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wheredemdokis · 4 years ago

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[tastebreaker review] Law School (no spoilers)

Sometimes, I wish I could have a shrine for all the cerebral media that I consumed, because it definitely is my favourite archetype. Death Note was a masterpiece that I hungrily binged in one day - similarly with Psycho Pass (though I haven't watched the second season due to most of the reviews I have read). This extend well into non-anime media for me - State of Play (with Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck and Rachel McAdams) remains one of my favourite movies, Inception and, well, honestly anything by Christopher Nolan, and I have recently began watching The Matrix as well.

And so, the thirst for real mystery and brain games was quenched when I started watching Law School, with Kim Myung-min, Kim Beom and Ryu Hye-young, directed by Kim Suk-yoon. Needless to say, throughout the whole trip, I was hooked, counting down days until the next episode came... but towards the end - an unpopular opinion - I was actually quite disappointed.

And so, before you start your cross-examination, allow me to present my findings first.

- How did I start watching this?

My friend and I were looking around for something to binge on Netflix and forget about COVID-19. This series popped up, and the moment I read the title, my sapiosexual senses were tingled.

- And how was it?

Very good!... until the ending came. ;w;

- Genres & overarching themes?

Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Psychological

Overarching themes: murder mystery, law vs justice, intelligence (as in, the characters are all really smart hahah)

- Plot: 4/5

It could have been a high four, near five if it wasn't for the ending, frankly. The first episode started out with Professor Seo Byung-ju of Hankuk Law School dead, and the spotlight shines on Professor Yang Jong-hoon (the man in the poster above), the first suspect. But was it really him? From then, the mystery unfolds as our favourite study group (who shall be very well elaborated on later in this review) launches itself into investigation for true justice.

The series started out extremely strong in my opinion, with its first few episodes filled with twists and sub-plots that were waiting to get wrapped up. Every episode just leaves you gripping on the sides of your seat in suspense. It really makes you doubt every single person that appeared on-screen and watch out for anything that happens - the show uses the Chekhov's Gun trope really well. As the knots become unravelled, we gain more depth into the characters. However, as we near the end - about two-three episodes for me - the show started to lose its thrust, falling into a comfortable stereotype that made things rather frustrating.

One of the major advantages of Law School, in my opinion, is its ability to twist and turn everything. It prompts the viewers to realize that when the case is really examined in a whole different angle, with more and more evidence coming to light, everything changes. The use of different suspects' stories being told in each episode is a pleasure to watch - the viewers feel like an omniscient judge, overseeing the motives and evidence to draw out a conclusion for themselves on who might be the murderer. The series prompts the viewers to think, which is a trend I really like. It's also interesting to question why characters do certain things they do. Professor Yang Jong-hoon (my favourite character!), for example, is a very... chaotic (haha) character, who keeps on surprising people with his actions - yet, his actions are all elaborate executions of his strategy, a whole plan that he has concocted which accounted for multiple steps ahead, thanks to his extremely sharp vision of what could happen. Thus, it is extremely satisfying when everything falls into place as Yangcrates (a nickname he earned due to his Socratic teaching) explains everything that led up to a particular tense moment where the truth was unveiled.

Yet... this very trope had its downfall near the end. The murderer was so heavily shadowed on in the beginning that the viewers would have expected the murderer to be someone else completely unexpected, a mastermind that pulled the strings behind all the proceedings. Yet, the murderer and the mastermind behind the murder were someone so... I dare say, unimpressive. I mean, this particular 'mastermind' behind the murder fell into so many traps! The murderer was definitely my major disappointment - the villain was a weak character, an unsatisfying antagonist that the intelligent heroes, once having figured who he/she is, didn't even break a sweat to bring to light. The last, final twist that was supposed to be the most glamorous of them all, completely knocking the viewers off their feet, fell completely flat.

Secondly, whilst having a lot of sub-plots still remains a favourite trope of mine as I'd expect everything to wrap up nicely near the end... well, it didn't. Whilst most sub-plots were hastily answered, there was one particular sub-plot which was just left completely unaddressed (for those who have watched it, it's about J****s), and unless they're hinting at a second season where this would be further elaborated on, this was a dead-end sub-plot, a plot with no elaboration or continuation whatsoever.

Overall, the plot was breathtaking in the beginning. It lost momentum very near the end, and wrapped everything up with an anticlimactic last episode.

- Characters: 4.7/5

Definitely the strongest set of characters I've seen in a Korean drama, frankly. All characters were so well utilised, each having their own quirks and flaws which were delightful to watch. Everyone was so, so intelligent, that they honestly were the main fuel to the series, our main stars.

Allow me to first start off with my favourite character, Professor Yang Jong-hoon. Stoic, yet with an extremely savage side that he does not hesitate to show to anyone of any ranks or social standings, Yangcrates carefully plots everything, always thinks, questions, and then thinks even more. Intelligence-wise, this man is most definitely the smartest on-screen persona I've seen in the Korean drama franchise - able to see miles ahead and figure out all the answers down to their root, he is someone that definitely earns all the respect he has, from both his students and viewers alike. Personality-wise, this man is equally interesting as he is smart. With a cold exterior, Yangcrates does not take any bullshit (cue a particularly funny water spitting scene), and does not hold back harsh words to point it out. Yet, underneath this cold exterior is a burning desire to find the absolute truth, which would in turn bring justice to ones who have been wronged (refer to a particular lecture-like speech he made in episode 10), and a passion for teaching his students. He secretly cares for his students a lot, and expresses it in his own way.

Next, our favourite study group - a group of capable, enticing individuals. Firstly, we have Han Joon-hwi, a complex character that always pursues justice and fairness. His intelligence shines through with the way he, firstly, is able to take advantage of his sharp understanding of law into the case, and his careful processing of the evidence he gathers during investigation. Whilst he always keeps a cold head when needed, he has an equally warm heart, genuinely caring for wronged and innocent people. His expressions were all extremely raw and did not feel fake at all - really, props to his actor. More on this later.

Then, we have the two girls - Kang Sol A and Kang Sol B. Don't be fooled by their names - they are very much polar opposites. Whilst Kang Sol A is excitable and wears her heart on her sleeve (sometimes a bit too much), Kang Sol B always keeps a cool head, sometimes taking it to the extreme. I do admit that if I had to pick out of the two, though I love both of them very, very much, I'd probably lean a bit more towards Kang Sol A - even though she definitely gets on my nerves sometimes because of her overload of emotions that could be disruptive, she has her frequent bouts of creativity and "a-ha!" moments that display her underrated intelligence (I'm always soft for underdogs that are underestimated by everyone, only to turn the table on them later). She is also an extremely loyal friend and a very generous individual that isn't afraid to place herself in danger just to help others - overall, a very warm person. Kang Sol B, on the other hand - perhaps due to her family environment - does not really taking other people's emotions into consideration, though I really, really admire her for her intelligence, her ability to always keep a calm head (making her the blue counterpart to Kang Sol A's red), as well as her straightforwardness which has proven many times to be necessary to push the case forward. She does have a soft spot, though - a very adorable one at that. These two make an extremely adorable pair of friends.

My favourite student of the study group must be Seo Ji-ho. I'd say he's a less intimidating version of Kang Sol B hahah - cool and composed, Ji-ho is a reliable member who always pursues logic and reason first. He is also driven to achieve his goal and, like Joon-hwi, utilizes his deep understanding about law very well to solve his own case, his sub-plot. Though his sub-plot eventually was wrapped up as an open ending, it was a nice sub-plot to watch. Not to mention his dynamic with Joon-hwi is very adorable as well - the two really balance each other out.

Other students also have their own quirks and flaws, but for the sake of this review's length, I won't elaborate them as much - but I will say they are all a delight to watch, adding their own personal elements to the overall study group. I will definitely miss this set of characters so, so much. ;-;

- Acting: 4.4/5

Frankly, perhaps because of some K-drama series I have watched, I had a problem with acting in some K-drama series - the actors and actresses did not feel genuine, and they either overacted, pushing their expressions to the extreme, or underacted, simply being way too... stiff (some of my personal favourite actors and actresses so far are Kim Seon-ho, whose theatrical experiences probably really helped with his very natural acting, Jo Jung-seok, and Kim Hye-yoon, an actress who impressed me with both of her most popular series - hope to see her versatility shine through with more diverse roles though). This series, however, is a definite favourite of mine in terms of acting. Firstly, Kim Myung-min is a veteran actor that deserves so much respect - he basically morphed into Yangcrates. I absolutely loved the way he delivered his dialogues - very long ones! - without even so much as taking a breath in between - it was smooth and the flow was excellent.

Kim Beom also became one of my favourite actors after this series - the way he handled his role was so good, his expressions, actions, everything. I noticed that he's very good with his eyes, if that's the right way to put it - he is very good at displaying emotions with them, all emotions ranging from sadness to adoration (towards a particular someone *wink*). It's a top-notch skill, really, and I'm glad to have seen him on-screen. Similarly, Ryu Hye-young impressed me so, so much that I shall add her to my list of favourite actresses as well - I can't spoil, but she is really able at... altering her vibes, yes. She seems to have studied her character really carefully too, being able to bring all Sol A's quirks to real life. Other actors and actresses were amazing, but for me, these three definitely shone.

- Doki moments?

Ah. Definitely some between Sol A and Joon-hwi, as a lot of other people have commented. From the way they tease each other to the way he cares about her every little thing, the way he stares at her, the way his whole demeanor just changes around her and the way she unknowingly influences him so much - they do balance each other out really well, Joonhwi being the cool to Sol A's warm. I do find myself thinking Sol B and Ji-ho would be rather compatible as well (also, them being study rivals in high school? My rivals-to-lovers side is ready).

- Enjoyment: 4/5

Again, could have been higher if it wasn't for the ending! But yes, overall, a whole trip worth embarking on.

- Overall: 4.2/5

Really, could have been higher... but yes, still an excellent show. I just hope they could have had more episodes to really wrap everything up nicely and maybe throw us one final, absolutely ground-breaking twist.

- Watch it or neh?

Yes, please do watch it! And let me know how it goes, too. ;3

#jtbc law school #law school kdrama #kdrama review #kdrama recommendations #kang sol a #han joon hwi #solhwi #kim beom #ryu hye young #yangcrates #kim myung min #kdrama #kdramanetwork #mystery thriller #crime thriller #psychological #mystery series #school life

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ziracona · 5 years ago

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Ohmygod I want like all of ur headcanons they're all so good. Oml. Would it be okay if I settled on meg headcanons or Dwight & Jake hcs? God you write them so well it makes me so happy

Thank you so much! <3 I know you asked this like this morning, and sorry about that, but I had a lot of fun answering it. Ended up doing Meg. I’m not sure if you want general, or post-ILM so I just kinda did some of both? And got carreid away, haha, it’s gonna go mostly under a read more. :’-)

Meg’s mom did a great job taking care of her growing up. Meg had a hard time making and keeping friends, because she’s full of energy and passion and also very ADHD, so she has a big personality and will talk all the time about what she loves and is a whole lot (in a good way). But a lot of people growing up did not enjoy that about her. Meg wasn’t great at shutting up and acting or lying or falling into a role to get kids at her school to like her, and also just didn’t understand why the rest of them would do that, and didn’t mesh well. With each time she was not accepted, she got a little bit more bristly and ready to defend herself, and it kind of became a self-fulfilling prophecy. It wasn’t like she never had any friends, but she never had any close ones, and a lot of the ones she did have kind of dicked her over for someone else, or moved on, and that was rough. Plus, her dad left her when she was a baby, she was poor, she was loud, and she was Bi. This gave kids a whole lot to bully her for. And they sure did.

Meg’s a fighter, though, and didn’t take shit—she got into trouble a lot, and was mad, because (as y’all who’ve been in the American education system at least know) the faculty never cared if she’d shoved someone because they called her a slur, or said something shitty about her mom, or that she’d punched someone because they’d followed her out of school to say nasty things about her, or that someone else had shoved her, or poured something on her book, or provoked her first. Didn’t even care if it had been four on one, or a guy had come up and fake asked her out to make fun of her in front of his friends—didn’t care about any of what was being done to her, or that she’d just been defending herself. The worst they ever did was talk to the other students, and that just made them want revenge and didn’t stop jack shit. Because of that, she really started to resent faculty and got a huge rebellious streak. She used to get in trouble all the time, before joining track, at her mom’s suggestion. Then, finally, really for the first time ever, even if she didn’t have friends, she had a pack, and that was something. Team didn’t have to like her, they still worked together so they had some kind of a bond and couldn’t just flip, and their track teacher would care if things got nasty, because it lowered performance. Plus, she had natural talent, and a bunch of energy, so it was an ideal fit.

Childhood was all still pretty damn rough though. I wouldn’t say she was miserable all the time or anything, but she was constantly tired of it all. There were some good parts, though. And she had some casual friends she was pretty chill with. Even a kind of almost girlfriend her last two semesters (although that was not exactly the world’s most stable relationship either. Still, not all bad.) While she wasn’t ever tight with them, there were several people at school who thought she was really cool too, because not only would Meg always defend herself, she also was ready in a heartbeat to throw hands for anyone—especially someone weaker or smaller than herself—she saw getting shit from classmates. She was a roaming vigilante of school hall fury by 10th grade, and had earned a certain amount of respect and fear, and a pile of detentions and reprimands, and parent-teacher conferences where her mom chewed out teachers and staff for ignoring the parts of all this where her daughter was getting bullied. Meg used to actually love parent-teacher time, because she got to watch her mom rip people she hated apart, and it filled her with glee to have somebody else fight for her.

Even with school all sucking, Meg had a pretty good childhood basically exclusively because of her mom. Her mom had to raise a kid as a single parent when Meg’s dad abandoned them while Meg was still a baby, and it wasn’t easy. She worked full time when Meg was little as a postal worker. That was unsustainable, though, with how life was going and her wanting and needing to actually be physically present in her kid’s life, so she ended up finding employ as a ghostwriter, and switching to that. It was almost exclusively terrible and ridiculous romances she would get a fraction of the pay and no credit for when published, but Rachel Thomas found a way to make that funny and enjoyable both to herself, and her curious little daughter who would waddle up to her and ask all the time what Mommy was doing and to hear her stories. She would pick safe bits and read them as silly and funny as possible to amuse Meg and feel okay about what she was spending all her time on, and it worked. It made the work enjoyable, when otherwise it would have felt tiring and worthless. Rachel got to be happy with it instead.

She always worked super hard to give Meg a good life, even with very limited resources. She taught herself how to do things like use pencil dust to check for fingerprints when Meg was super into Nancy Drew books as a kid, and how to pick locks, and then taught them to Meg. Meg loved growing up in that house, because her mom was the best. She was always ready to hear about whatever fascinating new thing Meg had discovered, or to pick up a toy sword and go have an epic battle in the backyard as people they’d made up to be. She passed on a love of movies and music and dancing, too, and because she knew that life was rough for Meg, even as a young child, Rachel always went out of her way to make holidays huge productions. Got one really cool present that always had to do with whatever story Meg was the most into usually, and a lot of fun little ones to go with it, so she could open a whole pile of gifts even though the only one who was ever there to give her any presents was her mom. Meg kinda just grew up thinking of holidays like that because of her, and did as big productions for her mom too (to the best of her age-relative ability).

It was super hard on Meg when her mom got sick. I mean, I think it would be on anyone (who had a positive relationship with the parent, or probably even a neutral one), but she took it really hard. She’d been super excited about finally getting out of her hometown and going to college on a track scholarship she’d worked incredibly hard for, but then this had happened, and of course she’d come back to look after her mom. It was really awful though. She wasn’t sure if her mom would survive. At first, the situation had been like, go to college, or go home to help your mom get better, but she realized after a little while with a sinking feeling that it was starting to look like something else. Like give up on your one chance at being able to pay for college, or come home to watch your mom wither away and die while you can’t do a fucking thing to stop it. Her mom had always been a strong and fun and full of life person, so much like Meg herself, in a lot of ways, and she got sick so fast, and so bad. They even looked a lot alike—not just in biological features, but they kind of dressed similarly by nature, and Meg’s mom had also always kept her bright red hair long and liked it like that. Sometime when Meg was little, she’d called her mom’s hair a “fire mane,” older Meg could only assume because she’d been reading picture books about horses, and her mom had loved that and teasingly called it that forever after. The second night after she started chemo that her hair started to fall out, Meg got home to see her shaving her head in the bathroom, because it had been coming out in clumps she hadn’t been able to stand the way that felt. Meg felt heartbroken, and went over to join her and took the scissors on the sink and started to cut hers off too in solidarity, but her mom stopped her and begged her not to. Meg cried and told her she wanted to do it, and her mom comforted her and kissed her on the forehead and asked her to please keep it for her, so that when she got better, she could look at Meg’s as inspiration for what she wanted to get back to. Meg finally agreed, but it was really hard. Harder still to watch her getting weaker and weaker until she just couldn’t do any of the things she used to. And then one day her mom’s doctor had come back and told them he was sorry, but that treatment was failing. She could try a few experimental avenues, and there were people to contact, she could keep trying this in case there was a change, but that she probably only had another year at most to life.

It had been beyond devastating. Meg hadn’t known what to say. Or how to think or cope. She’d just walked out of the hospital feeling shellshocked. And when they’d gotten back in the car, her mom had asked her to pull over at a Wendy’s, and bought them both frostys, and Meg went through the motions, and parked in the lot. And when they were there, her mom had started to eat hers slowly with a spoon, and looked her in the eyes and said, “Don’t worry, Meg. I’ll get better. I promise.”

And Meg had looked up and seen she meant it somehow, even with what they’d just heard. And her mom had said, “You know me. I’m a fighter.” and that had been true, so Meg had sniffed and nodded and said, “Me too. We’ll try all the options.”

Her mom smiled at her and they ate their one dollar treats and went home to research, but Meg had still kind of believed it, because she always believed her mom. She’d had hope then, that she might not die. Even as the weeks went on and she got sicker. And then Meg went for the one jog she didn’t come back from.

Meg and Dwight were the first two to really band together. They survived a trial together and made it to the same fire, and Dwight just unloaded like a whole plan to start systematically picking up other people they met, and theorizing about leaving with them to make it to the same fire, and banding together to survive better, and Meg was kinda ‘no thoughts—head empty’ because she was exhausted from trying to outmaneuver the Nurse, and he was talking so fast and she hadn’t listened at all to the first few lines and now she was playing catchup, but she’d been like, “Oh. Worm I guess?” and agreed. Meg kinda thought Dwight was a pushy little dumbass, and he kinda was, but she also kinda liked him, and waaay faster than Jake did. Meg’s an extremely loyal person, so even though unhooking her and helping her out, or giving her a tool he knew she was better with than he was was just good strategy, Meg’s heart went “Friend saved me” and kinda kept it, so she didn’t mind “New friend is also annoying and full of himself and kind of a douche.” I don’t think she really noticed his change in behavior at first. Just one day like, a month after he’d started working hard to be less of an ass, she was sorting a new toolbox post-trial, and he paused by her and was like, “Hey! Great job in the trial today. Sorry I messed up your escape during that chase—I misjudged how fast he was and thought you’d have time to hide. You really saved us with that last-second chainsaw dodge getting the door open. –Oh here, I found these in a box and I’m still pretty shit at flashlights, but I saved them for you,” and gave her some batteries, and she was just like, “Cool. Thanks. And it’s fine—I almost tripped right over Claudette’s hiding spot yesterday.” and then when he was like halfway back to the fire she was just like WAIT A SECOND and sat bolt upright and stared at him and was like, Didn’t you used to be kind of pretentious and inconsiderate? When did this change??? And was never totally sure, but was pretty jazzed about it. She also remembers way less well than Jake, Ace, or Claudette that Dwight did used to be a loser. If someone else told her that she’d be like, “Oh yeah…huh.” but she’d never really think of it on her own.

This is kind of more a Dwight one than a Meg one, but one of the specific events that was a personal changing point for Dwight was back when it was just the OG four, before even Ace had joined, they had a hard trial with Trapper and Meg was really down. Everyone passed out before Dwight, because he was trying to plan and stayed up, and he noticed Meg having a nightmare and after a minute woke her up because she looked so scared, and she thanked him and then was quiet and just sat there, looking miserable. After about ten minutes he decided to ask if he could do anything to help, and she said she was afraid to go back to sleep, because she thought she might just pick up where she’d left off, and then hesitantly asked him if it was okay if she came over by him, because she thought it might help. He was super surprised, but said yes, and she came over and lay down beside him and leaned on his chest fell asleep. And it felt really nice that someone would seek him out for comfort, and trust him to watch over them. The first time they stayed at the same fire, she’d given him a look and said, “Promise not to come over here while I’m out if I take a nap?” and warned him she was a light sleeper, but she hadn’t even jokingly reminded him of anything like that now. She just trusted him. It made him want to be worthy of that and a lot more.

[ I want to do more bc I’m super into Meg rn, but my word count is shooting me dirty looks so ima do 2 real short post-ILM Meg and call it a night—happy to do more or your Jake-Dwight sometime though. <3 ]

Tapp helps Meg take courses and study up, and gets her certified as a PI, and she actually does really love it. They work cases for cheap for people who need help, and do it together, and it’s very rewarding. That’s not the most sustainable full-time job, but Tapp’s got a little money saved, and David’s…David. Plus, collectors will pay weird money for realm merch sometimes, and Min is…scarily. Worryingly good, even, at finding those people to sell to. So she also has a lot of time to do other things. She can’t exactly do track like she did, but she does long-distance runs for charity, and has fun, and gets to go visit her friends all the time. She loves being able to say she actually is a private detective, and feels like she’s come full circle from being the little her who loved Encyclopedia Brown and Nancy Drew and Agatha Christie books so much. She’s able to help her mom, too, so her mom is able to actually spend time writing the kinds of things she’d like to, for once, and Meg’s super happy for her and still spends a bunch of time with her, often her and Susie, who her mom took to really fast, together. Meg loves to ambush Susie with gifts when she’s working on stuff and make surprise visits to drop off a drink or something, and thrives on the embarrassed-happy Megggg look on her face if she pulls off flirting in public just right. Sometimes Susie will come with her and Tapp when they’re working to try to help, or just to spend time, especially for the like, long research parts of the job. Meg also makes sure they see Michael Tapp a lot, and that Tapp takes time off to do fun stuff with her and his other friends. She is still definitely trying to get him with her mom. Or Jane when Jane’s there. Or her mom and Jane. Sometimes Ace is in the mix when he’s there. And it all ain’t subtle. It’s rough out there being Meg’s even vaguely parental figure. :’-)

Like Tapp promised, he and Meg get a dog. A retired K9 whose handler died a few years ago, and been retired when that happened because it was old enough it had been set to retire that year or the next, and it took the loss of its handler very hard. With its handler gone, it was open to adoption from other force members or retired ones. It was an old dog that had been alone for a long time, still missing someone dead, so sad looking. Outlived his best friend. Tapp had checked the database on impulse alone when starting to work on honoring Meg’s request, and seen it, and wanted badly to take it home. He’d been kind of nervous asking Meg about getting it though, thinking she would want something that would live longer, but she’d jumped at the chance and been really happy. The German Shepherd had been named Partner, because that had been the sense of humor his handler had, and Meg thought it was cute, to always be saying, “Come on Partner,” to a dog. He had been really sad looking when they’d gone to pick him up. Lonely in the back of a pen, nose between his paws, watching people go by, and hesitant when they’d gone inside. Quiet, all the way to the car, and the whole drive home. Just sat in a seat, looking out the window, no matter how much Meg petted him or talked him, or Tapp did, and then they’d gotten home and taken him inside, to a bed and a food bowl and water dish, and he hesitantly ate, and then started to wag his tail a little. They took him out to the yard after to play and he finally got it, and it was like seeing a totally different animal. He got excited, and barked for the first time, and ran around pretty fast for an old dog and would come press his forehead against their legs while wagging his tail, like he was hugging them, in a way Meg had only seen dogs do a few times. He is now a very happy pup who likes to hop up on the couch and put his head in people’s laps and watch them lovingly while they watch tv, and sometimes puts the old skills to good use if he’s in the mood to walk around and lend aid to a case.

#ask #anonymous #ilm spoilers #in living memory (fic)#in living memory #meg thomas #💙💙💙💙 thanks for the ask!#long post

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hongjooong · 5 years ago

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hi there, darling! i am doing a social experiment, can you list and tag your friends on tumblr? you can say something nice about them to spread positivity too, but it's optional! i hope you have a lovely day! ✨

Oh lmao ok I guess I can do this 😳

@chwejongho can't start this list without my best gal iri 😪 she's probably the one I speak to the most on here and we just clown together kahsja plus she's super cute and funny and pretty!!! I'm truly luck to have her! She also makes pretty gifs and love woojong very much which is always adorable to see

@choisans rachel is really sweet~ she makes pretty gifs that I'm always in awe of and we chat from time to time which is always nice plus we both love rowoon so great minds think alike!

@yeeosang dani! She's super nice and funny! Her interactions with her followers are always fun to see lmao plus her gfx are some of my favs 😣�� we don't chat too much but I like to consider us friends kahsjaid

@park-seonghwa nat is super nice too and I admire her gifs a whole lot lmao idk if were friends??? We chat sometimes so I thought putting her on this list felt right lol we interact more in asks which I enjoy anyway she's great I like seeing her on my dash!

@shwnus of course tarissa! She's not on tumblr much these days but I love talking to her!!! She's also one of my best gals and we can just chat it up about anything! She's super sweet and fun ily!

@sanbotaged also janna! She's also not on here as much but I love talking to her! She makes superb gifs 😣💞 I hope she's doing well and that she knows I miss her lahjsjad

#ok we will stop here before this gets too presumptuous #i wanted to add other people but i was thinking what if they dont think were friends???#so yeah hope this is good enough lmaoo #anon #answered

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ucflibrary · 5 years ago

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Hispanic Heritage Month, established in 1988, runs from September 15 through October 15. It recognizes and celebrates the contributions of Hispanic and Latino Americans have made to the United States. Florida in particular has a strong Hispanic legacy including the oldest inhabited city in the U.S., St. Augustine, which was founded in 1565 by the Spanish. UCF will also celebrate our new status as a Hispanic-serving institution which means more than 25% of our enrolled students identify as Hispanic.

Join the UCF Libraries as we celebrate our favorite Hispanic authors and books. Click on the link below to see the full list, descriptions, and catalog links for the featured Hispanic Heritage titles suggested by UCF Library employees. These 16 books plus many more are also on display on the 2nd (main) floor of the John C. Hitt Library next to the bank of two elevators.

Costa Rica: a global studies handbook by Meg Tyler Mitchell and Scott Pentze This work is a fascinating guide to one of Latin America's most stable and progressive nations, examining the country's development, unique features, and the challenges Costa Ricans face in the 21st century. Suggested by Sandy Avila, Research & Information Services

Cuando era puertorriqueña by Esmeralda Santiago La historia de Esmeralda Santiago comienza en la parte rural de Puerto Rico, donde sus padres y siete hermanos, en continuas luchas los unos con los otros, vivían una vida alborotada pero llena de amor y ternura. De niña, Esmeralda aprendió a apreciar cómo se come una guayaba, a distinguir la canción del coquí, a identificar los ingredientes en las morcillas y a ayudar a que el alma de un bebé muerto subiera al Cielo. Pero precisamente cuando Esmeralda parecía haberlo aprendido todo sobre su cultura, la llevaron a Nueva York, donde las reglas —y el idioma— eran no sólo diferentes, sino también desconcertantes. Cómo Esmeralda superó la adversidad, se ganó entrada a la Performing Arts High School y después continuó a Harvard, de donde se graduó con altos honores, es el relato de la tremenda trayectoria de una mujer verdaderamente extraordinaria. Suggested by Kryslynn Collazo, Scholarly Communication

El mar y tú : otros poemas by Julia de Burgos Published December 28, 1981 by Ediciones Huracan, one can feel the solace of the waves as her poem gently comforts you. Suggested by Jada Reyes, Research & Information Services

Futbolera: a history of women and sports in Latin America by Brenda Elsey and Joshua Nadel Futbolera charts the rise of physical education programs for girls, often driven by ideas of eugenics and proper motherhood, that laid the groundwork for women’s sports clubs, which began to thrive beyond the confines of school systems. It examines how women challenged both their exclusion from national pastimes and their lack of access to leisure, bodily integrity, and public space. This vibrant history also examines women’s sports through comparative case studies of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Mexico, and others. Suggested by Megan Haught, Teaching & Engagement/Research & Information Services

Hija de la fortuna by Isabel Allende Hija de la fortuna es un retrato papitante de una epoca marcada por la violencia y la codicia en la cual los protagonistas rescatan el amor, la amistad, la compasion y el valor. En esta su mas ambiciosa novel, Isabel Allende presenta un universo fascinante, poblado de entranables personajes que, como tantos otros de la autora, se quedan para siempre en la memoria y el corazon de los lectores. Suggested by Jada Reyes, Research & Information Services

Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Cordova Alex is a bruja, the most powerful witch in a generation...and she hates magic. At her Deathday celebration, Alex performs a spell to rid herself of her power. But it backfires. Her whole family vanishes into thin air, leaving her alone with Nova, a brujo boy she's not sure she can trust, but who may be Alex's only chance at saving her family. Suggested by Sara Duff, Acquisitions & Collections

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez One Hundred Years of Solitude tells the story of the rise and fall, birth and death of the mythical town of Macondo through the history of the Buenda family. Inventive, amusing, magnetic, sad, and alive with unforgettable men and women -- brimming with truth, compassion, and a lyrical magic that strikes the soul -- this novel is a masterpiece in the art of fiction. Suggested by Rachel Edford, Teaching & Engagement

Sugar, Cigars, and Revolution: the making of Cuban New York by Lisandro Pérez More than one hundred years before the Cuban Revolution of 1959 sparked an exodus that created today’s prominent Cuban American presence, Cubans were settling in New York City in what became largest community of Latin Americans in the nineteenth-century Northeast. This book brings this community to vivid life, tracing its formation and how it was shaped by both the sugar trade and the long struggle for independence from Spain. New York City’s refineries bought vast quantities of raw sugar from Cuba, ultimately creating an important center of commerce for Cuban émigrés as the island tumbled into the tumultuous decades that would close out the century and define Cuban nationhood and identity. Suggested by Megan Haught, Teaching & Engagement/Research & Information Services

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junto Diaz Oscar is a sweet but disastrously overweight ghetto nerd who—from the New Jersey home he shares with his old world mother and rebellious sister—dreams of becoming the Dominican J.R.R. Tolkien and, most of all, finding love. But Oscar may never get what he wants. Blame the fukú—a curse that has haunted Oscar’s family for generations, following them on their epic journey from Santo Domingo to the USA.

Suggested by Kryslynn Collazo, Scholarly Communication

The Costa Rica Reader: history, culture, politics edited by Steven Palmer and Iván Molina This essential introduction to Costa Rica includes more than fifty texts related to the country’s history, culture, politics, and natural environment. Most of these newspaper accounts, histories, petitions, memoirs, poems, and essays are written by Costa Ricans. Many appear here in English for the first time. The authors are men and women, young and old, scholars, farmers, workers, and activists. The Costa Rica Reader is a necessary resource for scholars, students, and travelers alike. Suggested by Sandy Avila, Research & Information Services

The Line Becomes a River: dispatches from the border by Francisco Cantú For Francisco Cantú, the border is in the blood: his mother, a park ranger and daughter of a Mexican immigrant, raised him in the scrublands of the Southwest. Driven to understand the hard realities of the landscape he loves, Cantú joins the Border Patrol. He and his partners learn to track other humans under blistering sun and through frigid nights. They haul in the dead and deliver to detention those they find alive. Plagued by a growing awareness of his complicity in a dehumanizing enterprise, he abandons the Patrol for civilian life. But when an immigrant friend travels to Mexico to visit his dying mother and does not return, Cantú discovers that the border has migrated with him, and now he must know the full extent of the violence it wreaks, on both sides of the line. Suggested by Kryslynn Collazo, Scholarly Communication

The Other Side = el otro lado by Julia Alvarez These same qualities characterize her poetry—from the “Making Up the Past” poems, which explore a life of exile as lived by a young girl, to “The Joe Poems,” a series of beautifully sensual and funny love poems that celebrate a middle-aged romance. The collection culminates in the poem of the title: the twenty-one-part epic about the poet’s return to her native Dominican Republic, and to the internal affirmation of the conflict and the last one that the trip caused. Innovation and bold invention, the interaction of sound, the senses, and the rhythm of two languages, all characterize Julia Alvarez’s art in transforming precious memory into unforgettable poetry. Suggested by Jada Reyes, Research & Information Services

The Assimilated Cuban’s Guide to Quantum Santeria by Carlos Hernandez Assimilation is founded on surrender and being broken. This collection of short stories features people who have assimilated, but are actively trying to reclaim their lives. There is a concert pianist who defies death by uploading his soul into his piano. There is the person who draws his mother's ghost out of the bullet hole in the wall near where she was executed. Another character has a horn growing out of the center of his forehead--punishment for an affair. But he is too weak to end it, too much in love to be moral. Suggested by Sara Duff, Acquisitions & Collections

The Best Bad Things by Katrina Carrasco It is 1887, and Alma Rosales is on the hunt for stolen opium. Trained in espionage by the Pinkerton Detective Agency―but dismissed for bad behavior and a penchant for going undercover as a man―Alma now works for Delphine Beaumond, the seductive mastermind of a West Coast smuggling ring. A propulsive, sensual tour de force, The Best Bad Things introduces Katrina Carrasco, a bold new voice in crime fiction. Suggested by Sara Duff, Acquisitions & Collections

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros Acclaimed by critics, beloved by readers of all ages, taught everywhere from inner-city grade schools to universities across the country, and translated all over the world, The House on Mango Street is the remarkable story of Esperanza Cordero. Told in a series of vignettes – sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes deeply joyous – it is the story of a young Latina girl growing up in Chicago, inventing for herself who and what she will become. Few other books in our time have touched so many readers. Suggested by Rachel Edford, Teaching & Engagement

The Poetry of Pablo Neruda edited by Ilan Stavans This selection of Neruda's poetry, the most comprehensive single volume available in English, presents nearly six hundred poems, scores of them in new and sometimes multiple translations, and many accompanied by the Spanish original. In his introduction, Ilan Stavans situates Neruda in his native milieu as well as in a contemporary English-language one, and a group of new translations by leading poets testifies to Neruda's enduring, vibrant legacy among English-speaking writers and readers today. Suggested by Rachel Edford, Teaching & Engagement

#hispanic heritage month #featured bookshelf #ucflibrary #ucf #tbrpost #booklr

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harley4l · 6 years ago

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Chapter 8: Of broken vows and broken hearts

“Who are you?" "No one of consequence." "I must know." "Get used to disappointment.” ― William Goldman, The Princess Bride

Beginning / Previous / Next

When they were fourteen, Spencer kissed Eleanor DeSantis for the first time. Their fathers had dragged them along to one of their usual golfing matches at the Country Club, and they somehow ended up hogging the outdoor bar and getting drunk on strawberry punch. From this moment on, Spencer had fallen head over heels for her – for those beautiful golden locks, those sparkling blue eyes, her mischievous smile. Nelly was like a magnet. She always knew the right way to move and the right things to say, drawing him closer with every breath. When they were fifteen, they sat on Nelly’s porch and confessed their feelings to each other. The sun stood low and illuminated her head like a halo as they grabbed each other’s hands. When they were sixteen, they exchanged friendship rings and promised they’d be together forever.

There were things Spencer regretted, and kept regretting all his life. Like that day his eight-year old self found his mother coddling Daniel yet again while he stood there sidelined, deciding he would make his baby brother’s life a living hell. Sometimes he threw Daniel’s favorite toys into the trash and ripped his void critter collection into shreds, other times he locked his brother into a dark closet or told him scary stories at night until he cried. He might have went on forever if it wasn’t for their father threatening to send Spencer off to military school after he’d shoved his brother off a climbing frame and broken his arm. Sometimes Spencer still wondered where all that anger stemmed from – maybe it came from years and years of being ignored, years of being called the family’s black sheep. It wasn’t truly Daniel who he was mad at, it were his parents. When he finally came to that realization, the relationship between the brothers was already far beyond saving.

But the thing Spencer regretted by far the most, was putting that ring on Nelly’s finger and pledging his heart to her, unsuspecting how she would rip it right out of his chest and stomp on it in a blink of an eye. They’d been perfectly fine until the day of Daniel’s party, which he’d set up in a hurry after being voted captain of the basketball team – yet another thing he’d beaten Spencer at. Then Daniel and Nelly got into a fight after she‘d been spreading childish rumors and he ordered the security to kick her out in front of everyone’s eyes. But that couldn’t be the reason she broke up with Spencer afterwards. When Spencer caught her sneaking back inside and apologized for this inappropriate treatment on his brother’s behalf, Nelly didn’t seem angry. She just shrugged and said it was fine.

But apparently, it wasn’t fine. Just three days later, he ran into her passionately kissing his teammate in the school yard. She’d only laughed when Spencer tore them apart and demanded an explanation. And kept laughing, while she slowly pulled his ring off her finger and threw it to his feet as if it were a piece of trash. As if she’d forgotten what it had meant.

Do you ever look around and think to yourself how it’s funny, that everyone in this town so desperately wants to be perfect?, Nelly had asked him many years ago. I’ll tell you this. We only learned to put on a mask for show. The truth is, we’re as fucked up as the rest. She broke into a hearty laugh, then squeezed his hand. Although you and I are not alike, aren’t we? There’s something special about you Spencer, something innocent. I felt that from the start.

Lies. She had been sweet-talking him like with everyone else, and like everyone else, he had stupidly fallen for it. This had been some kind of game to her. And if she’d really known him, if she’d known the extent of the things he had done … Except, maybe she did know. Thinking back at it, that might be the one of those thing she and his brother had argued about that night at his party – how poor Daniel’s bad, big brother wanted to ruin his perfect little life and had messed up his mind. Perhaps Nelly realized there was nothing innocent or special about her boyfriend. That, unlike she claimed, he was just as shitty as everyone else.

It didn’t matter anymore. Eleanor was gone – nothing more than a bad memory in the back of his head and a face in the newspaper. After he started dating Rachel, he thought she might be the one to finally heal the tear in his heart that Nelly left behind, but Rachel had only added another tear to it. One second she had vowed her undying love to him and the next she’d lain all over his brother. Spencer didn’t even know why he’d expected anything different. After all, this was the way it always had been: Daniel went after everything he set his eyes on, purely because Spencer wanted it first. And for someone who’d claimed to be unlike all the other girls, Rachel sure shared a lot of bad traits with Nelly. Very well, Spencer had learned his lesson this time. From now on, he knew better than to foolishly place his heart into someone elses hands again. No ... he would use those girls as long as he deemed it fun, then ditch them as soon as he got bored, end of story. Because falling in love was just a waste of his breath and the recipe for a broken heart.

Next Chapter: What creates a tragedy?

#thesims #simblr #story #ts4 #sims #thesims4 #murder #mystery #a deceptive perfection #gameplay

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sailorxvenus · 6 years ago

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home.

Fandom: Voltron: Legendary Defender Pairing: Allurance [Allura/Lance] Summary: a reflection on Allura’s homes Rating: K+ Word Count: 1702 Warnings: n/a

She never felt like she found a home. When she woke up and discovered Altea had been destroyed, the only place she knew, she felt more than just sadness and loss. Allura felt a hole in her chest, a part of herself went missing, and she knew she would never get it back. Besides Coran and the mice - the only people left from Altea - she had the Paladins, who she honestly didn't immediately take to. She did learn to love them like family though, she grew accustomed to their quirks and their strange Earthling slang.

Allura soon started to find comfort in the different scents that would roam the castle halls whenever Hunk was baking in the kitchen, finding herself getting excited at the idea of trying one of his dishes - they always tasted so different than the food she grew up eating on Altea. She enjoyed listening to Pidge talk about the different algorithms she had created - just watching how big her eyes would get and listening to how her tone would quicken with excitement was enough to amuse the Princess. She found peace in sitting in silence with Keith, not always the most talkative, but his presence was always felt, making sure that whatever she was reading was neatly packed next to her, as to not fall off the seat, and that whatever food he may bring to eat was enough to serve two. She took to having a morning routine with Shiro, who was always awake before the others in the castle, and they would talk and laugh together, discussing strange stories from their missions or funny details about the others over breakfast. And she found comfort in Lance, who would always be near her, arm out if she needed any assistance. She grew accustomed to feeling him close by, his body casting a slight shadow over her shoulder because of his height, listening to his jokes and the smell of ocean breeze that followed him wherever he went, a scent she grew to find addictive. Yes, she loved all the Paladins, she loved the routines they came to make as a family on the castle, and while they did start to fill the hole that she felt in her chest, the wound wasn't completely healed before they lost that home too.

Travelling in the lions were temporary, but even then she felt separated from everyone. Looking at them only through screens, not being able to sit with them, touch them, the metal controls in her hands started to become the only familiar texture. She missed feeling everyone standing around her, she missed smelling the ocean off of Lance. When they finally got to Earth, it didn't get better. She watched everyone start to disperse, more apart than they had ever been on the castle, she felt alone. She wasn't on Altea, she wasn't even on her castle, and worst of all, she felt disconnected from the people that she called family. Arriving on Earth made the hole in her chest feel heavier than ever before.

She never told anyone how she felt, she couldn't. Earth was their home, they were celebrating being reunited with old family and friends. Allura was happy for them, but somewhere in the shuffle she felt like she was also losing her family. Losing them to their original families, a luxury she didn't have, and as she watched them all go back into routines that were no doubt old habits, she found herself having to learn the customs of this new planet sometimes alone in an empty room.

Her Garrison room didn't feel like home either. It was cold, foreign, shining with oranges when she was used to things shining in blues. The hole in her chest was still heavy, conflicted with the idea of this place becoming her new home when she didn't even know what to fill it with to make it her own. That was until Lance came one day, cheeks flushed and hands hidden behind his back. It was as if he could read her mind, like he knew exactly what her problem with adjusting to Earth was, because when he pulled out juniberries from behind his back, she audibly gasped. She remembered bringing her hands up to wrap over his own, holding the flowers between them. She remembered asking him where he had managed to get them, that they were native to Altea, and then he explained that they weren't juniberries, not really, that they were Cuban rain lilies, and while they were different they looked so alike he couldn't not think of her. That's when she noticed that the flower did have more petals than juniberries, and their centers slightly shorter. Despite that, the flowers did make her smile. When she looked up at Lance, dorky grin spread across his face in pride, there was no doubt that her chest felt lighter.

In the weeks that came she spent less time in the Garrison and more time with Lance's family. She didn't know how it happened, but after spending more and more of her free time with Lance specifically instead of all of the Paladins, it just made sense to know his relatives. It was another adjustment period, just like when she first met the paladins. She learned that his oldest brother, Luis, loved to drink tea, and she didn't mind the drink herself when he invited her to join him. She found that Veronica actually shared Lance's humour the most of all his siblings, and that Marco was a very good Spanish teacher, helping her understand phrases the family would all use. She couldn't believe it when Rachel told her that she was originally the one with Lance's signature jacket, and that her brother just copied her style, and when Allura would garden with Lisa, Luis' wife, Nadia and Sylvio would come running in, searching for treasure between all the leaves because Uncle Lance convinced them something valuable was hidden in the flowers. All while she learned about his family, Allura could feel Lance nearby, see the shoulder he cast on her and smell the ocean. Without even knowing it, those familiarities started to make her feel more whole.

It was only really hitting her now, a few months later as she sat up in bed. Her hair fell down her back, tickling her bare skin, and she could feel the sun coming in through the window and warming her arms that were crossed on top of her raised knees. She rested her head against her arms, looking at the sleeping figure next to her, how his hair slightly swooped across his forehead, one hand lazily resting against his chest as he lay on his back, the other outstretched to lay under where she slept only moments ago. The sun made his tan skin look more gold, shining all the way up his chest to the rounded tops of his ears. His ears. She smiled just looking at them, remembering how red she made them get the night before. In all this time, she was looking for a home, a place to call her own, a place where she could feel she truly belonged. She didn't think that she would be able to feel so comfortable after Altea, but with time, she was getting there, Earth was getting better each day, she was growing more accustomed to its traditions and culture. But that wasn't the most important home, no, the most important home was the one she didn't realize crept up on her during her entire journey. Her home, Allura had come to realize, was the bad jokes, whining and screaming. The smell of the ocean, the heat she could feel come off of his body whenever he was close. Her home was the way he made her smile, laugh, feel wanted, safe, protected, loved. Her home, waking up and blinking the sleep out of his eyes was Lance, and only Lance truly made the heavy hole in her heart feel complete and light with joy.

"Good morning," she tells him, watching as rolls a bit to lie on his side to face her.

"You been up for long?" He asks, reaching out with his hand to hold and play with some of her hair down her back. She can feel his fingertips trace her skin as he takes some strands in his grasp, the small act leaving her skin covered in a layer of goosebumps despite the room's warmth.

"No, I only got up moments before you." She says, reaching down to cup the side of his face in her own hand. Her thumb traces under his eye, where marks would be if he were Altean, but she likes that there's nothing there besides a small mole.

A grin spreads across his face, and Lance is wiggling his eyebrows. "Were you watching me sleep?"

"Yes," she replies, watching the amusement wash over his face, she doesn't even let him say anything, quick to beat any egotistical comment that may come next, "I was just thinking how your ears are still hideous."

The comment causes him to blink a few times, processing what she said, and when she starts to giggle at his reaction, his smile just gets bigger.

"Hideous, huh?" He starts, "You didn't think so last night when you were all over them!" And with that he pulls her down, arms ticking her sides as she falls on top of him.

"The lights were off! I didn't have to look at them!" Her sentence is broken apart by laughter as she rolls in his arms, trying to break free from his grasp, but the best she manages to do is roll over to her side of the bed.

"Well, look at them now!" Then Lance is on top of her, tickling and kissing her, chuckling himself the entire time.

And as she laughs and kisses him back, her hands exploring his body, she feels no heaviness in her chest at all. She feels light, whole, complete because being like this, wrapped in his arms with his overflowing love, is the most comfortable and safe she has ever felt in her entire life - this is home.

#legitallurance #voltron #vld #lance #allura #allurance #voltron legendary defender #allurance fanfiction

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rachelbrosnahanweb · 6 years ago

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New Update has been published on Rachel Brosnahan Web

New Post has been published on http://rachel-brosnahan.org/2018/12/07/press-marvelous-mrs-maisel-star-rachel-brosnahan-on-exploring-love-and-privilege-in-season-2/

Press: 'Marvelous Mrs. Maisel' Star Rachel Brosnahan on Exploring Love and Privilege in Season 2

[This story contains spoilers from season two of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.]

The award-winning actress talks with THR about the sophomore season of Amazon’s critical darling — and how Midge’s estranged husband Joel fits into the picture.

Rachel Brosnahan’s buoyant and nuanced performance as housewife-turned-comedian Miraim “Midge” Maisel was one of the highlights of last year’s TV slate, and has been deservedly lauded since by critics and awards bodies alike.

Amazon’s The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel presents some unique technical challenges for its star, who must deliver lengthy stand-up comedy monologues with spontaneity — since Midge’s style is often stream-of-consciousness and off-the-cuff — and at the lightning speed that creator Amy Sherman-Palladino’s world demands. Season two, now streaming on Amazon, gives Brosnahan even more opportunities to shine, as Midge’s new life as a rising, struggling comic scrapes up against her old one as a perfectly content housewife. Featuring extended jaunts in Paris and the Catskills before following Midge and her manager Susie (Alex Borstein) on a multi-state tour, the new episodes see Midge grappling with the realities of the path she’s chosen, and what she may have to give up in order to truly succeed.

Below, Brosnahan speaks with The Hollywood Reporter about Midge’s season two journey; her relationships with Susie, estranged husband Joel (Michael Zegen) and new love interest Benjamin (Zachary Levi); and how the comedy world is impacting her social skills.

Did filming season two feel different from season one, now that you know how successful the show is?

Fortunately, no, it didn’t. It still feels like we’re shooting in a vacuum a little bit, because it’s a really intense show to shoot. We have a lot of pages in a very short period of time, really long hours, and so we do get to escape. We got to dig deeper into almost all the relationships on the show this year, and I’m so fortunate that as Midge, I have relationships on the show with almost every other character. I enjoyed getting to work more with so much of our core ensemble, and to be able to shoot more together. That was one of the biggest differences between season one and two, is that in season two, you get to see a lot more of the whole family, and the whole ensemble together. Those scenes were fun to shoot — crazy, psychotic, but fun, just to get to see each actor and character have moments to shine.

Starting the season in Paris must have been an interesting change of pace.

The Paris scenes were actually the first that we shot, which was very strange! It was all of our same people, but we also had partially a French crew, and it was a bit of a strange note to start the show on for season two, to be somewhere else. But it was a blast — we got to go to Paris and hang out and shoot in beautiful locations and eat 12,000 baguettes!

So the first stand-up scene you shot for this season was the one in Paris, where Midge has a translator?

Yes, which was strange mostly because with the translator, the timing is a little bit different. You really have to wait for that laugh, and it was nerve-wracking, and also most of our audience [in the scene] only spoke French and genuinely had no idea what I was saying without the translator. It was an entirely French background [cast], and we had a French coordinator, so having the French translator was useful!

Was it harder to get back into character because you were in a new location?

The challenge was less getting back to the character in a new location, and more getting back into the character after having had six months away. We’d only shot one season and it was eight episodes, so there’s always that fear that you’ve forgotten how to play them! About halfway through Paris, we were all collectively like, “Oh, we do remember how to do this, we know these people still,” and it was like putting back on a comfy old sweater.

Joel is still a big part of the show this season, and there’s a lingering question of whether he and Midge might give it another shot. What’s your take on that?

The big question at the end of season one is whether or not Midge and Joel are going to get back together, and it’s something that we’ll continue to explore throughout season two. I remember Amy saying to me before we shot the pilot that Midge and Joel have children together, so they’ll never be able to be completely out of each other’s lives. And while there may be various points — as you saw at the end of season one — in which they may feel like they’re back on the same page, almost as quickly one of them will always take a step forward while the other takes a step back, or sideways, or on a diagonal. They will, as is true for so many relationships, continue to just miss each other, perhaps forever.

Episode five ends with an incredible moment where Midge realizes that Abe (Tony Shalhoub) is in the audience halfway through her set, and has to keep going. What was that scene like to film?

It was crazy! Midge is a fast talker anyway, but I have never talked so fast in my entire life. All I can think about when I think about that scene is the days leading up to it, where I drove every single member of our crew insane, running around the set just saying that entire speech over and over and over again, at lighting speed. Susie says early on that it’s the biggest crowd that Midge has ever performed for, and it was also the biggest crowd that I have ever performed for. It was genuinely nerve-wracking, doing stand-up in front of Tony. He’s never been around for any of those scenes — nor has anybody but Alex, and Michael I suppose — and it was petrifying and exhilarating and he was so wonderful. There was something really cathartic about it, to have it all out in the open, for it finally to come out in such a Midge way. Because man, she can’t shut up!

What’s happening in Midge’s mind in that moment?

Midge is one of those people who, when the elephant is in the room, she cannot stop talking about the elephant. About what it looks like, how much it weighs, how it’s standing in the corner, how nobody else is talking about it — she’s a master of observational comedy, and she cannot keep her mouth shut. She just shoots herself in the foot over and over and over.

Zachary Levi’s Benjamin introduces a completely new dynamic for Midge. What does he bring to the show?

His character is so much fun, and such a good foil for Midge. The thing about Benjamin is that he is just as smart as she is, and just as stubborn as she is, and that makes for some very entertaining and frustrating scenes between the two of them. They are both weird, and they’re a funny pair, they both make complete sense, and make no sense at all. Zach is a wonderful actor, he’s so funny, and it was a blast to have him join our crew, we’ve been kind of a tight group for such a long time and it was nice to have some fresh blood.

What does Benjamin represent for Midge?

Joel and Ben couldn’t be more the opposite [of each other]; and on paper, Benjamin is everything that Joel wasn’t, and everything that Abe wanted. Benjamin is a doctor, he’s tall and handsome and traditional. I guess he’s getting married a little bit late, but he is stable and has money, and once they get past their initial tension he treats Midge very well, treats her like a queen, lifts her up. That’s appealing to those around Midge, but also to Midge in some ways. For someone who thought her entire life had imploded, maybe it’s possible to have a second chance at the life she’d always dreamed of with someone like Benjamin.

How does Midge and Susie’s relationship develop this season?

I love their relationship so much. It’s really the core of the show, this budding womance, as Alex lovingly refers to it. They are such an odd couple, and they’ve chosen to link arms and walk down this unbeaten path together, and they’re going to be faced in season two with the reality of what that looks like. They’ve been on this steady uphill climb, but they’ve hit kind of a block in the road as it relates to Sophie Lennon and Harry Drake and the goons, and they’re going to have to overcome this obstacle together. And they sometimes have different ways of doing that. The stakes are a lot higher for Susie, so they butt heads a little bit this season.

It feels like Midge’s privilege, in contrast to Susie really having to hustle, is being emphasized more this season.

I appreciate that this season, Midge is confronted more with her privilege and the idea that she has a safety net to fall back on. Even if she doesn’t always feel that way, it’s there, and that gives her a kind of confidence that Susie has never been afforded the opportunity to have. It’s all or nothing for Susie, this is it. For Midge, there are things that have the potential to pull her off this path, and I think Susie keeps Midge grounded and Midge forces Susie into her feelings a little bit more and embrace the softer side of herself. Midge is interested in the idea of them being friends. To her, that’s what really marks their relationship as something more permanent. Alex said something really interesting that I think is totally true: Susie’s never been afforded the privilege of having friends. She’s just been trying to scrape by, and I think Midge is maybe helping her relax into that idea a little bit more, the idea of having a support system.

Midge gives an incredibly misjudged wedding speech in episode three. Is her stand-up career impacting her ability to socialize in normal life? Yes, as she says to Susie later on the phone, she’s losing her societal filter. I think it’s happening with the more time she spends with Susie, but also the more time she spends immersed in this world of comedy, where there really are no rules as long as it’s funny. If it’s funny, anything goes, and that isn’t really true in real life! I think the lines are blurring for Midge, and she’s losing track of where the line is. That seemed kind of a foreign idea to me, but a good friend of mine is also a stand-up comic, and she told me she’d had the same experience in real life. Suddenly she found herself, in real life, just grossly offending people with things that she would just sling around backstage when she was doing shows, and she was having trouble keeping those worlds separate. That’s something that Midge is definitely struggling to maintain in season two.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

#Interview #maiseltv #midge maisel #mrs. maisel #press #rachel brosnahan #the marvelous mrs. maisel #Press #Television #The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

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rachelsreviews13 · 6 years ago

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Lady Midnight Review If you’d like long Rachel Review with several sassy comments, read the following: WARNING **SPOILERS** I have finally finished the first book in Cassandra Clare’s Dark Artifices series. I really liked this book, but I didn't love it. The first half was quite slow for me. I don't think the book needed to be quite as long as it was. I liked books a bit faster paced. Yet, I know a lot of it was for introducing characters and having character development. Of course, in typical Cassandra Clare fashion there were many characters. There were so many characters it was easy to have favorites and least favorites. Therefore, I’m mostly going to be talking about the characters in this review. Besides, it is well known Cassandra Clare knows how to write a well-rounded plot with wonderfully descriptive details, so I don’t need to discuss that any further. Let’s start with my least favorites, which were Mark and Kiernan. I disliked Kiernan immediately, even when I read about him in Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy. So, I was quite frustrated to find out he was the person Mark was in love with. It also made me mad that Mark had been blatantly flirting with Cristina (one of my loves). How dare he. She was quite disappointed when she saw them making out in the moonlight. She thought he was going to help her move on from Perfect Diego, but nope. Yet, Mark had the audacity to continue flirting with her! And we saw what happened from that; a whole chapter of fighting about who was going to get whipped for Mark’s stupidity and Kiernan’s naive jealousy. I was so glad when Mark was strong enough to say no to Kiernan and the Hunt. Goodbye, Kiernan. Thanks for the help with Malcolm. See you never again. Please. A girl can hope, right? My hope that I’ll never read about Kiernan again is most likely futile because Cassandra Clare loves to bring back characters. To be honest, I love it too, especially when she brings back characters like Magnus (always love Magnus), Jace, Clary, Jem, and Tessa. I loved every single one of those small, short scenes. Of course, I thoroughly enjoyed A Long Conversation at the very end of the book. Thank you, Cassandra Clare. Yet, Jem and Tessa probably had the most important cameo in the book. I loved how Jem’s role is to give important advice to Emma. He gets to be an uncle again, Emma has a family member, and it’s all so sweet. But Jem and Tessa weren’t just there to be cute, they had some important business to reveal, one was Kit and the other was the parabatai secret which I will get to later. As for Kit, boy oh boy, didn’t see that coming. I only started to realize he must have Shadowhunter blood when he was able to do backflips and such that he shouldn’t have been able to do. Also, I did catch the earlier parts where it was said he didn’t look like his father. Do we know for sure Johnny Rook was Kit’s biological father? If he really was then it kind of blows my mind even more that he was a Herondale too. So, now, I am really interested in learning more about Kit. Obviously, he’s going to have a bigger role in the next book and I can’t wait to read it. I think he’ll be added to my favorites list, he’s already halfway there. Speaking of my favorites, currently, my number one is Cristina. She is so feisty, fierce, and honest, yet, she also has a caring heart that’s been broken. I’m happy to see it might be starting to mend. I definitely like her more with Perfect Diego than Mark. Diego and Cristina are more alike and they have the history that connects them. I was actually kind of glad to find out Jamie was the one who betrayed her more than Diego. That meant there was hope for forgiveness, which I’d say has already started because of that kiss at the end. Two of my other favorites are Ty and Livvy. Livvy is included partially because she and Ty are a bit of a package deal, but also because a number of Livvy’s lines were funny. My favorite scene with Livvy was in the training room with Cristina and Emma. That was a fun trio. But Ty, my sweetheart who just wants to be included. Screw the Shadowhunter way that condemns differences. I loved that Cassandra Clare included a character like Ty. She’s done those of different races and sexual identity before, but no one like Ty. She continues to make realistic, diverse characters in her magical world. I love it. My last favorite is the absolute sweetest, Tavvy. Tavvy, who helped them start to realize the truth about what was going on; who was committing the murders and why. While I loved the surprise and shock that Malcolm was the bad guy, I hated that he kidnapped Tavvy. I feared it was going to be Max all over again. After Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy I don't trust Cassandra Clare with any character. I was glad nothing happened to Tavvy, it would have devastated the Blackthorns. We did not need that despair. I can’t even imagine what Julian would have done. Now, I didn’t add Julian to my favorites, but I do like him, or at least parts of him. I really admire the way he is the adult of the family even though he’s only seventeen. It’s amazing that he’s been the adult since he was twelve; ten if you go back to the story about him taking care of Tavvy after their mother passed away. Also, after the genius way he told Robert Lightwood about why they went after Malcolm without the Clave, I know we’ve just begun to see who Julian really is. As much as I dislike Kiernan, he was right when he said Julian is ruthless. What I wasn’t loving was him and Emma as a couple. They’re another forbidden love main couple. Cassandra Clare keeps doing that with her main couples. I’ve also read it in so many other books. It gets a bit old. As for Julian and Emma, I don’t really know how I prefer them, but I know they’re end game. I mean, they deserve to be together romantically. They shouldn’t have had to be parabatai. Julian knew since they were children that he loved Emma more than just a friend, yet he needed a guaranteed way to make the Clave let them stay together. The Clave sometimes y’all. I mean they also don’t tell anybody why parabatai can’t have eros love. I was very thankful Jem told Emma so we could finally know. I knew the extra powerful runes they were giving each other had to be linked with their evolving relationship. Yet, does Emma tell Julian about this? No. I also haven’t absolutely loved Emma individually, and what she did at the end frustrated me so much. It frustrated me…hmm…who else frustrates me? Oh, yeah, Mark. So, instead of telling Julian the truth Emma is going to break his heart by dating Mark. *slow clap* Yay. And to top the ending off with a cherry, Annabel Blackthorn did wake up. Everything they did, and she still woke up. Only now, Malcolm’s dead, so let’s see what she’s going to do to rectify that. I don’t think I’ve done a review quite this long. There was a lot to talk about and I didn’t even cover everything, just my favorite and least favorite things. So much went down in this book. I could write ten more pages about it. Now to find out what goes down in Lord of Shadows. Wish me luck. Thanks for reading!

#lady midnight #dark artifices #cassandra clare #review #julian blackthorn #emma carstairs #mark blackthorn #ty blackthorn #livvy blackthorn #tavvy blackthorn #cristina rosales #kit herondale

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words-writ-in-starlight · 7 years ago

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Do you think anything would have been different if the Animorphs had never met David?

Well, okay, here’s the thing. If they hadn’t met David, there are two basic ways for it to play out. Assume that David never did whatever forced him to transfer to their school (given his track record, probably kid murder or something), the first and most likely (sans Ellimist interference) outcome would be that they just never find the blue cube. Which...yeah. That would be reasonably disastrous. On the one hand, using the Auxiliaries as a suicide attack is some morally grey Machiavellian bullshit right there, but on the other hand...it was necessary. It was needed. There was no way six Animorphs alone could have successfully executed any of the attacks that the Auxiliaries helped with, not to mention that it would mean Loren would be pretty much dead. Plus, Tom’s crew would never have gotten the morphing ability, so like...yeah. Honestly, I think it would have been a disaster.

Alternatively, suppose Ellimist interference, right? So let’s say that the David books never happened because David didn’t do that one kid murder and his parents didn’t have to yank him out of class in the middle of the year and move to a totally new state, and therefore let’s say that a couple of kind of filler books go in their place.

And then let’s say that Tobias goes to meet with a lawyer who says he knows his father, and gets his world view shaken up like a snow globe, and he goes flying without much of a destination in mind. He just knows he needs to get away from his friends for a while--they take it perfectly well, even Ax, but Tobias needs to get his head right. So he goes flying, because that’s what Tobias does when he needs to get his head right these days.

He doesn’t mean to end up at the construction site. He doesn’t mean to fly over the place where Elfangor’s ship was vaporized. But he sees a little bit of blue, and it stands out so bright against the wrecked construction site that he lands and morphs to see what it is.

And then he takes three deep breaths, hides it, and walks barefoot to the closest payphone. Jake and Rachel are closest. Either will do. He finds a dollar in quarters on his way there and doesn’t notice the scrapes on his feet.

“Jake,” he says, because it was Jake’s number he managed to punch in first. “You remember we were going to the mall?”

It takes Jake a minute to recognize the voice on the phone, but he recovers. “Yeah, hey, man,” he says easily. “Sorry, am I late?”

“Yeah,” Tobias says flatly. “But it’s fine. I’ll meet you across the street, at the old construction site.”

Then he goes and sits down on the ground next to the wall with the blue box hidden in it and waits for a flight of seagulls to land inside the destroyed structures, and for Rachel to come sprinting out looking ready for war.

“What’s going on?” she demands.

“Did you bring Ax?”

“Yeah, he’s morphing to human. Tobias, are you all right?”

Tobias nods, and looks over her shoulder to Jake and Cassie and Marco and--oh, thank God, Ax.

“Ax,” he says. “I have a really, really important question. What could one of those blue boxes survive?”

“An Escafil device? They are reasonably sturdy. In case of a ship crash.”

“Right,” Tobias says, and gets up to reach into the crevice where he stuffed the blue box and pulls it out. “Well. I think this one survived the Blade Ship’s Dracon cannon.”

It takes them a few minutes to figure out how to get the thing out of the construction site without being seen, and they finally settle on Rachel morphing to eagle and carrying the box, and the rest of them morphing to seagull and leaving ten minutes later. They meet up near Ax’s scoop and sit on the ground around the box and try to decide what to do.

It goes a little differently than the debate about recruiting David. Ax still points out that they’re a guerrilla team, not an army, and Rachel still supports more manpower, but I think Marco would come down on the ‘for’ side because his concerns are about David as a person. Cassie, on the other hand, would be Very Indecisive here, because, on the one side more manpower would mean more people getting hurt, but it would maybe save lives in the long run. Cassie is not a big picture thinker by nature, she worries about individuals (sometimes to the exclusion of the big picture), so I think she’d come down on ‘no.’ Tobias would probably vote ‘for’ because even besides all his other things, he wants the Yeerks gone, and this just recently became extremely personal for him.

And Jake...oh, lord, Jake looks at the cube and sits there while the others debate and when they look to him he says very quietly, “We could save Tom.”

Because, of course, if Tom is to be freed, he has to be given a weapon, a way to fight against being taken again, Tom has no good options. He either risks his life as a soldier or lives a slave and there is nothing else.

They start with people they know. They haven’t seen up close what happens when you give a killer this sort of power, but Cassie says, in a grim voice, that everyone they recruit has to be utterly trustworthy, and they believe her. Tom first. Then begins the slow process of stalking people, seeing who goes to the Yeerk Pool and who doesn’t, seeing who might be willing to go to war, stealing people over long weekends to starve Yeerks and breaking into homes at night. Some of them are kids. Some of them aren’t. Anyone who joins up is sworn to secrecy. Their little guerrilla squad grows and Jake bears up under the weight because as much as some of the adults hate taking his orders, he has experience and knowledge and a certain je ne sais quois for battle that can’t be ignored.

There is an agreement that no one likes to talk about but everyone made, and it goes like this.

If you have the choice between death and capture, it is your duty, for your comrades and your family and your world, to die.

The first time someone dies, it is a girl that Marco knows from school. He asked her out once and she laughed him his face and Rachel thinks that says great things about her. She is kind and funny and utterly competent, loyal and honest and ready to do what has to be done. The spine of her mountain lion is broken below the fifth vertebra--paralyzing, not immediately lethal. But she can’t walk, and she’s too big to be carried, and there are too many of them now to hide everyone so it is crucial that the Yeerks never know they’re human, so she can’t demorph.

she tells Jake, dragging the tiger’s shattered hind leg with him through pure grit.

Jake says fiercely.

she says just as fiercely. She stops and hesitates and says,

Jake wavers but they’re out of time, and he hates himself when he says, And then he turns to Rachel and says,

Rachel is bleeding from a hole in her shoulder. She says,

he whispers.

She doesn’t answer that one. Jake nods and leaves, and Rachel looms over the downed mountain lion and says,

Outside, Cassie is demanding that they go back when Rachel barrels out the door with blood all over her muzzle.

“I had to make sure,” Rachel says as she morphs back to human. There is still blood on her hands and feet, smeared over her face, and she can taste it, the iron tang of death. If it was anyone else, she might look sick, or dazed, but instead she just looks old and monstrous, with an ally’s blood dripping from her lips. “I had to make sure.”

“I know,” Jake says. They don’t look much alike most of the time. Right now, they could be twins. “It had to be done.”

The war slogs on.

#animorphs #no david au #jake berenson #rachel berenson #animorphs fic #MY FEELINGS ABOUT THE BERENSONS AS A MATCHED SET OF GUN AND SOLDIER STRIKE AGAIN #anyway see in this universe rachel never sits and listens to a boy scream until he's not a boy anymore #so this is the first time she's confronted with the fact that...this is who she is and what she is and she'll never be able to not be this #and the first time jake is confronted with the fact that he is a killer by proxy even more than he is a killer in person #because they are still who they are #i don't know how the end of the war would pan out but i think it would be similar #the original animorphs would still be the core command team and a lot of the others would probably die #it would just be Worse because the animorphs would have known them for longer #the auxiliaries probably get recruited too eventually #idk i don't have a lot more figured out #but this scene of rachel being ordered to murder an ally in order to keep the secret DEMANDED to be written #because of course the stakes for revealing themselves are higher when they have so many people #sure you can hide three or four families pretty quick if you have to #but twenty? thirty? more? i think not #so it's escape free or die for everyone #anyway here's wonderwall #idiot teenagers with a queue #anonymous #asked and answered

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kurtty-drabbles · 7 years ago

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Hanaki desease

N/A: Ok, I´m too lazy to check out what are Jubilee´s favorite songs so I created a band for this reason.

@djinmer4 @augment-techs @raainstorms @lesdernierssous

The room smells like brimstone and beers. It could be easily mistaken for Logan´s room if a tall, built blue man who is using it spandex tail to hold the ceiling to be upside down and read a book.

Disdain and boredom morph into his face as red eyes trying to comprehend the plot that judging by this particular reader, the plot seems non-existent.

“Knock, knock” an amused and feminine voice snap the blue reader back to reality “ what are you reading? 50 shades of grey? Did I corrupt Kurt Darkholme?” the woman eyes shines in mischievous and playfully.

“Hilarious, Kitty, are you aiming to be a comedian?” asked in a blasé style and the reply received the awestruck comeback of Kitty Pryde showing her pink tongue to him.

“If you truly want to know…I´m reading a romance novel and it is really bad. I´ve 100% that this Rachel is incredibly gay for this Amy, but out of nowhere, Rachel is dating this Joe…” this tone is a bit belligerent.

“Is called queerbaiting, Kurt, it exists in every dimension, this one, our dimension and many others ” And finally Kurt let go of the upside down position.

“Well, it was a waste of time” his eyes gaze at her leather outfit and there´s a naughty smile “ there better things we can do”

“True, but dinner is ready and Wolverine makes sure we all be present"give a pointed look at Kurt,” He said and I quote ‘If I have to bring the Elf´s ass here I will’ end quote,“ says gently as Kurt doesn´t like to be called Elf.

This new dimension Kurt Wagner and Kurt Darkholme aren´t exactly best friends neither are enemies. Two Germans and one of them is a Catholic and the other is an atheist.

This new dimension has now two Kitty Pryde. One with long curly hair and the other with short curly hair (and an occasional gutless as weapon and accessory.)

"Hate when he calls me elf” Kurt is a bit angry but not as in the first times Wolverine called him like that.

“I know, but he is adamant in calling you elf and me …half print” a swear word, pretty nasty, escape her lips as she gives a mini-speech as why this nickname bothers her.

Well, you´re short. thought Kurt. But the “not” Elf is smart to not say out loud.

Kitty approaches Kurt, for a moment, Kurt Darkholme thought in mention about the catwalk, sadly Kitty does not like puns and she looks too distracting wearing this outfit leather(Is it on purpose? Maybe)

They are facing each other, brimstone and strawberry mixture in the air, gentle and smaller finger are gingerly touching his outfit as she pretends to give bow an invisible tie.

There´s something so domestic, silly and intimate about all this. Kurt doesn’t dare to make cat puns yet.

“I talk with Cable this morning, this dimension Cable, I think, and he told us that Apocalypse won´t come after us,” says gravelly" we´re safe and as for our dimension…it is safe but do you want to come back?“

"To what? There´s nothing for us there anymore and I …I´m so tired” confess with intense in his voice. She nods gentle touching his face(no rebuking or protest, but Kitty always touches him gentle, something so unusual for him) and resume the conversation.

“Kurt, their Bobby will be here as well, remember what we all talk about it?” inquiry Kitty trying to not laugh.

Kurt rolls his eyes and repeats the words he knows by heart.“This Bobby is not evil, don´t kill him or project your hate to an innocent Bobby” and somehow Kurt pouts.

“Good boy” snickers remembering Kurt Wagner and other Kitty along with the others X-men explaining this to Kurt Darkholme.

“And if he is in the dining room?” Kurt asked curiously. They both know how this person is and how much this Kitty wants to avoid him. It is a bad joke, she escapes from one Pete, to immediately found another in this dimension that is just like the other.

“Well, I have my weapon” tries to joke but Kurt has none of this “I´ll be fine Kurt, I promise”

Kurt is not entirely convinced but decides to accept her word. Using his tail wrapped around her(a hey was the only word emitted by Kitty) and with a brimstone smoke, Kitty and Kurt are now in the dining room.

Everyone is in the dining room talking about anything, although Kurt Darkholme will never admit, the sensation of safety and joy that this dimension provides is more than enough for Kurt.

Kurt Wagner and the other Kitty are on a mission. Good news to Darkholme that won´t have to suffer from bad jokes and bible references anymore.

Jubilee seems to be one of the few people that happily chats with the interdimensional couple. Her baby, Shogo Lee, safely tug in the baby carrier as the woman wave to them.

“Good night,” says and it seems her son has the same mood as his mother “Miss Monroe did the cooking and Wolverine helps, which means beer to everyone”

Kurt Darkholme doesn´t know what to say to Jubilee, however, Kitty seems to enjoy talking with the other woman. The young woman´s fangs are easily spotted by anyone and the interdimensional couple often wonder if they should ask how she becomes a vampire.

The conversation carries on, until Kitty spot the chair that Pyotr aka Pete usually sits is empty. It wouldn´t be such a problem if some people could stop giving funny looks to Kitty. As she knows why he is not there.

Kurt Darkholme did notice the funny stares as well. To reward such attempts the “not” Elf thought it would be best to send one of his trademark smiles to the group. It always works like a charm and the little group stopped instantly.

Jubilee notices the funny expressions and soon the mood change abruptly. In an attempt to lighten things up, Jubilee decides to tell her origins.

“Oh, Do I never tell you guys how I become a vampire?” Kurt and Kitty shake their head and if they thought she would be offended, this statement was proved wrong.“Ok, all start with what I like to call: the Ballad of Jubilee”

“Well, thanks for telling us”

“No, problem. By the way, do you guys like music? Because the 0´7 is promoting their new single” says a proud Jubilee with her baby that seems equally proud of said band “is one of the first bands with a full mutant cast and their songs are amazing”

“The only song we did listen on our dimension was the softly sounds of death” Kitty and Jubilee just side eye Kurt “and also, Jimmy Buffet, somehow Jimmy Buffet survive the apocalypse”

The explanation was long and the couple feels like it was a saga with some plot holes, overall, they finally learn how Jubilee turned into a vampire.

And of course, they eat. Bobby sits as far away as possible of Kurt Darkholme that may or may not sound too intimidating on purpose whatever Bobby said or did anything. Again, no one can prove anything.

Wolverine drinks beer. Ororo demonstrates once again one of her many skills, offering a piece of her delicious pie to Kurt and Kitty, and the new kids are chatting about homework and cute boys/girls.

Mr.MCcoy enter the room with a solemn expression and asked Kitty if he could talk with her alone, Kurt may be biased, after all, he did face an evil version of the Beast, but something in this request didn´t settle well with him.

Neither does with Kitty. But after the kind doctor(Kurt and Kitty still are deciding if he is indeed a kind doctor) insists vehemently Kitty agrees and Kurt did follow along.

“Maybe you guys were wondering where´s Pete was in the last few days?” asked Hank McCoy trying to figure out how to explain the situation. To be fair, the Doctor never saw anything remotely alike.

“Not really,” both said in unison.

“Oh” he should expect this answer “well, it seems that Pete is suffering the Hanaki disease” Kurt arch an eyebrow having no idea what this means and Kitty clearly has no idea what is going on.

“It means he will cough petals and dies because of a one-sided love” it was blunt and maybe not the best way to describe or explained, but, again, to be fair, the doctor has no idea of what to say here.

“I´ve some question how someone coughs petals? why one side love? there´s magical users in this dimension…and what that has to do with us?” asked Kitty impatiently.

“Well…I was hoping” couldn´t finish as Kitty give one of her death glare.

“That I would go back to him? I was married to a Pete in my dimension and it was horrible and I don´t wish to repeat the experience, also, this Pete knows the Kitty from this dimension and I think, no, I believe this Pete is settling to the second best”

“Kitty, he will die,” says Hank once again.

“Yeah? well the Pete of my dimension did let thousands of kids being murder, this Pete mentally abuse the Kitty of this universe and if he is going to die coughing petals, then have fun”

“Beside” surprisingly Kurt amends" he is an X-men. Death never got a hold of us. So, maybe a little time out will do good for him"

Kitty refuses to see Pete. And Kurt is ready to assume that this Doctor McCoy is not kind. Maybe, some may think Kitty´s attitude was cold(hence why the funny staring) but the woman decided a long time ago to not repeat the same mistake she did in her own universe.

“This is a time for a new begin,” says tiredly after the dinner, after the meeting with McCoy finally ends, to a disheveled Kurt.

“Yes, I just have one question: How someone coughs petals? Is that the stupidest thing ever or the creepiest?”

“Kurt, we´re X-men I think at this point we just have to let it go from logic, sometimes”

“But, Katzchen, is petals…how petals can kill you?”

“I´ve no idea”

“This is so stupid or maybe creepy”

Pete remains in the hospital alley coughing petals much to Doctor McCoy astonishment and surprise. Soon everyone did found out about the Hanaki disease and no one knows for sure if this is the stupidest thing ever or the creepiest.

#OK I don´t know anything about Jubilee #ok #I know little about her that is something #hope she is alright #I´m sorry to any Pete´s fan #hey don´t take personally #A X-men never truly dies #Kurt Darkholme #Kitty Pryde #aoa!kurtty #I kind like to see those two as a couple #hanaki desease doesn´t make sense to me #and can be a little creepy #I would write Pete coughing petals in front of Kitty but I have no idea how he is #aside from a terrible love interest to Kitty #again #no hate #no one in the school can take death seriously #submission

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burltonsing82-blog · 6 years ago

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Golden Globes 2019: Who Will Win, Who Should Win

Pop culture in the internet age moves pretty fast sometimes. If you don't slow down and enjoy it every once in a while, you might miss it.

Even as another year's award season brings with it renewed debates about what purpose awards shows serve in the era of democratized entertainment, we're moved to read about and watch alike as celebrities receive statues and we, as the viewer, somehow feel that a celebrated cause of our own is being honored.

It's a little silly, sure, but it's still a fun and relatively harmless way for audiences to step back and take stock of some of their favorite movies and TV shows, while also arguing with others about their own favorites. (We say “relatively” harmless, because Suicide Squad has an Oscar thanks to this whole process. People don't forget. We didn't.)

This Sunday, January 6th, the 76th Annual Golden Globes goes down, giving celebrities another excuse to get drunk as they accept their statues while also giving audiences a reason to get drunk as they heckle the ceremony's skits. In what proved to be a phenomenal year for both art forms, the races are as hard to call as they've ever been.

But fear not: We've assembled a primer that you can consider for your predictions and/or soft wagering at parties. (Of course, we also couldn't help but slip in our own personal picks as well.) Keep these in mind come Sunday, and feel free to join us online as we offer up-to-date coverage throughout the evening. If anything, it'll give you an opportunity to laugh at any we got wrong … and silently applaud those we got right.

__________________________________________________________

Best Animated Feature Film

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (Sony)

Incredibles 2 Isle of Dogs Mirai Ralph Breaks the Internet Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

What Should Win: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse What Will Win: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Anybody who's been paying attention to the awards season race so far will notice that these five nominees read like a list of usual suspects in the Animation category. After all, it wasn't exactly a breakout year otherwise, and even some of the films present would draw a contention or two from various members of our film staff. But without belaboring the point any further, we'll just say that Into the Spider-Verse is going to win, and deservedly so. It's likely going to keep winning all the way to, if there's any justice, the Oscars. –Dominick Suzanne-Mayer

__________________________________________________________

Best Foreign Language Film

Roma (Netflix)

Capernaum Girl Never Look Away Roma Shoplifters

What Should Win: Roma What Will Win: Roma

It's been an all-around great year in this category, to the point where if there weren't a monolith in the midst, we'd have a hard time calling it for 2019. But Roma has become an arthouse phenomenon in the weeks since its Netflix rollout, a must-see revival of the kind of personal, sweeping filmmaking that populated some of film's best eras. It's one of Consequence's favorite films of last year, but then, so is Shoplifters. Hell, even Capernaum and Never Look Away drew individual year-end votes. There are a lot of great movies coming out from all around the world, if you're able to find them. –Dominick Suzanne-Mayer

__________________________________________________________

Best Screenplay, Motion Picture

The Favourite (Fox Searchlight)

The Favourite, Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara Vice, Adam McKay Green Book, Peter Farrelly and Nick Vallelonga and Brian Hayes Currie If Beale Street Could Talk, Barry Jenkins Roma, Alfonso Cuarón

What Should Win: If Beale Street Could Talk What Will Win: The Favourite

Even if they'll be split up come Oscars time, you can bet that all of the films nominated by the Globes in the Screenplay category will be up for the top prizes in late February as well. The honor we'd most love to see would be one for Barry Jenkins, who managed the remarkable feat of capturing and translating James Baldwin's unmistakable command of tone to the screen. No small feat, there. But we'll hardly be upset if, and likely when, Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara take the prize for their searingly funny work on The Favourite. It's a real fav … never mind. –Dominick Suzanne-Mayer

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Best Original Score, Motion Picture

Black Panther (Marvel)

Alexandre Desplat, Isle of Dogs Marc Shaiman, Mary Poppins Returns Ludwig Göransson, Black Panther Justin Hurwitz, First Man Marco Beltrami, A Quiet Place

Who Should Win: Justin Hurwitz Who Will Win: Ludwig Göransson

Score is a tough category this year, at least for the Golden Globes, because there really isn't an obvious frontrunner. Also, there are several notable composers missing. Where is Beale Street's Nicholas Britell? Or BlackKklansman's Terence Blanchard? So, judging from this crop, especially with the curious inclusion of Marco Beltrami, it's probably going to come down to name recognition alone. That gives Desplat and Hurwitz, two darlings of the awards circuit, a favorable edge, but then you have to remember that Black Panther is the big blockbuster of the bunch. With that in mind, we're going to gamble and say this one goes to Wakanda, but we would be equally stoked if Hurwitz's dreamy atmospheres won, too. -Michael Roffman

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Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture

Green Book (Universal)

Mahershala Ali – Green Book Richard E. Grant – Can You Ever Forgive Me? Timothee Chalamet – Beautiful Boy Sam Rockwell – Vice Adam Driver – BlacKkKlansman

Who Should Win: Adam Driver Who Will Win: Mahershala Ali

Wanna know how you can tell the Globes go by names? Sam Rockwell's inclusion over his on-screen colleague Steve Carell. The former sticks out in Adam McKay's political farce like a sore thumb, while the latter gives the weighty supporting performance. Grievances aside, that helps us pare down the nominees in this selection to one name: Mahershala Ali. Not only is he a recent awards champ for Moonlight, but he also has been at the forefront of the outstanding hype for the not-so-outstanding Green Book. The dark horse is Adam Driver, who steals every scene in Spike Lee's historical drama, and if he manages to come out ahead of everyone, we'll drop our wine come Sunday night. –Michael Roffman

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Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture

If Beale Street Could Talk (Annapurna Pictures)

Regina King, If Beale Street Could Talk Amy Adams, Vice Rachel Weisz, The Favourite Emma Stone, The Favourite Claire Foy, First Man

Who Should Win: Regina King Who Will Win: Regina King

The strange ongoing debate about where exactly The Favourite's leading trio belongs in terms of awards categorization continues, but in the meantime, Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone (who both have leading screen time, seriously, why is this a thing) will have to avoid splitting the category for their excellent work. Claire Foy garners the only top-category nomination for the otherwise slept-on First Man, alongside Amy Adams for her quietly eerie work as Lynne Cheney. For our money, though, the top winner at so many ceremonies up to this point will continue onward here. Regina King has been doing outstanding work for decades, and we hope she'll continue to be recognized for one of her most felt performances yet. –Dominick Suzanne-Mayer

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brentrogers · 5 years ago

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Schizophrenia in Women

Often we don’t really consider gender dynamics in treatment or medication. A lot of medications are only tested on men because of the risk of pregnancy, etc. This means there are whole drugs that have made it to market that may not have ever been tested with women. Schizophrenia affects women in many different ways than men.

In this episode schizophrenic Rachel Star Withers and cohost Gabe Howard discuss differences in age, symptoms, treatments, lifestyle, parenthood in the genders as they experience schizophrenia.

Dr. Hayden Finch joins to explain the medical side.

Highlights in “Schizophrenia in Women” Episode

[02:00] Age of Onset

[04:45] Age of Onset in families with mental disorders

[05:00] Social Dynamics

[07:00] Symptom and Treatment differences in women

[11:30] Diagnosis differences

[13:30] Menstruation’s effect on schizophrenia

[19:00] Romantic relationship differences

[21:20] Pregnancy and schizophrenia

[31:45] Aging and the Second Peak of schizophrenia

[38:00] Interview with Dr. Hayden Finch

[48:00] Be Assertive

[54:00] Self Advocacy

About Our Guest

Hayden Finch, PhD in Clinical Psychology

Dr. Finch is passionate about serious mental illness and is an accomplished clinician and writer. In addition to developing outpatient and residential treatment programs for people with serious mental illnesses, she has been involved in mental health policy and legislation advocacy. After graduate school, she was fortunate to combine her commitment to Veterans and passion for mental health by training at the VA, where she was involved in developing an inpatient treatment program for Veterans with serious mental illnesses. A true lifelong learner and teacher, Dr. Finch is now applying her passion for education and serious mental illness to developing educational materials aimed at reducing stigma about serious mental illnesses and coaching people with serious mental illness, their providers, and their families to work toward recovery. Dr. Finch practices what she preaches regarding setting life goals and is most content when she’s traveling with her family or walking with her dogs.

www.haydenfinch.com/schizophreniabook

Dr. Finch’s new book on schizophrenia direct link to amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B084F5YR14/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_U_x_klWnEbTK50Y94

Computer Generated Transcript of “Schizophrenia in Women” Episode

Announcer: Welcome to Inside Schizophrenia, a look in to better understanding and living well with schizophrenia. Hosted by renowned advocate and influencer Rachel Star Withers and featuring Gabe Howard.

Sponsor: Listeners, could a change in your schizophrenia treatment plan make a difference? There are options out there you might not know about. Visit OnceMonthlyDifference.com to find out more about once monthly injections for adults with schizophrenia.

Rachel Star Withers: Welcome to Inside Schizophrenia. I’m Rachel Star Withers here with my wonderful co-host, Gabe Howard. This episode we are exploring schizophrenia in women. Next episode, we’re going to focus on the men. But this whole episode is for the ladies.

Gabe Howard: Often we don’t really consider gender dynamics in treatment or medication. And this is chronic across all health, not just schizophrenia. A lot of medications, et cetera, are only tested on men because of risk. They don’t want to impact, you know, a potential pregnancy, etc. And on one hand, this sounds good. We’re protecting pregnancy. But on the other hand, this means there’s whole drugs that have made it to market that may not have ever been tested with women. So I think that it’s exciting to consider how schizophrenia impacts the genders differently. Obviously, we want to state unequivocally that if you meet two people with schizophrenia, you’ve met two people with schizophrenia. You know, there tends to be this idea that all people with schizophrenia are exactly alike. And we hope that this show has done a lot to dispel that misinformation.

Rachel Star Withers: Just like if I meet two guys named Gabe, they’re probably both different,

Gabe Howard: Probably.

Rachel Star Withers: Probably. Repeatedly you hear the difference between men and women with schizophrenia, the biggest thing is the age of onset. Women are said to develop it later than men. On average, they say four to six years later than a man would be diagnosed, let’s go. Be diagnosed with schizophrenia. And that’s one of the things they’ve noticed repeatedly in research across the years, is that women get schizophrenia in life later. Sometimes, you know, late 20s, they’ll even say.

Gabe Howard: It’s interesting because as you said, it’s diagnosed with. We know from research that people are born with schizophrenia. So the question becomes, and we don’t know the answer to this because research is ongoing, do men and women become symptomatic at the same time, but men get the diagnosis faster? Or do women not develop the symptoms of schizophrenia until later? And it’s difficult to discover that. And some of it is social engineering. If a woman is behaving erratically, well, of course, she’s a woman. And this is the kind of thinking that we have to prevent and get over to make sure that everybody gets the best care. But it’s on one hand, it’s interesting to think about when we’re diagnosing people and how we’re diagnosing people. But on the other hand, it’s kind of sad if men and women are showing symptoms at the exact same age, but it takes women an extra four to six years to be diagnosed. That’s also scary.

Rachel Star Withers: Yes. And they do say, however, that it’s less detectable in women, which I could totally see because I grew up having hallucinations, but I didn’t even realize myself that that was weird until my late teens. Then I stopped talking about it. So I didn’t get a diagnosis either till my 20s so I could easily see, you know. Yeah. Women tend to be more social. They tend to be more active than men who have schizophrenia. So, yeah, it could probably fly under the radar much longer.

Gabe Howard: It’s interesting how you put that, Rachel. You said that as soon as you noticed that you were having these hallucinations and issues, that you hid them, but you remained social, you remained engaged and talking to the people around you. Whereas men, when they notice them, they tend to retreat. It’s that retreating that I think makes people realize that perhaps something is wrong. You know, why is this person staying in their room? Why does this person not have a job? Why is this person talking to themselves? Whereas because you remained social, people don’t say, well, hey, we like it when Rachel comes over. Rachel is funny. Rachel is nice. She must be hearing voices in her head and experiencing psychosis and hallucinations and all of the other symptoms of schizophrenia. I can see how it could mask it, especially to our friends and family who are not trained psychologists or psychiatrists.

Rachel Star Withers: And the flip side of that coin is families that schizophrenia tends to run in, there actually is no difference in the onset of age between men and women. So like brothers, sisters. And that’s because, yeah, if grandma had it, if mom had it, you know, so and so cousin has it, you tend to be looking for those symptoms and recognize them earlier, whether it’s a boy or girl growing up. You tend to notice that. They have acknowledged that if the family and friends are aware that there could be a potential problem on the horizon, they are noticing it much, much sooner.

Gabe Howard: There’s also a study out of India that has found no difference in the average age of onset between men and women. And I think that really does speak to the social dynamics between cultures, because if people in India are all having the onset of schizophrenia at the same time, it would really be unusual to think that there’s some sort of genetic difference between Americans and Indians. It sort of speaks to this being a social construct. And again, research is ongoing. We’re not 100 percent sure of any of these things.

Rachel Star Withers: In a lot of countries, having a mental disorder is looked down upon even more so than I would say in the Western world. They don’t have statistics on those kinds of things because, unfortunately, it will go no one is diagnosed until much later in life where they can’t function at all. So it is interesting. When we look like, you know, how people grow up. What’s expected of men and women? I do think women can fly under the radar longer sometimes just because you’re not like, well, a guy at 18, he needs to get out. He needs to get a job. He needs to. And yeah, I feel like just like my family, they’re gonna be a little softer on the girl in the family than the boy. So I can easily see like that flying under the radar.

Gabe Howard: To your point, Rachel, when we talk about the social differences between men and women, of which there’s a lot, I really think of people who have battled schizophrenia for a long time. And when I work with those people, they say, hey, look, I haven’t had a job in five years. And all of the men very much want to know what to do about their resume. They’ve got a five year gap, a five year gap, a five year gap. And many of the women are like, well, a five year gap is no problem. I was raising kids. I was a caretaker for family. It’s just nobody is questioning their five year gap, whereas people are questioning a male’s five year gap. And all of this is just to tie in that in some cases, the differences between the treatments and the symptoms of schizophrenia have considerably more to do with our society than it does with the actual disease. Now, all that said, there are disease processes and symptoms, processes that work differently in women vs. men.

Rachel Star Withers: As we get into the symptoms, if I’m saying this, and you know, you’re like, well, Rachel, I’m a woman and I don’t experience it that way or I’m a man and I totally have. No, no, no. Just saying across the board, which symptoms tend to flare up in different genders? Women actually, like we said, are more sociable. So different things like the flat affect pretty much where you don’t experience emotion. You have a very dull expression is not seen as often in women. Women tend to even have more emotions. And I know that’s like, oh, of course women are emotional. But with schizophrenia, a lot of times people have a blunted emotional response so they don’t really react the same way, quote unquote, normal people do. But women, we come off as still acting more emotional to those around us. Inside, we might not, but we’re able to kind of fake it much better. Our speech isn’t reduced. And I found this interesting, Gabe, women with schizophrenia are actually more physically active than men across the board. And also under that, they can be more hostile. You know, past episodes where we’ve talked about violence and schizophrenia, if you were to picture a violent schizophrenic, I don’t think anyone pictures a woman.

Gabe Howard: Not only do I not think that anybody pictures a woman, I think that the way that society responds to a male who is being aggressive and a female who is being aggressive is very different. And there’s a plethora of reasons for this. Listen, I weigh 275 pounds and I’m six foot three. If I am being extremely aggressive and loud, that’s going to look a lot scarier than if Rachel, who is considerably smaller than Gabe is yelling. Also, people tend to be more willing to de-escalate a female than a male. And again, a lot of these things fall under social constructs and our whole society is set up this way. Right? It’s not just in schizophrenia where this is important. We see this in policing. We see this in jobs. We see this in you know, I could never scream at a server in public. But, you know, there’s a whole Internet trend of calling women who scream at servers Karen, and everybody thinks that that’s funny. But sincerely, the humor comes from somebody yelling at somebody in public. And because that person’s a woman, it’s considered funny. You could never change the Karen memes to John. Well, you know, John just stands up and starts screaming at a server. People would think that’s not funny.

Rachel Star Withers: No, that’s like, yeah, everyone turns around and is like their about to call the police thinking he’s going to start swinging.

Gabe Howard: The perception is very, very different. And because schizophrenia is an illness that is based on self-reporting, based on observation, based on behavioral patterns. So obviously society’s perception of what they’re observing is going to determine the diagnosis that you receive. And to that end, because of the different ways that we perceive the genders, women are often mis diagnosed with schizophrenia more often than men are.

Rachel Star Withers: When it comes to health reporting, I feel that men and women would probably also report different symptoms more often. I don’t think I ever went in and was reporting, you know, oh, I just don’t want to go out with my friends. Oh, I just want to, like, stay inside. I talked about depression and that was the initial diagnosis I got repeatedly, was just that I had depression. And I was too scared to even bring up hallucinations and delusions. I kind of, you get used to just, oh, OK, you’re just overreacting. Oh, you’re just overthinking. So that never occurred to me that certain things I was having was a delusion. It was just, oh, yeah, I just, I’m overthinking things. So I think across the board it’s easy to see the women who would be diagnosed with different things. I do wonder if doctors are quicker to label men as schizophrenic than women.

Gabe Howard: It’s important to point out how difficult it is to research and study this when we exist in a culture that isn’t actively discussing it. And as we’ve been talking about this whole show, culture and society impacts our outlook. So when a male is looking at a female patient, some of those biases are bound to creep in. I do think that we have made great strides now that more women are in psychiatry, because while they have biases, too, they at least have interjected more understanding of women. And I think that’s very, very good. Now, one of the things that’s interesting to me is when we plotted out the show, Rachel, I was shocked at how much was just society. How did you feel about that? What were you thinking when you were researching the show?

Rachel Star Withers: It made me look back on my own life and kind of think huh? You know, how had I like self-reported, you know, certain things and didn’t like the way they were responded to. And I think back to the more physically active and hostile thing. I was very, very hostile towards my father specifically when I was in high school. And I don’t mean I was like trying to hurt him or anything, but I would have these breakdowns and he would try and restrain me, which just made it worse. You know, not necessarily doing what’s the best way to deal with someone having a psychotic breakdown. And he was still much bigger than me and able to kind of like grab me and control me. But I think now, had it been my brother who was bigger than my father, there wouldn’t have been any controlling. It definitely would have escalated to police or we can’t deal with this on our own situation much quicker than it did with me. And it just makes you think, though. Wow, like, yeah, if I’d been a guy, you know, or even just more physically different, my life could’ve played out, I don’t want to say worse, but it would have had a different impact.

Gabe Howard: Rachel, well, this is an awkward question. Do you think that a female menstrual cycle has anything to do with schizophrenia and why or why not?

Rachel Star Withers: Oh, I think it absolutely does. I’ve long thought that menstrual cycles and the women type stuff definitely affects my schizophrenia. It frustrates me to no end that at least once a month, I know for three days my schizophrenia is gonna get a lot worse. I’m going to lose touch with reality. I’m going to kind of get more spacey. I have to really be very careful. I get more delusional. I know my hallucinations get worse. I pretty much have to anticipate these days are coming. And during these days, I need to live in my room as much as possible to avoid potential issues. And it’s right before my period. And this has happened over and over. And I’ve brought it up to multiple doctors. And it’s not like you can just, okay, well, you know, up your medication for three days. It doesn’t work that way. You know, they’ll just be like, well, you know, make sure you track it and do your best. There’s never really been like a way to deal with this. And it’s been frustrating because talking to other women with schizophrenia and mental disorders, they agree that the exact same thing will happen to them. And yet no one really has an answer for us.

Gabe Howard: And to put it another way, half of the schizophrenia population is having this issue or has had this issue at some point and there doesn’t seem to be a big push to do anything about it or resolve it or to come up with a plan other than hunker down. This is just part of womanhood. I imagine that it is extraordinarily problematic because three days out of every month, that’s 10 percent of your life between the ages of 16 and 45 on average. That’s a lot of time.

Rachel Star Withers: Yeah, and I’m not saying that’s three days for all women with schizophrenia. It’s just me, I know there’s going to be three bad days. And it’s not just okay, women saying, hey, I think this is happening. No, it’s been observed that schizophrenia symptoms in women get much more severe during the low estrogen phase of their menstrual cycle that women go through once a month if they’re in those certain ages. That, yeah, it’s been observed. The symptoms are much more severe. It’s like, OK, we’re not going to deal with this, though. And I’m not trying to put down anything. But I’d say most of the times that I’ve been lucky enough to get to speak with researchers in that side of mental health, people who are like the scientists, it does tend to be predominately men. I could see this not being on their radar as much. Just kind of, yeah, if ninety percent of the guys are researchers, it doesn’t even occur to them to look into that.

Gabe Howard: Rachel, along those same lines, you’ve been a schizophrenia advocate for well over a decade, advocating for others. But of course, you’ve had to advocate for yourself. Really probably since the beginning. What advice do you have for women who are experiencing this so that they can advocate for themselves and have a chance to be heard?

Rachel Star Withers: I’ve said this so, so many times about so many different things on this podcast, but track your symptoms. Be able to actually prove, and this sounds bad, prove. I’ll have like my little app, it’s a menstrual app that tracks menstruation, all that, but it lets me put down symptoms. So you can actually like hand it to the doctor, be like, no, no, look. See this week right here? See this? Again, I’ve never gotten a good answer on how to deal with this particular situation. But it has helped to be able to be like, look, no. I can see that these are the main three days and I can usually pick out the week where those days are gonna hit. And just kind of, all right, let’s do my best to work as little as possible, you know, if that’s an option for me and that kind of thing.

Gabe Howard: Rachel, continuing the discussion of symptoms that only impact women. Women with schizophrenia are diagnosed much later in the process with breast cancer than women without schizophrenia.

Rachel Star Withers: Yes. And there’s a few different reasons why they think this is. One is that women with schizophrenia tend to ignore their physical health more so than the normal population of women. OK. And it could be partly because of psychosis, not actually realizing something is wrong. For me, I can easily see that a lot of times my physical health just takes a back seat to my mental health. It’s like I’m already doing so much trying to keep my brain on track. I can easily just not worry about physical stuff because I’m already on like six different medications from my brain. Do I really need to do other things? And I think I go to the psychiatrist so often, my therapist so often, and then I got to go to a normal doctor, too? When I was reading the different stats as far as what woman with schizophrenia tend to not get treated for until the later stages, osteoporosis, also thyroid conditions, diabetes. Yeah, I could see that. I totally could see that. Too busy worrying about your brain falling apart half the time to worry about your body also.

Gabe Howard: As we discussed in last month’s episode, people with schizophrenia are much more likely to have more comorbid issues of schizophrenia and something else. So in that line of thinking for a woman, it’s not too far of a stretch to consider that one of those co-morbid conditions, of course, would be breast cancer.

Rachel Star Withers: Yes, Gabe, that makes perfect sense.

Gabe Howard: Rachel, let’s move over to dating for a moment. Now, men and women culturally and societally date differently. So it’s not too much of a stretch to assume that women with schizophrenia and men with schizophrenia would also date differently. Now, what research did you find? Because I was really surprised that there was any research at all on how people living with schizophrenia date. But you found a wealth of it.

Rachel Star Withers: Oh, so much. And on that note, throughout my years of being open about schizophrenia, I have repeatedly got messages all the way down from teenage males to significantly older, all the way to like their 70s, 80s males. And one of the main things they always bring up to me is issues with the opposite sex romantically. And I’ve even had some very angry comments left on many of my videos. It’ll be like, well, it’s easy for you to say, you know, you’re not an overweight male. And I’m like, you know, and I get that.

Gabe Howard: Yeah. What do you say to that? Yeah.

Rachel Star Withers: Yeah. Yeah, I can see, yeah. There’s a How I Met Your Mother, if you ever watch that show, where Barney has like a little chart saying that, you know, women, their hotness and their crazy and this like can’t be off. So the hotter a woman is, the crazier she can be. But you don’t want to date a woman who’s like really, really crazy, but she’s not that hot. And it’s like a TV show and it’s a joke. But I do think women can get away with, yeah, guys will overlook a lot of things to still date certain women. Women could, you know, just be seen across the board like, oh, well, yeah, they’re a little bit crazy or wild, and it not be a bad thing. They’ll still be able to date and marry. Whereas a guy that’s more red flags. It’s also easier to hide your schizophrenia as a woman. If I’m on a dating app, and I talk to a 34 year old guy who lives at home with his parents in their basement.

Gabe Howard: That’s like a deal breaker

Rachel Star Withers: Yeah. Yeah.

Gabe Howard: For you. Even though you’re a 34 year old woman who lives at home in your parents basement.

Rachel Star Withers: Yeah, it’s more easy to be like, well, you know. Oh, OK. It’s OK for her, but yeah. A guy, I immediately I think it’s like, oh, no. That’s unfair. I agree. It is totally unfair.

Gabe Howard: Rachel, no show about women and schizophrenia can be complete if we don’t discuss pregnancy. What all did you learn about schizophrenic women who are pregnant or trying to get pregnant?

Rachel Star Withers: First, I feel like we should hit on that this is a touchy subject. Should women with schizophrenia even get pregnant? Should that actively seek out to be like, yes, I want to have my own children? I’ve had people just out of the blue come at me being like, so what are you going to do? And regardless of me having schizophrenia, kids are gross. Let me stress that. They’re just gross. Um, and I figure like.

Gabe Howard: But even that said, I think it’s important to point out as much as you don’t want to have children, Rachel, you still think that it would be wrong if somebody passed a law that said women with schizophrenia cannot be mothers.

Rachel Star Withers: Yes, I agree. My own personal beliefs and I think this is gonna be different for every woman with schizophrenia and different during parts of your schizophrenia. Mine has gotten incredibly bad at times where no me being pregnant would not have been an option. Nor holding down a job, nor like driving a car. That’s just being in certain psychotic episodes. Right now, if I were to get pregnant, it would not be the end of the world. Yeah, it wouldn’t be great, again. But I really don’t think that anything, you know, horrible. I’m not in a really bad mental place. Do I still have episodes? Yes, but I feel like I honestly could have a baby right now and be fine. Again, that’s a touchy subject across the board and.

Gabe Howard: It was shocking how touchy it was. I mean, with everybody weighing in. Men, women, mothers, even politicians weighed in. The research was frankly shocking as to the number of people that had an opinion about a woman being a mother. And, I’d like to point out, a woman that nobody knows, we’re not discussing whether or not Rachel. Just like a whole swath of women based on a medical diagnosis. And all of the sudden a large group of people decided that their opinion was strongly relevant.

Rachel Star Withers: And this is something that has happened repeatedly throughout history. I live in South Carolina and just north of me in North Carolina, there was a big issue where, not even that long ago, the 60s, 70s and 80s, women who had mental disorders were sterilized. If they were in different asylums and things like they were just forced sterilization across the board. Some of them who weren’t even diagnosed correctly. And that has just been kind of an ongoing thing that had happened. And it was also had a lot to do with ethnic groups were particularly pointed out also. So this is like a real thing. And I know I’ve gotten so many messages throughout the years that have been like, you need to be sterilized. And I’m like, OK. But it’s funny, though, because, yeah, you’ll have people who don’t know anything about you who feel very, very passionate about this subject. Probably and it doesn’t affect them in any way. And it’s going to be a very personal issue. Let’s talk, though, about some of the fears about a woman getting pregnant who has schizophrenia. One is that they might not realize or recognize that they’re pregnant.

Rachel Star Withers: It could be due to psychosis. It could be they’re in denial of the pregnancy. It could be that they’re misinterpreting. Think about like how many medications cause weight gain. I could easily see, you know, someone gaining weight and you’re starting a new medication. It never even occurs to you, oh, wait, this isn’t, it isn’t that type of weight gain. So there’s that is the worry about schizophrenic women not necessarily realizing quickly enough that they’re pregnant. And then there’s the whole medication side of it. Usually it is highly suggested that you stop anti-psychotics, and most antidepressants and whatnot if you’re pregnant due to the safety of the baby. And then there’s the withdrawal action. So while someone could have been stable before, having to go off their medications to be pregnant might cause other issues. It’s all just very interesting. And there is no cut and dry answer of, oh yeah, you should totally get pregnant or you shouldn’t. I do think it’s a personal decision and a situation that’s gonna be, yeah, different for every single human going through pregnancy.

Gabe Howard: We’ll be right back after this message from our sponsor.

Sponsor: It can sometimes feel like another schizophrenia episode is just around the corner. In fact, a study found that patients had an average of nine episodes in less than six years. However, there is a treatment plan option that can help delay another episode: a once monthly injection for adults with schizophrenia. If delaying another episode sounds like it could make a difference for you or your loved one, learn more about treating schizophrenia with once monthly injections at OnceMonthlyDifference.com. That’s OnceMonthlyDifference.com.

Rachel Star Withers: We’re back discussing how schizophrenia affects women.

Gabe Howard: Obviously, when we’re talking about pregnancy, Rachel, we have to talk about motherhood. So now you’re a woman with schizophrenia and you have children. There was a plethora of research on that. It was compelling.

Rachel Star Withers: Yes. And when we’re dealing mental disorders, you know, you have homelessness. You have a lot of I don’t want to say sad stories, but you do you have a lot of sad stories that are also factored in. You have a lot of sad stories dealing with rape and things like that. One third of women with schizophrenia lose custody of their children. And whether the children are going to other family members, ex-partners, the foster care system. And, the others, women with schizophrenia who have children, very few maintain sole custody. And that goes back to fear that they are unable to care for a child correctly, that they might not recognize problems, especially in infancy. What the baby might need, what the baby is going through. The mother might interpret it wrong. And again, it’s all this is a touchy subject because every situation is going to be different. And I can’t even imagine being in a situation like that. I said a few minutes ago, like, oh, I feel like if I got pregnant, that I, you know, for the most part, I would be fine. And I still stand by that. But I would need a lot of help. I would need a lot of help. Hopefully there would be a partner, but if there wasn’t, then with my parents, because my parents already have to step in with me a lot of times. And and I feel like I would even need more to make sure I was. I personally was seeing reality the correct way, if there was a little, another life in my hands.

Gabe Howard: One of the interesting things that I saw when I was reading this research is this idea that mothers with schizophrenia, they don’t have a lot of leeway. One of the things that you just said is that you would need a lot of help. I would really defy you to find a mother on this planet that doesn’t need a lot of help. Now, I understand that if you’re managing any illness, any illness,

Rachel Star Withers: Yes.

Gabe Howard: Not, not mental illness. If you have an illness, then obviously you are going to need more help. That is understood. But do you think that the bar is just significantly lower for women with schizophrenia? That if something happens, if a mistake occurs, if an illness symptom pops up, that it’s like, oh, well, you’re schizophrenic, we’ve got to take your baby? Whereas with other mothers like, oh, well, you just made a mistake. Mistakes are part of parenting. Everybody does. Do you think that that is a factor in some of these stats?

Rachel Star Withers: Absolutely. And I think if someone has some sort of even genetic disorder, very few people are like, oh, you shouldn’t have a child. You shouldn’t be over, you know, another person’s welfare. But when it comes to mental stuff, it’s like, oh, you have depression? Oh, you have bipolar? Oh, you have schizophrenia? Like, no, you shouldn’t be around children. And not even like you shouldn’t be a mother, you shouldn’t be around children. So there is definitely a double standard with that all where anything mental freaks people out.

Gabe Howard: There’s just so much stigma, discrimination and misinformation that it makes it very difficult. And it’s interesting because, you know, Rachel, I love you and I think the world of you, but I know what it’s like to be sick. And I can’t imagine having to care for a baby. And I can’t imagine you caring for a baby when you’re that sick. And part of me is like, oh, geez, I don’t know. Maybe that’s not a good idea. But my mom broke her wrist when she had three children. She was not doing well that six weeks. My father lost his job when we were younger. Well, that’s not a good idea either. I just I think of all of the adversity that my family faced growing up. But everybody was like, hey, band together, work it out. You can do it. Nobody said, oh, yeah, this is proof that people named Gary Howard shouldn’t be fathers. Oh, this is proof that people named Susan Howard just can’t hack motherhood. We just got through it as a family and a community. And I think that more often than not, women with schizophrenia, they just don’t get those benefits. And I think it’s worth pointing out, because it is another layer that makes it very difficult for women with schizophrenia to lead the lives that they would like.

Rachel Star Withers: And I did want to put a little note on this. Over and over, I could find so much info about women having children as far as schizophrenia, like pros, cons, mostly cons and just lots of people with opinions. And yet next to nothing about men with schizophrenia being fathers. Nothing. Really, there was nothing at all. Just that’s interesting, like how society, we view people with mental disorders having families. Like it was just kind of like women obviously, yeah, they’re gonna deal with this, but not men.

Gabe Howard: That is incredible and obviously something that we’ll discuss more next month on men with schizophrenia. Rachel, shifting gears from motherhood, we have to talk about the aging process. What’s the difference between men and women with schizophrenia as we get older?

Rachel Star Withers: This is fascinating. We talked about earlier age of onset, about women tend to get schizophrenia later. Another thing, though, is that women can have a second peak of schizophrenia is what they call it. And it’s usually women age 45 to 50 who have not been previously diagnosed with schizophrenia. It suddenly comes on and it has to do with the pre-menopausal stage hitting. And they think because the estrogen drops, there’s something about estrogen that keeps schizophrenia more in control. And harkening back to what we talked about earlier with periods and estrogen dropping. But men don’t have this. There is no second part of life where suddenly a man who hasn’t had schizophrenia will develop it in his 50s, 60s. It’s just not seen. In fact, men with schizophrenia as they age tend to get more of a handle on it. And women, it’s the opposite because you have for some women, suddenly schizophrenia develops. And there’s a lot about that. I was wondering when I looked at the different research, did these women already have schizophrenia? But maybe because they were so social, it just wasn’t recognizable? Or did it really just come on at that moment? And there is no answer for that. But I did think it was very interesting and something that if you’ve already been diagnosed with schizophrenia to look out for. That it could get a lot worse hitting around age forty five if you’re a woman. So, you know, I got a little over 10 years there. Clock’s ticking for the second round of fun.

Gabe Howard: And it’s something else that women have to be aware of that may or may not be as researched or as discussed. Oftentimes I think society does forget how much educated guesswork there is in a mental health diagnosis. Schizophrenia is diagnosed by observation. It’s treated by best case practices and research and then more observation. There’s a lot of self-reporting from the person living with schizophrenia. And all of that really allows our culture and our society and our bias to influence the end result. We have to be aware of it. While it does sound scary, and it is, I don’t like the idea that men and women get different treatment. Obviously, you don’t like the idea that men and women get different treatment because it kind of sounds like women are getting the short end of the stick. It is what we have now. And for the women listening to this show, this is where advocacy is just so important, along with education. And, Rachel, I’m going to ask you, would you have known any of this information about being a woman living with schizophrenia if it wasn’t for your job? Do you feel more educated and more empowered today than you did before the research for this show? And what advice do you have for women living with schizophrenia to make sure that they get the best care, taking into account the fact that they’re women?

Rachel Star Withers: I would not have known a lot of the things we’ve talked about today, but especially the way estrogen is thought to affect schizophrenia. None of that’s ever been brought up to me. No doctors ever said anything. Like I said, I’m in my mid 30s and you would think maybe, hey, just so you know, Rachel, you know, women with schizophrenia, it could get a lot worse here in the next few years. None of that’s ever been said to me. And it makes me realize how important it is to do your own research. And I’m not saying to diagnose yourself. I’m saying to really know and research what could be on the horizon, especially with the pregnancy and things like that. I’m like, okay, well, I don’t plan on having kids. So why would I ever like research or look into all that? But then that’s what led me to finding out about all of this, which led to the menopause thing. And again, it’s just not something you normally see on any of the little pamphlets in the doctor’s office or brought up at any therapist meeting.

Gabe Howard: Rachel, were you surprised to find out just how separated physical health and mental health is? Because it just seems to me like before we started the research for this show that it never occurred to really anybody that your physical health would drive your mental health outcomes. And while this is a chronic problem, just across the board in mental health advocacy, specifically for schizophrenia. The fact that what’s going on with your physical body has been so far removed from your schizophrenia treatment, how does that make you feel?

Rachel Star Withers: Last episode we talked about the, quote, co-morbidity and then to go in to seeing just how the hormones. They do, everything affects your schizophrenia. And it’s all connected. And yeah, having a hard time. Mental health affects your physical and vice versa. Something else that we as people with mental disorders do need to be aware of and to kind of not be so hard on ourselves. As I’ve done research and just kind of learned about different statistics, a lot of things are normal that I just didn’t realize were. It’s like, hey, it’s OK that I have this issue. It’s not that I’m being super unhealthy. A lot of women or a lot of people with schizophrenia also struggle with this. It’s good and bad. Let’s go with that. It’s good and bad, Gabe.

Gabe Howard: Rachel, thank you so much for your candor. Now, you had the opportunity to talk to Dr. Hayden Finch, who is a Ph.D. and a researcher and understands schizophrenia from the clinical perspective. And you got to ask her a lot of questions about, well, really the differences between men and women and specifically what it’s like to be a woman and getting treatment with schizophrenia. It’s a great interview. And we’re gonna go ahead and play that right now.

Rachel Star Withers: Our guest today is Dr. Hayden Finch, a psychologist from Iowa. Thank you so much for being with us today.

Dr. Hayden Finch: I’m so happy to be here. Thank you for the opportunity.

Rachel Star Withers: Our episode today, we’re focusing on women who have schizophrenia, specifically as a psychologist, what issues have you seen that women with schizophrenia tend to seek help with?

Dr. Hayden Finch: Well, women, interestingly, tend to have more emotional symptoms with their schizophrenia than men do, so often they’re coming to treatment for things like relieving anxiety and depression. We see that more in women than in men. And then they also have, you know, a lot of trauma. They tend to be victimized quite a lot in their lives. And so that’s often a focus of treatment. And then lots of things related to family planning and relationships.

Rachel Star Withers: Women with schizophrenia across the board tend to be more social than men who have schizophrenia. Why do you think that is?

Dr. Hayden Finch: So symptoms of schizophrenia are divided into positive symptoms and negative symptoms and positive symptoms don’t mean good, they just mean that something is there that shouldn’t be there. So, for example, hallucinations or delusions, whereas negative symptoms are things that aren’t, there should be a lack of motivation or lack of facial expressions. So, men tend to have more negative symptoms than women do. So they have a lack of social drive and a lack of social interest, whereas women don’t tend to have those symptoms as much, but also women, their onset of the illness tends to be a few years later than men. So they have a bit more opportunity to develop their personality and their social skills in their 20s, and that will protect their social skills through the rest of their lives.

Rachel Star Withers: Talking about the positive symptoms you just brought up. Do women tend to have a different type of hallucination than men experience?

Dr. Hayden Finch: Not necessarily. We see the same types of hallucinations and delusions. Sometimes with women, the content will be a little bit different and it will focus on their children a little bit more or safety a little bit more. But often they’re very similar in type, though just the content can vary a little bit.

Rachel Star Withers: What are the biggest challenges for a woman with schizophrenia who is pregnant?

Dr. Hayden Finch: The most obvious one has to do with medication. So a lot of women with or without schizophrenia will stop taking most medications while they’re pregnant just to air on the side of safety. And so when it comes to a woman with schizophrenia who gets pregnant, a lot of them will discontinue their medications for the same concerns about potential effects on the fetus. And sometimes those concerns are coming from the woman herself, sometimes from her family, sometimes even from her doctor. But stopping medications during pregnancy for women with schizophrenia increases the risk for relapse. So I think about sixty five percent of women with schizophrenia who don’t stay on their medication during pregnancy will relapse during their pregnancy. So then they have more problems with their mental health during pregnancy. So most women who don’t have schizophrenia don’t report major changes in their mental health during pregnancy. But women with schizophrenia do, in part, again, because of that medication thing. But then psychosis during pregnancy can affect seeking prenatal care, not recognizing signs of labor or problems during the pregnancy. They might not even recognize that they’re pregnant. There can be lots of negative consequences on the pregnancy and on the fetus when psychosis develops.

Rachel Star Withers: So I am a woman with schizophrenia.

Dr. Hayden Finch: Right.

Rachel Star Withers: Let’s say that I found out that I’m pregnant. What would you suggest being my next steps?

Dr. Hayden Finch: It’s a situation where you need to talk to your doctor, especially the psychiatrist, about what medications are safest during pregnancy. We do have some information about medications, antipsychotics even, that are relatively safe during pregnancy. But it’s a balance between protecting yourself and your mental health and the secondary effect that has on the baby. It’s a really difficult balance. It’s an individual decision. And it really depends on the particular woman, her health, her history, her symptoms and all of that. That’s a very difficult decision to make with respect to medications.

Rachel Star Withers: What are the biggest challenges when it comes to being a mother with schizophrenia?

Dr. Hayden Finch: All moms are overwhelmed, right? So you have that regular level of being overwhelmed with responsibilities. But then on top of that, you’re trying to manage your own mental health. So you’re trying to get organized with post-natal checkups and pediatrician appointments, plus your own medical appointments and mental health appointments. They often don’t have as much support as women without schizophrenia. So there aren’t as many family members to lean on for emergency child care. They don’t have those extra hands when they just need a break. They also symptomatically can have more difficulty reading the cues that the baby is giving them so they might misinterpret what the baby is needing or wanting. And that can interfere with the relationship that they develop with the baby. And a lot of women with schizophrenia during that postpartum phase will have a pretty significant exacerbation and symptoms. And a lot of women are at risk for postpartum depression. But women with schizophrenia, especially those women who weren’t taking their medication during pregnancy, are at especially high risk. And that can increase the need for hospitalization. But a lot of women then won’t seek hospitalization really truthfully because the majority of women with schizophrenia lose custody of their children.

Rachel Star Withers: In my research, I found that so many of the women who have children who have schizophrenia also are single mothers and do very often lose custody due to either not being able to afford to provide for that child because the mother herself is having a hard time working and being able to provide, or having to be hospitalized. What would you say like if you have someone coming to you who’s in that situation?

Dr. Hayden Finch: The biggest thing I think, is asking for help before there is a problem. So if you’re noticing that your symptoms are making it hard for you to care for the baby, if you’re getting extremely overwhelmed with caring for a baby or even a child, it’s important to ask for help before a problem comes up. Those are the women who have the greatest likelihood of being able to maintain custody versus waiting until there is a major problem, when the child has been neglected or even abused. Then it’s very difficult to make an argument to maintain custody. It’s a situation where we definitely want to prevent problems rather than try to correct problems.

Rachel Star Withers: And most women, if they have a family and they’re going through treatment, like you’re just trying to juggle everything. And

Dr. Hayden Finch: Oh, absoluttely.

Rachel Star Withers: Everybody who has kids and whatnot are just constantly trying to juggle their lives. With the schizophrenia added, what advice do you have for women?

Dr. Hayden Finch: The biggest thing we can all do, really, but especially women with schizophrenia or women who are involved in the mental health system, is to find out exactly what services are available in your area. So you can call 211, which is a public line where they’ll connect you with services in your area. That you can be looking for things like housing for mothers and their children, family Services support groups for parents with mental illness, respite care for when you really need a break. There are specialized clinical services for parents with mental illness. There are in-home services where a provider will come in your home and help you learn parenting skills or learn how to interpret what the children are needing. Even transportation services can be a big help for people who are trying to juggle it all. That’s one thing is is making sure that you know what services are available and you take advantage of them, but also to the extent you can, I think it’s helpful to integrate your family into the treatment. So look for providers who are willing to work with you and your child because there are a lot of opportunities for skill development there. Or invite your parents or your partner to therapy and work on communication. There are opportunities for integrating it so that you don’t have quite so much to juggle and you can actually build skills to make it easier to juggle all of it.

Rachel Star Withers: Something that surprised me, and it seems to me someone should have said it to me long before now, but with schizophrenia in women, a lot of women don’t tend to get schizophrenia until they hit menopause . O they already

Dr. Hayden Finch: Right.

Rachel Star Withers: Have it and it gets a whole lot worse come menopause time. I had no idea. But what advice do you have? I mean, if I’m, if I’ve already hit that age range and I haven’t had schizophrenia yet, that’s a lot to suddenly hit you. What is your advice for seeking help at that point?

Dr. Hayden Finch: You think that sort of in the back half of your life, you kind of figured it out, you’re kind of coasting for the rest of it. And things should be easy from here on out. And to get hit with something like schizophrenia around menopause is, yeah, that’s a blow. We’re still doing research on exactly what causes that in women and what causes, first of all, the later age of onset in the beginning, and then that second risk time around menopause. But we think it has something to do with maybe estrogen. So one thing you can do is talk to your doctor about any medical treatments that could be available to address it or protect it from getting worse. But certainly seeking mental health treatment is the most important thing to do. Go ahead and get involved in treatment, learn how to cope with the symptoms, medicate them if that’s something that is valuable to you and effective and fits with your personal ethic and then learn skills to protect the great life you’ve already built for yourself. The good thing, if there is a good thing about psychosis after menopause, is that those women have had their whole lives to develop good relationships, good social skills, good occupational skills, and that is helpful in going through the illness at that time in life. You’ve got a lot of good skills that are automatic and that keeps the illness from being quite as devastating as it can be earlier in life.

Rachel Star Withers: Some women have had issues with doctors not taking it seriously where they’re just kind of like, oh, okay, well, that’s just your hormones,

Dr. Hayden Finch: Mm-hmm.

Rachel Star Withers: That’s just this time of life. You know, kind of brushing off very serious symptoms. What would you tell someone who’s kind of having that issue? They’re worried it’s something more.

Dr. Hayden Finch: Definitely be assertive. Talk to your doctor. More than once if you feel like they’re not getting it. If you feel like they’re not really hearing you, go get a second opinion. If that’s needed. Be assertive in some ways. We need to sort of trust doctors and if they’re telling us it’s no big deal, we sort of need to listen to that. But also in your gut, if that’s not right to you, then be assertive. Seek a second opinion. Bring it up two or three times. If multiple doctors are giving you the same opinion, then that can be telling that you might sort of be making something out of nothing. But if your gut is telling you that there’s something missing that they’re not really listening to you, then be assertive or get another doctor.

Rachel Star Withers: Across the board, it’s always said that women get diagnosed for schizophrenia, usually many years later than men. Do you think that just something with, like you said, the estrogen or is it more that women tend to mature faster and it might not be as noticeable?

Dr. Hayden Finch: So women are diagnosed later in life than men are. So, men are diagnosed usually in late teens or early 20s, whereas women are diagnosed more mid to late twenties. And that is just part of how the illness develops differently across men and women. We think that might have something to do with estrogen protecting women from the symptoms a little bit more. Whereas men don’t have that. But that’s still being researched and we’re still trying to understand that. So women are diagnosed a little bit later than men. But like I said, that’s just a consequence of the illness. But when they’re diagnosed, they tend to be diagnosed more quickly, meaning that men will have untreated psychosis longer than women do. So once women start showing symptoms, they tend to get diagnosed more quickly than men do.

Rachel Star Withers: Well thank you so much for talking with us today. And you actually have a book coming out soon, don’t you, Dr. Finch?

Dr. Hayden Finch: I do. I just wrote a book in part because a lot of the information that we’re seeing on the Internet is either incorrect or it’s so complicated you can’t understand it. So I wrote a book giving you all the details, everything you need to know about schizophrenia. And I tried to write it in the plainest language possible. So it’s super understandable. But I talk about everything from what schizophrenia is, what the symptoms are, how it relates to schizoaffective disorder and all of the other similar disorders. We talk about violence. I’ll talk about brain stuff. What parts of the brain are affected and what’s different about a schizophrenia brain versus the average brain? And of course, talking about treatment, a lot of the things we talked about today were kind of downers, were about problems, but schizophrenia is treatable. And I do believe that people can recover from schizophrenia. So I talk about what recovery means, what that looks like and how to get there in the book as well. So it’s called The Beginner’s Guide to Understanding Schizophrenia. It will be available as an electronic book on Amazon. And so I will have the link to that in the show notes and also on my Web site at HaydenFinch.com/SchizophreniaBook.

Rachel Star Withers: Awesome, we’re definitely gonna have to check that out. That sounds exactly like the kind of stuff we talk about here on our podcast, Inside Schizophrenia.

Dr. Hayden Finch: Yeah, absolutely.

Rachel Star Withers: And as a schizophrenic, I guess I would love to read some of that and especially in the easier to understand language.

Dr. Hayden Finch: Yeah, it’s even the stuff that’s written for people with schizophrenia or their families, sometimes then they won’t give you all the technical details that you want. So I’ve tried to kind of strike that balance that you get all the details, you feel like you really know the science. But in a way that’s relatively easy to understand.

Rachel Star Withers: Awesome. Thank you so much for joining us here today and shedding some light on this topic.

Dr. Hayden Finch: Thanks for having me.

Gabe Howard: Rachel, that was incredible, what were your takeaways from that interview?

Rachel Star Withers: I love talking with her. I love how knowledgeable she was. I like that she stressed how important it was for women to speak up and to make sure the doctors are hearing them and taking them seriously about things. And she even mentioned, yeah, and if one is not listening, you may need to go talk to a different one.

Gabe Howard: I completely agree. Self-Advocacy is a thing in all of health care and it’s really a thing in mental health care. And I think a major takeaway from this episode really needs to be ask questions. Because it really seems like doctors aren’t bringing up some of the physical health components of schizophrenia. And I think that’s of vital importance.

Rachel Star Withers: And seriously, ladies, take this to heart, talk to your psychiatrist. Let them know, you know, if you are having any issues with hormonal type things with your periods. Talk to them if you’re planning on getting pregnant or even if that’s just something that you know, hey, I want to talk about like future. What does that mean? Will I have to go off my medication? Would I need to do it, let’s say, a few months before? Like speak up about these types of things. For me, it’s interesting because we talked about co-morbidities last time and how important the physical doctors are and we really didn’t even mention gynecologists. But yes, gynecologists are a major part of women’s health and making sure that psychiatrists and our gynecologist are on the same page. Next time, we’re gonna be exploring how schizophrenia affects men. So we’re gonna be hitting on how symptoms affect men differently. And also testosterone. So that will be happening. And we will have Dr. Hayden Finch returning to talk to us more about the clinical side of the gentlemen. So join us next month on Inside Schizophrenia. I’m your host, Rachel Star Withers here with Gabe Howard. And you’ve been listening to a Psych Central podcast. Please like, share, subscribe with all of your friends, family, loved ones, the women in your life with schizophrenia. Thank you so much.

Gabe Howard: And we will see you next month.

Announcer: Inside Schizophrenia is presented by PsychCentral.com, America’s largest and longest operating independent mental health website. Your host, Rachel Star Withers, can be found online at RachelStarLive.com. Co-host Gabe Howard can be found online at gabehoward.com. For questions, or to provide feedback, please e-mail [email protected]. The official website for Inside Schizophrenia is PsychCentral.com/IS. Thank you for listening, and please, share widely.

Schizophrenia in Women syndicated from

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erraticfairy · 5 years ago

Text

Schizophrenia in Women

In this episode schizophrenic Rachel Star Withers and cohost Gabe Howard discuss differences in age, symptoms, treatments, lifestyle, parenthood in the genders as they experience schizophrenia.

Dr. Hayden Finch joins to explain the medical side.

Highlights in “Schizophrenia in Women” Episode

[02:00] Age of Onset

[04:45] Age of Onset in families with mental disorders

[05:00] Social Dynamics

[07:00] Symptom and Treatment differences in women

[11:30] Diagnosis differences

[13:30] Menstruation’s effect on schizophrenia

[19:00] Romantic relationship differences

[21:20] Pregnancy and schizophrenia

[31:45] Aging and the Second Peak of schizophrenia

[38:00] Interview with Dr. Hayden Finch

[48:00] Be Assertive

[54:00] Self Advocacy

About Our Guest

Hayden Finch, PhD in Clinical Psychology

www.haydenfinch.com/schizophreniabook

Dr. Finch’s new book on schizophrenia direct link to amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B084F5YR14/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_U_x_klWnEbTK50Y94

Computer Generated Transcript of “Schizophrenia in Women” Episode

Rachel Star Withers: Just like if I meet two guys named Gabe, they’re probably both different,

Gabe Howard: Probably.

Rachel Star Withers: No, that’s like, yeah, everyone turns around and is like their about to call the police thinking he’s going to start swinging.

Gabe Howard: Rachel, well, this is an awkward question. Do you think that a female menstrual cycle has anything to do with schizophrenia and why or why not?

Rachel Star Withers: Yes, Gabe, that makes perfect sense.

Gabe Howard: Yeah. What do you say to that? Yeah.

Gabe Howard: That’s like a deal breaker

Rachel Star Withers: Yeah. Yeah.

Gabe Howard: For you. Even though you’re a 34 year old woman who lives at home in your parents basement.

Gabe Howard: We’ll be right back after this message from our sponsor.

Rachel Star Withers: We’re back discussing how schizophrenia affects women.

Rachel Star Withers: Yes.

Rachel Star Withers: Our guest today is Dr. Hayden Finch, a psychologist from Iowa. Thank you so much for being with us today.

Dr. Hayden Finch: I’m so happy to be here. Thank you for the opportunity.

Rachel Star Withers: Women with schizophrenia across the board tend to be more social than men who have schizophrenia. Why do you think that is?

Rachel Star Withers: Talking about the positive symptoms you just brought up. Do women tend to have a different type of hallucination than men experience?

Rachel Star Withers: What are the biggest challenges for a woman with schizophrenia who is pregnant?

Rachel Star Withers: So I am a woman with schizophrenia.

Dr. Hayden Finch: Right.

Rachel Star Withers: Let’s say that I found out that I’m pregnant. What would you suggest being my next steps?

Rachel Star Withers: What are the biggest challenges when it comes to being a mother with schizophrenia?

Rachel Star Withers: And most women, if they have a family and they’re going through treatment, like you’re just trying to juggle everything. And

Dr. Hayden Finch: Oh, absoluttely.

Rachel Star Withers: Everybody who has kids and whatnot are just constantly trying to juggle their lives. With the schizophrenia added, what advice do you have for women?

Dr. Hayden Finch: Right.

Rachel Star Withers: Some women have had issues with doctors not taking it seriously where they’re just kind of like, oh, okay, well, that’s just your hormones,

Dr. Hayden Finch: Mm-hmm.

Rachel Star Withers: Well thank you so much for talking with us today. And you actually have a book coming out soon, don’t you, Dr. Finch?

Rachel Star Withers: Awesome, we’re definitely gonna have to check that out. That sounds exactly like the kind of stuff we talk about here on our podcast, Inside Schizophrenia.

Dr. Hayden Finch: Yeah, absolutely.

Rachel Star Withers: And as a schizophrenic, I guess I would love to read some of that and especially in the easier to understand language.

Rachel Star Withers: Awesome. Thank you so much for joining us here today and shedding some light on this topic.

Dr. Hayden Finch: Thanks for having me.

Gabe Howard: Rachel, that was incredible, what were your takeaways from that interview?

Gabe Howard: And we will see you next month.

from World of Psychology https://ift.tt/2HAfFCo via theshiningmind.com

#World of Psychology #child psychology

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