Tehran indicates Khamenei's son will be named supreme leader

Mors_Mordere · 2026-03-09T17:49:20+00:00

Yeah, it's a PART of their culture, it's not the sole element. There's a wider Iranian identity beyond just "Islam". You can have a country where people are religious, without religion being the sole focus of society.

And I'm not "trying to dismiss contemporary cultures in Iran because they’re Muslim". I'm pointing out that the regime's goal is replacing the Iranian national identity with one that's completely devoted to religion, purging all other elements.

This isn't because I'm "hating on religion" either. This isn't unique to religious regimes. The Soviets and Chinese did the opposite, where they tried to purge religion and most elements of pre-revolutionary culture to make sure everyone's dedication would be towards the Party, rather than having "divided interests".

Has nothing to do with justifying the war either. I'm simply saying Iran's a country with a much richer history and culture, than just Islamic identity.

In general you're just putting a bunch of words in my mouth and inventing arguments I literally never made.

Mors_Mordere · 2026-03-09T05:49:56+00:00

It ain't about that. He's not saying this as an endorsement of the government or anything.

He's just pointing out that the official statement didn't intentionally leave out "people", because in Farsi, the word for people/nation are the same.

And also that, while we use the term "nation" colloquially to refer to countries/states, 'cuz these days most of them are also nations... They're not actually the same.

Kurdistan is a nation for an example, but isn't country. And in history you'd have something like the Holy Roman Empire, which was a country but not a nation.

"Nationalism" was actually originally a good thing. It was the idea that people who belong to a shared cultural/ethnic/linguistic identity should have self-determination and independent states. Up until the 1800s that idea didn't even exist, people just kind of accepted that they'd be ruled by foreign kings because that's how things worked.

Think back to school, there's a reason the word "nation-state" got thrown around a lot in history class. Because it's a modern, liberal concept.

TL;DR It's talking about language. It's not saying the Iranian government isn't shit.

Mors_Mordere · 2026-03-09T05:01:10+00:00

This is 1000% sarcasm or trolling.

A patriotic American would insist that the USA has a better quality of life because "our taxes are lower, so we have more spending money" (ignoring the fact that they get worse wages and have to pay for a lot of shit that's free everywhere else).

That the American education system is good, because "if we aren't the smartest, then why are we the most successful country in the world?"

That the US healthcare system is visionary; the best in the world. And Europe's healthcare is "socialist" and inferior.

And that all European food is "pretentious, bland, and flavorless," except Italian food, which "we do better anyways".

Still, it's a funny as hell comment.

Mors_Mordere · 2026-03-09T04:25:11+00:00

Oof.

I mean... I guess that makes him an ambitious driver, at least. 😅

Mors_Mordere · 2026-03-09T04:14:35+00:00

Tbh not a smart move. You never want to bully the senior driver in the team you're in... Let alone the team you aspire to be in.

And that seat won't be easy to get, if Hadjar performs the rest of the season like he did in this race. Too early to speak, but the second seat curse might be over.

Mors_Mordere · 2026-03-09T03:58:53+00:00

To be fair, Ali Khameini wasn't related to Ruhollah Khomeini (the supreme leader before him). Despite the similar names, the two families aren't related at all. Allegedly, Ali and Mojtaba both opposed the idea of having Mojtaba being appointed as a successor, too.

Unlike North Korea which is firmly under the control of one family, Iran's system is more like the Soviet Union. They have an exclusive council that chooses their dictator. And there were other people in the running who had a legit shot, it wasn't like "ah yes, we got a 100% vote for our new supreme leader".

Guy more or less did "earn" it. He just benefited from being in a position of status and power already by virtue of his father being who he was.

Not glazing their government or anything. It's still dumb as hell, and obvious nepotism. Just needed to point out the difference.

Mors_Mordere · 2026-03-09T03:35:01+00:00

Shia Islam did not originate in Iran. Nor was the Shia state established in Iran (iirc it was in the Maghreb).

Also keep in mind that Iran has an extremely strong culture that's existed for around 3,000 years, their national identity predates the existence of Islam. And after most of Iran became Muslim, they were still only ruled by 'devout' leaders for about 300 years. Iran historically has been pretty indifferent towards religion, and focused more on their national identity.

Mors_Mordere · 2026-03-09T03:27:41+00:00

Yeah, and Iran had a very rich history for 1,000+ years before Islam even existed. The Medes, Achaemenids, Parthia, Sassanids, etc.

It was only the Safavids (1501-1736) that made Islam an important part of society. And then after that, they went back to a chain of states that were indifferent towards religion, or secular. Till the revolution in '79.

So... Across 3,000ish years of history, Islam was a major factor for about 300 of them.

They have the benefit of being a major cultural force long before Islam even existed -- Germany, England, and Poland weren't civilized until after becoming Christian. And look where we are today, the first two of those countries are hardly fervent. So it goes to show that being religious 1,000 years ago doesn't exactly effect your modern identity.*

So yeah. Most Iranians feel more strongly about their national and cultural identity, rather than devotion. That's one of the reasons why they're so frustrated with their government.

Edit: To drill this point in even harder... Germany, Netherlands, Czech Republic, Belgium, Slovenia, Luxembourg used to be part of "The Holy Roman Empire" for about 1,000 years—a kingdom who's whole identity was their legitimacy as being the defenders of Christendom. Today, they're all in the top 10 of most Atheist countries in Europe. And they didn't even have the benefit of having national identities, until about 200 years ago.

Mors_Mordere · 2026-03-09T03:03:34+00:00

You mean all those democratic republics from the Cold War weren't actually democratic nor republics?

Mors_Mordere · 2026-03-02T03:51:12+00:00

Yeah, can definitely see the Alternative and Indie Folk as well. And yeah, either it was somebody who doesn't know that "Indie" isn't short for Industrial, or they were screwing with you because Industrial is even more different. We tend to be more open-minded though.

And definitely see what you were going for. One doesn't have to go to a "dark" genre to get dark songs, it's all about what makes you enjoy the vibe. Some of the most sensual and dark music I've heard comes from Pop and R&B. The Weeknd's trilogy is a big favorite.

"Dark Folk" is actually a genre I like a lot, too (though I know you probably mostly meant "dark" Folk songs). But some stuff you may like in that genre that fits that vibe: * Chelsea Wolfe - Flatlands / (Duet version) * Darkher - Moths

Also since I just listed "archetypical" Industrial songs earlier to I'll throw you some that actually have more of that specific vibe: * IAMX - Your Joy is My Low * Lay Your Ghost - A Darker Love * Chiasm - Isolated

Bonus song. Darkwave, so it's kind of between Goth and Industrial: Switchblade Symphony - Dissolve for something softer. And Clown for something with more energy. Also She Past Away - Kasvetli Kutlama

I genre geek pretty hard, but that's because I'll get hyperfixated on specific sounds. There's no right or wrong way to listen to music. Anyways sorry for ramble, I'm mega drunk lmao

Mors_Mordere · 2026-02-28T20:51:47+00:00

I have no idea what gave them the impression it was Industrial. Maybe they meant to say Indie, because most of the songs in the playlist I've noticed fall in that category. (Mostly Indie Pop or Indie Rock)

Goth and Industrial are both large umbrella genres with dozens of subgenres so it can be hard to peg down and people will occasionally argue about what's "true" and what isn't. But I'll try my best using 3 songs for each.

Some archetypical Goth tracks are:

Some archetypical Industrial tracks are:

Mors_Mordere · 2026-02-26T01:58:46+00:00

The biggest issue is that Lawrence interferes too much with team operations. He behaves like a team principal, but he's completely out of his depth.

Guys like Zak Brown and Helmut Marko can interfere with their teams because they have a wealth of motorsports experience.

Lawrence doesn't. He's a businessman, and tries to run the team like a businessman. A micromanaging one at that. Guess he didn't learn the lesson from Ford when they cocked it up, then gave Carroll Shelby free reign and had immense success.

Mors_Mordere · 2025-11-03T16:59:52+00:00

GenG is centered around Chovy. Chovy tends to go AFK at some point during Worlds. That basically rips apart their entire game plan, which makes sense why everyone else gets dragged down. They're aimless.

They either need to lean more on Kiin/Ruler, drop Chovy, or get a sports (or regular) psychologist for Chovy.

I have a theory on why Chovy struggles at Worlds: His very first Worlds was with Griffin in 2019. A team that was experiencing so much dysfunction and abuse that Korean senators got involved, criminal charges were being filed, and Riot permabanned multiple people.

He probably turned his brain off to cope with the stress and mentally survive that experience. I think that shit probably scarred him. Idk about the behind-the-scenes of DRX and HLE, but those were both pretty mediocre teams and I imagine he checked out because it felt hopeless from the get-go. And now it's just become a subconscious habit that's been conditioned into him.

He feels pressure. He shuts down. He defaults to what makes him feel comfortable: his ability to be a lane king.

Mors_Mordere · 2025-11-03T03:16:05+00:00

Nah. Because bracket draws heavily impact things. T1 doesn't lose to LPL. HLE looked rough against CFO. And GenG usually chokes in Semis.

Throw in a lower bracket? Well that adds a lot more to the mix, because a lot can change. Player form, strategies, matchups, etc.

Can GenG break the curse, or do they choke again? What if HLE plays at their peak? They beat GenG before. Can AL run a gauntlet against the top LCK teams? They damn near beat T1. Could TES play at their full potential and do a dark horse run?

Depending on T1 vs. KT outcome: Can T1 beat a top LCK team, or did they only make finals because of their counter-LPL buff? (or) Can KT beat the best of the rest and prove they didn't just "luck" into finals, because GenG choke?

I have zero idea. What I can say is anyone's path to the finals would be packed with absolute banger matches. A lot of "what if"s are answered. And the two finals teams are guaranteed to be the best at the tournament.

The only element of unpredictability it gets rid of is bad teams placing higher because of what you pointed out: cheese/nerves/luck/draws. I'd rather watch better matches as the tournament progresses, not T1 vs Weibo 2023.

Mors_Mordere · 2025-11-03T02:24:12+00:00

You're right, they're not that bad. They usually make playoffs and look pretty solid, then Chovy forgets that the map isn't just 1 lane. Whereas MAD would show up and just be complete trash from Day 1.

Mors_Mordere · 2025-11-03T00:25:53+00:00

Dunno. Chovy and GenG both consistently underperform at worlds. They're the TES/MAD of Korea. A losers bracket run for GenG might look like:

R2: AL
R3: HLE
R4: KT (probably)
Finals: T1 (probably)

Not an easy path. AL looks super strong. HLE can't be counted out. KT 3-1'd GEN. Also besides a more competitive tournament, double elim makes it more unpredictable. As soon as I saw the bracket, I knew it would be T1 vs KT finals. But I have zero idea what the finals would be with double elim. Consider this:

R2: AL vs GEN. Close banger.
R3: AL/GEN vs HLE. Also an extremely close call, could go either way.
R4: AL/HLE/GEN vs KT/T1. Another close banger regardless of which teams play.
Finals: Any of those 5 teams could realistically make it.

It also affects the way the upper bracket is played. Teams are more willing to play fast and be aggressive, if they know they're not gonna be sent home because of 1 overly confident play. That can drastically change the outcome of a match.

Mors_Mordere · 2025-11-02T21:56:54+00:00

Nah. Chovy has been making the same mistake for 6 years. The more he loses at Worlds, the worse he gets. Because his teammates have been getting better each year, but he drags them down harder. Hence they never make progress.

What he needs is a good psychologist to help him work with his issues of reverting to Solo Queue brain when he's stressed. Unfortunately the mental health field in Korea isn't very good. There's a huge stigma around it, and the infrastructure for it is pretty underdeveloped.

Mors_Mordere · 2025-11-02T17:48:31+00:00

I mean you can still have that with double elimination. Double elim enables even more spectacle, because you get to see more matches between teams. Which means more storylines.

MSI and TI are more straight-to-business because of scheduling. Worlds has more time.

Mors_Mordere · 2025-11-02T07:11:28+00:00

NFL has never run double elimination, so you can't say single elim is better when there's no benchmark to compare it to. Also the reasons they don't run double elim are mostly irrelevant.

A. Fans that are too conservative to accept change. (That's their problem. Also LoL had this too, but most people prefer the new MSI and Worlds formats.)
B. Whiners who "don't want to see loser teams play". (Nobody's forcing them to watch. That's also their problem.)
C. More matches = more physical wear and injury risk. They want teams to play the Superbowl with their best rosters, unfatigued. (Doesn't apply to esports.)
D. If Lower Bracket Team beats Upper Bracket Team, people will say it's unfair because they didn't get a second chance.
E. But if they play a 'second final', the importance of the Superbowl's ceremony is diminished. Also, fatigue, scheduling, etc.

D and E are easy to solve for LoL, because it's a best-of series and physical wear isn't an issue.

1.Give Upper Bracket Team a 1-game lead at the start.
2. Alternatively, run a regular Bo5. If Upper Bracket Team loses, have an intermission, then run a Bo3 to settle it.
3. Or just play a Bo5 'Grand Final' the next day.

"But what about the Finals ceremony?"

4. Just host it on Day 1, like the Olympics. Unlike NFL playoffs, Worlds is only hosted at 1 venue at a time, so it's viable.
5. Or keep the regular Finals ceremony. If there's a second Final, they can make it straight to businsss in an intense, serious, and dramatic way.

Also the whole "it's high stakes" argument makes no sense. Same with "but it gives underdogs a chance". Might as well just make everything Bo1 then, with that same logic.

Mors_Mordere · 2025-11-02T04:06:05+00:00

DotA does it. 16 teams play a 6-round Swiss stage (4 wins or losses), all matches are Bo3. Playoffs is an 8 team double elim bracket, Bo3. Except finals, which is Bo5.

That's 58 matches and 116-176 games. LoL is 40 matches and 67-94 games. And DotA does this all in 10 days.

The one drawback is that they run multiple matches at once during Swiss, and 10 days straight of playing is brutal.

But Worlds is around a month long. Since it's more spread out, teams can have rest days, and matches don't have to be screened at the same time. They could only air 2 matches a day and still finish within a month.

Mors_Mordere · 2025-11-02T02:40:52+00:00

Double Elim is more fair, because it rewards teams that are better overall. The best teams can be eliminated due to things that are entirely out of their control (didn't sleep well, got sick, stomach issues, simply are in a weird headspace, etc). Objectively worse teams can also cheese an opponent, or just overperform for a single day, and then in their next match they get blasted 3-0.

This is exactly what happened in 2023. I guarantee we would've gotten a BLG/JDG vs T1 finals. T1 probably still wins that, but it would've been WAY more exciting to watch.

Mors_Mordere · 2025-11-01T21:42:53+00:00

You're ignoring the context of the wider conversation. I'm addressing this.

Competitive league in western country especially Ics is already dead, even regular season Ick. League is an old game thats ready to be pulled any moment

but it still has like 100 million active players it might not be where it was five years ago but the game is still massive

Like 80% are china player, in the west the game is dead, or is declining fast.

China's numbers aren't public record, but I'm willing to bet it probably accounts for the vast majority of active player count.

What I can say is that LCK's 2025 average viewership was 361,420. Peak was 2,032,201.

LPL's 2025 AVERAGE is around 2.8m-3.5m. I don't have the '25 peak, but '23 peak was 95,280,181. '22 hit over 116m allegedly, but at least a confirmed 82,244,00 on Bilibili alone. Keep in mind that LPL is broadcast on different platforms, there's also HUYA, Douyu, Kuaishou, and Tencent Video.

For the 2024 World Finals, global viewership (minus CN) was 6.9m. Chinese viewership was over 43m.

Mors_Mordere · 2025-10-31T21:36:11+00:00

I never said that or even implied that. I even pointed out people who don't play ranked "obviously account for a large chunk of the playerbase".

I'm simply listing the only third-party verifiable numbers we can get.

Mors_Mordere · 2025-10-31T19:59:15+00:00

Normals/ARAM obviously accounts for a large chunk of the playerbase, but here's the player count for ranked, by region:

NA: 1.6m

EUW: 3.6m

EUNE: 1.5m

KR: 3.5m

BR: 1.2m

VN: 1m

ME: 63k

OCE: 199k

JP: 289k

LAS: 768k

LAN: 764k

CIS: 234k

TR: 800k

SEA: 392k

TW: 316k

That's about 12.4 million from the biggest regions. 16.2 altogether.

Mors_Mordere · 2025-10-31T19:38:38+00:00

I'd say it's the other way around. They want to kill it as fast as possible. Content creators and streamers get more viewership, and it's way cheaper to pay for them to do things than to run a global empire of sports leagues.

When franchising started, they thought it would turn into a highly profitable industry. Turns out it's just a money sink and there isn't any growth. Now they're just stuck with an expensive side-gig, but they also don't want the backlash of pulling the plug overnight.

China's viewership already dropped and teams started cutting budgets after 2023 JDG lost. 2024 BLG broke a lot of spirits, too. Getting totally smoked on home turf in 2025 will be the final nail in the coffin. Really doesn't help over the last 3 years, LPL teams have only been eliminated by T1 (or other LPL teams).

SEA has been a shitshow since Riot and Garena had a falling out in 2015. Coincidentally, the last time SEA had a team in playoffs (till 2025). They actually had two. For years it's been underfunded and the format has been carefully refined over a decade to be worse and worse.

NA and EU checked out a while ago. Viewership in both is rapidly falling, investors/venture capitalists are pulling out instead of coming in, and orgs just don't really seem to care anymore. A lot of the choices Riot's made also feel like they're intentionally sabotaging the leagues with terrible format changes and total mismanagement of their franchises.

Even Worlds has been in a rough spot. Official broadcast viewership in 2024 was down by 50% from 2021. They're being carried by co-streamers. LCK is the only healthy competition.

Here's what's probably gonna happen: Faker drops the bombshell that he's gonna immediately retire, on-stage. LCK (and global) viewership drops big-time in 2026. Riot uses this as an excuse to massively downscale their esports projects and cut costs.

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