#how much i didn't intend to write this

[smartzelda]

Sorry guys I gotta speak my truth on this one

I'm not kidding when I say that I think that blaming shit media literacy from fans on shipping/shippers avoids the actual root of the problem to throw people you can easily throw under the bus (simply because it's not unpopular to consider people who post about ships or ship characters in media as having lesser or derivative tastes by default)

And here's why.

I think when you blame people who are "shippers" or "consume media through shipping lenses", the true root of it all is a mindset problem.

In actually, putting on shipping lenses can be helpful when trying to analyze a piece of media. When analyzing media you're supposed to approach it through a number of mindsets and put on different lenses (both to deepen your personal understanding of the media, and to pick it apart and see what you can find there (whether intentional or not on the author's part)), and different ships can be some of those lenses

When it comes to ships between main characters (for those who are genuinely willing to see what the narrative is showing with their relationship and what it's doing), there are times when analyzing it from a shipping lens may be helpful. As someone from KH fandom, I have seen people come to deeper understandings and pick canon apart in the process of analyzing a relationship that is genuinely integral to the story (platonic or not). I've also seen people get into rarepairs of characters who barely interact or who just suffer little screen time, and I've seen them come to better understandings of those side characters and how they potentially fit into the world of the media simply because people are now focusing on these characters and how they fit into the narrative.

Frankly, I resent the idea that the only way to truly objectively analyze a piece of media is by turning off the part of your brain that gets excited over relationships and individual characters. Don't get me wrong, that is a way to approach a piece of media and a valid one at that, but the truth is that we cannot be free of bias.

For instance, I was watching House MD with my parents circa last year. At some point I started heavily tuning into what was going on with House and Wilson's relationship. My parents, on the other hand, were largely watching casually. They're not thinking of character relationships or getting heavily invested in most characters, they're watching because they like watching. One of them in particular did try to analyze things that were happening in the show as they happened. However, when it came to the scene late in the series where House threw out Dominika's letter approving her American citizenship, my parents could understand that he was doing that because he didn't want her to leave, but not much beyond that. I ended up explaining to them that House's fake marriage for Dominika was an explicit parallel to when Wilson was living with House in the early seasons. Both situations started with House being none too happy about it but ultimately letting them stay, spending a considerable amount of effort getting them to leave/getting this situation to be finally over so he didn't have to deal with it anymore, and then by the time a piece of news comes through that would mean the person in question actually leaves, House hides this news as long as he can. Because he doesn't actually want them to leave and has grown attached. And by doing this he became a self fulfilling prophecy. By reacting to the truth of Wilson and Dominika leaving him the way he does, he seals his fate and they ultimately leave anyways. Maybe I ship Hilson, but becoming open to how their relationship was handled allowed me to transition to doing character studies and recognizing patterns/parallels that I wouldn't have noticed if I didn't particularly care about the characters or their relationship.

Likewise, I've seen mutuals complain about how people who don't like or don't care about certain characters often overlook these characters (what they're actually like and their place in the narrative), while the mutuals in question (by default) are able to come to deeper understanding of what the writers/story is trying to do because they care about this funky guy

You can't eradicate bias when you're engaging in media analysis, but you can consciously put on a range of lenses and observe the media through different povs with the goal of understanding the media better or bolstering your reading of it. And those lenses/povs can include focusing on specific relationships or the perpective of certain characters

And this is why I say it's actually a mindset problem. Shippers and people who have this one blorbo they like a lot aren't inherently terrible "fandom brained individuals" who are the root of media analysis problems. The problem only arises when people's readings/analysis of a piece of media are inherently restrictive/narrow and self centered. Your problem is with people who view a piece of media through a ship they like but don't keep an open mind about it, and whose "media analysis"/views on canon cannot be split from fanon and their comfortability levels. These are the people whose "media analysis" starts and ends with justifying their fanon as canon, whose views on media revolve around sorting characters and relationships into categories they personally enjoy rather than trying to understand what's going on.

Here's another example.

Here we have a fictional ship we'll call uhhhh...Blanebin. this fictional ship I made up on the spot for characters that don't exist named Blane and Corbin

Person A is super into Blanebin. They're part of the main cast of characters and canonically childhood best friends, so person A (as much as they enjoy fanart and fic) is also enjoying analyzing how narratively important to each other they are. Recently, Corbin started dating another character in canon, but Person A is enjoying watching how Blane is reacting to this. "Is this potentially a tell that Blane is jealous or is having complicated feelings about this? What if he was, how would that contextualize his behavior this season? Here's what I think based on how Blane dealt with explicit jealousy last season in a different situation". It's not impossible that person A is still missing further understanding due to their obsession with Blanebin, but at the end of the day this obsession has allowed them to start picking through the characters both in and outside this relationship. It has allowed them to see potential subtext and theorize on what might happen next with these characters' relationship. Not to mention that with addition of Corbin dating someone else, instead of trying to erase this fact or state that Corbin canonically isn't into that person, Person A is trying to factor in how Corbin's current dating life affects his relationship with Blane (irregardless on personal views on the nature of Corbin's relationship with the person he's dating).

Person B is also super into Blanebin. They really enjoy fanart and fic of the characters, love obsessing over their moments together, and just feel like there's really something between the characters. To person B, every moment between them is just further proof that the writers are ship teasing them. But Corbin getting together with someone else this season? Oh that pissed person B off. They cannot believe that even though Corbin and Blane are CLEARLY gay for each other the writers had Corbin get with someone else this season. Perhaps, they think, it was even a decision specifically made to spite fans. How evil of the writers to tease a perfectly good ship and then have them not get together first? They must have been just doing those teases to get views from Blanebin shippers those scoundrels. To Person B, since Corbin started dating someone when he obviously has some chemistry with Blane (even though the series is far from over) means that Blanebin can never get together now and Corbin x person he's dating is ruining Blanebin by existing. In fact, they think, this is terrible writing for Corbin to be dating someone else because they don't like that relationship and don't see the point. Obviously if the writers were good then Corbin would have started dating Blane instead because this was supposed to be the Blanebin show.

Person C despises Blanebin. Don't get them wrong, they've always enjoyed the character's childhood friendship, but they actually have always thought Blane would have been better off with Victoria. They have a lot of moments too! But they're tired of seeing people ship Blanebin. Corbin just got together with someone else, so obviously that's not gonna work out. Plus Corbin and Blane totally has always given person C bro vibes. In fact, person C thinks, sure Corbin and Blane have a close friendship, but people shouldn't be shipping them. Person C likes Blanetoria and Blanetoria can't be canon if Corbin is in the way of it. So Person C likes to read Blanebin as siblings anyways. Sure they're canonically friends, but obviously their friendship turned into brotherhood. This means that nothing can be in the way of Blanetoria and Corbin can keep dating the person he's already canonically dating. Actually, now Blanebin just straight up makes Person C uncomfortable. Don't the pesky shippers understand that Blanebin are sibling coded because they're childhood best friends and that they're important to each other because they're brothers? It's obvious to anyone with eyes.

Sure, ships are involved here, but is the root of this problem shipping? Character A isn't as knowledgeable of other characters in the plot due to this lens they're using, but at the end of the day they're dedicated to analysis. Their love of the characters is pushing them beyond what they like or dislike to try to understand what might be happening through their lens. Not perfect, but they are slowly broadening their horizons. But Person B and C's problems here are their restrictiveness. What is or should be canon to them is tantamount to what they personally like or find comfortable. Is person C actually analyzing the this fake show when they decide to "read" Blanebin as basically canonically siblings (and this all of their moments are totally a bro thing) just because they don't like Blanebin and the idea of them getting together over Blanetoria makes them uncomfortable? Is person B actually analyzing this fake show when their "analysis" of Blanebin goes only as far as asserting it's being ship teased and deciding anything short of canonizing Blanebin is a targeted attack or "bad writing" because it's not what they wanted personally to happen?

This is what I'm talking about. This is the mindset. Shipping isn't the problem. The problem is when people marry fanon and canon to the point where they have a vested interest in superimposing their fanon over canon as "a reading" and trying to make "collective decisions" on what is canon (or what canon is trying to say) based on what does or doesn't make them uncomfortable. The problem is people being restrictive and centering their own likes and dislikes in the conversation, so they can only interact with canon "analysis" wise by deciding what is canon or should be canon "as obviously agreed on by everyone". You can't simply claim you like media analysis. To be able to analyze media and bolster your views on any given canon, you must be open to looking at it through multiple povs, to studying characters without trying to pretend things you don't like don't exist or do like do exist. There is a balance that must be kept between trying to keep objectivity and putting on specific focus/bias based upon the lenses you're putting on. You have to be willing to try to figure out what a media is doing or saying, not saying you're trying to figure out what it's saying while in actuality trying to define the narrative around what people believe it's saying in ways that suit you.

Thank you for coming to my ted talk.

[writing-is-hard-af]

It's not just that they have drawn out this Eddie storyline for so much longer than was necessary (almost an entire season, especially in this show, where for example, the lawsuit arc was resolved in approximately two episodes), it's that for almost its entirety, it has been treated as a minor, occasionally brought up plot point. It's the fact that throughout 8a, Eddie's storyline and character got equal, if not less, attention and screentime to Brad Torrence, a character who is not even a member of the 118 or dispatch or related to either of those. It's the fact that instead of showing us most of the resolutions to this arc, they have kept it off screen, left it up to the viewers to fill the gaps on the resolution to probably the biggest personal arc of Eddie's character. It's the fact that even though this has been a major storyline, the show hasn't treated it as such. It's the fact that instead of resolving it before doing a major thing like the entire Contagion storyline, they ended episode 13 with it partially resolved (but still so open ended that we as the audience have no real idea of what the plan is with Eddie and Chris from now on), and then in episode 14 and 15 proceeded to almost act like Eddie's character had never even been part of the 118, with him not even being mentioned once in either of these episodes. It's the fact that in what is (whether it ends up being a massive fake-out or a real, genuine character death that changes the entire tone of this show) the biggest and most impactful storyline both in the sense of found family and also scale, Eddie was not just not present, but was flat out not part of it at all. It's the fact that despite being a main, and having been a main for seven years, Eddie has been kept on the sidelines of so many things this season (and to a certain extent last season), kept involved mostly through small details. It's the fact that every time they start dive deeper into his character and his relationships with other characters, the storyline is either dropped or ignored the next episode (in the case of 8a following Confessions and now, in the case of Contagion not just following the start to Eddie's resolution, but not even including him finding out on screen what happened to Bobby).

There have been so many places in this season, where the logical route would have been to not just include Eddie, but tie it into his character and its development, to have him fighting for not just Chris but his family in the 118. The biggest flaw in this entire season in terms of Eddie, is that they seem to have forgotten that the Eddie from the beginning of Season 2 who really only had Chris is not the same Eddie that he is now, and that Eddie and Chris are not the new, not really involved part of the family. Every other character (including now Ravi) has had their role in the large extended and complicated found family that is the 118 reaffirmed in some sense by their conversations with other characters. (The support of Karen and Hen for Chim when Maddie was taken, Athena talking to Maddie when she lost her voice, Ravi having personal conversations with Buck, Bobby, and Hen, and risking his life and potential charges of domestic terrorism for Chim, Buck and Athena working together in Contagion, etc.)

But Eddie has been, in a sense, turned into a side character. Not necessarily because of his move to Texas, because had that had the potential to merely be a source of growth not just for himself (which it was, to an extent) but also for his relationship with the 118 as a whole (which there are pieces of through the reassurance by Bobby---through the words of a different fire captain---that he would always be welcome with them). But because he has been excluded from the rest of them plot wise and his storylines have been treated as almost entirely secondary. Even in the beginning of 8b, when he was getting a lot of focus because of his move and his house, his character and his storyline was quickly overshadowed by the serial killer plot and made secondary. (That is not to diminish the storyline for Maddie, nor am I trying to say here that she matters less by any means, but that by having these two storylines occur at the same time, it did a disservice to both of them because neither story or arc could really get the focus it deserved.) His role and involvement with the rest of the team has felt very overshadowed and diminished, and not in the sense of his character is less important, but more so neglected. While a lot of 8b has been fun and better than I expected it to be, there is a strong inconsistency with the plots. Not even entirely just Eddie's, because the main thing leading to this with him is that they add new storylines for the 118 and focus on that hastily resolved plot for an episode or two between they return to Eddie, leaving the 118's story feeling slightly incomplete and Eddie's discombobulated.

The issue with the Eddie of it all in Contagion is that it not only harshly and quickly detracts from the ending of 13 by having it be entirely irrelevant to the plot, it also is the kind of storyline that is meant to highlight the dynamics of a team, a family. And it did, remarkably well for the rest of the 118 and Ravi and Athena, but in excluding Eddie, the storyline seems to make it appear as if Eddie is not---and has not---been part of this dynamic. All while it gets confirmed by Buck, that this is happening barely (if even) a month after Eddie left. That hole he left that was so obvious and painful in episode 11 and continued to be an underlying thing through 12 and 13 (particularly with Ravi trying to fill Eddie's shoes) was completely gone and thus, made it so Eddie was both not impacted on screen by the events and he was not impacting anything by his absence, which should have had a prominent impact. I do think that the Contagion storyline could have worked in this space, with Eddie still in El Paso, without doing a disservice to his character. But that possibility was made null the second his absence was not felt by the characters.

While it would not have made sense with where they ended episode 13 for Eddie to have been back in LA for this episode, let alone back with the 118, and it would have been too far to have him immediately fly back to LA the second the danger happened, he should have at least been made aware of what was happening. On screen. He is, and has been, just as much family to Bobby and the rest of them as every other member of the firefam, and regardless of where he was, regardless of how it would fit into the way the narrative was told, he should have been there, because even though he is in El Paso, focusing on Chris, Bobby was family too. And it truly feels like that aspect of his character, of his relationships, has been forgotten in these two episodes in particular.

There are three episodes left in this season, and while it truly isn't possible in my eyes to fix the disservice of these two episodes to Eddie, these could finally wrap up the storylines and plot points they have left hanging from Eddie this entire season. But if they continue to sideline his character, I find it hard to see how they will fix it. Eddie is part of the 118 family, and I really, desperately hope the writing will remember that because this is beyond a drawn out storyline.

[wavesoutbeingtossed]

I spoke with my friend about loml and the ‘mr steal your girl then make her cry’ line and we both think mh is totally the guy that would brag about his ‘conquests’ which makes the line both ‘uuu she clocked him’ and also ouchie

he absolutely is that type. That's his whole vibe, as are all men of his profile. The whole point is to prove they can do it and humiliate the person. It happened the first time around when they had their fling and he went around afterwards saying it'd be emasculating to be her boyfriend.

And that's why I don't find it particularly interesting to talk about him beyond reinforcing the cruelty of what he's done (and not just to Taylor, she's just the most well-known because we saw it happen in real time) , and why that cruelty is also important for understanding what Taylor is saying in TTPD about the experience. It was not a grand love affair, it was a seduction scheme for sport by someone who specifically targeted someone who was extremely vulnerable and saw his "in" to try this again.

[king-odysseus-of-ithaca]

(obligatory "keep reading" section because this accidentally turned into a long post whoops)

I'm always so anxious about interacting with other EPIC/EPIC-adjacent kins, because I feel like I might end up overstepping and making things awkward. Especially with a Penelope or Telemachus. There’s always that fear of rejection, even when every part of me wants to reach out and talk to them, even when I miss them like nothing else.

It’s kind of funny—or, well, not really—but I felt a similar way those first few months (first year? More than that? Less? I don’t know, time is strange) back home after 20 years apart. Many people like to think that everything mostly went back to normal, or if not normal then calm and warm and soft and peaceful. And, well, it was, in a way. There were times when it was.

But it also wasn’t that simple. I was gone for 20 years. Penelope and I had been apart for 20 years, and Telemachus and I had never gotten the chance to know each other during those 20 years. I had to relearn everything—we all did, since a lot of things changed since I was gone and a lot more changed when I came back. I had to relearn who Penelope was, because she had changed too, and I had to learn who my son was, which—while awkward and tense at times—was the greatest joy I had ever experienced. It was a good thing, learning and relearning about the people I love most, but it was also difficult because, well, 20 years. 20 years of being apart and going through our own traumas. 20 years, and now suddenly reunited and whole, except the pieces didn't quite fit together neatly just yet, because healing is a difficult thing.

I remember that interactions with my son were often strained, because I was essentially a stranger to him. A dangerous stranger, with too much blood on his hands and too many sharp edges, angry and unstable and tired of being so. Meanwhile, Telemachus had just been freed from a bunch of vile men taking over his home and plotting harm against both him and his mother, after which I was suddenly in the picture again. So I do not blame him for being wary, even if it hurt and I felt terrible about it. Even I was wary of myself, even after Telemachus warmed up to me, even after he eventually told me he trusted me (which I then cried about).

It was a slow and bumpy process, coming back together and loving each other and being with each other, all three of us, but it was worth it. Everything would always be worth it, if it meant getting to be with my family and being whole again.

Those first few months(?) after I came back home were similar to what I feel now. Not quite the same, but similar enough. Because... that life? That life was forcefully pushed to the past and I am separated from my family once more, and again it has been so long. With all those years apart again plus an entire lifetime this time, not to mention I don't even know if they're my canonmates, trying to interact with these Penelope and Telemachus kins has me flailing on what to say and how to act. And gods, every time I do interact with them—canonmate or not, because they're still my sourcemates and my family, even if they might not be my version of them—it leaves me feeling both giddy and yearning. I miss them. I want to talk to them. But I don't know how, and I don't want to make anyone uncomfortable, so I end up lurking most of the time and staring longingly from afar.

(...This was not meant to be a vent. And it was supposed to be short. What the fuck even happened here.)

[fishparasite]

quite genuinely i am in awe of smut writers. i tried it once and nearly died of embarrassment and i'm not even particularly shy about sex.

[yyoon5]

Just finished watching the Japanese movie "Confessions" made back in 2010. I'm not a film enthusiast by any means because movies were major parts of the traumatic periods in my life, but every now and then, a good screenshot of a beautiful scene finds me on Pinterest, and I get intrigued. Mostly Chinese movies, but tonight, something fresh.

The movie is terrifying. Absolutely horrible. It shocked me how I could feel so much for even the villain-protagonists of the story. I cried when Shuya's mother died and I sobbed even harder when Mizuki died, though I knew for both, in a way, they deserved it. You're not supposed to feel for killers and those who support them by all means, but the movie made me understand why they committed such crimes. I'd been warned by a friend going into it that it is like a "fever dream" and I agree. The amount of twists in the plot made the film surreal for sure.

I guess it's surprising because even when I do put on the rare film, it's never a horror movie. I went into this one without watching the trailer and expected a romance movie, because the screenshot I'd found on Pinterest was of the kissing scene between Shuya and the other male classmate. The kissing scene was even better knowing it was more of a weapon than romance. But really, I've never cried four times in a film before, or shook so hard in my life. One of the best films I've ever seen, hands down.

I would read the novel but I'm not fluent in Japanese...instead, I'll utilize the film as inspiration for my own horror works. The film was quite graphic but I enjoyed the visual work, as a photography enthusiast. What surprised me the most overall was that I understood what was happening and who was who in mere minutes. With other films I've watched such as Unknown Pleasures, I tend to be unable to grasp what the film is about or what is going on and why. The movie was quite immersive and I didn't even feel as though an hour had passed.

[disbarredgoose0]

Martyr.

[longagoitwastuesday]

Rereading my own posts about JJK and the tags I left in those posts is making me want to chew wood. I knew virtually nothing but yeah yeah. The parallels between Gojo and Sukuna not only exist, but they are key. Yeah, Gojo indeed knows, trusts and relies on the people around his age he interacts with in that flippant, intimate and vulnerable way (Ijichi, Shoko, Nanami, Utahime); they were his classmates and childhood friends. Yes, Megumi and Gojo do go way back, I wasn't hallucinating it; in the last chapters, this will weight on the scenes in which Megumi laughs and smiles faintly. Yes, Gojo does sincerely care about things and the kids, and tries his best to do good and be good, even if he's also annoying and rude. Yes, indeed it is all very lonely. Yes, indeed there's ontological alienation. Yes, indeed love is like a curse, it is even stated that way. Yes, indeed last words doom, and keep people going; that too is a blessing and a curse, like love is. Yes, there's significance in Gojo using "boku". Yes, "when granted everything, you can't do anything... but just die peacefully" does apply to Gojo's life miserably. Yes, indeed there is a mix of longing for a normal life and being drunk on power, the feeling that one is hindering the future generations and a desire to make it better for them. Yes, indeed it is a mix of selfish and selfless motives. Yes, Gojo musing about Nobara's power being intriguing is indeed shady. Yes, Gojo's death will be done in a way that imply continuity kinda similarly to Cantor's hypothesis on the cardinality of the Continuum. And so on and on. Unfair how well constructed this manga is. Unfair how much wasted potential there is in it too. I can't stop thinking about it. I can't stop being frustrated about it all. It's so good. It's so unsatisfactory. The last chapter made me smile because oh it made so much sense, of course; it also broke my heart, because of course. I wish I had never gotten into it. It's given me a lot of joy, despite everything. I've drowned in remembrance. I've had a lot of fun. And in short, I love it, quite honestly. I can't even wish I didn't. I resent it, but I can't even wish I didn't. I love it, it's both a blessing and a curse; but that's how it always goes when it comes to love.

[thatscarletflycatcher]

I have been trying for days to find a topic for the "paper" I need to turn in for this Philosophy of History course on Friday, and I got nothing.

I so intensely dislike this subject you cannot imagine.

[leslutdepointedulac]

So me and my family spent the morning at a rescue looking at dogs and there's two that we're looking at inparticular and I shit you not one is giving pure Louis vibes while the other reminds me so much of Lestat it's literally Louis and Lestat but if they were dogs. The only thing is, we're only getting one but we love them both so making a decision is going to be so hard

[wewontbesleeping]

ok there is not one true interpretation of a song and all that, whatever, fine, death of the author and all that. but sometimes people's interpretations are so stupid it's like. no. that's NOT what she meant. and further, NO ONE has ever meant that before.

[giantkillerjack]

Excellent news! The next chapter I am writing of my graphic novel features three characters who are based on famous actors - and I just found out EACH OF THEM HAVE THEIR OWN EPISODE OF THE CLASSIC MUPPET SHOW! As character research goes, this is such a treat! These chapters are gonna be so fun and silly!

(Also, it turns out Lynda Carter did an episode on this show!!!! Which is so wild to me because I think of her as solely a modern celebrity, since I learned about her from her tumblr. But it turns out that linear time is a thing, and so there she is in the 70s as well! Right in between Christopher Reeve and Carol Channing!!! @reallyndacarter just in case you see this, that is so cool!!!)

[cha1cedony]

I'm gonna ramble about fic writing (while taking a break from actually writing, but I'm making progress this time! I promise! woohoo. knock on wood). ANYWAY, one of my favorite things to consider as far as characterization goes is self-awareness. Because there's so many different ways and degrees to which a protagonist can be self-aware, and I just LOVE seeing how characters shift (not necessarily 'grow') over the timeline of a story. I love thinking about where a specific character would choose willful ignorance, where they would choose to come to terms with a harsh reality, where they would be entirely oblivious, where they're NOT oblivious but can't even verbalize it in their own internal monologue... chef's kiss. My favorite stuff to write

[batsplat]

Lin Jarvis does a great interview on the paddock pass podcast, and he talks about getting Jorge Lorenzo as well as vaguely saying that they tried to get Casey but it didn’t work out

yeah, loved that interview! love lin jarvis! and yeah that's the thing... somebody somewhere isn't telling the truth because it's just... tough to piece together what jorge, casey and jarvis have said (plus supplementary reporting from the time AND the timeline of the valentino/f1 flirtations) and come away with an internally consistent narrative. for instance, I do think jarvis isn't like... lying when he said the f1 rumours prompted the succession planning, but also. valentino had confirmed he was staying in motogp by the time jarvis says they signed jorge, so it is a bit disingenuous to make it sound like they only did it because of the f1 thing. nothing wrong with it! succession planning is a good idea and the valentino/jorge pairing was a bit of a headache but ultimately a big W for yamaha! but still, jarvis is over-egging the 'didn't expect valentino to still be there' angle

I think we can be pretty confident that valentino didn't want casey in his team (which, a win for talent spotting) and was willing to express this opinion to yamaha - and we also know that paddock gossip held valentino had blocked the move. I think we can also be pretty confident that in mid 2006, gun to his head, valentino would have preferred casey over jorge as a teammate. first off, in mid 2006 I kinda feel like you bet on jorge's ultimate talent over casey's? idk maybe valentino's talent spotting REALLY came through for him here, but casey does look like a very fast crasher and jorge (well on his way to a first 250cc title) has more hype surrounding him. secondly, valentino was just more kindly disposed towards casey As A Guy than jorge - with jorge you do feel that, any competitive calculus aside, valentino went 'oh god not him'. keeping that in mind... tbh. I reckon yamaha played casey and possibly valentino too

the one time we have actual record of valentino not being too keen on casey in his team was when at sachsenring that year he made a remark along the lines of that it'd be better for casey to stay at honda. which, yes, you'd think would add credence to the 'valentino blocked casey' theory... but if anything, it's the other way round - because lin jarvis says they signed jorge in jarvis' hotel room at laguna 2006, which he remembers because jorge wasn't racing there (only premier class raced at laguna). that's the very next race after sachsenring. it doesn't really make sense for valentino to simultaneously have so much power within yamaha that he could block casey one race and fail to block jorge the next. according to jorge, they signed at motegi 2006, which is a bit later but also not... that much

casey deliberately implied that valentino blocked him at least once and possibly twice from joining yamaha. he said that ''''''somebody inside yamaha''''''''' *wink wink nudge nudge wink nudge* didn't want him there - and was bad-mouthing him to accomplish it. now, listen, this may be true, no evidence either way. we also know from reporting from the time that rumours about casey being in trouble for next year popped up in august 2006 (aka right after laguna). according to news reports, after having been turned down by yamaha, casey was demanding more money than honda was willing to give... and it threatened to leave casey without a seat. interestingly, casey alleges in his autobiography that he was told yamaha was saying he was demanding vast amounts of money from them - which casey denies. from contemporary news articles, casey was in danger of losing that lcr seat to dovi (who ended up only joining motogp in 2008), though casey makes no mention of his lcr seat being in trouble in his autobiography (but has more recently said he was left without a ride, more on that in a moment). there's also reporting he asked for a lot of money from DUCATI. at which point.... well, idk man

who knows how much money he was demanding! who knows if that was a sticking point with one, two or even three factories! or who knows if it was rumours that were deliberately spread to fuck him over. the one thing we can take from this is that valentino can't have been responsible for all these rumours (or, I mean I suppose he could have, but I'm unconvinced he had a vendetta against casey in 2006)

this is what casey has said recent-ish on the topic:

which... yeah, idk. the scapegoat sounds like he's talking more about the 2005 negotiations collapsing than 2006, though I guess the phrasing isn't super conclusive either way. maybe it was a tech3 rider for 2006 who casey thought he was being 'scapegoated' for... maybe not! I still kinda suspect it makes the most sense that they stringed casey along while they were trying to lock jorge down - jorge dates the start of negotiations around march of 2006. (here's a bit of trivia I truly have no idea what to do with: according to jorge's biography, valentino's lawyer was a friend of his manager's dani amatriain and gave them the in at yamaha. now, you may think this makes it sound like valentino did prefer jorge, but the biography ALSO directly refers to the story that valentino blocked casey and discusses the widely held paddock impression that valentino didn't want jorge at yamaha. so. idk man.) we know jorge was in talks with other manufacturers - so it makes sense to either a) have a fallback option and/or b) have another promising talent to try and decrease how much jorge's asking for. in summary: they were definitely negotiating with both casey and jorge at the same time. if valentino's sachsenring comments are anything to go by, then the negotiations with casey were still going on at that point - and if jarvis' comments are to be believed, they went for jorge at laguna. reporting from the time confirms that negotiations with casey had concluded in august. casey makes it sound like they essentially ghosted him

(while it is technically possible they wanted casey as a placeholder in 2007 for jorge in 2008.... that feels quite a lot of hassle, to shake up the team for a kid you're going to bin anyway in a year - and edwards' performances weren't offensively bad enough to warrant that. it's a possibility but not a likely one imo)

so................. uh. again, I don't really know, but is it possible that valentino just chose a spectacularly poor time to suggest casey sticks with honda - and that flamed rumours that valentino had successfully blocked casey? you certainly wouldn't be able to blame casey for drawing that conclusion. maybe valentino really DID actively work to keep casey away from yamaha, but is it that likely he was successful? if so, surely yamaha's heart was set on jorge anyway. idk, for narrative purposes I do like that valentino already had his eye set on casey by mid 2006 and apparently had more faith in his potential than the actual manufacturers did. it's cute! compelling. and I believe that bit! I just don't think any politicking valentino may have done had much effect on yamaha's choice - and it's easy to read too much into the sachsenring comment. maybe this just ended up being awfully convenient for yamaha, where they kinda fucked about with two young talents and then by the end of it both of them thought valentino was responsible. but also. I don't know, that's just my best guess based on the evidence I have, maybe valentino really was involved. idk. that's where we're at

[boxoftheskyking]

Might I give some advice:

Not everyone has (or needs to have) the energy to thoughtfully respond to republicans on the Internet. You do not have to do that.

But some people do, and can. And I think we gotta let them.

An example:

I have a former teacher, I'll call her Grace, who is an incredibly kind woman in her 70s. Devout catholic, had voted for various parties over the years, but has been pretty strictly democrat over the past 15-20 because that aligns with her values of kindness and service.

She shared a post about the pope's recent letter and expressed that she agreed with his concerns about how trump is treating immigrants. A friend of hers commented a long paragraph basically saying "dear Grace I care for you but I don't understand how you can be a Christian and a democrat. Blah blah abortion blah blah gender blah blah drugs."

Grace replied "I'm very busy right now but I am going to respond to you soon with my thoughts". When she did it was an incredibly generous, rational monologue that connected with this person's humanity, their shared religious values, and made a beautiful case for why she supports who she does. I didn't agree with a good half of what she said as I am not a Christian, but the result was an expression of values that I think put her on the side of justice and compassion.

The person replied and thanked her and said she had a lot to think about. It was probably the best case scenario for a Facebook politics conversation

You know what came very close to ruining it? A bunch of (mostly younger) people piling on with "fuck you you racist maga pos" and "no one has to explain anything to you, go to hell" etc etc. Even after Grace wrote that she intended to reply herself.

I watched this republican respond to all the easy, quick insults by saying "this is why I don't think any democrats can be Christian, this is how you all speak to me." If Grace hadn't put so much work into writing her response in a way that was tailored to fit this person, I would not be surprised if that person left Facebook doubly certain that Christian nationalism is the way to go.

I'm not saying we can't cuss out jackasses. I'm not saying everyone needs to respond to bad faith arguments like Grace did or use their time like she did.

But this was on Grace's Facebook page, and interrupted the work she already volunteered to do. Just so these individuals could feel like they "did something" and got a shot off at an enemy.

I think that's selfish and childish and unproductive. They could have said anything they wanted in their own space, but they made grace's job harder for no fuckin reason. And then "loved" her reply and said "that was beautiful Grace, thank you for sharing your thoughts"

Like... Buddies. Pals. If someone volunteers to scrub the toilet fucking let them.

[geddy-leesbian]

it's honestly so fucked up that we'll never get a Gaiden remake she deserves a remake glow up 😔