#and expected to perform to insanely high standards

[softbutchvodkasoup]

I could have saved Gia Carangi (delusional) (lying)

[tvgirlie24]

Not Enough pt.1

You are a daughter of a professional footballer and you end following in your father's footsteps. Your new captain, Alexia, doesn't think that you deserve to be a part of Barça.

angst

Pursuing football as a career as a daughter of a very famous professional footballer was both the hardest and the easiest thing you have ever done. It opened up an insane amount of doors for you and made it easy for people to notice you. Top clubs knew who you were because they knew your father, but in exchange for that you did have to work twice as hard to prove that you were worth being where you were. And even then most people doubted you. Most of the time it felt like all the energy you saved up when you were young because people knew who you were, was now being wasted on having to prove to everyone that everything that you have ever achieved was well deserved and not just given to you because of your connections and your last name.

But you were used to it at this point. To all the hate, all the comments and all the people that were quick to criticize you the second you made even the smallest mistake and completely disregard any good performance you had because according to everyone you did not deserve any praise as everything was always handed to you on a silver plate. You heard all sorts of stuff about yourself, rarely anything good was ever said about you, but you just ignored it, you handle all the hate that was directed at you with your head held high. You were well aware of the fact that the road to becoming a successful footballer was much easier for you than for anyone else but nothing is ever black and white. 

You were always a hardworking person and knew that no one's opinion mattered except your own, your coaches and your captains. And while everyone was always kind of sceptical when it came to you whenever you transferred to a new club, in the end, the team and coaching staff always warmed up to you and noticed how hard you worked. You held yourself to an impossibly high standard, and always strived for perfection. This was easy to notice and made your transitions to new clubs easier every time. 

That's how it always worked. You knew the hardships that your last name brought into your life and you learned how to deal with it. You just had to do your best and show everyone that you were worth being where you were. And in the end it always worked. Even if you were slowly destroying yourself, even if you overworked yourself so much that you made yourself sick. You didn't care. All you wanted to do was play football. You couldn't change your public image but you always managed to show everyone that mattered that your last name didn't define you as a person or your career.

All of that changed the moment Barcelona decided to sign you. While the coaching staff and the team was a little warier of you and a bit harsher than you were used to, it all settled down after a couple of weeks, quickly becoming a well liked person within the squad. 

That wasn't the case with your captain though. Alexia Putellas. The football superstar herself. She watched you like a hawk, constantly breathing down your neck, and making it known that no matter what you did she never considered it enough. It made sense really, she was also an incredibly hardworking person, she expected perfection from herself as well as her teammates. So even if every single training with her left you so exhausted that you thought your legs were going to give out from underneath you, you pushed through. Alexia was someone you always deeply admired and you wanted to prove yourself to her. You wanted her to like you but that didn't seem to be the case. She terrified you, with her stern look, with her constant shouts to do better. No one criticized you more than Alexia. To be fair, she was like that with everyone, but no one could miss that her scolding became harsher whenever it was directed at you. 

For a while you thought that you were just overthinking the whole situation. That maybe Alexia was just trying to give you a push to make you better. That her cold looks in the locker room and murmured unhappy greetings in the morning were just because she was a very closed off and private person. But then you saw her with your teammates. Sure, out on the pitch she was fierce and focused, even scary at times, but she was quick to comfort the younger players whenever something happened or hug the teammates she's played with for years. And the idea that maybe you were just overthinking the whole thing was starting to seem less and less probable. 

And then you were completely proven wrong when you were leaving the training grounds one day after another gruesome training. You would be the first to admit that your performance today was less than good, not even satisfactory really. Your passes weren't connecting at all and you missed every single shot you decided to take. No matter what you did, today just wasn't your day. You were frustrated with yourself, beating yourself up over it greatly, but everyone was quick to reassure you that it's impossible to be perfect every single day, that it is normal to make mistakes, to have an off day. Everyone except Alexia of course. 

It would be an understatement to say that she wasn't happy with you today. Not that she ever was really, but you could tell that today she was really holding herself back from screaming into your face about how incompetent you were. What she failed to realize was the fact that her constant criticizing  was making you insecure, always doubting if your next move would be a good choice. The other girls tried to get her to ease up a bit, noticing that you were starting to lose your composure. While you appreciated their efforts to help you, you knew there was no way around it. You just had to suffer through and hope that tomorrow would be a better day. 

You were in your own thoughts when you were leaving, not really noticing people around you, but just as you were about to turn in the direction of the exit you heard shouting from down the hall. Quickly recognizing that one, definitely more angered, voice belonged to Alexia. You didn't mean to eavesdrop but when you heard your name, you couldn't help but be intrigued. 

And so you moved towards the voices, well aware of the fact that you could regret your decision but not being able to stop yourself. You had an inkling of what you were going to hear, and you knew it was probably not going to be anything pretty. As you got closer you recognized the other voice, which surprisingly, belonged to Ingrid.

"Alexia, I just can't understand why you're being so hard on her. She hasn't done anything wrong!" Exclaimed Ingrid, and that fact alone left you totally speechless. While she was never directly mean to you, she never really interacted with you either. Out of all people you didn't expect Ingrid to be the one to stand up for you. Especially to Alexia, who to no one's surprise, was less than happy with Ingrid's opinion.

"I just think it was a mistake to sign her! She shouldn't be here, yet she gets anything she wants because of her dad. Don't blame me for being the one to actually make her work for what she gets, because clearly no one else is going to do it!" The disdain in which she spoke about you was honestly shocking. It wasn't a secret that Alexia had her reservations about you, it's not like she was trying to hide it, but you didn't think that she actually hated you this much.

It stung a little, you have been working your ass off these past few weeks, more than ever before and to hear that she still felt so much hatred towards you despite all your efforts was just insulting at this point. You could score the winner in the Champion's league final and she would still probably think that you're not good enough.

"But Ale all you do is yell in her face all the time! She does work, she's doing a good job, how can you just completely disregard that?" You could tell that Ingrid was desperately trying to say something that would make Alexia take it a bit easier on you, but all her efforts were pointless. You considered intervening, if not for yourself then for Ingrid, you didn't want her wasting her energy on trying to fix something that wasn't fixable anyway. Even though you appreciated it, it was a lost cause.

"Good is not enough! Definitely not for her! She can't just waltz in here and expect that her "good" is going to suffice! She doesn't deserve to be here and if you none of you see that then you're all blind! Her being here is a downgrade for Barça. She's not Barça and never will be. You don't get to be angry with me for being the only one to say the truth out loud." 

And that was it. Your breaking point. You turned around and left as fast as you could. Hoping that you could get safely into your car without seeing anyone, because the last thing you wanted to do was explain to someone why there were tears streaming down your face or why you were shaking so hard that you could barely walk. And it seemed that, for once, luck was in your favor as you didn't run into anyone.

You didn't even register how you got into your car or your apartment. The whole ride back home pretty hazy given your distress and once you made it through your front door you made a beeline for your bed. Completely forgoing lunch in favor of curling up under the covers and just letting everything out. You stayed there for the majority of the day only getting out to take a much needed shower that you hoped would help you relax but no such luck. Every single time you managed to distract yourself, another ugly thought would enter your mind and you would be back at the start. You were pretty insecure to begin with but now the insecurities had Alexia's voice, reminding you that you were, in fact, not enough. And every time you started to feel a bit better you would remember all the things that Alexia said to you or about you for that matter, because apparently she was not above going behind your back and talking shit about you. 

It was hard to understand why her words affected you so much, you have heard many stuff like that before, it's not like it was new. And it was definitely not the worst thing you've ever heard about yourself. It was the fact that Alexia said those things. She was someone you once admired, both for her skills and determination, she was a role model for not only little girls worldwide but also for fellow footballers. She was what everyone wanted to be and she was the one you wanted to impress the most. To hear that you have not only failed in that regard but that she  even believes the team would be better off without you was outwardly painful.

You didn't know what else you could do to make Alexia realise that you were trying your absolute hardest, that you didn't think you would get anything you wanted without working for it first. But you also felt insulted, who was she to make these assumptions? She didn't know you, didn't even make the effort to get to know you. Completely distancing herself away from you the second you joined the team. And for her to say that you get anything you want because of your dad? Yeah, that was just completely disrespectful. At this point you weren't even sure if you wanted to prove yourself to her, but the last thing you wanted was for her to take away your determination from you.

So this new found anger spurred something else inside of you. A desire to work even harder. To get on that pitch and show her that you were dedicated to this team. And even though you fell asleep with tears running down your face, which you felt rather pathetic for, you were determined to not give up. You knew tomorrow would be a better day because you would do everything in your power to make it one and not let Alexia ruin it for you once again. 

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When you walked in the next morning you tried to act confident but you were overwhelmingly anxious. You felt as if the walls were closing in on you while you were changing in the dressing room but you hoped that once would get out on the pitch it would get easier to breath, but that was not the case. The drive and desire from yesterday were still there but it was hard to focus on anything else when your fears were completely taking over you but you didn't let that stop you. 

You hardly slept last night, waking up multiple times  despite you best efforts to try and get some rest. You finally gave up around 5 in the morning, realizing that no matter what you did you were to anxious to relax and go to sleep. But your lack of rest also cause you to completely avoid breakfast, feeling much to nauseous and scared you would end up throwing up anything you ate anyway. You knew it was stupid and irresponsible, you were a professional athlete, you needed food to function but your anxiety meant all rational thinking was out the window. All you could feel was fear, but you were used to it at this point. Trainings were never a pleasant experience for you, no one ever made it manageable for you. So with the lack of sleep, water and food it was no surprise you did not feel well, but at this point you couldn't care less. No one ever cared, why should you?

Alexia certainly did not care, you could see that clearly. She worked you into the ground, and it seemed as though she was aware of it. But she did not accept tired, especially from you, so she kept yelling. Constantly yelling at you during warm up, gym and drills, criticizing and ordering you to go over the same stuff twice or thrice and to run extra laps because apparently you weren't putting in the same effort as everyone else. How she made that assumption was beyond you but you didn't dare to question her. Especially with here current mood which was grumpy to say the least.

It was during the match at the end of the training that you started to feel really faint. Your vision blurrier every passing second but you were certainly not going to ask for a break, positive you wouldn't even be allowed to take one but you also didn't want to give Alexia another thing to scold you for. You did everything right , at least you thought you did, many older girls passed by you during training, telling you that you were doing a good job, so why couldn't Alexia see that? Was her hatred for you so strong that she couldn't accept whenever you did something good?

All of sudden the dizziness got a lot worse and despite your best efforts you had to stop. You stood on the side with your hands on your knees and tried to breathe through the dizziness. You couldn't really tell what was going on around you, except for Alexia's scream to move and someone's hand on your shoulder asking if you're feeling okay. You didn't have it in you to answer but you wanted to keep playing anyway but as you were about to take a step to get back into your position your vision completely blurred and your knees buckled sending you into the ground. 

You didn't pass out right away, slightly aware of your surroundings although everything was too confusing for you to register. You heard some screams and someone's hands grabbing your shoulders, shaking you and lightly tapping your cheek. Then someone yelling for the medics, your feet being lifted into the air and a cool cloth drenched in water being placed over your forehead. It was overwhelming and you wanted to open your eyes to tell everyone to go away but the second you did you were met with so much light that it forced you to close your eyes again, barely catching sight of Ingrid standing over you. 

What you didn't see was Alexia standing on the side too, not too close and not too far, just close enough to see what was going on. Guilt quickly taking over her as she realized how unwell you looked and how she, the captain, the one that was supposed to be there for the team, was responsible for you passed out on the ground, completely unresponsive at this point. To be fair this probably wouldn't have happened if you were properly rested and ate something but Alexia didn't know that. All she knew was that she was horribly overworking you the entire session and now you were passed out, all because of her and every single thought in her head that has justified her behavior towards you was completely gone, instead replaced with intense feeling of shame for not noticing that you weren't doing well and instead believed you were just slacking off. And suddenly if she could take all that she has said and done in the past couple of weeks she would have done it in a heartbeat. Sure she did not really like you, she still thought you were privileged but it was never her intention to cause you any harm, not like this especially. 

You heard someone ask you more questions, if you ate, if you had something to drink but the headache was too much and you were so tired that staying awake seemed like an impossible task at this point and so even though everyone kept telling you to stay awake you decided to just finally let yourself rest for once.

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uhh I don't really like this? definitely needs some editing but I hope you liked it anyway, more parts to come! :)

[blorbocedes]

max took until he was like 20 to become Max Verstappen... I think putting a teenager in a death machine and expect him to perform to high standards right away is insane. especially mid season when everyone would be bringing up the what-ifs logan was in the car instead. ngl. poor kid

I agree but I will say the defining oh shit this kid is for real moment for max was winning in his very first redbull race. after one year of bumbling around in a toro rosso and a mid season swap at 18 years old.

but you cannot replicate that, or else it wouldn't be a generational talent. and f1 rn is more bigger than it's ever been, with more eyeballs and scrutiny on a kid and a notoriously fickle media landscape where everyone loves you one week and is ready to call for your neck the next

[alphawolfstabs]

Wanting to breathe, waiting to drown

-

[2210 words!!]

Religious trauma scream au with stuilly. Billy has a very Christian mother, his dads a dick, he’s trying to learn and grow but he can’t. Stu is an atheist satanist, meaning he does not believe in a god, other than himself.

[in satanism, you worship thine self. You also view baphomet as a more ‘positive and prideful’ energy, rather than a being.] [Stu is a hunter though, has a trophy room but it's not for satanism- lots of people think it is though]

[Reblogs appreciated but not forced <3]

-

Billy had always been perceived as the epitome of perfection throughout his entire life. To the outside world, his parents appeared to have a flawless, happy family, and the expectation was that their son would naturally follow suit.

However, beneath this facade of an ideal life, Billy struggled with the weight of his family's expectations. He was far from perfect. He conformed to his mother's strict ideas of how he should dress, while his father, even when physically present, often seemed emotionally absent, never truly engaged with his son. In many ways, it was as if he were absent from Billy's life.

Everything Billy did was, in some way, shaped by his mother's desires and expectations. He accompanied her to church faithfully and performed every task with the aim of pleasing her. His life was a constant effort to meet her standards, and everything he did was solely for her approval.

As Billy grew older, he couldn't help but overhear more and more of the conversations between his parents. When he was 14 years old, a gay couple moved into a nearby house, and they were unabashedly proud of their identity. To his parents, this was a cause for disdain. In the privacy of their home, and even to others, they ridiculed the new neighbors for their sexual orientation.

The negative attitudes expressed by his parents left a profound impact on Billy. He absorbed their beliefs that being gay was unacceptable, something to be scorned, and that the only acceptable path was to be heterosexual. These beliefs, which were instilled in him by his mother and reinforced by his family environment, shaped his perspective on sexuality and identity as he grew older.

At the outset of Junior high, Billy struck up a friendship with a fellow student named Stuart, a tall and slender boy who possessed both intelligence and a great sense of humor. Although Stu had a knack for occasionally being slightly irritating, Billy quickly learned to overlook these quirks because of the genuine connection they shared.

Billy affectionately dubbed him "Stu" because, in his enthusiasm, he often struggled with pronouncing "Stuart" consistently. "Stu" became the preferred moniker between them, and it stuck. The two of them became inseparable at school, whether it was sharing desks, playing outside, or simply being seen together around the campus.

With Stu, Billy found an eccentric friend who embraced his unique qualities and idiosyncrasies. Stu had no issue with Billy's pre-meal rituals or the frequent references to the Bible that peppered their conversations. He allowed Billy to be himself without judgment, and this level of acceptance was something that made their friendship truly special. For Billy, having a friend who not only accepted but celebrated his individuality was a comforting and refreshing experience.

As they matured, Stu occasionally made remarks that caused Billy to question the sustainability of their friendship. Such a moment arose during their freshman year of high school when Stuart kept talking about a fellow student, a jock named Steve Orth, who happened to be in Stuart's gym class.

Stu's comments varied in tone and content, from crude observations to downright perplexing statements. One day, he remarked, "-I mean- It's just insane. We're freshmen! He shouldn't have a package that size."

Billy almost choked on his water, his eyes wide with disbelief. "What?" he blurted out.

Stu looked back at him with a mischievous grin. "What?"

"You looked down.. there..? That's like.. Not good? Dude, you sinned!" Billy exclaimed, his shock palpable.

Stu laughed and shook his head, seemingly unfazed. "Pretty sure it's only sinful if I touch."

Billy's brain seemed to short-circuit at this response. "What. Would you? Stu- That's gay. Don't be gay," he blurted out, a mixture of confusion and concern in his voice.

Stu continued to laugh, dismissing the topic without any further comment, leaving Billy in a state of bewilderment as he grappled with his friend's statements.

For a few years, Stu didn't bring up any topics of that nature. However, it all changed during their Junior year when a new member joined their group, Randy Meeks. Randy was an odd character, even more irritating than Stu, but Billy tolerated him for the sake of his friendship with Stu.

On one occasion, they gathered around the fountain, already engaged in a lively conversation. "All I'm saying is, I'm pretty sure he's gay," Stuart declared, taking a seat beside Billy.

"What?" Billy looked up from his book, perplexed by the discussion.

"Stu thinks Michael Myers is gay, and I'm just trying to prove to him that he's not," Randy chimed in, eager to join the debate.

Billy shook his head. "I don't think so."

Stuart threw his hands up in exasperation. "Come on!" he exclaimed, standing on the edge of the fountain. "Listen, he was in there since he was what—3? Dude had to lose his virginity at some point, especially to be a killer like that!"

Billy raised an eyebrow, pondering the matter. "Aren't there girl nurses?"

"Not that we saw," Randy added.

"Thank you! I rest my case, Michael was gay. Thank you," Stu concluded, settling back down.

Billy shook his head, and his nose wrinkled slightly. Stu noticed his hesitation and prodded, "What?"

"Huh?" Billy responded, momentarily lost in thought.

"Your nose—you do this thing when you want to say something but won't," Stu observed.

Billy sighed. "I know Michael was already sinful with murder, but he can't be gay. It ruins the movie for me if he is."

"Okay, Christian boy," Randy began with a roll of his eyes, "since you know so much—"

Stu quickly interrupted by giving Randy a light slap on the back of the head. "Enough," he stated firmly, before turning his attention back to Billy. "Believe what you want, just don't judge me for what I think."

Billy nodded, appreciating how Stu handled Randy's provocations and respecting his right to hold different opinions, even if it made him question his own views.

Senior year proved to be an especially challenging time for Billy. Gym class with Stu became a source of inner turmoil. Whenever they were in the locker room, Billy would change quickly and leave as soon as possible. However, there was something about seeing Stu in a state of post-exercise sweat, casually wiping his face with the hem of his shirt, revealing his well-defined abdomen, that stirred an unusual sensation in Billy. It wasn't disgust; it was something he couldn't quite understand.

As the year progressed, Stu became more open about his interests, particularly in the context of discussing someone he found appealing. To Billy's dismay, most of the time, it wasn't about women.

Billy struggled to come to terms with these feelings. He no longer saw them as sinful but instead grappled with questions like, "Does he ever say stuff like that about me?" The thought of his best male friend talking about him in that manner made him feel queasy. It seemed too 'gay' for comfort, and he was unsure how to navigate this new emotional terrain.

Billy refrained from discussing these thoughts with his parents, fearing their reaction, and he never prayed for these feelings to disappear because deep down, he didn't think they could be 'fixed.' He felt trapped, unable to reconcile his emotions with the beliefs he had grown up with.

Then, during one of his visits to Stu's house, Billy stumbled upon something that would further disrupt his emotional balance.

Billy's curiosity was piqued as he picked up a book with a rather unexpected title, "The Satanic Bible." He couldn't believe what he was seeing; it seemed impossible.

Stu, sprawled out on the bed on his stomach, glanced at the book and shrugged. "You have your Bible, I have mine," he replied nonchalantly.

Billy's eyes widened in disbelief. "You worship Satan, and you think that's okay?"

Stu burst into laughter and shook his head. "Jesus, man, no." He sat up and motioned for Billy to join him. "Sit down, and I'll explain."

Billy hesitantly took a seat, placing the book in Stu's lap. "Satanism isn't about worshipping Satan. It's about worshipping yourself in a way. You view Satan or the devil or whatever as an energy, something prideful, something positive."

Confusion furrowed Billy's brows, and he struggled to grasp this new perspective.

Stu smiled patiently. "I don't believe in Satan, or God, or an afterlife. I exist for myself."

"But… you're a Satanist?" Billy asked, still unable to reconcile these ideas.

Stu nodded calmly. "Satan's bad in the context of traditional religion, but it's not the same thing in Satanism. It's not about evil; it's about embracing yourself, your desires, and your individuality."

Billy blinked, trying to process this new perspective. "But… didn't he, like, kill a bunch of people?"

Stu nodded. "In traditional religious context, yes. But it was only ten people. If you think about it, God, on the other hand, was responsible for killing over 20,000 people. Who's actually bad in that context?"

Billy huffed, still struggling to fully grasp the concept. "I don't get it," he admitted, his confusion evident.

Stu smiled softly and inched closer. Their hands gently intertwined, fingers entangled, and as Billy stared at their linked hands, he felt a peculiar mix of emotions. He knew he should move away, that this closeness wasn't "normal" in his belief system, but he didn't want to pull away.

"In your religion, you're told to follow one person's guidance, to do and say things because that's what this one figure wants you to do," Stu began, speaking gently. "In my 'religion,' I do what I want to do, for me. And, just so you know, I don't sacrifice animals. I hunt and keep trophies, but most hunters do that. In my belief system, we're actually told to respect all living things, all of them."

Billy nodded slowly, finding this aspect of Stu's beliefs easier to understand.

Stu continued, "In your faith, if someone hurts you, what do you do?"

"Forgive them," Billy replied.

Stu challenged him, "Why? What if they do something terrible to you? Think about what happened in 'Black Christmas,' the guy's sister. What if this person does that to you?"

Billy had to pause and think about it. After a moment, he shrugged. "My mother says we always forgive."

Stu shared a different perspective, "You want to know what they say about that in my belief system?"

Billy nodded with interest.

"We don't forgive for that. Plus, if interest is not reciprocated, you back off instantly."

Billy pondered this, and a realization dawned upon him. "That's… actually better. Should I say that?"

Stu looked at him with a sweet smile. "You can say that. I'm not going to judge." The warmth in Stu's eyes made Billy's heart race, and he felt a mixture of emotions he hadn't experienced before.

"Do your parents know?" Billy asked, his gaze earnest as he looked at Stu.

Stu let out a soft snort. "I'm lucky if they even know my age, Billy."

Billy's expression fell with understanding. "Oh, yeah. That's right. Sorry."

"It's okay," Stu reassured him, gently running his fingers through Billy's hair. "Do you want to know about the sexuality aspect as well?"

Billy nodded slightly, his curiosity piqued, though he wasn't entirely sure if he'd like the answer.

Stu continued, "In Satanism, you embrace all aspects of yourself, and if you desire someone, that's okay. No matter what that makes you. It means being gay is okay."

The way Stu conveyed this message felt like he was trying to convince Billy, as if he was seeing deep into him, understanding the inner turmoil. Billy couldn't help but consider the possibility. Maybe this was precisely what he needed, someone who understood him.

Billy exhaled softly and asked hesitantly, "So… are you gay?"

Stu smiled warmly. "I'm not actually. I like men, but I also like women. Whatever that's called, that's me."

Billy simply nodded, absorbing this information.

Stu pulled Billy into something akin to a hug, and Billy allowed himself to melt into the embrace. As he rested against Stu, he couldn't help but think of his friend as someone who was truly free—free from the constraints of trying to please someone else, free to be himself.

He yearned for that kind of freedom but was held back by the ever-present specter of his mother's expectations. What would she say if he dared to voice these thoughts aloud? Even now, he questioned whether all of this was sinful.

A feeling of tension and constriction had wrapped around Billy like a coil of barbed wire, as if someone were perpetually tightening it. It might have been the thought of his mother, or perhaps it was the weight of his faith, but he couldn't be certain. All he knew was that he longed to break free from this suffocating grip.

Sitting in Stu's embrace, he felt that constricting wire begin to loosen. It wasn't choking him now; instead, he felt like someone had truly seen him, spoken to him with genuine understanding. In Stu's acceptance, he found a reprieve from the turmoil that had plagued him for so long, and for the first time in a while, he allowed himself to breathe a little easier.

[gar-a-ash]

Breeding goals for 2024:

Producing a high quality sporting and working dog that is capable of being a pleasant companion on quiet days provided needs are met (Tassie is a med-high drive/low energy shepherd, expected sire was chosen for also being high drive/med energy and able to settle in the house)

Continuing the breed standard of producing a dog that is owner-oriented and aloof with strangers, though not unfriendly (Tassie is paranoid with strangers and asocial, very much a one-person dog, expected sire is selected for sociability to offset this. Tassie's pedigree has social dogs so I suspect that she's a one-off)

Not focusing on bite sports/protection; the goal is to produce a dog that is capable of doing more than just biting. The shepherd should be an all-around working dog capable of doing anything it's trained to do. (Tassie struggled with learning sports where independent thinking was necessary, though once she picked it up she's a rockstar at odor detection. Sire is a bite sport dog and titled well, chosen for good pedigree and environmental soundness. Pups will probably excel in bite sport avenues, though they should be stable enough to perform at anything)

Steering away from insane drive, part of producing a dog capable of living in the house. Also helps the goal of producing an all-around working dog, so the dog is capable of slowing down to learn new things without having an anxiety attack (Tassie struggled with this through adolescence but settled very nicely as an adult, sire is about the same)

Producing a dog that is environmentally sound and confident in new locations (Tassie has always been excellent, sire is said to have strong environmental soundness and has titled well. Puppy program planned to help pups with environmental confidence. Some adolescent reactivity is expected, both dogs had issues though have been successfully managed out of it. This is a known breed issue)

Producing a dog in good physical health (Need to finish Tassie's OFA's to confirm but pedigree has excellent rated hips/elbows throughout, sire is the same. Tassie is DM free, sire will carry. Chance for DM carries in the litter, waiting for a response back from a different stud dog just in case that would negate this but is chosen for same reasons above)

I have more thoughts on this but this is what I'm aiming for, potential for holding back a bitch from this litter to pair with future pup but I'm not sure if I want to raise two pups of similar age together so it would have to be a really amazing puppy. I CAN do it, I just don't know if I WANT to do it. But Tassie will most likely be three by the time this litter is born and I don't want to wait too long.

[snyderside]

Triym Bansheen Lore (Pt.1)

Before I get into this OC ramble I do have some of my own head canons when it comes to trolls:

No matter what kind of troll it is they can change their colors

Each music genre of trolls has different anatomy (Some not being so obvious)

Trolls crossbreeding isn't all that common so it's somewhat frowned upon.

For this part, I'm going to mostly talk about his parents

That's all I got for now, ramble time! >:D

.

So we start off with his parents which was Turbo Bansheen, who is a Rock troll who is well known for hitting insane high notes/ death metal screeches as well as his whole bloodline, his heritage as a Bansheen keeps him up to a standard as such a standard has him being a pretty popular and notable performer within the Rock trolls (Beside King thrash he's about 2nd best)

.

And then you got Ruby Hibiscus who is a pop troll who gardens as a hobby and is especially interested in different kinds of plants, and if he's just in a good mood he helps around the village(Which catches the eyes of the ladies and he plays along by being charming) He also does floral arrangements for big events

So thanks to Rubys hyper fixation on plants he wanted to expand his plant knowledge by traveling for a bit, eventually going to the rock trolls and stumbling upon one of Turbo's shows, He enjoyed it and threw a rose at Turbo's feet and swiftly left... not expecting Turbo to follow him all the way back to the pop trolls, Ruby felt obligated to hide/ disguise Turbo, they got to know each other better during this period and turbo decided to stay for just a bit longer (*COUGH COUGH* 2 years! *COUGH*) They were practically attached at the hip and Most thought they were best friends but some others had their suspicions it was something more, and their suspicions were correct because they produced a lovely red egg.

.

(Old designs) It was "sudden but a pleasant surprise" is what they'd both say. Turbo was a bit freaked out at first but it wasn't too hard for Ruby to calm him down they knew the timing was inconvenient with Trollstice growing near and Ruby did have his worries and since becoming a father he practically became very protective and untrusting of other trolls...

Turbo was sent off to keep Triym safe because Ruby didn't trust King Peppy; he seemed reckless and carefree when it came to the Burgens eating trolls as snacks. This was when Trollstice was coming around (Where the first Trolls movie started). But King Peppy informed everyone of their escape and the tunnels under the troll tree, Turbo dug a separate tunnel and traveled back to Volcano Rock City.

As soon as he got back to his old home Triym's egg hatched and Turbo saw baby Triym he immediately turned Gray because despite looking nothing like Ruby Triym reminded him so much of him. (Most likely because Rubys are red lol) Besides the baby, he had Ruby's hug time bracelet to remember him by. Promising to himself he'd go back for him when it's safe.

.

.

thanks for reading, See you in part 2! >:D

[layover94]

remembered i can disneypost on here to my heart's content. well.

Very excited to log on tomorrow and see a bunch of twt and youtube reactions to (and informative posts about) today's union march on harbor blvd as hype for the impending union vote on striking. iirc the vote will be on the 19th among 14k dlr union members, out of ~35k total cast members… if you ask me the ratio of unionized cast members should be so much higher and i think that's part of the point of running a march/protest on disneyland's anniversary, to wake up the cast members who are too bought into the lore and magic and Walt's Legacy of it all… i read that today's march intended to go from harbor to the main entrance of disneyland but dlr security and anaheim pd didn't let the protesters onto the esplanade. Lmao. i really hope that the union gains a lot of members and definitively votes for a strike on the 19th bc it's very deserved, it's insane how little cast members make while being expected to perform above and beyond literally any other service worker you've ever met in your life lmao and that gap only gets worse and worse in current year amid budget cuts to entertainment, hours, even concierge and guest complaint services… a drop in cast member service/attitude has been noticeable to us and we literally don't even mind it lmao because in the early 2000s the pay was way better so expecting a crazy disneyfied level of service was more reasonable BUT nowadays there's blatant cost-cutting and evil behaviors everywhere so i don't fucking care that the random cast member bringing me some french fries this year wasn't hyper-courteous and outperforming every mcdonalds worker i've ever met in my life, because in current year i know that they're not even making any more than a donowslave while being held to an exponentially higher standard…

if disney has any hope of maintaining its brand reputation ESPECIALLY parkswise then it better fucking listen to its union members and start improving things. widely-reported low crowds from non-locals and non-diehards this summer should be showing them that they can't keep price-gouging people forever… my last visit a few weeks ago was literally the first time in my ENTIRE LIFE that disneyland closed before 1am in the summer. it was literally like disruptive and disturbing, bc leaving the back of the park at 12am to then meander through the main street shops until 1am has been the habit SINCE I WAS BORN but this year, disney is so desperate for a high profit margin that they're cutting hours, cutting services, hiking prices, etc even during their peak travel times. hello? fuck you? literally anyone can look at your stock price, your box office gross, your ticket prices vs hours served, to determine disney's overall profit margin and yet you still shamelessly act this way. disney adults exist for a REASON and it's because there used to be a standard of service and quality offered to barely-middle-class and up families that gave them unbelievably memorable experiences that made them want to keep coming back and chasing that high for the rest of their lives. i love disneyland because i've loved it since i was 6 years old and most of it hasn't changed since i was 6 years old and in the intervening years i've grown to appreciate with adult eyes the creativity and engineering feats and Also the childish whimsy that has gone into creating the things i've loved ever since i was 6 years old. but when it costs over a hundred fucking dollars to spend one day in the park, when i vividly remember (even as a child with little sense of money!) it costing much less than $100, it just feels like ticket scalping lmao and to know that clearly those price hikes don't even go to the cast members who make the everyday operations of the park as good as they are? instead it all goes to the execs who keep closing and fucking up all my favorite rides? oh i'm out for blood. i truly hope that every single union member strikes and that disneyland SUFFERS immensely trying to stay open and ignore the strike. i hope it's a bloodbath and utterly humiliating for the company. cast members deserve everything, execs deserve nothing

[namig42]

Part 3/7 of this ask from @inaconstantstateofchange!

Let's discuss my bardic bhaalspawn:

Vero

Her greatest struggle is the dark urges within her, and she spends the entirety of her life after amnesia resisting her evil in order to be good and kind. She's not always successful, but she found a support system to help her through, all while trying to maintain this sense of elegance and strength. She's messy, but does her absolute best to hide that fact behind her poised facade. She may not be a noble, but she will do her absolute best to present herself as one and seem like she is in control.

Let's examine the path if she had been lucky enough to not be born a bhaalspawn.

Vero would've been born into a noble house of high elves and raised to be a proper lady. She would've excelled at her role and taken great pride in it, indulging in the praise and admiration of those around her as she exceeded all expectations. She would be intelligent, articulated in speech, talented in every artform she studied, and revel in her skills and flawless execution of the role she embodied.

Perfection only lasts for so long though, and eventually something would make her stumble, and when she finally did, she'd fall hard. Within her house, she would be seen as too perfect by other family members that would feel threatened by Vero's perfection. The house of the family has a great deal of political power, and if Vero wasn't taken down a notch, she was certain to one day become matriarch and take everything for herself. Vero is normally aware enough to evade any attacks on her character from these jealous family members, but one day she'd eventually miss something. Someone would embarrass her somehow. Perhaps they drug her during a social gathering, sabotage Vero by hurting her or vandalizing her appearance, maybe even go as far as to try shoving her down a flight of stairs and making it look like an accident. Any one of these things would be a notable blight on Vero's flawless reputation, and it would only spiral in Vero's head from there. Even if other's would forget her momentary shame, she wouldn't be able to. She's tried so hard for perfection, but that first stain would always be there, always be remembered by her, and never quite leave.

Vero would fall harder into her expectations, performing them with a bit less grace and ease than before since she was more panicked now, but would still maintain her elegant image to the best of her ability. She'd always be paranoid of trusting anyone, thinking everyone was jealous of her station and out to get her. Being immersed in her household's politics and standards would only ruin her, but it's all she knows. It's all she wants. Vero only knows herself in these expectations. Outside of her role, no one knows her, not even herself. Finding companionship of any kind would be off the table unless Vero could find a way to distance herself from her station. Until then, she's trapped herself in her own mind.

If she still found herself taken by the nautiloid, she'd be just as terrified of being infected and disgusted by the idea. The fact that she'd been tainted by something so disgusting as a parasite would drive her insane, at least until she found others who shared her affliction. The comradery she would find because of the parasite would help her grow and learn more about herself as well as find companionship with people who have no clue who she is and want nothing of her. It's refreshing. She would try to maintain her sense of dignity and elegance for the first few nights, but would find her facade slipping every so often when Astarion confided in her or when Lae'zel made some silly remark that she took completely seriously. Vero found herself laughing with others, caring for others, getting angry at others, and the whole experience would give Vero the idea that maybe it wouldn't be so bad if she gave up that status she tried to maintain for so long. Being hung up on the persona she was so dedicated to crafting only hurt her, so perhaps it was time to let go of it and allow herself to be a little more careless, a little more crass, and find a new version of herself that felt more organic. She'd definitely branch out and try things she's never done on her way to Baldur's Gate, and by the time she would reach the city, she would visit her home one last time to say farewell and revoke her position. From there, she'd go off into the world, maybe with a companion or two, ready to learn who she really is outside of all the chaos.

---

This whole thing was actually what I intended Vero's backstory to be before I started my first durge run with her. I had this whole idea of how the dark urge thoughts surfaced one day when she was young and in her first act of Bhaal, she murdered her family without realizing until it was too late. From there, she fell into the hands of Bhaal and became the Dark Urge, Bhaal's chosen.

That definitely changed when the game gave her lore for me, but I had a plan just in case it didn't.

Before any of that though, Vero was meant to be an actual noble that found herself trapped in her own expectations and ideas of perfection, and would spend the journey to Baldur's Gate learning who she is outside of all of that.

[narrators-journal]

For fics, maybe some Eikichi x Miyabi, set in the future where they live together, they’ve been doing better with their self image issues and maybe some slightly spicy but not explicit NSFW body worship and them appreciating each other?

I’m realizing, I am not too sure what makes something body worship? But I’ve taken melatonin, and today’s been hard, so I’m not putting that much thought into it, lol. I hope this is wholesome, and a proper amount of gently spicy. I tried to keep it cute, and to throw in some teasing and implications to match.

Miyabi smiled slightly as she watched her husband, Eikichi Mishina, through the livingroom window. His dark blue hair, usually meticulously styled and gelled, untouched today, his headphones on so he could lose himself in his chores playlist, his vampire-pale skin finally able to get some sunlight thanks to the stagnant, humid heat that had his shirt tossed onto the lawn chair on their porch. He was a sight to see, for sure.

Granted, despite his popularity as an indie singer, not everyone would’ve agreed with Miyabi’s opinion. Eikichi was tall, his eyes were an unnerving shade of red, his skin always seemed oddly pale, and, despite his dances and high energy performances, Michel had a healthy amount of soft weight on his body. Which, to an outsider, who was fed the usual expectations of buff, body builder celebrities, would likely be a dissapointment. Yet, Miyabi knew her husband’s history, and just how hard he’d worked to let himself soften even a little bit.

Plus, all it took was a small glance at her own full bodied figure to remind her that she had no real room to complain. Because, while yes, she’d lost a good amount of weight from her highschool years, her body still wasn’t back to the physique she’d had in junior high. So, according to those same insane standards, she was far worse off than her husband. But, the social opinion’s demand for perfectly slim, youthful girls with the curves of a porn star without even a hint of a belly roll seemed to entirely miss Eikichi.

When he saw Miyabi, he still saw that beautiful trend-setter that had a flock of men at her feet. When he saw the stretchmarks left from her highschool weight gain, his eyes would light up with the same lust a man might show for a model. Every offer of the chance to see her undressed had Eikichi’s brain frying like a wet electronic. He never hid how much he adored her figure, no matter what age or diet did to her.

On a bit of a whim, she left the living room window to step out into the summer heat. Her husband obliviously focused on sweeping the dust and leaves away, his back to her as he hummed along with his music. So, Miyabi stepped closer to run her hand up along his spine to make the tall man squirm. “Ayo! Mimi!” He squawked, his headphones all but flung off of his head with the speed his head turned to look back at the smaller woman. “What? All I did was touch you.” She said, before her other hand joined in on the exploration of Eikichi’s soft skin. Down to his sides, where she squeezed the muffin top his pants created. Meanwhile, her husband stammered and tripped over his words as he argued, “Well, yes. But, we’re outside, you can’t go groping me.” “I’m not groping you,” She sang, her arms now snaked around him from behind, the soft dust of pink on his cheeks a welcome sight to the ebony-haired woman. “I’m just appreciating your figure, songbird~”

That only seemed to cause the singer’s cheeks to turn a redder hue, but he also didn’t stop her hands from sliding over his body. Only really able to muster, “Might I ask what brought on this sudden...’appreciation’?” to get a hum from the woman, a shudder drawn out when she kissed and nipped his back. “I just enjoyed the view of you shirtless and doing chores. Not much else.”

That was it. That was her only real reason for having braved the stagnant, humid heat of the summer. But, as his wife, she knew she didn’t need much of a reason to ghost her lips or finger tips at the edge of his waistband. Though, what she didn’t expect, was for the pretty man to spin around in her arms, the broom and porch chores forgotten in favor of scooping her up. “Alright, that’s it. Come on, Mimi.” “Woah! Wait, you’ve got shit to do, Eikichi!” She argued through a squeal of laughter, her own cheeks warmed now, “Yeah, but you’re a priority~”

[madtomedgar]

Probably part of my problem with the like "ACTUAL self care is NOT resting and doing nice little things it's doing the dishes despite being actively miserable and cooking dinner when you don't want to because you know you should and being responsible anyway by doing chores" is the apparently completely insane amount of housework that was expected of me on top of schoolwork as a kid, often when I felt physically horrible, and the apparently insane consequences when I didn't perform that perfectly. But also I still think that the attitude of "actually you must do all the daily maintanence without complaint to high standards despite being barely functional and if you don't you're lazy and choosing to be ill" is just bootstraps bullshit applied to mental health so nobody has to feel sympathy for someone having a hard time. So.

[collegeoflore]

3, 7, 11, 21 for Xarrai? :3c

thank you!!!

(questions are here)

7 & 11 both answered here :3

3. Did your Tav receive any formal or informal education? If yes, how did they learn? If not, why not?

i touched on this a little in my answer to #9 here, but i love rambling about xarrai so i will happily elaborate. :3c the line between formal and informal education in their case is kind of blurry - they were educated in the church of bane and there were other children and classes, but these kids were all essentially prisoners of the church. the general idea is they were being trained to be emissaries of bane in high society across faerun, though the ones who didn't perform to standards ended up sacrificed. xarrai in particular was a favorite of their mentor and as such received a lot of private instruction in both bardic magic and politics. (not that being the favorite meant they were treated better - bane demands fear over faith after all.) they learned a lot about history and were well-educated in religion as it related to bane and the dead three and what they didn't learn as a kid they learned as an adult - they're a bookworm And having a decent knowledge of history, religion, and arcana was helpful for posing as a college of lore bard.

despite never actually going to any sort of college, they swear up and down to gale that they attended fochlucan in silverymoon. every time he questions anything they have to say about magic they shut him down by telling him they have an education they most certainly do not have. they admit they were lying to him near the end of act 2 but don’t stop claiming it’s true every time they argue with him, which does in fact drive him batshit insane lmao

21. How does your Tav feel about love?

this is something that changes a lot over the course of the game. act 1/pre game, though, xarrai sees love as a tool to be used the same as anything else. they're a charlatan to their core and to them love and affection are just more ways to get what they want. promises of love are particularly effective tools for manipulation, after all, and promises are always made to be broken. i think especially working as a survival sex worker back in the day kind of made them view love as currency they could trade for a roof over their head and a meal in their stomach. now that they're doing sex work on their own terms and not only as a means of survival (they get by fine as a bard) they haven't necessarily lost this mindset - it's just that now they're trading these empty promises for information and influence and power. or just for a good time. they've got a long trail of broken hearts they've left all over the city for one reason or another. they sell love to the highest bidder, whether they're offering money or information or just damn good sex. it's no different to them than a lockpick or a blade or a good old fashioned scam - it's a tool of their trade.

and then xarrai actually fell in love. they found out what it means to be willing to risk everything for someone else and what it feels like for your heart to live outside your body. it wasn't something they expected or even recognized at first, honestly. the realization that they would lay down their life at astarion's feet and the realization that they actually love him did NOT happen at the same time. it changes how they feel about love a lot. they learn how to make promises they actually intend to keep. i think to be honest they’ve been lonely for a long time in a way they didn’t understand or know how to articulate until they knew what it was to be loved and to be seen and now they feel like they kind of have to re-learn how to be a person in general. now love is something inevitable and terrifying but it’s also the best and the stupidest choice they’ve ever made. to be loved is to be changed etc etc etc

(i will note that like them being non-monogamous has nothing to do w/their views on love pre Or post game they r just not interested in monogamy. not to say they're always "ethical" about it pre-astarion but like. i want to be clear. they think love is a bullshit scam until they're with astarion BUT they think monogamy is a bullshit scam forever.)

[crystalelemental]

Recent super fun Reddit post about how 1/5 SS Silver is super frustrating and not as good as other PokeFairs got me in some kind of frothing state. Probably because this entire subreddit is a bunch of cowards who are like "the blackout won't do anything, it's just hurting our community," proving once again that Pokemon fans don't deserve rights. Anyway here's 2/5 Silver with his 1/5 grid beating some shit up, including off-typing Lucian.

Look, I'm not going to pretend SS Silver doesn't have flaws. But the notion that SS Silver's flaws are all that extreme is laughable. "He needs two support slots to do his job!" H!Caitlin bro. H!Caitlin gives him literally everything. "But he still needs crit support." If you really want to be greedy on the Buddy move, Aaron exists. At 1/5, you don't need speed buffs, so this checks out. "But why should he need so much support as a PokeFair?" Because they all do? "But look at all the other PokeFairs that came out this year and also SS Hilda." That last one is some serious cherry-picking but sure, let's talk about the others.

Emma needs help topping off Attack and Speed for full effect, and is unreliable at setting her own Poison. Lysandre needs help with special attack. In both scenarios, LA is a nightmare, where Lysandre also needs speed for gauge management, and both nearly require support to reapply their needed status, or their DPS just drops. Woe upon them if the foe is immune. SS Diantha and SS Hau are literally dead without their field effects. If we're talking 1/5, Hau is barely worth discussing, while Diantha can do okay in CS but not LA. For the ones that are super self-sufficient, like Eusine and SS Lana, that self-sufficiency comes with a high price. Eusine's DPS isn't that impressive, and at 1/5 he has none of the sync that distinguishes him from any other Water DPS. SS Lana basically doesn't have a sync, and her single-target DPS, like Eusine's, is pretty bad. That's the tradeoff, they either get to be super self-sufficient, or super powerful but clunky. Take your pick.

SS Hilda is an odd one to bring up because...well yeah, she is insanely powerful and easy to set up. Frankly I'm not sure why they made her so ridiculous. The only real limitation she has is that, at 1/5, her sync sucks ass. My wife has her EX, and it's frankly staggering how bad her sync is without Rising Tide. Even on-type is a bit of a mess.

All this to say...Silver is fairly standard for a PokeFair. If you choose not to invest in him but expect him to perform well as a damage dealer, prepare for disappointment, or to allocate the necessary investment into his success. Aaron is mandatory for a non-3/5 Silver. I can entertain the idea of Lillie, who actually has a fantastic tool in Full Power granting +3 Atk and Sure Crit to make the most of Buddy Move on turn 2, but she's a terrible tank so that was not a fun time. And I can entertain the idea of BP Clemont, but he's Ground weak and that wasn't happening with Bertha. Then again, neither was Lillie who is Poison weak. Basically, a lot of his good tools get specifically bopped this week. It's sad, but also kinda funny. But the point is, traits exist. And when people point them out, and the response is just "Yeah but those are baaaaad," the problem is you. I'm sorry Lillie isn't also a godwall. Not everything gets to be perfect. Figure something out.

Vs. Bertha (Aaron) Aaron does well enough. The main benefit of this kind of team is survival against physical. Masked Royal's debuffs are handy, and Aaron can bulk up provided it's not High Horsepower/Poison Jab at the outset. On-type, even uninvested, Silver's sync does respectable numbers. The real fun is that late-game, provided Aaron's alive, you can flinch with Attack Order and potentially stagger that last turn. I will make the general note that Silver is also frail. So the Earthquake thing was...dire. You really want to make sure the sides are weakened, or that Aaron hits a flinch on them, or it gets bad.

Vs. Bertha (H!Caitlin) Caitlin's hilarious bro. This is so much more consistent than Aaron. The Synchro Heal + shields throwdown is just immaculate. Silver's so much safer here. And you get to run Colress, who is just...so stupid. He's so dumb, I love him.

Vs. Lucian (H!Caitlin) Now here's a fun one. So, off-type this week is usually done with Lucian, because his attacks are the least scary. No natural accuracy buffs, Zen Headbutt and Reuniclus are pretty inaccurate, Colress shenanigans peak on this fight. There is, however, a lot more than bad accuracy rolls that can go wrong. For starters, Silver missing crit on sync. Love when that happens. For another, you will not tank sync without shields, so the rotation is thus:

Caitlin TM, Silver Buddy, Colress Screech.

Caitlin TM, Silver attack center, Colress Screech, Silver sync.

Adrenaline puts you in a better position for three turns later. The goal is spam damage on Lucian, cap Silver's attack if Tricksy didn't MPR, and boost special defense. When Colress has lowered special defense, spam Mirror Shot for evasion. Caitlin takes second sync, just before Lucian gets where he's going. Hope for a quad queue.

At this point, RNG goes haywire, because you need some misses. Hope for Zen Headbutt spam; often Caitlin can take one of those, and they're lower accuracy. Psychic will destroy her. Ideally, Lucian keeps swinging and doesn't use X Accuracy All until later.

From this point, Silver takes every sync. The first will not come anywhere near KOing Lucian, but it puts him in range that you don't need to spam DPS on him. Hit Alakazam once during the interval between third and fourth sync, then sync on Lucian. If his allies dropped...good luck with the quick queue. Provided it works, Lucian will drop. Alakazam is now in range of your new DPS, and the denial prevents Swift from sure-killing your ass. Unfortunately, if both allies are down, you must dodge Psychic. Success here means a two-shot, you win. I'll also note, my 2/5 Silver would have a much easier time of this, thanks to Endurance on grid. It's a good skill, recommend.

This is nowhere near a clean win, but you get the gist. It's possible. Also, if Silver were EX, it'd probably be a hell of a lot easier. But that's the point. It can be done, and the tools are there. It's just clunky. Because he's not 3/5 and EX. That's how it works. Silver's good. Apparently stupid good, since his current solo count is goddamned 9. In a lot of these cases, the problem was less about Silver being clunky, than his supports just being bad for the stage. So like...I dunno what to tell you dude. Skill issue.

[russilton]

I think drivers who won in their rookie years has brought an expectation to all rookies that they have to be just as good even getting into a car for the first time. This isn't even at the fault of the drivers who may have won in their rookie years but the people running the show for holding those high ass expectations then being shocked when someone isn't a born prodigy. I love so many drivers in f3 and f2 and I do think they deserve spots on the f1 grid but I also think that if they were to go to another racing series that it isn't seen as a failure. I saw someone say indycar is only a feeder series into f1 and while yes some indycar drivers have gone to race in f1 or vice versa it's so weird to just act like f1 is the only racing series that's important when in the end it kind of just treats its drivers like shit :/

Sorry for the rant

Yeah this is my general feeling on it, I think we are setting far too unrealistic a standard for those kids and young adults - especially when other drivers will be snapped up purely based on who they are. I mean look at last years champ drugovich- still no seat for him, but Logan finished 6th and got a seat at Williams.

That’s not to say Logan didn’t earn his seat or whatever, I’m not getting into that at all, but poorer drivers have to massively perform very very quickly in order to make a mark, and even then there just may not be a space for them. Oscar had to wait, nyck didn’t get a seat, got sent to FE, became a champ, and still got shafted.

The fact that George Lando and alex all got in on the same year is insane, and people keep looking at them as the standard and not a MASSIVE outlier. Their pipelines were not normal- lando had financial aid, redbull was playing seat roulette with alex, and George is INCREDIBLY talented to have won his rookie season but also incredibly LUCKY (in terms of other junior drivers) that Merc supported him through Williams and understood poor results weren’t his fault. It feels frustrating to see people go “f2 = f1” when that’s really not been how it works out.

As for indy- it’s not a feeder and I don’t want to comment further on it bc I just don’t know anything about it and indy people are very protective of the sport- I don’t feel like getting yelled at today (they’re rightfully protective- smug f1 people say dumb stuff often, but I’m not one of those people) f1 is not the pinnacle it’s just a Category and I would like to see more cross category driver movement in order to give people places to go rather than channeling talented young men into a dead end.

[lordofthestrix]

💗

SEND ME A 💗 AND I’LL TALK ABOUT THE RELATIONSHIP OUR MUSES HAVE. I'm guessing you are expecting me to discuss April and Tristan since she was the one who valiantly visited his askbox the second he mentioned his hunger but I'm going to take a detour this time and talk about Tristan and Marcel instead. Because there were some seeds to make a pretty interesting dynamic out of them and the show never delivered on their potential. The thing is...Tristan doesn't respect Klaus. He is a character pretty uniquely positioned in that regard because the majority perceives Klaus as the greatest menace among the original family. Tristan on the other hand is deeply Elijah-centric when it comes to the Mikaelsons. Everything revolves around his sire and even if he hears of something mildly noticeable of his authorship I believe his assumption would be that Elijah must have been behind it. If he ever thinks of Klaus he does so in relation to other people much more personally important to him. Elijah. Aurora. Lucien. But on his own? Klaus bores him in modern times. Tristan thinks that he accomplished ridiculously little for someone of his extreme advantages and supposed ambition. Mikael is no excuse because Tristan knows what it is to have him as your starting point. He also thinks, as I keep him mostly well informed on tvd relevant past events, that someone who had a whole new species sired to him with devoted obedience and not even one of them stomached the idea of staying by his side has no place ever calling himself a leader. Much less a king. Why am I telling you any of this? As a point of comparison. Because I believe that Tristan does have a sincere degree of respect towards Marcel. Why the difference when Marcel is characterized as a son and quasi-heir to Klaus that existed before Hope? Because, if judged under the lens of Tristan's standards, Marcel is already infinitely more remarkable than his adoptive father. The vampires of New Orleans love him. Tristan showed time and time again that while he adores his fear tactics when it comes to inspiring dread in enemies and the general populace, he will choose the same sincere loyalty in regards to those who follow him. Armed with much less power and experience than the Mikaelsons he maintained an impressive influence over the city. He wasn't a weak commander. He kept that monstrous garden where he buried the vampires who betrayed his laws, after all. But he was decisive and beloved by those under him. Tristan wouldn't qualify Marcel's reign as perfect by any means. The whole forbidding all witches from performing a single spell is an unsustainable insanity and he should had a long-term plan to fix that situation, to name just one problem. Still, he would qualify it as an admirable first try. Insanely high as his standards are, he would even admit Marcel as a natural leader of noteworthy charisma. Which is another fun deviation I can play with because while plenty of other characters describe Marcel as living in the shadow of Klaus throughout the show, Tristan's perspective is that Marcel is the man Klaus wishes he could be.

Now...None of this invalidates the fact that I also believe the decision to invite Marcel into the Strix was a 100% calculated, utilitarian move. Lucien warns Klaus about Tristan and encourages him to doubt Elijah. Tristan warns Elijah about Lucien and encourages him to doubt Klaus. As part of an overarching strategy it is rooted in paranoia. It comes from a place of "Well...We know you are not not going to sincerely trust any of us so we might as well increase your suspicion to eleven and have you frenetically going from one to the other until you are dizzy and don't see the knife until it is too late." I interpret Marcel's inclusion into the group as as extension of this. A way to make the Mikaelsons doubt one of the few honest allies they had. And if that gives Tristan use of a spell-proved bar, all the better. Interestingly enough...These reasons also fail to invalidate that Tristan might have earnestly believed he deserved a place among them by the end of his test. There is an interesting scene. It occurs after Marcel gives Tristan the vial of Klaus blood he had in store in order to cure him from the venom. Aya dismisses him and pretty condescendingly lets him know he will be called the next time he is needed and Marcel responds with frustration over not being included. Tristan overrules Aya and agrees with Marcel, which is the first time we see her surprised by one of his decisions. Tristan doesn't actually trust Marcel's intentions at this point. Following episodes showed that much. What I think is going on here, as far as Tristan is concerned is: "You know what? You surpassed expectations and managed to surprise me more times than most people do. Fine. Play your game. I might as well keep you. I will make you see my side is the right side here." Which opens the doors to an interesting dynamic....That is pretty much never explored. In a season that sees Marcel's progressive disillusionment with the Mikaelsons I believe it could have been fun to have Tristan as the devil on his shoulder, wielding the topic in very much the same way he wielded the topic with Freya. "Really. When you think about. Why are you so devoted to them when they only know how to use you in return?" And yes. This is me unofficially inviting you to explore some of these possibilities and send Marcel my way if you are ever interested in doing so. @unsettledspirits

[josenoelrobles]

Amp Up Your Leadership: How to Drive Hypergrowth with High Expectations and Intensity

As a professional and business coach with years of experience guiding organizations toward success, I've always emphasized the importance of leadership in achieving remarkable outcomes. Frank Slootman's book, Amp It Up: Leading for Hypergrowth by Raising Expectations, Increasing Urgency, and Elevating Intensity, provides invaluable insights into how leaders can transform their companies into high-performance entities. This blog post will distill the key principles from Slootman's book, offering practical examples and strategies to help you apply these lessons to your own business. The Power of Amping Up Slootman starts by explaining the concept of "amping up" your organization. The idea is that substantial improvements can be achieved without making drastic changes to the core aspects of your business. Instead, by raising standards, increasing urgency, and elevating intensity, leaders can drive significant performance enhancements. Raise Your Standards One of the most critical steps to hypergrowth is setting higher standards. Slootman points out that people often lower their standards to expedite processes and get tasks off their desks. However, this mindset leads to mediocrity. Instead, aim for "insanely great" outcomes, as Steve Jobs famously did. Practical Example: When reviewing a new product or proposal, instead of settling for something that's "okay," challenge your team to come back when they are genuinely excited about the outcome. This approach fosters a culture of excellence and innovation. Align Your People and Culture Alignment within an organization is crucial. Slootman shares his experience at Snowflake, where he shifted the company's focus from bookings to actual consumption, aligning incentives with the real drivers of revenue. Practical Example: Evaluate how your team’s goals and incentives align with your company's core objectives. Ensure that everyone is working towards the same end and adjust compensation plans to reflect this alignment. For instance, if customer satisfaction is key to your success, make it a significant part of your incentive structure. Sharpen Your Focus To drive hypergrowth, it's essential to sharpen your focus. Slootman emphasizes the need to prioritize analysis over solutions. By understanding the root causes of issues, leaders can implement more effective strategies. Practical Example: Before launching a new initiative, spend ample time analyzing data and gathering insights. This could involve customer feedback, market research, and competitive analysis. Such thorough groundwork will lead to more informed decision-making and better outcomes. Pick Up the Pace Increasing the pace of operations is another critical factor. Slootman uses sports analogies to illustrate how a change in leadership can rapidly turn a losing team into a winning one. Practical Example: Introduce processes that enhance efficiency and reduce bottlenecks. For example, adopt agile methodologies in project management to accelerate development cycles and improve responsiveness to market changes. Transform Your Strategy Finally, Slootman advises leaders to be willing to transform their strategies to seize new opportunities. This involves being adaptable and ready to pivot when necessary. Practical Example: Regularly review your business strategy and be prepared to make bold changes. If a new market opportunity arises, assess how you can reallocate resources and adjust your approach to capitalize on it. This might mean shifting focus from a declining product line to a more promising one. The Amped-Up Leader Becoming an "amped-up" leader means embodying these principles and driving your team with high expectations, urgency, and intensity. Slootman’s experiences at Data Domain, ServiceNow, and Snowflake demonstrate that exceptional leadership can lead to extraordinary results. Key Takeaways: - Raise Standards: Aim for excellence in every aspect of your business. - Align People and Culture: Ensure that everyone is working towards the same goals and that incentives reflect these objectives. - Sharpen Focus: Prioritize thorough analysis to inform your decisions. - Increase Pace: Implement efficient processes to accelerate progress. - Transform Strategy: Be adaptable and ready to pivot to seize new opportunities. By applying these principles, you can drive your organization towards hypergrowth and achieve remarkable success. Remember, the key to great leadership lies in setting high expectations, maintaining urgency, and executing with intensity. Citation: Slootman, F. (2022). Amp It Up: Leading for Hypergrowth by Raising Expectations, Increasing Urgency, and Elevating Intensity. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Read the full article

[360degreesasthecrowflies]

In terms of memories of the trip:

* the insane drag show we watched on the final night featuring all 3 of 1) a seasoned and very funny shady host who was also a musical theatre live singer, 2) a splits and tricks style dancer & 3) a looks queen who was able to deliver really top tier emotive lipsync performances to classic standards like River Deep Mountain High & ABBA

* flying down the motorway singing at the top of our lungs some classics including Wide Open Spaces, Shania Twain, Fleetwood Mac & Alison Krauss

* my accent reverting back to match my hometown

* 'sunset lesbian' which became a running joke throughout the trip based on a funny label on a flag we saw

* the fact essentially I ended up travelling about 300 miles for a loaf of bread

* our totally polar opposite approaches to retail vs culture on a holiday situation!

* the amazing chinese food that's just like how I remember it and is never quite right here

* the posh cafes that I never expected the likes of to be there

* the way that all the food in the supermarkets and even the chain cafes was slightly to completely different

* the fact I didn't realise how much I remembered about the past until by talking someone through it it all came rushing back to me. Aren't our brains complex computers?!