#than there are people actually saying he underperformed

[pythonscrypt]

"quitting" mcc because you're scared of dropping top 10 is insane btw

[sandsofdteam-moved]

good morning it looks like there's still residual mcc discourse but also apparently punz lost like 80RR from when George ended last night 😭 Praying he stays in immortal for the rest of the act if he ends in ascendant I will be pissed on his behalf

[inchidentalmeowmeow]

In defense of Lecfosi

I think that the aggressive defense of Charles is often the result of the constant slander he gets for shit that isn’t even his fault.

Just this one race this year alone and you already have people saying ferrari fired the wrong driver because of misinformation about just how bad Charles’ brakes were (I’m looking at you Lawrence Baretto and your official F1 article), which has people saying Charles was making “LeExcuses” and was simply underperforming compared to his team mate instead of having a completely different and FAR WORSE braking issue.

Damon Hill saying shit like “You’d never say that Charles has got the upper hand over Carlos.” And “Carlos is able to beat him on many occasions, and has done over a season.”

Which Lecfosi would have to suck it up and deal with IF these were actually fact. But even last year in arguably Charles’ worst season, that wasn’t the case, was it? Looking at their overall stats, Charles is still the stronger driver. (Yes Carlos won a race but Mr Hill here is talking many occasions and over a season no?)

Why should Charles fans not react when blatant misinformation is being thrown around that shows their driver in a worse light than reality.

So yes, sometimes Lecfosi can come across too reactive. But I think it’s a counteraction to the constant waves of negativity and unfair reporting being shown of Charles.

[blueikeproductions]

Transformers fans have been going over a new quarterly report and there’s good news and bad news. The former is Transformers is Hasbro’s strongest performing brand, the later is RotB and EarthSpark’s toy sales are stinkers. In particular, EarthSpark’s considered an underperforming product, with the show’s ratings in the smelting pool. As some of us anticipated, the second season is the most we’re gonna get, no third season or beyond.

So as much as some don’t want to hear it: EarthSpark is essentially a flop, and the second season coming at all is more because it’s too late to axe it.

What’s carrying the toys so far are the collector lines: Legacy and Studio Series. For better or for worse, do NOT doubt the power of nostalgia. Also pricing. A friend was telling me a parent audibly freaked out at the prices of the EarthSpark toys, so that’s keeping parents away.

Do kids still like Transformers? Well in my experience they do, but they largely liked G1, Prime, RiD15, Bayformers and Rescue Bots. They did NOT like Cyberverse (especially in Japan where I’m told toys are STILL rotting on shelves down there), and now apparently EarthSpark. I didn’t see RotB in theaters so I can’t speak for that, but I did see a lot of kids at Bumblebee when it was in theaters.

The easy answer on its failure, and we all know GriftTubers will latch on to it, is Nightshade. Transformers making it on to Fox News is NEVER a good thing… not helped as the owl continues to be controversial due to the Japanese dub deciding to make them male. (Personally I say split the difference if Nightshade ever reappears and make them he/they but still.) I’ve been clear on my stance that NS is fine and cool, but I’ve also placed more importance on their skills, interests and personality. Their gender is not important to me to get them to like them, but the unfortunate problem is too many people on both sides focus on their identity and it scared off normies and parents. Again, well meaning like the Blue’s Clues Pride Parade, but read the room. There was a way to make NS work and still let them be NB, but they didn’t do it, and I still say the old “they’re Terran because gender means nothing to them as a robotic life form” was the way to do it.

The more nuanced answer however is more complicated. ES wound up being another kids show that was actually for adult fans and not kids, choosing to instead focus on a sense of identity and HYUGE importance on family. Stuff that isn’t bad on its own, but most modern writers and executives don’t understand subtleties: resulting in a lot of Bludgeoning of well meaning ideas in a show that doesn’t feature the Master of Metallikato. Most kindergarten and elementary school kids aren’t THAT interested in that stuff, they like Pokémon, Mario, classic Disney, classic Star Wars and anime in my experience. And Transformers has a certain expectation among people, and while there’s been stuff in the past that involves talking about things (Rad having environmentalist tendencies and Optimus respecting his feelings on needing to protect the environment when a fire breaks out during a Mini-Con Panel hunt, with Tigatron, Optimus and Dinobot having a similar conversation more than once in Beast Wars), if the Autobots AREN’T waging their battle to destroy the evil forces of the Decepticons, most aren’t interested.

This feeds into the show’s writing which also I think killed it: the show’s writing is decent but it only gets weaker as it goes along. The overfixation on making the Decepticons into misunderstood bullies who need a hug, despite also showing them perfectly content to kill people, the mixed signals of all the known Earth Decepticons now being friends with the Maltos, Optimus being a doofus the longer the show went on, the heavy IDW slants that weren’t popular at all with general audiences like Autobot Megatron, and Fix Fic Blue Eyed TFP Starscream. There’s also lack of proper follow up on plot threads like Ravage and Mandroid’s friendship with Alex, Schloder’s reasoning for hunting Bee being stupid, mysterious Transformer artifacts, poor reasoning on Energon aliens running amuck, why Cybertron never re-established contact, the lack of understanding why Quintus Prime seems to have such an interest in Earth and why the Emberstone is even here at all and more. Sure some of this might be touched on better in season 2, but do I trust this writing team now? No. No I do not. I think this can be summed up by the rejected episode pitch with Ratchet and Drift. More focus was put on them being husbands, and while both tried offering their own reasonings for the Cyber Sleeves, there was no concrete answer provided on why the kids had the sleeves. Its especially odd in that I wager they would’ve played up Ratchet’s atheism from IDW, but never once have Quintus actually speak up through the sleeves, like a joke in Family Guy where Stewie calls out Brian’s atheism because Jesus crashed on their couch recently. The episode is just… more fluff. People don’t want fluff in Transformers, and we’re seeing that with how well the Energon Universe is continuing to kick everything’s afterburner in comics. IDW never did that. The best selling stuff towards the end was the Marvel G1 prequel and sequels, and the Beast Wars reboot and those were still low in the rungs.

So what can be done to get kids more on board with new TF content? Go back to basics. Transformers desperately needs a new Beast Wars style show to give it a kick in the pants tv show wise. Earthspark I think fancied itself as that but was not meant to be. The Energon Universe is a good start: the true Neo G1 successor to the 80’s cartoon canon so far. The easy joke me and a friend have made is to just adapt the Energon Universe for tv, but it’s not ready yet. I think using it as a spring board would be useful and having the Void Rivals be supporting characters would help expand their exposure. But the simple matter is this: absolutely under no circumstances use IDW/MTMTE post war stuff. I’m willing to go as far as using characters like Adaptus, Nova Prime, Nominus Prime and the Guiding Hand for certain things but that’s it. Classic good Autobots vs evil Decepticons. Megatron is full on evil like in G1, the movies & Unicron Trilogy: no more of this making him into a repentant Anakin nonsense. More of stuff like Optimus’s friendship with Sparkplug and Spike and his consoling of the deer. Earthspark was on the right track making him more lighthearted and closer to the well meaning dad he was in G1, but they pushed it too far the other way like Cyberverse did. Maybe ease back on Bumblebee a smidge, that worked with ROTB and Energon Universe so far, and other than maybe a little mixing and matching (Like Strongarm, Iguanus, Fixit, Barricade, Blackout and other guys being main Bots and Cons for a change), stick to the basics.

Edit: adding more because I had to go run an unexpected errand. Not only the basics, but let’s revisit the idea of a proper anime again. It’s the second major modern anime boom in the States, why DON’T we have a new RiD or Unicron Trilogy type thing? And no I refuse to consider Prime Wars and War For Cybertron anime. I don’t care what Netflix calls it. The fact we don’t have a TF anime currently is baffling; the last time we had an anime was Transformers Go!, and that was more of a one off spiritual Brave successor. I’d rather at this stage Takara commission a new kids anime for Transformers with writers over in Japan scripting the premise who know what they’re doing to make a fun children’s show. Then it can be dubbed and we get Blum, Kaplan, Zeno and other popular/veteran anime dub voice actors to reprise roles/do new ones. I don’t care if Trigger, Toei, Polygon, Science Saru or whoever animates it, my stipulation going forward is 2D animated TF anime, but with designs that are easier to hand draw. Like somewhere between G1 and Transformers Animated. I liked the Armada designs but I can see why Energon and Cybertron opted for CGI for the robots because they became way too technical to draw outside of very specific scenes. If full on 2D robots wasn’t acceptable, the CGI technology used for SSSS. Gridman and Bravern is acceptable, but a full return to 2D animation is preferable.

As for a setting: Earth. Autobots protecting their human friends against the Decepticons. A new gimmick properly implemented from the toys into the show, with the Quintessons as a villainous third party with a stake in the affairs, hiring Mercs like Devcon, RoughEdge, Lockdown and Rampage, or freelancers like the Skuxxoid and villainous Void Rivals to do their dirty work.

Something like that, but above all else cast wise: Blaster and his Cassettes MUST return. And to acknowledge EarthSpark, Hashtag can be his kid sister, with Twitch as one of Hashtag’s own cassettes. Everybody wins.

[lestappenforever]

I feel like I'm in a weird spot in the fandom after this race. I'm too much of a Charles fan to even entertain any slander against him this weekend. And I'm disappointed too that Carlos won because I dislike him. But I'm also 'too' objective of an F1 fan where I do understand that unfortunately, Carlos and the team did a good job today and this weekend, so I don't understand people saying the team screwed Charles over.

Just because Carlos did good this weekend doesn't mean Charles is shit. And also just because Charles didn't get P1 in one race, doesn't mean Carlos is the better driver. And just because the team wanted to keep a 1/2, doesn't mean they were intentionally screwing over Charles.

Am I going crazy here? I feel like no one on here has the same opinion. Can I not be annoyed that Carlos won, but acknowledge he was faultless this weekend, and that Charles overall is still a better driver and more WDC material?

Hi anon, and thank you for sharing your thoughts!

You're not going crazy, and you absolutely can be annoyed that Carlos won and acknowledge that he performed well, while believing Charles is an overall better driver and more WDC material! Whatever your thoughts and opinions, you are absolutely entitled to them and that's part of the beauty of the fandom: they're opinions and thoughts, not absolute facts, and everyone is entitled to have theirs. There shouldn’t be any sort of pressure to agree with someone else if you simply don't agree with them. So you stick to your thoughts and opinions, anon, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. ❤️

Carlos did a good job this weekend, and yeah, his victory today was definitely somewhat aided by the team order in which Charles was told to hold his position. But that doesn’t discredit the fact that he still outqualified Charles yesterday and won the race today.

As for Charles: He absolutely is a better driver than Carlos overall and his results prove that. But he did, unfortunately, underperform this weekend, and I find his mentality at the moment to be disappointing. He might be WDC material, but he still has to make some serious changes within himself if he's actually going to turn that potential into a championship title at some point.

Just remember that emotions always run high after races, and that this too will pass as we turn our attention to Suzuka in two weeks. Onwards and upwards, my darling anon!

[certifiedbi]

Ok I don't give a fuck that this opinion if mine goes against everyone elses on here but I need to say it

I don't think Di Giantonnio deserves a MotoGP ride.

He's waited until the sun has almost entirely set on his career, despite the fact that it has been known from start of the season he would lose that gresini. I mean no on knew it would be the Marc Marquez that took it from him but it had to be someone.

What pisses me off the most tho is that it should have been too little too late for Di Giantonnio but now he's attempting to steal candy from a baby by taking that VR46 for Fermín Aldeguer, a rider that has already accomplished much more than Di Giantonnio in his junior career.

And I won't forget how everyone else on here (minus a few people that have always been Digga fans) were also happy to see the back of him but have all now 180° on their opinions now that he's actually decided to start riding like a MotoGP rider.

Honda don't want him anymore, Marini is the much better option for developing a bike, he's intelligent and didn't spend the first half of his season writing off Ducatis. I have faith in VR46 to make the right decision and take Aldeguer, he's the type of young talent that should be a priority to these teams. also it will give VR46 the upper hand when they change to Yamaha as it's no secret Yamaha want Aldeguer, so it may help them secure two factory bikes for 2025.

Di Giantonnio already got lucky with an extra year when he was underperforming on the best bike on the grid, and now he's pulled out these results which I would bet my bottom dollar he won't replicate if he goes to VR46.

Everyone else on here can pitty him all you want, but I still stand firm on the opinion I have had on him all season long

[f1-birb]

oh, no, i get your frustration!!! idk i just try to ignore people because i've supported lando for so long that like, he could have bumped the wall and gone out in q1 again and my delusional ass would still be like "here's how we're getting a podium!!!" and it has nothing to do with like fangirlism or any of that and just so much to do with him telling us time and time again not to write him off to the point i couldn't even dream of it. he's done some impossible things with some less-than-optimal cars. even last year where he made some very costly mistakes in quali and not just worth like 0.043 seconds off oscar, he would be the last person to leave the paddock working with his team and strategists to try to fix things. and frankly that's why despite not always being a fan of some oscar fans, i am really glad he is lando's teammate. i think it's actually good for lando to be able to see again if there is more pace or potential in the car, if there are areas where he could improve. despite fans and media trying to act like him having close competition with his teammate is a bad thing, i think it's much better for him than dominating his teammate to the point where he could fuck up or have a messy weekend and still come out on top. people hate lando and call him washed over performances like this because they're so used to him dominating ricciardo, but that wasn't even really a teammate partnership in 2022 when the domination really started, it was lando carrying the entire team — which frankly wasn't good for lando's continued learning and development and isn't at all how any f1 team is supposed to operate. and i'd say the same thing if lando started underperforming to that level - but him getting outqualified by 0.043 seconds is nowhere on the level of the 0.400 seconds he used to be able to outqualify his teammate by regularly (and again, if both drivers are being of value to the team, no driver should be regularly outqualifying their teammate by 0.400 seconds 🤷‍♀️)

I love everything about this ask

the best thing about them as teammates, and Lando himself has said this, is he's actually enjoying having a teammate who really really pushes him

Oscar being close is a good thing for Lando, to drive him to be the best he can be and strive for more, and also for the team

I think most people would agree that McLaren has one of if not the strongest of driver pairings, and even better they get along very well, both work very hard, and both seem to be just as team focused as they are on their individual performances

[mcl38]

they haven't quite turned on vcarb the way they did mclaren but from what i've read that seems to be bc daniel keeps saying "it's not the same problem as mclaren" when like idk dude if the only time you've finished a race ahead of yuki was bc you got put on softs at the end of the race it is smelling very shades of mexico '22 to me. just without the having to make up a time penalty bc u punted yuki off the track.

i can say yuki is already getting the lando treatment though. "hOW MANY RACES HAS HE WON AND YOU DARE SAY HES PERFORMING BETTER THAN AN 8 TIME GP WINNER?" (ya i'll go to the top floor of my apartment and shout it into the void through a megaphone too what are you going to do about it) only this time there's a heavy dose of racism added in. the amount of people i have seen calling yuki a "pokémon" derogatorily and refusing to admit the racist connotations there are wild. not to mention the ableist terms i've seen be used to refer to his height. it's all very gross and yet again daniel says nothing to even try to prevent it. it's wild how someone always has to get harassed by his fans regardless of if he fails or succeeds.

ok so like first of all yikes. i rly rate yuki but im v selective w my online (especially my tumblr)

experience so i rly almost never venture out of my mclaren-centred bubble, which means i never rly see what ppl say abt him. 'pokemon' is actually vile like thats so clearly racist bc its not even a pun of his name at all or any sort of reference to his personality?? AND the fact that its a cartoon w the infantilising implications of that... ku's essay on the infantilisation of east asian drivers u will always be famous.... like u guys ever noticed how nyck is also rly short and has a youthful face and nobody ever talked abt him in the way they talk abt yuki? much to think abt

now. permission to be mean here but even if its 'not the same problem as mclaren' is the problem not STILL the fact that daniel in his 10+ year career hasnt bothered to understand the way the engineering of f1 cars works in like any material way and thats the reason he always struggles to identify his driving issues / has a disconnect with his chassis unless its tailored exactly to what he already likes and knows how to drive? i saw that bit from newey's book about how max and checo give rly good feedback and so did webber and vettel and it was kind of subtly implying that during the bit in between (the daniel era) he designed less effective cars be he wasnt getting enough precise feedback.... i genuinely havent been able to sleep at night since. like it felt like smth slotted in my head like aaaah this has been the problem all along. if only daniel wasnt so busy going on podcasts making fun of the idea of women in motorsport and actually spent some time to do some way overdue physics homework... lol. Imao even

the truth of the situation is yuki is in the best form of his career and also wiping the floor w daniel. like factually so. EVEN with team orders favouring daniel so his fans cant say its bc of that like they did with mclaren. i genuinely think its quite sad the amount of personal stock daniel fans have clearly invested in this mans career and how much it bothers them when he doesnt perform to their expectations - like he's ur driver, swallow it and accept it, because thats what he's been doing to try to move on. doing all this intense online hate bullshit only makes him look bad bc it highlights how badly and for how long he rly has been embarrassingly underperforming. but by this point it feels like they WANT him to underperform bc they crave that martyr underdog victimised figure to root for and fight for - which is why ur totally right anon, that someone always inevitably gets harrassed regardless of if daniel is failing or succeeding. 

i will say one thing which is that i rly dont think daniel is at all aware of whatever the fuck his fans do on twitter and instagram (and deffo not tumblr lmao). so i dont think this is an issue of like him telling his fans to chill out - and it doesnt work anyways, bc lando literally has made talking abt how much cyberbullying sucks a part of his personality and theres still some rly mean and hateful lando fans (not in a fun way like me<3 lol) (i hate on my own blog and in discord groupchats). so like thats not necessarily on him, its more on netflix for making him the lowest common denominator guy to like, ykwim? also the unfortunate reality is that despite the tshirts and the kneeling (or no kneeling) no one rly seems to stand up to defend the drivers of colour who literally constantly get SUCH vitriol thrown towards them w any occasion. im not expecting daniel of all ppl to say anything abt it ngl

[sizzlingpatrolfox]

I don't think Layover did great tbh. Terrible on YouTube (including all his MVs, Tiny Desk, and music show performances), underperformed in the biggest music markets, did poorly on k-charts (that debut was abysmal compared to the other members), predicted for less first week albums in the US than D-Day despite an extra version (but waiting on chart). Here’s a chart I’ve seen floating around Twitter that gives a good idea. Probably need to verify some of it, but I think it’s mostly accurate...

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F6LDbz4bYAADB7M?format=jpg&name=medium

His fanbases started working really hard on his first week Spotify streams when they realized he wasn’t doing great anywhere else, so he ended up with higher first week streams than FACE and LC, but barely, and most of his streams came from SEA (which isn’t a big deal or anything, but a lot of it was definitely from mass streaming farms). He also had a massive day 8 drop and allegedly way lower than day 8 for FACE. And let’s note that Layover has one extra song instead of an interlude too. He’s also higher on some official album charts, but that’s only because FACE wasn’t eligible because it’s an EP. He had much bigger overall album sales, but we were expecting that with vbar. I think they bought like 840k? So over 1/3 of his sales.

Unless I’m missing some achievements or got something wrong (I haven’t kept up with everything), I think it was a pretty meh debut considering all the promo he did and the fact that he’s “the most popular member”. They only have those first week streams, pretty sure. LMA has had good longevity though, so I guess we'll see. And BTW, they’re saying his hot100 performance was hurt because of DC2 sales being gone, which, sure, but he had 50k Slow Dancing CDs to compensate, way more than LC, and they couldn't even completely sell them out. I think his stans were using VPN to buy on iTunes in the US too because a few days in he went from 1 to 44 on iTunes chart with no explanation and never recovered. Curious what his final sales end up being. I'm not saying he did bad, but I don't think it's really anything to brag about either... I haven't seen a ton of objective people talking about it though so idk for sure.

The spreadsheet is killing me hahahs #dedication. I would like to know the missing numbers and positions, tho! Still, thank you.

I knew about kcharts, youtube, albums, and first week on spotify for the album. I saw some number that I assume included his prereleases, and it really is nothing major considering the first tracks released, and the fact that it had one more song than face. Just five minutes ago I saw that on their 8th day, like crazy (combined) had the same number of streams as Taehyung's entire album??

Sidenote: if there's one thing I was forced to learn this year, is how much difference combined versions of a song can make.

I don't think he had that much of international promo, or at least I didn't see it. I know he's been to A LOTTT of korean shows, and also his promo for pre-releases was already longer than Jimin's, but I think he just comes across as a really uninteresting person so I don't know if people would actually tune in to his music, no matter how many times they see him on TV. He definitely got more than Jimin, that's 1000% for sure, even if we consider the MVs alone; he got the same thing Jimin was denied.

I knew he'd get more albums sales, because past experience. And I knew they'd try hard to stream to break some "records", even if it won't hold up for too long. I also knew he doesn't really have many fans in the US, (I still think Jimin's the most popular member there). I've also been saying since the day I opened this blog that his "popularity" is overrated and he's never really been in the same league as Jimin when it comes to music. I blew off so many people here who would come up to me and try to convince me he was competition to Jimin or better than him in some way.

I guess the only thing I'm surprised with is youtube. I got his tiny desk video on my homepage today (saved it to watch later) and it has less than 300k views.......... It's kinda crazy. I wonder if part of the reason he got his visual album was because his youtube numbers were usually better than everyone else's combined and they believed he'd do good.

Oh, and the songs credits. It's unbelievable to me that he did NOTHING on it. People who work on songs get credits even for writing two words, so I just can't wrap my mind around the fact that he didn't do anything at all.

I'm also curious if they would've restocked the digital CD had it been sold out, but my gut tells me they wouldn't have, or it would've been just one more, and a smaller batch.

[loopy777]

So there's going to be a live-action Zelda movie.

(Let's leave aside that no one from the creative team inspires any confidence.)

In celebration (?), I'm going to dig out my old idea for the only way a LoZ movie can be anything other than a cheap rip of Peter Jackson's LotR movies. See, I don't think LoZ has much to recommend it as fantasy itself. It doesn't have very many characters, and most of them don't have any personality beyond the most generic archetypes. There's no story that isn't just about collecting some plot coupons and fighting the big bad. Visually, there are few unique recurring memorable icons, just the Gorons and Zora, and Link in the green clothes; the triforce is just a triangle and the master sword fits in a little too well with all those cheap unofficial sword props they sell at conventions. Everything else varies too much to be iconic.

They could play it safe and adapt one of the more memorable games. But there's a reason why fanfic novelizations of those very rarely get very far, and why the manga adaptations usually last one or two volumes and spend most of their pages covering the initial premise and interactions with the quirkiest side-characters. Sure, it's possible to put together a good movie out of such a thing, but in that case, would the final product be all that much different than the recent D&D movie that underperformed despite being nicely entertaining?

I've long said that the one thing the Zelda franchise really has going for it (outside of being fun video games, which is actually the most important part but of no use in this conversation) is the way it uses repetition of its own iconography. It often retells the same stories, even when the stories are sequels to each other, and there's always a Link and always a Zelda and always a bow'n'arrow and always a moblin and water dungeon and a flute, etc. When a game does something unique, that stands out even more because of the context of the formula.

I also want to combine that with a fun mechanic in some of the games where Link solves puzzles by flipping between worlds/times. In 'Link to the Past,' he can go back and forth between the Light and Dark Worlds to make progress. In OoT, he can set things up in the past to solve problems in the future. In the Oracle GBA games, the dungeons themselves have puzzles which require taking actions in certain seasons and time periods in order to solve them.

So my ideal Zelda movie has multiple simultaneous stories going. One based on OoT, one based on Twilight Princess, one based on Breath of the WIld, and a mix of the NES games. They would each have a completely different acting cast, including the Links played by different actors. Scenes from each one would have different directors, ideally, but that may be unnecessary if the art teams can really do a good job differentiating them. The storylines would intercut to show their similarities and differences, and would sometimes even replace parts of each other's stories so that the lines between them blurs. At least one fight scene should be so intercut that literally every cut changes which storyline we're in, but it combines to create a single continuous and discernible fight scene.

As I've thought about this idea over the years, I've decided the storylines should swap characters as they go. The actors should stay the same- TP!Zelda should always be played by the same actress, for example, even when she's in the OoT storyline. Otherwise it would just get too confusing.

The theme we're going here is the nature and purpose of legends. We want to show how this one basic story reflects the societies that tell it, so we want the various storylines to make a big show of the setting of Hyrule in each era. We want to hint that the various elements in the story, including the characters, say something about the people who tell and value the legends. And we want to highlight how this changes as Hyrule changes.

It all culminates in all the storylines converging in the final battle against Ganon(dorf), with all the Links and Zeldas and sidekicks teaming up for a massive fight against evil. But the critical part is that all the populations of Hyrule are observing this fight, and the soundtrack is their shared million-person chorus recounting The Legend of Zelda, an epic poem chanted in a manner that puts Duel of the Fates to shame. I'm torn on whether the poem should be in English, or some made-up language that has to be translated via subtitles, complete with translator notes about untranslatable stuff and words where we're not sure of the exact meaning.

I admit it's possible I'm missing the entire point of a Zelda movie.

[rockinhamburger]

Nathan Shelley: A Defense

Who deserves empathy? Who deserves judgement?

I am not surprised but still disappointed by how much people seem to be really missing one of the central themes of Ted Lasso. It is not as bad as it was back in October when the finale aired, but god, there are still so many people that seem to want Nate to get no redemption and, in various ways, continually express no interest in seeing him become the best version of himself. A lot of people seem to want Nate to get his comeuppance, to see him suffer, ironically behaving a lot like Nate when he got to see the people who had wronged him suffer and receive their comeuppance.

For a show about the healing, transformative power of forgiveness, love and empathy, dang do some people stop short when it comes to Nate, arguably the most demeaned, bullied, downtrodden character in the entire show. Redemption and forgiveness for Rebecca, who tried to destroy dozens of careers and lives, and Jamie, who behaved like shit to the people he saw as beneath him, but none for Nate? So, we have three characters who have used their power incorrectly, but only one of them is the outlier who deserves judgement and retribution?

Alright, got that rant out of the way. Now I want to specifically address a thing I’ve seen that is utterly baffling. I’ve seen people argue that Jamie’s and Rebecca’s respective journeys are different than Nate’s because we saw them get better, whereas we saw Nate get worse. We didn’t see Rebecca and Jamie getting to the dark place they were in by S1; we landed on the start of their positive trajectory. The difference is that we are watching the entirety of that story play out with Nate.

Another argument I’ve seen is that the show hinted at Jamie’s and Rebecca’s good natures in S1, whereas we apparently saw the opposite with Nate. So, basically, Nate doesn’t deserve redemption because he got worse and his truly bad nature was hinted at early on. This implies something utterly ridiculous: that he was always bad, that Nate did not actually have positive traits to begin with. And that’s just… I can’t even cope with how wrong that is.

Selective memory for sure, so let’s go back to season 1 and remember why we love Nate and why his turn is so devastating.

In 1x01, Nate defends Roy’s great legacy as a footballer when Beard suggests his star years might be behind him. He gives Ted and Beard a lift to their places. Nate is loyal and generous with his time. He is also clearly self-conscious and lacks confidence, but he works hard and takes pride in his job.

In 1x02, Nate is still showing surprise that Ted is even deigning to notice him, let alone asking after his opinion. Nate says Sam has been ‘underperforming’ since he arrived from Nigeria. That’s a very generous thing to say; it’s clear he knows Sam has potential, but something is getting in the way of his success. This helps Ted make some great coaching decisions. Nate is smart and good at reading people. He also makes adorable boxes with his niece. A few of the players laugh at him for having done this. Jamie also calls him “bitch boy” to ringing laughter, and it doesn’t seem like it’s remotely the first time.

In 1x03, Nate nervously but bravely shares his idea for a strategy. He is speechless with joy when he gets to see it in action. He also shows that he cares whether the pitch is properly taken care of. He’s the kit man; presumably, he is not responsible for clearing shit off the field, but he does it anyway. We also see tinges of that in his first scene - caring about the field the players use. In the midst of all this, we also see that Nate is being bullied and harassed by Jamie, Colin and Isaac every day, and that no one has intervened, even Ted, who has decided Roy has to be the one to intervene.

In 1x04, when Ted invites Nate to be his plus one to the gala, Nate says, “I’m free every night.” As Jason has said, jokes on this show have consequences. This illuminates for us that Nate spends a lot of time on his own and even suggests Nate may not have many friends. We also learn that Nate can’t afford to buy a new suit. He later shows some gaining confidence when he says hello to Rebecca and a marked amount of grace considering she doesn’t appear to recognize him or realize he works for her. Later, Nate thanks Roy for talking to Colin and Isaac.

In 1x05, Nate encourages Ted to open up about the problems in his marriage by asking about the distance, but he does so in a very gentle way, asking if he can ask something first. He’s also self-aware enough to notice and apologize when he inadvertently provided unsolicited feedback on something with which he doesn’t have experience: “Marriage. Just so, you know, so complicated. So many different challenges and... I think. I don't know. Sorry.” Then he makes a smart conversational move to bring Beard into the discussion. “You ever been married?” After they win the match, Nate also walks Henry on to the pitch to see Ted after the game, reuniting father and son.

In 1x06, Nate participates in the ritual with the team, sacrificing sunglasses that made him feel perceived in a positive way. He is honest and contributes positively to the group.

In 1x07, Nate says he believes Richmond can do anything; he believes in the team and their ability to succeed. He has thoughts about the team, but he is scared to share them because he believes it could lead to losing his job and having to move back in with his parents. He also instantly accepts Ted’s apology, and once he’s finished the roast portion of his pre-game speech (which Ted encourages him to give), he provides Roy with genuinely good advice, not just on the field but in life, to make sure he isn’t keeping his anger inside because of what it might do to him as a person if he holds it in. He cares about Roy and his well-being.

In 1x08, Nate is supportive of Ted’s one night stand, like Beard and Higgins. And when Beard asks if Ted had fun, Nate immediately follows up to ask if *she* had fun. He also comes up with the name for the Diamond Dogs.

In 1x09, Nate apologizes for walking away from Ted over the Roy situation and for his dream self.

In 1x10, he believes he has been fired and lashes out. He is surprised Rebecca even knows his name, an echo of the first episode, and it turns out he has been promoted. He is so excited about this that he keeps blowing his whistle at inopportune times out of zeal. Later, he mourns the loss with the team.

I just have no patience for people suggesting Nate isn’t the wonderful character we saw so many hints of in S1, alongside the signs that Nate might lose his way for a minute. All of us have the capacity to hurt and help within us; we are all struggling with the tug between ego and soul. The idea that Rebecca and Jamie deserved redemption but Nate doesn't is not only a terrible message for the show to end on, it’s also a bleak way to look at the world. Either we all deserve redemption, or no one does - or more accurately, it's not about deserving redemption but about earning it. That is what Rebecca and Jamie have been doing along the way, so it’s not too late for Nathan Shelley. He can, as Rebecca said in 1x09, get on the road back.

We are all worthy of love and empathy because we are human and make mistakes. We hurt people because we are damaged by interacting with a broken, human world. This show presents the central thesis that kindness and empathy is transformative, and that wanting violent revenge and retribution is an ego-driven desire borne out by pain and suffering.

We need to appeal to our best selves, always, by returning to our greatest strength: love.

[pressradio]

There was a moment where charles overtooked carlos but he locked up right after and then lost position. It was such a wasted opportunity 😭😭😭

It pains me to say, but charles performance this season is not being great.

I think he had the tools to do the overtake, he had the pace, carlos tires were in bad situation, but his moves trying the overtake were clumsy and that mistake in a crucial moment cost him the podium.

I see people always saying he crumbles under pressure and it's too impatient/emotional which makes he end up doing these mistakes... and I hate when they say this, but it's starting to sound real?

Idk I'm just very disappointed with this weekend. I think I also just can't deal with Carlos doing better than him so maybe I'm exaggerating and being dramatic.

This is no hate in any way to charles, I'm just a concerned fan

Hello!

Well, I have to agree with you… and disagree too.

Charles is not in his best form - true. And this weekend and his p4 mostly is on him despite the fact that he was better in the race and Ferrari threw away possible p2 - p3 or p2 - p4.

But for me it wasn't hot-headed race or him crumbing under pressure. He managed his tires well, he fought in his fights not wasting times and tires for nothing, and he still fought being cried on radio "not to risk it". And maybe not going "you or me" like Carlos did almost dnfing them twice also is more positive thing than we see it. I don't think he desperately cries at nights counting how many times he was behind his teammate.

He isn't doing any miracles this season, like he did in 2020 for example. That's oh-so true. And he could have done better many times. That's also true.

But should he really work his ass off this season for p3-p4? The car is that shitty that Charles who had never had problems with adaptation can't adapt at all. And I don't actually think that he completely lost his skills over winter even having ptsd after 2022. The next year car will be build from the scratch and will be different (and hopefully with pointy front). And we will see how it's going.

Ferrari lost plenty of points for him with incompetence garage work, pit crew and strategy. He lost himself some points as well. It takes two to tango, but Ferrari fuck ups are bigger once again. I'm pretty sure that A LOT is going inside the team, and if he is going to stay with Ferrari and want to have the confidence in the team, rn he HAS TO do a lot of work inside. And for me it seems a bit more important than killing himself on track for p3-p4.

It's not his fault that biased idiots hype over 5.5 points. Everyone knows that Ferrari sabotaged him last year. And he knows his own value. So I don't want to draw conclusions on this season which is completely fucked up from the very beginning.

If he will underperform next season - I'll be first to say that he is turning into mid shit.

But now it's more like "his heights are higher, his lows are lower" (c), and this year there weren't much heights.

Sorry for the long-read :)

[twistedtummies2]

Fifteen Days of Disney Magic - Number 6

Welcome to Fifteen Days of Disney Magic! In honor of the company’s 100th Anniversary, I am counting down my Top 15 Favorite Movies from Walt Disney Animation Studios! To introduce today’s entry, I have only this to say: “Most Everyone’s Mad Here.” Number 6 is…Alice in Wonderland.

This is the other film, alongside “The Great Mouse Detective,” where I feel – if you know me well – it’s high placement will not remotely be surprising. Whereas, if you don’t know me well, it will likely be VERY surprising. Honestly, I can settle why “Alice” is so high on my list with a single sentence: Lewis Carroll’s “Alice” stories are my favorite books, and I personally think the Disney version is the best movie treatment of the books, as well as one of my personal favorites. That’s really all I NEED to say. But you came here to hear me ramble, I think. Possibly. Maybe. So I guess I have to. :P The history of Walt Disney and “Alice” is actually pretty fascinating on its own, leaving the movie alone: this, alongside “Peter Pan,” was one of the first movies Walt wanted to make, and was actually considered for his first feature film, and then his second, way back in the 1930s. Ultimately, Walt went with “Snow White” for his first film, but he never gave up on “Alice.” It’s pretty clear that Walt loved the story, because even before the Disney film ever got put into development, he’d used Wonderland as the basis for several of his earlier works. There were the famous “Alice Comedies” he produced during the silent era, which were not so much directly based on the books so much as just inspired by them, but are still worth noting. Later there was one of the best Mickey Mouse cartoons ever made, in most people’s minds, “Thru the Mirror,” where Mickey goes through the Looking-Glass, dances with the Queen of Hearts, duels the King, and has to deal with a multitude of animated objects. Initial treatments of the “Alice” story were much darker and more surreal than the final product; most notable was a treatment of the film by artist David Hall, which has sort of become legendary amongst Carrollians and fans of Disney trivia and lost media alike. However, it wasn’t until artist Mary Blair came onto the project – and after World War II drew to a close – that Disney finally felt confident in making the movie. Interestingly, when the film finally came out in 1951, it was something of a disappointment: critical reactions were lukewarm, at best, and it underperformed at the box office. However, over the years – with subsequent re-releases and exposure through various forms of merchandising and rides at the parks – the film gained a bigger and grander following. Nowadays, “Alice” isn’t exactly considered a great Disney classic, but it’s definitely not considered a failure.

In fact, in some ways, one could argue it’s one of the single most influential Disney movies of all time. It was certainly influential on later renditions of the story: coming from somebody whose obsession with the Carroll classics is well known, I can say with certain fact that the Disney film is actually far more responsible for the public perception and love of Alice today than perhaps ANY other version of the stories, including the books. (The only other possible contender is the video game “American McGee’s Alice” and its sequel, “Alice: Madness Returns.” Incidentally, RIP “Alice: Asylum.” May flights of EA idiots sing thee to thy rest.) A lot of things in this film that weren’t in the books now seem to just be accepted as common knowledge: for example, the Cheshire Cat in the books was an ordinary orange or gray tabby cat. The popular purple-and-pink design you’ll find riffed on in some fashion throughout so many interpretations was ENTIRELY the invention of Disney; it never existed before them, to my knowledge. Similarly, characters and story elements that are in the books but WEREN’T in the Disney film tend to be forgotten, even if they’ve been used and reused in tons and tons of other adaptations: there are plenty of versions of the Duchess and the Gryphon out there, but since neither of them are in the 1951 movie (nor the 2010 feature made by Tim Burton, for that matter), most people forget they even exist.

Even beyond other versions of Alice, however, the film has had a huge impact on pop culture, and even Disney itself, than most other films in the canon. Heck, at Disneyland, right now, there are no less than four rides that all reference “Alice in Wonderland.” Four! And that’s not even counting any other shows or attractions, or even any of the other rides at other parks. Nor is it counting video games, nor the numerous other Alice reimaginings that have come out and in some way been influenced by the 1951 picture JUST from Disney’s vaults alone, nor the ABUNDANCE of merchandise – both official and fanmade – based on this one movie. It isn’t a film that has the depth of plot, character, and thematics as something like “Beauty and the Beast” or “The Lion King,” nor is it as historically important as movies like “Snow White,” but I think “Alice” makes up for it by just being fun. It’s a fun, weird, psychedelic ride through the wilds of the imagination, and really, that’s always been what “Alice” SHOULD be, at the end of the day. Really, given my love of the story, in general, the REAL question should be not why “Alice in Wonderland” ranks so highly for me…but why isn’t it even higher? All I can say is, perhaps the films that do rank above it will offer some explanation… The Top 5 are upon us! The countdown continues tomorrow with my 5th Favorite Disney Movie! HINT: It’s the Only Modern Movie on The Countdown.

[leqclerc]

Let it be known that Carlos is not getting mistreated at Ferrari. Let it be known that Ferrari is trying to help Carlos. Carlos fans will need to hold that. He will never get the same amount of love that Charles gets. The harder they try to turn him into a victim the more frustrated they will feel. Genuine love and respect can't be measured, can't be bought and can't be compared. Affection is given freely. You can demand and scream out loud but it will never feel the same. Try as they might to push the tale of Carlos being more of a leader figure to Ferrari, the team feels down after races that Charles don't win (when he rightfully should've) because they feel like they have let him down. And that's the feeling that true leadership evokes.

This! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

The victimisation narrative just doesn't work on so many levels. I mean, for one, he's being treated on par with his more talented colleague, when any other team would've shifted the focus towards the actual title contender by enforcing a hierarchy. He's probably in the cushiest situation of out all the teammate pairings, especially considering the performance and talent gap. The team genuinely doesn't seem to care which driver is winning (in a title contending year), it's all the same to them, which should say enough about how they view them as equals. This is not the same situation as Toto pulling a visibly displeased face every time Valtteri outperformed Lewis, for example. Like that's just not happening. In fact, I don't think I recall Binotto criticising Carlos once this season. When he started off the year poorly everyone was supportive and we kept getting assurances about how it's just a hiccup and his performance will improve and he'll soon be back on the podium with Charles.

They openly celebrate his achievements, birthdays, and career milestones as a team. Even when Charles had a massive advantage and was Ferrari's best championship hope they refused to entertain the idea of assigning roles and using team orders - from April all the way through to August they've refused to do this.

When he’s struggling to adapt to the car, no problem, they just adapt the car to suit him instead. Because, you know, he’s treated so badly and they care so very little about him.

Whether he's likeable is a whole other can of worms. Where Charles is often mentioned as being kind, humble, down-to-earth, some of Carlos's statements have smacked of arrogance and entitlement, including this gem:

I'm not Italian, so I have no idea how Italian Tifosi feel about him, but like you said, leadership is something that's earned, not gifted. Charles is a FDA graduate, the first and so far only driver to complete the journey from academy to Ferrari seat. Some of the Ferrari employees have known him since he was a teenager. He's spent years with these people, he's been brought into the garage and tagged along on track walks before he even reached F1. They saw him grow into the person and driver he is today. That's huge.

More than that, he endured one of Ferrari's most difficult seasons in history (2020) and then another winless season in the midfield and stayed determined, motivated and optimistic, committed to bringing Ferrari back to the top where he feels they belong, never complained while drivers of his caliber and age (Max) were getting race and championship-winning cars. Ferrari knew they were underperforming so they kept morale up with the grand promise of making things right come 2022 ("we will have fun next year, you too, you'll see.") Expecting him to "be the leader" and shoulder all that responsibility during Ferrari's fallow years and then refusing to prioritise him and give back, in some way, a fraction of the effort he put in, is just cruel and unfair. They fired a four-time WDC, a man who is well-known for giving in-depth feedback, under the guise of not wanting two drivers with aspirations to be the lead driver within the team, only to suddenly insist they don't need team orders in a championship contending year and keep feeding Carlos's lofty ambitions. Which only further proves Seb's dismissal had nothing to do with Charles and everything to do with him being (rightfully) critical of the team/management which made him a liability in their eyes, but I digress. 🤷🏻‍♀️

It's also very telling that people from the outside - commentators, rival TPs, other experts - see it the way we do. Charles is synonymous with Ferrari. He's still being referred to as a championship contender, despite being almost certainly out of the title fight. Horner, Wolff and countless others have spoken highly of Charles and empathised as he was getting screwed over by Ferrari. Max relished the idea of racing to the title against a worthy opponent and even RB felt Ferrari's clownery robbed them of an entertaining competition. From the beginning their eyes were on Charles, they saw him as their main rival, a real threat to Max's championship hopes. It's like everyone understands the goldmine Ferrari are sitting on...except Ferrari who take him for granted and refuse, for whatever reason, to officially grant him the status he has worked hard to earn.

[fcb-mv33]

#if Daniel gave that much of a shit about Maxs character#he would have defended him after DTS like max did for Lando#but he never did#so don’t act like Daniel is someone who max should be like

These tags though!!! You don't have to post this because it will clearly be controversial, but Daniel has never really struck me as this "poster child on how to be a good person" that his fans try to paint him as anyway. He's good at being good for PR, which isn't necessarily a bad thing - it's clearly worked out for him, as evidenced by his passionate fanbase. However, he's had ample opportunities to go against the grain and show that he's actually a good person. And he's failed to do so every time.

During his time at Red Bull, he could have acknowledged Max's talent instead of pulling the victim "they're prioritizing my teammate and not giving me a chance!" narrative. He also had the opportunity to do this with Lando at McLaren. He didn't take either opportunity and instead made excuses. Ironically enough, Alex's F1 career nearly came to an end after "underperforming" versus Max, yet he's ALWAYS talked about how talented Max is. There was nothing but pride and ego standing in the way of Daniel doing that for the same teammates he felt threatened or outperformed by.

He could have called the DTS dogs off the first time they portrayed Max as a villain to further pull the "Daniel is such a victim" card. He, again, had the opportunity to do this with the way DTS portrayed Lando. He didn't defend his teammates either time. Coincidentally, Max was the one who said something when he saw DTS doing the same thing to Lando that they had done to him.

Daniel saw the way Oscar, a rookie, was painted as a villain and received hate and harassment from his stans for doing nothing other than taking the opportunity for a F1 seat. Never said a word to call his guard dogs off and be a decent person.

When he went on that Tom Segura podcast, he had the opportunity to call them out on their sexist, misogynistic, xenophobic jokes. He didn't. Instead he giggled along with him.

Daniel is a funny guy, and clearly he knows how to manipulate and make PR work for him. I don't know that I would go as far as calling him a "good person" due to that. He's a "good person" in a follow the leader sense. If others on the grid are raising awareness for something or taking a stand against racism, he has no problem going along with them. When he's on his own and has the opportunity to be a good person though, he somehow ALWAYS fails to rise to the occasion. I can't say the same for Max - if he believes someone he cares about has been done wrong, he's going to say something no matter how hated or unpopular it makes him; Max is going to stand up for what and who he believes in. I literally couldn't name one thing Daniel believes in despite him driving for 2 teams I support now; he just says whatever the media wants to hear.

I didn’t think anyone would read that tag lmao😭😭but nah I agree with you tbh on all of this.

I liked Daniel i do And i do think he’s a a good person definitely but I also think that he knows how much he is v much loved thanks to his character in the sport and tbh he does know he’s always going to be loved by the fans and just in general the people within f1. I think he did also see how being the way he is a v much something that can protect him as well tbh against being called out over his driving and also his v poor decisions he has done before.

He does talk about how talented max is yes but he has always kinda put the idea that he left cause the team were treating him as the second driver as the reason he left and he never actually came out and told his side to not attack Max or Lando or oscar over him leaving reed bull and getting the sack from Mclaren. He knew what way DTS portrayed Max and he let it go on because he was their poster child which meant that Max had to be the big bad villain and never once did Daniel say “hold on, he’s 19/20 this isn’t how he is and it isn’t fair”. Instead daniel just rolled with it which was his decision sure but people saying he’s great when it comes to calling out shit is so not true because he never called it out like Max did for Lando.

Like do I think his personality is who he is definitely I think he’s always been like this but I do think that he knows it will help him when it comes to the media and being v popular in it. Like you said what you see is what you get with Max, he calls out shit he doesn’t agree with and stands for other drivers so that’s why I don’t get why other fans act like Daniel has helped to mold Max?? When they aren’t exactly the exact same🤷🏼‍♀️

[hologramcowboy]

Many of us have speculated over what’s wrong with Jensen and why he seems so unhappy. But I wonder if a big part of it (not all since he clearly doesn’t like being around his wife, either) is The Winchesters. I don’t believe that he actually thinks the show is good, not if he has eyes and ears. I think he arrogantly assumed that if Dean was attached to it, it would be a success no matter what the quality was, but I don’t think he saw the quality being THIS low. I think he’s embarrassed to be attached to it. He looks like he’s in physical pain when he has to do Lives for it. And his Tweets or Instagram posts about it are minimal. I think he must have faced some heat from the higher-ups for the show's underperformance, and they likely forced his hand and that’s when we finally saw him on social media, tweeting (or he took some advice from Jared, too little too late). I think he’s feeling a little humiliated right now. And frankly, if that’s part of why he’s unhappy, he brought it on himself for the way he acted with the whole nightmare prequel.

Despite what it may sound like, I truly hope he figures things out and finds something to be happy about in his life, but I also hope he took a lesson from the prequel debacle (both about professionalism and friendship) and learns from this mistake.

You make an excellent point, the backlash for the prequel and for the nepotism he demonstrated surely got to him but it does seem his pain runs deeper than that. I will say something I learned from an Acting Coach friend who has a degree in Psychology, people who are extremely beautiful are used to being worshiped, when something happens that causes contrast to that they can experience trauma. Meaning, Jensen is not used to being criticized, especially since people fake most things and worship him in exaggerated ways to get on his good side and be able to get close to him. There are a lot of psychological aspects to consider as even that is extremely damaging, never knowing who truly loves you for you and who is just aiming to take advantage. But my point was, it's possible Jensen is experiencing an emotional collapse because after building an unrealistic superego based on the image his "fans" developed of him, he is now facing criticism for very valid reason and as an extremely attractive person, who is used to being worshiped, that does register as a trauma on some level which only amplifies his clear depression. I agree, his tweets show he's not really into the show, he did no research prior to beginning live-tweeting and continues to do things halfa****, in all of his interviews his lack of excitement and lack of authenticity came through. He stepped on a dear friend to get his prequel so there's no doubt also a guilt factor, as he is human, after all. Same goes for the live, he seemed off and was trying to overcompensate.

He also seems to be surrounded by leeches, people who are only interested in taking advantage of his image and money. Danneel being the prime example, her entire career was built by banking on his image and influence and making him insert her in his deals. I too hope he finds what he is looking for in terms of fulfillment, happiness and well-being. Of course, like you, I also hope he will take the wisdom from his past experience and apply to the future to avoid recreating painful situations that cast him in a bad light. That's the thing about dark night of the soul, you do come out of them wiser and more capable of building the life you actually want because you learn through all the contrast.

Sending you Love, thank you for enriching me with your perspective.