#typical zak behavior | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

iheartsunset · 4 years ago

Text

Papa Louie Emery Headcanons (Amii’s PL pre-gen for Utah and Nevada)

(I love Amii’s OC so much and I’m so glad they asked me to write about them! I also got some ideas from @freezeriafan and I love their analyses too!)

@maznanangy @amii

-Emery Young-Freeman (she keeps Freeman just to rub it in her ex’s new wife’s face) is the 42 year old mother (if you can even call her that) of Nevada and Utah. She works as a bitchy office manager for Travel Trout above Ivy, who Emery keeps investigating because she is “very suspicious”. Emery has unfortunately re-emerged back into her kids’ life and now they dread existence. I feel like Emery lives in a small Tastyville house where she is a menace to her neighbors and the townspeople. Utah and Nevada go by the surname “Mahelona” from their paternal grandparents to both honor their heritage and cut off any connection to Emery.

-Emery grew up in an upper middle class family as the oldest of 2 kids. Her brother, Wayne Jewell (Wayne is also a county in Utah), is about 14 years younger and lives in Starlight City with his wife and their 4 sons. Their parents indulged in her difficult behavior and clearly favored her over Wayne, which was probably why she’s so messed up now. Okalani also used to babysit them, so she’s Nevada’s godmother. Emery was head cheerleader and Clark was a football player who was extremely smart. She basically just charmed him into doing all her assignments for her and they got married immediately after graduating. It was no secret to Clark or their daughters that she was cheating on him with multiple men and women as well as her abusing illegal substances. She even dragged Clark into it, and he was so ashamed after a while that he divorced her and made her go with him to Starlight City to get help. They both essentially abandoned their children and forced a then 16 year old Nevada to become the mother figure to Utah. Emery doesn’t really care about her kids at all and her reason for coming back was just to basically terrorize her ex husband who was trying to make up with them.

-She was totally a high school mean girl, not even a charming one like Regina George, she was more like Courtney from Jawbreaker or Marianne from Easy A. She’s also a complete Karen, always complaining, being a hypocrite, and a is a huge pessimist. She lies about the people around her, but is obviously terrible at it. The only redeeming quality about her is that she’s a hard worker and genuinely cares about the company, but that’s it, she’s not even nice or anything. She’s also stubborn, always staying or persisting with something that should be left alone (you probably don’t wanna get too involved with Ivy, I’ll just put that out there). Emery also might be going through a midlife crisis and likes to act like a teenager outside of work, often stealing clothes from her daughters or showing up unannounced to where they are.

-She, Quinn, and Sue used to be a polyamorous sort of relationship. Sue was only in on it because dates took stress off of her and Quinn just wanted a rebound because of her and Timm’s falling out. Quinn ended it after she proposed to Timm and they made up and Sue left because she met Mary. Despite this, Emery is pretty homophobic and claims it wasn’t even a relationship. She just sucks.

-Her friend group consists of Quinn, Sue, Mayor Mallow, Prudence’s mom, Vicki, Rico, and Rhonda. And by “friends”, I mean they tolerate her at best, except for Prudence’s mom because she’s just as awful.

-Emery isn’t a typical Karen, as she knows that vaccines work, the earth is round, and that wearing a mask is a good health decision. But Facebook Karens who run MLM schemes and give their children essential oils are the only people who tolerate her, so she likes to pretend in order to keep her friends. Emery also despises Minion memes, but will occasionally tag Utah,Nevada, Clark, and Ari in them to piss them off. Her PTA mom personality type would be Carol.

-She is one of only 3 people who have been banned from every single one of Papa’s restaurants, the other two being Guy Mortadello and Radley Madish. Utah at the Pastaria and Timm from the Bakeria banned her because she’s a jerk, but she was banned from the other places for verbally abusing the staff on a constant basis. She mainly just gets her miscellaneous boyfriends and girlfriends to get her stuff from there. She also likes to crash workplace meetings at Papa’s house just to rub it in Timm’s face that she used to bang his wife.

-She likes to eat tropical fruits and seafood. Her favorite food would be shrimp tacos with mango salsa and her favorite drink is a Hurricane (typing the word Hurricane as a Floridian makes me shudder). Emery also like coconut shrimp and sometimes sends some to her family, who just give it to other people because they don’t care.

-Alberto and Gremmie are Utah’s best friends and so they absolutely hate Emery. Gremmie plays all sorts of pranks on her and Alberto likes to hit her soccer balls on “accident”. But that’s nothing compared to Cameo, hoo boy does he not like her. He’s physically attacked her before because his love for Nevada is that strong, but it’s like she’s made of steel and always ends up whooping his ass after. Okalani, Kahuna, and Gremmie’s dad are extremely passive aggressive towards her too. Chuck is the only one out of all of them that will probably kill her both provoked and unprovoked.

-She is banned from every holiday and celebration that the Calypso Fam holds. It’s like Clark, Nevada, and Utah can sense her from miles away and they just automatically know not to answer the door. If she comes in, they just say “get the hell out of here, Emery”.

-She talks loud on the phone when she’s in line, and the conversations are usually not suitable to have in public. You can also hear music coming out of her headphones and she snaps at you if you bring it to her attention. She also has no phone case or pop socket, it’s just a phone. A plain, bare phone.

-She knows Ivy’s secret regarding the strange existences of Hacky Zak, CJ Friskins, Sweetheart, and potentially others. Ivy knows that Emery’s been too nosy, but she’s okay with it because nobody likes Emery and don’t listen to her anyways. What is the secret, you ask? Maybe in a future Ivy headcanons post will the truth be known...

-She named her kids after old states because the only class she was good at (besides PE) was geography. Why she never chose a name like Arizona or Florida for Utah we’ll never know, she was probably just being extra petty.

-Chuck has shot her with the pineapple gun before. Pineapple hurts. Not even the cold steel of Emery could deflect it. These are facts.

-Totally orders the most awful combinations of food and gets pissed off when it doesn’t taste good. Then she calls and complains about it and demands free stuff.

#papa louie #flipline studios #flipline #my headcanons #also amii and freezeriafan’s headcanons too #emery #pre-gens #emery freaking sucks #poor Utah and nevada #anyways stan Nevada #I’m stuck with so many play rehearsals #and my ankle is still fractured as heck

10 notes · View notes

actualbird · 3 years ago

Text

typical zak behavior. thought up of a full fic idea that nobody asked for. welp!!!

anyway hopefully coming within november (hopefully AFTER i update my marluke wip): tot eldritch horror comedy nxx team wholesomeness. because genres are meant to be MIXED LIKE A DELICIOUS SOUP

the way this fic is literally all about Love and Loving and How Love Is Good and Precious....

#full bare bones fic idea continues in the thread but that spoils some things i wanna keep secret until the fic is done #thank u ida for supporting this idea bc i rlly only needed one (1) other person to want to see this to enable me kJBKSJDF #dootdootdoot #this has been marinating in my brain for a while. first as a joke. BUT THINGS NEVER STAY JOKES WITH MY BRAIN!!!

20 notes · View notes

thereturnofthedirtyblog · 5 years ago

Note

You guys ever wonder when Zak & Holly reads here they make fun of us what's said about them?

Oh it’s the typical responses: We need lives, are obsessed, haters, ugly, fat, and anything else they want to throw this way.

To me this blog is about Zaks wrongful behavior, understanding it and making sure girls don’t fall into his trap. - TDB

#zakbagans #zak bagans #ghostadventures #submission #dirtyblog #ghost adventures #thedirtyblog #dirty blog #the dirty blog #[email protected]

19 notes · View notes

autisticmrfantastic · 7 years ago

Text

Excerpts from Zak-Site

Chris of zak-site (http://zak-site.com/Great-American-Novel/index.html) has basically written a whole dissertation on the early years of the Fantastic Four which is worth reading.

However for our purposes I will just be quoting his entries about Reed’s autism:

Issue 182: Reed's autism - the evidence

[Image depicts two comic panels, on the left Sue Richards is crying and says “ Franklin-- He’s been kidnapped!” On the right, the text box says “Reed Richards struggles to find the right words. What would his counterpart say? How would Susan Richard’s real husband react? So many questions, and by the time the answers are formulated-- the game is up!” We see Reed facing away from Sue with a scowl, Sue looks at him with a similar expression and says “now I know you!”]

This issue gives perhaps more evidence that Reed may be autistic. Maybe it's time to summarize the case:

Reed is highly intelligent, but only when he focuses on a narrow area. In other areas he seems less intelligent than his peers (see later examples)

In FF182 we see that he has difficulty with neuro-typical emotional responses. The parallel world Reed provides a useful experimental control for comparison with "our" Reed. As a parallel world Reed, we should assume he's the same in every way unless stated. Notice what happens here: Sue tells him that Franklin has been kidnapped, and this Reed struggles to find the right thing to say. This is classic autistic behavior. Note that a small delay is normal: we should expect a second or so of shock. After that, any fake actor would know what to say. It's not difficult to come up with a look of shock. But for this fake Reed it's very difficult. He stands here struggling to think of the appropriate response. The Real Reed of course has had years of experience in Franklin getting hurt, so he would know what to say. This is why it's so difficult to diagnose adults with autism: adults learn the right thing to say, even if they find it difficult. But this adult does not have a son, so he never learned, so it's really hard for him to fake the emotion.

Reed is obsessively narrowly focused. He will happily spend days in his lab and even forget to eat. This goes beyond a normal obsession or interest.

Reed lacks social awareness. He does not see how his put downs affect the others emotionally. He genuinely cares for Ben, and cannot see how his criticisms (especially in acts 1 and 2) have driven Ben to depression. He loves Sue, and cannot see how his actions almost led to divorce. he cares for Johnny, but cannot see how Johnny feels so trapped.

Reed prefers solitude, and if he has to deal with others he wants to make all the decisions: his world seems to be filled with himself. (The word "autism" comes from the same root as "automatic" and comes from the prefix "auto" meaning "alone".)

He avoids eye contact. We often see him, as in the sequence above, looking way from the person he's talking to. FF51 is another classic example, when Sue stumbles on his secret work and he says "how did you find out?" without looking at her. In FF271 it's a big deal that he can't remember his mother's eyes. Possibly she was he only person he would look in the eye. Of course, adults eventually learn what's appropriate, so he will look into eyes when he remembers to, but it doesn't come naturally.

He gets angry and frustrated or depressed when things don't go his way. FF9 is a good example of this. This leads to his need to be in control. In FF184 he's depressed that he cannot stretch, even though as Sue points out that is not his main power so rationally it doesn't matter.

His speech patterns show he isn't really aware of how he comes across; he's very verbose even though others ask him not to be.

He takes things very literally. This is most clearly seen in John Byrne's run where Reed is at his most socially withdrawn.

He is more paranoid than the others, seeing danger everywhere. Johnny has more fun, Ben is more relaxed about beating foes, and Sue likes to sometimes leave a danger alone (e.g. the first time they saw the creature from the black lagoon) but Reed is constantly on edge.

He doesn't like to change routine, though his lifestyle forces him to. Franklin would interfere with his routine some he likes to send the boy away to Agatha Harkness, and won't change that routine even when it's obvious that Agatha's house is not safe. Reed is also the only one who has never deliberately changed his uniform. Sue has tried skirts, Ben occasionally has an all over suit and even a helmet, and Johnny tried a red suit for a while, but Reed is happy with the same uniform every single time.

he seems to hate social complexity: how else do we explain why he did so well in FF181 in the negative zone? He was superb! Such a simple situation, just Reed on a rock against Annihilus. No powers, no other people, no stress. This shows that losing his powers is not the cause of his stress: it's the fact that losing his powers makes his life complicated that he can't cope with.

And so on and so on. None of this is proof of course, but the circumstantial evidence is very high.

Issue 200:

[Image description: Three panels depicting a struggle between Dr.Doom and Mr.Fantastic. Dialogue:

Reed: Don’t you realise you can never succeed? All your life you’ve been seeking vengeance on a world you believe has despised you...There’s still time, Doom--work with us! Your genius can benefit the very people you think hate you!

Doom: Insufferable idiot! You believe Doom is so petty that he seeks mere vengeance? Ignorant poltroon! I seek power because it is rightfully mine! It is a birthright I inherited from my mother--a woman who was murdered by a suspicious, frightened pack of cloddish morons who were too stupid to see the truth! I have ever sought to claim that with is already mine!

Doom freezes Reed in a block of ice

Doom: When we first met, Richards, I thought you a somewhat intelligent student with some promise. Perhaps your scientific intellect grew, but your understanding of human motivation is astonishingly limited! Vengeance? Bah! Doom is above such petty things ]

Reed' doesn't get it This issue contains possible evidence for Reed's autism, in not appreciating Doom's motivation. At the very least, it shows Doom's depth. It is easy to pretend that Doom as a two dimensional villain who simply wishes power for its own sake, or who just wants revenge. No, such a shallow motivation is an insult. Doom simply wants what anyone wants: what he sees as justice. Reed's remark about working with others to help mankind was especially naive: from Doom's point of view everything he does is to help mankind: Doom sees himself as a superior ruler, able to bring the order and plenty that mankind needs. There is some logic to this, as we shall see in later issues when Zorba gains power.

Reed's diplomacy (or lack of it) Further evidence of Reed's autism is the flashback: when Reed told Doom about the error in his calculation he was incredibly insensitive. Doom was trying to rescue his dead mother. He was breaking all the rules in the most dangerous way possible, all to save his mother. Imagine how Doom was feeling! Doom was not good at handling emotion at the best of times, and here he was on a knife edge, emotionally laid bare and vulnerable. All he asked of others was privacy. And Reed just burst in and said "you got the sums wrong." Does Reed have no appreciation for feelings? Yes, Reed was right, but being right is not enough: you have to think of the other persons feelings. Knowing what Reed did about Doom, there is absolutely no way Doom could have accepted Reed's advice. So why bother? Instead, Reed could have said something diplomatic, like "somebody may have tampered with your sums", and give Doom a way to save face. Literally: because Doom, unable to "save face", literally lost his face.

Great writing The passage on revenge is another example of this being The Great American Novel. What might appears to be a childish revenge story is in fact a discussion of justice and what is best for humanity. The fact that we can sympathize with Doom and share his frustration, even at the same time that we side with Reed, is a testament to the quality of the writing.

Source: http://zak-site.com/Great-American-Novel/ff-act4-FF176.html

#autism #autistic #reed richards #mr.fantastic #fantastic four #marvel #aspergers #asd

21 notes · View notes

takashi0 · 7 years ago

Note

Have you heard of the toonkritik incident in the Brony analysis community. (Toonkritik) was found having engaged in an explicit RP with a 15 year old girl. His friends called him out on it and threatened to call the police, but gave him one day to turn himself in. He didn't and they contacted the FBI and the police. It turns out he was generally a sleazebag, coercing women at cons into having sex with him, being controlling and manipulative. (Part 1)

(part 2) I think Zack's friends did let him get away with things for far too long, He used the typical abuser tactic of "I'm in a bad place I can change" and they believe him. Now people are trying to milk the drama, instead of helping the victims. Lily Peet, resident SJW called them out on it and for once she's right, but apparently she too had info on toon and was told to keep it quiet by one of the victims and The whole fandom turned into a fucking mess. I'm considering leaving the fandom.

Dude he’s the ONLY thing I’ve heard pony fandom related in weeks.

Also I think you have some details wrong and you’re severely overestimating how much moral high ground Peet has when according to Josh:

We had to ensure that this behavior was reported to the proper authorities once we had the evidence and report ready. After that, remaining publicly silent about it while the investigation was ongoing was paramount. Investigations need to have minimal interference to ensure that all the relevant details are uncovered properly. If cases like this are made public before the authorities can properly examine the facts, then it can jeopardize the process and lead to criminals escaping justice.

The call and pictures were leaked before any of us could confirm Zak’s arrest, prepare statements about the state of future projects, censor the victim’s name from evidence, etc. Now that everyone knows and is calling him out on it, he’s deleted all of his social media and now we know nothing about where he is or what he’s doing. So let me repeat: no one knows where the sexual predator is because someone jumped the gun and went public too early.Not only that, but there’s a fustercluck of misinformation going around and Lily is now contributing to it.

There’s a certain degree of finesse and professionalism that these situations must be handled rather than just “Kill the pedophile and let the masses know.”

I think you’re being a little hasty, all in all. The only people aware of any of this in fandom are either rightfully disgusted at Toon for his actions or Peet’s cultists whose opinions are worthless anyway, I wouldn’t recommend giving up on the fandom just yet.

#ireneadlercatwoman

15 notes · View notes

hollywoodjuliorivas · 5 years ago

Text

Continue reading the main story

Opinion

It’s 2022. What Does Life Look Like?

The pandemic could shape the world, much as World War II and the Great Depression did.

David Leonhardt

By David Leonhardt

Mr. Leonhardt writes The Morning newsletter.

July 10, 2020

Credit...Illustration by Zak Tebbal; Photographs from Getty Images

It’s 2022, and the coronavirus has at long last been defeated. After a miserable year-and-a-half, alternating between lockdowns and new outbreaks, life can finally begin returning to normal.

But it will not be the old normal. It will be a new world, with a reshaped economy, much as war and depression reordered life for previous generations.

Thousands of stores and companies that were vulnerable before the virus arrived have disappeared. Dozens of colleges are shutting down, in the first wave of closures in the history of American higher education. People have also changed long-held patterns of behavior: Outdoor socializing is in, business trips are out.

And American politics — while still divided in many of the same ways it was before the virus — has entered a new era.

Continue reading the main story

All of this, obviously, is conjecture. The future is unknowable. But the pandemic increasingly looks like one of the defining events of our time. The best-case scenarios are now out of reach, and the United States is suffering through a new virus surge that’s worse than in any other country.

With help from economists, politicians and business executives, I have tried to imagine what a post-Covid economy may look like. One message I heard is that the course of the virus itself will play the biggest role in the medium term. If scientific breakthroughs come quickly and the virus is largely defeated this year, there may not be many permanent changes to everyday life.

Refer your friends to The Times.

They’ll enjoy our special rate of $1 a week.

On the other hand, if a vaccine remains out of reach for years, the long-term changes could be truly profound. Any industry that depends on close human contact would be at risk.

Large swaths of the cruise-ship and theme-park industries might go away. So could many movie theaters and minor-league baseball teams. The long-predicted demise of the traditional department store would finally come to pass. Thousands of restaurants would be wiped out (even if they would eventually be replaced by different restaurants).

The changes that I’m imagining in this article are based on neither an unexpectedly fast or slow resolution, but instead on what many scientists consider the baseline. In this scenario, a vaccine will arrive sometime in 2021. Until then, the world will endure waves of sickness, death and uncertainty.

Continue reading the main story

Before we get into the details, there is one more caveat worth mentioning: Many things will not change. That’s one of history’s lessons.

The financial crisis of 2007-9 didn’t cause Americans to sour on stocks, and it didn’t lead to an overhaul of Wall Street. The election of the first Black president didn’t usher in an era of racial conciliation. The 9/11 attacks didn’t make Americans unwilling to fly. The Vietnam War didn’t bring an end to extended foreign wars without a clear mission.

Yet if the pandemic really does shape life for the next year, it will probably be remembered as a more significant historical event than those precedents. It could easily be the most important global experience since World War II and the Great Depression. Events that hold the world’s attention for long stretches — and that alter the rhythms of everyday life — do tend to leave a legacy.

Image

Credit...Illustration by Zak Tebbal; Photograph from Getty Images

Weak companies will die

“It’s only when the tide goes out,” Warren Buffett likes to say, “that you learn who’s been swimming naked.”

His point is that companies with flawed business models can look healthy in good times. Out of habit, many customers continue to buy from them. But when the economy weakens, people have to make decisions about where to pull back. They often start with products and services that they find the least valuable or that they can replace with a cheaper alternative.

A downturn, says Emily Oster, a Brown University economist, “is an opportunity to revisit inefficiencies.” And the coronavirus is likely to cause a larger version of this phenomenon than a typical recession.

Continue reading the main story

Local newspapers will be one casualty. They were already struggling, because Google, Facebook and Craigslist had taken away their main source of revenue: print advertising. Between 2008 and 2019, American newspapers eliminated about half of all newsroom jobs.

The virus has led to further declines in advertising and more job cuts — and could end up forcing dozens more papers to fold or become tiny shells of their old selves. If that happens, their cities will be left without perhaps the only major source of information about local politics, business, education and the like.

Traditional department stores are another example. In recent years, they have lost significant business to online retailers and quietly lost even more to big-box stores. Many Americans have decided they prefer either specialty stores (like Home Depot) or discount stores (like Costco) over the one-stop-shopping experience that Sears, Macy’s and J.C. Penney have long offered.

Now the virus has interrupted in-person shopping and caused many consumers to shift even more business online, to Amazon, Target and Walmart. “The retailers doing fair to poorly are absolutely not coming out of this,” said Mark Cohen, a former executive at Sears and Federated Department Stores who teaches at Columbia Business School. “Many, many of them are going to fail, have already failed or will fail when they reopen.”

If they do, they will create spillover victims — the hundreds of malls that rely on department stores for rent and foot traffic. The roughly 250 fancier malls around the country, like The Westchester in suburban New York and The Galleria in Houston, are likely to survive, Mr. Cohen predicted. Some will convert old stores into spaces for experiences, like dining, bowling, medical care or a golf driving range.

But many of the country’s remaining 1,100 or so traditional malls are at risk of failing. Even before the virus, Amazon turned two former malls near Cleveland into warehouses, a physical manifestation of changing shopping habits.

A third at-risk industry — higher education — is a bit different from the others, because it’s so heavily subsidized by the government. Yet dozens of colleges, both private and public, are facing real trouble.

Continue reading the main story

College enrollment in the United States has been growing almost continually since the Civil War. It kept growing even after the baby boomers finished college, because a rising percentage of young people were enrolling. But the 150-plus-year boom appears to have ended about a decade ago. Undergraduate enrollment fell 8 percent between 2010 and 2018.

Why? Birthrates have fallen, and the percentage of young people going to college isn’t rising significantly anymore. The population trends are especially stark in the Northeast and Midwest, where many colleges are. Late last year, the Chronicle of Higher Education published a bracing report called, “The Looming Enrollment Crisis.”

The virus is exacerbating almost every problem that colleges faced. They have already lost revenue from summer school, food service, parking fees and more. Perhaps most significant, the recession is hammering state budgets, which will probably lead to future cuts in college funding.

The immediate question is whether colleges will be able to bring back students this fall, as administrators are desperately hoping. If they can’t, enrollment and tuition revenue are likely to drop sharply, creating existential crises for many less selective private colleges and smaller public universities.

Yuval Levin, a conservative policy expert and the founding editor of National Affairs, put it this way: “The top 20 schools are probably not going to change. But what is actually higher education — more than 4,000 universities — I think will change a lot.”

Of course, business failures can be healthy. They are part of the “creative destruction” that the economist Joseph Schumpeter famously described, allowing more efficient and innovative rivals to rise. The disappearance of many old department stores won’t be a tragedy if they are replaced by stores people prefer.

But some of the virus-related destruction will have damaging side effects. When local newspapers close, corruption and political polarization tend to rise, while voter turnout tends to fall, academic research has found. Cuts to higher-education budgets could make it even harder for poor and middle-class students to graduate.

Continue reading the main story

“The biggest danger that we face as a sector,” Ted Mitchell, a former college president who now runs the American Council on Education, an industry group, told me, “is a loss of the gains we’ve made over the past 20 years in the access for first-generation and minority students.”

Image

Credit...Illustration by Zak Tebbal; Photograph from Getty Images

Habits will change

If you talk to students, parents and teachers about remote learning during the pandemic — from preschool through college — they’re likely to tell you that it’s been disappointing. It went “very, very badly” last spring, Mr. Levin says, and many parents assume it will not be much better this fall.

But if you talk to white-collar workers about their experiences with videoconferencing, you will hear a different story: It doesn’t replace the richness of in-person conversations, but many meetings work perfectly well over Zoom, FaceTime or Google Meet.

Millions of workers are returning to the office or will be soon. Many have no choice, including teachers, janitors and retail workers. But for many white-collar workers, the remote-work experiment shows no sign of ending — a trend that could depress the commercial real-estate market and business travel long after a vaccine is available.

Twitter has told many employees that they can plan to work from home forever. In New York, several major companies, including Barclays, JP Morgan Chase and Morgan Stanley, have said they don’t expect to use as much Manhattan office space as they did before the pandemic.

As Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s chief executive, said this spring, “We’ve seen two years’ worth of digital transformation in two months.” Working from home creates its own efficiencies — less time spent on traffic-clogged roads, more flexibility for parents and people caring for elderly relatives.

Continue reading the main story

Mark Zandi, the chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, has 200 economists around the world who report to him, and he has noticed that they are more efficient than before the pandemic struck. In the past, he would often get on a plane for a short meeting with a few economists. The virus has caused them to move these meetings online, where they share screens with one another and work on databases at the same time.

“We’ve gotten used to it very quickly and like it,” Mr. Zandi said. “I just don’t see us going back.” Because other businesses are having the same experience, he predicted, “Business travel is going to fundamentally change.”

In-person meetings and conferences will continue to happen. But the threshold for what requires travel, and the time, cost and fatigue it brings, will rise. “Maybe we’ve discovered that we don’t need to travel as much as we did before,” said Cecilia Rouse, the dean of Princeton’s School of Public and International Affairs. American Airlines and Delta Air Lines recently offered buyouts to employees, and Airbus cut thousands of jobs, signs that the companies expect airline travel to be depressed for years.

The larger theme is that crises can force or accelerate behavior changes. Some of the old behavior will revert when the pandemic ends. But not all of it will. In some cases, people will realize that they were sticking to old habits out of inertia and prefer their new habits.

Image

Credit...Illustration by Zak Tebbal; Photograph from Getty Images

Politics will shape the economy

The biggest source of uncertainty about the post-virus American economy is political. Past crises have transformed the economy, but almost always because of government policy.

The Civil War allowed Abraham Lincoln and his allies to create a transcontinental railroad and a national network of public universities. The Great Depression led to a raft of federal laws that reduced inequality. The housing crisis that began in 2007 helped elect a Democratic president and Congress that extended health insurance to millions of people.

Continue reading the main story

If President Trump wins re-election this year, it may not lead to any major new economic legislation, partly because he has not proposed any. But Mr. Trump would continue to have vast regulatory authority, and he is likely to continue giving businesses more flexibility to behave as they want.

One of the key post-virus implications could be further consolidation in many industries, with big companies becoming even bigger. Early signs indicate they are surviving the lockdown better than smaller rivals, in part because they have more cash on hand, better access to loans and an easier time switching to online sales.

Consolidation, in turn, tends to increase income and wealth inequality, in part because the largest companies are run by highly paid executives, typically based in major metro areas, and the companies’ stock is disproportionately owned by the affluent.

“My basic fear,” Heather Boushey, a leading progressive economist, said, “is that it leads to a rule by the oligarchs.”

At this point, however, Mr. Trump is the underdog; he trails Joe Biden in both national and swing-state polls. Democrats also have a realistic chance to retake control of the Senate. (They would need to win five of the 11 races that appear competitive.) If Democrats control both the White House and Congress, they will be poised to embark on a sweeping economic agenda.

Some analysts believe that they may even see some support from across the aisle. A big Trump loss, amid a pandemic and recession, could jolt the Republican Party into being more open to government action. “The debate for Republicans to be having in the 21st century is not big or small government — it’s what do we need from our government,” Mr. Levin said.

Jake Sullivan, a top Biden adviser, said: “Even Republicans — younger Republicans — have recognized that the center of gravity is shifting on the relationship between the state and the market.” The virus, he added, “will only accelerate that.”

Continue reading the main story

True, predictions of forthcoming Republican moderation haven’t fared well in recent years. Yet even if they again prove wrong, Democrats may pursue an ambitious agenda by abandoning the Senate filibuster, as many progressives favor, and passing legislation on a majority basis.

That agenda is shaping up to have two defining features. The first is reducing inequality — through higher taxes on the rich, greater scrutiny of big companies, new efforts to reduce racial injustice and more investments and programs for the middle class and poor, including health care, education and paid leave. The second is acting on climate change, which could cause even more global misery than the coronavirus. “Climate change cannot be solved by the private sector,” Senator Chuck Schumer, the Democrats’ minority leader, told me. “People under 45 realize it.”

Mr. Biden may not seem like a history-altering figure, certainly like less of one than Barack Obama did. But he could wind up presiding over a larger scale of political change than Mr. Obama did, for reasons largely independent of the two men themselves.

Ms. Boushey, who runs the Washington Center for Equitable Growth, argues that progressives are better positioned to pass sweeping change in 2021 than they were in 2009, after the financial crisis. Then, the only major policy area in which Democrats had a comprehensive, politically viable plan was health care — and, not coincidentally, it became Mr. Obama’s biggest policy success.

“Although you had this crisis, you didn’t have the ideas that were ready to go,” Ms. Boushey said. Today, by contrast, progressives have spent years working through the details of plans on climate change, high-end tax increases, antitrust policy and more. And while Mr. Obama’s team had only a couple of months to plan for taking office amid a national crisis, Mr. Biden’s team would have almost a year. “There is a whole vision that I think is ready,” Ms. Boushey added. “And there is a lot more runway.”

Mr. Biden and congressional Democrats would need to avoid getting bogged down in intramural squabbles between the center and the left. But the potential exists for the farthest-reaching period of legislative change since Ronald Reagan’s presidency.

In less than 15 years, the United States has suffered the biggest two economic crises since the Great Depression, the worst pandemic in more than a century and the election of two presidents unlike any before them — and diametrically unlike each other. If there is a single lesson of the current era of American politics, it’s that change can happen more quickly than we imagined.

0 notes

shanedakotamuir · 5 years ago

Text

A pivot from tech to empowerment at bra startup ThirdLove

Marketing images for ThirdLove feature models of many shapes and races. | Sarah Lawrence for Vox

How a woke brand is made.

Convincing 100 women to show up at a warehouse and take photos of their chests is no easy feat. Convincing them through a Craigslist ad is nearly impossible. But that’s what lingerie company ThirdLove did in 2013 while developing a proprietary app that was designed to predict better bra sizes.

“The app was problematic, to say the least,” said a former engineer we’ll call Ben. “It basically only worked if the photos were good.” When people tried out the at-home instructions exactly — take two pictures in front of a full-length mirror in good lighting while wearing a tight tank top, making sure the phone is at waist-height — the results were reliably accurate. But getting people to do that was difficult.

“The app was problematic, to say the least”

Then there was the matter of data security. Co-CEO David Spector told Inc the company never “recorded” people’s images, but no one was clear on what that meant. Once the photos were submitted via the app, where did they go?

After securing $8 million in funding, ThirdLove stopped developing the app. The technology was complicated, the data difficult to get right. In its wake, the founders doubled down on a narrative that would help set them apart in the competitive but old-school lingerie market: diversity and female empowerment.

To co-CEO Heidi Zak, these tenets had been there all along. “We set out to build a brand for all women of all sizes,” she told Vox. “Look at what we’ve done in the past year or two” — the company has featured diverse models in almost all of its recent marketing campaigns — “We wouldn’t do all these things if that wasn’t core to who we are.”

Many employees aren’t buying it. “It’s all about the money,” said a member of the marketing team we’ll call Liz. Interviews with 10 current and former employees, all of whom asked to remain anonymous, paint a picture of ThirdLove’s transformation, from a data-driven bra brand to a bastion of diversity and inclusion, as one of keen opportunism. The gap between their viewpoint and the founders’ suggests that while the company has succeeded in pushing the lingerie industry to be more inclusive on multiple fronts, it has a long way to go to convince the workers who helped build the brand of its motives.

David Spector and Heidi Zak founded ThirdLove (then called MeCommerce) in 2012 to improve the bra shopping experience. Both came from big tech backgrounds — Zak worked at Google, Spector at the investment firm Sequoia Capital. Early documents list Spector as the CEO and Zak as the president, although today, they co-lead the company and ThirdLove is touted as “female-run.” Their first hire, Ra��el Cohen, continues to head up the design team.

The initial concept was to use computer vision technology to predict more accurate bra sizes. People took photos of themselves using ThirdLove’s proprietary app; computer vision technology then processed the images, and suggested a personalized fit.

To alleviate privacy concerns, Spector was careful to highlight the company’s data sharing policy in interviews, noting privacy was of the “utmost importance” and leading reporters to say the images were “processed without ever being recorded by ThirdLove.”

This was 2013, so a computer vision underwear app was revolutionary. “Want a bra that fits perfect? This billionaire-backed app helps with just your iPhone,” wrote Forbes. “How a NASA scientist helped size my bra,” added Fast Company.

“The story was that the app could size you better than a sales rep in a store, which seemed pretty innovative”

ThirdLove did have a scientist helping them develop the technology. Ara Nefian, a researcher at Carnegie Mellon who contracted at NASA, worked on the apps and nights and weekends, and even he said the technology presented difficulties. “It relied heavily on accurately following the directions and that was a bit complicated,” he explained.

Regardless of the complications, when a woman we’ll call Natalie joined the company in 2014, she was immediately blown away by the technology. “The story was that the app could size you better than a sales rep in a store, which seemed pretty innovative,” she said. “I was really excited about the idea of working at a startup.”

Unlike many of ThirdLove’s recent employees who thought they were joining a female-led company and felt blindsided when they realized Spector’s involvement, Natalie joined for the technology, not the feminist credentials.

Three months into her tenure, however, she was told they were abandoning the app. Computer vision “was just a buzzword,” she realized, even though the tech stayed on the App Store. When she began to ask questions (How would they know people’s sizes? What was going to happen to all the data?), she was told not to worry — the company had stopped using data from the photos anyway.

The reality was slightly more complicated. By late 2014, Nefian had stopped working on the app, and the technology quickly went defunct. It had been finicky when he was involved. Without him, it was almost unusable.

Privacy was also a concern. Women were writing in asking where their photos were going, especially since some had included their faces in the pictures. Employees didn’t know how to respond, but it was clear the app was “freaking people out,” Ben said. Were the photos stored by ThirdLove? The employees themselves still aren’t sure today; the company vehemently denies the photos “were ever stored on any kind of server of any kind,” or even on a “camera roll.”

Nevertheless, ThirdLove began asking users questions about people’s current bra size and fit to get a more reliable read. It was a method that ultimately led to the fit finder quiz they now use.

Thirdlove via The Daily Mail

Screenshot of Thirdlove’s AI App

Thirdlove via The Daily Mail

A screenshot of Thirdlove’s AI App.

By the end of 2015, the computer vision project had been more or less scrapped, and the media story around ThirdLove began to change. Over the next few years, they became the brand that actually understood breast shape. The company that called out Calvin Klein for sexist ads. The founders that fought for LGBT rights. They called themselves the “antithesis of Victoria’s Secret” and championed inclusivity in terms of both skin tone and size. It was a narrative that would ultimately stick.

ThirdLove’s 2014 marketing bears little resemblance to that of the company people know and love today. Their initial brand persona — the fictional customer they designed their products for — was a heterosexual white woman in her mid-thirties living in Brooklyn, according to three former employees. “She’d meet her co-workers at rooftop bars for drinks after work. It was like Sex and the City,” Liz said. “That’s how ThirdLove started — it wasn’t about being inclusive.”

These employees also recall getting pushback when they tried to use diverse models. “We liked to feature models of color in emails and on the homepage, and they [Spector and Cohen] would just ask us to change them. Sometimes they would say it was because white models sell better,” Liz said.

Four recent employees echoed these claims, saying they have had to reshoot entire campaigns — including one titled “to each her own” that celebrated women’s uniqueness — because there were “too many” models of color. “You’d hear comments from Ra’el Cohen that a model of color ‘looked tough’ or that ‘she looks like she’s going to slap a b,’” a member of the marketing team told us. Zak, who said she has been at every photoshoot produced by the brand, said this was untrue.

Tensions around race and identity are still running high inside ThirdLove. Last month, leaked audio obtained by Vox revealed Zak apologized at a company meeting after she and Spector appeared in traditional Mongolian wedding garb on Halloween, offending employees. “As a few of you know, Dave and I were so fortunate this summer to go to Mongolia,” she explained. “We really just wanted to highlight something we felt was really beautiful.” She then asked people to “assume positive intent,” and moved on.

Other aspects of the brand have evolved, employees say. While Natalie remembers Cohen originally not being enthusiastic about offering larger bra sizes — saying “we will never be a plus-size company” on multiple occasions, when asked why ThirdLove didn’t carry larger bra sizes — more recent employees say she has become a strong advocate for bigger bodies. The company now carries over 80 sizes — far more than the typical bra brand — and Zak attributes this in large part to Cohen.

Undisputed is the fact that Spector championed this change. “This is where Dave can be a fascinating human,” Natalie said. While many employees report feeling bullied by his behavior, when he was on their side in an argument, his intensity could be an asset. “Like, he only wanted us to have hot models on our website but then he could be such a pitbull like, ‘This is low-hanging fruit. We have all these women who want this size, we should start carrying it. When are we going to start?’”

This pitbull quality also came out in less than ideal ways. In 2015, when the company launched a free trial program to allow customers to try on bras at home and send them back if they didn’t like the fit, he realized people’s credit cards were getting declined. Some were simply expired, but if customers kept the product, the company didn’t have a good way to recoup the funds, regardless if it was negligence or fraud.

Three employees remember Spector emailing people under a fake name in order to recover the money, claiming that if they didn’t pay up, the company would report them to an agency of online retailers. (No such agency exists.) “If you got too many strikes, you wouldn’t be able to shop online,” Emily recalls Spector telling customers. “It was my first job and I was like, this isn’t normal, right?” In response to this claim, ThirdLove said, “This is a twisted allegation trying to paint something negative which is simply normal business practice.”

Perhaps the company was suffering from the same difficulties as many early-stage startups: things were moving fast, people said things off the cuff, and the founders were zealous in their drive. But employee perception suggests the founders didn’t always take the time to bring the organization’s mission to life inside the company walls, which led to a growing chasm between how executives and their staff saw the brand.

It was around this time that Scott Nathan, a fashion photographer in Los Angeles, was approached about shooting a campaign for a different underwear company, Naja, which had launched in 2014. Naja partnered with women in need to design “underwear with a purpose.” It was founded by the actress Gina Rodriguez and Stanford MBA Catalina Girald.

Naja’s new line was called “Nude for All,” and it boasted an array of bras and underwear for a wide variety of different skin tones. In the photoshoot, Nathan framed 10 “real” women — all with unique jobs and backstories — against a neutral background. The campaign launched in 2016 in subway stations in New York.

Catalina Girard Behance

Naja’s Nude for All campaign in the New York subway.

Nathan was proud of how the campaign turned out. The images were fresh and showcased Naja’s inclusive values.

A year later, ThirdLove came out with its new campaign, called “The New Naked.” “The industry-favorite brand is launching nude bras for ALL,” Refinery29 announced.

Goodbye "nude", hello Naked. Introducing: The New Nakeds Collection from ThirdLove. Meet the five Naked shades inspired by YOU and find your Naked shade! #FindYourNaked

Posted by ThirdLove on Tuesday, February 7, 2017

Fashion brands often borrow each other’s concepts and draw inspiration from one another. But to Nathan, ThirdLove’s images were too close to his own. “They completely jacked Naja’s campaign,” he opined. “They basically just copied the whole concept.”

Naja was hardly the first company to sell bras for different skin tones; still, ThirdLove employees felt the brand was jumping on a bandwagon in order to beat out a competitor. “It’s strange because originally it was really hard to get them to commit to an authentic image,” recalled Emily. “It was all very skinny neutral women — none of that girl power feeling they are preaching today.”

To ThirdLove’s early employees, watching the company transform from a tech-focused brand to an industry leader in female empowerment has been surreal. Many feel validated that the company now uses diverse models and offers a wide range of sizes, but the change also feels inauthentic. “They’re just opportunistic,” Liz said.

Zak remains steadfast in her belief that the narrative shared by these employees is wrong. “We’ve always been a brand that’s been for all women,” she said, “from the very beginning of the company.”

Sign up for The Goods’ newsletter. Twice a week, we’ll send you the best Goods stories exploring what we buy, why we buy it, and why it matters.

from Vox - All https://ift.tt/2qoUwWR

#Vox - All

0 notes

timalexanderdollery · 5 years ago

Text

A pivot from tech to empowerment at bra startup ThirdLove

Marketing images for ThirdLove feature models of many shapes and races. | Sarah Lawrence for Vox

How a woke brand is made.

“The app was problematic, to say the least”

“The story was that the app could size you better than a sales rep in a store, which seemed pretty innovative”

Nevertheless, ThirdLove began asking users questions about people’s current bra size and fit to get a more reliable read. It was a method that ultimately led to the fit finder quiz they now use.

Thirdlove via The Daily Mail

Screenshot of Thirdlove’s AI App

Thirdlove via The Daily Mail

A screenshot of Thirdlove’s AI App.

Catalina Girard Behance

Naja’s Nude for All campaign in the New York subway.

Nathan was proud of how the campaign turned out. The images were fresh and showcased Naja’s inclusive values.

A year later, ThirdLove came out with its new campaign, called “The New Naked.” “The industry-favorite brand is launching nude bras for ALL,” Refinery29 announced.

Goodbye "nude", hello Naked. Introducing: The New Nakeds Collection from ThirdLove. Meet the five Naked shades inspired by YOU and find your Naked shade! #FindYourNaked

Posted by ThirdLove on Tuesday, February 7, 2017

Sign up for The Goods’ newsletter. Twice a week, we’ll send you the best Goods stories exploring what we buy, why we buy it, and why it matters.

from Vox - All https://ift.tt/2qoUwWR

#Vox - All

0 notes

xxntigo · 5 years ago

Text

Final Essay: PPP Film / Cinemalaya Film

As Philippine cinema celebrates its 100th year anniversary, more and more diverse films are emerging in our local industry. Let us take a look at three films from this year's Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino and see how our movies have been performing so far.

From young love and pursuing your passion; being in love in an open relationship; and a story about life and death; these are the main themes in the three movies we have watched from this year's Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino.

First is LSS or Last Song Syndrome is directed by Jade Castro. LSS is about the story of two young adults named Sarah and Zak. Sara, played by Gabbi Garcia, is a struggling musician trying to have a successful career and at the same time making ends meet and trying to send her brother to college. Sarah is able to inspire the audience by being able to speak her mind and be firm about what she really wants in life. She would never sacrifice her dreams, her own happiness, or her sanity in order to stay in a relationship. Her story gives the audience an idea of what we should realize and that there are certain things that matter more than love.

Zak on the other hand, played by Khalil Ramos, is a web designer with a single mom, who appears to have issues with his dad and is in love with his best friend for many years but cannot seem to confess it to her. Zak can be described as a typical torpe. Zak give the audience a deeper meaning of how we look for love; commitment not rushed. Because of his uncontrollable feelings to her, it gave this immaturity and unwillingness to settle or express how he feels, he is in turn causing women to engage in questionable behavior. Most of us spend at least some time doing things we love. It may just not be feasible or possible to do it for a living for Zak, but he can still find the joy and passion in the times when he does those things. And many of us spend a lot of time doing things we don't necessarily love most of the time but know they're useful in some way. It may take time and effort to work through these issues, but giving the family this priority can be one of the most important steps he takes to strengthen his family.

Zak and Sarah meets in a point to point bus in the middle of the EDSA traffic through their love for music. Though it appears that Zak and Sarah may have been brought together by fate, they actually in most parts of the movie, they were actually in separate situations and are dealing with their own individual paths after their meeting in the bus. This is a great feature of this film because even if it appears that this film maybe about love, it actually shows that life is not always about that and that romance is only part of our life and the way we lead and live our lives should not be entirely shaped or run by that one magical moment when we meet someone. The film’s catch would be that each character is so relatable that even if romance comes along the way, the responsibility the character has for their family and being able to prioritize what really matters on top of their own dreams is one thing inspiring. The character of Sarah is someone who is positive, a fighter, a responsible sister who can sacrifice her innermost longingness for her siblings. On the other hand the way how Zak perceive love is not rushed as how he would pleased but shows a different side of it, ideally directs to commitment. Contradictory to what the world sees how to pacify self by rushing things in accordance to one’s desires, the two character was able to see the beauty of love in a way by not neglecting their own commitments and responsibilities in the family and in other aspects of life. As how destined it may seem their meeting up again gives a stronger impact to the audience as how they were able to handle the romance, enjoying oneself without compromising and neglecting the reality of their lives.

Though there are parts when the characters are singing, the movie is not really a musical but the way how the songs are induced in parts of the movie makes creates an interesting flow for the story to run. This was made possible by using songs of the band Ben&Ben.

Director Jade Castro relate us in our realities in life. Having that feeling inside, growing and learning, it leads, and it’s done so effectively and tremendously because there’s a connection and relation to it, which lifts the film’s genuine intention. Once you do find love you will realize that even though it is great, it is not all that it's cracked up to be. We will realize how important we are in our relationships and in this life such as focusing on ourselves, where the only things we have to compromise are ones we want. He created a film that gives a fresh, inspiring and feel good vibe to the audience where they will not be overwhelmed by cheesy cliche story about love but just the right combinations of an inspiring life story of two young individuals who have different passions in life and just somehow met along the way towards their own goals. A refreshing and pure view of love that makes it even lovely as the two characters find themselves as individual beings having the drive to take their own ways and journey and having been rewarded with meeting up again and as if they had been taking the road together from the first time they met.

From a young and fresh film, let us move on to a movie with a more mature storyline with the movie Open. Open is a movie produced by the newly established and self-proclaimed auteur-driven production Black Sheep who is actually a division of ABS CBN's Star Cinema.

Open tells the story of long term couple Ethan and Rome who has been together for 14 years, who decided to pursue an open relationship to bring the spark back in their relationship as initiated by Ethan. In this part, we can see how the couple is struggling despite their long term relationship out of wedlock. Rome is somewhat expectant of a commitment only she is hopeful for. In contrast with the first movie LSS, Open depicts couple who are dependent to one another wherein Rome puts all her world to Ethan. Ethan on the other hand seemed to be distant in the commitment and find himself seeking of more gist in the relationship. However, as boldly portrayed by JC Santos, his fulfillment in finding the excitement in the relationship is driven by lust and temporary self gratification. Hence, Ethan suggested an Open relationship to Rome, after finding out that his best friend and his girlfriend are in an open relationship even though they are actually engaged to be married. Rome, with all her intentions to keep the 14 year relationship go on agreed with all trust to Ethan. There is only one catch in Ethan and Rome's agreement, they cannot sleep with people that they already know, they must do it with total strangers. Ethan broke this rule and slept with his much older and attractive boss whilst Rome still appears to be uncomfortable with their new setting. Instead of focusing on seeing other guys, Rome started to do the things that she loves such as painting. Hence the loyalty of Rome is clearly defined, her love is driven only with her eyes on Ethan.

Soon enough, she finds out about what Ethan did and eventually decided to break up with Ethan and take up a job offer in Singapore. The film ends in Rome walking away from a regretful and crying Ethan.

In the beginning of the film you can see that Rome and Ethan's relationship goes way back since they were really young so they have really grown very comfortable with each other. However, you will notice how Ethan tends be controlling over Rome and appear to be possessive and insensitive of Rome's feelings. This can be seen at the part when they were having dinner and Rome discussed about her job offer in Singapore and also during the moment he brought up the idea of open relationship. All throughout the film, Ethan's character really seemed unlikeable and at times irksome because of how greedy, clueless and controlling he became over his relationship with Rome. Rome on the other hand, is much more understanding and has patience over Ethan. But her flaw in the beginning was she was too sheltered and dependent on Ethan and she has hew world wrapped out around Ethan that she kind of lets him decide and not let her voice and how she feels be heard especially when she agreed to the open relationship even if she clearly is not comfortable with it. But what is great about the characters is the shift or development in their attitudes. The open relationship magnified the greediness of Ethan in the beginning then later on showed that he was actually the one who became frail when he realized his mistake and his girlfriend's worth. Rome suddenly opened herself to a new possibility and start to work on her real passion again while his boyfriend enjoyed temporary pleasure. In the end the open relationship both taught them of the importance of self-worth, trust, and feeling secure in one's relationship.

Another noticeable feature of the film besides the story is its aesthetic and overall look. The film is produced by Black Sheep and so far, we have noticed something common in the romantic films that Black Sheep has produced so far; they all have this warm hue aesthetic look. Black Sheep claims to be a production that offers something different to millennials besides the cliched mainstream movies we normally watch in the past. Open offers an insight on the pros and cons of being in an open relationship. But in this films it only briefly showed the pros side with Ethan's best friend Archie and it did not really show how their relationship worked out contrary to Ethan and Rome which is understandable since this is Rome and Ethan's story. Also, the writers were able to show through the story one thing that a lot of people in relationships forget, that there are two people in it and they are not acting as one. Basically, it is the importance of individuality despite of relationships we are in. Rome, being wrapped up in Ethan in the beginning, realized her self-worth and thought that her opinions and voice also needs to be heard that is why in the end she expressed to Ethan what she really wants and how she really feels and then left and pursued what she loves and left the toxic relationship.

Besides that, the mood, lighting, and occasional zoom ins in the characters faces during intense scenes of the film also created added feel for the audience. A notable part was at the ending scene when Rome cried and walked away from Ethan and finally realizing her self-worth.

The actors were also effective in portraying their roles. Anyone who watches the movie can feel like they are in Rome’s shoes who has experienced the downside of being stuck in a situation.

It is good to know that the idea of an open relationship is unusual and even more, should I say daring to be released in the cinemas. But the director has his own way of defining relationship in a diverging society where love, commitment, relationships are getting more complicated. Yet, the balance of how the director handles open relationship with its cons and pros is clearly seen. Somewhat, the outcome is also boldy depicted, hurtful but real as how it would end for the two. The concept of an open relationship may be new to many audience or even unreal for the older viewers but the feelings as a result of this is so relatable that even if it is not labeled as an open relationship we can see how hurting it is for two people who desires contentment and happiness in relationship from something that is not even tangible, the search for it becomes so selfish that it ended up losing instead of gaining. What is even more hurtful is not being able to recognize the people who really truly loves usl neglecting them trying to find something more from other things or people we may think would fulfill us but losing the people who truly loves us. As for Rome, she discovers that there is more outside of her relationship, as if she comes out from the cave and discover her worth as an individual and a human being an idea suitable to uplift women’s capability to shine on their own beauty.

Finally, let us move on with a much deeper story about life and death. Its complexities, and the realizations of an aging lady in the character of Lola Igna.

Directed by Eduardo Roy Jr. is Lola Igna. Lola Igna, played by veteran actress Angie Ferro, tells the story of a 118 year old woman living in the rice fields of a rural barrio who suddenly became a somewhat local celebrity when her granddaughter and the local mayor suddenly tells her that she might potentially be the world’s oldest living grandmother. With this in mind, people around her does everything to keep her on her feet alive and kicking to seek after the possibility of receiving an award and annual benefits if so happen her life goes beyond the record. The contrast of contentment in life and greediness by the “director-as-author” Roy, as what we can define auteur theory, has been depicted clearly in the story as how lola Igna prepares herself to the next life while the others expectantly awaits for another year to add to her life. Because of this, people started to go and visit the quiet and sleepy barrio to witness Lola Igna and have her interview or a picture with her. Another contrast is shown here; the simplicity of life Lola Inga is enjoying in the dirt of her field while the technological life the so called “selfie” generation is now living who captures her as a subject.

Among the local tourists flocking to the lola’s small hut house is apparently her great great grandson Tim who is an aspiring vlogger. Tim decided to live with his great great grandmother and record his moments with her. We can see how the director was able to combine the contrasts of simplicity of old life to the technological advancement of the present generation and the gap between the two generations, in the person of Tim, thus, being able to remove the wall between two opposite characters. As a result and soon enough, the two started to get closer and start bonding together. Roy, wittingly advanced the movie with its ideas of the theme without disregarding the heart in it and the values of family in the Philippine culture depicted in Philippine cinemas.

It may have started with the realization of lola Igna, people of her age would finally think of; death nearing. It was one ordinary night, lola suddenly wakes up and noticed a shadowy figure in the rice fields, she went to the fields and sees her dead husband Carias and all the other dead loved ones she knows. The director was bale knot only to inculcate the values of traditional Filipino family but the culture of old beliefs we still have nowadays. In this scene, Lola Igna took this vision as a sign that Carias and the others are trying to tell her that her death is upon her. With the thought of death nearing, the next succeeding days, lola begins preparing for her death staring with her ‘kabaong’ and asked Tim to help her do so.

The story of Lola Igna explores the complexities of life, death, aging and abandonment. As a 118 year old grandmother living alone in the rice fields, lola seemed to be doing okay on her own but soon after the unexpected death of Mang Gusting, whom she actually help delivered when she was a midwife, she pours her heart out at the wake and expresses how she feels abandoned by the people she knew and that made it clear that life seems odd for a certain purpose. Roy was able to depict the reality of an old aged person’s developmental stage as how Erick Erickson presented it; Ego Integrity vs. Despair. Somehow, Lola Igna’s contentment in life and how she fiercely lives it despite all the hardships she encountered her in her youth created a contend and mature character in her yet the realization of fear of the present life she is having started not being able to recognize the people in the town, began pushing her to face the end.

The end of the story may have given the viewers their own conclusion when in a seemingly quiet but meaningful scene of Lola Igna cradling a baby upon helping a mother give birth to a new life. She gives a meaningful look at the camera expressing fright and exhaustion. Alook that might give an ending to continue or not? To give up or to give in? Like anybody else, when one seems to retire but have no choice but to live on, the sight Lola igna gives in the part of this film is deep. Indeed, the movie Lola Igna is one wittingly and heart melting depictions of life’s complexities, divergence and realizations one must give credits to.

The Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino to include these three movies; LSS Last Song Syndrome is directed by Jade Castro, Open produced by self-proclaimed auteur-driven production Black Sheep, and Lola Igna directed by Eduardo Roy Jr. gives the Philippine Cinema a different face; daring, unusual, yet meaty and sensible. Beyond the simplicity of its production, the auteur inspired movies has gotten its way to the next level of portraying themes that tend to break the usual flow in the Philippine cinematic world. Refreshing, bold, and direct, each movie has its own light to depict so relatable to the present, humanely with the emotions and touching and moving through its values for realization of the audience.

It is agreeable that the Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino is achieving its mission that is to recognize Filipino artistry in films, to promote our country and its talents globally, to protect our film cultural heritage and to empower Filipino through film development and education. Indeed the evolution of the norm in Philippine cinema has gone to another level focusing on the value and the quality of its content rather than just being entertaining. The paving of its way to attract young artists in film making is recognizable as to see such young artists stepping forward to showcase their talents and skills. It is also obvious that such theme arose from the perspective of the younger generations, the so-called, the “millennials”. With the changing worldview in the aspects of love, relationships, commitments, life, death and more, these film artists never fail to uncover the reality of each aspect brokennes, failure, acceptance, responsibility and more. Though it catches the younger viewers interest it still depict the values and the consequences of the story characters choices and never fails to depict the picture of life in the real world. Such as with LSS perception of romance and responsibility, on which took the romance in a different light to consider the responsibility in the family the character has. It is also relatable and funny in a way when the first meeting happened in the middle of a traffic in Edsa, which obviously everyone can relate. As with Open, it can be observed its view of commitment and love where the pros and cons of Open relationship is highlighted and even more the consequences of losing someone as a consequence of the characters’ choices. Though heartbreaking on the side of Rome, hope is still elicited when she finds herself moving on to something that would uplift her self worth and abilities as an independent woman, contradicting to what Ethan ended up after his search for his own desires in lust with somebody else, a message more suitable to those in their marrying age. And lastly, as with Lola Igna’s view of life and complexities of death. It is also recognizable how the two generations symbolized in the character of Tim and Lola Igna can be joint and how the relationship between the family is depicted. Though in seemingly slow and light pictures, scenes such a how lola Igna stares to the coffin for herself and the scene she looked at the camera portrays a lot of emotions, realizations oozing in such simple scenarios. Issues that are presented in a simple but detailed way, values that had not gone overlooked and the relatability of each story to the lives of each Filipino that gives each other more weight.

The aim of Pista ng Pelikulang Pilino in the reservation of our own culture and values is also seen in these three movies. From the setting, the characters, to cultures and beliefs depicted in each. In the cinematic world where superheroes gains much attention to viewers young and old, the Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino has paved way to its own definition of filmmaking. Experimental as how it seems, yet the aim of delivering quality filipino movies beyond just the purpose of entertainment is still being achieved. Meaty, as how it can be described the wittiness of each film makers is outstanding plus the craft of each actors and actresses. In the movie LSS, the aim to promote talents and skills is clearly seen where the involvement of Ben and Ben is recognizable. The movie itself did not just showcase the talent of the film makers, and of the actors but of the new generation of Filipinos in the world of Filipino Music. In the movie Open, it portrays the mentality of our country men finding opportunity abroad such as in OFW. however the idea of an open relationship is unusual in a Filipno setting, yet the values of what love really means is still preserved. In the case of Lola Igna, we can see the face of poverty perfectly played in the role of Lola Igna. from the past she had in her youth, to the details of her usual lifestyle in the present and the realization of death derived from Filipino beliefs, this movie is a packaged of a glimpse of our culture and hardships as Filipinos.

In the idea of auteur-theory, it is obvious that Filipino films nowadays has truly evolved from a usual flow of cinematic aspects to a more diverse kind. The idea of the auteur theory can be clearly observed in each story as how the author-director turns to life the script into motion pictures. The director achieved its role as a powerful creative source to deliver the message of the film in different angles achieving its goals capturing the audience with the content, especially the reflection of the lives, culture, and values of Filipinos, relatable in almost all areas and not on the idea of entertainment alone.

As how Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino envision that is to teach every Filipino to create a thriving and self-sustaining film industry that contributes to the cultural and economic development of the country, and how it is proven in the emerging quality films such as LSS, Open and Lola Igna, we can say that the Philippine Films has gone to another level and is gaining credits on its own globally. The vision of Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino is something to look forward to. The vision that is slowly taking its way, truly Filipino films is gaining its own distinction in the film industry worldwide. The creativity of each Filipino director and artists and the recognizable contributions to Philippine Cinema is truly a talent we Filipinos should be proud of.

0 notes

trancingsheets · 5 years ago

Photo

The Hypnosis 247 live network knows even for hypnotists, Mondays can be a bit dull...... but not this Monday! On trancing in the sheets its Magnificent Monday with 7 mesmerising interviews from all corners of the hypnotic world and beyond.....

Starting with MARK WISEMAN - The author of ‘Mind Play: A Guide to Erotic Hypnosis’ and ‘The Mind Play Study Guide’ a Master resource for both erotic and clinical hypnotists worldwide. You’ll want to join in for the hysterics and laughter but you will stay for the insight and adventures! Get the scoop on what REEEALLLYYYY happens at erotic conferences and conventions from daily agendas to nightly dungeons.

2nd up... PAUL DRAPER Filmed appropriately in the wilds of Alaska with its own distinct culture. From Harrison Ford to absolutes of right and wrong and covering a Clash of Cultures from World War 2 this episode is engaging, educating and encompassing. What is culture? Simply the way things are done HERE Paul states and here is where you are at the moment. • Why some cultures are taught to embrace sex and others are taught to fight it • What conversion therapy is and how it affected a generation of young males • How ‘cruel to be kind’ shaped the way decades of women experienced the perception of relationships regarding sex

3rd NIMJA, ‘Your imagination is the limit!’ With over 155 THOUSAND subscribers on his Youtube channel Kaz’ guest today on Trancing in the Sheets will open your mind to an area of hypnosis that many are unaware of… Hypno-Kink! This episode takes the vanilla out of clinical hypnosis and bring us exploration into an area that doesn’t judge. From likes and limits to a pleasure filled mind in an often busy and often hectic world. This episode provides phenomenal insight and explanation into Erotic hypnosis showing it for what it is rather than what many THINK it is. If you are unaware of using hypnosis in this way, this is a must-see episode.

4th in this Monday treat is NCSF's SUSAN WRIGHT.... ‘GOT CONSENT?” Today’s episode of Trancing in the Sheets with Kaz Riley is VERY compelling. Susan Wright and her organization have made enormous strides bringing awareness, advocacy and most importantly CHANGE including convincing the American Psychiatric Association that kink is not a mental illness. Why is this so important? Families have been turned upside down and children taken away because of agencies and policies which discriminate against these underserved communities.

5th This one has the incredible GILA ZAK who has been lighting it up at conventions and conferences in recent years with two letters (E&P) Why are these two letters (and what they are short for) so important to hypnotherapist, therapists and most importantly, clients? It is because if you learn the metric of which to predict the behavior you will know how NOT to create the behavior in your partner that you don’t want. Knowing which you are and which your partner is can be critical in enhancing, understanding and maximizing your relationship. But, what encompasses each? There are 4 core traits to identify to reach the answer and Gila walks you through each. Which camp is Kaz in E or P? We find out here!

6th of the mesmerising 7, Kaz brings to you a very special guest and in typical Kaz fashion todays episode with MARIA BIRD is … RAW! Many people hold back a little as to what they do that brings success for their clients, Maria does not. Follow along as Maria describes what her ‘Transformational Hike’ is and how it can benefit her clients. But here is the best part about this interview with Maria … she walks you through each step of her 5 ‘R’s process that she uses on these Transformational Hikes so that you can follow along and do this for yourself … it is AMAZING!

7th... Kaz introduces Dylan, The Secret Subject on this episode of Trancing in the Sheets and they touch on some great topics from providing the answer to the question above to Kink and BDSM to using erotic hypnosis to experiment with different forms of fractionation.

What else will you learn in this fun episode? • Imaginary Bounding … what it is and how to use it • Hypnotic drug play … nobody condones drug use but how about the pleasure without the issues or side effects? • The ‘Safety Blanket’ • Is all hypnosis self hypnosis or ‘Shared Trance’ … Kaz shares her thoughts!

Here is a question that has been debated for years in hypnosis: Can you be manipulated or manipulate someone to do something with hypnosis that they would not normally do? You may be surprised at The Secret Subjects answer.

All this on the Hypno 24/7 Live network

#Kaz Riley #hypnosis #hypnotherapy #female hypnotist #trancing in the sheets #Sex Positive

0 notes

thereturnofthedirtyblog · 7 years ago

Text

Red Flags While Dating

1. You justify their bad behavior.

"If you find yourself justifying away what he does or says, even though these feel wrong in your gut, then that's a surefire red flag.

"The mind is the most skilled Photoshopper -- it can rationalise anything and paint any picture of anyone, depending on our initial perspective. There is a psychological phenomenon known as the 'confirmation bias,' where we are inclined to discard all evidence that does not align with our views and only keep those that do. And with a potentially toxic person, they have worked to create a false positive impression to worm their way into your heart.

"So even if they do something bad or say something that's off, you may think, 'He's only this way because he went through X.' This is when ticking boxes of 'Is he rude to the waiter?' 'Is he nice to his family members?' doesn't work. He could be all that -- the sleekest toxic people are.

"But underlying it, if he says things like, 'So they'll treat us better the next time,' or he has a mean mouth towards some people, and if you find yourself justifying his transactional mindset or meanness, then it's time to pause and step back. Our brains work overtime to convince us of someone who's not good for us, even when our guts know it."

2. They don't talk through issues.

"I'd say the one major red flag in a person's behavior that may indicate that the relationship won't work is the unwillingness to talk through issues, big or small.

"All couples have disagreements. That's perfectly normal and healthy. But it's how you handle those disagreements that can really make or break things. Does your partner walk away? Shut down? Place all the blame on you? Throw a tantrum? These are all red flags.

"In a good relationship, a couple can and will talk through issues, listening to the other person's point of view and expressing his or her own. No one needs to win or lose. It's about expressing how something makes you feel and being heard. Communication is key."

3. They're constantly testing your boundaries.

"Run from anyone who attempts to cross a boundary that you have set."

Examples:

* "You have said you do not want to go further sexually and they insist."

* "You say you are not available on Sunday, but they push you to see them."

* "You are not ready to have them meet your family members or friends, but they push you."

* "They push you to date exclusively before you are ready."

* "They want to move in or get married or set up a bank account before you want."

* "They try to change the way you wear your hair or your clothes or anything else about you that feels like 'you,' and it makes you uncomfortable."

4. They have a massive sense of entitlement.

"When we see that somebody feels entitled to us doing more for them than what is equal in a relationship, that's a huge red flag that they are someone who uses people. Are they comfortable with using us? Because it just shows a real clear lack of care.

"I think [it shows] when we ask somebody for help because we're tired, or we're overwhelmed, or our plate is too full, and that person says, 'Yeah, I'll get to that,' and never does. Or the person says, 'Well, I can't right now,' when they're not really that busy.

"I see this a lot in marriages and dating relationships, where there's always one person who's feeding the needs of the other person. One person is giving and giving and giving, and the other person gives one back. There's an imbalance. And the other selfish person is typically fine with their needs being met.

"If you use somebody, you don't really care about them, or their well-being, or their overall happiness in life. It's a habitual pattern. It's almost like life is there to meet their needs and people are just commodities to get that done."

5. Something in your gut feels wrong.

"Since red flags happen along the way road of abuse, victims see different behaviors as time and abuse goes on.

"The first thing to look for is your own intuition and listening to your gut -- if you have the feeling something is wrong, things aren't adding up, then trust that. Past relationship history is key to understanding their behaviors, as is the way they talk about past partners. If everyone in their past was 'crazy,' that is a huge red flag.

"Actions speak louder than words. If the date says one thing and does another, look deep into yourself and tell yourself it will only get worse and walk away. If you are dating someone who tries to rush a relationship without giving you time to get to know them properly, slow it down yourself and take control. If they are not patient with this request, you get out.

"Never be rushed, even if it feels good. A soulmate will be kind and patient, while abusers rush to confuse victims and to control. If you prove hard to control quickly, an abuser will back off, and you will save yourself heartache."

6. Everything is about them.

"One major red flag in relationships is when everyday life, events, conversations, and basic interactions are frequently about that person -- where there's constant manipulation and abuse of power over you.“

"For instance, you could confront the person you're dating about something they did or said that hurt you. Rather than listening to your concern and apologizing, they will manipulate and flip the conversation, telling you all the things you've done to hurt and upset them.”

"This scenario shows signs of narcissism, and things only get worse the more time you spend together. They don't care about you and your concerns; they only care about themselves. Narcissists are void of empathy. They don't believe they are wrong about anything, and they will constantly feel victimized, accusing you of attacking them when you're just expressing your feelings in a situation.

"Over time, you may will feel alone, constantly guilty, and you'll even doubt your own self-confidence and self-worth. This is definitely a reason to distance yourself from the person you're dating. Narcissistic abuse is emotionally and psychologically damaging to their partners and most everyone they interact with."

7. They are overly critical about their previous partners.

"I find that people are very predictable. Whatever they have done in previous relationships they are likely to do again.

"This means that if you listen carefully to how your new lover describes his or her important previous relationships and how he or she speaks about their exes, you can learn a lot about how this person is likely to treat you.

"When people describe all of their exes as terrible people and put all the blame on them for the relationship's failure, this is a red flag for me. It practically shouts: 'I cannot take any responsibility for whatever went wrong. I have not learned anything from these relationships. It is totally up to you to make our relationship work.'

"It is also likely to mean that they are unable to see people in an integrated and realistic way. When they started dating these other people, they probably saw them as highly desirable and all good. Now that these relationships are over, these same people are all bad. Either they have a knack for picking the absolutely worst people with whom to be in a relationship, or they are seeing all of these people in a very distorted way.

"If they could not see anyone before you realistically or make any of these relationships work, they are unlikely to be able to do it with you."

8. They constantly deny, criticise, or dismiss you.

"You may be in a relationship with an emotional manipulator if you see an emotional double standard in the relationship, experience your feelings being denied, criticized, or dismissed, find yourself 'giving in' to keep the peace, and see your self-esteem diminishing.

"You may get a feeling that there is something not right -- e.g., secrets, unexplained behaviors, unexpected reactions, or are increasingly criticized, blamed, put down, or discounted (often done jokingly at first), and feel confused by 'explanations' given about hurtful behaviors."

______________________

To sum this all up GET OUT! This is Zak 100% -TDB

#ZakBagans #DirtyBlog

11 notes · View notes