, death-defying posthumous treasure hunt, several teams (including our heroes) must now compete to locate Wicke's treasure if they want to claim it all for themselves. What the late captain has in store for them, however, may call the worth of the treasure into question.

The Storm's player's first time DM'ing for our group, but not his first time DM'ing by far (read: he was Tehn's player's forever DM long before he came to our group). This was a grand old romp around a bunch of islands and sea caves that culminated in a frankly off-the-walls batshit final battle.

Characters

Acanthus of the Western Isles, the Mano (shark man) Scholar (played by me) .. a doctor and academic seeking to pay off a massive debt he incurred thanks to the Silver Lampreys and their web of loan sharks .. he doesn't care for jokes... or laughing, or puns, or metaphorical language or

Lemon the Warforged Circle of Stars Druid (played by @anonprotagging) .. realized she's accrued like twenty years in paid time off from working as a docent in an observatory, now taking her first vacation with her best friend Owen Gnome :) (he's a garden gnome she found outside and decided to keep in her pocket) (may or may not be venomous)

Bellamy the ??? ??? (played by Opus's player) .. ever grateful to the squid trawlers that took him in, he's competing in this hunt to earn enough to turn their venture into a franchise .. he is shockingly normal despite the whole "may not be from this plane" thing

Rayin the Tiefling Storm Sorcerer (played by Tehn's player) .. having received that sweet sweet "got hit by a magical explosion on campus" money and gotten magical powers out of it, Rayin is ditching academia to do COOL things like throw lightning bolts and meow at people

these character descriptors are getting long sorry

MIETTE SIMULATOR .. one shot

Somehow, our band of unfortunate souls has wandered into a town caught in a frenzy, raving for the execution of a seemingly normal tiefling man for an unspeakable crime (literally, no one will say what it was). The gang decides to get to the bottom of this, only to discover the very laws of reality are essentially optional in this neck of the woods.

Hannus's player's first time DM'ing as a dry run for his future one shot, and it was a hoot. Also the first time we got to meet Ranger Rainer's brother, Shine Rainer (who is the polar opposite of his brother thanks to all the trauma that comes with being a record keeper).

Characters

Lark the Aasimar Gunslinger (played by me) .. just trying to do as many good deeds as possible to get her dad off her back so she can get a girlfriend without him scaring her off with his whole "incomprehensible being of holy light" thing

Clare the human ??? (played by Tehn's player) .. i don't remember why she was there she just was and she was probably the most okay with everything that was going on

Hank the Aarakocra Barbarian (played by Opus's player) .. he's playing it cool after the Port Mandret thing, except this is not cool this is chaos

MOON TOWN .. one shot

It's Actias! And he needs help! For some reason, they've been disconnected from their god, and they can't figure out why! When our heroes decide to help, they end up getting snatched away to an otherworldly version of the long abandoned Sun Town and need to solve the mystery of a long cold case in order to find their way back home.

Hannus's player's main group DM'ing debut. Full of fun puzzles and good laughs (I'll never forget Actias asking us for help with a puzzle and showing us one of those shapes and holes boxes you give to kids) with plenty of throwbacks to old running gags. Felt like a nice homage to what DnD had been for us thus far.

Characters

Calamund Galbraith the Reborn Echo Fighter (played by me) .. a completely average guy who just so happened to get roped into getting "engaged" to a wraith that now endlessly pursues him .. he just really wants to go home and eat soup with his birds

Squish the Changeling Bard (played by Tehn's player) .. really worried for his good friend Actias :(

Tiel Alleywollow the Halfling Warlock (played by the Storm's player) .. a girl of few words (literally, she only speaks when casting spells) and eternally fond of her fiendish patron, an asshole imp named Dition

In'hala the Tiefling Paladin of Pan (played by the same guy as before w) .. hit her head on a ship and somehow ended up far, far south of Celosia. who knows what happened? certainly not in'hala, but EYYY SHE STILL HAS THE SICK BOOTS YEAAA

Teller Artax the Warforged Gunslinger (played by Opus's player) .. originally out to hunt down his lost creator, but got sidetracked, and then got sidetracked from that sidetrack, and then got sidetracked from that sidetrack's sidetrack, and then

THE CURIOUS CASE of ACTON RIDGE .. campaign

50 years before the events of Dahl Creek, a similar event is taking place—after a shoot out in the canyon, the town of Acton Ridge is also carpeted in strange, blue-green vines and locked in time. Our heroes must unravel the mystery of their pasts and the two intertwined fates of a pair of brilliant inventors who were seemingly on the hunt for something not of this world. Ongoing!

The Celosia DM's latest campaign and prequel to Dahl Creek. A little different vibes from the last one considering most of us apparently lived here before things went to shit, and many of us have tie-ins with the events taking place. Cool, eerie mystery fun ! ! !

Characters

Outis the Warforged Paladin (played by me) .. an archaic tour guide emissary from the Feywilds who's trapped on an endless journey towards an unseen destination .. it's sassy as hell and just the right amount of british to be infuriating

Emeril the Sea Elf chef and Fighter (played by @anonprotagging) .. retired from being a soldier and running from his past to owning a small tavern (and running from his past) .. very blunt (like his cast iron frying pan)

Spinifer the ??? Bard and travel-book writer (played by Opus's player) .. looking for the scoop on the local scene in hopes of bringing more folks over from her homeland .. common isn't her first language and she delights in learning cool new words, like "paranormal" and "clusterfuck"

Phira the Deep Gnome Monster Hunter (played by the Storm's player) .. haunted by her past and now interested in that which is haunted, this little conspiracy theorist is going to get to the bottom of this mystery if it's the last thing she does (but not actually—she'd like to live you know)

[dark-muse-iris]

My new years goal is to stay masked even when everyone I'm around isn't (aka in class and with patients) because I am beyond over getting sick. And considering one of my colleagues came to class while testing positive and actively symptomatic for COVID, I can't trust them to take anyone's health seriously. I'm not letting these bastards kill me out of spite.

Sorry to hear about the autoimmune diagnosis. I can believe it but it still sucks. I hope you get some fun stuff to knock off your bucket list! Stay as safe and healthy as possible out there.

As a disabled gal who has been masking consistently since 2020 now, THANK YOU for giving a shit about the community spread. I've gotten ugly looks from time to time and been a lone masker nearly everywhere I go, but I have only been sick once since 2020 and that was when I got Covid at work (a positive case from a colleague who said it was "allergies" spread in a cramped conference room where I was the only masked person there). I've given solidarity nods to any masker since 2022. 😅

I too am living out of spite. I'm lucky to still have a job, but I transferred from my old office when they said my reasonable accommodations would make pre-disableds feel "uncomfortable". They suffered for 6 months after I left and half the team bailed when they couldn't carry the weight I left behind. Fuck 'em!

Autoimmune disease is a damn joke, but I am thankful to have a couple friends and partners who have stayed and who care. All the ones who said I was overreacting about the dangers are now constantly coughing, can't weather allergy shifts, can't do the work they used to, can't remember shit, can't stay awake, etc. Like many people who were disabled pre-covid, I've stopped trying to help them. They can figure it out and make peace with their dealt hand as I have had to.

I'm sorry to hear you've been sick and that your colleagues lost their will to care. What's been harrowing for me is, every fictional portrayal of mass disease like this had a better response from governments and citizens than we've had. I honestly thought we'd get something like The Division, can you believe that? LMAO I replayed it over the holidays to cheer myself up! 🤣

[exeggcute]

hey I have messaged you before because we both have boneitus but I wanted to ask - how severe has the immune compromise from humera and biologics been for you? My joint pain is just on the inside of manageable and I'm concerned that, going to uni and generally being outdoorsy, I'm putting my health more at risk by starting it then by seeking other methods of management? right now inflammation and pain are the only concerns, not more severe health risks.

[2nd message: obviously you can't give medical advice etc I'm just hoping to hear your perspective and experience. my mother is less severely impacted and also doesn't seem to be too compromised but I think she's a bit casual about health risks sometimes]

tbh I haven't felt like the immune compromise has been too bad even though I started taking biologics during the height of covid... now that I'm thinking about it I remember I was supposed to start my first humira shot before the covid vaccine was widely available, literally had the shot sitting on the counter to thaw, but then the pharmacy rang me up to say they got a batch of vaccines in and I postponed my humira shot a few days so I could go get a different shot first lol. other than getting Actual Covid about a year ago (which sucked ass but obviously didn't kill me, I think my partner who's normally in great health got hit harder by it than I did) I actually think I've gotten sick way less often in the past few years than I ever did pre-biologics/pre-covid. knock on fucking wood obviously. and I was aaaallllwaaaays getting sick with random shit pre-2020. not sure whether that's a testament to how well proper masking works or a testament to how treating my fucked-up immune system actually made me less susceptible to random viral infections but either way there's some anecdata for you.

but full disclosure that I'm a homebody in general, and then the combo of covid and my Problems means I haven't been traveled out of state more than once or twice, I still mask up in public 95% of the time, my only roommate is my partner who also masks up in public 95% of the time, we live in a private residence with our own bathroom/laundry facilities, etc. granted I do still Go Out and have potential avenues of exposure to whatever random shit is brewing, particularly in restaurants, but I don't wanna generalize my experience too too much if you're a student and might be living in a dorm, travelling a lot, etc.

although with that said I think (and don't quote me on this?) the main concerns with biologics are less about your average cold/flu/covid situation than with more serious stuff like TB or hospital acquired infections or whatever. I definitely had to get a TB test before I could start humira. and I have admittedly had some chronic but very mild skin infections thanks to being immunocompromised, but they've all been treatable, and it's hard to say whether they were caused by the biologics themselves or the combo of biologics + intermittent steroid use + preexisting eczema + recently adding methotrexate into the mix. and generally having the constitution of a sickly orphan boy lol. which is all to say that unless you're being exposed to really freaky shit on the regular I don't think going on biologics will be the difference between you staying healthy and you getting struck down by Icky Space Virus, especially since biologics are a targeted immunosuppressant in a way that (e.g.) prednisone isn't. a good N95 or KN95 mask goes a long way, too.

it's ultimately up to you and your comfort level, especially if you said you're managing the joint pain okay right now—but I've also been there and I know that "managing" pain still is not a fun place to be at all. I also don't know if you have a flavor of boneitis that turns into degrative damage over time, so that's another consideration; I was honestly pretty scared about the (depending on who you ask, minor) cancer risk of taking TNF inhibitors, but I kind of rationalized it as like, okay, if I go on these drugs and get cancer, there's a solid chance of surviving cancer, but if I don't go on these drugs and my spine fuses permanently then my spine will be fused forever and ever and I can never fix it. there's also the fact that untreated inflammation is a major cancer trigger in itself, so on the crohn's side of things I have a way higher chance of getting cancer from untreated crohn's than I do of getting cancer from crohn's treatment.

don't take it as medical advice but here's my two cents: if your doctor thinks it's safe, and if you would benefit significantly from treatment, I think it's worth trying. soooooo many people take these drugs and the majority don't have life-altering side effects. with the immune suppression specifically, or even other minor side effects, I see it as a question of whether those risks/side effects are outweighed by the symptoms you're dealing with on a daily basis. I tend to approach that with a rough formula of severity x probability on both sides, which means unless the side effects are really bad AND really likely to happen, or unless the symptoms are relatively minor, I usually gravitate towards taking the drug. "symptom I already have that fucking sucks" usually comes out on top as the greater evil. but that's just me!

tangentially related point you might find interesting: I mentioned the other day about getting a consultation from a cosmetic surgeon who I later found out was related to the lead singer of imagine dragons, but the way I found that out was because I asked the surgeon if it was okay to get operated on while taking humira, and he said that not only was it fine, but also that he takes humira for the same arthritis + IBD combo that I have. and then later I heard an imagine dragons song on the radio, which reminded me how the lead singer is my nemesis because he's the most famous person alive with spondylitis but makes shitty music, and then I thought about how he's from vegas, and then how he's mormon, and then how the surgeon I saw is also mormon (BYU diploma spotted in his office lol. despite his main specialty being top surgery. #respect), and then how the surgeon told me he has like eight brothers and they all have IBD too, and then I was like "there can't be that many mormon families in las vegas with the same genetic autoimmune issues, right...?" and looked up the lead singer's last name and it was the same as the surgeon's...

so anyway just know that active practicing surgeons take biologics and seem to be doing alright! and also that someone out there has a family with a million sons who all have Shitting Constantly disease. the toilet paper bill when those kids were growing up must have been totally insane