On a Pale Horse (Umamusume/Youjo Senki)

[NoFunposter]

Thats due to a medical condition

The horses legs were going to explode if he raced more

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I know, that's part of why Tachyon is characterised the way she is.

She's very concerned with the health of Umas, especially Daiwa Scarlet.

 

[Melmar]

You can't have a rivalry without friendship, otherwise you're just enemies. Shiro's polite disinterest in friendship or racing as anything more than a means to an end or two makes it difficult for either to form.

She's known Steady and the workhorse uma girls for years and it barely registered to her that they could be considered friends. Her poor classmates kinda overestimated how close they were. Air Groove and Dober actually might qualify though Shiro'd probably "something something senpai helping their kohai" it up if she thought about it.

Wouldn't be surprised if someone starts a rumor that she's a ghost or a cursed spirit with how she acts and how girls keep freaking out around her.

 

[Walberino69]

It's more likely that she'll end up with Haru Urara as a friend/rival simply because of how friendly Urara herself is, in the same way that Visha won a place in her heart through one-sided closeness until she broke down her emotional barriers.

I imagine Urara approaching her to ask for advice and talking to her constantly, never caring about Shirogane's reactions, and Shirogane not knowing how to react to Urara's tenderness.

 

[Vanargandr]

I could see comparisons to Daichi Ruby's stoicism and calm behavior (also both smol)

Or the other way around since I think timeline wise Shirogane races first

 

[The Castle of Jutland]

I could see comparisons to Daichi Ruby's stoicism and calm behavior (also both smol)

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I now have a great desire to see Shirogane deal with Helios and her umazing way of speaking.

 

[FluffyVoid]

It's more likely that she'll end up with Haru Urara as a friend/rival simply because of how friendly Urara herself is, in the same way that Visha won a place in her heart through one-sided closeness until she broke down her emotional barriers.

I imagine Urara approaching her to ask for advice and talking to her constantly, never caring about Shirogane's reactions, and Shirogane not knowing how to react to Urara's tenderness.

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Makes the thought of Shiro carrying Urara across the finish line so the latter can be in first place even more wholesome.

 

[marakag]

Makes the thought of Shiro carrying Urara across the finish line so the latter can be in first place even more wholesome.

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Urara would probably be mad about it say it was not fun because she didn't get to actually race

 

[Wild Transient]

Thats due to a medical condition

The horses legs were going to explode if he raced more

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Honestly would expect Agnes Tachyon to be intrigued enough about Shirogane to want some data on their legs and overall health given her own medical issues that I don't think she's ever told Manhattan Cafe or Jungle Pocket.

 

[WrandmWaffles]

Oh wow, that's a lot of comments all of a sudden.

Unfortunately, work has been very tiring recently, so haven't gotten that much done on the next chapter, but here is a snippet:

Spoiler

"How did you feel a week after your debut race? Any different from your expectations?" Racing was generally quite a bit more tiring than practice, both because the runners tended to push themselves harder in actual race conditions, as well as the nerves and adrenaline often wearing them out more than they realized at the time.

Shirogane blinked, apparently not having considered this. "About as expected. I think I could have run again on Tuesday, but only because my family insisted on having a party over the weekend as celebration and that meant my sleep schedule was disrupted slightly Sunday night."

Hana resisted the urge to palm her face. The degree to which Shirogane treated a sport her peers threw themselves into wholeheartedly like a common day job continued to throw her off balance, especially when it turned out that her strange trainee truly had the physique to do just that.

She had prayed for a trainee who wasn't too eager to get herself injured, or too blinded by the glory to be mindful of her own limits. Now it felt like the Kami had a sense of humor about her life.

Ha, I like to picture Hana looking back and forth between her cousin and Shirogane, faintly puzzled as she watches the two least sociable people she knows click.

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Hana: "Wait, I can't fail to get a date before my autistic cousin!"

Oh does she mention Air Groove was Licky-Chan because she liked to lick?

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Not specifically, but she does talk about how Air Groove has a bit more of a silly side to her. You can see this in how she's kinda overly dramatic sometimes.

What is the year in the story?

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Around the late 90s, 1997 or 1999

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It is vaguely analogous to the 1997 season.

Oh ok, you may have forgotten since it was last year, but a doctor actual talks about it in the first chapter.

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I'll just say that there's some cases of umas seeming to remember past lives but they being horses is not really known.

I imagine that would be kind of unpopular... Right up until Team Rigil did their overseas races and either Shirogane is part of it, or the girls just do better because they are acquainted with the 'suicide horse' or 'rabbit' tactics that are more common in Europe than Japan.

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Another factor is other countries often being rougher, which the Japanese umas aren't prepared for most of the time. Shirogane would adapt to this a bit too well.

She might honestly lose the Tiara but perform much better in the Crown races.
Her Aptitude leans towards longer races after all.

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So while her distance isn't as well suited the competition is also not so harsh.

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While Shirogane is worse at the Tiara distances, the umas in it aren't going to be as strong either, at least at this point. This is before some of the really strong mares got in.

Bets that they all feel like they're kind of a third wheel here?

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Lmao. Probably.

I literally created an account on this site just to comment on this story. Because I liked it that much.

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Well that's a bit flattering. Glad you liked it that much!

This is noticeable in how she never gestures with her ears or tail; she is much more severe and taciturn than others, and above all, her lack of passion for running must produce an uncanny valley effect in other Umas. Even other stoic Umas like Mihono Bourbon regularly gesture with their ears and tails and still maintain their passion for running.

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To be more precise, Shirogane doesn't fidget with her ears or tails like most other umas, she mostly only moves them consciously, which makes her seem rather fake in her expressions.

I'm 100% on board with Shirogane x Teisei. I find it simply hilarious that Shirogane doesn't realize she's lightly flirting with a man who is basically her in her first life.

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I'm a bit surprised how fast people shipped them but I guess I really shouldn't have been. He kinda is the first non-family male character Shirogane interacts with meaningfully in this fic.

It really feels like she's going to end up being seen as a type of Rice Shower/Dream Journey possibly within Tracen, not necessarily because of breaking a proper winning streak or being ambiguously threatening, but more because of how odd she appears to Umas.

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Right now she's got a similar vibe to Symboli Kris S in that she's pretty chill but looks intimidating.

Despite constantly saying she isn't obsessed with racing, Shirogane still trains as hard, if not harder than her classmates. When her classmates are waking up, she's already been outside running for several hours. And when they get to the gym, she's already on the treadmill sprinting for several hours. That is obsessive.

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As far as Shirogane is concerned, she is effectively a remedial student on the racing side, so she's got to put in a bunch of extra work to catch up, not realizing that the mental stuff she thinks is simple common sense is something that many other umas don't get naturally.

I feel like an IRL version of Shirogane would have a similar temperament and would be seen constantly training and never tiring. That could also explain her family's backstory of her IRL trainers and stable hands getting her to rest and eat.

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Trainer: "I should give Shirogane a break today."
Finds Shirogane outside his house waiting for training.

Shiro would genuinely want to help them with what she sees as useful advice, thinking it's better for them to handle things realistically rather than burn out for nothing. But I think most umas would take it the wrong way.

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Yeah I can see that.

"Most runners average out to a few years before retiring. It's good to think about what you will do afterwards."
"But that's giving up on my dreams!"
"All dreams must end."

One downside of being fairly mature and realistic is that you're less hip with the youths.

The ones who have poured the majority of their entire lives up to this point will be offended, and will want to beat this filthy casual.

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Yeah you can see this a bit with Symboli Rudolf and Narita Brian not being too impressed with her lack of spirit. This is ameliorated by her clear dedication to her training, but they still find her a bit odd for it.

Then they might start wondering, what would actually make Shiro view someone as a rival? The answer to that (an enemy, as in a life-or-death threat) would not be pleasant.

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They might think they want to see Shirogane find a rival. They will likely not have the same opinion after she does.

Truly, a near insurmountable opponent.

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Ironically enough IRL Haru Urara was kind of abused, running over 100 races in 6 years.

Almond Eye would be either stupefied or misunderstand everything Shirogane does

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The funny thing is that Shirogane has the potential to have a very long career given her durability, which means that she could end up as sort of a "Welcome to the League" figure for aspiring runners, because if they can beat or keep their cool while racing against her, they are likely going to have a successful career.

If she runs all 6 Classic Races, she's going to inspire a bunch of bright eyed umas to try and win them all. It would probably crush them to find out she did it for the money.

She's known Steady and the workhorse uma girls for years and it barely registered to her that they could be considered friends.

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Shirogane does consider Steady Distance and the Ice Cream sisters her friends, but she didn't really recognize how interested they would be about her debut race. In some fairness to her, she was focused more on her grandparents, but you would think she would realize by now how important racing is even to umas not going for it like the Ice Cream sisters.

It's more likely that she'll end up with Haru Urara as a friend/rival simply because of how friendly Urara herself is

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Haru Urara and Stay Gold are relatively high possibilities due to length of their careers. At some point Shirogane might (mostly correctly) conclude that Haru is similar to her in being a runner selected for talent other than racing ability, and that she's actually the mascot. Stay Gold on the other hand is the rich guy shirking responsibility by gambling.

 

[BleedsWhenShot]

Wonder on their reactions to figuring out shes more of a war horse than a racing or utility honse.

 

[Vanargandr]

The funny thing is that Shirogane has the potential to have a very long career given her durability, which means that she could end up as sort of a "Welcome to the League" figure for aspiring runners, because if they can beat or keep their cool while racing against her, they are likely going to have a successful career.

If she runs all 6 Classic Races, she's going to inspire a bunch of bright eyed umas to try and win them all. It would probably crush them to find out she did it for the money.

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Ramonu- Everyone from my generation has retired and moved on but at least I'll always have you Shirogane

Shirogane- *Did Ramonu go drinking again because Rudolf refused to leave retirement?*

Digitan-Fossil Doomed Yuri?!

 

[Wild Transient]

I'm a bit surprised how fast people shipped them but I guess I really shouldn't have been. He kinda is the first non-family male character Shirogane interacts with meaningfully in this fic.

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I personally do not ship them.

Right now she's got a similar vibe to Symboli Kris S in that she's pretty chill but looks intimidating.

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Hmmm...now I'm wondering if it's possible for those two to meet and become sort of friends.

Ironically enough IRL Haru Urara was kind of abused, running over 100 races in 6 years.

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IRL Haru Urara raced to survive quite literally. And iirc her in her later years after retirement she was more of a cranky grandma type horse.

 

[mauveine]

She had prayed for a trainee who wasn't too eager to get herself injured, or too blinded by the glory to be mindful of her own limits. Now it felt like the Kami had a sense of humor about her life.

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Be careful what you pray for
you might get the monkey's paw

 

[Ace98]

Wonder on their reactions to figuring out shes more of a war horse than a racing or utility honse.

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Shirogane and Friend going through experiencing the once in a lifetime event of a Mugger trying to mug an Uma
Shirogane: "It's a good thing I've studied the Laws concerning self-defense"
Friend: "Don't you mean Self-Defense Classes?"
Shirogane: "No" *Cracks knuckles in Child Soldier"

I don't really see her getting into a fight in this life, for many reasons

 

[Eurocorp]

The longer one spends around Tanya, the more some Umas may see her as another Dream Journey. Unlike Stay Gold and the rest of her family, being an Uma didn't exactly change some of her more threatening traits potentially.

 

[drbilljoe]

The funny thing is that Shirogane has the potential to have a very long career given her durability, which means that she could end up as sort of a "Welcome to the League" figure for aspiring runners, because if they can beat or keep their cool while racing against her, they are likely going to have a successful career.

If she runs all 6 Classic Races, she's going to inspire a bunch of bright eyed umas to try and win them all. It would probably crush them to find out she did it for the money.

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She's gonna be the LeBron of horse racing. Some Umamusume has already been born that's going to race her in the future.

"Is Shirogane worthy of lifting Mjolnir?"

 

[ScarredPunLover]

It would probably crush them to find out she did it for the money.

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"Oh wow, I can't wait to meet my hero, the indomitable Shirogane Orzel! I'm gonna ask her what motivates her to race!"

insert the Atlantis: The Lost Empire scene

"That.... that's not right... that... can't be it, right?!"

"Well, no, that's not all, my family's important to me, too."

"Oh, well, that's... better."

"Yup, I'm making money so I can try and pay them back, then I'm gonna focus on a real career."

And you can thus hear the sound of a thousand Uma hearts shattering.

"... r-real career? What's... what's that supposed to..."

"Ah, sorry, need to be on my way. Don't want them to delay my mandatory rest period if I want to do that race next week!"

The funny thing is that Shirogane has the potential to have a very long career given her durability,

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Ramonu- Everyone from my generation has retired and moved on but at least I'll always have you Shirogane

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"Anyway, I'd like to announce my retirement. I think I've kept up with this long enough, and paid my family back for all they've done for me, and they're retiring comfortably, too. Time for me to go get a real job, yeah?"

 

[SalUsol]

What would Shirogane be like if he considered you a rival?
Or worse, if he hated you?

 

[ScarredPunLover]

What would Shirogane be like if he considered you a rival?
Or worse, if he hated you?

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Considering how she's managed to freak out other races without really trying?

I'd wager that either her smile or glare would cause any hated racer to freeze in place and/or have a heart attack, unable to continue for the rest of the race.

Then Shirogane gets a warning that she's got to start wearing anything that'll cover her eyes or mouth so no one can see the glare or smile, elsewise it'll be seen as interfering with other racers, or some such.

The hated racer never attends any race where Shirogane is in attendance, ever again.

 

[uioor1]

Another factor is other countries often being rougher, which the Japanese umas aren't prepared for most of the time. Shirogane would adapt to this a bit too well.

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Shirogane when she goes overseas:

Spoiler

 

[xexelias]

Is it only going to be Tanya reincarnating in this fic? I know some expand to include Mary, sometimes even members of the 203rd or Lerugen.

Personally always feel that the fewer characters and concepts from IP-A that get transmigrated to IP-B, the better. Things tend to get murky, IMO - though that does tend to depend on the IP's in question.

Be an easy way to present Tanya with what *she* would consider a proper rival. Plus, it could serve as an avenue to have her really confront her second life. Maybe even provide a friend who *gets* her, long-term after they get their big shonen confrontation out of the wah and realize how much they were fucked over in their previous lives.

(Definitely no Tana/Mary ulterior motives involved. Swearsies.)

 

[Kuroyanagi]

To be more precise, Shirogane doesn't fidget with her ears or tails like most other umas, she mostly only moves them consciously, which makes her seem rather fake in her expressions.

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Quick note about horse expressions

Horses fidget because they're prey animals and the fidgeting and constant adjustments is because as the panicky animals they are, they're always maintaining a level of surveillance around them. Horses only really move their ears consciously when they're not passively but actively alert, which is signaled by their ears being stiff and pointed at whatever it is they're paying attention to, and usually can also signal aggression and whether they're liable to bite or kick if they're pointed forward/backwards.

When horses don't actively move their ears/dont fidget much, their "relaxed" position has their ears being slightly droopy but otherwise facing forward (Seiun Sky's default). This genuinely signals the horse feeling unthreatened, which isn't as common because Prey animal and thus always at least slightly nervous about everything and anything, up to and including other horses.

The last noteworthy thing is when a horse is feeling depressed or otherwise down. They lay their ears flat forward, to block out sound, this is usually paired with close eyes and fully disengagement with everything. You can see this with Umas that have Bad/Awful moods.

By only ever moving her ears consciously, Shirogane effectively signals being completely unthreatened by everything (Hana had it correct on observing that nothing ever seems to faze Shirogane) or 100% locked in and never a middle ground between the two, and accidentally signaling impending violence during her second race when she laid her ears flat behind her.

 

[ScarredPunLover]

Personally always feel that the fewer characters and concepts from IP-A that get transmigrated to IP-B, the better. Things tend to get murky, IMO - though that does tend to depend on the IP's in question.

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I'm also of this mindset. So no Mary, please.

after they get their big shonen confrontation out of the wah and realize how much they were fucked over in their previous lives.

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To be honest, I think it'd be more Mary realizing than Shirogane, since Tanya seemed acutely aware of how fucked they were in most cases.

Also I dunno how well a "shonen confrontation" would work, unless Mary rapidly stops caring about her dad and Tanya having killed him, and doesn't get agitated (to put it lightly) by Tanya not really caring.

.... I also don't think Mary would ever really get Tanya.

horse expressions

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I think there was an image or chart posted a few times in-thread, with a comment here or there that Shirogane's body language perpetually indicates wanting to beat the shit out of whoever's in front of her in a race.

 

[Introverted]

Ironically enough IRL Haru Urara was kind of abused, running over 100 races in 6 years.

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IRL Haru Urara raced to survive quite literally. And iirc her in her later years after retirement she was more of a cranky grandma type horse.

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From what I read somewhere not really sure how accurate because I can't read Japanese and have to rely on a guy explaining it.

Haru Urara was taught not to run to win but to minimize injury.

So while she did have a ton of races under the belt she was not pushed as hard physically as other horses to win.

"Yup, I'm making money so I can try and pay them back, then I'm gonna focus on a real career."
And you can thus hear the sound of a thousand Uma hearts shattering.

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They might honestly focus on Shirogane as caring for her family above all.

They would assume looking at how relatively hard Orzel trains that she had dreams but is focused on family above all else.

 

[The Castle of Jutland]

Stay Gold on the other hand is the rich guy shirking responsibility by gambling.

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Nah, that's a different Gold, Stay Gold is the homeless dad that came back after going to the store for milk.

 

[Sky3Fall]

I don't think Shiro would ever disparage racing by calling it "not a real job" because she of all people would understand how financially lucrative it is for those who are able to consistently stay at the top. But she would 100% advocate for good financial skills and planning for what comes after retirement from racing.

I can see her eventually running a sort of "managing your winnings for dummies" club that also doubles as a beginner support group. For those who are newer to professional racing in general, having someone who knows where to get supplies on the area, who knows a lot of the upperclassmen, who keeps up to date with the events going on, who has experience running real races and is more likely to give better feedback than "it was fun", would be very helpful.

 

[shikamarurulez1]

I can see her eventually running a sort of "managing your winnings for dummies" club that also doubles as a beginner support group.

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No, see, she's going to get her dream job: being hired as an accountant by Tracen. Not FOR Tracen, no...for the students that win any amount of money. You win your first race, finish singing, and Shiro's just THERE with a folder of potential investment opportunities and a pamphlet about how investing money now lets you buy infinite food later

 

[Nitramy]

One downside of being fairly mature and realistic is that you're less hip with the youths.

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Maruzensky: [SHOCKED GASP TO END ALL SHOCKED GASPS]

No, see, she's going to get her dream job: being hired as an accountant by Tracen. Not FOR Tracen, no...for the students that win any amount of money. You win your first race, finish singing, and Shiro's just THERE with a folder of potential investment opportunities and a pamphlet about how investing money now lets you buy infinite food later

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Now this makes me wish Shirogane came into her prime before Oguri Cap did.

"So how did that hick from Kasamatsu turn into the second sharpest business mogul umamusume?"

"The prospect of infinite food."

OH WAIT, the strongest fatty of today (aka Special Week) is one of Shirogane's contemporaries. Looks like she's gonna go into investing too, just to unlock the infinite food hack.

 

[GarfRed]

No, see, she's going to get her dream job: being hired as an accountant by Tracen. Not FOR Tracen, no...for the students that win any amount of money. You win your first race, finish singing, and Shiro's just THERE with a folder of potential investment opportunities and a pamphlet about how investing money now lets you buy infinite food later

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This being put in IRL terms of the team of Shirogane being very good in actually using the money from both winnings and near finishes to get more money from the investments that would bleed off into Uma Shiroganes character. Could also be part of her ending event.

 

[ScarredPunLover]

I don't think Shiro would ever disparage racing by calling it "not a real job"

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No, probably not, but, to slightly paraphrase Gabriel Iglesias' trouble making friend... it'd be funny, huh?

That said, I think it's possible she could phrase it poorly when mentioning that she doesn't think she can turn it into a "real career" for herself. I know those kinds of "misunderstandings" can annoy people, but I think this one in particular could be set up to be pretty amusing.