#segment analysis

[secrets-of-shopify-updated]

Optimizing Business Decisions with Contribution Format Income Statements: A CRO Perspective

Explore how contribution format income statements can optimize conversion rates and drive profitability in business decision-making.

Source: https://cro.media/insights/strategies/contribution-format-income-statements-cro-perspective/

In the world of Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO), data-driven decision-making is paramount. A Contribution Format Income Statement (CFIS)—which separates variable and fixed costs to calculate the contribution margin—can be a valuable tool for enhancing business performance, especially when aligned with CRO practices. By analyzing the financial health of different business segments, companies can make informed decisions that impact conversion rates, product offerings, and resource allocation, driving improved ROI and profitability.

Contribution Format as a Performance Metric

At its core, the CFIS provides insights into a company's contribution margin, which reveals how much revenue is left after covering variable costs. This is a crucial metric for CRO specialists because it highlights the direct impact of sales on profitability, excluding the influence of fixed costs. By analyzing this metric, businesses can identify which product lines or services contribute the most to overall profitability and adjust marketing strategies accordingly. The higher the contribution margin, the more profitable a segment is, making it a key target for optimization efforts.

For example, a business with a high contribution margin in a specific product line can increase marketing spend or enhance the user experience to maximize conversions. Conversely, underperforming segments may warrant strategic adjustments, such as price changes or discontinuation, which aligns with the principles of CRO: maximizing returns from optimized channels.

Segment Analysis: A Path to Better Conversion Strategies

In CRO, segment analysis plays a crucial role in identifying high-potential areas. Contribution format income statements break down business performance by specific segments, making it easier for managers and CRO experts to isolate and evaluate the profitability of different products or services. This allows for a more focused approach to conversion rate optimization, as efforts can be directed at the highest-contributing segments.

For example, ABC Cabinets Inc., as presented in the article, analyzes its cabinet and fixture segments separately. With a contribution margin ratio of 50% for the overall business, the fixtures segment contributes at a significantly higher rate. A CRO team can use this information to prioritize digital marketing, UX improvements, and promotional campaigns for the fixture segment, knowing that it will have a more substantial impact on the business’s profitability.

Break-Even Analysis and CRO Insights

A critical function of the CFIS is its role in break-even analysis. By using the contribution margin ratio, businesses can calculate the sales threshold required to cover fixed costs, and identify the exact point at which a product line or business segment becomes profitable. This can guide decision-making related to customer acquisition strategies and pricing models.

For example, in the case of ABC Cabinets, the break-even sales for the cabinet segment is nearly double that of the fixtures segment. A CRO team could use this information to refine customer acquisition costs, ensuring they focus on channels that bring in higher-contributing customers for lower-cost segments, maximizing their ROI. Additionally, understanding break-even points allows businesses to prioritize high-margin products and focus on optimizing user flows that drive sales for these segments.

Conversion Rate and Profitability: The CRO Lens

While the contribution margin helps in segment analysis, the CRO team can take this data and assess how effectively each segment’s conversion rate can be improved. By understanding the variables that contribute most to profitability, CRO teams can design tailored conversion funnels that optimize customer journeys, reduce friction, and ultimately increase the proportion of visitors who convert into profitable customers.

For instance, if a business discovers that its fixtures segment has a higher contribution margin but also a lower conversion rate compared to its cabinet line, it can implement CRO techniques to enhance the user experience, optimize call-to-action buttons, improve landing page design, or even retarget ads toward segments most likely to purchase.

Applying Contribution Margin Ratios to CRO Metrics

The contribution margin ratio formula provides a straightforward method for CRO teams to calculate profitability: [ \text{Contribution Margin Ratio} = \frac{\text{Revenue} - \text{Variable Costs}}{\text{Revenue}} ] With this ratio, businesses can not only gauge profitability but also adjust CRO strategies based on a product’s ability to generate returns. The higher the margin, the more resources can be allocated to optimize conversion rates without sacrificing profitability.

Furthermore, understanding this ratio on a granular level—by product, segment, or marketing channel—enables conversion specialists to prioritize efforts where they will yield the most financial return. This precise targeting ensures that investments in CRO deliver measurable business outcomes.

Financial Decision-Making and CRO Integration

Incorporating a contribution format income statement into CRO practices provides an analytical foundation for strategic financial decisions. With clear visibility into the impact of variable costs on revenue generation, businesses can focus their CRO efforts on areas that will result in the most profitable outcomes. Whether it’s revisiting pricing strategies, optimizing marketing funnels, or refining product offerings, the CFIS serves as a powerful tool for CRO experts to align financial goals with user experience improvements.

For example, if a company sees a high contribution margin from a product but recognizes that its conversion rate is lagging, they may decide to implement A/B testing to optimize landing pages, check-out flows, and product descriptions. With these changes, they can increase conversions without significantly impacting their profit margins, ensuring that each user interaction translates into greater revenue.

Final Thoughts

The contribution format income statement is not just a financial tool; it's a strategic asset for Conversion Rate Optimization. By leveraging contribution margins, segment analysis, and break-even points, businesses can make data-driven decisions that not only optimize conversion rates but also enhance overall profitability. CRO teams can use these insights to prioritize high-margin segments, refine customer acquisition strategies, and fine-tune user experience—ensuring that every decision made has a direct, measurable impact on the bottom line.

[bommagoni]

Grain Market Size, Share, Trends, Industry Outlook 2030

[samijey]

someone from WWE production really saw Jey acting like this on camera and said yeah this is absolutely fine let's put it on TV

[transmascutena]

Bird Symbolism in Revolutionary Girl Utena

There is quite a large amount of bird and bird-related imagery, symbolism, allegories and metaphors in Revolutionary Girl Utena, and i think all of them are very interesting. Here is a ~2000 word essay about the topic.

The Birdcage Garden: Anthy and Ohtori Academy

This is perhaps the most obvious of the bird symbols in Utena. It is literally Anthy's cage. It is where she, as the Rose Bride, is supposed to spend her time watering the flowers. Touga talks about never letting her out of it once he wins her, and calls her a "lovely little bird." And doesn't that just sum up what so many people's idealized version of her is like? A pretty thing to be admired, only in captivity.

I think the birdcage can also be seen as a sort of microcosm of Ohtori Academy as a whole. Akio does call the school "a garden where people will never become adults," after all, and Anthy is not the only person trapped there, nor is she the only character associated with birds.

According to this analysis, "Ohtori" as a word can mean "big bird" in japanese, and is also a Japanese term for the Fenghuang bird in Chinese mythology, said to be "beautiful, immortal and rules over all birds." Sounds a lot like a certain someone in charge of this place, doesn't it? Which would make every person in Ohtori a bird, symbolically speaking, trapped in the cage that is the academy and ruled by Akio (who, despite being the biggest, and the one with the most control, is also a caged bird.)

Additionally, the statue on the gate to the dueling arena is in the shape of a bird, before it transforms into a rose when opened. I am not sure exactly what this means, but I assume it is in some way symbolic of Akio, Anthy and Ohtori.

The Bird and the Window: Shiori and Juri

The bird that flies into the window during Shiori and Juri's conversation in episode 17 is a Java Sparrow. Despite its name, it is a part of the Estrildid Finch family, but I think the symbolism for sparrows fits the context more, as they can represent love, devotion and compainionship, all of which are very relevant for Juri and Shiori.

The bird is also the symbolic item for Shiori's black rose duel, which means we should associate the bird mainly with her. What, exactly, is the window, then? I think it is symbolic of Shiori's feelings for Juri, Juri's feelings for Shiori, or most likely both. The bird hits the window directly after Juri says "Is that all you have to say to me?" and turns to leave. The bird hits something it could not see in its flight, just as Shiori hits against something that hurts her, even if she doesn't understand it, in her conversation with Juri. The bird is shown to be lying still, presumably dead, after Juri reveals that she was never in love with the boy Shiori "stole" from her.

The bird is shown again after Juri throws her locket in the lake, and before Shiori finds it in her dorm. I've heard it discussed that this implies the bird retrieved the locket (probably through Anthy-as-Mamiya), and if the bird is symbolic of Shiori and the locket is symbolic of Juri's feelings for her, it would mean Shiori is the one to bring them back after Juri tries to rid herself of them. This makes sense.

The Bird Nest: Kozue and Miki

The bird nest that Kozue rescues from the tree that is going to be cut down is symbolic of her and Miki. Or, at least they are symbolic of how Kozue views the two of them. The comparison is pretty straightforward; Kozue projects her and Miki's feelings of abandonment onto these baby chicks, who have been left behind by their parents, just like the two of them were when their parents divorced. I think she projects her protectiveness over her brother moreso than her own feelings about the whole thing, as Kozue likes to think of herself as very independent ("a wild animal") and very unaffected by it all. As seen by her attempt to save the birds in the first place, she is very willing to put herself at risk, and is less concerned with her own feelings/safety.

Now, I don't want to get too much into speculation, but I have to wonder if there was more going on in the Kaoru family than just the divorce and the too-high expectations for the "twin prodigies." Miki's uncharacteristic cynicism in saying "adults who tell you something is for your own good can never be trusted," as well as Kozue's total disregard for authority and her tendency to use her sexuality as a tool both concern me. Although Miki and Kozue's parents are not explicitly shown to be abusive, I do not think it is a stretch to say that there is a possibility that they were. It explains some of Kozue's behaviour in regards to Miki as well. It's not just posesiveness but protectiveness. She has needed to protect him before, and she feels she needs to protect him still (pushing the predatory teacher down the stairs, saving the birds she sees his innocence in.)

Interestingly enough, Anthy interacts with these chicks as well. She advices Miki on how to feed and take care of them. Utena even comments on how unusually straight forward she's being about the whole thing. This might just be another instance of characterizing Anthy as a person who is fond of animals, and that is certainly part of it, but i think there is more to it as well. If these baby birds are symbolic of (Miki and Kozue's, but also a general) feeling of abandonment by parents/adults, as well as their potential abuse, what does that mean for Anthy not only knowing how to take care of them, but being eager to talk about it? Could it perhaps be that she, like Kozue, sees herself in them? Like Kozue, Anthy herself is symbolically a bird, but a caged one in contrast to Kozue's claims of being a wild animal. Could it be that Anthy has had to become an expert in taking care of those (herself) that have been abandoned or failed or abused by the adults in their lives? Rememeber that this is the same episode where she says that Akio is more like a father to her than a brother. A parallel is indirectly being drawn between him and the Kaoru parents.

If Miki and Kozue's parents were abusive, this might be a rare moment of Anthy empathising with other victims, telling them through metaphor how to take care of themselves. Although, it doesn't keep her from continuing to manipulate them, as she goes on to say her line about returning the chicks to their mother, which is what sets Kozue off. Anthy also says that she's never actually raised chicks before. Maybe she's not very good at taking care of them (herself) after all.

There's also what looks like two caged parakeets in Miki's flashback of their childhood. I assume this has similar meaning to Anthy's birdcage, as a feeling of being trapped, in this case by their parents' expectations for them. Kozue used to be a caged bird, but now claims to be a wild one, despite still being inside the birdcage that is Ohtori.

Brood Parasitism: Nanami and Touga (and Utena)

The Kaoru's are not the only sibling pair in Utena to be compared to birds. In Episode 31, Her Tragedy, a pretty unique shadow play is put on in the Chairman's Tower about a cuckoo leaving its egg in another bird's nest, a phenomenon known as brood parasitism. It also references the fairy tale The Ugly Duckling by Hans Christian Andersen. Perhaps the most interesting part of this play is that it's done in the style of the ones in the black rose arc, with C-Ko playing all the roles, the return of the monkey-catching robot, and Utena's fourth-wall breaking commentary at the end. I won't get into what this means, as it doesn't have anything to do with the bird metaphor, but maybe in another post.

This shadow play is about how Nanami and Touga were adopted, and specifically about Nanami's feelings on the matter. Of course adopted children are not parasites, but it makes sense for Nanami to think along those lines, considering her fear of being compared to animals or aliens, and of being ostracized by the society she lives in. Nanami doesn't actually know that she is adopted, only that Touga is, which muddies that interpretation a little. Perhaps it is about Nanami blaming Touga's birth parents for "leaving him in another nest"? Something about her resentment of Touga at this point in time, thinking of him as a parasite in their family? Or simply her fear of what not being his blood-relative means.

I'm more confident about the Ugly Duckling reference, and it being symbolic of Nanami's worry of not fitting in among her peers. Nanami mainly copes with this by thinking that the reason she doesn't fit in, is because she is actually better than everybody else, because she's related to Touga (being a beautiful swan among the common ducks.) The play ends with the cuckoo insisting that it will become a swan one day, when really it can't. It will never be a duck that fits in, either. It will always just be what it is, a parasite (a space-alien. A girl who lays eggs.) This reflects Nanami's despair at the idea that she's "just another fly in the swarm" after her duel in the next episode.

And like all the shadow plays this one can be interpreted as being about Utena as well. She is an orphan who is now being raised in Akio and Anthy's "nest". Although she wasn't placed there by anyone but Akio himself, so it's more about her insecurities about feeling like an outsider in their family. And like the Ugly Duckling/cuckoo, she is also out of place among the rest of the students, and dreams of growing up to be something she can't actually become, in this case a prince. (credits to this analysis on the shadow plays for helping me piece together my thoughts on that. Always cite your sources!)

Cuckoos can also be symbolic of one-sided love, and is the origin of the word cuckoldry. Make of that what you will.

I should mention that Nanami also lays an egg of her own a few episodes prior. ...Or does she?

Her nightmare sequences show her fears of being compared to a chicken, a turtle, a frog, and of course, a space alien, but it is quite obviously a bird egg. And since we are later shown that Anthy has a chicken named Nanami, much like the cow with the same name, it can be assumed that the egg comes from there, and that Anthy brought it to Nanami's bed, perhaps via Chu-Chu. Could this relate to the brood parasitism of the cuckoo in some way? Is this not one bird (Anthy) laying its egg in another bird's (Nanami's) nest (bed) and getting them to raise it? is this what Anthy means when she tells Miki she has never personally raised chicks? Are all of these metaphors connected??? There's also the fan-theory that Nanami's egg hatched a reincarnated Chu-Chu, and in that case would he be the baby cuckoo while Anthy is the mother and Nanami is the duck? I'll be honest I'm not really sure what to make of it at this point. Draw whatever conclusion you want!

Last and probably least interesting is the third of Nanami associated bird imagery: the crow in episode 10. Crows can be symbolic of death, and it feels safe to say that this one is just here to set the mood of the scene, and as visual confirmation that the kitten did indeed die. Not too much to say there.

The Chicken and the Egg: The Student Council

I'd be remiss if i didn't mention the student council's chicken and egg speech in this post as well, even if it has been analyzed to hell and back by hundreds of people before me. It is a reference to Hermann Hesse's book Demian. It is about breaking out of childhood and into adulthood. It is about escaping Ohtori, which is both the egg and the cage (and interestingly enough, during the speech birds can be seen flying by outside the cage of the elevator.) In Nanami's version of the egg speech she mentions "the cage of freedom" and how it cares for the chick. This something that ideally should be true for schools. A place that limits children, but in a way that prepares them for the adult world. Of course, Ohtori as a system has no interest in this, as it is a cage in its most literal sense: a place to keep people trapped. Trapped in their harmful behaviours, in their lack of growth, in their idealized memories of the past, and most of all, in childhood.

And with that, we have come full circle back to Anthy's birdcage as a symbol for all of Ohtori. Thanks for reading :)

[galaxymagitech]

This is old news, but today I learned that Dick Grayson was only Robin for two freaking years in the New 52—and he’s only been fighting crime for five years. I feel like this is really ignored in discussions about Spyral. His parents died when he was 15, he became Robin at 16, and he was 21 in the present day. So a few things:

Dick is nowhere near the insanely experienced vigilante he is in other timelines. He has been fighting crime for five years, rather than the 15-20 years/over half his life he was in post-crisis.

Dick was mostly raised in the circus and remembers it a lot better than a small child would, so it likely plays an even greater role in his upbringing and personality. This is Dick’s family, and he has spent most of his life with them. Which makes the Court of Owls hit even harder.

Dick’s connections with the Batfamily are weaker. In some prior versions, Dick lived with Bruce longer than he lived with his parents. Here, Dick spent just 2-3 years in Wayne Manor. He knew Jason only briefly. Tim showed up two years ago. Like, I guess this explains why Bruce had no qualms about practically forcing Dick to go to Spyral—Dick’s his son but he’s his operative above all else, seeing as he’s only known him for a few years. And also why New52 Tim views Jason as more of a brother than Dick, when Post-Crisis Tim literally called Dick his brother.

This version of Dick got to get adopted when he was still a kid though, so huzzah for that!

Just reiterating that Dick is 21 during Spyral. He’s barely old enough to drink. Everyone around him calls him a kid. (I mean, 21 is an adult, but he’s a fairly young adult.)

[fatuismooches]

Thinking how there are two particular segments that affect the most with Fragile! Reader waking up from their coma. Of course all of them are affected by it, especially Prime, the one that had been going through all of that, but prime has the ability to move on(??) Yet the segment?? Their time is suspended at that period of time whichever era of life Prime created them, after all different ages, different eras, different wisdom. So there's two particular segments that got hit the hardest with Fragile!reader waking up.

1. The Akademiya segment: the one that sees how strong reader are, the one that is stronger than he is. The one that sometimes has to carry him out of any fight that he got himself into. The one that is doing the heavy lifting between them. The one that carried him like a sack of potato while running at full speed because they accidentally triggered many ruin machines. That person reduces to this sickly person that on their worst day, can't even carry a pen.

2. The one that tastes the failure segment: this is the Dottore that tastes his failure, failure to figure out what's wrong, failure to cure Reader before their illness spiralling and becomes worse. The taste of failure from reading negative and failed results of his research about reader illness. The failure of coming with an empty hand searching what is the cause and cure of reader's illness. And the first one that had to endure that cold and quiet loneliness. The one that had to endure no one replied or got into his personal space, the one that used to be greeted by the silence. Finally got the reply that he long for. Imagine this dottore develops a habit of talking his thoughts out loud to fill in the silence. And one day he is just wondering out loud about some Fatui's work while taking care of reader, and reader thought he is talking to them so they reply and the speed of his head snapping to face reader is worrying

It just them 🥲🥺, i think after reader warm up to the segments, and the segments are sure their presence doesn't make reader nervous anymore, i think this two is the most clingy.

(im so sorry this is very long 😔😔 but them... Hmmmrghh)

OMG IM CHEWING ON THIS LOVINGLY... AHHH YOU'RE SO RIGHT!! Having such vivid memories of the old you is both a blessing and a curse for the Akademiya segment. Because he can clearly remember how beautiful you were, how you shined so brightly without a care. Your exceeding strength as you nearly put people in a hospital for making fun of him (numerous times). Him making you carry a bunch of equipment and books for the expeditions. You perfectly fighting off enemies for him every time while he looked on. You carrying him out of there when things got too serious despite his protests to investigate more. (You picking him up bridal style and him fighting and flailing in your arms as he fought you.) You being so lively and happy, pulling and dragging him along wherever.

But those days were a mere memory now, a reminder of the past that will never happen again. As you were now just a shadow of your former self. Never to be seen again, no, not with how weak you were now. Although you seem to have accepted your fate, even though it hurts you greatly. But this segment can't do that. He can't help but think of the old you. The way you gently tug on his hand now, compared to how you used to yank on it nearly making him trip back then. He will never forget.

AND OMGOMGG hold on... you've actually given me a ton of brain rot with that segment. I never thought about it before, there being a whole period in Dottore's life where he truly feels like he's failed, that nothing's working, that you'll be sleeping and ill for the rest of eternity. Perhaps because he exudes such confidence all the time, but maybe there was a time he cursed himself greatly for failing you. This segment's memories are full of failed experiments and torn notes decorating the floor. Your sleeping face burned permanently into his mind. The silence is all he can hear, but your voice rings in his head, although he knows it's not real. Your cold hand is the only texture he remembers. This segment especially doesn't like to be around people. Among the agents, he's known as the strangest, as he never acknowledges them, not once. Not having the time or energy to care about anyone else besides you. Despite the segments not needing sleep, he always seems tired and gloomy, probably because that was what Dottore was like at that stage. When you finally woke up, he had a hard time believing it was real, because of how long he waited. Despite his longing for you, he has a hard time showing it, unlike the very grabby and touchy tendencies of the other segments. Tends to stare at you and watch for long periods of time rather than do anything about it.

You certainly don't mind their clinginess. It's rather cute. But, you can't help but feel a bit bad for causing them such pain. You give them lots of kisses to hopefully remedy that.

[lichqueenlibrarian]

Suggesting that the difference between MirrorSpock and Spock is thinner or possibly nonexistent was certainly an interesting decision.

[sinful-karateka]

I'll bite and talk about something that doesn't get enough spotlight in general, which are Demetri's and Eli's family life. So obviously several fic authors have their own twists and flavors to this, but if I may sell you something for a sec.

So far into the series, what we've got are these facts:

Demetri's Mom is the only family member to be mentioned in the show.

Eli's parents were mentioned a couple of times.

That should be enough context to deduce two things:

Demetri could be an only child to a single mother, and;

Eli's parents involve themselves in the stuff that he does — including karate, who knows — though they tend to be tone deaf with his actual needs.

There's strong evidence to why the boys act the way they act (brain functions notwithstanding, but this isn't the post for that), which is why I think these deductions make sense. How their hypothetical upbringing is part and parcel to how characters behave in this series. Of course societal influence comes in second because obviously you've got a show that encourages learning karate as defense against bullies, but this show is also about generational chains and traumas! So why wouldn't their home life inform the way it informs the LaRusso's, Lawrence's, and Nichols'? But I digress.

In the span of the entire series, I've held onto this headcanon that Demetri's neuroticism and ability to anticipate his actions carefully stem from a household that needs these systems in place, much more for someone who likes to be on top of things. Since he's just a student, the only authoritative figure who can make executive decisions... is his mom. Add to the fact that she may be a working mom, so when Demetri tells Daniel about certain restrictions in learning karate, what could have made her decide to just write a letter instead vs. taking the time out to go with his son herself? I know I know it's narrative writing but like do you seeeee where I'm at here

Eli's family life is by far gave us early indications of his dynamic with his mother — but not so a father — in earlier seasons. It's possible that his mom is a stay-at-home one, but if I were to push the bounds of this box even further, I'd even speculate that she's retired early if it meant that Eli's dad is the one making most of the living. Like of course they'd get mad at Hawk for getting a tattoo at his age, I think any parent would! But the way he tells Aisha to exclude him from her stories tells us that there's not a lot that his parents know about the life he lives as Hawk. At this point we all know the kind of effort it takes to successfully carry it out because he has to go home every night. It's either he a) puts in a lot of effort into concealing this identity once he gets home, or b) his parents are rarely ever home, which again, feeds into another assumption that maybe Mrs. Moskowitz works certain hours.

All we know is they're never around a whole lot for these boys, which is sad! and also again, very Indicative of their classification as awkward nerds pre- and early karate. When I read along certain fics that consider and include how the rest of their characters besides the found families they've formed, it gives much more depth and potency to writing them, their flaws, and how they think.

For all we know, Mrs. Alexopoulos could be a lesbian making fun of her son for not slinging pussy like she does being rizzless unlike her, but don't let me explain that when we have @demetriandelibinaryboyfriends!

[frereamour]

found a new dadson book, "Nocturnes for the King of Naples" by Edmund White. finished it between yesterday and today. the dadson isn't central but it informs the central narrative which is constructed as sort of epistolary novel in which the narrator addresses an older lover "you" who he credits with rescuing him from said dad. It's interspersed with accounts of other lovers who all fail to live up to 'you' in the narrator's memory. 'you' is pretty much, at least from my reading, an idealised version of the narrator's father, with none of his 'excesses' (moralized within the text and associated with his fatness; the narrator, and all his lovers, on the other hand, are thin), but with all his wealth and intellectual pursuits (except genuine and not farsical) including the group of devoted followers (but 'you' is gregarious and worthy of admiration, father throws money at desperate hangers on and then gets rid of them). the narrator doesn't ever make the connection about the similarities between father and 'you', but the text does.

the narrator is stuck in a perpetual adolescence, which he subconsciously identifies as the height of his desirability to both his father and 'you'.

he is obsessed with youth (none more than his own) and has trouble aging, casts all his previous behaviours and pursuits as endearing to others only because he was young and beautiful, and yet he recalls those years with fond nostalgia.

I didn't much care for the epigraph but one thing I would agree with, is the evocation here with ancient greek style pederasty. which is only apparent in the father/you dichotomy with father being a disreputable man who takes advantage of his son, while 'you' is the distinguished 'patriarch' educating his 'heir'.

there's a general air of racial superiority about 'you's millieu and the narrator's observations that makes this a coherent reading imo -> also the link between incest and racism, that we often don't talk about here (here being the incestina circles, that great institution). but at the heart of incest (especially parental incest) is a desire to preserve the 'purity' of the family line from external influence or to retreat to its safety when met with the 'harshness' of the other.

[whistlingstarlight]

Ngl the autism vibes are strong with Louie imo. Struggles to engage with things that aren't his interests, social skills aren't the best, intense hyperfixation/special interest (in food and cooking specifically), flouts work protocol that likely doesn't make sense to him (therefore what's the point?), low empathy, very attached to one or two specific people but little interest in others, etc.

(this doesn't represent all autistic people ofc, but personally I saw a lot of my personal autistic traits in Louie)

[master-of-the-opera-house]

Sorry but like. Imagine being maria theresa and learning your dad died possibly after plucking a poisonous mushroom straight from the ground and putting it in his mouth on a hunting trip leaving you with an insane amount of debt, a succession crisis and the resulting potential collapse of the HRE from your dynastys reins. Like id strangle his corpse.

[bommagoni]

Cloud Infrastructure Market Size, Share Analysis, Forecast 2024

[samijey]

If one were new to watching NXT and wanted to catch up with all the trickunov promos and matches... where does one start

Oooo you came to the right place, you know she got the full encyclopedia for those two 😩 but heads up, it's LONG

Carmelo is obviously gonna be all over this thing because this storyline was a three-way feud for a long time and Trick's relationships with him and Ilja paralleled each other for a long time.

Sidenote that I'm only pointing out the stuff relevant to the Trickunov relationship and the characters interacting with it, but there was a lot of fun "ship-friendly" stuff going on in NXT at this time that you can keep an eye out for in case you happen to enjoy it and want to follow it too - some examples are the Axiom/Nathan partnership (my beloved comic book bfs and the only duo that's still together today 🥲), the Lyra/Tatum toxic yuri saga, the creation of the Wolf Dogs, Tiffany vs Fallon etc.

For all the Trickunov canon thus far, we're starting in February of 2023 with their very first on-screen interaction - below is a list of pretty much all the moments that directly or indirectly impacted their rivalry:

February 07 - Carmelo (w/Trick) vs JD McDonagh

February 14 - Ilja backstage interview + in ring promo w/ Trick + Trick and Melo backstage segment

February 21 - Ilja vs Trick I + locker room segment w/ Trick, Melo and Tyler

Then they both get caught up in other stuff for a bit so you can skip ahead to:

July 11 - opening segment + Ilja vs Bron (much better than the one we just had on raw AND it had important stakes) + main event tag match w/ Judgment Day

July 18 - opening segment + backstage segment with Schism

The Great American Bash 2023 - Carmelo vs Ilja I

July 25 - Melo, Trick and Ilja vs Schism + post-match backstage angle + backstage segment with Trick and Melo + main event segment.

August 01 - Backstage segment w/ Trick and Melo + Ilja promo package (this one is easy to miss - it plays at the very end of the episode, after the main event match)

August 08 - In-ring promo between Trick and Ilja

Heatwave 2023 - Ilja vs Trick II

August 15 - nothing too relevant in this episode but I like the backstage segment between Melo and Wes for how it hints at Melo becoming a heel + Trick makes a silly dragon pun after his match with Gulak + there's a short hype package for their match that plays before Tyler vs Joe;

August 29 - Ilja in-ring promo (where he starts by singing Trick's praises and ends up getting bullied by Meta-Four lmfao)

September 05th - Ilja vs Oro post-match segment w/ Wes and Melo + backstage segment w/ Trick and Ilja

September 12 - Ilja vs Wes Lee + backstage segment between Trick and Melo

September 19 - Ilja backstage interview + Trick & Dom backstage interaction + Melo vs Dom (w/ Ilja on commentary) + Melo parking lot interview

No Mercy - Carmelo vs Ilja II

September 26 - Trick vs Gacy post-match interview + Backstage segment w/ Trick and Melo + Fatal Four-way match + Melo and Ilja contract signing

October 03 - In-ring segment between Ilja, Trick and Melo + Trick vs Dom

October 10 - this is the famous crossover episode extravaganza but watch the opening segment + Ilja vs Dom (w/ LA Knight as the ref lmfao) because it's messy fun and Trick makes an appearance. The Trick & Melo segment with John Cena is also important foreshadowing

October 17 - Carmelo in-ring promo feat. multiple "guests" + Trick's backstage attack + main event match

Halloween Havoc (Night 2) - Ilja vs Melo III

You can skip a bit again while Ilja deals with Corbin and Melo continues to act shady but please watch Ilja vs Nathan from the 28 November episode - it's short but it's great and it displays how volatile Ilja was during his feud with Baron Corbin - it's even on YT in full here. Then watch Deadline for the Men's Iron Survivor match and the brief post-match angle after Ilja vs Corbin (I'm not a fan of this match but the promo package is very good in giving Ilja some more depth, so check that out too)

December 12 - Two opening segments + medical room promo + main event segment

December 19 - Backstage segment between Trick and Melo + Ilja in-ring promo + backstage segment between Trick and Ilja + another one with Trick and Melo + Ilja vs Ridge Holland post-match angle (tw for like REALLY good selling - a lot of people thought it was legit when it leaked from audiences at the tapping)

December 26 - Backstage segment between Melo and Trick + Contract signing segment between Trick and Ilja (plays after the main event match)

January 02 - New Year's Evil is just extra story development with a few fun cameos - watch Kelly's backstage report after the opening match + the segment between Melo, Trick and a surprise Grayson Waller + another segment later between Melo and Trick + Trick vs Grayson (feat. another great cameo)

January 09 - Backstage Melo & Trick segment (also PLEASE watch the Fallon and Tiffany segments even if you're not following their story, they are GOLD)

January 16 - Opening match (optional) + Melo, Trick and Ilja backstage segment + another Trick and Melo one later on discussing Vengeance Day

January 23 - Ilja backstage interview + Trick and Melo backstage segment + Trick vs Briggs w/ Ilja on commentary + Trick and Melo backstage after the match

January 30 - Melo and Trick backstage segment + main event promo between Trick and Ilja

Vengeance Day - Ilja vs Trick III

Feb 06 - Opening segment + Ilja in-ring segment + Melo's in-ring promo + Ilja vs Dijak

Feb 13 - Not much here, just Melo defeating Gacy in a match and mouthing off at the camera to taunt Ilja

Feb 20 - Melo promo + Ilja promo

Feb 27 - Ilja & Melo in-ring promo + Ilja & Ava backstage + Melo promo + main event segment (Ilja was so unserious here and I live for it. also lots of Paxlyra on this one)

Not much happens between Roadblock and Stand & Deliver (April 06) - watch the post-main event promo from Trick on March 19 and the final confrontation between him and Melo on the April 02 main event segment. The Ilja vs Tony feud isn't mandatory viewing but the segments are fun and so was their PLE match. Trick vs Melo sadly wasn't that great, so you can choose to just watch their actual final match later on instead

Road Block - Melo vs Tony

April 09 - Main event segment between Ilja and Trick

Here you'll notice WWE started WILDLY rushing things due to the upcoming Draft (because ofc they'd fumble near the finish line).

I believe the final Trickunov match was originally supposed to be at Heatwave - marking exactly 1 year since the match that, in-storyline (and irl) started Trick's rise to stardom. This is based on the abrupt shift in storyline flow and the original Heatwave marketing, which prominently featured them both, as well as Lyra and Carmelo (it has since been updated to remove the three who got drafted).

So what ended up happening was the last match was booked for Spring Breakin' instead so Ilja could be called up immediately after. The same thing happened to Lyra and her story with Tatum and I'll be forever bitter about it. Back to viewing:

April 16 - Trick vs Melo (the "real" end to their feud + Ilja shows up at the end too)

Spring Breakin' April 23 - Ilja vs Trick IV

Bonus: backstage footage of Spring Breakin' included in this video package that honestly feels so in-character that I'm simply choosing to consider it kayfabe-compliant lmfao + Ilja's draft to RAW feat. a very funny reaction from Trick and the post-draft interview where you can see Trick in the background listening in and smiling + reacting and laughing when Ilja says sharing a roster with Gunther is "destiny" and I thought it was cute?

And that's it!... for now 🙏

Extra bonus moments post- Spring Breakin':

Trick thanks Ilja

Meta-Four make fun of their relationship

[cutter-kirby]

casual misgendering in video essays (especially video games for me) makes me so fucking mad like if you wanted me to think you have thoughts worth listening to about this game maybe you should do the barest fucking minimum of research to learn the main character’s identity. like clearly you don’t know what you’re talking about babe