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kellyvela · 5 years ago

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Love your blog💕 what would you say to the ppl who think GRRM didn’t write Fire and Blood as a precaution/warning about the Targaryens? IMHO it’s pretty blatant that he’s anti-Targ restoration but I see Targ fans saying the contrary and using quotes he’s said about relating to Dany in the aspects of not having a home, etc. Plus the fact that he’s made a whole book about them and they’re having their own prequel show (😩🙄).

Hi! Thanks Anon :D

About Targaryen restoration, I always wondered WHY and HOW so many people in the fandom firmly believe that ASOIAF is mainly about House Targaryen and its restoration. And because of that belief I had to read words like these: “The notion that Daenerys Targaryen and her House are not the collective heroes of this saga is ignorant to the point of idiocy.” Or I had to watch and listen to certain very popular spoiler youtuber saying that “if GOT doesn’t end in Targaryen restoration, the story has no sense”. This person even claimed several times in his videos that GRRM himself has affirmed that ASOIAF is in fact about House Targaryen and its restoration. And I always was like: HOW? WHERE?

Apparently GRRM once said that ASOIAF was about “the return to glory of a great family”, so people immediately thought that that great family was House Targaryen…

I don’t have the original source for that, but if GRRM has specifically said that ASOIAF is about “the return to glory of a great family”, that family is no other than HOUSE STARK; because even if he doesn’t use the exact same words, GRRM has actually said several times over the years that THE STARKS are the heart/center/main characters/heroes of the story. And this affirmation has been supported by Bryan Cogman and even D&D in several interviews/events.

About GRRM relating to Dany and House Targaryen, let’s read those quotes:

From an early age George was aware of a lost fortune on his mother’s side of the family, the Brady family, who once owned a successful construction business, a dock and a grand house, all lost in the Great Depression of 1929. “I had a walk past that house every day on my way from the projects on 1st Street to 5th Street, and it’s like, well, that used to be our dock, that used to be our house. Now we don’t have a house, we don’t have a yard, but I had always had the sense of, yeah I’m poor, but I come from royalty, or I come from greatness that somehow was destroyed by the depression, by corrupt politicians, by things like that. So maybe that gives me a little of the emotional temperament to understand somebody like Daenerys Targaryen.

Sources: [x] [x] [x]

More recently, while promoting Fire & Blood Vol. I, he repeated this part of his personal story with these words:

“From my mother’s stories, I always had this kind of sense that I was like disinherited royalty. Here was this dock that my great-grandfather built, it wasn’t ours anymore. Here was this house that my mother had been born in, we didn’t own this house anymore. We didn’t own any house, we had an apartment. So it was like, ugh, I came from greatness, like Dany! And (talking with a voice and tone similar to one of Dany’s outburst and banging the table) ‘I will take back what is mine with Fire and Blood!’ HAHAHAHAHA. So I think on some level, that must’ve gotten to me.”

—In conversation: George R. R. Martin with John Hodgman

But when he wasn’t promoting Fire & Blood Vol. I, this is what he said:

The house where my mother had grown up … the house her father Thomas had built (…) the Brady house. But of course it wasn’t. Someone else lived there now, someone we did not know.

I walked past that house twice a day, five days a week, for nine years. And every time I stepped outside my front door, I saw the dock across the street. The dock was surrounded by a chain link fence, but sometimes my friends and I would climb it. From the dock it was easier to reach the oily rocks along the shore when the tide was out. There was a watchman on the dock, though, and if he saw us he’d come out of his shed and shout at us. “Get out of here, you kids,” he’d yell. “You got no business here.” Yes, I do, part of me always wanted to shout back, you’re the one who’s got no business, my great-grandfather BUILT this dock. I was a shy kid, though, so I never said a word.

Sources: [x] [x]

And then I would walk to school; we lived in First Street, my school was on Fifth Street, I would walk to school and I would pass the house that the Bradys had owned. I would pass it twice a day going and coming from school. This big house my mother had been born in and her family had grown up in, but had lost. And other people lived in what had been our house. And I think it always gave me this, this sense of a lost golden age of, you know, now we were poor and we lived in the projects and we lived in an apartment. We didn’t even have a car, but God we were… once we were royalty! It gave me a certain attraction to those kinds of stories of I don’t know, fallen civilizations and lost empires and all of that.

Source: [x]

As you can see, GRRM took inspiration from that part of his personal story and applied it to Dany and House Targaryen. Thanks to that part of his personal story, GRRM can understand Dany to a certain extend (So maybe that gives me a little of the emotional temperament to understand somebody like Daenerys Targaryen); but he is not Dany, he hasn’t dedicate his entire life to re-take his family lost properties with fire and blood.

And at this point I think is relevant to state that a house is not a home.

Now, about Fire & Blood Vol. I. After finished reading it I said this:

*GRRM WROTE AN ANTI TARG BOOK*

As if the ASOIAF Books weren’t enough, GRRM gave us Fire and Blood.

He warned us all. He always did. It’s a good day to remember it.

GRRM said it himself:

Esquire: How will Fire & Blood deepen our understanding of Daenerys and her dragons?

GRRM: This is a book that Daenerys might actually benefit from reading, but she has no access to Archermaester Gyldayn’s crumbling manuscripts. So she’s operating on her own there. Maybe if she understood a few things more about dragons and her own history in Essos, things would have gone a little differently.

—Esquire - 2018

Even though he was promoting Fire & Blood Vol. I, and his interviewers were very enthusiastic about dragons, he wasn’t sharing their enthusiasm:

GRRM: “People read fantasy to see the colours again,” he says. “We live our lives and I think there’s something in us that yearns for something more, more intense experiences. There are men and women out there who live their lives seeking those intense experiences, who go to the bottom of the sea and climb the highest mountains or get shot into space. Only a few people are privileged to live those experiences but I think all of us want to, somewhere in our heart of hearts we don’t want to live the lives of quiet desperation Thoreau spoke about, and fantasy allows us to do those things. Fantasy takes us to amazing places and shows us wonders, and that fulfils a need in the human heart.”

THEM: And the dragons?

GRRM: “Oh sure, dragons are cool too,” he chuckles. “But maybe not on our doorstep”

—The Guardian - 2018

I mean, he is proud to be named after Saint George The Dragon Slayer:

John Hodgman: That’s how I can’t sue you, If you steal from history and add a dragon. I can’t sue you.

GRRM: I’m working off my own, you know, karma here, because I’m George, and what’s he known for? He killed the dragon, you know, come on. Come on, I was almost abolished at one point when the Catholic Church was reviewing all the saints, I was terrified that George would be abolished, because they abolish a lot of fiction, I said George is only known for killing a dragon, how can they keep him in, but they did so, that was, that was good.

John Hodgman: I’m glad you stayed anointed.

GRRM: That’s right.

—In conversation: George R. R. Martin with John Hodgman

Here a graphic representation:

And about the Targaryen having their own books (Fire & Blood Vol. I and II) and their own prequel show based on Fire & Blood, let me tell you a couple of things:

Last month GRRM attended an event in London #GRRMLive organized by Harper Voyager UK, and Adam Whitehead, a friend of GRRM, was present in the event and reported this:

Confirmation that Fire & Blood was written by accident: originally it was sidebar material for World of Ice & Fire that got out of control. He wrote hundreds of thousands of words in a few weeks and scared his publishers and had to stop so Elio & Linda could compress it down.

And the first prequel show actually ordered by HBO, that is already in post-production, is not about Targaryens and it has no dragons:

What’s it about? Taking place thousands of years before the events of Game of Thrones, the series chronicles the world’s descent from the golden Age of Heroes into its darkest hour. From the horrifying secrets of Westeros’s history to the true origin of the White Walkers, the mysteries of the East to the Starks of legend, only one thing is for sure: It’s not the story we think we know. [x]

Also, after the news of the “Targaryen prequel”, GRRM himself said this: I do want to point out that “moving closer to a pilot order” is NOT the same thing as “getting a pilot order.”

So that’s it Anon. GRRM is writing a series of SEVEN BOOKS and THE STARKS are the heart/center/main characters/heroes of the story. Meanwhile Fire and Blood was apparently an accident made of sidebar material…

And to finish this answer, I will leave you with one of my fave GRRM quotes:

Source [x]

#grrm #asoiaf #fire and blood #game of thrones #house targaryen #house stark

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hyunsracha · 6 years ago

Text

path of night — seo changbin

word count: 2.4k

summary: changbin thinks you’re really great.

it’s 2018. witches are … Okay.

like ppl aren’t KILLING them anymore but a lot of people don’t even believe in them and like witches don’t go around Telling people they’re witches

but ppl wear them as halloween costumes and the real witches just have to :)

speaking of witches … seo changbin!

he’s only half witch but shhhhh

his mother is a human, but she studied witches so obviously when his dad was like “uhh yo i'm a warlock ?? lol” she was like “ok yea.”

and they fell in love and had a changbin!

they live in a big ass victorian house on the edge of town, which basically screams, “we’re the only family of witches in this town! look at our big, spooky house!”

changbin doesn’t understand why they didn’t just get a fuckin house in the suburbs

his familiar is a raven named Prince of Darkness (he was like 14 ok he was going through his emo phase) and they're bros

sometimes Prince just shows up and caws and changbin caws back and it’s cute !

changbin’s mortal best friend, chris, thinks it’s fucking weird

“u have a pet raven.”

“yeah.”

“why?”

“like raven.”

“freak.”

so when changbin was 16, he had to choose between his mortal and his witch side.

and obviously he chose the witch side

why tf would he give up such epic powers?

the downside though … was that he had to leave

since he decided to go down the Path of Night, he would move to salem and go to the largest division of the academy for witches

and he Thought about telling chris that he was moving to an Elite Boarding School For Smart People but chris would not believe that .. so it was time to fess up

“hey so uh ….. i may or may not be a warlock”

“a who”

“u know . like sabrina the teenage witch . but …. changbin”

“OH ???? IS THAT HOW U PASSED BIOLOGY???”

“i mean yeah but u DONT HAVE TO SAY IT OUT LOUD!!”

so with that loose end tied up, changbin packed his shit (and his bird) and moved to salem !!!!

there, he meets minho, a year older, and hyunjin, in the same year (i'll do ages as i want thank u very much) and they all become bros !!!

ur only allowed to bring One familiar to school . and minho has Three . so his familiar is ……………. all three of his cats

he put on a spell on them so they all just became one cat but it’s completely reversible !! when he goes back to his room he frees his kitties from their kitty cell

“minho wtf do u mean that’s Three cats there’s only one.”

“OH YEAH?? OK! *mf does reversal spell*” *three cats appear* *they start running all over the common area* “FUCK!!!!”

and hyunjin’s is a lil pup named kkami

“kkami is an ugly name for a familiar”

“UR BIRDS NAME IS PRINCE OF DARKNESS?? SHUT THE FUCK UP??”

changbin does Okay in school . he does better than he did in Mortal School

“wtf do u mean we still have to learn algebra”

“we still need witch accountants, mr. seo.”

“i still need a Will To Live, mrs. kim.”

changbin liked to keep quiet about his family.

he knew that “half-breeds” got made fun of a lot, and were treated as lesser witches, so he just kept his mouth shut and avoided family talk.

it took about a year for his secret to get out.

he was sitting in the dining hall with hyunjin and minho Minding His Own Goddamn Business when a mr Jaebum walks in

jaebum was a few years older than minho; he would be graduating soon

he slid into the seat across from changbin, sending him a sinister little smile,

“hello, half-breed.”

the dining hall went silent.

changbin froze.

“i don’t know who the FUCK you think you’re talking to-”

“it’s okay, min. he’s right.”

minho and hyunjin: JFSGJBDB;L?

of course, that didn’t Change anything

changbin was their FRIEND

and he was a good warlock so ??? who fuckin cares

jaebum, apparently

changbin stared down at his tray, tears blurring his vision

he’s sensitive :(

minho saw his eyes watering and almost fucking HEXED JAEBUM

hyunjin held his hand under the table what a good boy

jaebum didn’t stop there, though

“you should go back to your mortal school and learn your stupid mortal things you useless-”

“what the fuck did he even do to you? why do you care?” omg minho u legend

“he’s not like the rest of us. he doesn’t deserve to go here.”

“hey jaebum have you ever tried shutting your fucking mouth?” a new voice spoke

everyone turned to face this new voice

oh look! it’s you! with ur lil entourage (it’s literally 2 ppl) behind u

“excuse me?” jaebum stood. he wasn’t the tallest guy, but he could be Quite Intimidating. u didn’t back down though.

“you heard me. you might want to watch your tone, though.”

“oh yeah? and why would i do that?”

“you shouldn’t speak to a l/n like that. who knows what would happen if my father found out.”

another hush fell over the dining hall.

everyone knows the l/n family. they have to, the l/ns are only one of the most powerful witch families in the whole World.

your father was on the Witch’s Council, along with the fathers of your two friends behind you, seungmin and jisung

the three of you grew up in salem and were homeschooled by seungmin’s mom, so the three of u have been best friends for ur whole lives

and the three of u turned 16 this year so !! here u were

today was ur first day, and when u walked into the dining all, u saw jaebum teasing a poor kid

and that doesn’t fly with u

the three of u put ur trays on the table when jaebum leaves

“tell me if he gives you a hard time again, yeah?”

changbin is??? JSKLGJS???

A L/N?? JUST STOOD UP FOR HIM??

minho, changbin, and hyunjin all look like :0 and you, seungmin, and jisung are just staring back like :]

and that’s how ur lil squad forms !!!

u, jisung, and seungmin are the youngest so u don’t have classes with them, but it’s fine !

lunch exists for a Reason

“for eating.”

“shut up, jisung.”

but you guys spent all your free time together ! and u guys really clicked !

its like u were destined to be friends (◕‿◕) it was written in the stars (◕‿◕)

but out of your three new friends, you were closest to changbin

maybe it was bc you stood up for him on the first day, but there was just Something Different about him, yk?

sometimes the two of you would sneak off campus at night to go watch the stars in the woods

u guys would cast dumb little spells at each other

one time u turned him into a goat ON ACCIDENT but he was

So mad.

so he turned u into a chicken and it was.

a fun night!

your familiar was a bat, so she would go and fly away with prince and i’m sure they had a good time

you just felt so? nice with changbin

you could talk about anything and everything for hours on end and never get bored

little did u know, changbin felt the same way!

but he came to the conclusion faster than u did:

“oh man i think i like y/n.”

“i know.” hyunjin said from the bottom bunk.

those two were roommates. yes it’s just as chaotic as it sounds.

“WH- WHAT DO U MEAN U KNOW?”

“bro its so obvious? y/n breathes and ur like omo look how cute!”

“i don't say omo.”

“omo!”

“ur literally useless.”

“AM NOT.” hyunjin sat up, “I could help you two get together.”

“hell no.”

“omg we’re all going to hell so i’m taking that as a yes! see u later, binnie!”

“WHERE ARE U - ok he’s gone”

hyunjin ran over to ur dorm, Aggressively knocking on the door.

“hyunjin ur gonna make ur knuckles bleed if u do that any harder.”

“SEUNGMIN ! THE LOVE OF MY LIFE !”

“W-W-W-yes?”

(seungmin is kind of in love with hyunjin but honestly who isn’t)

“i’m looking for y/n.”

“you found them.” you said from behind hyunjin, making him nearly Jump Out Of His Skin.

he dragged you away from your dorm, leaving a very confused seungmin in the doorway.

“this is super important sneaky sneak business, okay?” hyunjin sat you down at a table in the library. he sat across from you, taking your hands in his.

“you’re being weirder than usually, hyunjin.”

“i need you to be honest with me,” he stared down into your eyes, using that glare he used when jaebeom was Anywhere near you guys.

“are you trying to cast a spell on me right now, hwang?” you glared back, pulling your hands away.

“N-No!”

“YOU WERE TRYING TO DO THE TRUTH SPELL!”

“THIS IS A LIBRARY BE QUIET!”

“Fine. Why are you trying to put the truth spell on me?”

“do you like changbin?”

“of course i do, we’re friends-”

“no, y/n, you dumb bitch,” hyunjin sighed, pressing his palms against the table, “like. do you Like Like him?”

you furrowed your brow, wondering why the Hell he would ask you something like that.

i mean … you had never thought about changbin like that …

and it wouldn’t be Terrible to date him …

he was funny … and nice … and a good warlock …. and cute …….. and you’ve held his hand before ……….. that was nice ……………… and maybe you’ve thought about kissing him but Only once or twice !!!

oh man

“oh man. i think i like changbin.”

“oh thank fucking god, it would’ve been really awkward if you didn’t.”

“HUH???”

“i have 2 go.”

and hyunjin left you. very confused. in the library.

so hyunjin NYOOMS back to his dorm

yk how he does with his long ass legs

“hello tiny roommate.”

“absolutely go fuck yourself.”

“ok….well i have tea…...and i guess ur not getting it…..”

“hyunjin you fucking local its 2019 why are u still saying that.”

hyunjin pouted, “so u DONT wanna know that y/n likes u back??? ok FUCK u then!!” he climbed into his bed.

wait for it…..

“oh fuck.”

“Y/N LIKES ME????? HUH???? HWANG HYUNJIN!!!!!!”

“oh my god ur so loud JUST. confess or sumn u big idiot.”

hyunjin be like [ napping noises ]

changbin be like [ PANICKED NOISES ]

how is he supposed to just CONFESS??? that's not EASY

hyunjin thinks its easy bc he’s never confessed to Anyone

everyone confesses to Him

its scawy :(

but changbin Is Not A Coward

(yes he is)

the next day at lunch, changbin is …. Off

“hey binnie!” u put ur tray down next to him and send him a Big Big smile

the butterflies in his tummy go HFJSKGGJ and he goes “hey!” but his voice cracks

he flushes a bright cherry red and u think he's the CUTEST BOY EVER

but he keeps squeaking and blushing and can't exactly look u in the eye :(

how is he supposed to when he knows that U Like Him !!!! u like him !!!!!

he’s in his last class of the day (algebra - gag) when he thinks of an idea

and it’s a good one too !!!!

“that’s the worst idea i’ve ever heard.”

“shut up seungmin if hyunjin did that for u u’d literally cry.”

“WH - I - get out of my room.”

u get a text from changbin that says “meet me in the common room!! it’s importante (that’s spanish for important)!! ^.^”

his little emoticon u go <3____<3

so u text back “okie!!” and get ready to go to the common room

it was like . 11pm . but u didn't really think about that

u and changbin hang out a lot at that time so !

the common room was Empty when u got there

“Hello??? binnie???”

no response

u cast a lil spell to make a light appear on the tip of ur finger (u literally could’ve just . Turned on the lights . but this is more fun) and sit by the big statue of Satan himself and Wait.

ur only waiting for like 30 seconds when u hear It

singing???

hello???

u instantly recognized the song bc U Loved The Song

it was zion.t’s no make up and u went [ caveman spongebob ]

WHO IS SINGING

WHY ARE THEY SINGING

the light on ur finger went out as you clenched your fist, looking around for the source of the voice

the lights in the common room came on; dimly, but still on.

and rose petals started to fall from the ceiling

this was weird

pretty! and u were kind of on the verge of tears! but pretty!

and then u saw him

Seo Changbin.

why is seo changbin singing to u

since when can changbin Sing like that???

“changbin-”

“SHHSHSHSHHSH let me talk before i lose my confidence!!!

so…..you’re…..really great.”

“thanks.”

“I SAID LET ME TALK. you’re really great. really Really great. and i think …. i think we get along really well. like……..we’re bros, right? wait- bros probably isn’t the best word for this- oh my god.”

“changbin...are you...trying to say something?”

“i like you !!! and i know you like me back-”

“HUH”

“hyunjin has a big mouth.”

“oh my god.”

“yeah.”

there was silence for a moment.

what are you supposed to do now?

you were happy.

u were fricking Ecstatic!!! changbin liked u back!!!!

u were gonna kill hyunjin but!!! yippee!!!

“so do i just….are we- are we a thing now?” changbin broke the silence

“oh!” you stood from your spot on the floor, “y-yeah!”

“ok sick …. so i can do this now-” he made his way towards you, grabbing you by the waist and pressing his lips against yours.

his other hand came up to hold your face, and you were glad that he was holding your waist so tightly or you might’ve fallen down, your knees were so weak.

since when can changbin Kiss like that

“i-in front of satan and everybody, huh…” you giggled after he pulled away.

“satan’s fine. i’m sure he loves a good teen romance.”

“you’re an idiot, seo changbin.”

“but i’m your idiot :DDD”

and your first order of business as a couple : Operation Seungjin.

#changbin #seo changbin #stray kids #skz #changbin scenarios #seo changbin scenarios #stray kids scenarios #skz scenarios #changbin imagines #seo changbin imagines #stray kids imagines #skz imagines #stray kids changbin #skz changbin #changbin x reader #seo changbin x reader #skz x reader #stray kids x reader #yes this is . Slightly based off caos what can i say

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caatws · 6 years ago

Text

how to understand tv ratings (so you’ll be prepared for cancellation/renewal announcements)

as most of you know, i had an internship last semester where one of my duties for the company was tracking and analyzing tv ratings. while i’m no expert on this yet, i worked with way more knowledgeable ppl than me on this and learned a couple things about ratings that i definitely didn’t know before, so i thought i’d share some of it now that b99 is back on and we def don’t want a repeat of last year’s debacle.

(also, i’ll be tracking and analyzing b99′s ratings over on @b99bythenumbers this season, so if you’re at all interested in any of this stuff pls check it out! that blog is still under construction and stuff but as this season gets the ball rolling, that blog will come to life heheh)

ok, so i’m gonna break this up into sections to keep it as organized/straightforward as possible, so we gonna cover:

what are nielsen ratings & how do they work? (aka what do numbers like 1.2/5 mean)

b99′s ratings & viewership

nbc’s ratings & viewership

ratings as the be-all end-all for shows? (other ways to support b99) (esp if you can’t access american cable)

what are nielsen ratings & how do they work?

so nielsen media research is a company that’s been measuring data for entertainment for just over 70 years now. tho they got a start in radio, they’re arguably most known in the modern day for their measurement of american television programming, as the data they gather from these measurements (the infamous “nielsen ratings”) strongly influence broadcast networks (abc, nbc, cbs, fox, & the cw) and channels in their decisions to renew or cancel certain programs.

the way nielsen measures this data is through selecting various households with tv’s across the u.s. to monitor what they watch, who’s watching, how often they watch, etc. so it’s not something everyone in the u.s. gets to do, like they might just randomly hit you up and ask if they can use your data. if you say yes, they have to install a bunch of stuff to monitor all tv’s in your household. (if you find this at all kinda interesting, i’d recommend reading this interview with a nielsen family bc it’s kinda wild)

so, now onto the numbers. i’ll use b99′s initial ratings for 6x01 last night as an example

the rating is the 1.2/5 number. the first number, 1.2, means that 1.2% of the 119.6 million households nielsen estimates to have television watched b99 (1.2% of households, not individual people). the second number, 5, is referred to as the “share”, and means that 5% of households watching tv at that time watched b99.

these numbers are “live + same day”, meaning they only include households that actually watched b99 live as it was on tv last night and people who watched it from their DVR the day it was aired live. (for example, i got home after the ep started last night but had set it to record, so i watched my recording as the ep was ending so if i was in a nielsen family, me watching b99 on my DVR the same night it aired would still count for their measurement of an L+SD rating.)

additionally, tho nielsen records a lot of data about different demographics and people of what age are watching what shows, the standard demographic used for these ratings is people aged 18-49, all genders.

the 3.56 is the total viewership in millions (aka the actual individual viewers).

my source for ratings: tv by the numbers (specifically above, their initial thursday 1/10 ratings)

b99′s ratings & viewership

back on fox, b99 had a pretty solid run for the first two or three seasons, until the ratings started taking a pretty steep nosedive in recent years that (unfortunately) kinda predicted and ultimately led to their cancellation. it’s important to look back on their past ratings as a show, because stability & improvement are major factors at play when networks are deciding to renew or cancel shows.

season 1 (2013-2014) ratings

b99 had a rly solid series premiere, tho it pretty quickly couldn’t retain its rating, as the difference between 1x01 and 1x02′s ratings is pretty major. it got its big 6.89 rating (!!!) in february 2014 bc it aired after the super bowl. this season ended with way less viewers than it started out with, which isn’t Great.

season 2 (2014-2015) ratings

overall, pretty similar numbers to s1, especially in the total season average. it had a few ratings above 2.0 which is Good, but those numbers didn’t hold steady. again, the season ended with way less viewers than it began.

season 3 (2015-2016) ratings

b99 dipped under 1.0 for a large portion of this season. that’s Big Yikes. cancellation becomes Very Real Possibility.

season 4 (2016-2017) ratings

this season’s average was less than 1.0.....cancellation is Very, Very Real Possibility.

season 5 (2017-2018) ratings

nothing above 1.0 for an entire season....this show is Doomed, and i honestly can’t blame fox for canceling it from a numbers and business standpoint, considering this was just a continuation of the trend established in s4 with the consistently lower ratings. it’s....kind of totally rational that fox did what they did, especially when you see how b99 compared (in ratings) to other fox shows in the 2017-2018 season:

as you can see fox just kinda took like the bottom half of its shows by rating and cancelled all of them...anything averaging under a 1.0 on fox just isn’t safe!!!

comparing to other shows (esp other sitcoms) on its network is another big factor in renewing/cancelling. tho there aren’t any other sitcoms suuuper similar to b99 on fox, enough comedies did better that b99 got the axe. which means we should probably look at

nbc’s ratings & viewership

and here’s their 2017-2018 season (in which they had the most viewers out of all the broadcast networks for the first time since like 2001 actually!!):

already, b99 is off to a good start, its 1.2 initial rating pretty high for nbc, but what’ll rly matter is if they can hold this rating for the rest of season 6. like i said, stability and improvement are everything in tv world! if b99 can continue like this for the rest of this season, i think we’ll be in pretty good shape.

and, honestly, nbc rly is a good network fit for b99, with its history of popular and acclaimed sitcoms (seinfeld, friends, will & grace, etc.) and its long-running and popular crime procedurals (aka any law & order series ever), and b99 is basically a combination of the two.

ratings as the be-all end-all for shows? (other ways to support b99)

while ratings are of the utmost importance to networks and channels, it’s not the sole deciding factor.

another thing networks and channels look at, as we live in the digital age, is BUZZ. this basically is industry-speak for how much people are talking about and movies! the most visible example of this is getting a show trending on social media when it airs.

a good example of a show like this is the good place. tgp hasn’t gotten stellar ratings this season, but has already been renewed...because a lot of people talk about it on social media! it’s usually trending on twitter when a new episode airs, and its objectively high quality writing has won over a lot of industry folks�� hearts, so it gets a lot of buzz in hollywood as well (hint hint similar to how the “guardians of the nine-nine” contributed to the fight to save b99 last year).

so, here are some tips on how to maximize b99′s ratings & overall potential for renewal:

WATCH. IT. LIVE. or DVR it and watch it ASAP, as final ratings come out within 24 hours after new episodes air. obvi this only applies to amercans with access to cable/tv but clearly these are the people not showing up for b99 since the ratings were so low while the fandom was so big and loud

forgot to record it but still live in the u.s.? watch it on your cable provider’s “on demand” services (if they offer it), hulu, or nbc.com as soon as the new episode comes out the next day!!! while these numbers won’t be reflected in the actual ratings, it’ll still tell the network you care.

are you a young adult who attends college away from home aka your family’s cable? look into your family’s cable provider’s online services! my family’s cable allows me to access our DVR away from home and even watch some things on demand, which has been a lifesaver while i’ve been away at college the past couple years. if you can access your DVR remotely through your cable provider’s website, use it to record b99 and watch it ASAP!

TWEET ABOUT IT. tumblr is cool and valid and all, but let’s be real - everyone’s looking at twitter, because most industry professionals don’t know how the fuck to use tumblr. twitter is straightforward and straight to the point; they want to see it trending there. so pls tweet using #brooklyn99 when the episode is on live!!! you have 3 major chances to do this: 9 pm est (u.s. east coast), 9 pm mountain time (2 hours after east coast), and 9 pm pst (3 hours after east coast) every thursday night.

talk about it in real life! get friends to watch it! again, may not contribute to the actual ratings, but it’s still nice to get more and more people into the show to watch it in other ways and talk about it with other people they know.

i know a lot of these methods are mostly applicable to people in the u.s. and/or americans with cable, but it’s rly important that those of us who fall into those categories do our parts!! fellow americans, let’s yeet this wheat!!!! all b99 fans from all over the world, i believe in all of us!!!!!!

#b99 #tv ratings #nielsen ratings #madison.txt

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nvrissa · 6 years ago

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hello laid ease and furries ( u know who u are )......hahaha....are u ready for this ? zimzalabim ! my name is xan ( she/her pronouns ) and my laptop has been broken for a good 3 years now i have to use an onscreen keyboard so if u see me typing for 20000 years on discord only to send u a single sentence u know whats up x JSDBJWBJW here is the intro....im really winging this no one call me out for that WOOO....tw: medication, mental health, body image ? perhaps just to be safe <3

ok ! so im not gonna talk too much abt family stuff bc yuno and i are doing the collab of the century here and art takes time people ! JSBDJBWDJW but so u get a good idea...i will write a little abt it lets get it

so the kwons were two of the biggest faces in hollywood ( and tbh they are still considered icons / hollywood royalty no matter how old they get they stay #Relevant ) think bradgelina ! literally everyone knows who the kwons if u dont u probably live under a rock /:

their parents are very into the fame thing...so when it came to their kids ( nari and wolfe ) they SUPER pushed the famous life onto them, really expecting both of them to be just as obsessed and enamored by the public. idk if u guys ever say that vid of gigi and bella hadid before they were huge were their mom was pressuring them both to get into modeling and to stay skinny and to be stars etc....it was kinda like that !

so narissa, being the first born, really just internalized that shit...like imagine being told ever since u were a baby that fame and status and ur last name are wildly important and not being able to remember a time when u werent being watched by cameras / a third party ( the public ) bc that was her life ! nari has....no experience as to what life is like without cameras and without having to create this image of herself that ppl are gonna be into

obviously that’s NOT normal....and it had it’s toll on her /: as a kid she grew up so fast like u know those kids that seem so mature and wise for their age ? that was nari. she always had two versions of herself: inside nari vs outside nari. she was so good at being good just bc she knew what stuff to express and what stuff to keep inside ( spoiler alert: most of it was kept in x )

she is still very much desperate to please her parents despite it all /: i feel like for a long time she kinda excepted and agreed that fame is everything ( hence why shes known for using her last name to get her places ) but shes starting to realize just how FUCKED it all is and just how much it’s messed her up so stay tuned for more fun !

ok so career stuff ! nari started off as a child model bc she was um super cute and super good at knowing what to do / not freaking out in front of cameras <3 but she was always obsessed with actors ! she used to sit in front of the tv for hours legit study and memorize ppls mannerisms and various movie lines.. she was literally always just quoting random lines / imitating various actors so often her parents were like ok word go act !

she landed her first role at 12 and it was a pretty huge role as a lead chara in a mini television series that revolved around a cast of kids ( think stranger things but not plot wise just how some of the mains were kids ) with zero acting experience before hand ... so it was pretty clear to the media nari got the spot bc she was a kwon ! there was a bunch of controversy around the show before it came out but once it was released...there was no denying nari had talent

after that it was just a whirlwind of acting doors opening up for her. everyone wanted nari bc of her last name and all the attention that came from it, not to mention every director wanted to be The One that helped narissa kwon become one of the most famous actresses of the 21st century. most of the time she was getting cast for selfish reasons but nari never realized it /: she was just happy to be acting bc it really was like therapy for her to become different ppl

flash forward to age 15 when narissa was finally diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder and was prescribed meds to help ! it was actually a director from a movie she was working on that suggested to her parents nari might be struggling after witnessing her have a panic attack on set. not wanting a scandal, her parents agreed it was best to get her “help” which included pills and weekly therapy !

so nari actually didnt mind it too much tbh she HAD been struggling for a while she just assumed her anxiety was normal and just like something all famous ppl were dealing with but that wasnt the case. she was hesitant to open up to her therapist just bc she was still obsessed with this idea of inside nari vs outside nari, and she was very scared to cross that line so it took....years of sessions to build up that trust

as she got older though and as she got more famous, everyone just assumed she was better. she was more famous and loved by the day, she had become a chanel ambassador ( thank u jennie x ), her interviews on youtube always brought in record views, she’d started in plenty of movies critics agreed would become cult classics, her social medias were nearing kardashian level in terms of followers: everything was on track....

....except nari had actually never been more unstable. she had become so dependent on her meds she couldnt go anywhere or talk to anyone without popping a few in. all the watching eyes were starting to make her paranoid, not to mention the pressure from her parents ( who couldn’t be happier with nari being so famous ) was at its all time high. she had been nominated for an oscar at 21 and everyone was expecting her to win...and then she didnt

narissa kwon famously fainted at the 2018 oscars after it was announced she had lost the award. her actual fainting wasnt caught on camera or televised, but it WAS witnessed by some of the most relevant names and faces in hollywood who were in that room. the scandal took the media by storm, the hashtag #getwellnarissa trending for over 42 hours until a statement was released she had fainted bc of dehydration and other undisclosed causes and that she was okay & currently taking it easy at home surrounded by family

in reality it was the abuse of her medication as well as all the stress, but when your last name is kwon manipulating the press is as simple as making the right phone call. unfortunately for nari and her parents, the article about the brat pack came out a week later, and there was no manipulating that source /:

for narissa, it was all a wake up call. she decided to go off her anxiety meds altogether. after falling out with the brat pack she spent that year trying to figure out who she was separate from her fame and her last name. despite some offers from a few casting directors ( surprisingly some people still wanted her despite the scandals bc she was still a kwon, after all ) narissa rejected every role except one in a coming of age indie movie that explores womanhood and mental health as well as strained relationships with mothers. the movie is set to release sometime mid august hehe (~:

she agreed to come to milan to reunite with the brat pack bc she’s still searching for herself ! nari figures the people who quite literally grew up with her might give her some answers......not to mention there is still a part of her who is desperate to reclaim the image and status she had before everything fell apart </3

PERSONALITY/TIDBITS

narissa is....complicated to say the least. growing up in front of the cameras and in a family who prioritized fame and outside opinions of you as the most important thing, she is quite literally desperate for praise and approval. because she legit has no idea what parts of her are real and what parts of her she’s created for her public persona, she often looks for understanding in others!! shes very very good at analyzing people and understanding people in the hopes that its gonna make her better at analyzing herself, but to no avail.

libra sun capricorn moon !! THIS is super accurate and telling if u wanna read but i kinda just summarized it in the last bullet

she is such a perfectionist with everything she does and a bit of a control freak in the sense that if she’s not the one doing something, she doesnt have faith whatever that is will be able to live up to her unrealistic standards. directors are often concerted with nari bc whenever she gets big roles.....she is so hard on herself, often asking for take after take bc she monitors every little thing abt her expression or her movements. she’s often left frustrated and disappointed with herself bc again, her standards are SUPER unrealistic ):

she’s relatively sweet!! growing up with the brat pack they probably knew her as the life of the party, very bubbly, confident, and very easy to have fun with as long as you’re being tolerable. however, she can get kind of opinionated at times so it’s very hard for you to gain her trust and respect back if you lose it. she’s also prone to random mood swings / periods of isolation, but whenever she returns its with a big smile and a soft voice assuring you everything is okay

very good at lying and deceiving ppl but she hardly ever does it on purpose ( unless her publicists asks her too ). she’s carried this persona / public image of herself curated for consumption from others for so long, sometimes she has no idea when she’s being sincere or if she’s just convincing herself she’s being sincere. most of the time she only deceives other people about herself. she can come across as kind of elusive because of this ( think daisy from gatsby’s perspective ) but it’s not on purpose. she just legit has no true sense of self isnt that sexy?

speaking of sex. JWDBJWBDJWBD she also uses that as a coping mechanism / a weird affirmation that yes, she IS wanted by others and yes she IS seen as someone beautiful and that she IS something to be consumed by others ( like i said in my tags....male fantasies male fantasies ) but then at the same time she feels guilty abt this and so unsatisfied and disgusted at how she’s living her life as an object / manifestation of other people’s projections rather than as a normal person...rip </3 its a cycle

ever since her relationship with micah that was so hated by the public it actually ruined and ended their relationship, nari has been too scared to publicly have a relationship again. the media seems to love seeing her on casual dates with other stars, but not to see her tied down to one person, as that kind of “damages” this super accessible persona she’s put out ( think idols and why they cant date )

she loves poetry, french music, all of marilyn monroe and audrey hepburn’s movies, nonfiction essays abt womanhood and identity, anything chanel, is particularly fond of silk dresses but is partial to velvet as well, wears lacy bralettes under everything bc it makes her a little more confident, actually prefers large parties to small ones because small gatherings are more personal therefore give her more anxiety, would only eat fruit and drink champagne if she could live like that, doesn’t know how to swim so she’s scared of the ocean as well as the dark, used to study ballet as a kid and misses it terribly, doesn’t know how to drive and isn’t planning to learn, can be materialistic at times, is probably an introvert masquerading as an extrovert for 22 years now, the only movies she cant stand are westerns, loves to travel but is scared of flying, doesn’t drink coffee, and is allergic to nuts.

last but most important fact about narissa is that she loves her brother wolfe more than anything in this world so messing with him is the only way nari is bound to 100% hate you. she can bully him all she wants ( ex. starting very real rumors he IS in fact a furry ) but no one else is aloud to actually be mean to him or she will kill you

also very random but i had a hc that when she was 6 and her pet cat jinx died she caused enough fuss at home her parents actually made it a national holiday in about thirteen different states. the anniversary of this death is december 4th and yes . the brat pack better mourn jinx with nari every year......

pls spare plots im sorry this is so long.....JBDJBWJDBWJBWDJBJ i promise it will be worth it also im sensitive and very small ... how can u say no ?

#bratsintro #╰ ♡ . 𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒔𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒔𝒊𝒆𝒔 ── ooc !#yes this tag is inspired by the margaret atwood quote....bc i am Literally haunted by it #so is nari x #also this gif ? inspired by her furry brother<3 #this intro is a whole mess pls . plot with me anyway ?#THIS IS RIDICULOUSLY LONG HOLY SJBWJBJWBDJW yea i...am so sorry oy my god

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ardentlythieving · 6 years ago

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HEWWO EVERYBODY IT’S END OF YEAR RECAP TIME WITH ME: UR PAL ARDO

First of all if ur reading this, merry christmas if u celebrate it and happy holidays if u don’t!!! Y’all are amazing people and I hope this time of year is a good one for you, and if it’s not I hope you find the time to do smth nice for urself!!

Dam this year has been crazy tho. I mean if ur dash is anything like mine you’ve prob seen all those posts talking about how long this year has felt re: the sheer amount of stuff happening. But on a more individual level there’s some stuff I wanna say I guess so in no particular order here is my Thoughts™ coz there’s been some good, some bad, and some weird this year.

So, this year has been a kind of wild one for me in terms of things changing. The big one being that I started university and kinda lost contact with most of my pals from high school. All goods tho, coz I met some amazing new people thru tabletop gaming who idk if I’m at the friends point with yet, but I defo wanna try and get there coz they’re cool as heck. It’s true what people say that starting university is a big change coz DAM things have been wild and hopefully are gonna keep being wild next year espc coz one of my online friends is moving down to start at my university and I’m super excited to meet her in person!! Speaking of meeting people in person I finally got to hang out with @chipmunkwithwings at her place and that was one of the highlights of my year for sure! She’s a super cool person and that week was just utterly brilliant.

Anyways while we’re on the topic of friends this year sure has been exciting for that as well. I’ve made some amazing new ones, gotten closer with some older ones, had some drift apart and thru it all I’ve learnt something important. Namely that, there’s nothing wrong with the friends I had before, but I’ve felt so much better and it’s just been so much healthier for me now I’ve also started pursuing and focusing on friendships with people around my age. It sounds weird to say, but despite having a good collection of close friends there was a part of me that was lonely, and that part has kinda stopped being so much now not all my friends are 10ish years older than me.

That’s one thing I’ve discovered, but this year has been a big one for discovery for me. I tried a bunch of different papers and found out that I hate international relations and love philosophy. I’ve started learning Swedish!! And probably the biggest and most important discovery: thanks to my friends telling me “dude you really need to do this” I’ve gotten on anti-depressants!!! Which have really been helping me so much. That’s probably.... my biggest regret is that I didn’t get on them a few years ago. Still, I’m on them now and my head is just working so much better. Also, and I’ve talked about this in an earlier post so if you wanna kno deets you can go read it, I properly I guess remembered? stopped repressing? how a friend abused me a few years ago and started working thru the issues I have because of that.

At this point I’m gonna put things under a cut coz this is where shit is gonna get long.

Some letters, to the people I’ve known this year. I know a LOT of people so I’m prob gonna not mention anyone so if I don’t mention you: I love y’all. Ur so so fucking brilliant all of u and I’m honored to know you and to have had this chance to be in contact with y’all. I’m deeply sorry for any way I might have wronged you over this year, and if any of you wronged ME I forgive you entirely. If any of you haven’t really talked to me, but want to; or if we’ve drifted outta contact and you wanna pick things back up or ANYTHING at all feel free to msg me anytime. My discord is ardentlyThieving#4893 and this is an open invitation to anyone reading this coz there’s a ton of cool ppl on here who I haven’t talked to as much as I’d like. Anyways onto the individual stuff.

To the afternoon gang. You guys all mean so so fucking much to me, more than probably anyone else. Ur my best support network, my greatest pals. Being friends with you all is a fucking delight. I know I’m not always active in our server, but trust me that it’s nothing on you. I’ve enjoyed every moment hanging out with you guys. Or well, most of them at least :P. We have the wildest conversations and trust me, I wouldn’t have it any other way. I know some of you guys have had a hard time this year and I’m so sorry that you guys are going thru that shit coz y’all deserve so much better. It’s my deepest hope that next year is a good one for all of you and if there’s every anything I can do you guys know where to find me. I love you so so so so so much and I hope these last few days of 2018 are as good for you as they can possibly be.

To the people of Eff’s servers. You guys are super duper cool. Being salty with y’all is so much fun and also so deeply annoying that people keep pulling this shit that we gotta be salty about. I love the fact that we can go from shitty meme posting (usually my fault) to having in depth n thoughtful conversations about just about anything (hopefully usually not my fault). Y’all are amazing people and it feels like you’ve all found urselves a bit more this year, which I’m so happy for you about.

To Sakshi. That’s right, u get an individual one. Ur like, my hero. Srsly dude the fact that ur so fucking patient with the utter dumbasses msging you and that u started this whole deep conversation that ur not backing down from? I’m so proud of you, I admire you so much, and you have my utmost support. Hmu if you ever need me to drag someone for you. Also i’m sorry to out you as a gamer to the fine people of tumblr dot com (actually I’m not that sorry) but it’s been so much fun playing swtor with you. And salt watching things with you. I love how fun our friendship is and also how we can have proper deep conversations like 10/10 A+ content.

To Hammi. Dude you are awesomesauce. My fave lesbian pal. I love memeing with you and gaming with you and chatting with you. Here’s to another great year broski!

To Clare. We’ve only just met at the very end of this year and I’m so glad we did. Ur super cool and funny and I love ur art n posts.

To my swtor guild. Another group of wonderful people who I’ve only just met. i’m so fucking excited to get to know all of you better coz y’all have such great swtor opinions and are so much fun to play with. Sorry about what I did to the Gizka flagship bridge lmao.

To Sofa. DUDE HI! becoming friends with you this year has been one of the highlights. Thank you for all the support you’ve given me and for all the fun times we’ve had. I adore playing video games with you and I fucking love ur swtor ocs. You’ve been there for me so much, and I hope I’ve been there for you as well. Thank you for everything.

To Marie. Yet another person I met later on this year and haven’t had the chance to get so close with. Defo my bad there I need to msg you more often. Thanks for being there for me, even though I was kind of a shitty friend to you at one point. I didn’t deserve ur patience but you gave it to me anyway and I’m so fuckin grateful for that. I hope to make that up to you in the coming year. <3

To Jason. We were tight at the start of the year and kinda drifted apart which I regret. Msg me anytime dude and if you ever reinstall swtor you should totally hmu coz playing it with you was a ton of fun!!

To Traya. I know we’ve only talked on and off this year, but I’m so excited for you to be at my university and to hang out in person!! Hang in there dude, coz there’s so many cool people for you to meet and take it from me that university really is so much better than college.

Ok this is where the happy positivity ends!! Again I love y’all so much and I hope that next year is better for all of you then this one was!!! Thanks for being pals with me, I appreciate it so much even when I’m not great at showing it.

Coz there’s one more letter I gotta write coz after however many years I want closure. This is where it ends.

To Teri. Wow. I never thought I’d be saying ur name again. Well typing, but w/e. That first year we were friends was so fucking good and I’m glad we had that, coz you were a pretty cool person. I dunno why you decided to change all that and start hurting me and I’m probably never gonna understand but you know what? That’s ok. I don’t need to. You hurt me, I got out. I’m not sure, but I think you were being hurt by people as well and I hope you got out like I did. No matter how badly you treated me you still don’t deserve to be abused urself. Nobody deserves that. I don’t know if I forgive you, and I don’t know if I ever will, but I hope things are better for you now. I’m sorry for the times I wronged you while we were friends. This isn’t me saying I deserved to be abused by you, because I sure as hell didn’t, but well. Two wrongs don’t make a right and ur abuse doesn’t magically erase the times I wasn’t the greatest friend. I thought ignoring the things you did to me would make things better, but instead I let it all fester inside me and change my behaviour without realizing that’s what happened. So this is me letting go of it all. Coz you don’t get to fuckin take anything else away from me. I’m better now than I was then despite everything you did to me. This is me, making a conscious choice to heal and move on and grow. It’s not gonna be easy, but imma do it and it’s gonna be so fucking wonderful. This is Arden signing out because you don’t GET to have any control over my life anymore. Never ever again.

#ardently original #happy long ass christmas post lads

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identitycris1s · 4 years ago

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im back

hi just thought id pop in with a status update! maybe i’ll break this down into categories. feel like im doing an email update (ew!) but this rly is probs the best way to structure this post...

work / school (?)

work has been....aite. idk what to say. idk if i have unrealistic expectations of what work is supposed to be, but the idealist in me thinks its wrong to not even try and find something that seems meaningful / is deeply fulfilling. i think im mature enough to get that work isnt supposed to be fun / exciting every single day but bro this daily grind / sense of dread / utter disinterest / feeling of futility / frustration / disenchantment surely isnt the correct state of affairs.....at least let me try and find something that is a better fit, thats more stimulating, that feels more NATURAL to me? i just dont think im cut out to be a lawyer. sure i sometimes like arguing and making my point and i like that everyone i work with is smart and interesting and generally kind and reasonable and i like the prestige of the job and feeling like ppl respect me and i like the decent pay and the humane hours but.....i feel unmotivated to be a good lawyer. i think i find it difficult / disingenuous to always 100% get behind my client and advocate for their best interests. i tend to see things from a zoomed out perspective, like WHY are we fighting, WHY cant we just settle, WHY are the claimants pursuing this absolutely crap and unmeritorious claim and WHY do we have to defend it when its stupid and bound to fail (cos access2justice i guess but still, WHY), WHY cant we just hash things out in a meeting instead of sending emails here and there and wasting time, WHY do we have to answer stupid questions, WHY WHY WHY

and i think public policy is sort of an answer to that....i think theres more questioning of why we do things and why a policy will or will not work, in a macro sense - what is good for society at large. whereas in law (at least in litigation) its how can we just move this case forward and help the client, which is often not the most productive thing to do in a macro sense - very much a zero sum game. i get that shitty / unmeritorious claims still need to be defended against and someone has to do it and I GET IT but i just dont think i want to be that person defending these claims...or bringing them for that matter.....ultimately i cant fully / sincerely separate the overarching sense of futility from the duty to do a good job.

sigh. well at least ive kind of figured out this isnt for me. which is scary cos being a lawyer in this firm is pretty much a career for life - truly an iron rice bowl, i could probably make partner in maybe 4 or 5 years and live a comfortable upper middle class life...but i cant bring myself to do that. i cant bring myself to not give myself a shot at doing something i actually find interesting, stimulating and that i care about deeply. call me crazy! we’ll see where this brings me in 5 years’ time....:)

anyway most ppl at work (at least in my team) know that im most likely gonna leave soon. i rly only told 2 ppl (my boss cos he had to sign off on my testimonial and G cos she was quitting anyway)...but somehow ppl found out one way or another. i dont rly mind and ppl have been taking it pretty well and have been kind and encouraging (i guess why would they not take it well, im hardly indispensable) but i get a bit antsy thinking - what if i dont get in...then what? do i just put my head down and continue here (BUT IM SO SAD) or do i just quit without any prospects and try to find a policy-ish job??

idk. will have faith that God will put me where I need to be. he is in control of it all and I BELIEVE THIS !!! I am just a bit scared that his plan is different from what i think i want....but this is just my human instinct and i know in my head that there is no reason to be scared cos his plan is always the better one. head knowledge just needs to translate to heart understanding and real trust / faith.

ermmm relationships...???

i started using...cmb...idk why i find this so cringey. i guess about a year ago i couldnt imagine doing this and i kept thinking EW what if ppl i know see me and they think im a desperate saddo who cant find a bf irl and has to resort to an app EW shes so lame and ugly and gross. and i realised that is so stupid no one actually thinks that way and its very backward and dumb and insecure of me to be thinking that. and anyway as i get older i rly dont quite give a shit what ppl think of me (at least i tell myself that....)

i suppose i was also inspired by csm who has been quite actively using apps and meeting ppl and taking real..strides..(LOL) in her dating life. i used to tell myself hey God will provide u with a mans if he wants u to be with a mans. but also God can use an app to do that...and if i dont step out in faith that he will do something and i dont take any action at all, how is God gonna work?? should i sit at home and expect a man to fall into my lap??

for some ppl it has been way easier, e.g. my parents meeting in uni and falling i love. i always wanted that - the organic relationship, the meet-cute, the friends to lovers thing. (i guess i tried that last one before and it didnt work...) but i think theres no point in romanticising relationships anymore. thats a very modern thing to do and its not necessarily a good thing? like who’s to say a relationship that had organic beginnings is intrinsically better than one that started from an app?

anyway i havent had much luck haha i think its hard to find genuine GCBs (or maybe theyre just not attracted to me....) although recently ive been talking to this one guy B for a week or two and its been...ok i guess. hes rly nice and seemed cool at first - we talked about travelling and hamilton and the office, which was a good start. he is thoughtful and kind and doesnt seem to be put off by my very slow replies (he replies so fast......its stressful a bit) and he does the whole good morning text thing (which i frankly find a bit bizarre, we barely know each other..?? and ive never even met him irl.. but its sweet i guess :))

but DUDE his english seems to be not great - at least thats the impression i get from texting him. which is an issue for me. i dont want it to be BUT IT IS...first red flag was when he said some weird thing about not wanting to wear a mask at work (not a literal mask - like he didnt know if he could be his ‘true self’) and the wording was very strange. then he said “the weekends are almost here” ?? the weekend is not a plural though? then he used the wrong tense a few times and his apostrophe usage was wrong (”Gods’ love” - bro there is one God). he also uses way too many commas which irks me.

i mean i get that text is supposed to be an informal medium - come on look at this post, there r hardly any capital letters and plenty of short forms and hardly any apostrophes but u see its CONSISTENT and its obviously cos of laziness / convenience - but i think his problem is a bit different...u can sort of tell if someone doesnt have a 100% strong grasp of english. those r basic grammar mistakes man...i get that i sound petty and stupid and this isnt a huge deal but i feel like im settling by even talking to him cos this is not something i wld normally tolerate but hey maybe im getting desperate with age :(:(:( urgh

on the other hand maybe i just need to be more generous with ppl and l have an irrationally high standard for english cos i am a lawyer and my friends all speak well / text well?? maybe im just being too nitpicky?? honestly hes very nice and communicative and straightforward and seems mature and very God-fearing and idk why hes still talking to me cos ive been a bit cold and slow to respond. hes very patient which i dont rly deserve.....i myself have a million flaws that are probably way worse and egregious (ahem PRIDE...ahem ego....ie the source of this dilemma in the first place...) so maybe i should just close one eye abt the bad grammar.

i also realised how fked up i am - confirmed my suspicion that i am naturally attracted to emotionally unavailable ppl / ppl that just seem distant / out of reach (thats my avoidant attachment style right there). i think there was one day he didnt text me at all and omg...i couldnt stop thinking what i did wrong...like did i piss him off by being too cold for too long...did he get scared off cos i said i wanted to do a masters (idk this seemed like an irrational leap but i was being irrational)..then i started being nicer to him and replied more promptly hahaha turns out he was just rly bz at work that day. omg this pattern is real i think i did this with xj also - was eager to speak when he was in japan but after meeting irll i was just over it... (i am drawn to distance like a moth to a flame and i am repelled by availability like....a fire by a fire extinguisher (??)). yucks i rly hate myself sometimes but yknow what at least im self aware and im trying to fix this...kind of.. gonna hash this avoidant thing out with my therapist at the next sesh.

on the topic of xj i got a bit nostalgic and wondered why we stopped speaking (surprise surprise it was my fault, didnt reply then felt it had been left to long to pick it up again...) went back to look at our texts and aw we rly got along so well, i do miss him as a friend and im sorry about how poorly i treated him especially in dec 2018 / jan 2019 sigh.....i was a real bitch....

anyway im just gonna see how things go with B... if he asks me out i prob will go... just to give it a shot. update if / when that happens!

EDIT - he asked me out lol we shall see how it goes.

0 notes

kxlebcross · 5 years ago

Note

multiples of three, please.

oh man i cant believe ur making me do maths at 4:18 am... but here goes nothing! (it’s gonna be long so i put it under a read more)

3. Ever done any drugs? uhhhh... yeah, for a short period yrs ago i had a friend group and with them we smoked weed pretty much every weekend... they did some hard drugs too but i never dared trying those cuz im a lil bitch lmao aaaaand i don’t do that anymore, it’s an expensive hobby to have and i usually waste my drugs money on pc games and ordering food srgsdfg

6. Describe your dream home. probs somewhere in a big city, close to the center because i love being a big city kid.... a mid-sized flat with lots of plants and those neat cat playgrounds mounted on the wall because i plan on having at least 4 cats in the future asdsd and i’d love to have a bigger balcony which i could transform into a little jungle and hand a hammock there and just chill and listen to the city’s noises at night when i can’t sleep

9. Do you watch porn? you may not believe but i actually don’t sdgsdfg the horny teen phase is over for me, if i wanna interact with anything pornographic i just read fanfiction dfgsdfgsf

12. What’s one of your fantasies? i hope it’s not supposed to be an erotic one lmao but i really wanna go on a road trip through europe, just pack up my shit and drive around, also i wanna visit haunted places all around england and get into the gaming business as a game translator/tester eventually

15. Are you in a relationship? thank god not anymore... and honestly i don’t miss it anymore, all of my previous ones were disasters and ended in a really ugly manner so.. no, i’m all good with my cat

18. What tattoos do you want? i don’t have specific plans for motives - though i’d really like a kitsune mask somewhere and a moon and one song quote. i’d like to have my whole left sleeve done, maybe part of my back, a half sleeve on my right hand and something smaller on my ankle - and i’m actually open to anything the tattooists would pick out; i care more about who’s gonna create my tattoo than what’s it gonna be, as my actually existing 2 tattoos r also premade, randomly picked out ones (though they accidentally matched up in some way and look pretty neat imo)

21. Describe your best friend. that’s a hard one.... i don’t think i have one anymore. i used to have this girl in my life, M, who i was really close to, but we had a fallout in october and she never came around to fix this even though i was open to the idea... so i lost my best friend, which is kinda sad considering that she was the only person i could open up to in the last 3 yrs. but hey that happens! i moved on and have a close friend still so im all good.

24. What are three places you want to travel? i really wanna visit scotland! it has this specific atmosphere i really long to experience, and i wanna see the landmarks and grassy fields and loch ness and haunted places and just roam around there for a while. i also wanna see moscow - it’s been sort of an obsession of mine since reading glukhovsky’s metro series, and also it’s a beautiful city worth visiting. i’d also like to get on the trans-siberian express but that’s not a specific place dsfsgdf the last place would be the aokigahara forest in japan - also one of the places i feel drawn to for ages now. found out about it years ago and since it’s been sort of a plan of mine to visit one time. if i manage to graduate university my mum promised to send me on a trip to japan - so if it works out, ill be on my way there baby! (i just need to work on my language skills first sasdfgf)

27. What’s your pet peeve? loud breathing, loud chewing... generally people being loud and annoying. ppl not covering their mouths while coughing. ppl who walk super slowly and take up all of the walkway like FUCK OFF OF MY WAY GODDAMMIT. in games when the npc walks a lot slower than ur running, but walking a lot faster than ur walking so its impossible to keep up with them. ppl not using headphones in public spaces. old ppl demanding respect when they treat u like shit. ppl forcing their religion on u (im looking at u auntie). ppl slurping their drinks. couples almost f*cking each other in public places... just get a room smh

30. Tag someone you want to talk to but have been too shy to message. oh i don’t need to tag them cuz i already got over that shyness and they totes know already that i wanted to talk to them for a while! (i admitted to it in the tackiest, cheesiest, most awkward anon ask i ever sent in to anyone sdfgsdf)

33. If money was no object, what would your wardrobe be like? pretty much the same as now, all black and flannels and jeans, cuz i rly thing that major clothes shopping sprees r a waste of money sdfdf but i’d probably own a lot lot more shoes like custom made cat patterned vans and some more nikes and some creepers cuz i wanted to get some of those for like yrs now dfgdfg

36. Do you still have feelings for any of your exes? uhhhh... kind of? not romantic ones tho, i just miss the long talks and the trust and understanding between us. i never got the closure i needed to move on and it still left some bad feelings towards her so its a weird mix of resentment and sympathy, and i try to not think abt it too much.

39. Are you a virgin? hahahahahahahahah, no, really.

42. Describe the hottest person you know. the hottest person i personally know is one of the ppl i used to be on my universitys e-sport team on with dfasd i always had a weak spot for ppl taller than me and hes literally model material with nice cheekbones and the perfect jawline and the best sense of humor ever. though he’s a widowmaker main in overwatch and thats a big big minus for him :(

45. What’s the worst date you’ve ever been on? lmaooooo thats a funny one listen up... so i was fresh out of breakup and wanted to make some friends.... wait for it.... ON TINDER. i live in an university town so i was like kewl imma make some ppl my age (until then all of my friends were A LOT older than me) and have some friends and if romance happens then it happens, w/e. so i set up this bar night with this one guy, i believe his name was David? so David and i meet up for drinks, i grab a gintonic and we sit down to talk... what he never knew abt me is that i am on the adhd spectrum and i have to get my hands busy with smth so i can focus on what im saying otherwise my thoughs r all over the place. so im casually keeping my hands busy with just spinning my locked phone there and back, or just messing around with the lime slice on my glass and at a random moment David goes like “u know.... i hate when ppl cant stop messing around with their phone” and im like ????? dude im literally just spinning it, not even messaging anyone or unlocking it or shit. and he goes on this rant that he always expects ppl to pay full attention to him when talking, looking at him (i never look ppl in the eyes cuz i tend to just go into panic mode from long eye contact and also i think its creepy to just stare at someone constantly) and just not doing anything else except paying attention to him so i go on explaining to him that i need to keep myself busy and im not doing it to annoy him - but he keeps on insisting so i excuse myself to a cigarette (he also hated smokers lmao) and call the widowmaker main friend from the previous question and am like “hey man i have the worst date of my life can u be at this place in 40 minutes and then we hit the night life” and hes like fine so i go back to David and tell him “sorry mate i just remembered i have my last bus home in 30 minutes and the next one is in 1,5 hrs and i really cant stay out that late so can we wrap this up and schedule an other meeting some other time” and hes like fine... got me to the bus stop, i sat on the bus.... got off at the next bus stop, met up with widowmaker main guy and went out for drinks and decided to never go on tinder dates again sdfgsdfg

48. Describe your ideal partner. thats a hard one, hey! but i dont think i have an ideal, guess ill work with anyone whos a decent human being who wont require me to be the housemaid and cook and clean and do everything for them. oh and they totally need to know how to use a washing machine... one of my exes was incapable of this (and here i was thinking that in 2018 ppl saw a washing machine already... looks like i was wrong and im still not over that incident 2 yrs ago). oh and they gotta be fine with the idea of never having kids cuz theres no way im putting myself through raising one of those, im a man of career and money, totally not responsible enough to raise another living human being sdsdgdf

#kush speaks #ask memes #thank u for asking!!!! i had fun answering those actually #kuwentista #answered

0 notes

comicteaparty · 6 years ago

Text

February 14th, 2019 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party chat that occurred on February 14th, 2019, from 5PM - 7PM PST. The chat focused on Earth in a Pocket by Jabbage.

Featured Comment:

Chat:

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- THURSDAY BOOK CLUB START!

Good evening, everyone~! This week’s Thursday Book Club is officially beginning! Today we are discussing Earth in a Pocket by Jabbage~! (http://earthinapocket.spiderforest.com/)

Remember that Thursday discussions are completely freeform! However, every 30 minutes I will drop in OPTIONAL discussion questions in case you’d like a bit of a prompt. If you miss out on one of these prompts, you can find them pinned for the chat’s duration. Additionally, remember that while constructive criticism is allowed, our focus is fun and respectfully appreciating the comic. All that said, let’s begin!

QUESTION 1. What is your favorite scene in the comic so far and why?

perhaps not a full scene, but im really fond of this page in general http://earthinapocket.spiderforest.com/comic/2019/01/22 where the socio economic development stuff is broken down. theres just something so elegantly simple about how its shown. not to mention i appreciate the injection of humor, because i think it makes everything really grounded.

Delphina

The badger page is perennially endearing (http://earthinapocket.spiderforest.com/comic/2018/08/11), but I also like the most recent one where Little One is encouraging Halisi to be proactive and set up some long-term solutions for herself: http://earthinapocket.spiderforest.com/comic/2019/02/05

RebelVampire

im really curious why she thought of badgers at all. unless she had the badgers badgers mushroom song stuck in her head. XD

Delphina

@Jabbage please make that canon

Jabbage

makes it so

(Hi! I'm going to be here for a little while! :D)

RebelVampire

thanks for coming, Jabbage!

Jabbage

I figure that if you're on a road trip with a small child who is prone to ask a billion questions, eventually you're going to end up talking about badgers

Delphina

I just really appreciate how even after all she's been through, Halisi still has so much love and passion for her studies, and it's what she reaches to when she's looking for ways to console Little One and solutions for herself.

Kabocha

Hmmm, my favorite scene probably was the Witch bottle explanation http://earthinapocket.spiderforest.com/comic/2018/08/15 It was a good bit of information I hadn't really been aware of :D I also just... enjoy her interactions with the little jellyfish - even though she's in a bad spot, she's still taking time to tell him stories.

RebelVampire

i like the element of logic there is to it too. like she's not panicking, but using what she loves to calm herself down in a way. and i think thats a really great showcase of her character without needing to be told shes like that.

its a characterization via the action versus the telling

mathtans

Here for now, the little one seems extra fussy tonight. Yes, I call my baby daughter the little one. So comic was a bit surreal.

RebelVampire

hi math!

at least your little one isnt old enough to ask yet "are we there yet?"

Kabocha

Right? I mean, she could have just given in, accepted that she might die here... But nah. And she's still kind, even though this entire situation is awful

mathtans

The Witch bottle thing reminds me, I liked the way the art moved through the centuries on that one page, but with people who looked kinda similar. I thought that was clever.

True. Little one could save us some time by specifying what her issues are though. ^.^

RebelVampire

ironically though another of my favorite scenes is the one where halisi sets up the signal and kind of ditches her new jellyfish child to just go despairingly collapse in front of it. i like this brief moment of her giving into despair cause theres something really raw about it. like at first she doesnt say anything even, and i think it makes it really powerful because the silence just adds this immense weight to the sorrow. you know shes super suffering for that moment and feeling the weight of everything finally hit her.

Delphina

Yeah, the comic does a good job of showing a lot of conflicting emotions(edited)

mathtans

Yeah, honestly the very opening was a heck of a kick in the pants. Like, I have no idea what I'd do in that sort of situation. It's very problematic.

RebelVampire

yeah theres def a lot of stressful situations. but i kind of appreciate the lighter moments. like her trying to start a fire but ultimately failing. i mean its kind of scary and sad for her survival, but the way its handled is still pretty funny

also that moment where shes trying to fix the machine at the beginning and it just flat out basically bursts into flames XD

Jabbage

I'm pleased to hear that! I'm always aware that it could be quite a bleak story, but I want it to ultimately feel hopeful and positive, so the silly moments are important for that!

kayotics

I also liked the badger scene, but I think the scene that had the most prominence for me is when she finds out that someone else landed on the planet 80 years ago

i think that scene really set in how dire her situation is

khkddn

the portrayal of emotions really is great. it's really interesting to see someone going through such a crisis and only surrounded by beings who can't relate at all

Delphina

Oh god yeah, and the aliens just going "Something happened to the human we don't know what cause death isn't a thing that happens here???" was scary.

kayotics

"it's hibernating!"

G (Title Unrelated)

I felt something in the scene right after where they tell her dad "we haven't heard from her yet"

Delphina

collective tentacle shrug

kayotics

yeah i really feel for her dad

this isn't a scene, but I appreciate that all of the characters are middle-aged or older

RebelVampire

agreed. but i appreciated the realism of the ppl on the other line being like "meh its probably fine my dude" to the dad. cause that really uses reader knowledge to an advantage to create sympathy for him. because we know its not fine, and that he is right to worry. and that makes it sad hes the only one worried in that moment.

G (Title Unrelated)

Yes I agree

kayotics

Also agreed. It's a good example of dramatic irony

RebelVampire

although i like the most recent page with the followup where hes basically enlisted an army of students to find her. abuse of power, probably. but makes him the sweetest dad? yes.

QUESTION 2. Much of the comic revolves around Halisi telling stories based on things in her pocket. Which of Halisi’s stories impacted you the most and/or taught you something new? What do you think is to be gained from Halisi telling these stories to an alien race with no real connection to humanity? How do you believe the stories and knowledge she has might help contextualize her current situation for her? What, to you, does it mean to have “Earth in a Pocket?” Further, if you were in Halisi’s position, what objects would you pick in 10 seconds to represent the sum of human existence? Lastly, what other cultural or past history aspects do you think Halisi might bring up? How might they be contextualized to add a new viewpoint to Halisi’s situation?

Delphina

I liked the Dancing Plague story a lot http://earthinapocket.spiderforest.com/comic/2018/08/06

RebelVampire

this is the point where i say the witch bottle scene. I think it was beautifully illustrated, and as a story it was not a cultural thing i was aware of. but i like how suitable and unsuitable it was for the situation. but overall it just made me think about humans are weird and can make fear out of nothing at all if the minds decide it to be so.

unless the plot twist is there really was a witch in that bottle

ive always found the dancing plague fascinating because again, humans be weird. minds play tricks.

khkddn

the witch bottle scene is kind of like a story about the power of storytelling, pretty fitting i think

the idea of a witch meant so much to people, like how halisi's stories mean so much to the jellies

G (Title Unrelated)

so she's got a single seed, too, which is also super symbolic

kayotics

I really like the agriculture story, because, like it was mentioned before, it was very concise, but also it shows a lot about Halsi's personality and what she thinks is important about understanding humans on a basic level

mathtans

Back. Know what you can't do when you have a little one? Have a life sometimes. >.<(edited)

G (Title Unrelated)

I wonder what kind of seed it is

RebelVampire

oh man what if the seed wasnt even food. like she winds up growing a rose bush or something XD

mathtans

I was going to say, one of my fave moments was actually comedy, when Halisi first goes off with the inhabitants, thinking about ditching them, and they're all "we can see the thoughts".

RebelVampire

i appreciate the jellyfish didnt just ditch her at that point. cause i would not be as forgiving as them XD

mathtans

And yeah, the hope and sudden crash of the human who was there before was powerful too.

Delphina

I hope it's like... a nice fruit tree. She seems like she could use a nice fruit tree.

mathtans

The framing of the witch bottle scene was cool too. With the whole "not helping me be less afraid" thing (and asking for that term).

kayotics

i just really like the little jellyfish aliens, because they're written in a way that's much less human-centric. I like aliens that are just kind of weird for being weird and don't follow human conventions.

mathtans

Though props for the "pot-reon" in the agriculture bit too.

RebelVampire

yeah im really appreciating the jellyfish for that reason. theyre a nice blend between humanistic traits while still being super alien. its always nice to see when theres kind of a basic gap of understanding where the way each species thinks is quite different

anyway, for me personally though, while she does literally have some of earth in her pocket, i think earth is more about the stories that have traveled with her. because oral traditions reach immensely far back and is the main platform by which we teach and learn about ourselves as a species. so imo they are more representative of humanity than the objects. thus how she can fit earth in a pocket, even though she doesnt need the pocket.(edited)

G (Title Unrelated)

Yeah, I think you nailed it!

mathtans

Also, random question/thought. Halisi didn't have to dig too deep to get "well" water (I liked that one too)... yet was able to bury a guy? The water must be specific to locations or something?

Agreed on the alien-ness people have been speaking about.

G (Title Unrelated)

I mean it's an alien planet

mathtans

Good point about the traditions, Rebel. She's her own pocket.

It helps that she mostly just has to think things rather than even speak them aloud too.

Jabbage

AHAHA yeah, I realised that after drawing it. It's on a list of things i might tweak one day, although I do also like the idea that it is just an alien planet and it's strange and unpredictable like that. So much of our own planet would seem strange and random if we didn't understand a little bit about it's geology, the water cycle etc.

kayotics

on that note i like the idea of halsi going around trying to find ground that doesn't immediately fill up with well water

"okay let's try this spot. Hm, nope, that filled up. can't bury him here"

G (Title Unrelated)

haha!

RebelVampire

yeah it didnt particularly stick out to me just cause i wrote it off as like a change in elevation or something like that. but basically alien planet does alien things XD

mathtans

Fair point.

Could just drag dirt over from another place too, though I guess it would be raised more then.

kayotics

I think if it needs to be tweaked in the future, Jabbage, you could always just change it to a mound rather than a hole. same concept but it avoids going below the dirt

mathtans

Fixes the w"hole" thing.

G (Title Unrelated)

also digging a hole IS hard work

Jabbage

Yeah, or using rocks

kayotics

digging is a lot of work

mathtans

Also whistling while you use rocks, to get rock music.

I'll stop.

kayotics

if she plants that seed she may have to make a mound for that too, it would probably get too waterlogged otherwise

mathtans

I wonder if the soil has the right nutrients.

RebelVampire

yeah i was thinking that too

that her next challenge is finding a not well spot for that seed

cause unless its a crop that specifically needs to be waterlogged, shes gonna have a bad time

mathtans

The jellyfish said the mushrooms could talk, right? Maybe they know a place.

Does rice have seeds?

G (Title Unrelated)

I think if the planet has breathable air it might have a similar balance of elements and whatnot to earth?

kayotics

i think most rice is planted from splitting an existing plant, but i'm sure there's a seed that starts it all

Delphina

What do the jelly aliens taste like

kayotics

DELPHIE NO

Delphina

MAYBE THEY GROW BACK OR SOMETHING

Jabbage

Whether or not the mushrooms can talk is a fun thing that's not really ever going to get expanded on, but which I had in mind for how the jellies work. I figure that they don't have many ways of getting external sensory information about the world - no eyes, ears, sense of smell etc. They are psychic though, they share thoughts and ideas and information about the world. I figure that the mushrooms have some kind of consciousness and run through the planet, and the jellies can draw from that somehow to orientate themselves and know what's going on

G (Title Unrelated)

that's what I kinda assumed!

I mean, that is basically how forests work on earth. XD

RebelVampire

so basically the mushrooms can function as gps

Jabbage

@Delphina ~ I mean I'm sure Big One has some spare limbs... ~(edited)

mathtans

Oh, wow. Cannibalism-like issue didn't occur to me.

Jabbage

Me neither honestly

mathtans

I think the jelly was a bit broken and said she'd regenerate over time...?

RebelVampire

QUESTION 3. Story wise, the comic deals with Halisi crash landing on an alien planet and all but being stranded. Do you believe Halisi will learn to farm with the little she managed to salvage and find a way to survive? What obstacles might prevent such an excursion on the planet? How will Halisi deal with the obstacles? Further, how do you think Halisi will deal with managing her mysterious illness, and what is she sick with for that matter? How might her actions be hindered or helped by the native alien life? In what ways do you think her actions will change how the alien life lives their own lives? Finally, do you believe that Halisi will be rescued at some point? If so, how will this come about?

mathtans

I like the mushroom consciousness idea.

RebelVampire

i do think the jelly child said as such.

G (Title Unrelated)

Q3: These are... all questions I have, myself. XD

mathtans

That illness thing is probably the immediate concern. Withdrawal itself is an issue, whether the pills were life saving or not

G (Title Unrelated)

I was wondering if they were antidepressants or something

RebelVampire

yeah for all the optimism in this plan, the pills are gonna be problematic. but i did wonder if they were antidepressants

khkddn

the flashback scene after she takes her last pill makes it seem to me like she was waiting for medical test results

kayotics

it's also a future time, so it could be a pill that prevents a life threatening disease from spreading.

mathtans

That's a good thought. The whole not accomplishing anything in her life is pretty bleak. Maybe that's a symptom.

G (Title Unrelated)

oh I didn't realize that scene was about her somehow

kayotics

my hope is that she's rescued well before she even needs to worry about this single plant producing any viable food options, since even if the plant grows, it's not likely going to sustain her

G (Title Unrelated)

yeah exactly

RebelVampire

not to mention depending on what plant it is it could take forever to grow. plant growth really varies a lot from crop to crop

kayotics

as for the pills, it seems like her illness has a vague timeline. Like a degenerative disease or something cancerous.

G (Title Unrelated)

P.s., I want some rainbow space maize.

RebelVampire

yes i second this

rainbow space maize for everyone

mathtans

It's a maize-ing.

khkddn

a few pages after she takes the pill she wonders "why are red pills better stimulants" and the pill she took was red. but then again if it were antidepressants i would expect a flashback that looked more like a therapists office than a doctor with results

Jabbage

Oh gosh I don't want to interrupt all the amazing discussion about Halisi's mysterious malady but I was so pleased to find out that there's actually multicoloured corn like that

I thought I made it up for a gag but it's reaaaaaal

kayotics

i have the link, if you'd like it

khkddn

oh i love the corn page

kayotics

https://www.sciencealert.com/this-rainbow-corn-is-the-coolest-way-to-eat-your-veggies (rainbow corn)

mathtans

It wasn't too corny.

kayotics

Honestly? corn, rice, and wheat would all be things I'd say should be brought to an earth colony.

G (Title Unrelated)

yeassssst. XD

unless there's naturally occurring yeast.

Man, we don't even know what it would be like to visit another living planet

RebelVampire

if we have rainbow corn, clearly were meant to go into space right now.

thats a good catch with the red pill, @khkddn

i actually hadnt paid attention to the pill color

mathtans

As to the question of Halisi being rescued, I foresee two possible outcomes. First, that she's found still alive, and she's learned enough about the planet natives to further space research or something, or second, that she's found dead, but the natives were so taken by her stories that her name will live on forever in the history books of first contact.

G (Title Unrelated)

I didn't associate the pill color musing with her situation but maybe it IS related!

RebelVampire

though i leave it open shes on some sort of mental health related medicine, i do feel its more likely its a degenrative disease of some sort. cause it makes her wanting to go to space make more sense. cause i feel its one of those things where youd be more willing to do it if you knew that you had a shorter time than most to live

math no, that second one is too dark

although not implausible

khkddn

if halisi is not reunited with her dad at some point i'll be so sad

or at least they speak to each other

Delphina

Yeah, I'm just gonna say I don't think Halisi's gonna make it back to Earth. I think we're probably looking at a "she finds peace and purpose with the remaining time she has" situation.

RebelVampire

im gonna believe in the rescue efforts cause her dad seems to be a determined dude. and tbf they probably know her flight path so unless she was super duper off course they can probably guess a reasonable area she might be.

mathtans

I don't know that it's necessarily dark... it's kind of a happy end, just not for Halisi.

Also, maybe the pills help her speak. But that's a thing she won't need with the jellys.

I do think that receiving a message from an 80 year old spacecraft is probably something worth investigating.

RebelVampire

thatd be mighty convenient. tho in some au shed get so used to the psychic stuff shed go back to live among humans and be like "oh shit thats right they cant just see my mind pictures"

mathtans

That's an interesting point, about readapating to civilization.

Crazy theory time: Eating the mushrooms constantly ends up turning her into a jelly-creature. When the humans arrive, they won't recognize her.

RebelVampire

i do think shell have some affect on the jellies though. cause i think at the very least shes gonna teach them the important of oral traditions and theyll start telling their own stories and collectively grow as a species. i think shes really setting the jellies on the path for this.

LOL

i was thinking earlier about what if the mushrooms are semi psychic cause thats what happens to the jellies when they die

they dont die and just come back as the mushrooms

mathtans

Ooooh, that'd be an interesting twist.

Like maybe Halisi gains some psychic powers too.

(Though we may have ended up back at cannibalism...)

G (Title Unrelated)

not to shoot down anyone's fun speculation, but it doesn't seem like that kind of story, tbh. XD

kayotics

haha

we don't even know if the jellies can die i mean, I'd think they would, since they apparently come into existence somehow

mathtans

Also they haven't overrun the world.

kayotics

maybe theyre very slow at growing

or they just become the water

G (Title Unrelated)

slow-growing seems very likely

mathtans

I figure before they die they just kind of stop transmitting. Maybe run off somewhere. So no one is aware.

(Maybe they're like lemmings?)

G (Title Unrelated)

(that is not how lemmings work, sorry. XD)

mathtans

(I would worry if lemmings could read my thoughts.)

G (Title Unrelated)

(the suicidal lemmings myth was created by disney)

mathtans

shakes fist at mouse

G (Title Unrelated)

(or did you mean something else lol)

mathtans

I free associate. I mean what you want me to mean.

RebelVampire

yeah ive been wondering if the jellies are immortal. although ya know what, we have immortal jellyfish on earth so thats not that ridiculous to imagine.

kayotics

man, jellyfish are messed up

mathtans

There can be only one! hands out swords

kayotics

i can only imagine that the Jellies in earth in a pocket feel the same too. I was able to touch the bell of a couple at an aquarium once and man, that was a weird feeling

G (Title Unrelated)

I've been watching PBS Eons on youtube, I wonder if they've done one about the origins of cnidarians yet...

RebelVampire

honestly im putting money on immortal just cause they didnt even know what death was. unless they do die and just dont understand the hibernating jellies are never coming back

QUESTION 4. One topic resounding throughout the comic is humanity connecting to the past while also embracing the future and expanding. In what ways do you think reconnecting with humanity’s origins have changed Halisi on a personal level? How might they continue to change her? Why do you think Halisi so strongly believes in bringing the past to humans as humanity expands into space? In what ways do you think she’ll think it will help humanity as a whole? How might Halisi’s experiences on this new alien planet change the way she thinks about humanity’s past? How might it change how she conveys humanity’s past to other humans? Overall, what do you believe the story has to show us in regards to balancing the past, the future, and why both are needed?

G (Title Unrelated)

immortal jellies make for a good contrast to Halisi's fears of her own mortality

mathtans

They can be injured though, like the one who had a thing fall on it. It'd suck to be immortal that way.

RebelVampire

that is true. and contrasts like that are good.

Jabbage

(imma point out, Little One also notes that they're going to get better one day, although Halisi is a bit incredulous about that)

mathtans

The connecting to the past thing makes me think of that society. Which didn't seem to have a lot of members. Also, it took them, what, ten years to decide on things? (I was amused by "say that to my face" because, um, I think that's what the person is doing.)

Delphina

Totally saying, if I had a bunch of tentacle arms that would grow back and my weird human buddy was dying, I'd let her eat a couple to survive.

G (Title Unrelated)

I assume their tentacles don't have stingers. XD

RebelVampire

for me itd depend on how fast theyd grow back. cause if i had to spend like 500 years waiting for tentacle arms to grow back, that doesnt sound pleasant

mathtans

If so, they must have turned the stingers off to crawl around on her.

RebelVampire

they probably wouldnt have stingers cause their planet seems peaceful. like none of the jellies are like "oh no predators who will destroy us" so theres no need for their evolutionary track to lead to stingers in so far as i can see

kayotics

in response to the question: There's a lot of parallels to humans expanding to other planets and our own planet's history of colonization. There's a lot of cultural pain that comes with leaving your home and leaving your country (whether by force or by choice), and reconnecting to that cultural heritage is something that decedents often go through to feel like they belong in the world. I can see that being a driving point for delivering some of these artifacts to other planets.

G (Title Unrelated)

IRL Jellies mostly use their stings for catching prey?(edited)

Delphina

Do we even know if they feel pain?

mathtans

Wait, do they eat?

khkddn

they seem to have difficulty understanding when a human is unhappy or feels pain

kayotics

they might not need to eat in the same way

they might just kind of absorb what they need

Jabbage

I'm not sure it's going to come up specifically, but I think they probably dont' feel pain like we feel it? Just because i don't think they have the same sensory capabilities. Little One is frustrated that they can't move around as fast as the others, but I don't think they're in pain as such

G (Title Unrelated)

yeah. I was thinking about the Question and I think... it's interesting how it's framed as this thing where they've decided the colonists NEED this, but like, they can't agree on what's actually important

mathtans

Maybe Halisi will make a tiny scooter for Little One.

G (Title Unrelated)

I think it's the stories, not the objects, that are important.

And like... All stories are important???

RebelVampire

i think that is true, that all stories are important. cause stories are subjective and whats personally important to one person isnt important to someone else

kayotics

i think a few cultural trinkets to go with the stories can help, like... like I remember being a kid and my family having a christmas wooden carousel from germany or something, which is where my family emigrated from, so it was like "oh that's my people" I think having something to connect to some of the stories is important.

RebelVampire

thus why its worth preserving them all and no agreeance is needed really. because any single story can have an affect on someone

Jabbage

@kayotics I really like your point about our history of colonization, and it's something that I've tried to be careful with and approach thoughtfully, because I think that IS a driving factor in Halisi wanting to share people's cultural heritage with them. One of the things that sparked this story is thinkign about how current issues with repatriating cultural objects and deciding who has control over them would translate into a world where we don't even all live on the same planet any more

Delphina

The beginning showed that humanity has VR technology to "experience Earth", but it's several very comfortable degrees apart. I like that normally, being so advanced would make the hardships of the very distant past feel less real (just vaguely amusing/educational) But having Halisi have to figure out how humans lived and survived kind of brings that back and grounds her in a way that establishing Cookie Cutter Terraform Colony Number 14792 wouldn't.(edited)

So in that sense, the physicality of it is important

RebelVampire

i do think @kayotics has a point. especially in this story because of that vr scene where they were touring the roman thing. cause its not like they dont already have stories and ways to view historical things. and the actual objects can really tie that together. but i also think the stories are just as important via the scene where theyre shown to be able to print 3d objects. in essence the object means nothing without the story, but the story is made more powerful by the object. its a symbiotic relationship in a way.

kayotics

I'm glad it's something you've thought about!

I can't help but think about how colonization has affected the planets that the humans have landed on, and how it'll effect the planet that Halisi has landed on as well, no matter how small.

G (Title Unrelated)

I was thinking about that, too!

mathtans

Maybe she'll want it purged from the records to preserve it. And since Dad was just using grad students, he can oblige.

Jabbage

I thought long and hard about what race to make my astronaut because when they were a random white academic, the whole thing had a very different feel. Landing on some planet and educating the rather silly native denizens. I also wanted someone who grew up around the earliest archaeology created by anatomically modern humans so it made sense to make her black and from South Africa anyway

but then I'm white and British and so... yeah, I've basically had a lot to think about and juggle on that one

mathtans

Jabbage: Well, damn. I hadn't considered that, but you make a good point.

At least she's not building churches and asking the jellys to worship.

Incidentally, speaking of growing up, I liked the flashback image with her and dad looking youthful.(edited)

RebelVampire

im interested in the idea of who has control over the cultural objects we deem important, especially in regards to technology. because the comic touched on it a bit with the 3d printing and it really starts getting into the ship of Theseus issues of identity for those objects

mathtans

"Fax me your statue. No, I'm not paying you for it, I'll display it on Planet X for the Xposure."

Jabbage

And is seeing a reproduction ever 'the same?;

Even if it's identical in every way?

mathtans

Probably not, which is why they haven't figured out teleporters.

kayotics

if it's identical in every way i feel like maybe it is the same

but... wait maybe not

mathtans

Just to sum, pretty grand scale for this one, and a powerful beginning. Here's to Halisi and the Jellies.

Sounds like a strange band name.

RebelVampire

see its a really interesting philosophical question to explore. is whether cultural significance relies on the exact object or if we can transfer that as humanity spreads into the stars

mathtans

(I wonder if we'll learn more about jelly civilization.)

G (Title Unrelated)

Also, what stories do we remember or forget...

kayotics

I feel like there's something to be said about the energy that we as humans put into things. Like there's something there in the reverence we give something. like when you see a giant statue that's been prayed to vs a huge statue to commemorate someone, those have different feelings.

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- THURSDAY BOOK CLUB END!

Sadly, this wraps up this week’s Thursday Book Club chat for now. Thank you so much to everyone for reading and joining us! We want to give a special thank you to Jabbage, as well, for making Earth in a Pocket. If you liked the comic, make sure to support Jabbage’s efforts however you’re able to~!

Read and Comment: http://earthinapocket.spiderforest.com/

Jabbage’s Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/Y8Y8HEYO

Jabbage’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/Jabbageart

#ctparchive #comics #webcomics #indie comics #comic chat #comic discussion #book club #bookclub #webcomic book club #webcomic bookclub #comic tea party #ctp #earth in a pocket #jabbage

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dinafbrownil · 5 years ago

Text

Sickened By Billing Abuses, Readers And Tweeters Stand Up For Patients’ Rights

Letters to the Editor is a periodic feature. We welcome all comments and will publish a selection. We edit for length and clarity and require full names.

Private Equity Predators?

First of all, let me thank you for writing about such an important issue (“Investors’ Deep-Pocket Push To Defend Surprise Medical Bills,” Sept. 11). I am going to tell you about my personal pain regarding surprising medical billing.

They can call themselves Doctor Patient Unity group or any other fancy name, but the reality is that they are all predators. I say this because I am the victim of these doctors groups. I work as a linguist with the U.S. Army and have top-secret clearance. I could lose my clearance if any of my bills go to a collections agency.

I had appendix surgery on Nov. 6, 2018, at the Davis Medical Center in Layton, Utah. The surgeon had told me that my surgery would take only 10 to 15 minutes. After two hours of surgery, I was released from the hospital and sent home. My insurer, CIGNA, paid all the Davis hospital bills and I paid my portion of the bills. Then in March 2019, I received two separate doctor’s bills totaling about $48,000. My insurance was not paying the doctor’s bills because they were out-of-network. The doctor’s office kept sending me letters to pay $48,000 from my pocket; if I did not pay, I was told, my bills would be sent to collections.

Finally, I received a letter from the collections agency saying that if I did not pay $26,770, it would send the information to the credit agencies. Can the Doctor Patient Unity group tell me what I should do? Should I lose my clearance and my job because I cannot afford to pay $26,770? Should I borrow money from the bank and then pay high interest to the bank for the rest of my life?

— Aziz Rehman, Kaysville, Utah

This is a very misleading article. Many independent physicians speaking out want IDR to solve the problem of outliers and take patients #OutOfTheMiddle. Insurance-backed lobbyists are using this issue as a #TrojanHorse to enrich corporate shareholders at expense of physicians.

— Amy Mecozzi Cho, MD MBA (@amychomd) September 12, 2019

On Twitter, Dr. Amy Mecozzi Cho of Minneapolis diagnosed holes in the article. For example, she told KHN, “the contracted rates for insurance are misleading since our bad debt for patients with high-deductible insurance is greater than 60% of their deductible, but insurance companies won’t bill them because they know this. And so our effective rates for commercial insurance are actually much lower than contracted. The medical loss ratio and the CBO estimates are not capturing these costs to patients and physicians.”

Religious Malpractice

My sister, a hospital chaplain (of Roman Catholic faith), informs me that it’s considered chaplain malpractice to try to force a patient to cope with suffering in the exact way others think they should (“Firing Doctor, Christian Hospital Sets Off National Challenge To Aid-In-Dying Laws,” Aug. 30). It would follow, then, that a hospital’s requiring staff to “help” patients “appreciate the Christian understanding of redemptive suffering” is a paternalistic dismissal of patient integrity and a form of malpractice. The medical relationship is between the patient and the doctor, not the patient and the Vatican.

— Gloria Kohut, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Many hospitals in India are controlled by religious organisations (Hindu, Jain, Christian, Muslim) Are they also as intolerant to differences in one's approach to what is ethical in medical practice as the Christian hospital in this case? https://t.co/Nzy6JN348B

— Amar Jesani (@amarjesani) September 8, 2019

— Amar Jesani, Mumbai, India

It’s unfathomable that students with disabilities can’t get the aid they need to attend college and live in the community! Bravo to this Stanford freshman for fighting for services. It’s past time for readily available help for students! #DisabilityRightshttps://t.co/EuVnUzEX8b

— Areva Martin, Esq. (@ArevaMartin) September 2, 2019

— Areva Martin, Los Angeles

Squeezing The Most Out Of Student Aid

I saw Jenny Gold’s excellent article in the Los Angeles Times about a disabled student’s need for assistance as she starts school at Stanford (“Spotlight: A Young Woman, A Wheelchair And The Fight To Take Her Place At Stanford,” Sept. 4). I wanted you to be aware that the Department of Rehabilitation in California pays for additional expenses for students to train them for future employment. This includes laptops, supplies, transportation expenses, necessary expenses. They might also pay for expenses for care above and beyond the approval of the state Department of Health Care Services.

All students face the issue of how to support themselves while in college. Stanford’s lovely gift of education for all who are accepted is often not used due to the high expenses of that area. Many students are unable to afford college, even with a full scholarship.

Those who have paid their way with student loans and are now employed in high service areas, such as medicine, psychiatry, social services and teaching, are strapped with lifetime payments. Our best and our brightest who serve our communities are in debt to the point where their income barely pays their lifetime of student loans. Sylvia Colt-Lacayo’s situation may have more expenses, but the debt of $2,000 a month is not unique for a full-time university student.

— Teresa L. Pardini, LMFT, Creativity in Counseling, Nipomo, Calif.

This young woman got 4.25 GPA & a full ride to Stanford despite never drinking ANYTHING at school so she wouldn't have to pee, bc that's what it takes for ♿ kids to excel in an abled world. That she still has to fight for care should infuriate you.https://t.co/B9vH1c1ATK

— Sonja Sharp (@sic_sonja) September 3, 2019

— Sonja Sharp, Los Angeles

A Heroine In The Opioid Fight

Please thank this wonderful, dedicated and tough woman (“Longtime Crusader Against OxyContin Begins To See The Fruits Of Her Struggle,” Sept. 17). That criminal company and every single member of the Sackler family had been well aware of the entire scam for decades, but they kept their mouths shut, turned their heads, denied everything and couldn’t care less since they were stuffing their individual pockets with hundreds of millions of dollars for each member of that large family. Every dollar should be clawed back from each family member. They’re laughing all the way to the Sackler Wing of 20-plus museums around this planet.

— David Padawer, Pittsburgh

As the father of a recovering opioid addict I see Barbara's efforts and passion for accountability is so heroic. The loss of her son is so terrible….

— Dave (@dwpena) September 17, 2019

— Dave Pena, Roseville, Calif.

Senior Hunger And Pangs Of Conscience

I’ve been a medic for over 20 years. I have patients that have to pick between eating or taking their medications. It’s disgraceful. We need to have articles like this written every day (“Starving Seniors: How America Fails To Feed Its Aging,” Sept. 3). Thank you.

— Eric Johnson, Marana, Ariz.

Many hospital stays are for ppl w complications of starvation and malnutrition – confusion/delirium, dangerous electrolyte imbalances in salt, sugar, potassium

We need programs for starving People.

How America Fails To Feed Its Aging https://t.co/gv6Z8HnqZH @khnews

— Tina Chee, MD, MPA (@Tina_Chee_MD) September 3, 2019

— Dr. Tina Chee, New York City

I’m 68, a widower, disabled after two open-heart surgeries, with no family left. The last person to visit me at home was the yearly home health care nurse, back in February.

I am just like the people in your article: old, worn-out and forgotten. After a lifetime of work, I get by on a check that’s half of what a minimum-wage worker flipping burgers might make at $15 an hour. I can barely afford to eat the burgers now. No one, no insurance company, no politician is trying to help seniors out of poverty.

My biggest fear is dying and my little dogs being left alone for weeks or months to die before anyone finds me. Having moved to a rural area after my wife died, people don’t warm up fast to outsiders. It’s awful not to speak to anyone for years — yep, years — outside of cashiers. Just letting you know there are a lot of us out here.

— Rick Wrenn, Mount Carmel, Tenn.

What happens when the system designed to protect millions of seniors facing starvation is broken? The Older Americans Act is one critical piece holding many local Meals on Wheels programs together. We need you to ask… https://t.co/eicvq9gRln

— Chapa Arts & Photog. (@Berrysicles) September 12, 2019

— Maria De Jesus Chapa, Houston

Double Checking Fact-Check Facts

As the chairman of Physicians for Fair Coverage (PFC), I have joined doctors around the country in working to protect patients from surprise medical bills. I am writing now to set the record straight on the implications of various federal policies under debate in Congress. Not only did KHN’s recent article (“Doctors Argue Plans To Remedy Surprise Medical Bills Will ‘Shred’ The Safety Net,” Aug. 7) overlook research from the American Journal of Managed Care, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Congressional Budget Office, it created a myopic interpretation of our argument in order to label it as “false,” which resulted in an inaccurate conclusion with respect to a complex issue that deserves a thorough, data-driven and factual examination.

According to the CBO, a benchmarking approach would cut payments to in-network physicians by as much as 20%. This translates into tens of billions of dollars shifted away from in-network physicians who are not sending surprise bills over the next decade. Emergency physicians treat all patients regardless of their insurance status. As a result, 70% of their patients are uninsured, seniors or poor families and children. Therefore, there is no practical difference between reducing commercial insurance payments and reducing Medicaid or Medicare rates. KHN’s own previous case study found that contributing factors to hospital closures include “high uninsured rates and a payer mix dominated by Medicare and Medicaid.” So, a benchmarking policy would create even larger disparities in quality and access to care over time for vulnerable populations.

Others agree that commercial payments play a critical role in supporting the care of America’s most vulnerable patients, including: American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, American College of Emergency Physicians, American College of Radiology, America’s Essential Hospitals, American Hospital Association, American Medical Association, Association of American Medical Colleges, Catholic Health Association of the United States, Children’s Hospital Association and Federation of American Hospitals.

Instead of speaking with health care experts to better understand how reimbursement dynamics and patient access are inextricably linked in today’s economy, this article relied exclusively on the opinions of two biased research fellows who advocate for the very policy that our ad opposes and whose statements are misleading at best. The assessment also disregards a quote from the California Medical Association describing a lack of available anesthesiologists under California’s benchmarking approach.

PFC’s mission is to protect patients from surprise medical bills. That is why, this year alone, we helped drive constructive compromises that produced new laws in Texas, Colorado, Nevada and Washington. Similarly, at the federal level, we support legislation that uses a proven independent dispute resolution model to protect patients without disrupting responsible, in-network practices. To further protect patients, it’s important that Congress does not create an even larger public health issue with respect to the safety net while fixing the real issue of surprise bills.

— Dr. Sherif Zaafran, Washington, D.C.

When I traveled around the state last fall, Kansans made it clear that Medicaid expansion is a high priority. I'm going to do everything in my power to ensure this will be the year we will finally expand Medicaid in Kansas. #RebuildingKansashttps://t.co/gg7BXeopMp

— Laura Kelly (@LauraKellyKS) September 6, 2019

— Gov. Laura Kelly, Topeka, Kan.

Infected With Advocacy

Your story about Medicaid expansion fails to attempt any serious description of the reasons for opposition to this expansion (“How Political Maneuvering Derailed A Red State’s Path To Medicaid Expansion,” Sept. 6). The reader is left with the clear impression that opponents are ill-informed, parsimonious, uncaring of others (especially the poor) or all of the above. There is no suggestion that such opposing might be in good faith. You really can do better than this. You insult the intelligence of your readers when you fail to deliver the whole story in a fair and evenhanded manner so they can decide for themselves. There is enough “us vs. them” in current media. Don’t drag it into health care. If you want to take positions on important health care issues, please create an editorial page; don’t infect your “news” with those positions. And no, I’m not a Republican. I’m an independent tired of constant advocacy in the media disguised as news. Thank you.

— Geoff Hargreaves-Heald, Lincoln, Mass.

Two (not shocking, maybe disappointing) takeaways: – Citizen intent matters little if a few state actors know how to work the system. – Nothing works better than high medical bills for getting middle class voters to empathize with Medicaid recipients.https://t.co/JxHaho26pU

— Juhyung Sun (@JuhyungSun) September 6, 2019

— Juhyung Sun, Tucson, Ariz.

Why Prescribed Weight Loss Is Ill-Advised

What the author of the article dismissing the opinion of the dietitian who claimed stigma and yo-yo dieting cause more harm than obesity itself failed to mention is that, for many people, how weight might contribute to the development of physical illnesses is immaterial (Obesity Stigma And Yo-Yo Dieting, Not BMI, Are Behind Chronic Health Conditions, Dietitian Claims, Sept. 17). The prescription to lose weight, in and of itself, is damaging. Most dieters regain 100% or more of weight lost within five years. Additionally, people who are told to lose weight and subsequently diet are at significantly increased risk for body dissatisfaction, bingeing, disordered eating and eating disorders.

Health is not just physical health. Descartes invented mind-body dualism in a thought experiment in the 1600s. It is an idea that permeates modern culture and medicine to this day. However, we are not separate from our minds. Our mental health is not separate from our “true” health.

Obesity may or may not cause illness. If the process of losing weight creates more illness in the form of shame and eating disorders as well as health care avoidance, then continuing to blindly recommend it is irresponsible. The recommendation to diet should be made with an informed consent process. “Being overweight may put you at risk of developing X, Y and Z. I am recommending caloric restriction to remedy that. Caloric restriction is known to be ineffective in the long term, and puts you at risk of developing an eating disorder or of weighing more than you do now. The alternative to caloric restriction is to thoughtfully examine obstacles to your access of whole, nutritious foods, whether they be financial, psychological or otherwise.

“Compassionately adopting a diet that over time puts more colors on your plate and replaces processed foods with whole foods may in itself lead both to weight loss and decreased risk of chronic medical conditions. Additionally, finding a way to increase your physical activity, such that the activity is associated with joy and self-care, will also be protective against chronic conditions and may contribute to weight loss. However, if at any point weight loss becomes the goal rather than the logical outcome of sustainable changes, then we are back at the dieting step, with all its consequent risks.”

It doesn’t matter whether obesity causes illness. Deliberately losing weight is an ineffective approach to addressing what may or may not be a problem, and additionally causes harm. Let us guide patients toward what they have control over: food choices and increased activity, and let go of the number, not because it doesn’t influence health, but because focusing on it is ineffective and counterproductive.

If a formerly obese person is now skinny but miserable, hungry, obsessive, depressed and food-preoccupied because that’s what we evolved to do in the context of weight loss, why is that better? Any solution has to respect mental and physical health outcomes, or it is not truly a health-based recommendation.

— Dr. Sarah O’Neil, Boston

This article ignores the massive growing body of evidence around #weightstigma, argues against just two pieces @chr1styharrison put forward, then just uses quotes from experts to rebuff this claim and not evidence and the use of an odd metaphor about carrots.

— Kerry (she/her) (@HAEScoach) September 18, 2019

— Kerry Beake, Mandurah, Australia

Summer Camp Rehab — Or Torture?

The article “At This Summer Camp, Struggling With A Disability Is The Point” (Aug. 13) portrays what you describe as “necessary” but what many of us adults with disabilities remember as rehab torture — traumatic memories of painful so-called therapy with questionable or no demonstrable results. Even if the program had results, many of us would have chosen not to experience the pain. It’s old-style rehab of pretending it isn’t torturous and “we know what’s best for you.” This sort of rehab was vehemently rejected by disability activists years ago. It’s too bad adults who experienced this kind of therapy weren’t consulted. I believe few of them would describe this in positive terms. It’s not a new concept: If you work hard, with pain, you can become independent! So if you can manage to dress yourself in four hours and get ready for bed in three hours, you’re independent and met the goals set for you, even though you’re so tired you can’t enjoy the remaining few hours of your day. Most adults with disabilities would set a goal of having a quality of life over being independent. This was a very biased story and should have been more balanced from very different perspectives, especially from those with disabilities.

— RoAnne Chaney, executive director of the Michigan Disability Rights Coalition, East Lansing, Mich.

SUMMER CAMP FOR KIDS WITH DISABILITIES! There should be more camps just like this one! This Nashville camp was started for kids who have disabilities that require physical therapy, and the camp counselors turn the exercises into games! https://t.co/F2uMFpSSLs

— D'Amore Injury Law (@DAmoreInjuryLaw) July 31, 2019

— Tom von Alten, Boise, Idaho

Prescribing A ‘Deep-Dive’ Into Hospital Excesses

I think KHN Editor-in-Chief Elisabeth Rosenthal’s piece on hospital excesses is right on the mark (“Analysis: How Your Beloved Hospital Helps To Drive Up Health Care Costs,” Sept. 5). I was affiliated with a New York City hospital as a voluntary internist and retired four years ago. I wonder if it would be possible to do a “deep dive” analysis of a representative hospital’s charges and expenditures (several New York hospitals come to mind as candidates) by an investigative reporting group. I suspect there is a lot of money being spent that does not enhance patient quality of care (i.e., excessive numbers of administrators getting egregious salaries). I think you’ve discussed the salient reasons these contributing cost factors have not been widely discussed or debated ― but they must be.

I remember a news story about a patient who bought his artificial hip implant in the U.S. wholesale and, to save money, took it with him to Belgium to have it inserted. The hospital looked like a factory, and he was reluctant to go in — but he did, and as it turned out everything went well and he saved a lot of money!

― Dr. Lawson Moyer, New York City

from Updates By Dina https://khn.org/news/september-letters-readers-and-tweeters-patient-rights/

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tumanina · 6 years ago

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It all starts with a name

Friday 16 Nov 2018 marks my second entry into a field space. I had not realized it prior, what I carried out held in it layers of my learnings, systemic constellation playing no small part.

A concrete space, floor to wall. an expanse of space. grey cubic bean bags placed in an oval holding the sanctity of the central piece: a white cloth of 2.5 meters by close to 1 meters. and a second layer of seating in the outer oval. one held spot in the north, one held spot in the south. Ola Dajani facing me.

Welcoming ppl in my regular clothing.

Fading.

Reappearing in role. a garment, long, floor length. in fact extending to meet the concrete floor. layered. like to paintings barely held at the meeting point of my shoulders. what is worn is key, it is the backdrop of those two facades, strangely loudly red and because of its redness it blends. bringing those two facades to hold their full vibrancy.

I stand tall. at the northern tip of the oval. I invite quieting of the body and quieting of the collective. the space is held. It is now time for voice to come in. and for storytelling to begin.

This is a space of silence. You are here to be immersed. Words, questions, have a different time and space. If there is something you do not understand, stay with that and trust that it may come clear or that it may not. That you may give me feedback and I will welcome it, after the experience. This is the experience of the collective and any disturbance disrupt what may be a deep experience by someone present. I invite you to go come with me while I journey you through that experience.

In the southern most part of this earth, the souther most tip of where humans survive, southern Argentina, is a community called the Yaghan. The Yaghan language holds one word that has caught particular attention: mamihlapinatapai. Interpreters, linguists, explorers attempted to spell out the meaning of that word, of those, while perhaps not the most accurate, the one I picked up was this: it is that moment when two human beings become aware of a connection so subtle that neither of them dares speak it. That language is becoming extinct. That word is only found in that language. That human emotional awareness will become nameless with the extinction of that language.

I was lucky enough to be in a space with a woman, a french woman, a 20 or so other ppl from 20 countries. That woman had lost her child and she pleaded: you are each of a language, will you let me know if your language has a word to describe me. French and English do not have a word to describe a woman who has lost her child. That woman was orphaned by her language. and indeed it is only in Arabic and in Hebrew that a word exists to describe her. ثكلا

Peeling the first layer off my shoulders to place it on the sacred white space, Ola holding South, I holding North.

On a specific date in a specific land, that is a massive number of ppl who moved. This speaks their story.

The piece of the floor held no words.

Peeling off the second layer, flowing the Northern edge far, to Ola’s reach, and holding the Northern tip, we place it on top of the first one on the sacred white space. In alternating voices one word from the North, the second from the South, till we collapse in the center.

صفد

Safad

غزة

Gaza

عكا

Akka

بئر السبع

Beersheba

طبرية

Tabariyya

الخليل

Galile (Khalil)

حيفا

Haifa

رملة

Ramleh

ناصرة

Nasra

القدس

Al Quds

يافا

Jaffa (Yafa)

طولكرم

Tulkarm

بيسان

Beesan

جنين

Jenin

I carefully carry the two faces pinned at my shoulder, lifting them up, holding the two points and sending the South off to Ola. That last peel lies carefully on top of the two preceding it.

This is the story of 530+ villages depopulated in 1948.

pause.

You have each been given two cards and a pen. I will guide you through it, I ask patience of you to listen to what is being said and to then write. You will be able to fit what is needed into the card if you hold that patience.

On the first card, on one of the two sides, write down where you currently live, the city.

Turn that card and now, before writing, listen to this:

What you will write on the second side is multiples,

At your same age today, where your mother was, what city.

At your same age today, where your father was,

At your same age where each of your maternal grandmother and maternal grandfather was,

At your same age where each of your paternal grandmother and paternal grandfather was.

You might end up with 6 locations on that side of the card.

I would like to share a story,

A woman, a dr in genetics, stated something that inspired me and that I relay in the most basic way so pls do not carry it forward as scientific precision,

That who we are today, as human beings sitting in this space, the starting point of who we are is carried as far back by our maternal grandmother. That our maternal grandmother, in her young age, held in her body an aspect of our distinct person in her, that she carried over to her daughter who then with your father makes you who you are today.

Carrying that thread through, I ask you to take out your second card, and on one side write down where you maternal grandmother was in 1947 whether unborn, born or deceased.

On the other side, write down where your maternal grandmother was in 1949 whether unborn, born or deceased.

In sequence, starting with the inner oval, and flipping your card to the 1947 side, place your card within the space in this way: if it belongs to any of the 530+ villages in the center, place it closest to where it belongs. If it does not belong to any, place it outside of that within the white space, anywhere and site back.

The next group would do the same.

Now for those to whom this applies, pls step in to make the following change: for those of you whose card hold a different city on the 1949 side, pls step in to turn the card over and place it in its related location.

A dozen got up.

When all were seated.

The next few minutes will be in silence after I share those few words with you. And when you see me lifting that rice bunch and hear it crackle the session will have come to close, and feel free to move speak while maintain that a few might choose silence. In that silence, if any of you chooses to move their card after I would have shared what I shared pls do.

Andri Magnason, an Icelandic poet, stated a way of seeing one’s lifespan that inspired me,

that our age is not bound by birth and death, rather, by birth of the oldest person we meet in our life, for me it would be around 1919, and the youngest person we connect to, to me it would be at this point, my niece and nephew, who one may project would live on to 2080 or other, this makes the span of my life, from 1920 or so to 1980, that’s 160 years. give or take a few years of consciousness on both ends, I would have lived a span of 140 year and more.

Silence.

Ola Dajani moved her card, from white space to villages.

Silence.

Dima Srouji moved her card, from villages to villages.

Silence.

Yosra Gazzar moved her card, from white space to villages.

Silence.

Long silence.

Labiba Laith, takes off her footwear, steps on the white space, holds her card from the white space, searches the villages, places her card on the village.

Silence.

My hand dips into a dune of rice in a glass box with a golden metal frame, lifts a bunch of rice up, rainfalls it down to touch the metal to softly announce that the silence held, the names uttered, the villages named where now in us to carry outside that concrete floor-walled space of a 40 ppl present.

Honouring our abilities to make shifts ever so subtle with ever so large an impact.

“Thank you for telling me about today.. great experimentation.. to make us realize the importance of roots.. of bonding with ancestors.. of the relationship of all of that with displacement.. and how hard this must be for the palestinian people..“ Woman, Lebanese, 30-40 of age.

Dima Srouji, Palestinian, , 30-40 of age

#Dubai Design District #2018 #d3 #tashkeel #khtt

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antrozay-blog · 7 years ago

Text

Jackie’s Back

That is a great way to start this blog post, coming off The Breakfast Club interview with the Legendary Jenifer Lewis. I LOVEE her! I’ve watched that 1:03:11 long interview no less than 7 times since it aired a few days ago online. I’ve seen almost everything Jenifer has played in expect the movie Jackie’s Back. So I found it on youtube and watched it for free. The movie is basically about a has-been singer who never was and she’s trying to make one last comeback. I feel that premise fits my life perfectly right now. It’s about midnight right now and I needed a few hours to calm myself down before I even wanted to start this post. I’m typing this in the legendary notes app on my phone. The plan is to copy and paste to my tumblr blog. I will see if I want to do that, but as for now me typing this is just being used as an additional outlet besides me talking to one of my instructors Kevin and my mentor Miguel. I’m currently listening to Sweet Sexy Savage by Kehlani. It is one of my favorite albums released last year that I feel deserved a Grammy. CTRL by Sza too, but we are not here to talk about that. What I am here to talk about? I don’t know where to begin. Ill start with what currently happened which brought on my current hyper/hypo emotional state and I will work myself backwards. Today was suppose to be the day that I finally take my state boards exams for my barbers license. (Shit I don’t think I told y’all I was in barber school this whole past year. A nigga really did what he said he was going to do!) I didn’t go because my model called me literally an hour before we were to leave to the testing site, saying that he was ill with the flu and that he was not going to be able to make it. I kinda had a feeling that this was going to happen. At 8am I got a text from him saying he was up throwing up all night. So I’m like ok, it’s 8am and testing isn’t until 6pm so that should be plenty of time for him to rest up and get himself together for this. Basically I went the whole day just praying to God that he get better and everything goes as planned opposed to studying and reviewing like i had planned. I’m not mad...I can’t be. He was ill and you can’t control that. I believe his story. He’s not the type to lie. Plus he was soo down to help and be apart of everything I have been doing. He used to come to the school and get his haircut by me. It just fucking sucks when I was literally right there. Finally going to complete it all. And everyone knows, or probably doesn’t know that I was suppose to been have gotten my license. I started at the Barber College Feb 2017. I graduated (well i competed my 1800 hours) in Feb 2018 like the course catalog said I would. It was a good experience that ended too fast in my opinion. I met some great people there; people that I will consider my brothers for life. I don’t think i will give an in-depth review on the school itself. I don’t feel like it. So like I was saying, I competed my hours in the middle of Feb. I didn’t get my diploma until March because I still owed $1500 on my tuition. I had the money but I wasn’t in a great rush to pay it off because truth be told I didn’t have any barbershops lined up after completion so I didn’t rush paying it. When I finally paid it off, I was suppose to schedule my testing for my license immediately. Most people already have their dates already set up for like the following week of being totally finished with school. I didn’t go right away because I didn’t have a model lined up. You’re suppose to have a model that has to fit a bunch of different requirements about age, how much hair they have to have, how much hair you have to cut off, and they do a background check and a bunch of extra shit. It’s a big thing and it was hard to find the perfect model that fit and also that can be available during the testing time which is a whole 3 hour process. Fast forward to April when I knew that I was putting this shit off for way too long and it’s time to get serious again. I’ve been doing a few house cuts here and there and also working in a barbershop called Platinum Cuts on the weekends while still working my restaurant job just enough hours to pay my bills. I knew I still had shit to do in regards to my license. After asking everyone I could think of to be my model, and getting no’s, I finally found one person. Ok bet! I got my model. I told him everything that was told to me about the requirements, background check, testing center location, testing time and all that. And i’m like “are you sure that you can do this?! once i submit your name and pay my fees you have to be my model, i can’t cancel, change models or reschedule without forfeiting the fees that i have to pay.” Roughly $200. He’s like “yes, I’m available I can do it.” Mind you, I gave him the two dates that were offered to me for testing and the testing time on the 2nd of May wasn’t good for him because he needed work done on his car. So we chose the 16th. That worked better for the both of us because i still needed to study and review all over again. Plus at the time of us scheduling, the 2nd was like a few days away. Everything was going good. I was texting back and forth with him just letting him know don’t forget, asking if everything good with him and his car and shit like that. Just staying fresh in his mind so we can get this shit done and over with. All of this for him to cancel literally last minute. FUCK! This is all just embarrassing. Having technically been done with school since Feb and I’m still not licensed nor working consistently in a barbershop. It’s a real self esteem killer. Most of the guys that I went to school with are in shops or have started their own shops. They are making money and prospering in this field and i want to be just like that. I have so many people on my side telling me how good of a barber I am, how inspiring i am, and that I should be doing a lot more than what i’m doing now. I totally agree. I need to be working consistently, cutting consistently and challenging myself everyday. I know that it’s all coming from a place of love. You have to want it for yourself. I can honestly and vulnerably say that I haven’t felt the most confident lately i’ve basically been in dark cloud of depression since Feb. I haven’t felt this low since before I started Barber College, somewhere around the time of my last post probably. It’s a huge transition from Barber College. I totally understand how university students get depressed after graduating because they can’t find jobs and end up moving back home. I can humbly say I was one of the good students there, especially towards my last few months. Im not saying I was the best hair cutter, I wasn’t and will never claim to have been. I was good. i had clientele and stayed busy for the most part. I was doing like 8-10 haircuts on a regular day. Slave labor without pay lol. I was consistent with my attendance. Which was very helpful because all the other guys that were better than me were not consistent with their attendance. Some of them have been going to the school for years. Some are even still there. The school is designed to be a one year program. I think some people think of it as their job. We could accept tips up there so they might be banking. I was pretty damn good for barely cutting hair before I started. I could do a line up, an all even and trash taper. I was cutting my own hair for 5 years prior but never cut anyone else’s hair. I was trash then compared to now lol. Growth. But going from feeling like you the shit, being told you’re the shit, being hyped up daily, having people watching you and asking you questions to actually starting at he bottom in a shop with no clientele is a major shock. That shit really had me in my feelings and questioning myself, others, my skills and it this shit really for me. It’s not the shop that I worked at (past tense) because it’s been like 3 weekends since I’ve gone back and I don’t think I want to go back. The shop owner was actually my barber from middle school up until I met my barber/mentor Ronnie in 2009. So I’m familiar with the owner, Q. He had his own shop for 10 years and he’s the only barber in there. He’s had people work beside him from time to time over the years but no one ever stayed long. He’s already got his clientele on lock. My shop expectations are: be surrounded by people i respect and get along with meet people I can learn from and take advice from be in a shop that allows growth, creativity and room to just do and be me. I don’t want to say his shop didn’t offer none of that but again, his shop is his shop. not really a full staff of ppl kinda environment. I’m looking for a shop with a lot more traffic and walk ins. When you are just starting out cutting hair, that’s what you need. Walk ins to help you build up your own clientele. let’s everyone in the shop know you can cut and they see you cut. I’m not going to talk about the hotep conspiracy theories i had to listen to. The hotep youtube pastor we watched on tv daily in there who’s favorite topics were feminization of the black male and gays. But I’ll lowkey take all of that over the hood ass shops that my weak ass town has to offer. Also I wasn’t a fan of the percentage I was paying to cut there. When first starting out you usually pay a percentage (commission) until your clientele is up enough for you to pay booth rent. I’d rather just cut at home and be able to keep all my money. I want to find another shop to work at in the meantime before I move. Oh I don’t know if I told y’all, I’m moving to Atlanta in August. I put 6 months on my apartment lease back in Feb. It’s a lot of things that I could be doing to push myself and better myself right now to get me out this depression, but I feel like why should I put in that hard work now when i’m just going to be moving away in a few months. Getting established in a shop, building clientele that I’ll prolly only cut a few times. It’s just a lot going on at the moment in my life and my focus is everywhere, yet still no where to be honest. I know what kind of barber I want to be and what type of environment I want to work in and I don’t think that Lansing has that to offer me. All my school mates know this to be true too. They know I’m different. lol. So with my fingers crossed, I’m hoping that Atlanta will treat me right. I don’t want to talk to much about Atlanta because I’ll save that for another post. Hopefully not a whole ass two years or whatever. But I will when I get settled in or when I remember that I have a blog lol. I want to stop blogging only when I’m like knocking on depressions basement door trying to get out and blog more happier feelings and thoughts. Kehlani’s album just finished playing. I think I’m going to wrap this up with my last topic; support. Why don’t we support one another? I know that I shouldn’t be expecting or seeking support or validation from others, but fuck, we all wanna get our ego stoked a little bit. we want feedback and an occasional YASSS. I do expect something. I feel like i support, have supported a lot of people. I like your music, retweet your pictures, subscribe to your podcasts and give you your life when you deserve it. I don’t get that in return. Just like this blog, i’m glad i’m doing it for the betterment of be and not for y’all to car about me. No one would probably read this anyway. There is a handful of people that truly support me. I can count on one hand. I’m so very thankful for them. Then there is the people who see my haircut pictures online and won’t like them but in person will mention to me how dope I am at cutting. Then that’s when they give that fake “when can you cut my hair” but when I call them on it and and hold them accountable for asking for a cut and tell them to come thru, they all of a sudden busy or not responding anymore. I hate that. Sometimes you need to feel a little boost and a little support from others. Affirmation. Just a simple like, retweet, or a “I see you nigga!” comment. Something. I don’t want to say it’s hate. I don’t like to use that word and I don’t want to believe that people actually hate on me. I think people need to get comfortable in themselves and in what they are doing so we can show love to one another. idk. I’m tired and I’m probably not making any sense right now. I don’t feel like proof reading this and uploading it to tumblr either. Good night.

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