#best thing of value? his FOMO

[darkwood-sleddog]

me when sigurd comes perfectly when called on the first time: oh so i DID train you didn't I???

[desire-mona]

why i think richard cameron is Like That

the long awaited cam analysis post of sorts!!!

so to start off, let me acknowledge the obvious: CAMERON SUCKED FOR WHAT HE DID TO HIS FRIENDS. THAT WAS MEAN AND SHITTY OF HIM, HE DESERVED TO GET PUNCHED IN THE FACE AND HE DESERVED TO HAVE HIS FRIENDS STOP LIKING HIM. this post is just to paint a more nuanced picture of the motivations and reasoning behind his cam-ness. also i feel the need to address that my love for dylan kussman HEAVILY influences my opinion on cameron, so please keep that in find when u read this. if my bias shows at any point then feel free to offer your perspective, odds are i'll find a way to agree :3

-

lets start at the very beginning of the movie, his first appearance with the tradition banner. this obviously wasn't anything i rly thought of in depth on my first watch, but on my second watch i was like oh Hm.

tradition, of course, is a BIG aspect of welton that the movie repeatedly emphasises, drawing lots of attention to how nothing changes. i find cam holding the tradition banner especially interesting in relativity to neil holding the excellence banner specifically. cam very clearly tries his best to embody the rules of welton (more on this later) and very rarely deviates from those rules, although he does on occasion (again - more on this later.) but despite his attempts to be the manifestation of those values are never met with any praise, unlike neil. that's not to say that neil isn't deserving of that praise though, absolutely he is deserving, but in terms of academics specifically, cam's pretty up there too! this part doesnt exactly tie in directly with the rest of the post, but just thought id point it out first to add a layer to the rest of my thoughts.

how i view cam's character arc is something that's framed in a way thats not supposed to be viewed as an arc, i suppose (interesting considering the tradition thing hm). of course thats inaccurate as he does in fact have in arc, it just small in relation to the more forefront-ed poets. and it makes him ultimately less likeable, so.

during a majority of the movie (pre neil death) cam is known as the guy who doesnt like to break rules, that much is obvious, but in the end he still does with the dead poets society. now the reasoning behind that isnt actually touched on in a direct way, so there are a few different ways you can view that. i'll touch on a few different reasonings that me, @pencileraser1, and @good--merits-accumulated came up with.

my reasoning - i see cam's willingness to break the rules as cam holding his friends' idea of him on a high pedestal, constantly taking into consideration what they think. not wanting his friends to consider him a loser or boring in any way, he joins despite the anxiety surrounding being caught. not without fuss though, he does still outwardly talk about how this isnt something they should be doing. all this and yet he does in fact join, AND he doesnt rat anyone out for a majority of the movie (even after the call from god dealio!!!) fomo, basically.

nick's reasoning (found in this post) - he just wanted his friends to be safe!!! joining to (in my view) keep them in line in terms of safety as well as. i guess. provide the reminder of the consequences i suppose?? nick im opening up the floor to u if u wanna delve into this point more cuz ur definitely able to provide better reasoning n such. if asking nick to talk abt things was a full time job.

tristan's reasoning (discussed in dms) - cam's need for authority. tristan brought up a very good headcanon/ theory/ something or other that cam is the type to need constant direction or authority, and i totally agree! (reason for that will - again - come up later.) now this culminates in a couple different ways. 1) most obviously, adhereing (ehh) to the rules of welton, and 2) his relationship with the rest of the poets. due to the size of the welton student body, a lack of individual direction from teachers and staff is almost inevitable. so to fill that gap, he adheres to his friends' """"""rules"""""", and joins the poets. floor is open to you as well if you'd like to elaborate further, tristan :3

my thoughts of cam being super focused on his friends' idea of him actually started as a bit. i believe i made a hc post about smoking weed?? maybe?? and said something along the lines of "cam would smoke even if he doesnt want to, not cuz of peer pressure from his friends but more of a self imposed peer pressure. thinking its rude/ cringe/ uncool to turn down smthn like this bc all the rest of the guys r doing it." but after a rewatch of the scene in dps where theyre all walking outside, it started having some merit in my mind! in that scene, keating does a sort of imitation of cameron when he first starts to walk, something like "am i doing this right?", "am i walking weird?", etc. (paraphrasing ofc.) so i sort of took that aspect and applied it to other parts of his character and found out that oh, this actually kinda makes sense!

speaking of keating and his lessons, lets talk carpe diem.

now my interpretation of cam is that he doesn't exactly *want* to apply carpe diem in his life, seeing it as an antithesis of the welton values. only joining the poets for the reasons mentioned above. however, he does indeed apply it in my eyes, but more as a fucked up reversal and dickish version which eventually ends up in him deservedly getting punched. now is this how keating intended him to interpret carpe diem? ehhhhhhhhhhhhh,, it's complicated, let's talk about the context a bit.

this part is more theorising than anything, so take it with a few grains of salt if u wish.

cam quite obviously is a pretty big stickler for the rules, which i believe is a result of outside influence. id like to thank @lovech1ld for reminding me of this! cam's parents/ grandparents/ guardians are noticably older than the other poets, which, in my eyes, makes a heavy emphasis on following the rules make a lot more sense (respect your elders type shit.) so this, combined with the inherent fear of authority that most of the boys seem to have, makes him a chronic rule follower. but it goes further than that, after these ideas have been pushed for so long, i feel that cameron's started to mix up his own personal morals and values with the morals and values of welton, viewing those two things as one in the same. here's where that starts to muddy things up in terms of carpe diem.

i interpret cam's finking AS his application of carpe diem in his life, but as more of a subconscious choice. now you may be thinking "hey. mona. what?" and i UNDERSTAND! but here's my reasoning behind that. as i mentioned/ theorised before, cam has a very high opinion of his friends' idea of him, but this does eventually change after neil's passing. his subconscious carpe diem application, to put it into proper words, was a way to stick up for himself and his beliefs despite what all his friends think. again, being brought about by neils death, since he didn't choose to rat anyone out when the opportunity first presented itself during the call from god assembly. and i dont think cam sticking up for himself is inherently a bad thing!! but! since cam's idea of his morals are so clouded by welton's, this isn't actually sticking up for himself, this is just being a tattletale.

he did provide other reasoning for doing so to the poets of course, so lets talk a bit about that too. he says something along the lines of "i did it for neil" and "this is what he wouldve wanted" which is obviously bullshit, objectively. but i don't think he saw it that way, i think he genuinely believed thats what he thought neil would've wanted, as stupid of him as that was. obviously thats not what he wouldve wanted AT ALL, and why he actually thought that is FAR beyond me. but i really dont think he wouldve turned anyone in if he didnt genuinely believe it, especially considering the fact that he was PART of the dead poets. even if he was the one to confess, im sure he likely got punished as well. (which also couldve been what he wanted? tristan this is an opening to also discuss catholic cam on here bc ur reasonings for that were INCREDIBLE.)

on top of this, i really dont think that cam actually understood the weight of what turning in everyone would do. now i will say right away, hes not dumb, he knew that keating would be fired and charlie would be expelled, and that alone should've turned him away if he really wanted to honor neil. as i said before we started, he absolutely deserved to be punched and lose his friends, that was a dick move that ended up ruining two lives for a long long time, if not forever.

but.

due to him grieving, his rules = morals shtick, and fear of authority, i think he turned in the poets without giving actual, proper thought into what the consequences of that would be. which manifests itself both in the film with the final scene.

in the last scene where all of the boys stand on the desk, we see multiple shots of cam looking around and looking at everyone standing. and we (or at least i) can definitely see some sort of consideration to join them!!! he of course doesnt, and ends up choosing to sit, looking QUITE ashamed. this too can he interpreted a couple ways, either as him being embarrassed that his peers are doing this, or as him wanting to join them but knowing that he was the reason keating was fired. knowing that it would be incredibly disingenuous, even if he stood as a way to sort of apologise to keating + the poets for what he did and show that he regrets his actions, he stayed seated. and was so. so. mad at himself for it.

now i don't remember where i heard this so im not sure how to go about fact checking, but i believe the choice to keep cam seated was ultimately dylan kussman's?????? but dont take my word as gospel in terms of that, i very well could be wrong.

BUT! this gives me an opportunity to talk abt how much i love dylan kussman!!!!! nick vocalised the thought before i was able to in one of his posts, but considering the fact that i agree wholeheartedly, i'll reiterate it. i see rsl and ethan hawke constantly be praised (deservedly!) for their understanding of the inner workings of their characters, especially reflected in the desk set scene. and while YES ABSOLUTELY, i think dylan needs this praise as well. dylan was the PERFECT casting choice for cameron and i will shout that from the rooftops until my voice goes hoarse. so so so many of his little mannerisms, facial expressions, ways of speaking, soooo many etceteras are just so. so. CAMERON! even the most comprehensive directorial choices cant top an actor's inherent understanding of a character and reflection of that in their performance. good god! i think my new dream in life is to ask dylan about how he came about properly embodying cameron and his process in doing so.

anyway

with my dylan fanfare over, that about wraps up my thoughts on cam in terms of the film itself. HOWEVER. i have lots and lots of thoughts after a long convo with tristan about certain headcanons and post-canon theories and whatever. will probably touch on those but i dont really have my thoughts properly collected enough, so that wont be until later.

as per usual with these types of posts, everyone else is welcome to add any input they may have. cam is one of my fav things to talk abt in terms of dps so i will eat up every single little thing. thank u for reading!!!!

[a-man-for-hire-and-his-archives]

Australian & New Zealand Author Showcase No 20 – Luke Arnold

February 9, 2024 by Charlie Cavendish

An idea squeezed into my head in 2023, after seeing so many of the book community gathering at conventions across the US and UK. And once my FOMO subsided, I got to thinking about who might be gathered together if we had similar conventions closer to home. Pending the master planning required to arrange a massive convention, I thought the next best thing might be to run an Australian & New Zealand author showcase. So, I sent out the call, with the only prerequisite for participating being the author had to have been born in either country or currently live there.

Its now 2024 and the Aussie / New Zealand Author Showcase is gathering steam again. Just when I thought it was over even more talent has emerged, at this rate its threatening to become year long event! I will continue to post their individual showcases at regular intervals. So hopefully you will enjoy these interactions with some very talented people. Please be sure to check out their work, sign up to their newsletters and follow them on their social media of choice. I make no apologies for any damage inflicted to your TBR���s!

Showcase No 20 finds me chatting with very talented Luke Arnold. Luke is the award-winning actor from projects such as Black Sails, Glitch and Never Tear Us Apart: The Untold Story of INXS as well as the author of The Fetch Phillips Archives; a series of fantastical detective stories which has third instalments to date.

Do you feel that being an Aussie / Kiwi (or residing there) influences your writing?

Absolutely. I didn’t leave Australia until I was in my twenties so, for better or worse, I was brought up with a distinctly Australian outlook. It’s something that can be easily mischaracterised and also requires some distance to properly understand. Being both a young and old country, we’re still finding ourselves, experiencing growing pains, and struggling with our identity.

At the same time, isolation and an abundance of natural resources means a lot of us are able to benefit from a high quality of life without working as hard as we’d need to in many other places in the world. I think a lot of Aussies know this in their bones, and it makes us nervous of “rocking the boat” for fear that we might lose the advantages we have.

This aversion to change has some embarrassing repercussions on relationships between European Australians and Australia’s First Nations People, as well as our treatment of immigrants and asylum seekers.

We have a different kind of national identity to other western countries like the USA or Britain. We’re still trying to play the underdog – the little colony down under that punches above its weight – but that persona no longer fits us the way it used to. These themes seep into all my work.

Fetch Phillips may have the outward appearance of a classic American hard-boiled hero, but he has an Australian heart. He’s someone who feels separate, a bit ignorant, reticent to become a leader, and happy to defer to those he sees as being older and more experienced. He values being humble and self-effacing, but there is safety in that identity.

It allows him to shirk responsibility and hide in the shadows, even when it should be his moment to step forward. He’s a man who didn’t grow up when he was supposed to and is struggling to come of age too late. I feel like Australia is going through the same thing.

What are some of the challenges being located so far away from the rest of the world, do have any tips for overcoming these?

When I was first trying to get published, I was lucky in that I was already working overseas and had some profile from my acting career. That’s a clear advantage I don’t take lightly. Though I’d always wanted to write, the thing that pushed me to finish my first manuscript was a desire to spend more time at home. My acting career was reaching a point where every job was in a different city, and I wanted to know that I could keep working creatively without needing to get on a plane. There are numerous advantages to being creative in Australia.

One thing that is easily overlooked is that we have more safety nets that some other countries. I really notice this when I’m in the US. It’s terrifying to have no money in America. Of course, cost of living is going up everywhere, but I still think there are more ways to find a balanced life in Australia where you can keep a roof over your head and be creative at the same time. Yes, it’s a smaller market and it can be hard to break out overseas, but if the goal is to live a creative life where you do the thing you love without panicking that someone’s going to kick you out on the street, this is one of the best places in the world to establish yourself.

Personally, I know I couldn’t have survived as a young actor long enough to build my career without the support systems that Australia offers.

3. How do you go about establishing connections in the book community? (any tips / suggestions)

I’m terrible at this. My first two novels came out in 2020 when we were all locked inside, and I’ve only met a handful of other authors in person. So of course, social media is a huge asset.

I mostly rely on creatives I’ve known for a long time. Every couple of weeks, I catch up with an author friend, Steven Lochran, I’ve known since high school, and we read each other’s stuff and discuss what we’re working on. I have a number of other people, some writers some not, who I use as beta readers when they have the time.

Finding your own colleagues that you trust and feel comfortable to share your work with is more important than trying to network your way onto tables with notable people in the industry. If you do good work, then that will happen naturally.

4. Do you have a favourite character to write? And conversely are there any of your characters that are the more of a struggle?

Fetch is fun because he still surprises me. There’s a lot of me in him, and he’s dumb enough that I can stuff my own fears and ideas into his head and have him try and make sense of things. It’s always harder when I have to write someone more intelligent – someone who might have the answers he seeks – because then I need to get ahead of my own pondering and come to some conclusions. Perhaps that’s why everyone is fallible in my world, and even those who seem to have the answers will likely fall to pieces before the end of the story.

5. So aliens finally reveal themselves to us and your work is presented to them as example of what humanity has to offer, what do you hope they will take away from this intergalactic exchange?

I hope they’d see that we’re flawed, confused, vulnerable little things, and yet we keep trying to be better. Individually and collectively. My books are noir in tone, but the point isn’t to say that we’re all broken and corrupt. It’s about celebrating the way we keep trying to be good, even in the face of terrible darkness. Even when we’ve made mistakes that should he unforgivable. Even when the pressure – both without and within – feels like it’s going to crush us. Hopefully, if they’re looking at the state of things right now, it might help them see that we’re not completely lost.

6. Tell us something about yourself that not many people know?

In this relentlessly online world, it’s hard to think of something that isn’t already out there. So I’m trying to think of something obscure. Maybe I’ll share that I play a bit of Beat Saber in VR and I’m determined get to the top of the leader board for Billie Eilish’s Happier Than Ever (normal difficulty). I’m broken the top 100 but I’m gunning for a top ten spot.

What would you say is the best thing about being an author and the worst?

The best thing is that your work is all yours. There are very few creative endeavours out there where you can give so much of your internal world to another person. While our editors and publishers are integral, it’s not the same collaboration as making a film or playing a song with a band. This is all you.

The worst thing is that your work is all yours. You can get feedback and guidance, but it’s only your name on the cover. You must write every word, alone, without anyone encouraging you or sharing the load. Every time I write a book, I’m struck by what a monumental act of faith it is. One word after the other, day after day, for months, hoping that by the end it will be at all interesting to anyone else. Some days I can’t write a text to someone without crumbling under self-doubt, but then I have to find the motivation to pump out a few thousand words of fiction.

And at the end of it all, when someone else enjoys the finished product, they will also be alone, somewhere far away, playing out the story in their own head, and you’ll be completely oblivious to how it’s making them feel. It requires a level of self-belief that is easier to summon some days more than others.

8. Any other Aussie / Kiwi creatives you’d like to give a shout out for? (let’s spread the love)

I’m embarrassed to say that my reading really dropped off over the last year, but if you want some more noir, this time with a sci-fi twist, the 36 Streets by T.R.Napper’s is a fantastic cyberpunk story set in future Vietnam.

And I finally jumped into Maria Lewis’s The Rose Daughter and am bloody loving it.

9. What’s your favourite quote or passage from one of your books?

Shit. The ones I love one day, I cringe at the next. The chapters about Fetch’s love interest, Amari, in The Last Smile in Sunder City still hold a special place for me though. They were the first pieces I felt confident sharing with other people.

There’s a part where Fetch just lists the days they spent together. As the series continues, I have to keep returning to it to make sure that if I allude to an encounter between Fetch and Amari, it’s related to one of the occasions included in that list. It’s simple, and Fetch doesn’t include much emotion or embellishment, but every time I go back to it, that tragic romantic melancholy gets back under my skin.

9. What’s your favourite quote or passage from one of your books?

Shit. The ones I love one day, I cringe at the next. The chapters about Fetch’s love interest, Amari, in The Last Smile in Sunder City still hold a special place for me though. They were the first pieces I felt confident sharing with other people.

There’s a part where Fetch just lists the days they spent together. As the series continues, I have to keep returning to it to make sure that if I allude to an encounter between Fetch and Amari, it’s related to one of the occasions included in that list. It’s simple, and Fetch doesn’t include much emotion or embellishment, but every time I go back to it, that tragic romantic melancholy gets back under my skin.

10. What can you say about your current project or what you are planning next?

The fourth instalment of The Fetch Phillips Archives is in the editing phase, and I’m really excited to get it in people’s hands. I’ve enjoyed the fact that Fetch has not yet lived up to being either a hard-boiled detective or a fantasy hero. His guilt, self-doubt, and insecurity have taken his investigations (and in some cases the plot of the books) off the rails. That was always intentional, and I found that journey interesting to write, but Book 4 is a different beast. Fetch is still a problematic guy, but he’s put himself together enough to tackle his next case with more determination. So, for the first time, we have a more focused narrative revolving around a single string of murders. There are a lot of rewarding moments in this one for readers who were hoping Fetch might eventually catch a break.

But it’s still noir, so don’t except all sunshine and roses. Just a mystery where the main character isn’t getting in his own way quite so much.

Bonus Question:  Lastly Vegemite* yes or no?

Absolutely. Thin layer with plenty of butter. It’s not something I crave when I’m away from home but get me back in the Aussie bush and I’ll be searching for a jar in no time.

* An iconic dark salty spread that (most) Australians slap on toast for breakfast (NB explanation for the rest of the world)

Author Bio:

Luke Arnold was born in Australia and has spent the last decade acting his way around the world, playing iconic roles such as Long John Silver in the Emmy-winning Black Sails, Martin Scarsden in the screen adaptation of Chris Hammer’s Scrublands, and his award-winning turn as Michael Hutchence in the INXS mini-series Never Tear Us Apart. When he isn’t performing, Luke is a screenwriter, director and novelist.

He has published three books in The Fetch Phillips Archives, with the fourth instalment on the way. He performs the audiobooks for all his works, and The Last Smile in Sunder City was nominated for Best Fantasy at the 2021 Audie Awards.

Book/ Series Links

Social Media Links

@longlukearnold on Insta, X, and TikTok

Source: FanFi Addict

[ravenbloodshot]

Kim Young Dae (Actor)...Red + Green Flags

❤

He may curse like a sailor, hard for him to hold back his words

He's quite manipulative and may be the type to take advantage of others weakness for his own benefit

He could have a hard time holding himself accountable for his wrongdoings (or just bad at admitting his faults). Also, he could not like criticism of any kind

He may be the type to run from his problems (could lead to addcition) and unnecessarily feel bad for himself when he's the problem (like if you called him out for doing something wrong, he could start saying self depreciating things like "ik I'm a fuck up" which is sort of manipulation and how he truly feels mixed together. In the end he could get free from accountability if the person starts to pity him or feel bad for him)

I don't think he handles confrontation well at all. He's not good at arguing and he can't convey his point of view well whatsoever (like the type of guy to not speak coherently when he argues or mumble his words a lot). I definitely think he uses a sweeter/harmless image to get away with a lot of things (like giving puppy eyes 🥺, hoping the person pities him enough to forgive him)

He's too nostalgic and up in lala land (Pisces tings). He also idolizes/glamorizes other ppls lives too much (its like he thinks the things he sees on Instagram is all real and he ends up feeling bad for himself or catching FOMO when he sees ppl on Instagram supposedly living their best life). Basically he has grass is greener on the other side syndrome

In love: He has codependent tendencies and is too clingy, has abandonment issues and runs from the relationship when problems arise. He also could love others more than they love him and stay in such a relationship, maybe due to fear of being alone (not really the kind of guy to catch onto hints that his crush doesn't want him, you literally have to spell that out to him)

💚

He's good at getting rid of ppl that aren't serving him and that are just using him, his intuition is pretty strong so it could lead him away from bad ppl when he listens to it

He could be pretty good at reading ppl or their energy (could do well as a tarot reader), like he knows when the ppl around him are in a bad mood and can read others wants/wishes well.

He's not one to baby others, he's good at reassuring and advising but he won't coddle you. He's more of a "lick your wounds so you can get up and fight at life another day" type of guy so I do think to his friends and loved ones he can be very helpful to them when their down n out

Youngdae is quite sarcastic and a jokester, he could be a very entertaining guy to be around and knows how to uplift the energy in a room (he could be the type to show his true feelings through jokes, others may not be able to pick up on it though if they only take his jokes at face value)

He lives in the present and has no problem putting his phone away, going on long drives to release himself from social media and the internet (which I think is good for him since he doesn't have a healthy view of those that floss on social media and protray a fabulous life). He is really good at "being there" with those that he's with, he doesnt look through his phone while at a dinner with friends/lovers, instead he's fully present and there with them, engaging with them

I'm getting the vibe that he loves music but he sucks at making music (could be a bad dancer, bad singer, lack of rhythm). But he does laugh at himself and make jokes about his musical faults

In love: he's very loving and sweet to his partner, loves to flirt and entice them. He can be very affectionate and touchy, gentlemanly as well but he may lose his manners when he gets too excited. He loves to be asked out and confessed to, he's just a sweet and romantic guy when in love

Dog Days are Over by Florence and the Machine is a song that fits this readings energy

[csmeanerr]

It’s so funny cause I see people say to spend money on non-digital things rather than CS and I just can’t take that as a good suggestion. One of my aunts, my dad, and his mom all have pretty bad hoarding tendencies, and when I buy real things I just hold onto them and don’t use them. I tried Pokémon cards (I have thousands), I was in the squishmallow craze (I have at least 20), and I buy legos (over $2k I’m sure) but they just take up space and that’s it. You could argue the same for my CS or really any OCs but at least that’s digital storage that does not affect my real life. Could I save? Yeah but I don’t have anything else in my life to distract me from the heap of useless money. No friends to hang out with, no hobbies, nowhere to go, nothing to do, it’s all an event of spending money either way. If I have to spend my money, I’d rather it be to support creators and on things that won’t fill up my house.

If it works for others good on them though fr

want to give this one a proper response because it's a good perspective to see through and understand. empathy and all that, and if i were in the same position yeah i'd prefer the stuff that doesn't take up space too

at the same time it's not all black and white and i can tell this is being typed from a pretty dark place and hope the best for you going forward. i've been in a pretty similar position, especially the pokemon cards. CS gives an easy entry to a community, especially if you have something others want. they are basically an art community centered around a common theme, the species itself

and while im all about supporting creators and making the most of your life, i want to add in some counterpoints to your words because i don't want others to fall into that defeatist attitude. shit might get personal but i do appreciate your message

cs is already a hobby. idk what you do in them but from how it's worded it seems you use your money to help pass the time with, be it buying an adopt or legos to do something with. spend your money however you want but i'll just say it doesn't need to be spent on material goods. just treating yourself to a yummy meal can still be worth its weight and not leave behind any 'waste' beyond the physical clean up

if you want to support creators too then support the other people in the CS community beyond the owner or staff. im all about creators getting compensated for their work while also understanding CS owners artificially inflate their work's value by arbitrary rules such as limited traits or artificial scarcity. if you want to support that then it's not like i can change your mind about it, all i'm saying is you can also use your money to commission the other artists who often have to sell their work for fake in-game currency or pennies in comparison

ngl you sound defeatist and bitter and are only rallying behind cs practices because you have a parasocial relationship and cope hard with it. im not gonna discredit that, i did the same exact stuff and put thousands into buying adopts be it because of FOMO, because I did like the owner, because i liked the design, or even just having something to do by checking market channels, talking in the chat, or designing their backstories. it's easy to stick with that or latch on, because if you have the money (and even if you don't) it's just the same as any other anchor to the shitshow of life

do i have a solution? not really it's not a fix-all and i'm not a therapist, i'm just going to say i can't abide by your explanation nor can i recommend it to others because that is the exact same mindset that people with addictive personalities have and makes them so susceptible to CS's terrible practices. hopefully you can find another way to cope and i do wish you the best

[crystalelemental]

Unit Teambuilding - Leon

After two whole years, Leon finally gets rerun, and I just want to say that is nonsense.  I get that gachas are about limited availability and FOMO, but two years?  It may as well not even exist at that point.   Things need to be recurring for them to matter, guys.  This took way, way too long.  It's a serious problem.  Fix it.

General Overview I would describe Leon as “Anni Lillie-esque.”  Which is funny because he came first.  That’s what you get for taking so long to rerun.

Leon’s Inferno is high BP, but nothing remarkable by modern standards.  In fact, for having a pathetic 50 accuracy, it’s...fairly weak.  183BP for 50 accuracy is weaker than SC Emmet’s Megahorn (189), which has better accuracy (85).  I think it’s just wild to see how much DeNA tends to value status application as a secondary effect, because I legitimately don’t think it’s worth the trade.  But because of this tradeoff, Leon’s DPS barely breaks top five, slightly managing to outperform his eternal rival, Sygna Suit Red.  But he’s miles behind SS Hilda, SS May, SS Hilbert, and even SS Lysandre.

What allows Leon to compete, and even become best in show, is Super Preparation 4.  When he lands that Supereffective Up Next, he’s far and away the highest Fire-type DPS.  It is only a 50/50 to get it though, so the average of his typical damage is somewhere around SS May level power.  Which isn’t bad!  His Flying-type DPS, with Super Preparation active, is also highest in the type.  Ground...doesn’t even break top 5.  Ground got really competitive.  Cynthia’s up there twice because Slash apparently gets ridiculous too.  I love it.

To add into Leon’s success, they finally gave him Max Moves!  This means he’s got a sudden pop damage across all three of these types!  That’s really handy!  But for Gauntlet purposes, where you may not have any supereffective matchups, picking which one matters, and...look, it’s Flying.  His Fire-type move was translated as Fire Damage Field like Stealth Rock, and I have confirmed from my wife’s account that every single fight has Fire DF Resistance 9, so it deals nothing.  Shoulda been Trap.  Just saying.  So Flying is optimal, because +2 speed with his gauge costs is really nice.

All that said, Leon’s damage is his selling point, but his flaws are woefully apart.  Aside from the ever-present issue of needing to always roll Super Preparation 4 to sustain best DPS, his sync is atrocious.  Without SEUN, we’re talking on the level of Blarcanine.  With it, he’s closer to SS Hilda, but it’s a lot to ask.  And his setup is atrocious.  1MP move that gives +2 offenses and +1 crit, +1 sync cooldown, but then cuts defenses by -1.  The 1MP is what kills me.  MP Rekindle is supposed to be the saving throw, allowing him to be fully self-sufficient over time.  But there’s the rub.  Over time.  CS does not give you time.  You need to hit them right now.  And it’s kinda wild to me that Leon ever caught on, given that CS was the first mode.  This can be somewhat excused in Gauntlet, but CS is having none of it.  And this is an era before the Sp Atk/Crit buffers came along.

I think this accounts for how long SS Red remained the fan favorite.  Leon’s DPS was way better, but in a category where that improvement wasn’t necessary, and only under specific conditions.  And in absence of those conditions, he’s just like SS Red, but with infinitely worse self-setup.  And truth be told, this issue is not rectified.  Fire is an easy type to shop for, and Leon doesn’t exactly provide anything groundbreaking.  It’s fairly sad that the bigger selling point is almost his Flying DPS.  Really tells you something about Flying types.  But realistically, the self-setup remains his biggest problem.  Anni Lillie may not be top DPS anymore with SS Korrina, but her immaculate setup sets her apart.  Unless Leon receives similar boons, I imagine he’ll always kinda lag behind.

EX and Move Level? Neither is necessary.  Leon lives and dies by his base skills, and Inferno spam in particular.  You need nothing else.  His grid can offer a 30% multiplier to move damage and a 50% multiplier to sync when a foe is burned, but I don’t consider it strictly necessary.

Team 1: Leon, SS Morty, Lucian/Anni Raihan Just because SS Morty isn't ideal doesn't mean we can't make it work.  In fact, if you have 3/5 Morty and take the extra Team Gimme Five node on grid, Leon can cap out his offenses with one MP Burst, so it's possible.  All you add in is some special defense dropping.  Lucian is, as always, my ideal man, hitting AoE and boosting team speed.  Though Anni Raihan is very worth mentioning, with his own Fire-type Max move that actually does set sun, and potential for special defense debuffs on a trapped foe on his 3/5 grid.

Team 2: Leon, SS Brendan/P!Mallow, Blaine Thing is, I'm not really convinced this one works, but I'll try anything once.  Anti-Cobalion.  The main reason I bring this up in this particular structure is that SS Brendan can fix all of Leon's offensive needs instantly, and provides special defense drops alone.  Palentine's Mallow can also kinda do it, but is much slower about the whole thing, in exchange for better team defense.  Blaine just needs to add Sun for maximum Inferno damage.  The question is, can this one-shot Cobalion from half-HP?  And I'm gonna say no.  If it does, great, you've got yourself an answer.  But Cobalion becomes immune to burn halfway through Bar 2 unless you're evaporating it at once, so like...consider.  But hey, at least this answers Uxie?

Team 3: Leon, MU Torchic, Agatha Anti-Bulu. I mean, it's not like that's a particularly difficult thing to accomplish, but you know.  MU Torchic can buff Leon's offensive needs perfectly, while Agatha is your best sleep bot, capping her own speed and getting MGR9 on Hypnosis.  Leon’s Max Move can be used in Bar 3 to potentially just end a fight.

Final Thoughts I tried really hard, but couldn't figure out a team composition for Cresselia that didn't result in the same Haze/Snatch support that always gets used.  Piercing Gaze is supposed to be a big deal, but I don't think it does enough.

Ultimately, Leon's a pure Striker, with absolutely no frills.  He exists to spam his high DPS moves, and nothing else.  Which is all well and good.  But he's a Fire-type.  And Fire is the most saturated offensive typing you can imagine.  Like, did you pull SS Hilda?  Congrats, Leon is outright irrelevant.  She outdamages him, and has immediate turn 1 setup, with an actually good sync nuke.  SS May can get sync a whole turn early.  Anni N is having his rerun right now too, and has spread damage on his move, that also debuffs the foe each hit, AND he can get pep rally for better gauge control.  Leon's gauge control is awful.  Hell, Silver.  Silver may have bad DPS, but his sync nuke is unreasonably strong on-type and under Sun, and he's got reasonable self-setup now too.  What the hell do you need Leon for?

I know, initial Master Fair compared to more modern stuff, but I think it's wild that even on first release, the comparison to SS Red was not always favorable.  Sure his damage was higher, but so were his demands, and I feel like he's in a really awkward spot now.  Gigantamax could have, and should have, added a ton to him.  But instead of a really valuable trap effect, they gave him something that I doubt will add up to more than a couple hundred damage in a match.  He's...fine. Good enough to perform, but not good enough that I feel like he does much you can't do elsewhere.

[willfrominternet]

Exactly, because here's the thing once again:

Your third-party leftist candidate may align more with your values and the values you wish to see in America, but they do not have the current massive national support like the Democratic Party does. That's unfortunate. I sure would like to see someone like Claudia de la Cruz get more attention, or for some other major left-learning party to balance the centrism of the Democrats and the conservative and reactionary politics of the Republicans. But no such party or candidate has had the major optics and support necessary to make them a real contender in the national political sphere. Such a party/candidate needs to start on a smaller scale - municipal or state government - in order to climb the ladder to the national stage. (We do not support Jill Stein or Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in this household, by the way. I know RFK isn't leftist, but I included him anyway, because... No. Just no.)

Not voting is not an option. You know every single Republican is going to turn out for their big beautiful bouncing baby boy. If Kamala doesn't have a big turnout because you decided she wasn't worth your vote, that fascist fucker Donald J. Trump will fart his way back into the White House and destroy everything all over again while eating his Big Macs and drinking his Diet Cokes. And when you watch him and his Heritage Foundation friends unleash Project 2025 and strip your rights and your friends' and family's rights away, increase your taxes while decreasing those of the uber-wealthy, and drag America further down the well towards an idiocracy, you'll have some serious FOMO.

So what do you do, even if Kamala Harris doesn't strike you as the perfect politician? You go out and vote for her anyway. Trust me: She, her team, and her party will be more sympathetic towards leftist policies and protecting civil rights than the other side, and they will be more eager to listen to ways they can govern better. The Democratic Party will at least try to steer this ship in the right direction and keep it from sinking; if the Republicans win in November, they will set it on fire.

Think of what we feared back in 2020 when we had Trump vs. Biden. We knew Biden was old. We knew he was more centrist than we liked. We knew he wasn't the best option. But he was a hell of a lot better than Trump, and we voted for him despite our reservations. It could have been a whole lot worse.

Vote blue in November. Holy shit, please vote blue in November.

You motherfuckers yes I hate Kamala too but when she is announced to be the Democratic candidate we are all going to shoot fireworks and go to the goddamn polls

[hopeididntscareyou]

I guess these feelings of fomo are normal tho, its just mean to say that I am a human being with normal emotions and just going through the process of dealing with it in a healthier way than i used to. He wasn't the best, but see I value people in my life for who they are and don't just accuse them of bad things despite my negative perspective in men. Im just dipping out because honestly thats really what I think i should do. The only thing I can actually afford is to focus on myself and chase my dreams because only until then I will feel secure and happy enough to be in a healthy relationship with others.

As for John Paul hes actually inspired me a lot to better myself and he no longer makes me sad. I actually thought its ridiculous how he lived rent free in my mind these past few months until I met Robert. Its like i'm just some irrelevant pest. Not that i think of myself low but its just took me awhile to realize things and see his perspective. I actually admire him even more now because he just have these qualities in a man that I've always wanted to become. Its like hes the better version of myself. We share the same values in life and I just love how focused and disciplined he is, well afterall, he was a veteran which impressed me even more. I also don't care that much about his personal life to be honest. I just didnt know my place and now i realized that if i was him, I would do the same thing he did to me. That was really shitty but its my bad and that experienced taught me that I need to be responsible of my own feelings. I'm really thankful I met him. I love meeting people that just leaves an impact on me that pushes me to make a change in my life. I have honestly improved myself a lot because John Paul and also Donovan. Even though I dont mean shit to them, i'm thankful for their positive influences in me. My unique experience with them makes me who I am today and thats great. However, I do not really wish to meet another person for character development right now, especially that these days the dating scene is just a cesspool of ppl I dont connect. Right now i have priorities and it would take some time to change

[skarsgard-daydreams]

The easiest explanation is that it’s a lot like what happened in The Producers, but I’ll do my best to explain in Skarsgard.

Rich people pay hedge fund managers to invest their money in the stock market and make a profit for them. There is a hedge fund called Melvin Capital that decided they would try to make a profit by placing a very risky bet that GameStop’s stock price would go down. This risky bet is called a short. Here’s how it works using the Skarsgards as an example:

Let’s say Bill owns a comic book and it’s worth $20.

Alex thinks that the value of the comic book is going to go down and he wants to profit off of this. He borrows the comic book from Bill and resells it to Gustaf for $20. Because he has borrowed the comic book from Bill, he knows he will have to buy it back from Gustaf at some point so he can return it to Bill. What happens next will determine if he makes a profit.

Scenario 1:

Alex is correct. The value of the comic book drops until it is only worth $1. He made $20 when he sold the comic book to Gustaf. He can now buy it back from Gustaf for $1, which means he made a profit of $19. Then he can return the comic book to Bill.

Scenario 2:

Alex is wrong. The value of the comic book rises by 200%, to $40. He made $20 when he sold the comic book to Gustaf. He now has to buy it back from Gustaf for $40, which means he lost $20. Then he can return the comic book to Bill.

Scenario 3: 

Alex is spectacularly wrong. The value of the comic book rises by 500%, to $100. He made $20 when he sold the comic book to Gustaf. He now has to buy it back from Gustaf for $100, which means he lost $80. Then he can return the comic book to Bill.

The third scenario is the reason why shorting stocks is an incredibly risky bet. These are the kinds of bets that brought down the economy in 2008. The people who placed those bets got out of that without consequences, and have continued these practices even though they’re risky. Which brings us to Valter.

Scenario 4: 

Valter learns about Alex’s bet and is pissed off that he’s taking such a risky gamble that could bring down the comic book industry once again. He’s young and internet-savvy and just crazy enough to spend money to take Alex down a notch. So, he starts buying up copies of the comic book left and right, driving the price up higher and higher. He tells the internet that he’s doing this, and the nerds unite behind him. Collectively, they buy so many copies of the comic book that the value of one copy rises 1700%, to $325.

The fourth scenario is more or less how this all started. At the beginning of 2021, a share of GameStop stock was worth less than $20. But Melvin Capital did not shore a single share of stock. They shorted all of it. People on Reddit began to buy up shares of the stock, driving the value up to $325 as of Friday night. So far, Melvin Capital has lost 4.5 billion dollars ($4,500,000,000). Rather than pull out of their extremely risky bet and cut their losses, they have stayed in the game and used a variety of tactics to try to manipulate the Redditors into selling their shares and driving the price back down. So let’s continue the scenario.

Scenario 4 continued: 

Alex doesn’t like what Valter is doing. So he uses his influence to contact everyone who is selling Valter comic books and get them to block Valter from purchasing any more. The next time Valter goes to buy a comic book, he is told that he’s no longer allowed to for his own good. He knows this is bullshit. He tells the internet what happened, and the nerds are collectively furious. Valter and the nerds declare that they will keep buying comic books from other people and that the comic books they own will have to be pried from their cold, dead hands. Their vendetta has become incredibly personal, and they want Alex to fucking pay.

That is essentially where things stand as of Friday night. On Thursday and Friday, popular stock apps used by average people started to prevent their users from buying GameStop and up to 50 other stocks. A lot of these apps insulted the intelligence of the people who were trying to buy these stocks by claiming that they were protecting the user. But their actions benefitted Melvin Capital because the price would have increased even more if people were allowed to buy GameStop shares freely. Now the Redditors are even more outraged by this manipulation, and many of them, determined to teach Wall Street a lesson, intend to hold onto their shares of GameStop and keep the price high until Melvin Capital dies or they do.

Now, Melvin Capital can’t hold out forever. Eventually, Melvin Capital will be forced to buy back the stocks they lent out and return them to the original owner. They have begun to sell off a lot of the other stocks that they own in order to foot the bill of their bet. That’s why the stock market as a whole is going down even though GameStop stock keeps going up, and why this could lead to a stock market crash.

If there is a crash, I think people will try to blame the Redditors. But the people who manage Melvin Capital are greedy billionaires who took massive risks in 2007 that put the US economy into a recession and faced no consequences. They were actually bailed out by the government at the cost of the taxpayer. They have no incentive to change their ways or try to be responsible because they know that if they bring the whole market down with them, the government will probably step in to save them again. I personally would argue that we should blame the people who saw this happen before and didn’t put rules in place to prevent it from happening again.

PSA: If you are feeling FOMO and want to purchase stocks, don’t invest more money than you are comfortable losing. Also, do not use the start up apps that blocked consumers from being able to purchase stocks. This is not financial advice. I know nothing and I don’t own any stock in GameStop.

If you want to know more about shorting stocks or what triggered the recession in 2008, I highly recommend the movie The Big Short. It’s funny and star-studded and explains everything in layman’s terms.

(Sorry to Alex for using him as the example of the greedy hedge fund in my scenario. I wanted to represent the age distinction between the hedge fund managers and the Redditors, so he wound up being the scapegoat.)

[purplesurveys]

1199

America - What is your favorite place to eat?  I mean...these days I obviously haven’t been eating out at all, but I used to always enjoy dining at either Yabu (for the food) or La Creperie (for the ambience).

Australia - Do you have any quirks when speaking?  I don’t think so; or at least I don’t think I’d be aware of them unless someone points them out to me.

Austria - What kind of person do you wish to be?  What do some (or most) of these questions have to do with the countries? Lmao. Anyway, I just want to be remembered as being kind, I guess. I’m not aiming for anything grand.

Belarus - Is there anyone you love?  I’d do anything for my friends, close or otherwise.

Belgium - What do you think of your siblings? I like my sister; I care about her. I don’t really think much of my brother.

Botswana - Do you like to sing? Why or why not?  Yeah, but I only do it for myself. I never sing in front of others; I don’t think I’m that good.

Bulgaria - Who do you consider close to you?  My two best friends and everyone in my college friend group.

Cameroon - Describe your culture.  Folktales, hundreds of languages, more than just adobo and balut.

Canada - Favorite wintertime activity?  We don’t have winter.

China - What was the best moment of your life?  I don’t think I’ve had it yet; but so far the moments that are in the running for ‘best’ are my Paramore concert in 2018 and the day I found out I passed UP.

Cuba - What sort of grudges do you hold if any?  I haven’t talked to Marielle since the backstabbing incident in 5th grade, and I pretty much don’t talk to my uncle (unless we’re at a family gathering and I have to greet him for show) for all his past failures.

Cyprus - What hands-on activities do you like (drawing, carving, building, etc.)?  Embroidery! which I haven’t done in a long while but I’m definitely still into it.

Denmark - Do you wish for something of your past?  I wish I had more time with my relatives who died from Covid. Even a proper goodbye and a big, long hug from each of them would’ve sufficed.

Egypt - Do you stand up for what you believe in? How?  Sure. I speak up about it, educate others when I can, and raise awareness or reiterate my stance about certain issues by sharing posts on social media.

England - Are you controlling?  Depends on what context you’re talking about, because control can mean many different things. I’m a control freak when it comes to my work tasks and I know that can drive some people mad, especially those who prefer working independently.

Estonia - Do you think people often misunderstand you?  I think I’m pretty easy to read.

Finland - What do you prefer, kindness, sternness, or apathy?  In general, kindness; but I also don’t have any clue to what context these words pertain.

France - How do you show love for those you care for?  I like messaging them about things I see that remind me of them. I will also buy them small gifts from time to time, usually food that I know they like.

Germania - What is the hardest thing you have ever had to do?  Breaking up with Gabie, and accepting the said breakup. Both were equally difficult things to overcome and I’m just happy to be out of that part of my life.

Germany - Do you have a hard time forgiving yourself?  Yes. It takes me a while, if at all.

Ghana - What is our favorite sport?  You mean mine? I like pro wrestling, if that counts.

Greece - Do you let others help you when in need? I do, but I have a hard time asking for help. < Yeah. I will accept help when I finally acknowledge that I need it; but getting to the acknowledgment part can take me a while.

Hungary - Who is the person you trust most?  Either of my best friends.

Hutt River - What is the most memorable dream or nightmare you have had?  Back when I was at a low point I used to have recurring dreams of my girlfriend at the time dying. It sucks for the fact that my most unforgettable dreams are nightmares and for the fact that they all involve her, lol.

Hong Kong - Do you fear death?  Not really. I fear dying in a way that I wouldn’t want to experience, but I don’t fear the actual concept of death.

Iceland - Do you hide your real personality? Why?  I hide some parts from people I don’t know all that well or I’m not that close with; like I obviously wouldn’t have crackhead vibes with my clients at work lol. But outside of that I pretty much act the same way around everyone.

India - How important is family to you?  Quite, but it’s not my be-all and end-all.

Japan - Tell us a secret about yourself.  I don’t really have any. I share everything on this blog, anyway.

Kenya - What is your favorite wild animal?  Elephants.

Korea - What is one thing you accomplished by yourself?  Shooting my shot and landing an internship, and eventually a permanent job, at a company I had no connections with, all while I was heavily depressed and wasn’t really doing anything else to take care of myself. 

Kugelmugel - Is there anyone you have a love-hate relationship with?  My mom and I bicker all the time, but she is my mom.

Latvia - Do you believe you are brave?  I guess so.

Ladonia - What is the internet site you visit most often?  I’d say either Twitter or Facebook.

Liechtenstein - How do people underestimate you most often?  I don’t know if I can answer this; people usually don’t.

Lithuania - Do you desire power?  No. That implies being in the spotlight, which I don’t crave at all.

Macau - What is your favorite festival or celebration?  Christmas, only for the huge amount of food I get to freely eat.

Molossia - Do you consider yourself strong?  Emotionally, yeah. Also what is Molossia?

Monaco - Do you think you are a lucky person?  Not a big believer of luck.

New Zealand - Would you rather be an elf, dwarf, Hobbit, or wizard?  None of these.

North Italy - What is your least favorite part of your personality?  There are some parts to my sensitivity that I don’t really like, like my tendency to overthink remarks that were actually meant to be harmless.

Norway - What was the most disappointing time in your life?  All that time I spent being hung up on Gab and desperately talking to her post-breakup, mostly because of how much I neglected myself then. She was working a night shift then and I remember keeping on waking up at like 1 AM and the first thing on my mind always being to message her and UGH it’s just so embarassing to think about now.

Netherlands - Most generous thing someone has done for you?  That one time Andi half-walked and half-took a trike back to UP at 11 PM after already having gotten home, just to retrieve something I forgot to bring home and was having a breakdown about. It was really embarassing and they bring it up every once in a while to tease me, but we have a good laugh about it now.

Poland - Hardest thing you have gone through?  The breakup and deaths in the family.

Prussia - Would you prefer to live forever or die alone?  Live forever I guess, because I have serious FOMO HAHAHA

Roman Empire - How would you like to be remembered?  Like what I said at the start of this survey, just as someone who had been kind.

Romania - What is something you are very ashamed of?  I don’t think there is anything.

Russia - Have you ever suffered from low self esteem? Do you still?  I used to. Not really anymore. I’m liking myself more these days.

Sealand - Who is your best friend?  Angela and Andi.

Seborga - What is your favorite beverage?  Water or coffee.

Seychelles - How do you handle people being rude to you?  Be mean back, but in a passive-aggressive way.

South Italy - What is your favorite part of your personality?  I like that I’m generous and that I can remember a lot of different small details about everyone.

Spain - What would you tell to the person or people you hurt most if you had a second chance?  That she was right, I ended up being happier without her; and that I hope she can finally sleep well knowing she was right, considering our whole relationship was pretty much built on her wanting to be right about everything.

Sweden - Are you a leader, follower, or independent?  Follower.

Switzerland - Would you consider yourself evil, good, or neutral?  Chaotic neutral.

Thailand - How good is your poker face?  I don’t even understand poker.

Tibet - What do you value most?  Friendships, and my happiness.

Taiwan - What do you think of the people or person who raised you?  Grateful.

Turkey - Would you ever want children?  That would be nice, in a few years.

Uganda - How would you like others to see you?  I answered this question like twice already. It still applies hahaha.

Ukraine - What is one thing that has made you stronger in life?  The difficulties I was able to overcome.

Vietnam - What is something you are proud of about yourself?  ^ Those.

Wy - What kind of art do you like?  Paintings and films.

Zimbabwe - Who is your favorite character from any folklore?  I don’t like folktales.

[anastkantdhangar]

Why India’s Social Milieu Needs An Urgent Contemplation

India, traditionally, has been offering astounding variety in virtually every aspect of social life - diversities of ethnic, linguistic, regional, economic, religious, class, and caste groups crosscut Indian society, which gives light to its very inclusive, secular and democratic character. But why there has been a social unrest lately?

India ranks 144th on the World Happiness Index out of a total 156 countries on the list, even behind the likes of Pakistan, ranked 66th, and Bangladesh, ranked 107th.

17th June, 2019, a 24-year old man called Tabrez Ansari was mob-lynched in Jharkhand. He was tied to a pole sometime around midnight, and was beaten brutally till 6 in the morning, and was also forced to chant Hindu sayings. As usual, police arrived late, Tabrez was taken to the hospital, where even his blood pressure was not recorded. He died four days later.

Kashmiri Pandits were victims to a similar unfortunate happening. They were forced to exodus from their own home, and ever since, Kashmir has been even more of a hot topic.

It was a similar mob which chased and killed Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh in December, 2018 in Bulandshahr. He was trying to control a mob that had gone on the rampage after cow carcasses were discovered nearby the locality. The same mob also raised slogans against the police during the unfortunate happening.

Back then, between 2015-2018 specifically, such things were done in the name of cows, an animal which holds a religious significance in Hindu mythology. Considerable amount of such happenings on the name of cow slaughtering frequently grabbed news headlines back then, and as a consequence, consumption of beef in India saw some low. When reports of cow being starved to death in official government shelters started coming in, and also about that stray cattle were destroying crops and farmers were not very pleased with it, politics abandoned cows. It is obvious that cows, along with other animals, need to be protected, also given the fact that dairy products are a must, there needs more to be done to protect and nurse them. But the project of fear and violence that had been started, still continues in various forms.

But, unfortunately, cases of mob-lynchings still take place in our beloved India. The very recent case of Palghar district in Maharashtra, where two Hindu saints, while being in police custody and being taken to Gujarat, were attacked by locals. Reports suggest that the rumors were spread in the area about a gang which abducts children, and on the suspicion of the same, the saints were beaten to death, while the act of police standing quietly beside raised many questions.

A particular section of society, including sections of media, left no stone unturned to give it a communal angle. And there is no denying that there are communal and casteist angles to most of such cases, but there is a larger angle to it. The fact that somehow normal and a routine act it has become to lynch anyone you disagree with, who is outnumbered, is a thing which we need to question. What message are we passing on to the youth? Aspiring to be a global superpower, what are we projecting ourselves as?

The Larger Picture

Democracy has space for various views, expressing dissent in a dignified manner, solving issues, but no democracy can justify use of violence or any arbitrary means to deal with dissent. The very feeling of people that they too are ours should not be compromised at any cost.

The fact that the frequency of such acts has increased in last few years outlines that a message has been passed on to the society, especially the youth, that to beat up someone who does not agree with you, or who expresses any or some form of dissent is a normal practice. Of course, there also has to be some manner and dignity in which dissent should be expressed in a democratic society. But to suppress dissent brutally should not be a solution in a civil society.

This the reason why a new debate had acquired the headlines for some time about whether and how India has been growing intolerant rapidly, but the media and the viewers, the public, a large part of it, did not pay much attention to it. This was and is, what I believe, still a relevant question to ask and explore.

A considerable section of the youth has grasped that dissent or disagreement can be or has to be suppressed, even if it needs violence, which is more than worrisome. This is very much evident owing to recent JNU Campus Violence amongst students back in winter during anti-CAA protests. And the youth today, is the future tomorrow, which is why this makes it even more worrisome.

This even stops many from expressing their views, fearing that might get beaten up by the people having other views, and by not letting other ideas to be out there in the society, the prevailing ideas of the authorities are being hailed as champions. This is where we are failing as a democratic society. We have stopped or started to prevent asking questions.

A democratic society is always full of different ideas, views and perspectives, that is the beauty of democracy. A democratic society always cleaves up, if a one and only idea prevails in the society, there has to be something wrong, we are never going to realize what's wrong in such a scenario, and we have contemporary examples of such autocracies. And there were reasons why human, with time, switched from monarchy to democracy, he liked the idea of discussing various angles and coming up with one which could be best, as it will cover as many as loopholes, angles and point of views as possible, for the best of interests for every section of the society.

The Core Youth Issue

India’s 65% population comprises of people aged 35 or below, making it potentially one of the youngest country in the world, but what’s fresh in them? 

A child learns most of the civil and moral values at home, he learns what he sees, and tends to practice the same, this is the normal scenario. What he learns through the education system, along with his moral values, is somewhat an outline of what kind of a person one is, how one’s attitude is. And India’s education system has been questioned ever since.

The Indian government’s very own draft education policy tells us that National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) rates 68% of our Universities average or below average, and 91% of our colleges are rated average or below average. These second-and third-grade colleges would have produced generations of average or below average students and scholars.

Today’s youth of India has been in the making for decades. A great deal of efforts must have been put in to finish off all the curiosity and hunger for knowledge and information. The youth no longer wants to understand why a system made them spend lakhs of rupees studying, when at the end most of them could not find jobs which could even earn them Rs.20,000 per month, but still are repaying their education loans. It is the official data released back in 2018 that around 67% families in India survive with a monthly family income of Rs. 10,000 or below.

Those who demand information, who understand their world, those who question the status quo, are the ones who sustain democracies. Can we expect such democratic ideals from the youth of a country where 91% colleges and 68% Universities are average or below average? 65% of Indians might be under the age of 35, but there’s little sign of anything fresh in their thinking. Their minds are not young. They were first burdened with great ignorance, and now they’ve been blinded by communalism.

With 91% colleges being second and third rate, it was inevitable that the youth is kept away from the realm of knowledge. This must have had a large say on why WhatsApp University became so popular, the very messages people received on their private chats must have felt to them that they now had an access to knowledge, the very fact that it was so easily accessible, made it very impactful. Lies and misleading information designed to prejudice them and incite them to violence now began to reach their smartphones as personal texts. 

Fear Of Speaking Out (FOMO FOSO)

Our Lok Sabha has passed amendments to Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act last year, that gives authorities the power to declare any individual a ‘terrorist’. After it was amended, many social workers who have worked for the under-privileged for years, and raised important issues which was not in the best of interests for the authorities, have been imprisoned under UAPA.

As an obvious consequence, many have held themselves back to not speak out on issues they would have spoken on otherwise, the fear of intolerance of some sections of the society which may turn ugly and the fear of trolls of social media of the great IT Cell may also have been the reasons for the same.

There was a very popular dissent outrage in the form of protests in the form of anti-CAA-NRC protests. Protests in cities and college campuses took place across the nation, some also turned ugly as violence broke out in certain protests. To counter anti-CAA-NRC protests, pro-CAA-NRC protests were also being held in various parts of the country, which was first of its kind. The national lockdown owing to the coronavirus pandemic has brought the topic to a stop, but during this lockdown, various student leaders of anti-CAA-NRC have been charged under UAPA.

JP Narayan addressing a rally during JP movement in 1974. Many scholars speculate that the real Emergency started not in 1975, but in 1974.

In the history of independent India, its hard to remember any other popular mass protest where people across the nation came to roads to express dissent to the authorities, only one such example crosses our minds - the JP Narayan movement in 1974, during the time when Indira Gandhi used to be the PM of India, which mostly included students, and was ultimately suppressed after imposition of Emergency in 1975. But owing to a new practice we have accepted of labeling every sound that questions the authorities as anti-nationals or leftists.

India has had a history of patriarchy, which still prevails in many forms. Women in India, historically, have not been provided equal rights and recognition as men do. In such a nation, be it in the name of anti-CAA-NRC, such a large all-women protest of a scale as big as Shaheen Bagh is a very, very rare thing. Irrespective of our political affiances and interests, the fact that historically deprived women actually came out and led a mass protest on their own, which lasted for more than 3 months and has come to a haul owing to the pandemic, this certainly deserved some thoughts.

Motive of the protest, political interests and such stuffs can be and should be questioned, but in the process we should also give some recognition to things which are rare and important.

We all may share different political thoughts, different political affiliations, but at the end of the day, we all belong to one nation, and our ideas should be for the best of interests for our nation and its people as a whole.

[mr-entj]

Thanks for your super helpful career advice, Mr. ENTJ! My question to you is how should a college student who is interning at a company excel in this position and leave their mark? Thank you again!

Combined with the following asks:

Hey Mr Entj! I’m starting an internship soon at a very well known international institution (in their PR department). Do you have any advice on how to impress?

In your experience, what are the characteristics of a good entry-level associate consultant? How would you stand out from the crowd?

Hi! ENFP here I will be interning at a unicorn 🦄 in SF and I read that you are currently working at a unicorn as well so would you have any tips on how to make a positive impression and make the most of my time there?

Hi Mr. ENTJ can you write about how I I can shine in a marketing internship that I’ll be starting in the upcoming months. How to stand out and really get the most from it?

Internship advice to be great at it? Want to be in your position one day :)

Related answers:

Resume and Cover Letter Guide

Job Interview Tips

Networking tips

Networking for introverts

How did you choose your career?

Congratulations on all your offers.

How to impress in an internship

1. Focus on making the lives of those around you easier. One of the best ways to make an immediate and lasting impact in an internship is to volunteer for the tough and undesirable pain-in-the-ass tasks that no one wants to do. It makes your presence valued and your absence felt. If there’s a spreadsheet that’s tedious that no one wants to maintain, offer to take it on as a side task. If there’s a project that requires extra hands to get to the finish line, step up and donate some of your time. The more urgent the deadline and/or the more disastrous the problem equals greater impact and more gratitude for your contributions.

Keep in mind I’m not saying to volunteer for 1,000 awful and soul-crushing tasks that will make your life a living hell– just a few here or there that are important to your manager and your team. Your manager and your team are your priority. Network with other people in the company but don’t neglect the main person who extended this opportunity because your salary is paid out of their budget.

2. Be consistent when you arrive and leave the office. An internship isn’t a job but the window of opportunity is small because it’s a short amount of time where you’re thrown into a new environment to quickly make an impact and leave a positive impression. Don’t be flaky and wishy washy about your hours, treat the opportunity seriously, because there’s nothing worse than an intern I have to chase like a rare and elusive Pokemon. Come into the office and leave at a predictable time which will make it easier for your colleagues to learn your schedule and anticipate when and where you’ll be so they can engage you with opportunities. FOMO especially applies in internships because if I have something awesome to give you but you’re not here to receive it– I’m giving it to one of the other interns.

3. Take initiative when it comes to managing the relationship with your manager. People are busy and we have full-time jobs in addition to managing our summer interns, you’re a priority but you’re definitely not my only priority. Make it easy for your manager to manage you: communicate your internship goals and interests clearly, schedule standing weekly meetings with them for regular check-ins, and ask for regular feedback on how you’re doing and what you can do better. Remember that internships are mutually beneficial relationships between you and the organization, don’t be afraid to ask for more opportunities in your areas of interest and pursue mentoring with your manager or colleagues.

4. Come with ideas and solutions, not just more questions. When it comes to getting actual work done, great interns ask the right questions to get the information required to get the job done, then make an attempt at it. Bad interns are the ones who ask a million clarifying questions without trying anything. Don’t be that intern. People are busy and asking a million questions is time-consuming and annoying. The best way to get clarity is to produce a first draft, no matter how rough and ugly it is, then get feedback and refine it until it’s perfect. Ask: “Is this what you’re looking for and am I on the right track?” Iterate, iterate, iterate.

Pro tip: Ask for templates or previous examples to work from. This can save a ton of time and grief because it prevents you from having to reinvent the wheel.

5. Own something from start to finish. Some internships are filled with bullshit and busy work, don’t let this happen to you. Focus on projects and work streams, not tasks, to maximize the benefits of your internship and to get impressive experience for your resume. Note the difference below:

This is a task: “Filed papers. Entered data. Took meeting minutes.” This is bad because it doesn’t quantify impact or show any meaningful outcomes. You’ll obviously have to do tasks but your entire time there shouldn’t be without contributing to something bigger to the organization’s goals.

This is a project or work stream: “Led an analysis of user data to identify process gaps and create recommendations to increase user engagement by 10%.” This is good because it shows what you did, how you did it, and the impact it made on the company. You successfully owned a responsibility from start to finish.

6. Meet as many people as possible. The people you meet at an internship are members of your future professional network– but you have to talk to them first. This isn’t the time to be shy and introverted. On this topic, a wise CEO once told me: “Never have lunch alone.” Schedule lunches with other people (or groups of people) because everyone’s got to eat so why not with you? It’s an easy way to engage them and build relationships in a relaxed environment.

Pro tip: The key to networking at work is to not always talk about work. Take a break from the daily grind and talk about other things: hobbies, cinema, travel, and any other interests. No one wants to spend 4 hours buried in spreadsheets only to take a break and have lunch with an intern who wants to chatter away the entire hour about more spreadsheets. Change the subject, switch it up, learn something from your colleagues and peers, and socialize.

7. Stick the landing. When it’s time to leave the internship, end it properly, and don’t overlook this part of the process. Finish as strongly as you started.

2 weeks before the end of the internship, meet with your manager and discuss outstanding projects and open action items. Ask him/her what they’d ideally want done in the limited time you have left. This shows initiative and foresight from a young intern who cares about their work and its status even after they’re gone.

1 week before the end of the internship, meet with your manager and discuss final performance feedback from the internship and potential opportunities for a full-time offer after graduation.

Pro tip: An amazing intern would make a slide deck or report that summarizes the work they did during the internship, the new owners of that work, the transition plan, the transition date, and the transition status.

1 week before the end of the internship, have a big goodbye lunch (or many mini lunches) with your cohort and colleagues. In-person interactions are far more meaningful than emails because they create more memories of your time there.

The last day of your internship, send a thank you and farewell email to the team.

Pro Tip: Instead of the cliche “thanks for a great learning experience, keep in touch!” line, try something new and specify your favorite parts of the internship such as projects, key learnings, and achievements. This does three things: 1) it highlights all the great work you’ve done in a modest and non-obnoxious way 2) it makes the others look good because they contributed something meaningful to your internship 3) it leaves everyone with a positive feeling of your departure

Before you leave the office, meet with your manager and express gratitude for the opportunity to be here. You should not leave an internship without this final parting interaction with the person who hired you.

After you leave the office, add colleagues to your LinkedIn as a way to keep in touch without being creepy.

[lovemesomesurveys]

Have you ever had FOMO (fear of missing out)? Yeah.  If so, what’s caused it? I’ve missed out on a lot these past few years alone because of my physical and mental (that more than anything). I’ve just been a hermit crab, wasting my life away, distant and withdrawn from everyone. Are you happy with your social life? I don’t have one. If not, what would you have to do to change that? The sad thing is I don’t want one? At least that’s what my brain tells me. Like, part of me wants to want one, but. I don’t know, man. I’m a mess. Have you ever hosted a party? If so, what kind of party was it? Yeah, just a couple times. I don’t like hosting, it’s too stressful.

What’s the best thing you can cook yourself? The only thing I cook is ramen. Are there a lot of graffiti around your neighbourhood? Not around my neighborhood, but in my city. What kind of a phone do you have? iPhone XR. What kinds of stuff do you have on your keychain? One key and a shitload of keychains haha. I have several on the ring with the one key, but I have so many that I had to start putting them other places like on every purse/mini backpack I own. Have you ever made something with your own hands that you’re proud of? Probably when I was a kid. If so, what is it? What is your favourite Jack Lemmon film? I don’t have one. What is your favourite David Hyde Pierce film? A Bug’s Life and Adam’s Family Values are the only films of his I’ve seen. Have you ever made your own soda? (Soda Stream doesn’t count!) Nope. Do you have a hobby that forces you out of the house? If so, what is it? No. My hobbies are all done at home and can be done in the comfort of my bed. Have you ever been part of a theater group? No. If so, did you get any lead roles or mostly supporting roles? Which IM app do you use the most? I don’t use any. I mean, I have Facebook Messenger, but I haven’t used it in a long time. What’s the most ecological thing you do? Recycling plastic bottles and cans. What’s your favourite board game? Why do you like it best? Hmm. That’s tough. I love board games. Besides English, what other languages can you speak? Just some Spanish. Besides English, what other languages can you read? Some Spanish. Do you think you could make it as a chef? Uh, no. What’s your favourite kind of tea? I rarely drink tea, but I do like Chamomile and peppermint tea. How do you like your tea? With a packet of sweetener. Girls, do you ever just say “Fuck it!” and go without a bra? Yeah. I have small breasts and wear oversized shirts, so. I didn’t used to do that (ever), but the past few years I stopped caring about a lot of things. What’s the most freeing thing you’ve ever done? Hmm. Have you ever had a restaurant dish that was made with bugs? Noooo. If not, would you even want to try one? Noooo. Do you think today’s kids are really impatient? A lot of people are. I am. Although, I bet kids today probably are worse because they’re used to being able to access things quickly and have a lot of things at their disposal. Have you ever tasted birch sap? No.

How about the young buds/shoots of spruce trees? No. Which edible flowers have you tasted? None. I’m not an adventurous eater AT ALL.  What has been your worst restaurant experience? I really haven’t had a horrible restaurant experience.

Have you ever had a life threatening condition? If so, what was it? I’ve been in a couple life threatening situations. Do you ever compare your life to somebody else’s? If so, why? Eh, it’s something we can’t help but do sometimes. <<< Yeah, I definitely find myself doing that. Like with people my age who are further along in life it seems and doing more with it. Even people younger than me who seem to have way more together than I do or ever did.  What is a food item or a dish you absolutely cannot stand? I don’t do seafood. Have you ever had a custom print done on a shirt? If so, what was it? I’ve decorated my own shirts for concerts before. What does your favourite mug look like? It’s a Peter Pan one that’s blue on the outside and yellow on the inside.

Do you ever copy surveys to Facebook Notes and share your answers? I did that sometimes years ago. I set the privacy settings so only certain people could see them, though. To be honest, I usually did ones with answers I wanted Joseph to see. :X Yeah, I was that girl who posted quotes and lyrics for certain people to see. What’s the best thing about today? It’s only 5 in the morning, not much has happened. Do you ever read other people’s survey answers? Yes, always. Everyone I follow on here writes very well and it’s always interesting to read their answers :) <<< Awww, yes same. We have a pretty cool survey community. (: Do you like daytime or night time better? Why? Nighttime, I guess. It’s when I like to do surveys, listen to ASMR, and read. What’s your highest level of education so far? I have my BA in psych believe it or not. If you could have any job in the whole world, which would you like? I don’t know. :/ Describe your ordinary day. Wake up between 2-3PM, have coffee, do my Bible study, check social medias, perhaps watch some YouTube, watch TV, eat at some point, lounge and mess around on my phone, play Animal Crossing, have dinner, watch some TV, eat ramen and watch more YouTube, scroll through Tumblr, do some surveys, listen to ASMR, read, play some more Animal Crossing, go to sleep. A lot of just lounging around, honestly. I also spend time with my family. Would you ever have a UV tattoo? Nah. What is the brand and colour name of your favourite lipstick? It’s been a long time I’ve since I’ve even worn any, but I really liked NYX. What do you like on your tortilla? Beans, Spanish rice, cheese, guac, and sour cream. Or a breakfast burrito. How about inside your pita bread? I don’t eat pita bread. What do you like in your burger? Not a big burger person, but if I have one just mayo, ketchup, mustard, pickles, and cheese. Signature sauce when available like on a Big Mac (which I know is just Thousand Island). How about on your pizza? White sauce, feta and ricotta cheese, garlic, spinach, crumbled meatballs, and pesto drizzled on top. Would you ever take part in a games club? A games club? If so, what would be your ideal club? How about a survey club, ha. We kinda have that going on here. Would you be able to give a speech on your favourite subject right now? Noooo thank you. I do not miss having to do speeches and presentations. Ugh, those were awful. It never got any easier for me. Do you work better alone or in a group? Alone. Group projects just made me stress out more, honestly. 

Which one of your friends have you known the longest? For how long? What is your favourite song right now at this very moment? I’ve been listening to the Savage remix a lot lately by Megan the Stallion ft. Beyonce.

[supernoondles]

2019

The last day of 2019 was also the day I fainted for the first time--a fitting metaphor for the year.

2019 was overall very emotionally taxing. This year was emotionally defined by falling intensely, deeply in love with someone (who is a very private person so I will try to be vague to respect that) and being in a lot of pain because of situations mostly outside of our control. There were a lot of intensely joyous moments, and a lot of intensely sad ones. Throughout it all I wish I had communicated better. I also made some bad decisions with another person I really loved and cared about that resulted in us growing apart. Do I think I grew from the experiences? For sure. Do I wish I could have come upon these realizations through a different course of action? Also yes. Am I fully healed from the experiences? Not really, but I've been getting better.

2019 was also very bad in terms of research. It was the 2nd year of my PhD. After I submitted my rotation project I basically felt stuck in the swamp of my advisors rejecting new project ideas for like literally half a year. This, combined with my high emotional volatility (partially due to starting birth control), made me really sad, unmotivated, and susceptible to self-blame. I definitely had high expectations for myself and became frustrated at my lack of progress and felt a lot of pressure from myself to get my shit together. I also felt incredibly bad after most advisor meetings and not supported by one of them to the point where I had to have a conversation with him about the lack of support (which was very scary)! Things started picking up, though, near the end of the year. I published a paper in collaboration with a former post-doc/now professor elsewhere whom I learned a lot from, and started finally building out another system. I also started mentoring an undergrad who at some point told me I helped him feel like he had something important to say and belong at Stanford for the first time and those words meant a lot to me. I think I'm continuing to refine what I value as research contributions and increasingly think about what it means to build systems that aren't used outside of the lab to satisfy the annual conference publishing cycle. I'm also starting to feel the pressure of doing work that follows a narrative rather than random projects that interest me.

Oh, I guess in terms of "program requirements," I did finish taking required classes, passed qualifying exams, and got a master's degree. But honestly those weren't hard at all nor do I think are externally valued in the larger research community, so I don't really celebrate them as accomplishments beyond surface level.

In 2019 I saw two different therapists. The first one was awful, I think directly influenced some of my bad decisions, and also didn't respect my gender identity??? The second one is a lot better and I'm grateful to see her, even if 90% of our sessions are just talking about my relationship (romantic/advisor) issues, which is something I want to move away from in the future. But I also feel incredibly privileged when relationship issues are the primary stressors in my life--I am grateful I feel equipped to handle other crap, like deadlines, and don't have to worry about my own health.

Those were the main things that have colored this year. We'll now move into the section of this post where I go through my photos to jog my memory of other events.

New years started a tradition of getting dim sum with Jasper, Matthew, and Michelle dear to my heart. My high school friend was also visiting and we all attended a really awesome new year's eve party. I was also going on a lot of dates and having a lot of good sex, which made me really happy, and at the same time crying all the time at work. In February I received probably the best gift anyone has ever given me and saw Panic! at the Disco, which I said in an end of the year group meeting was a good memory of my year (it was, to relive my scene days!). In March I roadtripped both to Marin (which I had never to been before, despite all my years in the bay) and LA for Wondercon; it was nice to both see high school friends and go on a trip with the boo. In April I went on a hike with my office which was probably the start of us all becoming closer (we are the social office in the wing now, which I take pride in! Also we draw a lot of Pokemon which warms my heart). In May I went to CHI in Glasgow and then to Paris afterward, and the entire experience was very weird and bad and also too many flights were canceled and/or missed and I vowed to not return to Europe for a while, but man do I love the noodles at Trois Fois plus de Piment. In June we hosted a double apartment party with my downstairs neighbors (side note: I am really appreciative of the place I live in, for the community, convenience, and large-ass space and will be really sad to be kicked out fall 2020) and I started a friendship important to me. I cat-sat for my advisor (the one who doesn't make me feel bad) twice. I went to Redwood State Park with my family and hosted a summer solstice celebration. Over the summer a friend I met in Paris back in 2017 moved in with me. I had a much needed escape from the bay to Seattle where I was reminded how abundant the world can be. I also went to Tahoe to celebrate my parents' anniversary, and really liked stumbling upon a smaller lake with a cheap boat rental. Then I became FOMO about the highly competitive Bay Area camping and did a last minute walk-in at Redwood Basin in Santa Cruz, which made me realize that I don't actually love camping (but was nice nonetheless). I ate an expensive meal at Commonwealth before they closed. For my birthday we made a friendship quilt and I served my favorite dish of cumin lamb but it was also 90 degrees in my apartment (I felt really bad and bought two fans afterwards). I started buying many cartoon frog plush after being gifted a $3.99 on sale Safeway frog (called Baby!). I went on Tinder dates (one of which was at a quaker yard sale marketed as Harvest Festival where I got a 1970s Kermit puppet for like $2) that largely went nowhere. My high school friend visited and we were both sad about break ups. I did Inktober before I went to New Orleans for a conference on Bourbon St where everything felt like it was coated in a sticky film of alcohol. I almost missed my flight home because I fell asleep in a sculpture garden but I had the most amazing Uber driver who snaked his way through traffic (oh and the flight was delayed by like 3 hours). I went to kind of embarrassing haunted houses and pumpkin patches over Halloween, but also had the most incredible bowl of ramen at Mensho. My whole office dressed up as Zootopia characters which warmed my furry heart. I spent like $120 on a Pokemon shirt. I started playing Arkham Horror and rekindled another friendship important to me. In November went on a road trip to Big Sur because again, I had to escape it all. For Christmas Eve dinner I roasted a duck for the first time (which was delicious). Shortly after I waited in line for 2 hours for a rollercoaster at Great America, which taught me the value of buying a fast pass because at this point in my life that money is worth it, and then waited 2 hours in line at the DMV to get a RealID (I had made an appointment, which was the fast pass).

Okay, now we move to the hobby section!

I got really into sewing in 2019, having received a sewing machine last Christmas. I made a Judy Hopps (which I wore to CrunchyRoll Expo) and Korok cosplay (Fanime), several unsuccessful garments, a crab bean bag, a dice bag, a fanny pack, and put hearts nipples on a jumpsuit.

Shows! I think I went to way fewer shows this year. The ones I can remember are Elephant Gym, Thom Yorke the night before I had an 8am flight, Carly Rae Jepsen over pride weekend (also, she is my #1 artist of the year, which makes a lot of sense given my emotional space), Mitski at Stern Grove, Capitol Hill Bloc Party (which was super lame, except for Lizzo, where I cried), and the National (which was a fucking surreal experience as they played on Stanford's campus, I was the only one within earshot of myself who knew the words to Crybaby Geeks, and then the white catalog moms came up to me after to thank me for singing the song).

I also started playing my own music! I started playing viola again for the first time in 7 years (lol) in both pop-up concerts with the Awesome Orchestra (one in Golden Gate Park, one at the Exploratorium) and a string quartet through my school. Sometimes I am filled with joy and delight. Other times interpersonal tensions run high and also I am very bad at being in tune. It's life.

Media! I really liked Mob Psycho 100 Season 2 and Beastars. I feel like those were the only notable anime I watched this year? I saw the Farewell three times--first in Seattle where I sobbed for like 1 hour after the movie, the second time with my parents, and the third where Awkwafina was present for a Q&A. I thought Parasite was incredible and Promare was OK. I have spent an unfortunately large amount of my time playing Pokemon Masters. I finally beat BOTW and completed my Pokedex in Shield like 2 weeks after getting the game.

Resolutions! In my draft of my 2018 end of year post (which I never polished and posted, sorry), I said my resolutions were 1. come out to my parents 2. draw enough to table at an anime con 3. be disciplined about paper reading and have a doc. I did none of these things!!! However, for 1, I feel like I am well equipped to have this conversation but am waiting for my sibling to do it first out of respect. 2 was just bad. I barely drew this year except for gifts. 3 was okay--I did have a large doc in the beginning of the year when I was looking for ideas, but as time went on I abandoned it (I also stopped reading papers, which I don't think you're supposed to do as a grad student...)

My resolutions this year are phrased as intentions (-(c) Matthew). They span several categories. Relationships: I want to open myself to and actively seek experiences of love, because I miss that. That being said, I will only date someone if 1. they have their life together 2. they love themselves and 3. they challenge me to grow. (I do think you can experience love without dating; the thing I'm after is love in an expansive sense.) Work: I want to do enough work so I don't feel guilty about not doing enough work, and also not berate myself for taking a long time to do things. Hobbies: I want to sew at least one thing a month. Chinese: I want to improve my Chinese, especially pronunciation.

Having written this 20 days into 2020, it's not been so bad so far. But I was also really happy in the beginning of 2019. Here's to no global maxima, a monotonically increasing year!

[tyccommunication]

5 tricks the PR companies use to get media coverage

People don’t buy products and services; they buy relations, magic and stories – and PR is all about telling stories that strike a nerve with the people and create mobilization. John D. Rockefeller said, “Next to doing the right thing, the most important thing is to let people know that you’re doing the right thing. This is where PR companies come through. They take the message from their client, wrap it in a wonderful story and get it across to the target audience. Here are 5 tips that PR companies use to deliver successful stories.

Writing Press Releases

One of the best ways of branding is to write press releases and then get the reputed media portals to publish them. Obviously, you cannot straight away advertise about your client. There has to be something of value for the reader in the press release. This is why many PR companies in Delhi hire writers who are excellent at writing press releases that get picked up by the media portals solely on their merit.

Guest Posting

The world out there is always hungry for expert advice on a myriad of topics. PR firms in Delhi and other metro cities in the country capitalize on this and indulge in guest posting. Popular media portals out there have a loyal reader base, and if you post something of value there, it helps you establish yourself as an expert in the field and lends credibility to your work. Naturally, the articles that the PR companies post on these media portals are posted under client’s name. This is a great tool that many PR agencies use for branding.

Newsjacking

No matter how good you are at delivering your products and services, you cannot straight out say so. If you do, such kind of a story wouldn’t get much coverage and those who read it will have a hard time taking you on your word. A good way, therefore, to establish your presence in the market is newsjacking. This is a means of indirect advertising. As a PR firm, you have to look for the trends and stories that are striking a chord with the people. You then try to create a story for your client around that trend to make it more interesting for the people.

Capitalizing on FOMO

FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) is an actual thing. No editor wants to be in a place where his is the only publication that didn’t missed out on a viral opportunity. Pulling off this kind of a stunt requires some capital investment, but when it works, it does wonders. For example, the dollar shave club paid for a promotion and got nearly 4 million views. Once the story became viral, every publication wanted a piece of it, and because of that the video now boasts a staggering 24 million views. Therefore, FOMO strategy works, given that the PR agency you’ve hired knows what it’s doing.

Mainstream media isn’t the only way

A decade ago, mainstream media was perhaps the only option in order to get your brand in the eyes of the public. But things have changed over the years and PR companies have changed their strategies accordingly. This is the age of influencers and mini-celebrities and their audiences are often much more loyal as compared to those of mainstream media portals. By reaching out to these people, brand promotion can be done in a much cheaper and more efficient manner.

[thesevillereport]

In Focus: Wall St. Vs. Main St.

It is getting spooky out here. Whether you're an investor or not, you've likely felt it, the divide between Main Street and Wall Street. Without a doubt the two are on two different plains, analyzing and assessing the situation through two different sets of glasses, and that's a bit scary to me, and it should be to you no matter what side of this you find yourself on.

Since hitting its coronavirus low on March 23, 2020 the Dow has increased by 30%. A 30% increased based on very little good news. The major investors are celebrating, but I'm not exactly sure what we're celebrating.

There is still no cure for COVID-19, and the closest thing we have for a treatment is Gilead Sciences (GILD) drug remdesivir, which has been approved for emergency use in the U.S.  But with no cure and a treatment still in the works, states have begun to reopen. Wall Street has taken the states reopening as an all-clear sign to jump back into the markets. The rising markets could be another financial disaster waiting to happen.

As I expected places like New York have stabilized, while middle America is starting to get hit with rising coronavirus cases. Georgia has seen an increase in COVID-19 cases since reopening. North Carolina saw 639 new cases on May 6, 2020, the most ever, but the state is still reopening. Sadly, it appears states have locked themselves into a reopening schedule, with no regard for new information medical or otherwise.  

But why did I expect this? In New York City, there are a large number of people who were not born and raised in New York City. The city is filled with transplants, some of middle America's best and brightest minds, who all converge on the city to chase the dollar. But in a time of crisis, and a city going into lock down, I expected those bright minds who had exposure to the virus to flee the city and head back to middle America, exposing a new set of people to the virus. But now I wonder, when New York reopens, and those people head back to the city that has stabilized, do we see a new rise in cases in NYC?

Don't Miss The RallySome have suggested FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) as the reason behind the recent market rally. Investors are putting money into the markets because they are fearful of missing out on the rally back to all time highs. There was a lot of money lost by money managers and others that took their cues from the U.S. administration, and played the coronavirus like a flu. Those firms lost a lot of money, very quickly, and they are eager to make it back.

Also, the everyday investors, especially those that read this column, understand that the seeds of fortune are planted during a crisis. With that philosophy it's best to buy when everyone is fearful. I'll admit, I've been nibbling here and there, buying stocks on the way down and on the way up, but this rally has really thrown me for a loop.

Let's examine one of my largest positions, Apple (AAPL), and what has happened to that stock over the past 6 month. The stock rallied in late 2019 and into 2020, making a pre-coronavirus all-time high of $327 per share. The reason behind the rally was 5G in iPhones. I've stated several times before that it was a weak investment theory, and didn't warrant a $327 stock price. As travel bans and shelter-in-place orders hit, Apple's stock traded down to $224 per share on March 23, 2020. On May 8, 2020 the stock closed at $310 per share, which is mind blowing.

The country is experiencing high levels of unemployment. 20 million Americans lost their jobs in April. Food banks are finding it harder to secure food. The U.S. meat industry is facing a major disruption. Businesses big and small are about to go under, some of the names we've known for as long as we've been alive may go under for good, and investors think people are going to make buying the next iPhone a priority? What am I missing?

I've been told that I'm missing the changing economic data. That gasoline demand bottomed the week ending April 10, and since then has been climbing back up. That passenger screenings at airports are now double what they were during the lows in April, and that mortgage purchase applications have increased 40% since mid-March.

While I've seen the data, I've been surprised by most of it, except the demand in gasoline rising. People have a need to move, I assumed that with the slightest lift of restrictions people would go everywhere they could. But a rise in mortgage applications is surprising. To see the data that so many American's feel confident enough in their jobs and ability to earn that they are back to buying houses definitely caught me off guard. The same with airline travel. While I did expect airlines were going to provide great deals to fly, to see that people are ready to sit next to strangers in a metal tube of recycled air as we still battle the coronavirus nationally and internationally, again caught me off guard.

I've had to ask myself was I caught off guard because of the rapidly rising markets or because the market didn't double bottom when I expected them to? I'd have to say I'm more caught off guard by the rapidly rising markets. If the markets never retested the lows of March, but were up single digits or even10% from March 23, I could find some, but not a lot to justify those types of gains. I can't find any justification for a 30% gain in the Dow.

There is the belief that the Fed will save everything, which is likely what's driving the positive changes in some economic data, but will the Fed's moves provide the average 9-to-5er with enough confidence in the economy to buy the next iPhone or that big screen TV on Black Friday? I don't think so. I still remember when I received my stimulus check from the Bush Administration, I clung to it for dear life. At the rate I had witnessed people close to me lose their jobs I tried to hold onto every dollar coming in, I even started drinking well gin, ugh.

What is scary about this current situation is this current administration, which has used the stock market as its report card. Pre-coronavirus crisis, and during a time of 50 year lows in unemployment, and the stock market reaching all-time highs, the administration pressured the Fed to lower rates in order to keep the stock market rolling, not because it was in the best interest of the average American.  

With the stock market skyrocketing off those March lows, the current administration may mistake the stock market being good for the country being good, and that could be a disaster for us all, investors and non-investors alike.

There is still some bad $h!t coming. Over a month ago I discussed the change in commercial real estate that would occur if working at home turned out to be efficient for companies (same level of productivity while not in the office), and big companies decided to not renew leases of large work spaces. From the news this week, I was onto something. Every day of the past week I read or watched a report about the big hit that could hit commercial real estate as more companies move to at-home work forces. If commercial real estate takes a hit, how many other industries feel the pain?

What Should Investors Do?

Investors should continue to nibble at the markets, buying good companies at value prices when they can. Investors should avoid going all in on any one name. If you're sitting on $5,000, going all in on Disney because it's down isn't the wisest move. Break that investment up, buy some Disney now and some later. Investors should also have an exit strategy. Because we're in what feels like a silly season, we're seeing stock prices rise to levels that their fundamentals do not warrant, take advantage of this and be prepared to sell and get out while the getting is good.

What Should Non-Investors Do?

Non-investors should do everything the investors were instructed to do. The country isn't out of the woods, but the stock market is rising. The president and his administration puts the stock market over almost everything. The investor is in favor, so become one as soon as possible and reap the rewards of taxpayer bailouts, dividend payments, and share buybacks that increase your ownership stake.

Stay safe, invest with your head and not over it.