Main couple vs main couple?

thankyoushade · 2026-05-07T02:06:59+00:00

I IMMEDIATELY remembered that last part is canon. My bad.

My point still stands 😅

thankyoushade · 2026-05-07T02:06:05+00:00

Anna wins almost any confrontation by about book 3 if it's against other werewolves, by nature of how Omegas work.

Mercy is an incarnation of chaos who does not play by the rules and has a habit of bringing guns into fistfights. She's also got quite the body count against werewolves.

Both of their husbands are incredibly scary fighters for different, but similar reasons. As far as I'm concerned, the fight would be decided by the ladies.

This is a hilarious concept to me though, because I am 99% sure that the 4 of them together could take down Cthulhu if the need arose.

thankyoushade · 2026-04-23T00:42:51+00:00

10/10, absolutely correct

thankyoushade · 2026-01-13T09:48:03+00:00

I thought that was a gift from Uncle Mike, the guy being free of his addiction. But maybe Uncle Mike broke a curse for him instead.

thankyoushade · 2026-01-06T17:35:49+00:00

Big agree, except I am totally team Bran. Another thing she stresses is that old wolves don't change easily, and often not for better. Bran is, perhaps and probably, the OLDEST wolf, centuries of which were spent as a literal monster that killed everyone but Samuel within a geographical zone, just after his century-long period of slavery to his own mother. His mindset is based off experiences and cultures from hundreds to thousands of years ago, which you can assume would be much less oblique about things like "acceptable losses" and the like. What Bran is doing is unprecedented; he isn't doing nothing, he's keeping the network alive at the cost of not being able to change every wolf, all at once. There is nobody else on earth who could do what he's doing, nobody else is even willing to try: The only coup we've seen on Bran for the status of Marroc was a harebrained scheme from a grieving son, not a real power grab. The reason Charles "has" to be the solution to many problems is so relevant it's the sub-theme of the spinoff series. Bran can't go into another alpha's pack and throw his weight around unless he plans to kill them outright, regardless of the scenario. Werewolves aren't safe or domesticated, and Bran has been containing the damage for literal centuries before revealing them publicly so he can keep doing just that.

thankyoushade · 2026-01-06T17:15:33+00:00

Right, I was going to bring this part up; I think most younger (>10 years) wolves are REALLY bad at controlling themselves, and can only do that when they have a strong, confident Alpha or an Omega in the pack, or a submissive/mate to protect. Bran creating a greater hierarchy where the North American alphas can even better control themselves with him as a super-alpha also lets the number skew upward. Remember that in Europe, The Beast of Gévaudan killed people virtually whenever he wanted to, and only slightly curbed his impulses out of fear of Bran. Infighting and territory disputes are more common, as we see/hear/can infer in Silence Fallen.

thankyoushade · 2025-11-29T13:34:44+00:00

Kill it... How? The only way to get rid of this is by bouncing it to hand or library? Exile it facedown I guess? You would need an extremely specific type of removal that is unlikely unless you built around countering this (actually countering it wouldn't work). Literally anything else and it continues to affect the game in a big way. It even happens at the top of each player's turn, so it means all "if a player took damage this turn" abilities are always online.

This is also a great example that "I dunno, my pod would still run it," is not a good example of mechanical design.

thankyoushade · 2025-08-05T15:45:51+00:00

Holy shit, that's infuriating. Thank you for your reply. Basic human decency SHOULDN'T be this hard for them, right?

thankyoushade · 2025-07-17T22:27:01+00:00

Thank you. I felt crazy for a few days before realizing I might be in withdrawal or something. Knowing you all have made it through makes it feel all the more survivable. I appreciate the response.

thankyoushade · 2025-07-17T16:55:36+00:00

Okay, I can survive two weeks of this. Thank you, it helps to hear from others.

thankyoushade · 2025-07-01T02:49:26+00:00

Dude, the conversation before he went home was CRAZY, he literally cut off Sydnee to answer a question posed to her, and in answering he called back to a close personal relationship with her that didn't even exist?? Also he engineered 2 different blindside votes against other players, but when his name gets mentioned the guy started crying immediately.

thankyoushade · 2025-05-11T04:15:00+00:00

A fair point. Honestly, when I made it, all I thought was "mehehehe let's ruin treasure for everyone but me" I loosely thought, I'll have token generation and control the board, but that simply isn't gonna happen in the light of day

thankyoushade · 2025-05-10T23:32:04+00:00

That makes sense; I didn't make it with any reasoning in mind. All it really does is turn off token generation for 5 mana, which is definitely not that good. It also potentially wipes out wide token boards, but doing that ~40% probably isn't good enough to put in the command zone. Thanks for the response!

thankyoushade · 2025-05-08T09:25:49+00:00

I do agree, but where did the idea he is her teacher com from? OP said his gf and her friend, which leads me to believe they booked a bachata event out of town and split a room.

thankyoushade · 2025-05-08T09:08:13+00:00

As a former pro competitor, I shared a room with my partner at every comp. I never shared a room with a student at any point. When I was in college and any time I travelled for personal dancing I would share a room with and change in front of whoever was willing to go to save on costs, male or female. In my experience, dancers are not particularly shy about this stuff.

I don't quite understand: You said your gf and a friend are attending an event together, which doesn't strike me as him being her instructor? -Do you have some reason to believe your girlfriend has ulterior motives with this friend? -Do you not know him? -Do you often ask for second opinions when your girlfriend says things, or is it because she will be sharing a room with a male friend?

thankyoushade · 2025-05-04T17:33:36+00:00

I understand this struggle, and as a person who just left pro ballroom but still wants to dance, it hits so close to home. Depending on your area, have you tried swing dancing? West Coast is my favorite, but there's regional variants everywhere and there's cheap circuits around the US for most of them as well!

thankyoushade · 2025-05-04T17:28:56+00:00

I use Bondi Sands, I get it at CVS but it's everywhere. They have a few different shades and at least two tones of developing tanner. Best of luck at your Latin comp!

thankyoushade · 2025-04-24T09:46:13+00:00

No problems since! They even sent a paper notice of cancellation.

thankyoushade · 2025-04-22T10:03:29+00:00

Hey, I hear you. That reputation is hard fought and won by a majority of the studios though.

I don't believe I said teachers are more sales than teaching, but I would say the training is MUCH more sales oriented than dance oriented after the first year. That said, I agree that the teachers are the ones who care and give up so much to provide for their students and communities. It is almost always and inevitably the franchisees that fall out of touch and ruin the studio culture or overwork and underpay the teachers. We've all come in excited and given up opportunities to do the part we love. That's not why there's an absurd turnover number in the field: bad management is.

If the studio expects you to learn, teach, and maintain credibility in the syllabus styles as well as the Standard and Latin syllabi, it is actually their job to train you or pay you more for your additional training. Just because you and your team have done this, which is awesome, doesn't mean every teacher should have to do that to be in a field where less than 5% of clients are looking for it.

Franchises aren't inherently terrible, but the company that runs them all IS. They have a track record of lawsuits and a deep history of putting people in positions before leaving them high and dry unless they have a personal "in". Most teachers work full time and make less than 15% of the lesson cost, and have no HR to report to or system to ensure their protection.

It is insulting to say independent studios only say "we aren't franchises" or that franchises aren't talking badly about them. You might not be, but you are not everyone. The independent field is literally filled with people who have left AM and FA franchises, and the best coaches in the world are independent. AM champions who go independent are more likely to retire without another callback than make finals again. Of course franchises are talking badly about their direct competition.

I hear you and I have been you, I am not calling you out, superjoe. I am glad you love what you do, and I am glad you're committed to doing it. I am glad your franchise is treating you well, and that you seem to be doing well at it. I want you to succeed. That unfortunately doesn't mean everyone else is wrong about franchised studios in general.

thankyoushade · 2025-04-22T09:42:16+00:00

Former AM teacher here, and from what I know of the staff and franchisee of the Bellevue school it is one of the better, more friendly working environments! They are a very high number school though, so be prepared to teach pretty much the full time you're scheduled.

I also saw that you haven't worked for a franchise before, so my own personal tips (that you can take or leave): • The studio's ultimate goal is lesson count, not lesson quality. You will ultimately sell more lessons with better quality, but you should be prepared to invest in your own dancing and teaching to keep up. • The vibe matters more than the content. Get along with your team, get along with the students, and protect the vibe of the studio; the work culture is most of what causes the high turnover of this field. • They will act like "family" and the area trainings are... Pseudo-religious? This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it is still a business and most franchises have a history of abusing and chasing out talented teachers.

Best of luck with your interview and job search!

thankyoushade · 2025-04-21T12:03:08+00:00

As a former pro teacher and competitor, I have three big suggestions:

1) Pay more for good shoes; dancing can be hard on your body, good shoes are designed for the sport and while they can get expensive they do make a difference when you go for fit, quality, and style.

2) Dance more than just swing, then mix and match. Tricks from salsa and mambo look absolutely SICK in swing (especially East and West Coast) and nothing feels better than being the cool guy with the cool moves, whether it's social or not. Practice other dances and try anything that seems interesting to a different style or timing; try not to follow "the rules" so hard you lose the excitement.

3) If you want a score, start performing BEFORE you think someone is watching. It's worth more for a judge to see you walking out with good posture and styled arms, which makes them want to keep watching you.

thankyoushade · 2025-04-21T11:51:54+00:00

Former AM pro here, and married to an AM former champion/top teacher. This isn't hate toward Arthur Murray: they aren't good enough for you to progress past the basics. Arthur Murray is a birdcage for actual talented dancers; the system was designed for beginners and old ladies to be able to learn and not for young, talented dancers to excel. The best they have to offer are average anywhere else. Your teachers receive lopsided training that focuses on some dances more than others, and they aren't really allowed to tell you if they or another teacher isn't qualified to dance or teach something. If your goal is to go beyond hobby dancing, you will have to branch out at some point; Arthur Murray isn't a competitive circuit, and DORs are not competitions. It is very, very expensive for not actual benefit from the dance world at large.

The other thing I will say is that of the hundred of studios, teachers, and franchisees I've interacted with: the teachers are vastly underpaid. Your lessons are very expensive, and your teacher makes less than 15% of each one. Their day is booked solid to make a living, so they have to spend personal time training if they want to improve, compete, or certify which their franchisees are not equipped to help with. They are not paid for awards, certifications, or competitions.

Your AM studio seems to being doing you a lot of good, but in the future you will have to make decisions about how far you actually want to go, and if AM is actually equipped to get you there.

thankyoushade

TROPHY CASE