#era: fom

[k-i-l-l-e-r-b-e-e-6-9]

Women in uniform, sometimes they look so cold Women in uniform, but, oh! They feel so warm

Iron Maiden -  Women in Uniform

#Iron Maiden #12 Wasted Years (Official VHS Video 1987) #Women in Uniform (Skyhooks cover) #w/ paul di anno #ripped fom vhs #vhs #Genre: Heavy Metal NWOBHM #uk #Iron Maiden era #v h s #cut #my edit #edit

[formulinos]

HYPERFIXATION CORNER | NOW, THAT'S WHAT I CALL LATE STAGE FORMULA 1!

theydies and gentlemen of f1blr, i regret to inform you guys that the rumours are true: we live in a society. liberty media's tenure with FOM has opened a can of worms that ushered in what i've been calling lately "late stage formula 1". But the thing is, what the fuck would that be, exactly? so, as a good scholar, i took it to myself to study more about late stage capitalism in order to truly understand the term and see if my application made any sense. in today's hyperfixation corner, we'll get deeper than necessary on the microcosm of capitalism that f1 has become. and then we will get depressed. but maybe, just maybe, we can figure this out.

note: this has 7k words AND at times gets quite dense in terms of sociological theory, but i truly did my best to make it palatable. still, this is not going to be everyone's cup of tea and might get boring. if you still believe this is your thing, i just ask you to please hang on tight and see it through to the end as i truly feel everything ties up together rather logically.

PART I: THE DAWN OF LATE STAGE FORMULA 1

the basics of late stage capitalism

the application in late stage formula 1

PART II: YOU CAN'T RUN AWAY - FORMULA 1 AND CAPITALIST REALISM

mark fisher's capitalist realism

the indycar situation

was there ever class consciousness in f1?

the illusion of abu dhabi

THE DAWN OF LATE STAGE FORMULA 1

1. The Basics of Late Stage Capitalism

For a term we see being used daily on several outlets, you'd be surprised to find out that there isn't a rigid definition. In fact, depending on who you talk to, you'll get widely different explanations, since there's basically "academia" late capitalism and "normie" late capitalism. I'll brush up those two for you guys real quick because, at this point, might as well.

The term was coined by a German scholar Werner Sombart. At the time, just at the start of the XX century, he was a HUGE Marx/Engels stan. He had all of their photocards, but beyond that, he also took to himself to write his lifetime's defining work, which is basically an expanded universe fanfic to what Marx and Engels wrote, tbh. In 1902, Sombart started to publish "Der moderne Kapitalismus" (Modern Capitalism), comprised of three volumes in which he discussed four stages of capitalism: proto-capitalism, related to the appearance of capitalist-like tendencies in feudal society until it became proper capitalism + early capitalism, which was basically seen pre-industrial revolution; high capitalism, which came in with the industrial revolution and ended with WWI; and at last, late capitalism, which was what they were living at the time of the third book release (1927), that is, post world wars world. That's all very chill, but given that later on Sombart drank the kool aid and became a Nazi, he can fuck off.

Thank God, two other dudes came in to take the expression from Sombart. Ernest Mandel and Fredric Jameson are two scholars who, although published their works in different times, were responsible for widespreading the term. Mandel published Late Capitalism in 1975, marking it as the era of economic expansion post WWII that, in his view, would reach its peak in the 70s since the economy was starting to have frequent crises. Jameson, however, dropped his book, Postmodernism or, the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism, 16 years later, talking about the then-current world marked by globalisation and the expansion of capitalism to culture (arts, lifestyle, etc.). 

All of this is to say that, today, if you ask an economist or a political scientist, they will most likely talk to you either about this time progression or straight out use Fredric Jameson's definition. Which, tbh, works, since in a way Jameson touches on the expansion of capitalism to daily life, something that goes in common with the contemporary POV on late capitalism.

We legit live in hell rn, no big deal

If you go on Reddit or watch corecore edits on tiktok, then there is a sense of dread and irony that's unique to the internet's definition of late capitalism. Since it's a relatively recent thing, there isn't a concrete way to define it, so I'll just use the one given by Ian Neves (Brazilian Historian) in his video about Capitalist Realism because I think it's the one that manages to summarise it the best: Late Stage Capitalism is the stage of capitalism in which the contradictions of capitalism are so evident that they become explicit to the population. That is, it is so in your face that it stops being campy. It's just tacky.

In the video, Neves further explains that one of the big deals about capitalism is that it sells itself as a contradiction-free system, but in our current time we aren't quite fooled anymore. A few examples of this would be multinationals like Amazon opening factories in underdeveloped places like Tijuana, under the guise of wanting to "help develop the country" but placing themselves close to a slum, clearly showing their intentions of exploitation; You can also think of the "art" market of NFTs, which are nothing more than numbers stored in a computer - capitalism touts itself as being a creator of value capable of meeting society's needs, yet there is no need met with NFTs besides value generation for the sake of value generation and pure speculation. Anyway, there are several examples and whatever you think is probably Late Stage Capitalism.

2. The Application in Late Stage Formula 1

Having done this deep dive, imagine my face when I realised that it turns out I didn't just pull "Late Stage F1" out of my ass. I was gooped! Gooped, I tell you. See, if late stage capitalism is now defined as the era in which capitalism's contradictions are explicit, then Late Stage F1 can be easily perceived as the stage of the sport in which its contradictions are no longer capable of being ignored by the fans either. In that sense, it does feel that this is the perfect way to synthesise the bitterness that a large part of the fandom tastes in their mouths. 

note: I'm not stating that pre-Liberty Media Formula 1 was perfect. God forbid I become one of the purist fans talking about the good ole days. Bernie Ecclestone wasn't shit and in a way, some of our issues nowadays are inherited from his tenure as the head of FOM. But, at the same time, the sport managed to sell itself as a luxury hobby while still being satisfying and accessible, in a way or another, to the non-wealthy fans. You couldn't see as many contradictions as now because the image of the sport was more or less aligned with what you actually saw, good and bad. 

The same, unfortunately, can't be said nowadays. To illustrate my point, let's take a look at FOM's Corporate Strategic plan, released in 2020. The idea, in their words, is "to deliver a more popular, more exciting, and sustainable sport, which pushes the boundaries whilst protecting our heritage.", supported by six axes:

Race – Increase competitiveness and unpredictability on track

Engage – Produce an amazing spectacle for fans on and off track

Perform – Generate value to our shareholders

Sustain – Deliver sustainable and efficient operations

Collaborate – Create win-win relationships with our partners

Empower – Build an engaged and high-performing workforce

Besides Perform and Collaborate, arguably the two most capitalistic inclined pillars, it's incredibly easy to find counter-arguments to illustrate how this is just corporate talk and doesn't actually reflect on the sport. [cracks fingers] So, let's get it:

�� Increase competitiveness and unpredictability on track: Ok, sure, they try with this one as it is the core of the sport - after all, this is what the regulations' tweaks are for. But you just need a quick overview of the Andretti situation to see that competitiveness only serves the structure to a certain point. After all, although Andretti managed to get the backing of a manufacturer (General Motors, in the form of Cadillac) which, in theory is enough to make it a more legitimate entry less likely to Caterham levels of bankruptcy, the vibes are still somehow off from camp F1. 

Michael and Mario Andretti on a pit wall during something that WASN'T a Formula 1 race

This all boils down to the revenue split at the end of the season between the teams and FOM: once you remove the bonuses that are thrown around, roughly 50% of what's left goes to FOM, and the other 50% are the championship prize money (don't quote me on these percentages actually, I'm not sure if it's exactly 50/50) . If Andretti gets in, then either the teams' share gets diluted as a consequence of an extra mouth to be fed, either FOM needs to adjust its own reward to increase the total prize money and make sure that all teams still get the same liquid value for positions 1-10. 

Now, Andretti are willing to pay the 200 million dollars "anti-dillution" fee that's to be distributed to the already existing teams as a regulated "sorry we're gonna have to split the prize money in 11 from now on". Yet, instead of welcoming the bid, teams have lobbied for an increase to that fee to 600 millions, a cheap tactic to either get more money or to keep Andretti out. On one hand, Christian Horner has made it clear, from the teams' perspective it is about the money. On the other hand, Stefano Domenecali and FOM are hot and cold, stating that he's happy Andretti are interested but mad that they're calling out the bureaucracy of the process. 

The key aspect here is that F1 no longer needs an American team to reinforce their position in the United States market as they did back in 2014 when Haas formalised their entrance. In fact, they don't even need Haas to assert themselves as American anymore as they have three GPs lined up regardless of the team's national fanbase. This way, in FOM's optics, they have nothing to gain from Andretti. In a way, the teams are basically doing what's expected of them, but bottomline is the fact that FOM is fucking mental in adopting the same perspective instead of planning how an extra entry of such magnitude as Andretti-Cadillac could pay itself with time.

✷ Produce an amazing spectacle for fans on and off track: See, I guess you can call me a bit of an old school fan, because when it comes to Formula 1, I WANT TO SEE THE FUCKING CARS RUN ON THE FUCKING TRACK. I suppose many of you are aligned with me on that one.

Using the 2021 numbers as reference since we didn't get the 2022 report yet, the average global audience is around 70.3 million. Given that the biggest venues can only hold 400k attendants tops, the rest of those 70m fans are watching the GPs from home. They are also most likely having to pay for it, since F1TV's dominion keeps increasing. While, all credit is due, F1TV offers a much better pay-per-view experience than many other sports have, with a very rich archive and incredible coverage of each race weekend, some of these prices per country are a legit effort for a fan to make. 

From the Reddit post, an example of the price disparity between countries. F1TV is priced accordingly to the purchasing power that each country has.

Could be worse as many other fans are held hostage by Sky Sports, which is only available with a much more expensive £34.99 subscription to UK and Ireland fans, who don't even have F1TV as an alternative option. Given that Sky also has the airing rights in Germany and Italy, the fact is that F1's free to air presence has been lowering over the years (a problem that has been discussed in 2016 and represented a decrease in viewership at the time, mitigated by the Liberty Media efforts). But F1 really can't be arsed in considering a full return to free-to-air TV given the current times and so, the idea is to basically adapt to the pay TV market as much as possible and to retain free-to-air positions in specific markets. And if you, individually, don't have the money to pay for it and there is no free-to-air alternative for you, tough titties.

When it comes to actually attending a Grand Prix though, it's becoming equally harder to do it. The F1destinations 2023 rank shows that there has been an average 56% increase on the average 3-day ticket price in relation to 2019, costing roughly 508 dollars. In terms of affordability, these tickets can represent from under 10% to over 50% of the average monthly net wage for the countries hosting the GP. If it was just the tickets that would be easy peasy, but the fact is most of the times attendance includes the need for housing, transportation, food, etc. What this means is that it's fucking expensive, ok? 

The GPs are getting more and more packed, but for how long?

Again, the sport has always been elitist, but there was for a good while a relative balance between your average fan who managed to save up and get a GA ticket with the rich wealthy fans at the paddock drinking their champagne. Nowadays, even people who were regular attendees of their home gps have tapped out due to being priced out. Plus, even the new GPs added to the calendar already come with a big disclaimer "FOR MONEY ONLY" as, for instance, the cheapest tickets for Las Vegas cost 500 bucks but the real average price for the three days is $1,667.

So, if they are in fact producing a great spectacle for fans, it's becoming more and more hard for said fans to actually be able to see it. Whatever.

✷ Deliver sustainable and efficient operations: F1 made a pledge in 2020 to improve their relationship to Mother Nature by 2030, which includes: Net Zero carbon, sustainably-fuelled, hybrid power units, efficient and low/zero carbon logistics & travel, 100% renewably powered facilities and credible carbon sequestration. The whole pdf has a bunch of lovely lines about their grandiose plans, but these are somewhat easily dragged to filth by anyone who understands just a tiny bit of eco-sustainability. One of these people is David Bott, chief innovation officer for the Society of Chemical Industry*. 

Bott explains well the situation with the fuel. F1 cars currently use E10, which is a mix of gasoline (+ the likely additives that gasoline already has) with 10% ethanol, a sustainable fuel. The thing is, gasoline is more popular than ethanol for cars for a reason: if you take 1L of gasoline and 1L of ethanol, when you burn them, gasoline will give you way more energy. According to Bott, this means that the new E10 fuel is not as potent as gasoline would be, so you end up needing to use more of it anyway and in the grand scheme of emissions, that means fuck all.

F1's carbon footprint per sector. Does something feel funny to you?

Still, as F1 itself showed in their sustainability report back in 2020, the power unit emissions are less than 1% of the total emissions during a season. As you'd imagine, the thick of it really lies in logistics (45%, transportation of all equipment) and business travel (27,7%, transportation+hotels of f1 staff). Drivers and TPs carpooling with their private jets might help a little bit, but it's evident that F1 doesn't give a single shit about improving those numbers given that the calendar has expanded to 23 races, three of them in the same country but in completely different times of the year, which means that the back and forth of airplanes between continents will correspond to a 15% increase to emissions in relation to last year. According to Paolo Feser, If they were to at least organise the calendar in a sensible manner, they could cut these emissions by half, but such a calendar would go against their contracts with Bahrain and Abu Dhabi for the season's opener (till 2036) and finale (till 2030), respectively. When you consider the pledge's deadline of 2030, it's pretty evident that they'll say they made it because of the drop-in fuel in development, but logistics are far removed from the rest of it.

✷ Build an engaged, high-performing workforce: TALKING OF THE 23 RACE CALENDAR, the biggest impact is obviously on the workforce. Race weekends are gruelling enough for the drivers, who have stated through the GPDA their concerns of burnout. But then, you also have to consider the garage side, who are used to a minimum of 12-hour shifts during a race weekend, having to adapt to more frequent double and triple headers. As an anonymous mechanic said:

"Then, when you are coming home on a Monday morning or Monday evening, and you haven't slept properly in days, that then affects how you feel in your personal time. It means your relationships can suffer – either because you are agitated with your partners or you've got other things on your mind. And that's not fair on you nor them. You are not just mentally fatigued, you are physically drained as well. As the season wears on, there are a hell of a lot of injuries happening. The teams do have doctors and physios to help look after you, but the easiest solution is to pump you with painkillers to just keep you going. There is no way in a million years that a regular doctor would give you what we are given to keep us going."

The psychological strain adds to the anxiety of creating the perfect car and work culture has become increasingly tense. To add to the tension, the cost cap negatively reflected on the workforce as many teams, including RBR and Mercedes, had to fire people to adapt to it. Those who stay have to be reminded that they are "so lucky" to still have a job and if "they don't like it, they can go" (as Tost said in 2021) but the situation is overall so demotivating that yeah, people are quitting motorsports overall or changing categories. To sum up, the engagement and performance of the workforce isn't out of love for the sport, but fear and pressure.

To wrap this with a golden bow, I could never forget the #WeRaceAsOne initiative, still touted by F1 as a campaign that really wants to bring awareness and impact important problems in our society. When it was created in 2020, the main focuses were COVID-19 and social inequalities, but given that they banned T-shirts in podiums in 2020 after Lewis Hamilton protested the death of Breonna Taylor by the hands of US pigs, they clearly weren't comfortable in really tackling the inequality issue. Therefore, they changed the goals of the campaign for a very corporate "Sustainability, Diversity and Inclusion & Community" axis, whatever the hell they mean with that. It's good that they can focus on it all they want, as the FIA has banned drivers from political statements during race weekend procedures. Moreover, while the boycott of the Russian Grand Prix is completely justifiable, it still feels empty once you consider they raced in Saudi Arabia while a factory mere miles away from the track was bombed, also as an act of war.

To sum up, the fact is that late stage Formula 1 is here to stay and we have to deal with all of the sport's contradictions. The same way that late capitalism does not mean that the end of capitalism is near, late stage f1 means nothing as its popularity has been rising more and more, and at the current rate, the abandonment of the older fans means jackshit as more people show up on social media and are willing to pay what's necessary to either watch it or attend races. The question that might linger, in fact, is if F1 has reached the point of inevitability at last?

----

YOU CAN'T RUN AWAY - FORMULA 1 AND CAPITALIST REALISM

1. Mark Fisher's Capitalist Realism

Even when we're faced with the existence of a late stage Formula 1, whether when it's concretely laid down or just a feeling deep down, many of us still continue to engage with it. As much as we complain about it, the current panorama does show an expansion of the sport, which can only happen as well because a good chunk of the old school fans remain. The question is, why do we insist on watching a sport when we know shit is that bad? Is it solely because of affectionate ties to a team, a driver or even f1 itself? Sure, these factors contribute to it, but what if I told you that it is also because current F1 has finally managed to sink into our collective consciousnesses as inevitable?

To understand what I'm trying to say here, we need to look first at the big picture. That is, if we have been treating F1 as a microcosm of capitalism up to this point, it's now necessary to step back and face Capital itself. In order to do this, I want to introduce to you guys the concept of capitalist realism.

Say hello to Mark Fisher (1968-2017), an incredible mind gone too soon

While, just like late stage capitalism, "capitalist realism" was an umbrella term used for a myriad of different meanings, we don't have to contextualise its timeline. Rather than that, we can jump straight to Mark Fisher's defining work, "Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative?", published in 2009. In it, Fisher defines it as "the widespread sense that not only is capitalism the only viable political and economic system, but also that it is now impossible even to imagine a coherent alternative to it". Putting it in simpler terms, it's easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism. 

With capital realism, Fisher no longer talks just about the influence of capitalism at a socio-economic level, but also how it bled into the cultural and psychological spheres (scary!!!!!!!). All of this culminates in apolitical attitude towards capitalism: since we can't escape the system because things are like this, all we can do, realistically, is to adapt to it and try to minimise its effects instead of actually fighting them.

Having that in mind, I ask you guys: can you imagine the demise of F1? We often hear about it separating from the FIA, but similarly to capitalist realism, Formula 1 losing its world championship status (as close to its end of the world as it gets) feels more likely that a massive restructuring of the category or it shutting down for good. Similarly, fans have adopted an "it is what it is" point of view towards the sport as we all know what FOM and the FIA are like and we don't have, supposedly, the power to change anything, we just have to suck on whatever they propose to us.

Stefano Domenicali (FOM CEO) and Mohammed bin Sulayem (president of the FIA), joined in unholy matrimony

Now, capitalist realism didn't show up out of the blue. According to Fisher, neoliberalism was the mother of capitalist realism. This is because its campaign in the 80s and 90s with regan and maggie thatcher (names in lowercase because I don't respect them) was successful in gaslighting people into thinking that it wasn't necessarily perfect, but it was the only approach of government rooted in reality. Once it was implemented, the next step was to consolidate it, which happened thanks to two factors: the end of the soviet union and the transition to post-fordism. I know this seems crackheaded and with no relation to F1, but give me a chance pls!

Trigger warning: the many faces of neoliberalism

During the Cold War, there was a concrete antagonist to capitalism in the shape of the USSR*. With its demise, this role of a real opposition to it was completely obliterated, allowing for capitalism to expand however it pleased without anything to contest it. Similarly, maybe F1's biggest triumph in these last two decades - and this is why I said at the top that Bernie wasn't shit and the problem about late stage F1 had its roots further back - is that it successfully managed to free itself from the sole category that threatened its popularity: Indy Car.

*note: by stating this, there is absolutely no value judgement. the statement is not about the ussr being a problematic fave or a communist hell that needed to be abolished. it was just a physical entity that asserted itself as a possible alternative to capitalism. by its physical existence, it allowed for public consciousness to understand that, if the ussr was a possible alternative to capitalism, then there might as well be plenty of others. kindly remember that the ussr was quite oppressive and countless people and countries suffered on their hands, while also understanding that for this particular purpose, it did its job.

2. The IndyCar Situation

The IndyCar World Series as we know it was established in 1979, with CART (Championship Auto Racing Teams) as the governing body behind it. The similarities between F1 and IndyCar went beyond the cars (although the Indys were a tad less sophisticated than F1s): the creation of CART itself was based on Bernie's FOCA model (television rights, sponsorships, etc). 

IndyCar's Indianapolis 500, 1992. Not bad in terms of attendance!

From the 80s, its popularity grew in America, with them even inheriting venues that originally held grand prix, like Long Beach. Still, no one was really intimidated by them as F1's presence in the US, albeit messy with several different events attempted, was constant during that period. However, shit went down in the next decade, when Formula 1 was shut down by the organisers of the US Grand Prix at Phoenix right in 1991. From that point, it would take 9 years for F1 to get back, at the heart of American racing, Indianapolis. Hold this information.

Once F1 disappeared from 'Murica, IndyCar thrived, at least for a while. CART had managed to join ACCUS (Automobile Competition Committee for the United States), who are affiliated to the FIA, which made it possible for drivers to race in Indy without losing their super licenses. Soon, there was a migration from foreign drivers to IndyCar, and that included people from F1, such as Emerson Fittipaldi. Once that happened, the sky became the limit for Indy and they started to race outside of the US. By 1993, Nigel Mansell had dropped F1 after a rift with Williams and decided to go drive for Newman/Haas at IndyCar instead.

Nigel Mansell and teammate Mario Andretti. Oh how I want Nigel, ngl.

note: the motherfucker demolished his competition, won IndyCar and is still the only person to be, technically, F1 and IndyCar champion at the same time.

At this point, some people will say Bernie Ecclestone wasn't bothered, but he hadn't even gotten over losing the Long Beach GP to CART back in 84. You know Bernie, I know Bernie, we all know Bernie. HE WAS MAD!!!! At the same time, NASCAR was rising in popularity like never before, causing a certain rivalry between the categories over who would take over the hearts of all the petrol head americans.  

Enter Tony George, then head of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and chairman at CART. Tony believed that CART was getting lost in the game and ignoring Motorsport Traditions by racing in venues that weren't ovals. Since Georgy was annoying as fuck, CART booted him from the board of directors, which was one of the most stupid decisions given that he owned the track that literally gave the name to their championship. IndyCar's whole thing was the Indianapolis 500, right? "So fuck you too," Tony George cried while being thrown away from the CART offices by security "You don't want me? Then you don't get to race the Indy 500 anymore!".

Well, it didn't happen exactly like that. Instead, Tony George created a separate category called Indy Racing League that would be dedicated exclusively to ovals and get to be the owner of the Indy 500 from 96 onwards. The original IndyCar series changed its name to CART and Indy racing in America became fractured. Just to be clear, IRL did allow an 8 CART car limit to compete at Indy 500, but CART decided to boycott the event instead. This worked for some time, and CART still managed to make do with their reserves (they even offered to buy F1 in 1998) but soon these started to dry out as sponsors dropped the series and teams started breaking the boycott to race in Indy 500, eventually by the 2000s completely defecting to IRL. In 2004, CART filed for bankruptcy and got bought out, living as a zombie series until 2008 when IRL bought it and reunified them. At this point, the damage was done as NASCAR had taken over in popularity and F1 was back since 2000, racing the IMS.

Tony and Bernie, BFFs 5eva

Oh yeah, haven't you heard? 1998 also marked the year where it was announced by Bernie that F1 would come back to the United States, racing at the holy land of Indianapolis herself. Sounds sketchy? You're not the one to think that, as both Jacques Villeneuve (1995 IndyCar champion 1995) and Gordon Kirby (journalist, US correspondent for Autosport 1973-2004) have stated that Bernald, alongside NASCAR boss Bill France, basically whispered sweet nothings in Tony George's ear to get him to act a fool. Although it took several more years for F1 to finally sink its teeth into the United States in an effective manner, the main competition was out before they could even expand further. 

It was up to Formula 1 then to expand without anything to stop it, as we can see in the many calendar changes we've had over the years. Even further, since there is no antagonist, this has also allowed F1 to turn its sights to the feeder system, creating its own "preferred" path that, with the super license points system basically make it harder for drivers who are outside of the F1 feeder series bubble to make it to F1 (as we've even seen recently with Colton Herta). Same thing is happening to the W Series, which for lack of funds wasn't able to finish their 2022 season even though they were promoted to an F1 support championship, racing. While Formula 1 did not offer to help them or tried to integrate them properly in the feeder series ladder, they have just recently announced F1 Academy, their own initiative for female drivers, placed officially just under Formula 3 with a direct link. That's great for the female drivers, but incredibly fucked up at the same time.

3. Was There Ever Class Consciousness in F1?

Yeah, so the whole lack of opposition didn't help on an external basis, but there is also an internal factor that cannot be ignored and it's linked to post-Fordist work structure. In Capitalist Realism, Mark Fisher cites a study by Richard Sennett called "The Corrosion of Character: The Personal Consequences of Work in the New Capitalism". In it, Sennett states:

"Where formerly workers could acquire a single set of skills and expect to progress upwards through a rigid organizational hierarchy, now they are required to periodically re-skill as they move from institution to institution, from role to role. As the organization of work is decentralized, with lateral networks replacing pyramidal hierarchies, a premium is put on ‘flexibility’.[...] This flexibility was defined by a deregulation of Capital and labor, with the workforce being casualized (with an increasing number of workers employed on a temporary basis), and outsourced."

Translating this, instead of becoming a specialist on something, you become a jack of all trades without any job stability. In the F1 world, this is seen not only in drivers changing teams and getting sacked of the category altogether, but also in the poaching of talent between teams and the frequent internal restructurations. Ian Neves says that post-Fordism was key in the establishment of capital realism because its natural consequence is the individualisation of work, which leads to the weakening of trade unions and ultimately, the mining of class consciousness.

As one would expect, there isn't a trade union that looks after all F1 workers. Instead, most of the engineers, mechanics and other staff are subject to the unions of the countries the factories are located at (for instance, Alpine is protected by the "collective convention of metallurgical engineers and workers").Therefore, as much as the personnel is against work conditions and calendar expansion, it's much more difficult for them to unite and rally against it as they have been segmented. 

Ferrari team photo, 2022. Together, but divided nevertheless 

This is particularly fucky when you consider the existence of the GPDA. The Grand Prix Drivers' Association is a trade union that, historically, has made itself heard in delicate situations where drivers needed to claim their rights and fight for their safety. Unfortunately, this comes with a side effect that reinforces a difference between drivers from the rest of the F1 crew. While they are absolutely right and the GPDA should exist as a trade union regardless of the existence of a larger one encompassing all workers, the fact is that the illusion that drivers are in the status quo of the sport, and not subject to it, remains.

Look, as much as they are in a privileged spot and reap all its benefits, the fact is they do not own the cars they run - well, at least not most of the time [stares at the Strolls]. They still rely on the teams that own the structure and the backing of sponsors, that is, the means of production, to work. Most of the time, when they retire from F1, they still tend to race in other categories or find side quests. While I have no doubt that drivers are super passionate for racing and you can't completely quit it, how much are we sure that this is also not partially motivated by the desire to make sure they are still able to afford the lifestyle they had as Formula 1 drivers? Marx was clear, baby, the drivers are as much the proletariat as anyone else. By separating them from the rest of the structure and maintaining the post-fordist work structure for the rest of the teams, class consciousness inside the paddock is close to none and it helps to consolidate F1's status as an almighty being.

4. The Illusion of Abu Dhabi

Here's the thing: if "realism" is used as an argument for maintenance of the current state of affairs, by conforming to what's in theory "realistic", then the best way to threaten it, according to Fisher, is if you manage to expose the cracks of said "realism". This should be able to work because, get this, there is a difference between what's Real and what's reality. 

Again, sorry but I'm gonna get theoretical here. However, when you consider that so much of what we're talking about here directly relates to a psychological sphere, you can't not add some psychiatric theory into this. When you look at it from the point of view of Jacques Lacan (French psychiatrist who spit some bars), reality is constituted not of what's actually Real, but of social conventions and symbolism. The Real itself is unrepresentable and even traumatic at times, and you can only perceive it when you look at the inconsistencies of reality, that aims to suppress it! What the fuck!!!!

It's super easy, you just have to show that the whole framework is inconsistent!

Except it never works that way.

Going back AGAIN to capitalist realism, take a look at the 2008 Global Financial Crisis. I don't understand much about the mechanisms of the economy (and I am right not to, as this is all made up by weird people), but even I know that the Lehman Brothers collapse resulted in a worldwide clusterfuck that saw many lose their lifetime of savings. After that point, the ripple effect was so severe that companies were falling like flies and it was up to State interventions to halt things. Maybe the greatest example of late stage capitalism, this was the key point to explicit the greatest contradiction of neoliberalism: they sell themselves as a system above the State, however they needed the State to save it, which means they don't really want to abolish State, just to occupy it to their own desires.

The absurd numbers of the financial crisis in the US.

So, you have your reality cracked, you can look at the Real and see the inconsistencies of capitalism laid bare in front of all of us. This should have been enough for neoliberalism/capitalism to go out of style completely right? As you can see if you look out the window, however, we're still living in a capitalist society. Then what happened? The crises ended up reinforcing the status of capitalism precisely through the bank bail-outs as the States doubled down on the whole "realistic" thing because they had no alternative and saw these companies as "too big to fail". What we see today, then, is an economical model that clearly fallible, yet remains because it's perceived as a default. Mark's words, not mine. 

But this is in the field of Capital. It's not like, in the F1 bubble, anything of the genre has ever happened.

Yup.

I guess you could say there have been moments in Formula 1 that came close to exposing these inconsistencies but didn't, like crashgate, spygate or the whole 1989 championship debacle. Still, these didn't expose anything because:

1) F1 didn't sell itself at the time of those events the same way it does now

2) All of these could be easily pinned to individuals instead of the whole structure of F1 itself - even Senna put 1989 on the back of Balestre only, instead of the entire FIA.

Abu Dhabi, however, wasn't looked at the same way given that it's still such a controversial topic and was the point of rupture to many fans with the category.This is because the series of events that led to Abu Dhabi, touted as the biggest showdown since 1974 and followed it afterwards managed to create the circumstances to break the veil between the reality (F1 as the greatest, most spontaneous motorsport modality in the world) and showed the Real (the newfound need to push narratives, consequence of the transition from sport to entertainment encouraged by Liberty Media ran-FOM, enabled by the FIA and accelerated by Drive to Survive). 

The animosity between TeamLH and the Orange Army lingers to this day. However, regardless of its peak at the time, the controversy of the actions taken at the Grand Prix did not provoke just an outcry amongst Hamilton fans, but to a good chunk of neutral parties as well. We're still here though, so how did Formula 1 manage to escape from it? Simple, they also reinforced their position by the immediate actions of the FIA, as Jean Todt demanded a review of what happened. In its swiftness to respond, the World Motor Sport Council, that is, the one institution that could bail-out F1, states they would take action to understand what happened and avoid any problems in the next season. 

The bail-out, in this sense, isn't monetary, but institutional as they place their focus on the "relevant parties" instead of the major structure itself. From their side, FOM avoided taking responsibility for their role, as Domenecali said right after that "We have already spoken with the president [Mohammed bin Sulayem, who had just assumed his role] . We talked about the priorities he will have to face, and there are many.". This landed as well, as the common reaction was to demand the FIA changes and penalties, blaming Michael Masi for "trying to balance the need for spectacle with the rulebook" instead of addressing the root causes of the need for spectacle itself. 

Masi had it coming, but he sure made it easy from the FIA and FOM

In that sense, the reinforcement also comes in the sense of self-criticism, since it leads to something called "interpassivity", a concept developed by Robert Pfaller:  when the actors in Formula 1 take it to themselves to discuss and criticise the sport themselves, they are performing our opposite stance for the fans, who then are able to continue to consume it as they please. This is possible as well because we take a "cynical distance" from the sport and thus become passive spectators. This way, as long as we say to ourselves "oh, F1 is rotten nowadays", that's all we need as a cop-out to keep watching it. This is not just us being hypocrites, per se, but legit one of capitalist ideology as Zizek puts it that we overvalue our internal beliefs in detriment of our external actions - literally the "there is no ethical consumption in capitalism" of it all. It's inevitable we replicate this behaviour when it comes to watching Formula 1.

So, once we get all of the way, the question remains: is there anything that can be done to truly change Formula 1? It's not just a matter of direct action, as what we're talking about here is a result of a concealed mulit-layered internal organisation that acts on an abstract level. As much as we can bitch and moan, fan protests and team appeals are direct action and thus, easily countered by the FOM/FIA complex. Hell, these two fight all the time and yet any crisis is easily fixed, as just the mere possibility of F1 separating from the FIA was enough to get bin Sulayem to step away from day to day administration. On one hand, FOM doesn't want to truly separate from the FIA, they just want to occupy the FIA themselves. On the other hand, the FIA needs F1 to stay so that they can continue to assert themselves as the big dawgs in motorsports. This is how they manage to walk hand in hand and compromise over their own interests instead of the interests of the sport itself.

Maybe, this triumph of FOM is directly related to the biggest weapon of capital realism: the individualisation of the being, placing their responsibility and expectations solely on the self instead of the greater structure. This can be seen in situations such as the climate change approach, focused way more on our need to recycle than the large corporations' impact on the environment. Another example is the approach of mental health, that most of the times places on your brain alone the responsibility for your disorders instead of considering as well the influence of social conditions.

In the context of F1, the individualisation is exacerbated by the nature of the competition. Everyone is fighting for their own interests, and in a way, that has always been the goal. Still, the excessive encouragement of rivalries and toxicity - not only in the fandom, but in the paddock itself - serves the role of segmentation very well and helps FOM to continue pushing through F1 as they please. It all boils down to the lack of class consciousness between ALL the personnel, who could adopt strategic approaches that directly affect FOM's directives, turning what was abstract into a concrete issue and thus making it possible to take direct action. (tbh many of these issues can be addressed if capitalism itself is fought but then again, the impact of that on the vroom vrooms can be quite extreme and maybe that's asking too much of a sport dominated by car manufacturers and such).

In the role of fans, we both reflect the inner machinations of Formula 1 and feed it. Thus, the same way that all the staff should unite, so should we. While when it comes to track action many of us are rivals, and some of the drivers legit make it hard to stand with them, fact is the real enemy at the current date is FOM - even if Liberty Media sells it, the next administration will most likely double down on their approach. Our best hope isn't to boycott F1, but to encourage the union of its staff and show that while we welcome the technical evolutions, the main goal must be preserved. Food for thought, really. In the meantime, thank you for surviving till the end! As always, screw you guys, I'm going home!

In the role of fans, we both reflect the inner machinations of Formula 1 and feed it. Thus, the same way that all the staff should unite, so should we. While when it comes to track action many of us are rivals, and some of the drivers legit make it hard to stand with them, fact is the real enemy at the current date is FOM - even if Liberty Media sells it, the next administration will most likely double down on their approach. They were the ones that created the conditions for Abu Dhabi to happen, they are the ones that benefit the most from the rifts. Our best hope isn't to boycott F1, but to encourage the union of its staff and show that while we welcome the technical evolutions, the main goal must be preserved. Food for thought, really. In the meantime, thank you for surviving till the end! As always, screw you guys, I'm going home!

#hyperfixation corner #late stage capitalism #capitalist realism #cheers you guys good luck to those who read it #most normal ana formulinos write-up moment

[hurricanewindattack]

I saw an interesting article showing how the Las Vegas GP is based upon an entirely new business model:

Classic races were funded by local race promoters (often the local automotive club/association based around a track). Money was made back via ticket sales. Therefore, F1 was often restricted to places with an existing huge, committed following.

The Bernie-era saw a shift to the 'highest bidder' promoters getting races. These ofc ended up typically being governments wanting to attract attention to their countries (such as in the middle east). Money need not be made back, the returns can be intangibles (ie: prestige). There are drawbacks and benefits: it brought racing to new places, but also caused the hullaballoo over human rights.

For the Vegas GP though, FOM is the promoter. This means, critically, that local government support is less critical, nor are wealthy/historic automotive clubs. The FOM can choose locations based on potential market value and possibility of establishing the presence of F1 itself. Returns can be longer term.

Seen this way I'm divided over it. This could be a possible way to bring races to India and the African continent. The success of the Vegas GP could do some good.

#f1 #las vegas gp 2023

[josefavomjaaga]

Hello, dear Josefa ✨

I hope you are doing well!

While Flower and myself were talking about our favourite couples of the napoleonic era, our conversation found its way to the Soults which we would love to group with couples like the Davouts or the Mortiers but can't because of the cheating on our monsieur le maréchal Soult's part.

With that in mind, we wondered: Do we know how madame Soult reacted to the cheating? How did her behaviour change through the first days, weeks, months after finding out? Did it even change?

We are aware that we don't know any details of the actual conversation where the couple discussed this matter but we still wanted to ask!

Thank you for your time and effort! c:

We do not really know, I fear. We do not even know when and how exactly she learned about Soult's little secondary Spanish family. It is quite possible that it did not come completely unexpected anymore, as people in Paris had been gossipping about Soult's alleged infidelities ever since 1810, and in one of his 1811 letters Soult kind of had admitted to a marital misstep.

If I remember correctly, Soult finally was granted permission to leave Spain by mid-February 1813, and could leave at the beginning of March. On his way through Southern France he took the occasion to go see his old mother in Saint-Amans, whom he originally had wanted to visit four years earlier, on his way into Spain. I do not remember (I'm not even sure if it is clear) if Louise and the kids already met with him in Saint-Amans or if they waited for him in Paris but I suspect they went to Saint-Amans and from there back to the capital that Soult reached at the beginning of April. He soon had to leave again, this time with Napoleon to Germany, on the 1813 campaign, and on 12 April he already gave full powers in all matters to his wife so she could handle affairs during his absence.

Did she at this point already know about the full extent of these affairs? It's likely, but we do not have any real clue.

She must have known by late June 1813, however (interestingly, that's the same time when, many miles away, Maria de la Paz Baylèn and her little baby son leave Spain and enter France). We know that because Soult in his letter fom 23 June at least vaguely hints at how hurt Louise must have been by his confessions. He invites her to come to meet with him at Dresden with their children, despite the fact that [...]

you will not be lodged very well, but you will be with me, your sorrows will cease, your cheerfulness will return, and you will be certain that, despite everything that has happened, you have never ceased to be tenderly loved [...]

"Despite everything that has happened" clearly means that by that point, Louise is fully aware of the existence of Maria de la Paz and her baby. And she had taken it badly, as was to be expected. Obviously, she doubted Soult's love for her, and she may have considered taking further steps, or at least that's something Soult feared:

I'm not talking about the other feelings, for nothing could add to their strength other than the step you're taking right now.

(All emphasis by me)

And then he continues to implore her to come and sit down with him and talk it all over.

So, obviously lots of trouble in honeymoon land. From the looks of it, I'd say Louise did not so much react with fury, but rather turned sad and depressed - which probably hit Soult far more. Her fury she apparently kept in stock for one French emperor to be used when she heard that her husband was about to be sent back to Spain again. But that's a different story 😁.

Thank you for the question, and I hope this kind of suffices, as it seems to be all information there is. (All quotes from N. Gotteri, "Le Maréchal Soult", as usual.)

#napoleon's marshals #jean de dieu soult #louise berg-soult #1813

[beefrobeefcal]

fic author self rec

rules: when you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love 🤍

thank you @iamasaddie & @sydneyinacoma for the tag! 💜🥩💜

it's hard as hell for me to choose but i will do my darndiddily arndest! None of these will be surprising... 👌🥩💜

so here it is in no particular order:

The Catfish & The Mouse - Chubby!Frankie Morales & F!Reader

The thing that started it all! I have a soft spot for this bc it's what thrust me from being a spectator to an active participant in the fic writing world. Even though I have my wish list for changes I would make to this, I don't think I will touch it (at least for the foreseeable future) bc it's so dear to me.

Baby's Got a Temper - Chubby!Frankie Morales & F!Reader One Shot

This def takes the top spot for my fav C!FxM one shots. This one was the first one I had a lot of fun writing. I loved the prompt, I loved the way it fell out of me, I loved the reception. I feel like I hit a good groove with this piece.

The Way to a Man's Heart - Chubby!Joel Miller & F!Reader

I have said this before, but I was so nervous about this one. Joel already has a heavy duty, ironclad canon with a fairly solid reputation in the fic world for being a dom!daddy big meanie pants (sometimes with a heart of gold) that can leave little to find new grounds in. While I don't think that I broke new ground with a softer Jackson-era Joel, I was pleased with how Chubby!Joel rolled out. Credit to Hozier’s newest album that I played on repeat while writing this for the softy Joel vibes.

An HR Nightmare - Chubby!Javier Peña x F!Reader

What else is there to say about the Bistro's gumpy done-with-this-shit narco buster? i loved writing this. And being a Peña girlie, when the prompts rolled in, I couldn't deny the call. Even though I wasn't 100% sure the fic would fly, the response warmed my cold beef heart and made me feel more confident in my choices. Also, the request fom @toxicanonymity for an In Between the Scenes made it even more fun for me.

On the Waterfront - Dark!Frankie Morales x F!Reader (ongoing)

Truthfully, if you put me in a room with all my children fics and said to choose one, I'd choose OTWF. Couple of reasons: 1. I'm super proud of it. I felt like all the confidence and skill I had building up came to fruition in this one. While I would happily read all my fics if someone else wrote them, this is the one that I would be keeping calendar on for the updates (apologies to those keeping calendar for the updates). 2. (and arguably the more important one) @neverwheremoonchild -I have such admiration for them & feel so delighted for the brainstorming sessions we have had conjuring the plot. From the we-need-jesus all caps chats to the feral livedocs with endless notes & cry-laugh inducing comments... let's just say that OTWF is not about the journey, it's about the friends we make along the way.

NO PRESSURE TAGLIST: @theywhowriteandknowthings @neverwheremoonchild @rebel-held @xdaddysprincessxx @albertasunrise @avastrasposts @ghosmooth-operator ... and anyone else who wants to get in on it!

#pedro pascal #pedro pascal characters #pedro pascal fanfiction #pedro pascal tummy #frankie morales #triple frontier #francisco catfish morales #frankie morales fanfiction #chubby frankie rights !!!!! #tag game #joel miller fanfic #chubby!joel miller #chubby joel rights !!! #javier peña fanfiction #chubby!peña #chubby peña rights !!! #🥩 #friends of beefro

[baby-alien11]

Y/N Ulrich Universe First Anniversary

taglist: @volturi-girl-imagines @dessxoxsworld @camiesully @ethanlandryluver @nowitsmissing @aliciacat20 @gabbylovesreading @nikfigueiredo @itsaaliyah2

She got the title of the 'Ghostface Princess' when she started to do content of Scream on social media

The title of 'Serpent Princess' was because the cast f Riverdale started to call her that during filming and interviews

While rehearsing for Carrie: The Musical, she was Chris Hargenssen while Spencer, her boyfriend at the time, was playing Tommy Ross, and during one rehearsal, she pulled the rope with the bucket (empty) and accidentally hit him in the back, he was okay, only a bruise for a few days (they broke up in january because he moved to Iowa)

The one sided feud with Kira started because she thought Y/N last name was weird and funny, until she found out who was her father

Sometimes when she doesn't have space in her room or closet, she uses her siblings room as storage room

She knows how to play piano

Her favorite book series is PJO and The Selection

Her favorite fashion houses are Vivienne Westwood and D&G

She became a TS fan during 2011 after seeing the music video of Our Song, and the rest is history, she has been to three tours: 1989 with her family and friend group, the Rep Stadium Tour again with family and friend group, and recently to The Eras Tour with Jack

The first horror movie she saw wasn't Scream, it was Alien

Her first kiss was with Sarah, before entering high school they were talking on how both of them haven't had their fisrt kiss yet, so they decided to kiss so that way they didn't regret having it with some other person

She already knows that when her wedding day comes, the song for the dad-daughter dance is going to be 'Never Grow Up' by TS or 'Slipping Through My Fingers' fom ABBA, Skeet agreed to that because the songs makes him emotional

She was in the teather club since elementary school, participating in Beauty and the Beast as Plumette, Grease as Sandy, The Little Mermaid as Vanessa, Matilda as Matilda, Bring It On as Eva, Hairspray as Penny, Les Mis as Cosette, West Side Story as Graziela, Carrie The Musical as Chris Hargenssen, her last role was going to be Sophie in Mamma Mia until pandemic started

Once a year, Y/N and her siblings have a small golf competition

Her first fashion campaign was with Kate Spade at 14

One ime during the filming of Scream VI, Melissa and Xavier adopted her for a day having a family day

The first thing she bought with her first salary as a Riverdale extra was her Prada nylon purse and bobba tea

(This is going to hurt) Luke Perry was like a second father to her, when Skeet had to film a violent scene, he would always distract her, helping her with homework or things like that, also attending her school plays, so when he died, she didn't left her room for a week because she coulnd't stop crying,even if the memorial was held at the Ulrich household, and when TS released evermore, she did a cover of Marjorie in his honor that she posted on Tik Tok

Her favorite movie is Corpse Bride, and always cries during the Emily song and the final scene

Her campaigns with brands include Pretty Little Thing, H&M, Coach, Hot Topic, Kate Spade, Killstar, Rare Beauty, Nyx, Charlotte Tilbury, alo, BaiBai Jewerly, Oh Polly, Tous, Armani, Club L London, Petco (ft Tatum), Dolls Kill, Cloe, KitchenAid

Her fashion icons are Zendaya, Cher, Princess Diana, Rihanna, Audrey Hepburn, Lewis Hamilton, Bratz, Monster High, Nicole Kidman, Blake Lively, Marilyn Monroe, Salma Hayek, Grace Kelly, Anne Hathaway

The love for VFX make up started when Skeet was telling her BTS facts about Scream, and it considelating during season two of Riverdale while helping with Cole Sprouse make up at the end of season two when he is beaten up by the Ghoulies

Besides the Southside Serpents leather jacket, she has a Vixens uniform (and all the variations), a Bulldogs football shirt, a Jughead beanie, a Pops uniform, Pussycats ears, a S shirt, letterman jacket, a Pretty Poisons jacket, and a 'Farm' shirt

Due to having family in NASCAR and with interest on racing, she learnt to drive at fourteen, and also knows how a motorcycle works

She (as almost everyone), had an 'all black clothes' phase, until she missed combining it with colorful clothes

Her favorite youtube horror cannels are dead meat and CZsWorld, and non-horror are uncarley, WatchMojo and Ms Mojo, Wait in the Wings, Spill Sesh, haylo hayley, Tea Spill

After meeting Jack, the song that she started to hear in her head was 'Enchanted'

Her first Ghostface mask was gifted by Wes Craven, after Skeet called him to tell him she watched the movies, the next week she recieved the mask with a handwritten letter

A F1 driver tried to hit on her two days after her 18 birthday, she left him on read (we all know who was at this point)

As almost every nepo baby, she got a bit of hate when she started to be a public figure, but ignored them, until they started to talk about her relationship with Jack and she couldn't ignore them

She knows all the Riverdale musical numbers and coreographies from season one to season five episode three

Since becoming best friends Y/N, Sarah and Abby anways practiced coreographies during sleepovers, the last time they presented them, where at the halloween party doing Sexy by Mean Girls Musical, Vigilante Shit by TS (chairs included) and Honey, Honey from Mamma Mia (ABBA)

Her favorite F1 teams are RB, Mercedes and Ferrari and drivers are Sergio 'Checo' Pérez, Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel, Michael and Mick Schumacher, Max Verstappen, Dorianne Pin, Abbi Pulling, Pierre Gasly, Niki Lauda, Alex Albon, Yuki Tsonuda, Carlos Sainz Jr, Charles Leclerc, and queen Susie Wolff, and has extreme admiration for Romain Grosjean for getting out of the car on fire

Her phone case is the Casetify snake one, she just changes it depending on the model of phone she uses

#y/n ulrich universe #baby alien creations #jack champion #jack champion x reader #jack champion scream #jack champion imagine #scream

[shield-o-futuro]

Autora me conta vc viu the marvels?!?!?! Vc gostou??

Vou ser sincero eu não esperei muita coisa não e no final eu sai amando aquele filme! A vilã me decepcionou muito mas as três marvels com certeza foram o ponto alto desse espetáculo!! Eu amei a Monica como sempre sendo a Diva sensata do rolê e ela explorando os poderes dela fazia o filme ficar mais profundo sabe? Como se ela estivesse amadurecendo no meio do filme e a gente estivesse junto fom ela! Mas eu acho que todas as três estavam amadurecendo durante o filme e isso foi tão lindo!

A Kamala roubava as cenas sempre pq é isso que ela faz kskskksk eu odiava a miss marvel pq achava ela muito sem graça nas hqs mas eu to amando ela no MCU a história dela, a cultura dela, as interações dela com os outros personagens ksksks eu amei tudo nela!! E ela indo atrás da Kate foi o meu surto do dia! Ksksksk

E confesso que não fui muito com a cara da Carol no primeiro filme, não sei eu não conseguia me conectar com a personagem, mas nesse agora eu paguei com a lingua, onde ela ia eu passava o pano pq sendo bem sincero esse segundo filme arrasou na capitã! Ela foi mais humana mais profunda e sincera com ela e com os outros, eu vi uma capitão tão poderosa e tão frágil ao mesmo tempo e isso me conquistou tanto!!

MAS É ÓBVIO QUE EU ASSISTI THE MARVELS !! A Carol é minha super heroína favorita então é claro que eu fui assistir ashasuhasuhu eu gostei muito do primeiro filme ( tá no meu top 3 de filmes favoritos do MCU ), e eu sabia que ia acabar gostando do segundo também, porque além dela teriamos a Kamala e a Monica que eu também adoro. E o filme não me decepcionou, na verdade, me surpreendeu muito !! Cara, eu achei um filme muito divertido e leve, era uma coisa que eu tava sentindo falta asashuhashsuhuash e uma coisa que eu AMEI é que nesse filme, mais do que no primeiro, eu tive a sensação de que se aproximou muito dos quadrinhos dela. Recentemente eu terminei de ler todos eles, e a vibe foi a mesma, e eu achei isso completamente maravilhoso!

Eu amo a Carol em qualquer mídia, mas confesso que eu também achei ela um pouquinho melhor nesse filme. Como eu disse, parece que ela se aproximou mais do que ela é nos quadrinhos, e eu achei isso incrível, mas como já disse, eu amo a personagem e gosto bastante da atriz, então eu gosto dela tanto no 1 quanto no 2 filme. Eu já tinha me apaixonado pela Monica em Wandavision e eu amo ela nos quadrinhos, então eu realmente fiquei muito feliz de ver ela mais empo no filme, eu queria muito ver um filme só dela, porque acho que tem muita coisa pra explorar com ela ( especialmente depois daquele final 👀 lol ).

Quando a Kamala……MINHA QUERIDA KAMALA !! Como não amar essa garota ??? Na moral, a personagem é perfeita e a atriz é igualmente. Até hoje eu acho que a série dela é a série mais subestimada de todo o MCU, porque é a mais legal de todas as séries e muita gente não assistiu ou não dá valor, o que é realmente bem merda, porque ela merece o mundo ashashsuahuashu  E assim, vou ter que discordar de você, porque ela nos quadrinhos é muito parecia com o que vemos no MCU, pouca coisa muda, eles são muito bons também !! Eu já li todos e agora estou lendo os novos, e continuo amando a Miss Marvel porque ela é perfeita <3

Sobre a vilã, a gente já tá cansado de saber que os vilões do MCU não são lá essas coisas, mas até que gostei dela. Os motivos dela eram bem sólidos e justificáveis, uma pena que ela não teve uma participação mais, mas enfim….

Queria muito ter visto mais uma vez no cinema, mas a vida não deixou, então agora to esperando ansiosamente pra assistir de novo, porque The Marvels já se tornou um dos meus filmes favoritos do MCU e eu não to nem ai pra opiniões contrárias ashuashuashusahu

#cat responde

[race-week]

I’m a new fan who started watching thru dts, so my opinion may not be as valid. But from the two full seasons that I’ve watched so far, I feel like the different stakeholders in the sport are reaching a crisis point. Whether it’s FOM/Liberty or the FIA or the teams, they all want different things. They all need to go back to the drawing board and start a new discussion, whether it’s where they need to be racing, or the consistent application of the rules which I feel is what puts fans off

I honestly don’t think the domination of one team is that boring (I’m not a red bull fyi) because even if your favourite is not winning, there is sometimes enough going on with their race for you to be dedicated to

Everyone’s opinion is valid and new fans don’t have less of a stake in the conversation just because they haven’t been here for as long.

I completely agree with you like I’ve watched F1 through four (?) periods of domination, the end of the Schumacher era, Vettel, Hamilton and now Verstappen. None of them have really put me off the sport but what has a chance of putting me off the sport is massive artificial changes which make it vastly different to the sport that I fell in love with, back when I was tiny 

I’m hoping that with the next Concorde Agreement (which should be in 2025/2026 but they’ll start discussing it next year) it should iron some of these issues out with how they want to approach the future of the sport but I don’t know maybe I’m just being hopeful



#al’s asks #Sprint Race Chat

[herohimbowhore]

On This Day in F1: February 5th

Present: Williams and Sauber Car Launches

History: 2015 Caterham Announces Auction

February 5th, 2024 is the date of the next two car launches - Williams and Sauber (otherwise known as Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber).

For Williams, we have kind of known what the livery may be like based on previous years. F1 teams recently don't change much about their liveries unless it is to take away color and have more carbon fiber. So there was a starting point to go off of when thinking of the Williams car launch.

(Pictures from Williams Racing)

After an initial glance, the livery doesn’t look too different from last years. However, a key new detail is the addition of a new sponsor Komatsu — a Japanese industrial equipment manufacturer that has no connection to Haas Team Principal, Ayao Komatsu. Also, there is a nod to team founder, Sir Frank Williams, and the original Williams logo.

(Taken from Twitter: Chris Medland)

(The full car launch is also available on YouTube)

But for the Sauber car launch, there was nothing to go off of. This will be the first of two years that there will be Stake/Kick liveries. Based on the logo that the official F1 account used in the car launch dates post, my assumption was that neon green would be a key component of the livery - which is something I can get behind despite the team having one of the worst names I've heard.

As I had expected, especially after the race suits were revealed, the car is neon green with black. At first, the neon green is a bit overwhelming, especially in the wind tunnel that it was displayed in with the neon lights. However, in pictures it does look better, but the best test of how good the livery is will be on track. It is one of the few liveries that won’t be confused with another team.

(Pictures from Twitter: F1)

While we celebrate car launches, on this day in 2015, it was announced that Caterham would be auctioning its assets after entering administration the year prior. This would be the end to the Caterham team as everything was to be auctioned off in the coming months.

Caterham competed in Formula 1 from 2012 to 2014. The team is tied with HRT for the most races started without scoring a point (56 races). The team was not able to compete during the 2014 US and Brazilian GPs, but was able to crowdfund to compete in Abu Dhabi.

Despite receiving a special dispensation to use their 2014 car for the 2015 season, the auction announced on February 5th, 2015 meant that the team would fold and end its run in Formula 1. Unlike the team stability of the current era and refusal by FOM to allow new teams, earlier eras were riddled with teams folding and dropping out due to not having enough funding to keep racing.

(article from The Guardian by Paul Weaver)

(The CT04 — Caterham’s last F1 car. Driven by Kamui Kobayashi. Other 2014 Caterham drivers included Marcus Ericsson, Will Stevens, and André Lotterer. )

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Previous: Feb. 2nd - 2007 Williams Car Launch

Next: Feb. 7th - Alpine Car Launch

On This Day in F1 Masterlist

#on this day in f1 #car launches #formula 1 #f1 #williams racing #stake f1 team #sauber #caterham #f1 history #Youtube

[scolek]

if i see a guy it better be. a don brotherl. like theres too many random ddudes fom the showa era and i dont know him. he is colmbbo to me.

certified ooster shot delirium post ✅

[showamagicalgirls]

Yusrarel, Minky Momo Episode 5

I posted recently about the fifth episode of Magical Princess Minky Momo (魔法のプリンセス ミンキー モモ), which involves a made-up country somewhere in the Mediterranean region. The first comment I received on that post was a snide remark that it didn't appear to be an imaginary country but rather simply Spain. At first I felt defensive, but the commenter was right that there were flamenco dancers and, the more I thought about it, the more I felt like I should rewatch the episode and pay a little closer attention so I could parse all of the details, particularly because this is exactly the kind of thing I'm interested in.

The subtitles on the version of this show I'm watching render the country's name as Yusrarel. I don't know for sure but I assume that would be ユスラレル, which could also be transliterated into the Roman alphabet as Yusurareru. This is somewhat close to the way Israel is transliterated into Japanese -- Isuraeru (イスラエル).

The reason the prince of Yusrarel has come to Japan is to deliver a rare three-humped camel to a local zoo. This is, of course, the tie-in to the show's animal and veterinary theme.

In addition to the camel, another key cultural element that makes this country seem like it could be in the Middle East-North Africa region is the style of headdress they wear. We see two turbans -- a white/cream one and a black/navy one. Neither are exactly like real world headdresses from any region but they are certainly reminsicent.

One thing that I think is worth mentioning here is that the prince is depicted as having curly red hair and freckles. Of course, it's fraught to over interpret racial phenotypes in Showa era anime, and it is also noteworthy that these traits are more widespread throughout the Mediterranean region than we might guess based on stereotypes. For example, I have met people in Tunisia with red hair which might not have been what I would have assumed before I had been there.

Also, his name is Prince Tam Tam (タムタム王子), which I don't think really gives any clues to the culture they're constructing.

One thing that is kind of neither here nor there in terms of interpreting this imaginary country but that I thought was still very fun was the appearance of this Christian omamori (御守) for safe travels. It's funny to see something so Shinto in a Christian fom.

So my commenter was right that part of this episode takes place in Madrid, Spain. This was the line I missed the first time I watched this that actually makes a big difference in trying to understand the geography of this episode.

The last scene does take place in the palace in Yusrarel, which looks very European to me. It looks like Versailles or something.

So, while some of the episode takes place in Japan and some does take place in Spain, Yusrarel is definitely imaginary and combines elements of several existing cultures, adding in a dash of the fantastic. It reminds me a bit of the way Showa majokko series treat Africa, which I also noted recently here and here.

All of this also reminds me of the contemporary series, Patalliro! (パタリロ!), which I am primarily interested in because of its groundbreaking queer content. But it also takes place in a fantastical European country called Malynera. It ran against Minky Momo on Thursday nights on a different channel.

#魔法のプリンセス ミンキー モモ #magical girl #magical princess minky momo #minky momo #showa era #昭和 #魔法少女 #majokko #魔女っ子 #ミンキーモモ #mena #race

[figgiforever]

Allas (plural Allases)

@p-joart it took me longer to make this post than I expected but here it is :D

Allases are an alien race I created for my Star Wars AU. They look like humans with wings but there are few more differences between them. Allases have bigger lungs than humans and air sacs like birds. It means that they can fly high and don't pass out because of thiner air. Also all full-blood Allases have straight hair. They can't live without flying ( they literally die out of sadness if they loose their wings ), aren't afraid of heights ( some of them are afraid of touching the ground ) and can eat almost everything ( even mold ). They are aging two times slower than humans so when they are 20 they look and act like 10 year old human. Besides that, normal temperature of their bodies is 39°C and climate of their planet is warm so their usual clothes don't cover much of their bodies showing their traditional tattoos.

Here's my old drawing of Allases in their festive clothes.

They live on planet Phugallas ( rocky, dry planet with some oceans and mountains in Outer Rim ) and never leave it. My OC Tiggnella is one of two exeptions. Their population isn't big. There is only 10 inhabited villages (legends say about two more). Because of that they have to follow strict rules determined by their culture to survive ( or that's what they think ).

Allases classify each other by the color of their wings to which ,,privaar" they belong. Privaar is something like clan but not all members are related. They just share the same type of wings ( and stereotypes ) assinged to each privaar. There is 7 of them:

Lan Esheete ( brown wings)

Gen Duat ( black wings )

Sot Kantee ( purple-blue wings )

Dia Weenti ( red-yellow-blue wings )

Ban Teshill ( orange-yellow wings )

Tee Meenle (green-yellow wings )

Wud Gaen ( white-black or grey wings; legends say about ones with whole white wings who live at poles of Phugallas but no one saw them for centuries )

Other races aren't welcome on Phugallas. Allases aren't warriors and prefer to fly away from danger but they can throw rocks at intruders when determinied to protect their land and culture. Also any relationship with person fom other race, especially romantic, is strictly forbidden. In the past it wasn't and they almost lost their language and identity because number of full-blood Allases was decreasing. Now ( let's say in Clone Wars era ) for being in forbidden relation Allas will be banished from the planet and their partner will have to win a race with member of their family to live ( which is impossible if they don't have wings, so usually they fall into a canyon and die ).

#If anyone is interested I can do part 2 #And I gladly answer questions :) #my OC Tiggnella #Allases #my Star Wars race #Star Wars #Art of Figgi #figgiverse

[the-not-so-silent-back-up]

If you ever were my icon on tumbr dot com (no matter the bolg or era) the chances are high that I own a funko pop figure of you

Funko pops fom left to right

Peeta Mellark (early tumblr days 2012), Anna of Arendelle (I am really sure I had a Icon of her so either 2013 or 2019), Spider-Man with headphones (Tom Holland awakening in 2017), Jaskier (oh I waited long for this funko but i had the icon in the beginning of 2020), Steve Harrington ( ahh the hair I basically love him since season 2 but i never got around to buy a funko pop of him present day ,2022)

#Personal #The-not-so-silent-back-up #funkpop #funko pop #Peeta Mellark #Josh hutcherson #anna of arendelle #Frozen #Spider-Man #spider man homecoming #Peter Parker #Tom holland #Jaskier #julian alfred pankratz #Joey batey #Steve harrington #joe keery

[shield-o-futuro]

Qual é o livro que mais influenciou a visão de mundo do personagem?

O diário de Annie Frank, com toda a certeza. Megan leu o livro quando era mais nova, e foi uma leitura que mexeu bastante com ela, pois foi fom a ajuda desse livro que ela compreendeu de fato a magnitude e a crueldade da guerra. Depois que ela terminou de ler, ela fez muitas pesquisas sobre o assunto e passou um bom tempo pensando isso.

A Megan chegou a reler o livro depois de mais velha, e ainda é um livro que a entristece, mas ela também acha importante que mais gente leia e conheça a história, então ela sempre recomenda pra todo mundo.

#megan banner #headcanons jv