#-will try very hard. it's the second level of interviews and i know i could do the work....

[fruchtfleisch-art]

i saw on your other blog you mention a possible lesbian furry vn.... i am very interested please elaborate if you are willing ^_^

be me, having fun doodling various furry character ideas with no intent to act on them anytime soon

keep watching/reading media that makes me feel sick to my stomach (/pos) with the powerful Wretch Energy of the personalities on display

this video by Boring Keith comes up on my playlist while i'm drawing, video specifically mentions there are certain Niches not being filled re: furry vns, showcases how fun it is to write a story with art of your special little guys in it 3a. remember that as i am currently unemployed, i do Not have to spend a solid three hours moping per day and could, in fact, be writing more than i currently am, even working on *two* projects at once. wow!

spend an hour after dinner scribbling in my sketchbook and pulling together a smaller, tighter story with my strongest three character concepts

??? ???? ?????

EVERYTHING IS REALLY LOOSE... but i would want it to be a sharp, tight story, and make the viewer feel a little sick after certain things are revealed... with a few of my favorite Things i love and adore writing (shitty hetero marriages, diehard neurotics playing mind games with people who keep eating the pieces off the board, characters pushed to their absolute limit who just have to keep going).

[baby-dr1ver]

kinktober <3

phone sex

Oscar x reader

warning: masturbation, swearing

You had just walked in your shared apartment when your phone rang. You saw Oscars name pop up and you thought, how odd. It’s practically midnight in Qatar while it’s mid afternoon where you were. 

“Osc? Is everything alright?” You asked as you set your things down and tried to focus on the conversation. It was quiet for a minute, then you could hear Oscar breathing heavily. “H-hey yeah, I’m alright just..frustrated from the results today.”

You smiled as you heard his accent in certain words he said. “I know baby, I’m so sorry they did that to you. Mid interview too? Brutal. How are you though?” 

Oscar barely heard your question, to busy stroking his cock softly, whining queitly. “Ozzy? You don’t sound very good, are you okay?” He lifted up his shirt so he could see his torso and pants down to his knees, like you would. “Yeah love I’m alright just uhm, keep talking. I missed your voice.” 

You made a confused face behind the phone. Oscar isn’t usually a feelings kind of person, he showed affection quietly, always level headed, and rarely did he ever call you just to hear you talk. “Uhm yeah okay sure..” You launched into everything you did, the mall, the grocery store. All the things you got for him today, every small detail mattered.

Meanwhile, Oscar was trying to hold in every sound that wanted to escape. His big hand moved up and down slowly amongst his shaft, his thumb coming around to gently circle the head. His hips stuttered as he thought about your hands instead of his. How you’d praise him, tell him how good he looked, or how hard she made him. You’d also already have your mouth on him, licking a long stripe up his cock, sucking on the head, using your hands-

“Osc? You almost finished, or should I keep going?” 

He paused his hand, “W-what? I uhm what do you mean?” You giggled and he swore he almost came just from that. 

“Baby, you aren’t exactly subtle. I can hear your hand stroking yourself, and you aren’t doing much to conceal those adorable whimpers. Go ahead, keep going.”

He moaned and moved his hand a little faster. He could only hear some shuffling on the other end, “Y/N?” 

“Yeah baby? Sorry, I was just getting out of my clothes, can’t just let you have fun can I?”

“No right, absolutely, whatever you want love.” He couldn’t help but close his eyes and imagine you alone in bed, naked, fingers running over your body. “Tell me what to do Ozzy, guide me through it.” oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck. You could not be saying things like that to him right now, in that low whisper and whiny voice that gets him going. 

“Run your hands down your chest, give those gorgeous tits a squeeze ah fuck-rub your nipple for me baby.” He listened closely to the small sounds you made, knowing exactly what you were doing by the pitch change of your moans. “That’s it, atta girl. Now take your hand and touch your pussy-just a finger, feel how wet you are. God I bet your soaking huh sweetheart?” He needed to slow down, take a deep breath so he doesn’t blow his lid. 

“Yeah Osc, fucking wet. Soaking my fingers-just for you, only you” His heart almost stopped. 

The way you spoke, the moans, the whines, he missed it all. He could almost smell you, feel you around his fingers, even a continent away. 

“Yeah? Couldn’t take it anymore huh love? Just needed a reason to touch yourself. Fuck I wish I was there, I miss your pussy, the smell the taste, everything.” He could hear you fucking yourself. He could hear your fingers plunging in and out of you. He could hear your hips moving along the bed, the neediness of it all. “Ozzy, baby, please come with me oh god please.” 

“Y-yeah, I’m here, I’m right there with you.” he squeezed himself tighter as he stroked himself a little faster. Listening to your moans and gasps of his name, he came. Not a second later he heard you still, and your hips drop back down to the bed. 

No one said anything for awhile, just heavy panting as you both came down. 

Just as he started to drift off, “Oscar?”

“Mmm yeah?”

You giggled and pulled the blankets over your naked body, “I love you but next time just tell me you need to get off.” 

He smiled, “yeah alright, seems fair.”

[vincentvangoghs]

Wanted to create a post with some of my favorite excerpts and quotes from this stellar Lou Ferrigno Jr interview. In other words, like 85% of it! If you haven't already read the interview, I urge you to click that link and give the interview some much-deserved traffic! Has some excellent questions, answers, and insight.

Anyway. A mere plot device what? Not a part of the family, huh? The cast and crew hate Ferrigno Jr, hmm? Tommy's on his way out, say wha'?

I think it's extremely telling that the moment where Tommy watches Buck through the monitor in 8x15 was not scripted and was added last minute. Very interesting, indeed. And, you know, it's even more interesting that they added a moment that specifically highlights not only the Buck and Tommy pairing, but also Tommy as an individual. Almost like those with power, or, at least, Tim Minear, really see the value and importance in what Lou and Tommy have to offer. Imagine that.

--

"It’s hard sometimes because when I was looking at the monitor and watching Buck, right after the cut…and I had to cry. I had to fully cry because I was in such a committed state of watching the love of my life in that circumstance."

--

"And I think it’s a calcification of his soul and he never needs to open up. Until this person, he’s in a situation with, there is a spark, and there is something special. So he’s learning how to deal with this, and it’s not something you learn in school, and it’s not something you learn after your first second relationship. It’s something you learn with mileage."

--

"Well, I think Tommy’s trying to do a good deflecting at the top, but I think he’s coming to grips with the fact that he doesn’t need to put this shit on. I think historically, Tommy would just blow it off and just be like, 'Whatever.' I don’t think he’s ever necessarily met someone that he’s been as enthralled by as he is with Buck. I think he finds him adorable, and I think he doesn’t know what he’s feeling, but he’s feeling something that’s really leveling him in the sense where he’s figuring things out as long as it’s taken."

--

"... I can’t imagine that Tommy’s not thinking like, 'What if that happened to Buck? What if it was Buck?' Tommy couldn’t have known what was happening to Bobby when he was dying. So when I was watching him or when Tommy was watching him, in my mind there’s a thought of… Not fear. At that moment, I think he was just so crushed. And it hurts when you see someone going through something that you love …

But it’s also, like, scared that this could be the guy that breaks him. There’s always that consideration. Because I don’t know how sure-footed Tommy really is as much as he appears to be. And then I don’t know the repercussions of what that would mean if that was his soulmate or his love of his life, and then something happened to him ..."

--

"Sometimes you don’t know what to do, and sometimes you don’t… But it’s being okay with not knowing what to do and just being there for the person that you love. I think that was playing a part of it. I think he was just overwhelmed with the fact that he’s watching because he watches screens. He’s technical. He’s an air pilot. He’s a fighter pilot. This guy is a high-functioning, highly calibrated human being. So, throwing in emotions, it does not work well with his processing. But I think in that moment, he was ready to go in after him.

These are the feelings that he’s never really been confronted with, I think, in terms of this human being is all I care about. And it was tough. It was tough because everyone handled it. And when they delivered the news, it was just like… And I’m even luckier that I was able to get in for that one second. I love that they let Tommy have his moment to feel all this. Yeah, I think Tommy’s just, in his mind, in love."

--

"Because I didn’t get any word on that scene. Right on the day, they’re like, “We’re going to add this scene.” And then I was like, “Oh my God. Oh my God.” But it was nonverbal, but then it was like Tommy is watching Buck."

--

"That’s a step. That’s a step in growth. And with Bobby, he was inspired by him. He wanted to hang out with him. And he wanted to become a pilot, but he was right there when the 118 needed him, Tommy."

--

"Tommy doesn’t want to go back to a place where he was. I think Tommy likes the man he is now. And I think that through the spirit, he’ll remember Bobby, and he’s become this new man. And I think that with Buck, I mean, that’s another phase to his growth as a human being in terms of committing or even just being vulnerable with someone and having something that’s true."

--

"So moving forward, I think Tommy’s really good at compartmentalization. But I also do think that he will, for the first time in his life, feel it’s safe to emote and open up to his fellow 118ers, to others in his life about how important Bobby was. So it’s bittersweet."

--

"I mean, I don’t know necessarily how the dynamics work if a captain dies. Are we getting Gerrard back? I don’t think Tommy’s going back to who he was, like I mentioned before, but at the same time, I’m going to have to deal with Gerrard. It’s a huge, profound loss."

[sensei-venus]

Tanner in an interview getting asked about a rumor his gf is pregnant and him deflecting the question bc it's true but they aren't ready yet to tell

(Unedited) (Pregnant Reader)

“So there has been a very big rumor going around as of lately, I assume you have already heard about it going around?”

“I already know what your going to ask.” Tanner laughed as he sat up him his chair. They had been in this interview for almost a whole hour now. He was itching to just get up and leave.

“So, are the rumors true that you and your long-time girlfriend, Reader, might be expecting?” the reporter asked. They guys face was lit up as he asked the question.

Tanner gave a small shrug while saying “Well I believe a while ago both me and Reader actually gave a statement about kids.” the reporter seemed to sit on edge as he went on “We both would love to possibly have them one day. The both of us have discussed it quite a lot. Before and after we started our relationship.” his tone was filled with happiness. It was true that the couple talked about kids a lot in their time together. Both of them wanting to raise a family together.

The reporter raised a brow “So you confirm that you and Reader are pregnant now?” the reporter seemed on edge. The way he seemed to almost sit on the very edge of his seat was telling.

The recent surge of rumors that the young star couple where pregnant was flying around every social media platform. It took off the minute Reader was spotted at a baby store in LA. She was photographed by a passerby coming out of the shop with a large bag of unidentified items. The photos also captured her placing the the bag in her car before driving off. She was dressed in a very plain outfit of just a long baggy shirt and yoga pants.

Most fans were separating the possible pregnancy after the couple had taken a week-long vacation not long after the pictures were taken. Taking themselves out of the limelight for a brief moment and stepping away from the public.

Super fans were pulling up cancelation sheets of upcoming movies that Reader had supposedly been cast for but now her name was no longer on. New movie releases were scrubbing her name from feature boards. Already editing her name off of movies that were set to start filing in the following months.

It didn't hell the rumors that Reader had yet to make a public appearance after those pictures were leaked online.

“All I can really say is that we have talked about it before. The rumors are just that, rumors going around because my girlfriend went to a kid's store. I mean we have a lot of friends and family a lot of them have kids. She might have just been picking up a gift for one of them. You know how Reader loves giving gifts.” he laughed.

“So you can't say if it's true or not?” the reporter was starting to get more pissy with Tanner. His voice growing higher as he tried to dig more at the situation. Clearly trying to get a big scoop from this low-level interview.

Tanner was able to see right through his little game.

The interview was thankful cut short when Tanner's phone rang and the timer on their meeting went off seconds later. The guy who had been interviewing him looked totally defeated. With Tanner keeping tightlipped on the topic he didn't get much out of him. There would be no big scoop for his company.

Walking off he picked up the call, smiling he answered “Hey babe how are you doing? Better than earlier I hope?” a small hum was heard on the other side of the phone.

Reader rolled around on their bed for a moment before turning over. She shoved a pillow under her head as she went back to her phone. She sighed “I'm doing a little better…” she paused for a moment and looked down at herself. She knew she wasn't showing just yet, maybe if you looked hard enough you could see the smallest bump forming under the chubbiness of her belly. Running a hand over her belly she smiled “My stomach still feels all funky but that's to be expected I guess.” she giggled a little.

Tanner gabe a small smile as he walked.

“Did they pester you about those stupid pictures?”

“A little but it was nothing I couldn't handle so don't worry about it too much.”

Reader chewed in her lip a little, the trip to the baby store was a split second decision on her part.

“I know I shouldn't have gone out like that. I should have just ordered something online and had it delivered.”

“Babe no, you wanted to go out and do something special to tell me about-” he looked around for a second. Making sure there was no one around to overhear their conversation. “The baby and I wouldn't change that for anything. It was super sweet and such a surprise, I loved it.” a small laugh was heard on the other end making him grin.

“How about I bring you some ginger ale to try and help with the morning sickness?” Tanner said as he finally reached his car in the parking lot. As he unlocked it he heard a small sigh from Reader.

“I would love that actually oh and if you could pick up a big pretzel? The big soft ones?” he could practically hear the longing in her voice.

“I'll pick up two just in case, I'll see you in a little it. Love you.”

“I love you too Tanner, see you when you get back.”

[eyneyke]

Trouble in paradise pt7

Pairing: Max Verstappen x PewDiePie!sibling Summary: What if Felix had a genius brother who works as a RedBull's engineer and is also secretly dating Max part 26 of A Calm to my Storm Masterlist

As more drivers and team principals weigh in on the situation with Max’s car and Sam Kjellberg’s overnight fix, the tension continues to build. Everyone is acutely aware of the risks involved, and the pre-race interviews reflect the nervous atmosphere.

Pre-Race Interviews:

Journalist: "Fernando, what do you think about Red Bull’s decision to let Max race with an untested fix?"

Fernando Alonso: "Honestly, I wouldn’t race with that level of risk. You can trust your engineers, but with something untested like this? It’s too dangerous. One small mistake, and it could go very badly. I wouldn’t take that chance."

---

@F1Fanatic: Alonso straight up saying he wouldn’t race in Max’s shoes... and this guy has taken some HUGE risks in his career 😬 #F1 #Alonso #RedBull

@SpeedDemon87: If Alonso thinks it’s too dangerous, that’s saying something. This guy is fearless on the track.

@RiskyMove: Damn, Alonso has done some wild stuff in his day. If he’s out, maybe Max should think twice... #SamKjellberg

@Alonso4Ever: "One small mistake and it could go very badly" — Fernando keeping it real as always.

@NervousFan: So... maybe Sam’s fix isn’t as foolproof as everyone hopes. Alonso wouldn’t even try it?? That’s terrifying.

---

Journalist: "Toto, we’ve heard there was a last-minute fix on Max Verstappen’s car. How big of a risk do you think Red Bull is taking?"

Toto Wolff: "It’s an enormous risk, no question. Christian and his team have put a lot of faith in their engineer, but it’s untested. As a team principal, I’m in awe of Christian for trusting his engineer this much. We’re competitors on the track, but I hope Max gets out of all this mess safely."

Journalist: "You really hope everything goes well for Red Bull today, despite the competition?"

Toto Wolff: "Absolutely. This isn't just about a car or a race—this is about Max's life. If something goes wrong, if Max loses control of the car, even for a second, the consequences could be disastrous. We're talking about crashes, serious injuries, or worse. As much as we compete, I don't want to see anyone in that kind of danger. It's a situation no team principal would wish for. This might be the only time you’ll hear me openly say I hope everything goes to plan for Red Bull."

---

@TotoFan69: Toto straight-up admitting he’s worried for Max’s LIFE. What are we even doing here?!

@F1DailyNews: Toto basically just said Max could DIE if something goes wrong. I’ve never seen him this serious about a rival before.

@NeutralWatch: When your competitor openly says they’re in awe of you... you know Red Bull is in deep. Christian must be stressing out so hard right now.

@TeamLH44: This is bigger than just racing. Max is literally putting his life in Sam’s hands today.

@FormulaMax: Toto Wolff: "Max's life is on the line." Well, that’s comforting... 😨

@MercedesFanForever: Hearing Toto say he hopes Max is safe is wild. This is bigger than rivalry at this point.

---

Journalist: "Nico, given what Toto has just said about the dangers, how big of a deal is this for Red Bull and Max?"

George Russel: "It's huge. We're not talking about a minor tweak—this is a fundamental part of Max’s car that had to be fixed without any proper testing. Sam Kjellberg essentially worked overnight to solve it. If it works, Sam’s a genius, but the stakes are incredibly high. We’ve never seen something like this before."

Lewis Hamilton: "Yeah, as drivers, we put a lot of trust in our engineers, but this is uncharted territory. I don’t think anyone’s comfortable with the level of risk Red Bull is taking."

---

@F1Insider: George just called Sam a genius if this works. Man, that’s pressure.

@LHArmy: Lewis admitting he's uncomfortable with the risk. When the 7-time world champ says that, you KNOW it’s serious.

@RusselFanatic: George’s face during that interview—he looks more nervous than Christian. Says it all.

@PitStopChat: It’s crazy how all the other drivers and analysts are saying the same thing—Sam is brilliant, but the risk is HUGE.

@F1Addict: If this doesn’t work, the fallout is going to be insane. Sam might be in line for Newey’s job, but if something goes wrong, it’ll be a disaster.

--- 

Social Media Reactions:

Twitter:

@F1Fanatic: Toto Wolff just openly admitted he hopes everything goes well for Red Bull because Max’s life is at risk! This is way more serious than I thought 😳 #F1 #RedBullRacing #SamKjellberg

@RedBullRacingForever: When even Toto is concerned about Max’s safety... You know this situation is no joke. #F1 #SamKjellberg

@RaceDayDrama: Fernando Alonso straight up said he wouldn’t race with this kind of risk. And Max is just chilling, trusting Sam. This race is going to be WILD.

@F1Reporter: Toto Wolff: “This is about Max’s life.” Hearing him say that out loud gave me chills. #F1 #RedBullDrama

@F1Insider: If anything goes wrong with the car, we’re looking at a massive disaster. I can’t believe they’re letting this happen. #RedBullRacing #SamKjellberg

---

Reddit Thread: "Is Max’s Life Really at Risk?"

User 406: Wait, did Toto Wolff just admit on camera that Max’s life is at risk today?! That’s... terrifying.

User 407: Yeah, Toto literally said that a loss of control could lead to serious injury or even death. It’s insane that Red Bull is even doing this.

User 408: If Max crashes, it’s not just a car that’s broken—it’s his life on the line. Now I’m way more scared for him.

User 409: I thought this was just Red Bull taking a gamble, but it’s so much more dangerous than that. FIA really let this happen??

User 410: Toto NEVER wishes Red Bull well, but even he doesn’t want to see something go wrong here. That tells you how serious this is.

User 411: Sam is basically being trusted with Max’s life right now. This is insane pressure for anyone, even a top engineer like him.

User 412: Red Bull fans are probably on the edge of their seats right now. Even non-Red Bull fans are freaking out about this.

User 413: Max might be calm, but I can’t say the same for everyone watching this unfold.

---

Journalist: "Max, can you comment on the situation with your car and the last-minute fix?"

Max Verstappen: "I don’t know what’s going on with the car right now. Sam is going to explain everything to me soon."

---

Journalist: "Max, you seem pretty calm despite the situation. Do you think it’ll work?"

Max Verstappen: "I know it’ll work. And if something goes wrong, I’ll have Sam in my ears to walk me through it. I trust him."

---

Journalist: "Max, are you aware that what Sam did is untested? Does that concern you at all?"

Max Verstappen: "I don’t care what the other mechanics think. Sam is one of the best for a reason, and he worked all night. I trust him completely."

---

Online Reactions:

@VerstappenNation: Max just said, “I trust Sam completely,” like it's no big deal. This man is ICE COLD under pressure.

@TrustInSam: Max: "I’ll have Sam in my ears to walk me through it." That kind of trust is insane. Sam better not miss a beat today.

@RedBullAddict: Max being so calm about this is... unnerving. How is he not even a little bit freaked out?!

@F1Chaos: Max really just told Christian to deal with it. Man doesn’t care about the risks. He’s all in on Sam!

@VerstappenChill: Max: "I don’t care, I trust Sam." We love a calm king.

@MaxStans: Max literally doesn’t care about the risks. It’s wild how he’s putting everything in Sam’s hands.

--- 

Instagram Q&A with F1 Expert:

Question: "What’s the risk involved with an untested fix?"

Expert: "It’s massive. Max could lose control of the car, which can lead to a crash. As Toto Wolff said, if something goes wrong, it could result in serious injury, or worse. It’s a very dangerous situation."

Question: "Why did the FIA allow this?"

Expert: "FIA had multiple meetings with Red Bull this morning. Christian had to convince them to allow Max to race with the untested fix. Even Christian himself is nervous because while he trusts Sam, there’s no guarantee that the fix will work as expected. This is one of the riskiest decisions Red Bull has made in a long time."

---

Social Media Explodes:

@F1Insider: Hearing that Max was literally in the garage telling Christian to let Sam fix the car... This man has no fear! 😱 #SamKjellberg #F1

@TheGrid: Toto Wolff admitting he hopes Red Bull doesn’t crash just gave me chills. You KNOW it’s bad when he’s worried about MAX’s safety. #RedBullDrama #SamKjellberg

@MaxFan95: Max is so nonchalant about this whole thing, but everyone else is freaking out. Sam, we’re counting on you!

@PaddockTalk: Can we talk about the fact that Red Bull had to convince the FIA to let Max race today? What kind of gamble is this??

@FormulaWorx: Sam Kjellberg is basically being trusted with Max's life today. This is not just racing anymore—it's about safety at the highest level. #F1 #RedBullRacing

[hooked-on-elvis]

"He never used his star power — never. Maybe he should have."

Actress Millie Perkins on working with Elvis Presley

Millie Perkins (87 years old) was born in May 12, 1936 in Passaic, New Jersey. Perkins is now retired from working in film and television besides a modelling career as well. After playing the title role in the 1959 movie "THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK", "WILD IN THE COUNTRY" (1961) was Millie Perkins's second movie. She was just about Elvis' own age when they worked together. The filming for Wild In The Country took place between November 1960 and January 1961. Millie was a 24-year-old actress and Elvis turned 26 by the time the movie principal photography was finished in January 1961. In a 1990 interview she talked a bit about her impressions on Elvis Presley while working with him in the early 60s:

"Elvis turned out to be someone I liked very much. I felt there was a man with a heart and soul there who truly cared about people. Certainly he treated me as if he cared about me; there was a mutual respect between us. But his life was on a level that my life was not on. I was married to Dean Stockwell at the time, and he was — I felt like he was drifting. The guys were on the set every day, you know, wrestling on the floor. I didn’t even know what girls he was dating at the time, because it didn’t interest me, his personal life seemed so silly. And yet I knew he was a victim of it. I felt like Philip Dunne [Wild In The Country's director] fawned all over Elvis. Elvis’ attitude was — I saw Elvis looking around that set and summing up people faster than anyone else could have, and I felt that after a short period of time he was disappointed in Philip Dunne, but he was too polite and well behaved to say anything. He tried very hard to make this film better than his other movies, and you saw him trying and asking questions. And I just believe the sad thing is that [the director] did not have the ability to help Elvis through it. I remember doing this one scene; we were sitting in the truck, and we were supposed to be driving home from a dance or going to a dance, and in the script he was supposed to break into song, turn on the radio and start singing. And to me it was like, "Yuck," I was very young, and I thought, "My sisters are going to tease me, this is so embarrassing and tasteless." You see, I was a snob, too. But — and this was the nicest thing — while we were rehearsing, finally the director walked away, and Elvis looks at me and says, "God, this is so embarrassing. Nobody would ever do this in real life. Why are they making me do this?" So there we were, both of us having to do something and we just wanted to vomit. He never used his star power — never. Maybe he should have. Maybe he did it on some other level, but he sure didn’t do it on the set. I felt like he was younger than me, this very humble person who would make statements about what he believed in. And I would think, "He’s saying that to show me he’s a fine human being." All I know is that there was a person there with a refined heart and soul, and I say refined on any level you want to look at it. When you meet someone like that, you know they’re there, even if they’re sitting there eating fifteen lollipops — that’s beside the point. That’s just what they’re doing at that time, but that’s not the essence of the person. The essence of Elvis was as fine a person as I’ve ever met; he treated me as well as anyone has ever treated me in this business."

— Millie Perkins (Betty Lee Parsons in Wild In The Country) about working with Elvis Presley. This 1990's interview excerpt was taken from the book in which it was quoted, "Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley" by Peter Guralnick (1998).

Millie Perkins as Betty Lee Parsons and Elvis Presley as Glenn Tyler in Wild In The Country (1961)

Millie Perkins as Anne Frank in George Stevens' "The Diary of Anne Frank" (1959).

[umgeorge]

The Pressure of the Podium: Interview With George Russell

While British success stories in Formula 1 tend to centre around Lewis Hamilton-as well they should; he's a legend-George Russell has quietly been making a serious name for himself. At a fresh-faced 26 years old, he’s one of the younger racers on the grid and, when we caught up with him ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix back in the summer, was still revelling in the best season of his career. So, how was he finding the season so far? "Its been... I wouldn't say a rollercoaster, but it's been one that we've been climbing," says Russell. "At the start we were at the bottom of the mountain and been steadily getting closer to the top. There's so much excitement and motivation when you're on a team like this, like we have a visible return on everything we've been putting in, that momentum we've been building up."

We were talking shortly after his second F1 victory in Austria, which was a bit of a hairy one. After spending most of the race in third, still a respectable podium finish, Lando Norris and Max Verstappen ahead of him got a little too close to one another, crashing to take them both out the race. It was a far cry from Russell's incredibly convincing first win. But was there a difference to him? "Each win is incomparable. Every race is a completely different scenario. My first, in Brazil, was where I was ahead every lap. I'd done fantastically the day before and the pressure was there. Near the end I had Lewis on my tail and it was a relief to get across that finish line. In Austria I was happy to be in third, and then it all kicked off ahead and the opportunity arose. Every race is different and you never really know how it's going to go, even when you're behind the wheel." With that kind of uncertainty, it has to be hard to prepare yourself for racing at this level. There's the danger, of course, as that crash in Austria and a multitude of other times shows, but none of these guys would be racing if that put them off. Instead, we were more interested to find out if the pressure ever got to him - and, more importantly, what Russell did to cope with it.

"I'm a little obsessive. I try to make sure I've gone through all the preparation possible with my engineers, taken a look at last year's data, gone over the car, the weather conditions; anything I feel I need to be looking for. Once I've ticked them all off I'm at peace, mentally. I know I'm at my peak physical condition. I know every race is going to be tough. But there are nineteen other drivers and hopefully they'll find it tougher than I will. After that, what will happen, will happen. It's out of your control." With that huge amount of pressure every single week, the intense training regime to stay in that physical condition, and the sheer hectic nature of a globe-trotting racing competition, decompression seems like a necessity. Russell, though, seems to want to take decompressing very literally.

"I love being by the sea so I've started free diving, which is a bit of a random hobby, but when I'm out in the water I'm just so focused on my breathing, on being underwater, that I just disconnect from the world. Once beneath the sea, down there with the fish and coral, you're not thinking about anything else except having enough breath to get back to the top!" Russell isn't the only British racing legend around. We've had a long, illustrious line of champions of which Hamilton is only the latest and Russell could potentially be next. For Russell, there's something in the inspiration of champions of old, and having seven of the ten Formula 1 teams based in the UK helps. But for him, the key to British racing success is British racing's green grass roots.

"I remember racing with Lando and Alex, and alongside other racers who didn't make it to Formula 1 but have made professional racing careers. There's definitely something about the grass roots level here that works. But it needs to stay at that level. This isn't the most economical sport in the world, so we need to make sure that we can give kids that don't have the opportunity, otherwise, the funding they need to get behind the wheel and try go-karting." That said, go-karting is never going to be cheap for most would-be podium contenders, and whether it's that or sheer pace, it's an opportunity sadly few kids have. E-sports, on the other hand, is different. "Simulators have advanced so much now. The Formula 1 game is fantastic and there should be ways we can identify talent sooner, instead of just having financial backing to push you through the ranks."

Whether coming from the classic karting angle or from killing it online with photorealistic driving games, kids are going to need to have to contend with one of the most intensely competitive sports in the world - if not the most. According to Russell, though, they shouldn't be afraid of making mistakes; quite the opposite. "The one piece of advice that I try to embrace, myself, is: don’t be afraid to fail. The times I've failed have been the times I've progressed the most, the times I've really pushed my limits. It doesn't matter what you do; failure is necessary. It's how we grow, how we learn about ourselves. There's so much pressure not to let people down, especially with younger people, but you don't want to go through life never making a mistake or knowing where your ceiling is."

And any advice for those of us not thinking of a career in racing? Even shaving a few seconds off a track day would help for a few more bragging rights. "No matter what you're driving, stay relaxed. I've driven with people that have never been on a track before. They tense up, hunch over, and it makes everything erratic. Smooth is fast - smooth with the steering, throttle, and brake. It's not necessarily how we drive in Formula 1, but if you want to speed up on a track day, stay relaxed." Obviously, it’s not lost on Russell just how many kids and F1 fans alike look up to him as a sportsman. He's young, he's hungry, and his experience is starting to pay off. But for Russell, there are other sportspeople in other sports, and one in his own who I'm sure you can guess, that he looks up to.

"I have a huge amount of respect for Ronaldo. He's without a doubt the leader in his field. The same with Djokovic - they're fighters that push their physical performance. Then there's Lewis, obviously. He puts his platform to great use and I admire him for that as much as his wins and what he's doing off the track. I hope to be one of those leaders in years to come." Now he may well get a chance as Lewis will, in 2025, be moving from Mercedes, as Russell's teammate, over to Ferrari. It's a bold move, but on the other hand it means that Russell will soon be able to race his former teammate as an actual rival. Will that be weird? "He'll be wearing a different suit, but I'll still recognise him! We're at different stages in our career, but we have massive respect for one another. For now, I'll see him on the track."

[letsgetrowdy43]

Evangeline and Nico thoughts—

Au Masterlist!!

Nico and Angie have a very Golden retriever black cat type of dynamic. He's bubbly and loving, and she's more reserved and feels the need to prove herself to people in every aspect of her life.

Nico's unwavering support and affection served as a comforting presence for Angie during her first year, while her determination and quiet strength took over he was there every step of the way to create healthy goals and boundaries for herself. Together, they formed a unique combination—a duo whose contrasting qualities complement each other.

Nico falls first, but Angie falls harder in every way. He knew from the second he met her that he was in love, whether platonic or not, Nico knew that Angie would forever be a big part of his life. Whereas Angie took a lot of warming up to him, it started slow, but after being on the receiving end of his kindness she knew she was a goner for him.

Angie has a really hard time letting him in on such a personal level though, there's a big difference between the trust she gives a teammate and the trust she gives a partner and/or best friend. Luke and Jack hint at it often, Angie is a completely different person to them off ce than she is in the locker room, it's not hard to see that they view her as so much more than "one of the boys" and that's because they saw everything she put into getting to where she is today. Other people on the team never witnessed the tears and the pain that she went through in comparison to them.

It kinda hurts Nico a bit to be out of the loop of her life, but one day she just sits him down and explains it all, from the sexist interviews to the "Welcome to the NHL" video where they show her breakdown, she finally shows him just why she's constantly trying to show people that she deserves it just as much as all of the boys in the team.

Their romance is a whole other story; it was an unspoken rule of hers to not fall in love while making a name for herself in the league.

He's everyone's everything, he just has that quality that forces everyone to fall in love with him. It was hard to try and convince herself not to give in, especially since he's a teammate and the captain, and that lasts for a little over a year before she kisses him. which immediately fills her with regret.

He's smitten though, he wants Angie, he knows he wants her, and she runs away after kissing him he is immediately panicked and fearful that he just fucked everything up between them.

The second kiss is perfect though, his birthday, she gets him a gift, and he's so overwhelmed with emotions that he just kisses her right on the mouth. except this time there is no running, just her hands in his hair, a soft moan leaving her lips, and then next thing you know she is in his bed

Currently, they are playing a little game called "How long can this remain a hookup before one of us talks about labels," and to be honest neither of them knows where they could even go with this relationship knowing that it would be a frowned upon thing for the league and the organization.

I really wanna grow this au and talk about them more!! So if you have any requests or thoughts for these two please don’t be shy and leave them in my inbox!!

[hello-nichya-here]

Hi. What do you think about Lisa and Michael's marriage? I mean... they had a complex relationship. Do you think he made mistakes in some of his actions? Do you think both were immature?

The best way to describe Michael Jackson is "Surprisingly well-adjusted for someone who was abused his entire life" and the best way to describe Lisa is "Surprisingly well-adjusted for someone who was literally being exploited in a cult."

I love Michael with all my heart, but he would disappear for weeks after fights with his wife, and told her, to her face, that if she didn't give him children, he was gonna get someone else (who was supposedly just a friend) pregnant, and then he did and went on to marry her. "Made mistakes" is quite the understatement. This is on the level of "Do you WANT to make this woman hate you?"

Not to mention the simple fact that being married to someone who has an addiction is quite the emotional turmoil - especially when they're addicted to the same thing that killed one of your parents and full on told you they feared they'd die the same way. It really isn't hard to understand why Lisa Marie asked for a divorce, and then also gave up on the "affair" they had during his second marriage (well, """"marriage"""" if we're going to be honest here).

But that's not to say Lisa was perfect. She wasn't. She full on said "He had a sad childhood, but who didn't?" to kind of dismiss the whole Peter Pan thing he had of compensating for the time of his life - which is an INSANE thing to say. There's "My childhood wasn't that fun" and there's being a survivor of abuse.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying Lisa was some heartless monster (if anything, to me that sounds more like her being very much in denial about how traumatic her own childhood was and not liking that Michael was indirectly/accidentally reminding her "No, what happened to you wasn't normal, you need help too") but obviously it'd hurt to open up about something like that and have your own wife act like you're being dramatic. Dude was the definition of "Just 'cause you're paranoid, doesn't mean they're not out to get you" after all, of course he would take that to heart.

Lisa also full on admited that, looking back, she had not truly appreciated how much Michael had genuinely tried to make things work for a long time. That it truly had been a HUGE step in the right direction for someone as traumatized him to open up to her the way he did, to share his life with someone, to let everyone see him in love. She full on said that it took him dying for her to finally understand that he loved her.

I think Lisa also set herself up for disappointment to some extent.

She married the man that called himself Peter Pan and lived in Neverland, then was suprised that he was goofing off during interviews instead of trying to act more "adult" to prove their marriage was real. She didn't want her marriage to be turned into a spectacle, yet her husband was literally Michael Jackson (and he had just been accused of abusing little boys, OF COURSE he'd be reminding everyone that he was very much a straight man). She literally said in an interview that she thought she could save him - she looked at that trainwreck of a life that left this man badly damaged, emotionally stunted, paranoid and depressed, then went "I can fix him!" when she was equally messed up. Just terrible idea after terrible idea.

They both went through A LOT of tragedy from a very young age, and it messed them up. On good days, that made them a great match because they could relate to, and find comfort in, each other. But on the bad days? It was a VERY toxic relationship - and not because one or both of them were terrible people, but because, to put it bluntly, it's hard to have a normal, healthy relationship when you never experienced it, or even seen it, your whole life. Of course they didn't know how to make it work.

Add in the fact that a lot of people, including Lisa's mother, seemed to be actively rooting for them to fail, and openly questioning if their marriage was even real, and it becomes a truly unbearable situation. Lisa gets a lot of shit from some MJ fans for being the one who ended things (twice), but in all honesty, sooner or later Michael would have said "enough is enough" too.

And it really is a shame, because considering how genuinely happy they seemed through a lot of their marriage, how they showed support to each other through hard times after spliting up, how they couldn't keep their hands off each other for five freaking years after their divorce, how Michael's nephew was defending Lisa from slanders in public because he had only ever heard his uncle say good things about her, and how much Lisa was grieving after Michael's death, it's clear that they loved each other A LOT.

[aeolianblues]

I’m just going to have to accept my place at some point— accept that the aural is always going to be an inherently less engaging medium to catch people’s attention. Going to have to accept someday that there’s nothing like putting a film out there, no matter what the budget; a low-budget shoddily made visual thing, a film, a TV show, a documentary; what have you, will probably always leave audio an inferior and less catchy medium. You can speak your heart out, you can make as many radio documentaries. At the end of the day what is going to catch people’s attention is the Kneecap (the film)s and the Complete Unknowns of this world. Radio docs can’t ever hope to touch those dizzying heights, nor tbh do books and written stuff. All this personally pertains to music, and I’ve been thinking about it as a music journalist myself.

No one reads interviews anymore. It’s a lost art. People are subscribing to magazines (print or digital) as a purely preservationist move: they want this form of media and journalism to survive. Also it’s skimmable I suppose. It’s not often a particularly inspiring medium to convey ideas about music. Hey, though the famous saying goes, writing about music is like dancing about architecture (this is an actual and widely quoted saying, actually). Fine. Accepted. What about music through audio, does that not seem appropriate a medium?

Nope. Not shareable. Not relatable. I’ve spent years trying, god knows I’ve talked to some really interesting people even at my infantile levels of being a journalist, but audio is so opaque. You can’t ‘search’ it, you can’t share a snappy visual that doesn’t require people to actually listen for a full minute—60 seconds of your time! Even as audio is the medium to which music belongs, musicians simply cannot belong to it. You can’t tell who’s who, you don’t know what the musicians look like, a visual (and often important) element of how musicians present is lost.

It’s got to be films then, hasn’t it? Kneecap’s compelling story could never reach as many people on the many, many interviews they’d done recounting the very same over the last 6 years at least. They have been around for a while. Since 2017, in fact. But it was the film, the visuals accompanying it, that actually brought it to a wider audience and made Kneecap household names. A Complete Unknown too, like I’d mentioned. Reintroducing Dylan to a generation, reconnecting others with their love for the man and his life.

And, I guess, I am on tumblr right now after all, so it’d be amiss not to mention. The humble GIF. Ironically, the GIFs, muted, looping animated frames, are what can propel a lot of musicians to website-wide stardom sometimes. What a selling point GIFs have been, of so many media, on this website. (I think the visual being so strong is also why I see, for example, way more people willing to gif out, idolise and follow the fictional band in We Are Lady Parts than actually listen to bands like The Muslims or Habibi, draw fanart of Hobie Brown from the animated Spiderman film than listen to Crystal Axis. Who, FYI, put out one the best grungy rock tracks I’ve heard this year.

Why people will follow a rebellious-smirking, leather jacket-wearing fictional character than a real-life punk band. If I were having a cynical day (and I try so hard not to, it’s self-defeating! It does nothing to help anything I’m doing!) then I’d say this website cares more about fictional characters they can dream about than wanting to give a shit about real people making art in the present— or real people in general. But I try not to. I acknowledge that visuals are powerful, and embellished storylines can be more compelling than real life.)

But that brings me to my lament: many, many real people have incredible stories to be told. Someone once said to me something like, all musicians have something a little wrong with them, because the desire to stand up on a platform and tell stories and open yourself up to emotional vulnerability, to visibility, to ridicule, takes a certain kind of illness and incredible courage. People that get up on stage DO have a story to tell. That’s why they’re out there singing on their own words. In their voices. About the lives they live and those around them do.

But they’ll never be told. Filming is still high budget. I could script out a band’s life and write it in a book (you know I could. Some of you already know I’m capable of dragging things on with every minute detail). I could narrate and produce an audio documentary about it. But it’ll never be as powerful as what can be done with a film crew. The reach of visuals is beyond what anything else can convey.

So many incredible stories will be lost. It’s happened before, of course. When Sam Sutherland wrote his book Perfect Youth, about the history of the first wave of punk rock in Canada in the late 1970s, he was the first to attempt a comprehensive history of Canadian punk. This was in 2012. Shocking, right! The UK and US scenes were way better documented: films about the Sex Pistols and the Clash ensured the London scene was enshrined in legend forever. The punks of Manchester were documented (in no small part thanks to the fact that some of the biggest stars of indie, post punk and New Romantic music of the 80s were Manchester youth punks in the 70s). The NYC scene is extremely well documented, where would I begin. But in Canada, many of its original troublemakers were dead, had moved on, had never recorded their music and were now.thousands of kilometres across the country, and the venues were long shut, repurposed or bulldozed. Montreal’s ‘first punk band’, the 222s, only have a few surviving recordings out there because a presenter on a campus radio station in Montreal they has one done a session for, had found he never threw their tape away. The only surviving recordings. Many others weren’t that lucky, even when (similar to Manchester), Montreal punk in the 70s provided a playground for some of the best-loved indie and pop rock bands of the 80s, like the Doughboys and Men Without Hats. Canadian punks in the 70s hadn’t had the awareness of legacy, nor the sort of money it’d take to record vinyl, much less have a camera running. Nothing was saved.

It’s a similar thing with bands today, even though equipment and editing software is relatively cheaper. Many people feel filming bands is a bit of sunken effort. We host one of my country’s biggest film festivals, and I never see student filmmakers taking part in the music video programmes. These are fully funded. Sure, local bands will do the portrait cellphone Instagram reel recording, but barring a single viral video that does not guarantee people listening to your music, it’s not quite the same as properly shot camera footage.

(Often with viral reels, it seems people blow up for things that are at best adjacent to their music. A video shitting on the role of the bassist in the band. A drummer complaining about how long everyone else takes to set up their pedalboard. Singer being a diva. ‘Guess what instrument this member plays’. It doesn’t really tell you the story behind a band, nor guarantees they’ll listen to your tunes. One too many a viral band has had scores of angry ‘fans’ yelling at them that they’ve posted their latest single ‘too many times.’ Hello?? Entitlement much?)

I don’t know what the solution is, to be quite honest. We’ve done filmed radio sessions, and while in theory you’d think people like those more than just us saying ‘hey this is on radio (audio) tomorrow morning!’, in reality people don’t care quite as much. They leave a like on our reels and move on, 10 people will actually follow on to the YouTube, and that’s often band members their proud dads (I’ve been followed by so many proud dads, I’ve awwed). So people leave. It’s a thankless job. Unless you’re KEXP it’s not really rewarding either. And I’ve kept it running for two years, but I’m not immune to burnout, or what you could call ‘yelling in the void’ fatigue. I feel stupid doing this stuff, sometimes. I’ll never tell anyone because it’s my job to keep the morale up, but it’s rewardless and sometimes tiring. Not that you expect anything out of it.

Maybe better video editing software, or better graphics processing will make this task easier. In the meanwhile, I guess don’t lose heart? I’ve written this out textually, and that means if anyone at all has read this far, then text isn’t dead yet. Takeaways? Don’t succumb to ‘my generation is shit, no one’s interesting anymore.’ They are. It’s just really hard to reach you through the algorithm. So I say, pay attention locally. There’s nothing like going to a great local show for $7 and seeing quality hidden gems. You can talk to them after the show even! It feels like cheating to have access to it. Someone will eventually do it. In the meanwhile, keep heart. And big up, Rich Pepiatt.

[nightcourtreader]

Day by day I’m solidified in my belief that Azriel’s & Gwyn’s book is next rather than it being Elain and Lucien’s. I just think in my opinion it makes more sense that elucien will be last. Though I could still be wrong. 🤷🏽‍♀️ I would like to to be known this is long and everything stated are MY opinions.

SJM said it’s obvious who the next book is about after the readers read acosf. Azriel was a prominent figure in acosf. Way more than Elain was and that was shocking to me. Based off how nesta & Elain’s relationship was in the earlier books.

Yes Elain did get character development a little bit in acosf but she still wasn’t a prominent figure, she was once again pushed to the background. And I get that because it was nesta’s story but we still got so much more of feysand, Azriel, emrie, Gwyn, and even eris over Elain.

In a recent interview, I think it was the one last year. A girl asked SJM about having Elain and Azriel’s book being next, I forgot the form of the question. But I just remember SJM saying that “we will get Elain in some form.” That doesn’t sound like the next MC to me. And she didn’t even mention nothing about Azriel at all. SJM is known not to say too much about her books and spoil them. The way she was answering questions in this recent interview in September, she doesn’t like to spoil anything. So for her to say you will get Elain in some form and not say you will get Elain AND Azriel in some form and she just didn’t mention Azriel at all makes me just believe that it’s Azriel that’s going to be next and they’re def not getting a book together.

Ive seen so many people say “why would SJM give Azriel a book over Elain. She wouldn’t do that.” But how would we know that? Chaol got a book in the middle of the TOG series over everyone other characters, why can’t Azriel? It’s already a proven fact that the series is not just about the Archeon sisters since SJM has 2 more books planned about a couple coming together and there’s only 1 Archeon sister left. No matter how hard people try to argue with that fact. She mentioned how Azriel’s story is something she’s excited about writing and not just about his bed habits. So why is it far fetched he will get a book next? I also like the idea of having the series start with an Archeon sister and ending with one.

Then the bonus chapters. Azriel got one. He’s also a part of a second one for hofas. I saw an argument that well Cassian got a bonus chapter for acomaf and he didn’t get a book until acosf (or part of one). I think SJM did it like that because she wasn’t done with feysand’s story. It wouldn’t make sense to give Cassian/nesta a book when she wasn’t done writing feysand’s story in my opinion. Plus the first 3 books with Feyre pov was already planned before having a sisters book spin off.

I also think acofas was a perfect book to connect the series to Cassian’s pov & nesta’s pov to get the readers away from feysand’s pov. And her bonus chapter for Azriel is also a good example of that too. She wouldn’t put so much emphasis on Azriel’s bonus chapter for no reason in her interviews. Now that feysand’s & nessians story has been told, it makes more sense to have the next mc have a bonus chapter so we can get inside of the next MC’s head like we did with Cassian & nesta.

And I do get the fact that there are so many plot points that are unresolved in acowar, especially with koschei, but to me koschei is a last book level threat like how Maeve and erawan were in TOG. The two caused problems throughout the series but they weren’t defeated until the very last book of the series. That’s a pattern of SJM. In acowar (feysand’s last full novel) hybern was defeated. I already mentioned TOG. In Crescent city 3, I think she’ll have Bryce and Hunt defeat the asteri and hofas is the last book for Bryce & hunt’s story. To me that makes sense plot wise. Elain and Lucien are the only ones connected to koschei from the main characters that’s left.

Plus koschei was using braillyn to do his dirty work for him because he can’t leave his lake. I’m pretty sure he has tricks up his sleeve because I secretly think he and Merrill are working together since he whispers on the wind and she can listen to whispers on the wind (and that connects her to Gwyn. Especially since Merrill is suppose to be clotho’s right hand & Clotho appeared at the end of Azriel bonus chapter) But koschei’s back to square 1. I don’t think he poses a great risk at the moment. He needs to regroup and do another plan.

I know everybody wants the spring court to be back up and running and it needs to be back up and running before the next major war happens. SJM has brought it up too much for it not to happen and for it not to be important. But to me spring isn’t really the pressing matter, the autumn court is because of Beron trying to align with koschei like an idiot.

After the night court, the autumn court was the second most talked about court in acosf, then spring was the third. I understand that we have plots from acowar but we also can’t forget to acknowledge the plots that happen in acosf. We also got to see more of eris. I know Lucien has ties to the autumn court but he literally doesn’t fuck with anyone in the autumn court besides his mom and I don’t think he even sees her at all. Lucien calls eris a snake so Lucien isn’t on good terms with them so I really don’t connect him to autumn as much.

And until Beron is out the door, which I’m hoping that happens next book and we get eris as high lord, the autumn court is not going to be in good hands. And I really think Gwyn has autumn court ties to explore 👀. I’m a firm believer she has no spring court ties what so ever and she’s just connected to autumn.

And SJM tends to have her characters hit rock bottom in the acotar series or like them having an emotional conflict. When nesta had her book, since she was the prominent figure in acosf, it’s obvious that she hit rock bottom before acosf came out. She isolated herself. She drunk all the time and slept with men to keep her powers at bay. I don’t think we’ve really seen Elain hit rock bottom yet or have a prominent emotional conflict. Like it’s obvious Elain is suffering in silence just like her sister were, Im 100% certain Elain isn’t 100% happy, but to me shes a lot more chipper than her sisters were at the start of her journey from what we’ve seen.

At the end of acowar she was like happy and was like the world is going to need more gardens and she was looking bright for the future, and I didn’t expect that since what all happen in acowar. She’s snapping back at her sisters in acosf. Trying to advocate for herself as well. With Feyre we see in the beginning of acomaf she was depressed, not eating well, not really regulating her emotions well. We see how nesta was, I know Elain already went through that phase in acowar. But I’m just not 100% convinced that Elain is ready for her own journey just yet.

Now we see with Azriel, he’s just all over the place. To me he’s definitely having emotional conflict when it comes to the mating bond. Trying to ignore the whole thing about Mor knowing that needs to be addressed. Questioning if the cauldron got it wrong. The whole thing with Elain. Him wanting a mating bond. To me Azriel has hit rock bottom emotionally as well. A little different from both nesta and Feyre but to me all the same. Especially seeing now how his bothers has a known mating bond besides him. Romantically, since acotar is more romantically driven than plot driven it makes sense for him to be next. Especially with the plot with the Illyrians, which I think has been a long time coming as well.

Then just imagine Elain seeing that? Everybody else with their mating bonds & happy. How would that make her feel, I think it would make her hit rock botton and have that emotional conflict especially with the whole choice thing and her being stubborn, but we still don’t know because we haven’t gotten her pov but guess whose pov we do have and know who’s struggling? Azriel.

And no I don’t get the argument that Elain hasn’t gotten a bonus chapter because her visions will spoil it. Doesn’t make sense to me because SJM can write it without Elain having visions in the middle of it but still get her insight. Elain also said she needed time to ge reacquainted with her powers in acosf, so it’s not 100% certain she’s still getting visions anyway. No one can confirm or deny because we haven’t seen Elain really and no one has been around her enough to notice since everyone’s focus was on feysand & nessian.

I personally don’t think there’s a valid excuse as to why SJM didn’t give Elain a bonus chapter over Azriel. If people would question why would SJM give Azriel a book over Elain we need to question why she gave him a bonus chapter over Elain.

[apollo-fizz]

Just imagining when lower level Zoraxis agents get bored they band together and do stupid shit. Like they have a group chat and everything.

Their youtube channel goes up and the first video is “ZORAXIS VS AGENCY FISTFIGHT IN MCDONALDS PARKING LOT AT 3AM NOT CLICKBAIT !!!!” and it’s just two HR employees, sleep deprived and running on pure caffeine from opposite companies actually fistfightimg but badly.

The next few videos consist of a planning employee “accidentally” leaking bank info of the fabricator, no one knows how they got it in the first place, an agency employee somehow setting fire to water (( phoenix could be seen in the background taking notes )), someone somehow getting the handler to do an interview and someone rickrolling the entire zoraxis skyscraper.

Then a tumblr account, incorrect quotes but the quotes are real and no one figures it out. People nearly die over this. (( fic coming soon about this !! ))

Out of nowhere, fanart floods in and suddenly the small group is so popular it’s hard to contain. People like Solaris and Phoenix join in on occasion but they try to keep it as vague as possible. Their fans are still convinced this is all just one big set.

One time, Zor joins in on their shenanigans, even though it’s invite only. Zor is very good at pretending to be low level. It’s not all social media, they also just go out for food and to make fun of their bosses. Zor joined them on two meet-ups, a food meet-up and a road trip to a random field where they were considering using the scientists in the group’s knowledge to summon a demon. they end up summoning a zoraxis scientist who everyone was pretty sure was a demon and was glad to have very slight confirmation, even though they were insisting their multiple eyes was just from a lab mishap.

Thank you for coming to todays second TED talk, ‘cept this one is happy and i loved it.

[theradicalscrivener]

I'm gonna get new ears installed.

It's getting close to 5 am and I can't sleep yet. Part of it is because I just finished work, but part of it is because I'm... Excited? ... Anxious? I'm both happy and sad and a little hopeful but also very fearful.

So, for those not in the know. I'm deaf and have been my whole life. It's not one of those things like I can't hear anything. But a lot of frequencies and sound ranges just don't work well for me. I tried wearing heading aids when I was a kid, but they made things worse. All they did was amplify everything. That made it harder to hear the pieces I had to struggle to hear since it was getting further buried under even more background noise.

For example, if you've ever been to a movie where the sound mixing was off. The dialogue is incomprehensible because the ambient noise is so frickin loud. If you try to turn the volume up, all you hear is more jets and explosions.

Anyway, I've had some issues in class where some professors are very hard to understand but the college wouldn't help me until I had a current diagnosis from an audiologist saying that yeah. I really am just that deaf. In the process of seeing the audiologist though, she was telling me that they have new stuff that can work for people like me. Unlike old hearing aids that amplify all sound, these things have like adaptive sound controls and can amplify specific frequencies on the fly. So in theory it will bring my hearing to similar levels as other people's.

The thing costs $10k... I have decent insurance which drops it down to $6k but it's still a massive expense. I'm going to do it though.

I'm both excited and anxious. If the audiologist is to be believed, I spend a lot of my energy on listening to people speak, then replay it back in my head and soft through the possible similar sounding words and recreate the sentences on my head.

I've always said I do this. I jokingly refer to it as "buffering" because I'm running on a few second delay in conversation. Like imagine those interviews on the news where there's this awkward pause of four to five seconds where the signal gets sent across the world from the asker to the answerer before the other person can respond to it. The doc says this is probably the source of a lot of my frequent migraines and exhaustion and is exacerbating my tinnitus. Basically I'm in like hyper vigilant mode 24/7 constantly trying to pick out the faintest sounds so I can be functional in normal life leading to constant mental fatigue.

Anyway. I don't know how long it will take to actually get the device, and once I get it, the doc said it'll take a while to get adjusted. They're not just going to throw me into the deep end and let me figure it out. The plan is to slowly increase the deadened frequencies until they balance out with the others.

I don't know what this will actually do for me. I've never been able to hear normally so I don't know what it will feel like. I don't know if I will ever get to a normal hearing level. I wonder if this will make it easier out in public. I get overwhelmed in busy places since there are so many sounds which makes it impossible to hear the things I want.

I'm worried that I'll spend all this money and it won't improve anything.

I'm worried that I will get these and it will be everything I wanted.

How long has this tech existed? Could I have had this years ago? How much have I missed by not being able to understand people talking to me.

If I get this will it make a noticable difference in the migraines? In the chronic fatigue? I don't know. I want to be optimistic, but it's hard to even know what to expect.

Anyway. If you want a bit of a glimpse into what it's like being me, give this a listen

[umlewis]

lewis hamilton is interviewed after fp2, monaco - may 24, 2024 (transcript under the cut)

Interviewer: "Lewis, you looked great out there today, in both sessions. The car looked good, it looked like you could push straight away. Is that a fair reflection of how you felt out there?" Lewis: "It's been a good day. Definitely been, well, the best day we've had on track. I think the car was feeling really positive, really enjoying driving it. The track is amazing, and the grip was feeling quite good. I think we still have some challenges with the balance, but it was looking strong." Interviewer: "Were you impressed at just how quickly it seemed like you were able to get the confidence out there to feel the most out of the car? 'Cause it looked like, from very early on, you looked comfortable. You weren't, like, pushing it too hard, getting in the barriers…" Lewis: "Yeah. I was kind of… I do that in Monaco." Interviewer: [laughs] "Okay." Lewis: [laughs] "So I wasn't surprised. But what was a surprise was the grip level and how the car was reacting here. Definitely a more enjoyable ride than we've had here the previous last two years, particularly, and feeling… I think the second session… I don't know whether we improved or not. Definitely at the long runs we still have a lot of work to do overnight to try and make sure that [laughs] we can make it to the end of the race." Interviewer: "From a qualifying perspective and a fuel perspective it's pretty positive…" Lewis: "Yeah, yeah. Yeah, absolutely. And so just can't lose that, and we just need to improve in the long run pace and the graining. Yeah."

[claire--delune]

I'm a creator for the Rhythm Doctor Sight Reading Tournament 3 (RDSRT3), and I made the level "For The Goat" by one of our wonderful in house musicians, 3xp0 (song link)

I'm very proud of it, and I'm excited to share it with you all.

You can find this level, and many other great levels at rhythm cafe and the Rhythm Doctor Lounge discord, and future RDSRT3 streams (and VODs) on the Rhythm Doctor Lounge youtube channel.

recording by Random Guy JCI (twitter)

Super rambley levelmaker commentary and other wacky stuff below the cut

So this was originally going to be a story driven level. I some dialogue planned but i didn't like how it sounded and no one else was particularly interested in helping me write

The general story was as following: Cole would be telling Hailey (who's doing an interview for school) about a friend of his that he met on an old music production forum he frequented when he was younger. They were this niche internet microcelebrity called ballfart2001. They became friends, and generally just hung out and whatnot. At some point though, Cole would do some shit that pissed ballfart off, and they stopped talking to each other. At the end, there was originally going to be rank text, being a message that ballfart sent to Cole before the messageboard went down. If you did well, it would be the two exchanging discords so they could keep in contact, and if you did poorly, it would be ballfart telling Cole off, or even blocking him.

Now for what's actually in the level, starting with ballfart themself.

I worked hard ballfart's custom character (raw sprites below). Their neutral and missed expression are based on (new) Cole's neutral and barely sprites. I was trying to give the implication that these mannerisms of ballfart rubbed off on him (though i realize it may have been a bit subtle). I designed their outfit to be simple, but "cool" (but also like. a bit slobbish (they're wearing sweatpants and a half tucked shirt for fucks sake))

Now the vfx part.

Depending on how familiar you may be with rd, you may be familiar with the kaleidoscope from 2-2, 2-2n, and 2-x. You may also have noticed that I have something similar in the level, but it's a different color, a different amount of divisions, etcetera. These are done through custom methods, an advanced technique which allows you to do a lot of really cool stuff. Most of the custom methods I used for this (kaleidoscope roll, offset, repeat, symmetry, and color iirc) were released relatively recently (aside from the colors, that method has existed for ages). IN FACT, this level was created BEFORE those custom methods were released, I added kaleidoscope specifically so I could use them (because they're awesome)

Anyways the rest of the vfx yeah fuck. The custom hitstrip was added because I thought it looked cool. ditto... most of it really.

Now, for the gameplay. Act 5 had recently released, this song was unveiled to the rdsrt levelmakers as a priority song, and while listening to it, I noticed that sometimes there would be a second snare, but earlier then the regular snare. And I thought "oh dope kinda like subdivision beats. but like reverse". (Normal subdivision beats require you to hit after the snare). That's where the whole gimmick came from, and the rest of the charting sorta stemmed from trying to compliment that and fit the song as best as possible.

FINALLY, we can get to the notorious ballfart incident.

So for clarity, since I removed the dialogue, no one would normally know that that character is named "ballfart" unless they heard it from me or went inside the level folder.

HOWEVER.

I did something really stupid.

I left the placeholder thumbnail in.

[incarnadinedreams]

I frequently see people saying that the list of traits Jiang Cheng gave to the matchmaker are "impossible standards", ridiculous, unreasonable, outlandish, absurd, nobody could ever possibly meet them, etc.

Anyway the translation that's up on the wiki is:

His requirements in his partner are: naturally beautiful, graceful and obedient, hard-working and thrifty, coming from a respected family, cultivation level not too high, personality not too strong, not too talkative, voice not too loud and must treat Jin Ling nicely.

First off, the list comes from a random trivia answer MXTX gave in an interview, not the novel canon. So whether you even consider it canon at all is up for grabs to begin with. Though I think there was a scene in CQL with a similar list so it would be canon there, minus the Jin Ling point (due to the point in the story the scene was set)? (So I believe the matchmaker blacklisting point still wouldn't be CQL canon though, just the list?)

But if you do take it all as a Super Serious Canon Thing, well... to be honest I just don't think that list is at all unusual, given the setting? I believe many of the points in the list are just traits considered generally good for ladies of the time period (intentionally vague as that time period may be). (I am absolutely not an expert though so please correct me if I'm wrong about that.)

To me it seems that it's not that they're unusually high or unattainable standards, they're just so generic that they're sort of unhelpful. That he has like no idea what he wants at all outside what he's supposed to want.

The only points that actually seem to have any specificity are things like cultivation level not too high. Which some people could interpret negatively, and fair enough. But personally to me that seemed more like a flashing neon sign of 'please someone not like my mother', given her strength in cultivation was one of her defining traits (and something that he may have felt led to her disappointment in him). Even though Jiang Cheng may carry forward some of her traits himself (for better and for worse; this is not a YZY hate zone but there's... a lot there), he does seem to have at least given some thought to choosing a partner to counter some of the pain points of his own childhood and aim for something different (and we see him trying to do that himself in specific ways as well, like his staunch support of Jin Ling when he was crying after the Second Siege, even if he doesn't always fully succeed).

And, of course, 'must treat Jin Ling nicely'. Which seems obvious and not like a big deal at first, but I think actually could reasonably be a big sticking point in a potential marriage. My understanding is that he was wildly more involved in Jin Ling's life than a maternal uncle would normally be. Including this as a specific requirement seems to send a particular type of statement, as if it was important to him that any potential match would not take offense to him treating an orphaned child that wasn't his with a lot of attention and gifts and favor... hmmm, how could he have possibly decided that could be a problem in a marriage...?

(Obviously, the scenario would be very different than his parents' - none of the salacious rumors and the humiliation that came with them that really drove a deeper wedge between YZY and JFM - but he was obviously going to be doing a lot more for Jin Ling than an average uncle so it makes sense to have that be a specific point upfront.)

I'm ultimately in the 'it was MXTX making a joke and not meant to be taken nearly this seriously' with a side of 'the clan leaders of this generation aren't in a hurry to get married because MXTX just didn't feel like writing their wives in and also it was funny' camp so I think there's a limit to how much insight can be gleaned from this, you know? It is fun to play with it in-universe and explore the implications on the society and political system going forward in the decades post-canon, but I do try to keep myself from taking it too seriously when it's clearly not a well-thought-out plot point or anything, just a fun offhand jokey trivia bit.

But I like the vibes of it all well enough to accept it as 'semi-canon' or 'canon enough' for myself anyway because I think the 'must treat Jin Ling nicely' point is cute and the rest is just standard for the setting and the blacklisted by matchmakers part is funny, and I'm much more willing to subsume random bits from interviews into my brain's blorbo blob if it's something funny.