Monarch: Legacy of Monsters - 1x03

I’m currently going down a social media rabbit hole, trying to see the difference between both Carlos’ and Charles’ , because let’s be real, after a few posts, you could see the difference and the narratives they both are going for.

Carlos is going for the “I’m loyal to Ferrari” Narrative, with him sticking to the red and the Ferrari merch in training, in Dakkar when he was supporting his dad (who by the way, is a RED BULL Rally Driver to this day!!). He is going for Charles’ approach last year, where everything in his socials is Ferrari, is curated and is very much according to the Ferrari politics and how they post.

Then there’s Charles, who is going for the silly, relaxed and relatable approach in his socials, and as mentioned a lot by you, he’s kind of working on detaching himself from the Ferrari narrative and the whole “Charles Leclerc the Ferrari driver”.

In a way, they are each working on their agendas, Charles could be working towards that exit or towards pressuring Ferrari that “Right, I’m starting to detach myself from you, and if you don’t wake up, I’m out next year, and I have teams who would definitely take me in” and Carlos who is showing Ferrari “I’m your man, I’m loyal, I’m not complaining, I’m doing what you want, content with your sponsors? Check. Always repping Ferrari even when I’m rooting for Red Bull in Rally which you guys aren’t a part of? Check. Looking the way you want me to be in my socials, that pristine Ferrari F1 driver? Check”. As if he’s trying to convince them to give him the contract and to put their trust in him, make him their number 1.

And let’s be real, with everything going in with contracts and the politics of it, with Fred who wanted the contracts to be signed and announced BY CHRISTMAS OR THE NEW YEAR, and now we’re almost done with January, the narrative both drivers are putting out through their socials, with both of them knowing its power and how to use it properly, I would say that Ferrari is most likely in a dilemma that no team would want rn

yeah! tbh, carlos never really went the extra mile for any other side quests on social aside from racing (the netflix cup event the only recent one that comes to mind.)

the way charles and carlos approach social media is wildly different. but you're right, the way they present themselves definitely reflects the current state of their negotiations with ferrari.

carlos - presents himself only as a ferrari driver on social media. there were news that his contract negotiations faced new obstacles again this week, and his dad again complimented the upcoming audi f1 team:

| Carlos Sainz Sr. reveals he's discussed Audi's F1 entry with Sainz Jr. "I know how seriously they take every project."

at this point it's a pattern that has been repeated a few times. carlos is a very realistic option for audi (that launches in f1 in 2026) -- so his goal is to rn renew with ferrari for at least the 2025 season, and then has audi as an another option.

while carlos uses his family's prominance, charles has more personal sponsors and social engagement. he's using that to negotiate on his end a better contract for himself.

the ferrari contract is known to be quite restrictive, they have puma as their clothing brand so charles was banned to launch his own clothing brand CLACE (which he recently started wearing again). the ferrari contract in general is built around the fact that ferrari doesn't want to have a driver bigger than themselves, ferrari always comes first.

so it's interesting to see their different approach in it and i'm interested to see how the contracts negotiation turn out and when we get the announcements

what is “what happens next” about if you don’t mind me asking? :)

i've been sitting on this ask for a while now because WHERE! DO I! BEGIN!!!!

ok. so. what happens next is a currently ongoing webcomic by max graves, beginning late in 2021. it is a story told in multiple chapters about multiple characters, but one could argue that its protagonist is milo holliday. milo is a trans man, pastel blogger, toy customizer... and accomplice to a murder.

one of the first panels of the comic is a screenshot of the dni page on milo's tumblr, which got me IMMEDIATELY interested in the comic because it's such a unique way of storytelling:

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and we get a lot more pages like this that are screenshots of websites, social media profiles, and the like. the comic is a mixture of in-person interactions, online communication, and occasional flashbacks, all of which are important pieces of the story.

so when they were teenagers, milo's best friend griffin petty killed two people, and milo helped mutilate one of the bodies. while griffin was sent to prison, milo spent years in a psychiatric institution that stunted his emotional growth and forever altered his view of the world. a drawing he makes while institutionalized provides a window into milo's perceptions of the event:

[image description available for the above]

the whole comic is an uncomfortably accurate reflection of mid-2010s tumblr culture, right down to the sanrio traumacore and crytyping. milo's suffering is multifaceted: in reference to the people harassing him online, he says "it doesn't feel like they hate me for what i did... it feels like they hate me for the way i am," referring to his being an autistic trans man. and given that many of his detractors seem to come from sites like kiwifarms (notorious for its transphobia and ableism), he isn't entirely wrong! but at the same time, his relentless depictions of himself as the victim erase his contributions to haylie's death and the ways he's made himself and others' problems worse.

not every part of the comic is about milo, though! i'm only scratching the surface of it here: all of those pages and links are for the first part, titled "dog names." in the second part, "someone else," we're introduced to gage ludemann, a gore blogger and true crime fan who has entered a long-distance relationship with griffin, and once again, screenshots are used to masterful effect:

[image description available for the above]

but screenshots and characters' drawings are one thing, and max's art is another. starting in the third part, "no matter what," panels are shown in full color, and his color choices are great. what i really love, though, is the amount of detail max puts into character design and facial expressions. i could show you so many different panels that i think show off max's art, but i'll try to narrow it down to one:

[image description available for the above]

soooo yeah!! i have SO MANY THOUGHTS about this webcomic and i keep trying to get close friends to read it, haha. i've read a lot of webcomics and i can say with certainty that there is NOTHING out there quite like what happens next. it's a story about true crime fanaticism, psychological trauma, social media presences, existing as a transgender person, and so much more. the comic is currently on its fifth part, "you'll all be sorry," which seems to be about the characters vikki escamilla and xandra blumberg. if you decide to check it out please feel free to tell me all about it! i'm not connected to the comic at all, but i really love it and i think everything about it is just fascinating.

and max graves, if you're somehow reading this... hiiiiii i'm a huge fan!!! love your work!!! i hope i've represented it at least somewhat accurately here!

@kukai

Why Are We Fundraising?

Hi all! We're close to our main goal on the Hi Nay fundraiser, but we've got a LOT to achieve between main goal and our second stretch goal.

So we wanted to share some of the things we're fundraising FOR:

EXTRA EPISODES:

If we hit our stretch goal of $12850 (reflected as $13906 on Indiegogo to cover the fees!), we'll release EXTRA EPISODES of Hi Nay!

HONORARIA:

All VAs on Hi Nay, including the main cast, have been volunteers and therefore UNPAID. Even our crew, and writer Motzie, has been unpaid. We get a tiny bit from Patreon, but everything else goes to managing costs like hosting, website fees, etc. Everyone's just worked to help the story come together, for FREE.

We want to give each of them an honorarium or gift of anywhere between $50 to a few hundred dollars depending on how often they appear on the show. If you think that's too low, you could always get us to our stretch goal of $12850 to help raise that number!

CAPTIONING AND TRANSCRIPTION FEES:

For accessibility and other reasons, we want to ensure Hi Nay has captions and transcripts available for all episodes. To do that, we want to hire a dedicated transcriptionist. We've mostly been doing the transcripts ourselves, but not in a timely manner.

EXPANDED EDITING SERVICES:

Our second stretch goal has expanded editing services as a goal. We also wanted to hire a dedicated editor so that our team could focus on other aspects of the podcast! It's not looking likely that we'll hit that stretch goal ($10150) but you can't blame us for trying.

EQUIPMENT UPDATES:

Thankfully the nature of Hi Nay's analog style audio means we don't NEED super fancy equipment, but at least a couple of our team might benefit from updated mic setups, so we're hoping to cover that for them as well.

WEBSITE FEES, HOSTING FEES:

Surprise! It takes money to have our podcast on a decent host, and money to keep up our hinaypod website. We've gotten pretty affordable options all in all, but that's still a couple hundred a year all in all and we don't want Hi Nay to not have a home!

SPECIAL EVENTS:

It would be super cool to bring Hi Nay to live spaces soon, and we're planning to figure that out in the near future, but funding that would be super helpful! This is outside of our stretch goals, but we're hoping we can aim for it regardless!

EXPANDED MEDIA (Books, comics)

Given that Motzie is a visual artist who's independently sold comics, having a Hi Nay comic or book would be pretty awesome. Another one of our beyond stretch goal ideas!

If you'd like more details about our current goals, you can check out our budget here. We'll likely move stuff around depending on how much certain services turn out to be, but this was our initial estimation.

HELP US GET TO OUR STRETCH GOALS!

also sorry i know you said you're currently on a morgan kick but i've been dying to know more about te and v. what's dulces sueños de las almas anhelantes? why are these kids wanted by the authorities? who is the host?

OH MY GOD DUDE WHOEVER YOU ARE THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU FOR ASKING THIS I LOVE YOUUU 🧡🧡🧡🧡 YOU ARE THE BEST 😭😭😭

OOF I doubt I could be able to tell everything because there's SO MUCH TO TELL. But I'll try to be as brief as possible.

Dulces Sueños de las Almas Anhelantes (or Sweet Dreams of Yearning Souls) is a personal project of mine, which I had been developing and writing for almost 4 years now.

I wanna turn it into a series or comic some day (although it was at first thought of as a game but my ass has no idea how coding or game design works do yeah), high chances are, it might not happen because I'm lazy so blep. ✌

(‼️TW for some rather sensitive/uncomfortable topics‼️)

It follows the story of, primarily, 4 people, who are stuck in a weird Wonderland like place, as they go down a memory lain and recall events that led them there. Each of them has a unique narrative style which reflects the way they think/perceive the world/how they compiled their stories. These 4 people are Doc, Man in Red, V and Te (artworks of them shown in order (Doc and Man in red are old artworks and I wanna redesign them)), although V and T are THE main characters/protagonists.

Action takes place in a fictional country that is sorta like combination of Spain and England, that has suffered from an unusual sudden epidemy of unknown disease that sets everyone into panic, yet suspiciously, government does nothing. The four characters in question rebel against that, which leads to them being persecuted by the government (which is hard due to their anonymity). (NOTE THAT IT'S NOT BASED ON ANY REAL LIFE EPIDEMIC!!! It's a fictional disease that has no basis on any real diseases or real epidemics)

Te and V are couple of besties™ who are two teenagers who due to their own personal motives are taken in under the guidance of Becca (I have art of her but no reference yet) , a lady who owns an unusual private investigation centre, that uses unconventional means of solving cases. She insures that the identities of her workers and students are protected, which is why they go by codenames, in case of Te and V they are Number 4 (Quarte) and Number 5 (V) respectively.

V is a detective in training, who aspires to become a professional investigator when she becomes older. And she's a good one at that: not only is she smart but also determined, she's not gonna stop until she won't find out the truth (I like to joke that's she's a professional doxxer for a reason).

Te is also a detective of sorts, but it's not exactly what they focuse more on (and tbf they's not looking to pursue this career + V is a lot better detective). They are a medium, as they can hear the voices of the dead and they seek to help those souls fulfill their "unfinished business".

All the 4 characters stumble upon many enemies and foes, even considering each other their obstacles, but the most formidable one of them all is The Host. (Another old artwork and another character I wanna redesign)

The Host, as it seems at first, is their biggest ally: he, just like the 4 , protests against Government's passivity. Beginning as a humble news presenter, he then becomes progressively more relevant in news media, as he calls for action. He takes a particular interest in all 4 protagonists, as he thinks of them as most reliable sources for his campaign to succeed. Believing that he can get away with everything, he's determined to do anything in his power to make these 4 join his side, no matter the cost, no matter their economical situation, health issues, employment, personal life or age.

Adventure Paths & Strategy Guides

Those of you who keep track of this blog may have noticed that my updates have dried up since September. I have a good reason for this, because I got a new fulltime job writing for Rock Paper Shotgun. Yep, that's right - after originally starting Pixel Grotto back in 2013 because I couldn't get a job working at a video game media outlet, finally my path has come full circle. It only took a decade!

This turn of events coincides with a lot of other stuff in my life. In the past year, I've gotten married, moved from the US to the UK with my wife, and been freelancing in the tabletop RPG space all the while. In fact, my first published TTRPG work is now out in the wild in the form of Pathfinder Adventure Path #198 - With No Breath To Cry. Go grab a PDF (or physical copy) if you can, since I wrote some creepy lore about a new demon vaguely influenced by Chinese yaoguai and Japanese yokai, not to mention all sorts of Asian horror movies. I'm actually more pleased with my contributions to Pathfinder Adventure Path #199, but that doesn't come out until January. Keep your eyes peeled for it though!

Needless to say, this has probably been the most hectic and life-changing year I've gone through since 2018, when I moved from Hong Kong back to the US. And as 2023 comes to a close, I'm feeling reflective. I compare myself with others a lot, and much of my life has been spent looking at the accomplishments of people around me and feeling like I don't measure up. While I still do this to varying degrees, I suppose I can finally acknowledge that two of the goals I've always had - 1) to work in the gaming industry to some capacity, and 2) to see my writing published - have manifested in 2023. If I could venture back to 2013 when I started this blog (with a post about eating dumplings while playing Final Fantasy XII, no less) and tell my old self what he'd be up to a decade later, younger Jeremy would be chuffed.

That's another thing of note: as of this past October, Pixel Grotto turned a decade old. Technically, the site is even older than that, since prior to Pixel Grotto, I used this Tumblr for a blog dubbed Aqua Headphones that was sort of a mixture of personal ramblings combined with reblogs of whatever I found cool on the internet at the time. Since then, I've written an awful lot about video games, which led to writing about tabletop games, which led to working in both fields in a professional capacity.

It's surreal to examine my goals and observe how they unfolded in unusual ways. My original desire to work in games media came from the childhood magazines that I loved - Computer Gaming World and Electronic Gaming Monthly - and when those went the way of the dodo, I became a journalist with the sly hope that maybe one day I'd get a job working at Kotaku or something. But I finally got my gaming gig not at an American site, but a British one. And I'm writing guides, which is not something I initially envisioned myself doing. It's tricky work where we often have the chase the reins of the most popular franchises (I now know more about Modern Warfare 3 guns than I ever imagined I would), but it's also fun, since it reminds me of days spent perusing GameFAQs and leafing through physical strategy guides, several of which I still own. Versus Books' Final Fantasy VII and Ocarina of Time Perfect Guides remain on my shelf alongside Prima's Quest for Glory guides and Peter Spear's The King's Quest Companion...and while I can't do my current work in the same format of these gems (many of which were "novelizations," a style of guide writing I really miss), it does feel trippy to be following in their footsteps.

I could say the same thing about getting my words published. As a kid, I forever wanted to pen the next great fantasy novel. And while I've got more than a few discarded novel drafts sitting on my hard drive, the field of fantasy fiction isn't the one that's bearing my first printed work. Instead, it's modules and supplementary books in the fantasy tabletop gaming space - a space that has let me develop and externalize some of the plots and characters that have been gestating in my head since childhood. To a certain extent, that childhood desire to be the next great Tolkien has lessened as a result of this, and I can't say I'm displeased. I'm also happy that my first published work has been in a Pathfinder Adventure Path, because once again thinking about magazines, Adventure Paths remain one of the few remaining publications in the TTRPG space that bear some resemblance to old issues of Dragon magazine, and the nostalgia makes me happy.

I don't like to spend much time on this blog talking about myself, because there are always new ways to incite comparison to others and activate the inferiority complex in my brain. But at the end of a very long 2023 and on the tenth anniversary of the name "Pixel Grotto," I feel like it's necessary. As we move on to year eleven, I'll continue to make posts as long as my schedule permits it - after all, I can't let this blog fall to the wayside seeing as how its existence contributed a great deal to the opportunities that I now enjoy!

*takes a glance at my next scheduled Danganronpa brainrot essay* oh my god no not chihiro's gender no, no, nnnooooooooo-

The AFAB character who presents as a boy but is secretly a girl (because there is no other option than the binary, of course /s) is not uncommon in Japanese media. Putting aside my opinions on which ones are the worst written offenders, I'm thinking about it being a result of real, historical events or personal stories in which women were forced to pretend to be men in order to advance in life, get the opportunities they wanted, be left alone, or walk hand in hand with the love of their life.

By the way, since there are a lot of weird users on this platform: trans rights are human rights. If you disagree, go be weird elsewhere, I'm here to talk about the cute character from the 13 years old video-game.

Either way, the result is that it's common, and the story is often similar - either "my parents wanted a boy" (which is a reflection of another, more recent if not current part of history) or "I needed it to accomplish something/to be left the fuck alone while I did my thing."

Now what I'm thinking about is the fact that Kodaka likes to be subversive. He likes to take a common trope and put it upside down. One question about Chihiro has always been, to me... is the crossdresser character all that subversive? I mean, "cute girl is actually... 🥺 a boy 🤭" is really not that uncommon in Japanese media. I've already explored how both Mondo and Chihiro speak to toxic masculinity from almost opposite places, but just being different from Mondo doesn't feel like a satisfying answer to what is the subversive stereotype about Chihiro in the very first place, on the very surface.

What I think it may be is this: "what if instead of a girl who has to dress up as a boy to be left the fuck alone, it were a boy who has to dress up as a girl to be left the fuck alone?" Often with the "boy who dresses up as a girl", the writing has a lot more to do with liking it this way. ("What? Trans? Other gender identities? What are those?" /s) When it came to Chihiro, dressing up as a girl was a defence mechanism against societal pressure.

It came off as weird, something women are more likely to experience - the pressure that men are somehow "the norm", the fact that men are accepted more, left alone more - like from a realistic point of view, it was such a specific and odd choice that many players wondered if there wasn't something more to Chihiro's choice to present as a girl, somewhere it came from in the first place. But I wonder if that's not in fact meant to be the subversive aspect: "we're used to stories of women having to dress up as men for these reasons, but imagine a story in which it's a man having to dress up as a woman!"

At least, that's what may have been going through Kodaka's mind at the time. Then came what I view as the better aspect of Chihiro's writing, which is the exploration of toxic masculinity, how much it hurt him, and how much he accidentally contributed to it by buying into the idea that women are in fact weak while men are strong.

F1: Daniel Ricciardo reveals money won't be a factor if he returns to the grid

'If I want to return, I'll make it happen': Daniel Ricciardo reveals money won't be a factor if he makes Formula One comeback... but it will only be on the cards if he can land a competitive drive next season Daniel Ricciardo is currently the reserve driver at Red Bull for the 2023 season But the Australian admits he could be tempted to return to the sport in the future The eight-time race winner left McLaren in 2022 after a disappointing spell By Jonathan McEvoy for MailOnline Published: 06:02 EDT, 31 March 2023 | Updated: 06:02 EDT, 31 March 2023 Daniel Ricciardo is willing to return to Formula One for next to nothing. The Aussie favourite is sitting out this season after being sacked by McLaren last term and is now reserve driver at Red Bull. The 33-year-old is being feted in Melbourne ahead of the Australian Grand Prix. However, the eight-time race winner has few options open to him for next year. He certainly can’t demand big bucks for a race seat. ‘Transparently it wouldn't be about the money,’ said Ricciardo. ‘I have had a pretty long career in F1 and when I look back, let's say I can buy the pair of jeans that I want to buy. ‘But this year I will reflect on myself and where I am at in life. The reason to get back into it would be the reason why I started racing in the first place. Australian star Daniel Ricciardo admits he hasn't ruled out a return to Formula One This year he is back at former team Red Bull as a reserve driver as he weighs up future options ‘It wasn't to be famous. It wasn't to make money but it was because I want to be the best, I want to win races and I want it more than anybody else and that is what will give me the drive to get back on the grid. ‘One thing I do know is as much as I do see myself or want to put myself racing next year, I wouldn't say that is at any cost. ‘I want to be in a competitive car and I don't want to restart my whole career from ground zero. I don't see a decade ahead of me.’ Haas team principal Guenther Steiner, who elected to sign Nico Hulkenberg after axing Mick Schumacher last season, said Ricciardo wanted 10million US dollars (£8m) to race for the American team. Speaking at an event alongside champion surfer Mick Fanning to launch Red Bull Racing's partnership with premium outdoor retailer YETI, Ricciardo added: ‘If I really want to return to the grid, I will make it happen.’ Ricciardo departed F1 at the end of the 2022 season after leaving McLaren (above) Guenther Steiner claims he tried to sign Ricciardo for Haas but couldn't agree a deal Australian compatriot and former F1 world champion Alan Jones, pictured speaking with Ricciardo in 2015, cannot see him returning to the grid But Alan Jones, the 1980 world champion, recently said he couldn’t envisage his compatriot returning to F1. Australia's last world champion, Jones also said Ricciardo spent too much time concentrating on activities outside the cockpit. Hitting back, Ricciardo said: ‘I know me better than anyone. I know my feelings, and my desires, and my drive and it is going to be up to me and how badly I want it. ‘I will show that intent with what I am doing off track, behind closed doors and when I am working with the team. A lot of people might just see what you are doing on social media, and it is often not a true representation of everything that is going on. ‘I sit here today and I have confidence I will get back on the grid if that [pointing to his heart] is truly there, and three months into this year that doesn't feel like it is lost. There have been little signs here and there that I have that desire, that hunger and that motivation.’ Share or comment on this article: F1: Daniel Ricciardo reveals money won't be a factor if he returns to the grid via Formula One | Mail Online https://www.dailymail.co.uk?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490

Jess stans wouldn't get triggered if they did not devote more time to her than Jamie, who they actually are fans of. They are always coming over here whining but none of them has had any valid answers to your questions. I think many of them are afraid you are right. All these "goth love of a lifetime" collages and edits many of her stans have done of their couple goals was really all based off of a lie. That is what happens when you invest more in the relationship instead of the actual celeb.

The best they can say is that it’s my “opinion” these things are happening. Yes, some things are my opinion like me thinking they are probably on the rocks or that she probably took control of managing him which probably explains his style change. I am convinced that is what happened but I didn’t actually say that I could prove it or not. Just seems like the most likely explanation.

Their explanation is “Jamie is always doing different stuff maybe he wanted to be a masculine trucker and completely not himself for a year and it definitely couldn’t have anything to do with dating Jess and even though he’s never done anything like this before it’s clearly cause of some other reason and it would never have been Jess. Not the woman who faked her entire career and changed her entire face to get with him. Not her.”

Like, take a step back and realize that there’s very little explanation for this other than Jess. Is it possible it wasn’t her? I agree it’s possible it just seems unlikely. Especially with how he’s distanced himself after that and changed his style right back to what it was. If your best argument is “he does that sometimes” when this is the only time the style change has been that severe and drastic and not reflecting his personal style in some way then you don’t have an explanation.

All of that aside (because I’ve fully admitted a lot of things on here are just opinions and theories and I don’t know the answer) there are still facts they cannot clear up.

Fact: Jess claims she got a degree from a prestigious university in marketing but her brand is a big failure and she clearly has no clue how to market it.

Fact: Jess claims she’s best friends either MGK and even dressed him for some event when he was in London. There’s no proof of this happening and if she did do that she’d at least be in a photo with him (and named) not just in the background.

She also claims they are best friends even to this day yet no selfies with him. No media photos with him. He’s never mentioned her as far as I know. Even in the time when she worked for Donna Management and “with his team” (allegedly) he didn’t like any of her posts or comment on them. Does that sound like a guy she knows or likes her? It’s not my opinion that this happened, this really factually happened just go look at her account.

Fact: Jess owns 50% of Ice Studios but gets routinely ignored by Renell when that subject comes up. Renell hasn’t once in any interviews credited Jess as being co-founder. Why is that? If Jess were doing such a great job making this company a success wouldn’t Renell want to give her credit?

Fact: the majority of her photos on her IG are stolen and she didn’t take them herself or have any relation to anyone who did. She also adds #icestudios to all of it and in some of the photos she claims “post-production” but when asked how ice studios provided post production she just blocks people.

Fact: there’s no proof Jess has any clients currently or got them much work to begin with. The last verifiable instance of getting someone a job was a year ago and that woman doesn’t really even need Jess’s help.

These are all things that happened, can be verified through her account, and verify what I’m saying. Now, if I’m soooo wrong about all of this and there’s proof that Jess is friends with MGK and there’s proof that she actually does anything for Ice Studios and they are successful and there’s proof she actually owns/has permission to use these images…please. Show me that proof. They know I’m right and they don’t have it so instead they threaten me with a lawsuit or insults and say everything is just my opinion. No, some of it’s my opinion. The rest is pretty indisputable fact unless one of them has a source otherwise.

The fact that they care this much about her reputation and trying to fix the problems she caused herself is not only ridiculous but twisted. Shouldn’t they not want Jamie involved with a woman who does this? Why do they care so much? Why can’t they give any straight answers to these questions? They’re gonna freak out when he breaks up with her and probably blame it on me when it’s pretty clear she did all of this herself.

Software developer MicroStrategy is set to revamp its reporting of bitcoin (BTC) holdings each quarter, thanks to a recent decision by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). Greater transparency into their financial health will be possible owing to this reform, which will permit businesses like MicroStrategy to declare the fair value of their bitcoin holdings without disclosing impairment losses if the Cryptocurrency’s Price declines during the quarter. Impairment loss disclosure is a financial reporting requirement where a company must acknowledge and reveal that its Assets have significantly decreased in value, typically when their Market value falls below their recorded value. It’s important for transparency and informs stakeholders about the impact on the company’s financial situation, ensuring accurate representation of asset values. A reputable Investment bank, Berenberg, has emphasized the significance of this event, which may change how things work for businesses like bitcoin-loss/?fbclid=IwAR0DV8mwPnEIF9b6DxNRZhd3V3KhJSri7AI0iB4xj0Zx-t3u2_LFECpvYRw" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">MicroStrategy that have substantial bitcoin holdings. This change will give investors a more accurate financial picture, which is generally thought to be a good thing for the cryptocurrency market. Currently, cryptocurrencies are treated as intangible Assets, resulting in conservative accounting practices that negatively impact company earnings during crypto Price downturns. MicroStrategy Business And Operations MicroStrategy embarked on an ambitious journey of substantial bitcoin investments, earmarking a significant portion of its treasury holdings for the Cryptocurrency. While this bold step underscored their commitment to innovation, it simultaneously laid bare the company’s vulnerability to the ever-fluctuating crypto landscape. Since adopting this strategy in August 2020, MicroStrategy has reported cumulative bitcoin-impairment-losses/?fbclid=IwAR2ADmLppg7dkA7i4e3IDmGvhsVFl-uh9jP03cn8fmZKwMBDkm4PyQs-HxE" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">impairment losses totaling $2.23 billion, with the largest loss of $917.8 million recorded in the second quarter of 2022. Even if it wasn’t necessarily the case, this substantial loss attracted a lot of media attention and created the appearance that the company’s underlying value had been significantly impacted. bitcoin (BTC) is currently Trading at $25.853. Chart by TradingView.com Formal Approval And Adoption Timeline The Financial Accounting Standards Board’s new rules, voted on recently, will permit companies to use News/microstrategys-large-bitcoin-impairment-losses-093032173.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly9sLmZhY2Vib29rLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAALoa31mSSGh8qYESQv4I7jg4Gma2T6-MM6h4DJReNbzwNrKQTtfm8MFLFa7yv-WgiShcuhMwq0lHDGwI40J6we4qW_AMs_Gxm59NqcVdbyzXwLNTveSkKtbWGn_NP1IMv9rzODA1Vn6b3QYBb1nTnzrIlklic9NfP4XHxITy2A03" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">fair-value accounting, allowing them to immediately reflect gains and losses on their income statements. Formal approval of the new standards is expected later this year, with companies having the option to adopt them earlier. Michael Saylor, executive chairman of MicroStrategy, welcomed this rule update, stating that it “eliminates a major impediment to corporate adoption of bitcoin as a treasury asset.” This change is significant in encouraging wider Cryptocurrency adoption within the corporate sector. While the official implementation of the new rules is slated for 2025, MicroStrategy intends to embrace them earlier, showcasing its eagerness to align with the latest accounting standards and leverage their advantages. Berenberg, on the other hand, holds a favorable view of MicroStrategy’s prospects. The bank has issued a ‘buy’ rating for MicroStrategy Shares and set a target Price of $510. According to the most recent data, as of Thursday, MicroStrategy’s Stock closed at $353.07, indicating strong investor confidence in the company’s future potential.

The Creative

Who is doing the creative practice and underpinning research?

Any designer who produces design work or underpins research including myself, my peers, and lecturers. It’s professionals who do this for a living, those who collaborate in teams, in studios, companies or hobbyists who like to get creative for fun. It’s those behind the work out in the streets, exhibitions, and galleries as well as the ones who make stuff you don’t see and are kept hidden, scrapped, or a work in progress.

Who am I as a designer?

I have a very vague/little image of who I am as a designer. I know who I am as a person but not sure where that fits in with my work. To give myself a title, I would say I am a communication/graphic, interaction/UX/UI designer. I haven’t done substantial or a variety of work to see a style or aesthetic and figure out what I’m more drawn to.

What are the influences on me as a designer and where do they come from?

The influences on me as designer would be my background, upbringing, environment and the personal qualities, beliefs, values I have from that.

As I was born and raised in New Zealand, I’m not very connected with my culture and it doesn’t reflect in my work. I’m involved in the church so religion and my journey in faith is important to me. Music has always been a big part of my life but it has only appeared in one of my design projects so far.

I feel like other than music, there isn’t anything in particular that I have an interest in. I think I would highly benefit from watching more films, shows, videos, listening to podcasts, reading book, journaling - Basically doing activities that spark creativity, curiosity and extend my knowledge about anything because that can all be brought into my design work.

My platforms for inspiration on the internet are Behance, Pinterest and Instagram where I follow public design pages and designers. Being part of Generation Z, and having been surrounded by technology growing up, what I consume on social media and the internet impacts me.

I also look to my peers work when we share and have discussions in class. I like seeing the diversity of ideas we all have even though we were given the same assignments. I observe to the art/design on the streets, especially the posters around the city.

How can I unpack the personal design ideologies that cultural shifts, ethics and responsibility that impact my decision-making?

Ask people/the users/the consumers who will see the work and be affected by it. This can be done all throughout the work-in-progress stages and also at the end when the product is launched. Talk to anyone – family, friends, peers, lecturers, and the users/audience themselves.

How might I expand my visual vocabulary by understanding the environmental, social, cultural, political contexts of my design influences?

We live in a fast-paced changing world so be aware of the current events relating to political, social, economic, and environmental, technological, and the impact they have on society. This can be done through watching or reading the news, Googling topics were are curious about, looking into research sources like articles, journals, books – Anything to broaden our perspectives.

As for expanding visual vocabulary, I will continue to build my bank of design inspiration from various sources. Takes pictures, save images, write notes, store and organise them somewhere. I could try to look deeper behind the meaning and the process the artist/designer/team of creatives went through. Other times, it’s okay to just admire it as it is because art can be merely aesthetic too.

Where do I stand in relation to my practice and what do I value?

I discovered a passion for design when I took the subject in year 11. That’s when it became apparent that it was something I wanted to pursue a future in. This brings me to my fourth year of design practice. I can see the growth I’ve made since starting my studies at AUT but this improvement could be a lot bigger. I feel that I may be holding myself back a bit.

I find that I often have a lack of motivation and inspiration and don’t design unless I’m forced to (like doing assignments). I compare this to music where I used to have a lot of discipline to practice at least an hour every day on both instruments. I’m not sure why it’s harder with design. Other than the shortfall of creativity, it might be because I get caught up with perfectionism and the fear of going through the messy journey to get to the final outcome.

In order to overcome my fear and advance as a designer, I aim to produce a large volume of work – Keep doing more, explore, discover, be exposed to the design world. My objective isn’t to be fully satisfied with every piece I’ve do. As long as I put my best effort into each creation, and I’m slowly building up my skills and array of work, I’m making progress one step at a time.

Outside of uni, I have yet to start doing designs for clients so I look forward to seeing my work come to life for the public/community in a real-world situation.

so not to no true scotsman here but as someone who watches/listens to a Lot of true crime content but also is appalled by the 'true crime brain' phenomenon like im really wondering how radically different the true crime content can be out there, or is it the viewers mentality, or is it a combination of things. a lot of the true crime stuff i listen to is victim focused, but not conspiratorial. like mostly just recounting the basic facts of cases, usually older or solved ones. basically like the home made youtube successors to forensic files (which ive also seen basically every episode of) i know Certain Podcasts and tiktoks about current events apparently are fucked up? i did stop watching a particular youtube channel when it started leaning into "oooo spooky personality disorders" commentary out of nowhere in every case. im just like. is a lot of this driven by the way shit gets whipped up on social media + the current conservative conspiracy panic over "trafficking" or like i wonder how much true crime shit out there really is just saying all this shit and encouraging this behavior.

theres no point to this post im just reflecting on something thats causing such a huge social issue right now but is so weirdly not reflective of my experience of the thing.

i also wonder if its because i already sowed my conspiracy brain oats with fictional shit like tjlc so now i dont have the bandwidth for that anymore????

honestly a lot of this is just fucking me up right now too after seeing a bunch of people read the tea leaves of an obviously mentally unwell persons twitter acct and me reading this "evidence" in total confusion while these people whip each other up into a frenzy because 'how dare you not take these accustions seriously' when i think in reality mental health advocacy has focused so hard on anxiety and burnout and depression that people DONT know how to handle things like psychosis or delusions or anything at all when presented with it and theyll call anyone questioning if that is whats happening a monster and like. theres people in the comments of this, thinking its 100% real, ON THE SIDE of the person who might be delusional, saying "this is just like an episode of YOU!" "this is like a movie!" so i wonder how much of it is about /true/ crime at all???

like people have already gotten hurt, some are questioning if people reaffirming this persons delusions helped drive them to suicide, there are people who have been accused of murder based on literally nothing in the past couple years- personally i hate acting like something is 'tiktoks fault' bc it usually comes down to a social model much of the internet and large platforms fall into, it just so happens tiktok is very very very good at fueling that- but yeah tiktok definitely isnt helping this kind of telephone game of culture we have going on with conspiracies

anyway yeah this post is just rambling but like. seriously what the fuck is going on with the rest of true crime content out there

Examine This Report about hajj

Traveling.State.Gov > International Travel > Before You Go > Tourists along with Special Considerations > Hajj and Umrah Hajj is an yearly spiritual trip to Mecca performed each year thousands of individuals from all over the world. The label reflects a deeper hookup between the Prophet, and those who go to him today. The theological purpose of Hajj is to deliver the toughest, very most authentic Islamic interpretation of Islam. This year Hajj develops from about July 7, 2022, to July 12, 2022. The event are going to be kept in Mecca. This year Eid 2017 adheres to the upcoming two years. The occasion will be recognized as 'Sun Day' so that there would be no requirement to modify the layout or day the celebration is being kept. In some locations around the empire of Saudi Arabia, they will be the first time of the year. Umrah is a trip that may be accomplished at any sort of time of the year. Many folks, and even the majority of Muslims, pray during the course of this tour, and it is the time of fasting, not the day of the Lord. Nonetheless, it likewise has a exclusive value, for it's the day of fasting, when you look at what you eat that you are not going to overlook, also if you become unwell or unwell or dead. Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Hajj and Umrah and the Motawif for Pilgrims from Europe, the Americas, and Australia, have cultivated an electronic portal by means of which pioneers may sign up for Hajj. The gateway additionally makes it possible for Muslims to supply translations as effectively as a brief review of their objective from the Islamic State, the ISIS disinformation mouth pieces that bring out strikes outside Yemen. Some of the very most well-known pioneer websites are from Saudi Arabia based on social media and the web. The site also permits for digital Hajj visa functions. When it happens to its monetary health and wellness, K.V. was much more cautious along with its visa programs. In a current post on its main blog, K.V described numerous styles of individual expenditure. Some providers had presently moved their businesses coming from India to Africa, but some of K.V. 's abroad subsidiaries had chosen to switch to the continent. In recent years, India has become greatly reliant on K.V. Pilgrims who intend to conduct Hajj can sign up straight at: www.motawif.com.sa.gov/sms/schedule/jul-09.htm Please take note that this web web site provides simply for Muslim sojourners. It is not connected to any of the companies detailed beneath. Please look for my previous blog posts through clicking on on the web link in the above web page. It is additionally feasible to come back to other blog post webpages in another blog. For help with sign up, please either consult with the phone call facility or e-mail Motawif Care at [email protected]. When registering for the brand-new service, pupils may purchase new apparel, add-ons/scuba gear, a backpack or all types of emergency situation supplies for their loved ones and pals. The new solution will be accessible to anyone who already has a travel permit. To register, you have to complete an on-line function and observe the guidelines. The call facility phone number from the United States is 1-833-271-2112. In N . American countries, phone call were routed by means of Canada, Germany, Ireland, Belgium, Finland (France), and the United Kingdom. There is actually no United States phoning or texting solution operated by telephone provider to the phone product line. You might also call one of our U.S. and Canadian call facilities through a toll-free variety. The Canadian series deals with U.S. and overseas phones. Callers from Saudi Arabia ought to call 800-891-2027. Q: What are the main explanations for being from Saudi Arabia? A: Some of them are not clear. I indicate, I've been doing a whole lot of investigation, and there are some big inquiries there certainly about what they are going to state; there's even more of a emphasis on what they think and what they strongly believe they're concerning than it is on what they strongly believe that are going to trigger them injury. The site features various plan possibilities, help services, and a multi-lingual interaction facility that is open around the time clock. When it opens, its interface looks acquainted to a brand new player. visit umrah packages including flights contains two web pages, a monitor, and a video app. If you've made use of WebSphere previously, it suggests that one-click setup by right-clicking on its web page, after that deciding on the WebSphere web server user interface, at that point opting for the online desktop, and at that point the digital service. Please take note that registration does not automatically mean full authorization to conduct Hajj. Merely legitimate Hajj Passes are created for trainees, students attending a non-Muslim student company or others that cannot or are going to not approve students from outside countries. The trainee will certainly have the alternative to get one-year or two-year successfully pass. To register merely, the holder must provide Hajj passport, main photo ID or another legitimate documentation determining the pupil. You have to sign up and then stand by for verification of authorization. We will definitely send a confirmation e-mail once you send the kind. We encourage you to make use of this info to help us find out what is acceptable and what is not. We will likewise inform you if it is essential that you sign the kind and if you are topic to added regulations which may call for you to disclose details about yourself to the Privacy Officer. The Saudi federal government has announced a set of access restrictions, featuring for religious trip. The regulations will definitely happen as no surprise to any type of website visitor. Although the area of Riyadh has actually a big populace of foreign nationals, it is not a traditional facility for civilised tasks. Riyadh has come to be the facility in Saudi Arabia's increasing worldwide awareness that foreign-born people can easilynot be considered Saudi consumers. The news in the Arab League is not yet as a result of out.

Call of the Night and the anime Zeitgeist

When I started watching Call of the Night, something struck me about its aesthetic. Yes, there’s the bright flashy neon colors and bold direction, but there’s something else in there too, a style that comes through in everything from the music to the way the characters talk. I am coming at this from the perspective of a non-Japanese person obviously, and I’m not even that educated on anime. I also have been learning Japanese so this has a big impact on how I view this show and what stood out to me.

First, the way the characters talk is, for lack of a better word, modern. There’s lots of slang and internet terminology, and in general the characters have this kind of deadpan nonchalance and down-to-earth attitude that I think is kind of characteristic of younger generations. If you watch a lot of Youtube or variety shows, or even something like Terrace House, you’ll hear this kind of speech, but hearing it in an anime immediately struck me as unusual, and on that same note this more “realistic” speech (over-exaggerated, sure, but aiming for some imitation of real everyday speech in a way that most anime don’t) also resonated with me.

Anime has always struck me as kind of a conservative medium, in the sense that it’s rarely (if ever) ahead of the times, and most of the time it doesn’t even really reflect pop culture as it is. At least, I can say this to the extent that I am someone who started watching anime (the early 2010s) based halfway across the world from where most of it’s produced. That said, in today’s environment you can follow animators and communicate with Japanese people on social media, and as global culture converges anime’s strange stagnation (as I perceive it) only seems to get more pronounced.

Part of this is its long production. It takes months to make an anime, and the vast majority are adaptation which puts an even greater limit on how “current” seasonal anime can really be. Notably Matt Stone and Trey Parker from South Park for example credit the show’s ability to stay relevant (well, when it was) to its extremely quick production times, sometimes commenting on current events just weeks after they happened. By contrast, something like the Simpsons very quickly felt like it was completely out of step with pop culture. So, animation as a whole has a limited capability to do that kind of explicit commentary, but even taking that into account something is off to me.

When I think of the way people talk in anime, what themes most shows speak to, and what kinds of aesthetics you see explored, it all just feels years and years behind. I can think of a lot of anime that I enjoy because it speaks to something timeless or even because it conveys the spirit of a certain bygone time period in appealing way, but I can’t think of any anime that really feel like they’re about the world we live in right now (I do think there are tons of manga that do, and maybe I can talk more about it later but even something like Ruri Dragon I think you can attribute a good part of its success to the fact that it appeals to contemporary sensibilities in a way that feels if not novel, then at least uncommon).

Maybe a part of it is the fact that a lot of anime is metacommentary on extremely fossilized, codified, satirized, and re-codified genres (a lot of people have complained about this, I’m not making a value judgment but it is definitely true to an extent). But when I think of isekai, or your typical modern romcom, or cute girls doing cute things, or idol shows, I don’t think of those as particularly contemporary. These are just continuations of genres that have been in anime for a long time, and it feels like a lot of them are mostly concerned with grappling with those genre conventions rather than saying anything about where culture is at right now. I hope I don’t have to elaborate more and you get what I’m going for here. I’m not trying to rehash the same “anime is bad now because it’s meta” angle here, but rather just point out that a lot of them feel completely displaced from time.

Now granted, [massive generalization based on my consumption of otaku media for the last 10 years and nothing else] maybe Japanese culture is just pretty nostalgic in general. In terms of what’s popular they’re still watching the new Detective Conan and Tora San and One Piece movies every year (and they still top the charts). The most popular game series over there appears to be Dragon Quest which is intentionally and proudly a very conservative game. I mean we’re talking about the country that still uses fax machines. Again, not trying to caricaturize or exoticize, but I still marvel at the fact that Japanese people care about tradition and formality enough to use keigo and mind their greetings, coming from a country where the last time someone asked me to say grace before a meal I genuinely almost started with “itadakimasu”.

All this is to say that’s why Call of the Night stands out because it’s at least a little bit about contemporary issues; it’s about being young and cool (or a vampire) and listening to hip hop (musical shorthand for youth, rebellion, and such). Yeah, the main characters go to maid cafes and play Dragon Quest on their Playstations. You’ve seen all this stuff a billion times in anime. But the whole show looks like a Lil Uzi Vert music video. The main girl is twerking in the ED and imitating a gun shot. Everyone’s constantly on their phones and on social media. It’s not exactly revolutionary, it’s not reporting from the ground in Tokyo or anything, but I just think it’s pretty funny that the one show that has the pulse on pop culture more than any anime I’ve seen in years is the show about vampires hanging out in the middle of the night. Yes I wrote all this JUST for that pun fuck you

i am honestly legitimately scared for the next election. cause it's definitely gonna be a national govt, which means they're gonna cut funding to a lot of much needed sectors and introduce tax breaks to the rich. they'll move away from any climate action goal and go for anything that produces more emissions and ROADS! WE NEED MORE ROADS! as for masks...exactly, they're not ideal but they 100% work. i've been sick twice now after removing them. now barely anyone will wear them at all ugh

you're 100% correct with the national stuff. i cant even be upset because these last 2 years, as good as our covid approach was and as fantastically ardern responded to the massacre, shes suffered from a near completely incompetent cabinet. three waters, the failure of the housing crisis response, the refusal to introduce a capital gains tax. so many ministers dropped the ball and to watch it happen so often had me pulling my hair out

for me as a media student the idea of a national government next is frustrating because of our current broadcasting minister. hes putting forward the tvnz/rnz merger which could be huge (and rectify the failures of 2007 and tvnz's charter) for us. we have no public service broadcast. our news is commercial, tv shows and most channels are commerical. it reflect in how little nz content we've had for decades and the near invisible presence of nz culture in film and television up until recently.

a public service broadcast channel like we had in tvnz 6 and 7 could dedicate itself to shows on music and the arts, local events and history, bettering of local journalism and the likes. it would be huge to have a channel dedicated to the public, funded by the government for the goal of educating and entertaining without having to worrying about commodifying or bending itself to international, commericially focused structure. the millions dedicated to this by the minister means it would be accessible for free on tv, the internet, radio etc and, because of these multiplatforms, encourage webshows, podcasts and radio shows with the same intent.

national dont want this, theyve never been interested in public broadcasting and consider a "nice to have". theyve always gone for the free market approach, under which the programs public broadcast funds would never survive. they'll get rid of it the moment they get the chance and we'll lose our chance at getting our own bbc, our own free nationally focused content again. its insane, most every other country has this to some level and the insistence from national and other right leaning parties that its a nice to have instead of a vital tool for education, development of local talent and the awareness of public matters and issues on a local level fucks me off to absolutely no end.

One Punch Man Chapter 170 finally ending the Monster Association arc

Saitama, Garou and their first meeting on the street. Photo credit to Madhouse studio With the conclusion of one of its most extensive bouts ever, the upcoming One Punch Man Chapter 170 marks the series’ formal conclusion of the Monster Association and Garou’s arc after seven long years of serialization. Since One Punch Man 169 only adapted part of web comic chapter 94 it’s expected that One Punch Man 170 will finish the arc. Next up is the Psychic Sisters arc. READ: One Punch Man Season 3 Studio Bones announcement reported in OPM Chapter170 The longest-running single arc in Yusuke Murata’s illustrated adaptation of ONE’s webcomic to date is the Monster Association arc. The arc’s tale began with the introduction of Garou, and it then fully erupted into a conflict between the heroes and the Monster Associations. This culminated in a fight between Saitama & Garou which is now over. End of the longest One Punch Man Arc As the Monster Association Saga entered its conclusion, Saitama and Garou’s battle began literally stretching the limits of time and space as they both grew more powerful. The two of them kept getting stronger as the fight continued because Garou’s god-level power allowed him to readily adjust to Saitama’s strikes, and Saitama could quickly take up each technique he saw. Then, Saitama took this to a whole new level by becoming a god who could travel through time using his blows. Genos reflects on the events after Saitama's core was returned in One Punch Man Chapter169. Pic credit: Viz media The next chapter of the series will examine what happened after the Garou arc, as Murata had announced to fans on Twitter in the wake of the most recent nearly 80-page chapter finishing off Saitama and Garou’s duel. Murata promises that the arc will be completed in a short time and assures fans that he will continue drawing. For seven years, he has been striving for this end. This means that even though the current arc is over, there's still a lot of story to be told. One Punch Man Chapter 170 Release Date and What to Expect One Punch Man doesn’t adhere to a set release schedule, unlike most shonen manga series. It can be difficult to predict when the next chapter will be released. Murata sensei however posted a Tweet confirming that the next series will be published. となジャン版ワンパンマンの次回更新は１８日を予定しております。 — 村田雄介 (@NEBU_KURO) August 10, 2022 Tweet: “The next update of the Tona Jean version of One Punch Man is scheduled for the 18th.” Yusuke Murata Therefore, the One Punch Man 170 publication date is August 18, 2022. Now that the writing is done, fans can expect spoilers to be posted online two days before the chapter's release. Unofficial raw scans should be available by August 17, 2022. Viz will take time updating its library. However, the most recent chapters will eventually be available on Viz media. To aid in their recovery from acute radiation exposure, most likely the heroes will undergo a decontamination procedure. Although some heroes might be keen to pursue Garou, there is no reason to worry as Garou will not change his mind after the events of the previous chapters. Bang and Saitama could interact with Garou, and this story could have future chapters. What do you think about the conclusion of the One Punch Man Monster Association arc? What did you think of Saitama and Garou’s fight’s conclusion in general? Comment below to share your thoughts. Read the full article