#come back when you have a better rant about whether participating in the system is acceptable as a step to tearing it down

[zahri-melitor]

So reading through various 90s Batccomics means I’ve been enjoying every time Anarky shows up, and by god does Lonnie ever exude some stupol energy.

You ripped that rant straight from Red Flag, young man. You have intense SEP member energy. You have a specific beef with everything SAlt for being your nearest enemy. I predict you’re going to be organising a protest against the pedagogical insult that is marking any moment now.

This child is such a stereotype I’m amazed half his sentences don’t start “solidarity with [since devolved section of the USSR]”. He needs to sneak off to badly photocopy more pamphlets on African starvation due to Western Imperialism on the school photocopiers.

I’m guessing I’m supposed to disagree with his statements? But it’s just so much Babby’s First Political Awakening stuff that I just want to set him up with a student union election campaign and watch him spend half his time yelling insults at the other socialist parties on the SRC, most of which have ridiculous names. Except he’s running around electrocuting people instead.

[fatphobiabusters]

So I have a question about how weight gain/loss works and I can't find any studies that don't seem reductionist or oversimplifying.

So, I assume you guys and I both agree: weight gain and loss is way more complex than calories in - calories out. It HAS to be. For instance, I was underweight until I started taking certain medications which made me gain upwards of 70lbs in the span of a few years. My diet and activity levels have not changed. My mom eats worse than I do (legit she sometimes only eats sugary cereals and ice cream some days, I try to only eat whole grains in contrast because I like their taste better and they're more nutritious) and she's not nearly as fat as I am. I also exercised a lot for a good year or two and while I gained plenty of muscle weight my total amount of body fat didn't change.

Meanwhile a friend of mine is chronically underweight and we eat very similarly and have the same activity levels, and he actively LOSES weight if he doesn't eat upwards of 2000+ calories a day.

I know that's anecdotal evidence, but I hear very similar stories from many people and simplifying weight down to just calories seems like it's missing a whole big picture somewhere. The body obviously has some very complex systems in place regarding the storage of body fat and when it chooses to use it vs keep it.

Seeing as you guys are skeptical of reductionist science when it comes to body fat and weight, I was wondering if you had any studies or research on hand about how weight gain and loss actually works. It seems like a fascinating topic ripe for plenty of research and experiments regarding the biological pathways of how energy is stored and used, and why it uses fat stores sometimes and not others, and why it differs so greatly between people! It feels like if it were any other field people would be pouring grants and work into figuring out this really cool mystery but because it's about fat people nobody wants to bother.

So, we have posted a lot about this.

I recommend spending some time on @bigfatscience, since this is their actual area of expertise.

I’m also interested in this in a sciency way, but as a fat person I worry about ppl focusing too much on this and not on radical fat acceptance. It shouldn’t matter if someone is fat because they choose to eat a lot and do no exercise. That’s their right as a human.

I posted this graph [cw: o word] a while back. It’s not perfect, but it’s a start in thinking about weight systematically and in a more complex way.

-Mod Siarl

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/296290/obesity-map-full-hi-res.pdf

last time the embedded link didn’t work so I’m just putting it here in case that happens again.

---

I’m going to throw my tuppence-haypenny in here. Mod Siarl already gave an excellent answer, I just have my spleen to vent also 😎 engage RANT:

The calories-in/calories-out thing bugs me a LOT because it’s so simple for people to throw out, and takes FOREVER to debunk. It’s like a Gish-gallop debating tactic: make the other side look daft by casually dropping it into a discussion and watch the other side have to faff about with a big answer.

I don’t know if this comes up much in US education, but there’s an old adage:

“Physics can’t explain how a bumblebee is able to fly.”

It’s patent nonsense. Of course Physics can explain it. The problem is mis-stated: Physics, as taught to 15 year olds, is too simplistic to explain how a bumblebee is able to fly.

Physics, as taught to post-16 year olds and in higher education, is perfectly able to explain it.

Calories is EXACTLY like that, IMO.

“Just expand more calories than you take in and you’ll lose weight. SIMPLE.”

It’s an oversimplification of biological process that, yes as stated is technically correct but it bears no resemblance to reality. It’s mis-stated.

When you restrict calories, your body will react. The reaction varies on person, circumstance, metabolism, genetics and societal conditioning. It may include, but is not limited to:

‘Starvation’ mode: your body chemistry adapts to lower calorific intake and preps for a famine. Fat is one of the last things to go, because it’s your body’s last line of defence against starving to death. (https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/starvation-mode#metabolism)

Depression/mental health. Not only are you depriving yourself of something that may make you happy (tasty food you like), you’re interfering with the societal use of food (social eating, with all its positive connotations for interaction), changing your body chemistry AND setting yourself up with a “I can’t have X otherwise I’m a bad person” mentality. (https://www.consumerhealthdigest.com/general-health/dieting-mental-health.html - refs at bottom)

Decreased activity. Fewer calories == less energy. Body stays the same shape (https://www.livestrong.com/article/454212-fatigue-while-on-a-calorie-restricted-diet/).

Reduction in muscles. Fat’s your last line of defence against starving (https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/calorie-restriction-risks#TOC_TITLE_HDR_7).

Fat loss. Yep, it might happen 🤷‍♀️ depends on all the factors above.

Weight gain. Guess what happens when the calorie counting ends? Your body tries to get back to its previous weight ASAP (https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/smart-people-don-t-diet/201501/5-lies-the-diet-industry).

Yes, there are also studies that show calorie restriction makes you smarter, live longer, able to jump tall buildings in a single bound and blah blah blah, all of which rely on self-reporting from subjects (which is laughably unreliable), small sample sizes (womp womp) and significant differences in the baseline stats of the participants (eg this gushing report https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/caloric-restriction-intelligence/ which buries these huge methodological faults in the ‘further questions’ section. FFS.)

Why the disparity? Why is slim evidence given SO much credence rather than correctly being interpreted as ‘hm, interesting. More research needed’?

Being fat is just taken as fact to be a problem. Any study showing otherwise is immediately analysed until someone can explain that the study was flawed (see the obesity paradox for this in action - what if we just discount any thin person with cancer? Job done. Now fatties look bad again. And there was much rejoicing.)

The reverse is true for any study on calorie restriction: any methodological flaws are buried in the footnotes, because it fits the narrative.

Whether being fat is healthy or not doesn’t matter. Your body, and changing it, take a long time and concerted effort for slow changes. You’re under no obligations to any of that and deserve to be allowed to live in peace with respect. Maybe you like being fat. Maybe you like your lifestyle. Maybe there are factors more important in your life than your weight. Maybe you accept you will die at the end regardless, so to an extent your just choosing between cancer, heart disease or Alzheimers (sorry for being flippant - that’s a big topic right there).

(Why is this ‘the narrative’? If I had to guess, I’d follow the money: public health is expensive, so any excuse to turn it into a problem of will power/individual deviancy is embraced by people who want their taxes lower rather than paying for healthcare for the masses.)

So yes. Calories-in/calories-out is twaddle is the take-away from my TED talk/rant 🤣

NOTE: I’m not a biologist, nutritionist, doctor or anything else. Always go to the study source, check the methodology, check the conclusions (which regularly get utterly misquoted when reported) and make up your own mind. Don’t take what I say as fact, because I might be completely backwards.

-- Mod K

[malereader-inserts]

Nocturnal Creatures

Fandom: Twilight Pairing: Cullens & Son!Brother!Reader Summary: vampires usually don’t get a say if they want to be a vampire, unfortunately, you’ve fallen a victim of that. Word Count: 1,677 Request: “a son!reader Cullens fic where the reader is a human and got bit by a rogue vampire and they have to witness the reader going through the whole painful process of becoming a vampire! thanks and keep up the good work!”

“Do you have plans in turning into a vampire?”

You rolled your head to the side, barely sitting properly in the armchair with a book resting on your stomach, staring at Bella. She was sat cross-legged as she slouched, biting her lip.

“I’m sixteen, Bella, if I were to be a vampire I would turn when I’m at least 21,” You shrugged your shoulders, “But, the thought of immortality doesn’t intrigue me, really.”

Bella raised an eyebrow, she would have thought at any given moment people would be jumping at the thought of being a vampire, the thought of the power and immortality. Perhaps, she was wrong, she watches you flicker your eyes down. You were a year younger than her, whilst she was about to turn eighteen, in a few months you’ll be turning seventeen.

“Anyway, what are you doing for your birthday?” 

“It’s not until two weeks,” Bella complained, “And I hate my birthday.”

“Noted,” You replied dryly, “But, Alice would still conjure something up, knowing her.”

Bella gives you a smile, as you watched her before returning your attention to your book. Bella looked at you, she was truly fascinated by you - her friends always gush about supernatural beings, Eric goes on how better werewolves are compared to vampires, but you, you weren’t interested in the slightest.

“We’re going hunting later tonight,” Carlisle announced at breakfast.

Well, everyone else was still doing their own business as you did last minute homework was scoffing down cereals, whilst Esme tries to slow you down and Carlisle watching amusingly. That was breakfast for you, you were the only human in the house.

“That’s fine, I’ve got practise later anyway so I’ll be home when you’re out still.”

“Are you sure you can walk home?” Carlisle asked, knowing you weren’t allowed to drive a car yet, often hitching rides from your siblings.

You give your dad a smile, “I’ll be fine, dad, it’s not the first time I’ve done it.”

“Alright, if you say so, have a good time at school - study hard.” Carlisle gives you a pointed look as he kissed the top of your head before giving Esme a goodbye kiss.

You wave goodbye to you as you drank the rest of the milk from your bowl, Esme shaking her head at your boyish behaviour, wiping the milk from your face as you shove your homework in your bag.

“Don’t forget your keys!” Esme says, throwing it in your direction, catching it easily as she places a big fat kiss on the cheek. 

“Mom!”

“Have a good day at school!” You roll your eyes as you move to the garage of the house.

“(Y/n),” Jasper calls out, a grin on his lips, “You still have Esme’s lipstick on your cheek.”

You groaned as you used the sleeves of your hoddie to rub the residue off before Rosalie scoffing and taking a makeup wipe and gently rubbing the lipstick stain off your cheek. You smiled gratefully at your sister, who reserves her loving sibling heart to you. 

“You’re hitching a ride with the boys, (Y/n)!” Emmett whoops as he jumps into the passenger seat of Jasper’s car. Edward shakes his head and jumps in as well whilst you get on the other side.

The car journey was Jasper and Emmett arguing what music to play with Edward commenting from the back, chuckling and teasing his adopted brothers. Whilst your family sometimes don’t see each other as family, you certainly do.

Jasper, Emmett and Edward were your typical annoying brothers who teased you, get into physical fights (though they’re gentler with you as you are human), get annoyed with you and likes to claim that they don’t like you but when you have a problem.

Bet your ass they will be the first to ask who needed to be fought off.

Alice and Rosalie were your sisters, who because you were the youngest of the family, try to take advantage of you by dragging you out to the malls or asking you to participate in whatever mischief they want to cause. The tease you about your crush, tease you when you get the attention of the good looking girls, boys and anyone in between. Call you cute names you hate.

But, they’ll be the first to know about your relationship status.

You liked being a Cullen, you don’t have anyone harass you at school due to name, everyone was afraid what Jasper and Emmett could do if they’re little brother was getting bullied. Some were even more terrified if Rosalie and Alice got involved.

“Alright, (Y/n), don’t do what Emmett would do,” Edward pats you on the shoulder as you and the family all gather in a circle before school started.

“I’m not that bad!” Emmett exclaimed, offended as Rosalie shakes her head, a fond smile on her face.

“I’ll keep that advice in mind,” You nodded, adding fuel to the flame as Emmett lets out a screech of offence.

You managed to escape Emmett’s rant when the bell goes off, you wave your family away as you attended your lessons. Sometimes, you hate being a year younger than your siblings, but then again you didn’t have a sibling in your lessons to embarrass you. 

When the day ended you shove your bag in Jasper’s car as you grabbed your gym stuff for practice, stuffing your keys in your bag as your family says goodbye and reminds you that they won’t be home till later through the night.

“Don’t burn the house down,” Alice warns, though she could probably see all the ridiculous things you’re planning to do that night, home alone, “And not parties.”

You grinned, “I can survive.”

Famous last words.

Walking home wasn’t too bad, whilst Forks was naturally rainy in Autumn, it was still enough daylight to walk home. Your family never let you walk home alone when it’s night by five, but when the sun is up, your family allowed it. 

You had things to do, like buy Bella her birthday present as her birthday was just slightly over a week away and you were well aware of Alice throwing her a party whether she liked it or not. You figured that it was easier to get it over the weekend and left the job for another time.

You liked walking, gives you time to think, but you hated to walk through the forest. If there was anything that Carlisle had integrated into your mind was to never listen to music whilst you’re walking through the forest. You plug out your earphones and stuck them into your bag as you walk through the trees.

You snapped your head to the direction of some leaves ruffling, you hated how your family conditioned you to be terrified of the unknown in the forest whilst living in the forest.

“Just keep walking,” You muttered to yourself, picking up the speed of your walking before getting halted by red eyes.

“Hello, you pretty thing,” It drawls out, your blood run cold, looking down at your wrist where you wore a bracelet of the Cullen’s sigil, “Ah, the token human - this may hurt.”

Your eyes widen as the vampire sunk its teeth within you - your neck. You started to feel faint as it drains the blood of you, leaving you no mercy to change you. With all your might you pushed the rogue off you before ditching your back and running with all your speed.

You hoped he wasn’t a tracker, or a mind reader, as you hid between some trees. Hoping Alice had a vision of you before the vampire snarled in hopes to let his meal (you) suffer.

“Come out, come out!” 

Your breathing hitched as you tried to quiet down your panting. It wasn’t enough as the vampire found you with your heartbeat, pinning you down onto the ground as he sinks his sharp fangs into your wrist. You tried to scream but he clamped his hand over your mouth. 

You could feel the venom in your wrist, it was burning you from inside out. You started to close your eyes, vision blurring as your breathing slowed. You tried to stay awake, keep fighting the venom in your system but there was no point.

In the blur of your vision, you see the vampire being hurled off you and golden eyes replacing your line of sight. Gentle, caring eyes. 

Your lips move to say dad but you couldn’t get anything out as you were feeling like you were choking on your air before losing consciousness. 

“No, no, no,” Carlisle pleads almost as Esme comes by his side, feeling a pulse rapidly decline that was beyond saving when his fingers rest upon your neck.

If vampires could cry as Carlisle closed his eyes and exhale deeply, Esme clutching her husbands shoulder tightly. Your siblings ribbing the rogue vampire to shreds. Alice’s vision and Edward’s commentary as he read her mind had brought them here, they came as fast as they could, the moment the vision had hit Alice and your name escaping Edward’s lips had everyone on high guard.

Carlisle looks over his shoulder to look at his “children” wide eyes as he slowly shakes his head, “We’re too late.”

They looked horrified, Alice gripping Jasper, who looked visibly distressed in feeling your pain.

Carlisle lifted you up in his arms, holding you tight, trying to grasp the warmth left of your body. Your family cringing at how limp you were, you weren’t far from home either, you were so close as Carlisle lies you down gently on the soft medical bed.

Now, it was just a waiting game, Jasper had to be the furthest away from you in the house, he couldn’t bear being around you when you were in pain and in the motions of becoming something you had no say in. 

This could last two or five days, they wouldn’t be able to predict. So, for now, they wait for you to rise.

The question is if you do.

[fymagnificentwomcn]

Farya was not only a bad and unnecessary character, but was also sooo annoying, not only for me?

I mean…

outside how her character was out of the place, she wasn’t even likeable? My mum knew nothing of Ottoman history & how her character is so ahistorical and she hated Floprya so much, you cannot imagine.

Her ranting that if Mu/rat does not kill Ayşe, she will do it herself & being all “Damn ilahtar and Kösem, they will try to convince Murad not to kill Ayşe, and otherwise he’s so merciless DANG”.

Her feeling of superiority and being special truly shows you why she had best relations with

Mu/rat and Atike in the palace lmao.

She’s also repeatedly completely ignorant of Ottoman system & yet thinks she can be Valide (ater)?

Kösem, Gevherhan, and Ayşe told her multiple times how it works and what might ultimately befall her. Of course Ayşe wanted to just piss her off, but she actually told her truth – Murad was keeping her as his mistress closed in golden cage and just waiting when he decides to grace her with his presence, mostly at night to have some fun ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) . Living outside harem meant that (surprise!) She had a worse situation than slave Ayşe, who had an acknowledged & legitimate position as haseki and mother of princes. Being a foreign princess meant nothing there – she was kept in hiding, had no clear position in Murad’s life, and was actually living in sin with Mu/rat (yes, Murad was so mad about Kasim breaking the rules, but he was doing something far more scandalising himself when it came to sexual propriety & he was the ruling padişah). Her being so happy about not being placed in harem initially & thinking how she was so special she was given a separate palace.. shows precisely how ignorant she was of the system she CHOSE to live in.

Kösem and Gevherhan warned her how not having a kids meant she would later fade into obscurity & even legal marriage could not change it – she completely dismissed it because of “their great luv” & stuff.

Kösem knew Murad much better than Floprya did LBR and when she said his “great luv” would pass, she knew what she was talking about – she was even shocked when Mu/rat gifted Farya with necklace because it wasn’t in his nature to do romantic gestures and caring about giving his women gifts. And even if you don’t trust these women because they don’t like you much, look at how this man is truly behaving towards you (if you ignore his behaviour towards Ayşe because yes we know you are a special snowflake).

Ignoring stuff such as period-appropriate behaviour (Murad laughing at Farya wanting to command an Ottoman army, I guess even less misogynistic men would laugh her off), he calls her his prisoner even before the pig incident, and afterwards…. 1) he hits her without even asking her why she put a freakin’ pig in; 2) keeps her wounded and bleeding in cell while making his decision, at the same time being all emo about how poor HE is because he loves this woman and she hurt HIM so; 3) when he (graciously, please everyone clap) decides to spare her, he doesn’t just let her go, he makes a show in which he scares her and “shows her her rightful place” aka on her knees before him; 3) continues to be offended and passive aggressive towards her afterwards; 4) gives her throne away behind her back without even asking her if she wants to stay with him; 5) rides after her, tells her “you slept with me, so you are my woman & you belong in my harem” & takes her on his horse forcefully (it doesn’t matter if she secretly wanted it inside); 6) didn’t explain why he gave her family’s throne to someone else even after he took her back to the palace, Atike had to do it; 7) yes, kept her without any status and intention to change it hidden in another palace, without any participation in his daily life and only visiting her when it suited him, not even sticking to any promises to come if he decided so, only the terrible incident with Farya’s miscarriage made him marry her and seeing how his “great luv” began to die after it, one does question whether it was out of love or him simply wanting to show everyone (both his mother and subjects) that he could do as he pleased, even against any rules; 6) he actually never promised her he would marry her and not have other women, it was only Farya always saying this – conversely, in MY Suleiman DID actually promise this to Hürrem and then did not keep it [doesn’t make Murad less of a dick, but shows how delusional Farya might be because he never actually said so himself or agreed to it].

And I said in one of my previous posts how Hürrem (and any harem women) weren’t homewreckers because it was indeed their only chance to have a family & love, but damn Floprya is a homewrecker because she truly didn’t have to stay with Mu/rat – she had her family, her throne, friends to come back to… please you knew what mess you created by coming there, and you had all the signs how violent this guy was and about his attitude to women… you could truly do a lot better, honey.

Murad never saw her as a consort of importance either. He never asked for her opinion on anything (he’d sooner even ask his mother) and when she got an accidental chance to say something (pleading with him not to execute a poor guy who forgot his lamp to bring his dad dinner, nota bene an incident described by Ottoman historian Mustafa Naima, just without Farya in the picture obviously), he completely ignored her and looked pissed she even dared to do so. It was frankly the only instance Floprya tried to talk Mu/rat out of something bad – even when he executed people who simply had been on the market during the attack on her (and even completely unrelated ones as later turned out), even though Kosem had already punished the actual attackers, our “kind-hearted” Floprya did nothing…. I’m not surprised he didn’t consult her before because he never does & well… talking sense to him never works because Kösem tried to reason with him it’s wrong, even for him because it provides people who want to go between him and ordinary people with great opportunity… and he didn’t give a fuck as always, but Farya never said anything, even following this? It was a matter closely connected with her and we never even see them talking about this or Floprya’s reaction to it? I can’t believe she didn’t hear about this… she likely just didn’t care.

Kösem also told her that marrying a sultan is not enough, and (since we know she couldn’t have kids) she should at least drag her ass and do something useful, like take care of people? Well, it was the only time we saw Floprya doing charity.

 Following the wedding, Mu/rat began to gradually lose interest in Farya, including going after Sanavber after he saw her with dagger pointed at him because it seems he has a dagger-fetish & now Floprya  even stopped wielding his favourite toy to have his attention… And again never forget Atike’s “Murad finally met a woman worthy of him, she can wield a sword like A MAN!” (STFU ALREADY ATIKE).

Speaking of Atike… Floprya encouraging Atike to pursue Silahtar even if it’s clear from Atike’s words he isn’t responsive to her, bah, even after it’s known he loves someone else… how stupid you can be to encourage Atike to get the guy who loves someone else and keep telling her again how special & daring she is, so go on and take what you want? Or Floprya threatening Silahtar to expose it was Gevherhan because he called her out on threatening Ayse at night with knife (yes, Ayşe was guilty, but there was no evidence at that point & it was not for her to go and punish somebody without evidence like that). He was just doing his job.

Farya later begins to openly mention her frustrations and how she’s now sidelined because she cannot have children… which of course makes her more the bitter and angry at Ayşe & striving towards revenge so bad – she  isn’t satisfied that Ayşe got exposed and would be punished, she wants her DEAD & would not accept any other option (never mind that poor, innocent children would be orphaned in such a case).

Even after  the matter is revealed and she does regret what she did, she’s as defensive as ever and tries to put all blame on depressed, abused woman aka Ayşe… she sees no fault of Mura/t’s there.

Still, she didn’t deserve execution for that, especially from hands of person who was chiefly responsible for the tragedy aka her husband… and her being pregnant saving her was meaningful.

Yet she continues to be ignorant about Ottoman system – now that Mura/t continues to pay her little attention even though she gave birth to two sons and instead spends time on drinking parties with Yusuf & other male buddies, she wants to be Valide and supports changing succession law back to the one involving fratricide… Okay, she doesn’t care about Murad’s brothers, but her own sons? Mu/rat being all “I don’t give a fuck” to Kösem pointing out one of his sons will kill the other is… well, him being himself, but Floprya should get worried about implications for her sons, right?

The scene with Sinan is SO indicative of Farya later on – she sits on balcony frustrated because she sits at palace all alone with her sons, while her hubby spends time on one of his parties & watching some (sexy!) dancer after promising her he would be now focused on his family (and even in that scene she still looked so scared of him), Sinan comes, calls her future "Valide Sultan”, she smirks, brightens up & already feels relevant and in better mood, so immediately does what he wants her to do and sends message to Mura/t about Kösem holding meeting with statesmen and ulema about changes in succession law.

Yet another win for Sinan!😂

Farya and Mu*rya stans claiming she was sooo "good-hearted” and they were equals.. were we watching the same show, eh? He didn’t treat her as her “equal” or whatever, even in “their best days”. The relationship was a disaster WAY before he tried to kill her.

I really never hated MY/K ship as much as I hated Mu*ya, a total disaster that really had nothing appealing to me – it was straight-up abusive plus it wasn’t even interesting. I swear even Mihrimah and Rüstem, while thouroughly dysfunctional, were more interesting to watch as a totally fucked up, toxic couple ugh.

- Joanna

Tagging @onlythelonelysurvive because it might be of interest to you and maybe take your mind off your worries :)

[melodiesofblueroses]

𝘚𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘠𝘰𝘶

→ 𝘈𝘬𝘢𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘪 𝘹 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳

♪ 𝘚𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘺: things have been looking down lately for y/n, so she decides to head to the local bar during open mic night only to be entranced by one of the singers.

♪ 𝘎𝘦𝘯𝘳𝘦: Fluff

♪ 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵: ~1.6k

♪ 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘴 𝘶𝘱: musician!akaashi , f!reader

y/n had lost any and all sense of time the moment she had stepped into the dimly-lit bar on a late friday night. she didn’t find herself visiting bars that often, though, and it wasn’t even a renowned bar in her town, but rather a small one that didn’t seem too shabby and had just enough customers to keep open. honestly, it made her wonder a bit what she was even doing in a bar in the first place, although that answer was clear to her. y/n was having a rather terrible day, or technically, week. 

nothing seemed to be going her way as of late. for one, work had just been too exhausting, with terrible upper management that never seemed to resolve problems but rather escalate them. not to mention that one coworker that was just downright unbearable to work with. aside from work, y/n had just been finding herself rather lonely. none of her friends were free to make any plans (although she suspected that some of them merely didn’t want to hang out), and the cherry on top, her partner of three, four-ish years had just broken up with her a few days prior. with everything she had to deal with, it’s no wonder that she found herself wanting an easy escape. so her solution was quite simple really: y/n wandered the dark streets of downtown and sauntered into the first local bar she had set her eyes on. 

as the first strings of a guitar filled the air coupled with inconsistent music notes, y/n sat herself down and indulged in a drink. she wasn’t exactly sure what the drink was since she had ordered the bartender to surprise her. it had a foreign taste, although that’s most likely due to the fact that she didn’t drink alcohol all too frequently, but it wasn’t one that she minded all too much. the atmosphere of the bar allowed for a perfect escape: music from many strangers partaking in open mic night coupled with alcohol that seemed to warm her up made y/n forget about her daily life. 

the first few songs that played were soothing, and many of the participants did seem to have a somewhat decent voice that, if anything, could be improved upon with some more training, but none of them really stood out to her. instead, the music provided for some great white noise while she eavesdropped on a few duos here and there (y/n would later feel guilty for doing so, but that time wasn’t now). she paid no mind to the music, that is, until a certain someone had come up on stage and began to sing. 

at first glance, he seemed like the typical boy that y/n found herself surrounded with in high school, or rather one that she dated for a few months. this instantly made her grimace, which should tell you everything about her experience with them. the messy black hair and the somewhat cold and stoic look brought back some bad memories, which wasn’t really ideal in this case since she wanted to forget about all the bad in her life. but the moment that he started singing and strumming his guitar, the moment that the glass rim of her cup touched y/n’s lips, she heard his voice. 

“that faint voice of yours that grazed me…” once the music reached her ears, y/n felt an explosion of emotion, one that she couldn’t find the right words to describe. her thoughts were jumbled as the alcohol’s effect grew, and y/n couldn’t differentiate between her feelings, or rather, she didn’t exactly know what she was feeling at that moment. but there was one thing she knew: it was healing. it was what she was longing for, a way to bounce back from all the setbacks she had experienced lately. as if on instinct, y/n immediately turned around and met his eyes, the seemingly cold ones that were now filled with adoration and passion. each lyric he sang felt so comforting, and y/n panicked at the warm feeling that was spreading throughout her. she didn’t even want to think about what it was, so instead, she brushed it off as the alcohol’s effects and her feeling a bit tipsy. 

once more, she brought the glass to her lips and downed the rest of her drink, immediately feeling the rush of alcohol, although that could also be mistaken for her disoriented senses right now. y/n couldn’t help but take glances at the man every once in a while, and as embarrassing as it was to admit, it was almost as if he knew because every single time she began to stare, his eyes would meet hers, as if the man knew what she was doing. or maybe it was nothing more than coincidence. either way, everytime their eyes met, y/n couldn’t help the warmth that rushed to her cheeks and the way her heart skipped a beat. and she swore she saw him give her a soft smile everytime, maybe not physically but the intent was there behind his gaze. 

feeling tipsy, y/n laid her head down in her crossed arms, smiling as she admired the man from afar. the song had hit her a little too hard for her liking, reminding her of the many failed relationships she had in the past as it was about a person’s neverending love for that special someone. everything about it, however, tug at her heartstrings, and it was a song that she found herself falling in love with, although it might be more correct to say that she found herself falling in love with the man behind it. 

y/n wasn’t one to believe in myths about “love at first sight” and whatnot. life wasn’t a fairytale after all. but there was just something about the sight of him strumming that guitar and singing in that soft voice that she couldn’t help but melt at. it was romantic in and of itself, and honestly, she wouldn’t be surprised if everyone in that room fell in love in that moment. he had quite a presence after all, and his beautiful song had only amplified it. aside from the warm, fuzzy feeling and her quickly beating heart, y/n found herself thinking about him and noticing the tiniest of his features. maybe, just this once, y/n would throw out any notions of love she previously had and believe in that fairytale of love at first sight.

the moment the song reached its final lyric, everyone in the bar was up in applause, cheering and shouting at how great the man was while he gave his gratitude and went one to promote himself. as much as y/n wanted to find out his name, the alcohol in her system mixed with the loud roars of the crowd made her not able to hear anything he had said, which was such a shame really. she, undoubtedly, would’ve loved to hear more of his songs, especially if they contained the same amount of heart and care that this song held. but that wish was now thrown out the window.

miracles, however, really do exist for the man that was previously on stage sauntered off and made his way towards y/n, who did a double-take to make sure that she, in fact, wasn’t hallucinating. “what’s your name?” was the first thing he asked as he sat down on the stool right next to her. still entranced by both him and his performance, y/n had mindlessly responded, not before going on about just how great of a musician he was and how he had a knack for this type of thing. before long, y/n realized that she was, more or less, ranting and immediately turned the conversation towards him, taking the opportunity to ask for his name that she hadn’t gotten previously. 

“keiji akaashi.” the name repeated in her mind. keiji akaashi huh, she’d have to keep him in mind. nonetheless, the two slipped into conversation right away, and quite naturally at that. they talked about everything together, from insecurities and how difficult it is to feel successful when others around you were simply much better off than you to failed relationships and overbearing coworkers. whether it was the atmosphere or the alcohol or the fact that the two were complete strangers to one another, the two were rather open with one another and exposed their true selves, from their feelings to their thoughts and everything in between. it wasn’t necessarily smart per say, but the two quickly developed a trusting bond with one another. 

by the time y/n had arrived home, the moon and stars were high up in the sky, and the streets were seemingly bare with no cars whatsoever. the time on her oven illuminated one in the morning, a number that she was quite taken aback by due to how fast time seemingly flew when she was with akaashi. still standing in front of her doorway, y/n rummaged through the pockets of her jacket and pulled out what was now a crumpled piece of paper. on it, however, was a single phone number, one that belonged to none other than the man she had become infatuated with in a mere few hours. softly smiling to herself, y/n held the paper close to her chest, feeling a heavy weight lift off of her. although things haven’t been looking up the past week, and everyone she knew and cared for were nowhere to be found, y/n still had someone; akaashi was still with her. 

[friendofhayley]

ship history meme

Embrace your past and get to know your friends’ fandom origins!

Rules: Post gifs of your fandoms / ships starting with your most current hyperfixation and work backwards. (Bonus points if you share any stories about how or when you got into that ship! But not necessary!!) Then tag anyone whose fandom history you’d like to learn about!

Tagged by the most gorgeous, smartest, sweetest, and kindest person in my life @sightetsound​ <3 Sorry y’all, I have a lot of hyperfixations and I’m on NyQuil!

1. Katsuki Bakugo and Eijiro Kirishima, My Hero Academia - I literally can’t watch Season 4 until it’s finished because my heart will Explode if I’m left on a cliffhanger involving these too!!! (Unbreakable T.T <3) I don’t usually like animes but I fell in love with his trash bastard and his soft rock boyfriend by the villain’s attack in S1. It all started when I got a TikTok because a Very Hot Bakugo cosplayer was on there. (Literally, their rendition of Bakugo is just, umph. They have appeared in my dream.). As she got more popular he started cosplaying more of Class 1-A of MHA, and I kept wondering?? What the fuck is this anime about?? Why is there an alien girl?? I soon gave in and watched the show to gain context to this thirst trap. I have so many feels for these boys, even though I don’t post on them much here, and T.T

2. Alec Lightwood and Magnus Bane, Shadowhunters - I literally almost wrote my thesis because of this ship. I got into Shadowhunters because I was depressed in a foreign, racist country where I couldn’t go outside alone because old white men would corner me on the street, and everyone was talking about how Mike from Glee was kissing a guy at a wedding? Instead of partying during my study abroad trip, I gobbled down Malec content. And like who wouldn’t?? Harry Shum Jr. was playing a bisexual warlock?? And he had lines and a main character role??? An interracial couple where the characters are both POC?? Sign me up! But then I quickly fell in love with awkward gayby Alec and immediately knew how it felt to be in his shoes. (Disclaimer: I still haven’t finished the show because I don’t want their story to end, but just seeing their wedding scene????? Tears!!!!!!!!!! Both wedding scenes! I-) I just love how soft they look at each as they realize how lucky they are to be able to fall in love against the odds. T.T They deserve the world and all the warlock and shadowhunter babies and T.T This is just going to devolve into me crying so-

3. Stiles Stilinski and Derek Hale, Teen Wolf - I got into Teen Wolf to escape the hellfire that had become the Glee fandom around S3-S4. (Tbh it might have been Dereklei’s constant Sterek content on my dash that led me to give in.) Stiles was bi (through subtext) and definitely turned on by an older werewolf. What more could a depressed Gleek ask for? And listen - now looking back, Sterek is definitely gay Twilight - if Bella was snarkier, had a mental illness, and also a personality. Sterek was the ship to get me back into writing fanfiction and where I could read paranormal characters working through PTSD, ADHD, and other mental illnesses while fighting monsters and having unrealistic sex! I also love those future fics where Beacon Hills isn’t a Hellmouth anymore, and everyone’s alive and just living as one big found family. Truly, Derek deserves the world and I love him so much, and Stiles definitely agrees.

4. Louis Tomlinson and Harry Styles, One Direction - If it’s a surprise that I’m a dark larrie, please read my bio. HL made me believe that love is real and exists and can last for years. I got into One Direction in 2011 through a Lilo fanfic, but as soon as I watched the Video Diaries,,,we knew. Louis has saved my life in ways I can’t describe and the songs that they’ve written for each other through their tough times are so inspiring to listen and dance to. Seeing how they’ve been dragged apart by management, Sony Entertainment, and the whole music industry as a whole even though they exist in glass closets is very disheartening to see. But their resilience that they show through their art (Only the Brave, Sweet Creature, If I Could Fly, and like so many others) is always there. If you want to fall in this rabbit hole, look at freddieismyqueen on YT and come inside lol. Larry is real.

5. Kurt Hummel and Blaine Anderson, Glee - the ship that got me on Tumblr! I didn’t start watching Glee until the summer before S2 came out. My whole choir was into it and I didn’t want to be “mainstream”, but Kurt was the first openly gay teen character that I saw on TV. When I heard a character played by Darren Criss, a musical theater YT legend from AVPM, I had to watch it. I ended up binging the first season with those Netflix DVDs during summer break (yeah remember when Netflix wasn’t streaming? lol). I watched every episode of that god-forsaken show the night of (or night after illegally, hidden from my parents) for that ship, and then me and my best friend would rant about it for the whole week: rinse and repeat. The episode they got together made me scream and I definitely put those Glee Rewind songs in my iPhone. (Fun fact: I used to cry at night because I wished someone like Kurt could love me like that because I heavily related to Blaine and his whole situation). I naturally stopped watching Glee the moment they broke them up and I’m still mad at their hasty attempt to marry them out of nowhere with no well-written getting together / make-up arc other than Jigsaw?? and a barn wedding?? As if Hummel would. What a trash fire. But dang, Glee fanfics have some of the dirtiest, kinkiest, forbidden fics out there. If you were ever on Glee_Kink_Meme on LJ, you know.

6. Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy, Harry Potter - the ship that started it all, the big kahuna, the ultimate enemies to lovers for 90s kids. Drarry got me into the fandom world in middle school, where I basically lived on FFN and LJ while pretending to do my homework. I used to get ready every day by watching the same playlist of “The best Harry Potter videos on Youtube!” (curated by Ariel333Lindt, who was the only queer person I knew but lived in Eastern Europe, where I could see two gay people kiss and fall in love in the safety of my room through badly photoshopped videos. Please check out that playlist). I just love how each fic is a microcosm where they have to construct how magical systems work, the backstories of pureblood families, creatures, or just wizarding culture for the end goal of having Drarry fuck and fall in love! I love redemption arcs that take 200k to achieve, I love dark!Harry takes, and every single different damn take on Narcissa, Pansy, and Millicent - because deep down that’s the writer trying to come to turns on whether or not Draco should be redeemed to get together with Harry. (I mean we all know they’re obsessed with each other, book 6 anyone?) I feel like Drarry fics have the best worldbuilding and characterizations of these characters, and I just love those moments when Draco and Harry take a moment to take a breath together and realize how far they’ve come. No one else can understand how it felt to be the pariah or the chosen one, they both interacted with Voldemort the most, and they have the most history together. They should have gotten together! But I mean the author’s dead, am I right?

So that was a lot! Those are all the ships that impacted me that I still participate with. They have shaped me for better or worse, and have made me learn more about who I am and what I want (or don’t want) in a relationship. This was the most fun essay I’ve ever written on NyQuil!

I’m tagging @homosociallyyours​ because I really want to know your fandom story! Also @stozierbrak​ because I love you and must hear you gush about your boys. I’m also tagging @iamaqualady​ because you’re literally the most intriguing person I know and I’m glad we’re friends even though we haven’t interacted that much? ish? 

[dxmedstudent]

Hi dx, I'm starting med school this fall and moving to Ireland to do so! Ive got chronic fatigue though and Im worried about being able to manage the workload. Im on meds so I'm doing pretty well, working 10 hour days rn with a 2 hour commute, but im pretty drained at the end of it. Have you or any of your followers got any suggestions for handling med school when youre just so tired all the time?

And another ask:Hi, following on from the anon asking about studying, do you have any specific tips for studying medicine with chronic fatigue? I find sitting in lectures (and the journey to and from) drains me even more than I am usually. Thanks and have a great day!            Hey, peeps! So I have someone important in my life who has gone through a chronic fatigue condition in med school. I’ve seen a lot through what they went through, but I wanted to be able to give a more useful answer. I took a little time to think, and to ask them what advice they would give.  They gave me permission to share an edited version with you.

It is possible to get through medical school with chronic health problems. Don’t let other people tell you otherwise. You may encounter people who doubt you, but never let them get to you. Remember that many people with chronic illness have achieved great things and it doesn’t have to be a barrier to  success. 

There is usually a way to get through whatever obstacle comes up. The key is to take everything literally one day at a time, and do not get overwhelmed by thinking about all the demands for the year at once. Focus on what needs to be done right now. Next week is another     week. 

Let  yourself have setbacks, and don’t give up when you have worse periods of health. There will be times when you’re more tired and stressed, but you have to give yourself space to recover back from that. Remember that everyone, whatever their health status, has bad times, and that usually they will pass. If things aren’t getting better, talk to your family, friends, personal tutor at university.  Seek help with clincians.

Keep in touch with your fatigue clinicians and be open about new obstacles and your fears about things. They can help with a lot of problem-solving aspects and support you during times of difficulty. They are also useful to rant to when you are stressed out as they know a lot about the problems of people with CFS who they’ve seen in clinical practice. 

Consider reading books on CBT and acceptance commitment therapy (ACT) - these have really helped me through psychologically difficult situations and build resilience when medical school has thrown difficult things at me. In the hardest year of medical school it really helped to have written advice to look at when various situations came up. 

Tell the university (occupational health, senior tutor, personal tutor etc.) - I cannot stress this enough. It is confidential, and they have to   accommodate you because it is a disability. This can become really important if you have issues completing sign-offs/assignments on time, getting hospital placements closer to home, getting extra time in exams etc. It can also be useful if you have problems with exams (not being well enough to do a sitting) for the university to know what is going on and how best they can help you. If they do not know what is going on, then they cannot help you. This is one of the best things I did at medical school in terms of having a safety net for when things were more difficult. 

Do not feel you have to attend 100% of everything. If you are feeling very   fatigued and not gaining much by that point in the day, it is usually     better to go home and do some quality studying at home. So many students who have no health problems will go home early, so do not feel guilty for doing so when you feel fatigued and like you’re not having a good day. Just remember to catch up what you’ve missed. 

Talk to the students in the year above about what the demands of the coming year are like, what the exams are like, what textbooks/resources to use,  and other *off the record* tips which the university would never tell you. This will help you out in planning how to approach the work for that year. It is very important to know what you’re preparing for and the best way in which to do it. 

On placement, talk to the teaching fellow/head of the placement if you have any issues completing tasks or sign-offs etc. They can help you and give you advice about how to get things done. This has been of great comfort to me during placements where sign-offs have been very tricky and I’ve worried about whether or not I will complete everything. Also ask how previous students did it - you’re not the first cohort who’s gone through the system. 

Let yourself adjust the intensity of your concentration when attending     lectures/seminars. Some days you’ll be able to be at your highest level of     functioning, and other days you may feel less functional.  Your levels might look something like:

Highest  level: concentrate/listen, participate/answer questions, write down notes.

Medium: concentrate/listen, no writing or participating.

Low: zoning out some of the time (5 mins etc), prioritising more important slides or mentally checking in again when possible. 

Use breaks during lecture days to really give yourself a breather. It is best to physically leave the space where the lecture took place, ideally go to a canteen and have a snack (food and drink are very important for boosts), or go outside (fresh air is important). Let your brain truly wonder and do  something not related to university or teaching. Don’t hang around with peers unless they talk about things which are less brain intensive or   non-university topics. 

Take on a reasonable workload during group assignments, and don’t let other students foist extra work or their work on you. Be strict about your role and that you will not do their work for them. 

E-books (textbooks) - either download pdfs and upload on google drive etc. or buy on kindle etc. This is VERY useful for reading and studying whilst out and  about for medical school, and fitting in revision during parts of the day which are empty/less busy. There are often quite a few times where you will be waiting around between teaching/clinics/hospital activities and if you use your time wisely you can really get a lot done. You can also read on public transport when commuting which is a good use of that time too.This becomes especially important close to exams where time management is key. This is one of the best things I did. 

Pacing - plan for deadlines in advance. If you have sign offs/essays/histories to do, space them out and plan everything in advance. Make a plan and stick to it, but be flexible enough to change things around if you don’t feel up to doing a particular task on that day. Make sure it is realistic personal timetable, and has time for you to attend university, study and complete assignments/sign-offs, as well as relaxation/social time.

 If you feel you are doing too much, cut back and do the bare minimum of what you need to do. Whilst it is nice to aim high and everyone at medical school is crazy competitive, the aim is to pass and go into the next year, and complete the degree. Scraping passes = still a doctor. Many people forget this, but the priority is to get by and become a competent doctor. You are doing what you can do, and you don’t need to get a Distinction in all your exams to be a good doctor. 

Do  not feel guilty for not being able to work as hard necessarily as other   students can all the time. Be proud of yourself for being there and for     doing something so difficult as medical school in the first place. Medical     school is very hard even for people who do not have any problems with     their health. There is really nothing wrong with coasting along and doing    just what needs to be done. It can be frustrating to not be able to do     more, but tell yourself that you’ve done your 100% which is all you can     give at this current time. Sometimes you’ll be able to do more, and     sometimes you’ll be able to do less. But don’t feel guilty about it. Know     that you are doing your best and that’s all that you can do. 

Similarly, everyone feels they are not doing enough/like they don’t know enough. Doctors on placements will also occasionally have a go at you, not  realising that actually for your level you do know enough. You may feel you like you’re not enough, but the truth is that everyone feels like     that. Many people at med school act like everything’s fine but underneath  the surface, we’re all working very hard and tired. 

You     are not alone - many people at med school have either physical or mental     health problems. They are all also battling through the challenges and you     are not alone in your difficulties. Remind yourself of that and know that     everyone is on their own journey/battle. 

Believe in the work-life balance Pie chart - Everyone should ideally have equal time in their day dedicated to 1/3  cognitive, 1/3 self care and 1/3 social activity. In med school, the latter two may fall back a bit even for students with no health problems, but it is very important for these things to be done consistently during med school. “If you can’t look after yourself, you won’t be able to look after other people”. The only way you can achieve your goals and look after patients etc is by looking after yourself (with the pie chart) and keeping yourself in the best health possible. 

Cognitive:studying, reading, academic extracurriculars, any activity where the mind is actively involved. 

Self care: pampering yourself, hobbies, leisure activities, exercise/yoga,     playing with pets, praying/worship etc. 

Social: going out with family or friends. Relationships. Support groups.     Societies/clubs etc. 

Join  support groups either in real life or on Facebook - it is really useful to have somewhere to rant about issues which specifically affect people with  CFS/ME, and to have their support when you have a hard day. Family and friends will not always understand everything you’re going through, even with the best of intentions, so it’s important to have peers with CFS/ME on those occasions. 

Don’t be afraid to turn down going out or doing extra things in the day if     you’re really not up to it. Better to keep yourself at a functioning level     than overdoing it because you feel you *should* be doing something. It’s    best to be honest with yourself about what you can do today. 

Learn to say no - if other people ask you to do things and you are feeling   overwhelmed at the time from work/personal life, do not feel bad about     saying no if you have reached your limit of how much you can cope. Do not  feel guilty about this, and realise that it is crucial to not take on too     much at once, in looking after your health for your ability to get through     medical school. People can and will ask you to do things either not     realising that it’s over your coping limits or not caring. You have to learn to put yourself first and forward and know your limits - it is not worth the payback which can inevitably happen when we overdo our limits.     Medical school does not give you a lot of time to rest or recover, so you     really have to make sure you keep yourself functional and within your     limits. 

Work  steadily during the year - if you have fatigue then you cannot leave   things last minute and cope with the physical and mental stress of this.     Make sure you are making notes and keeping up during the year, and     increase your revision before exams to a comfortable level. Be careful not  to overdo it in terms of number it hours a day, as most likely you will     lose your concentration and not absorb the information anyway. Best to do revision in chunks, with breaks and other things to break up the day. If the next day you get payback, it’s a sign to dial back the number of hours of revision. Even if you’re doing less hours of revision than you planned, if you’re better focused and rested you will pick up more information.     “Quality not quantity”. 

I hope this helps! Good luck with your studies, and I hope that things go well for you in the coming year.

[topconfessions]

I see what you're saying about YB. He went too far for entertainment purposes. But I think he only amped it up because SH and Ji were like dead fishes on stage. To me, Ji, Dae and SH never really poked fun at Ri . When SH mentioned his concern for Ri regarding his circle of friends, that seemed very older brother to me. Ji on the other hand, gave Ri the cold shoulder during the Made era. One interview where by the question was whether Ri participated as a songwriter. Ji just said "Let's just say he does". That was so condescending coming from someone he's closests to. YG is the one that encouraged this behaviour of teasing the maknae since the very beginning. He probably masterminded each member to adopt a quirk of some sort to attract interests. Remember Dae bringing up Ri's love for 'violent adult content' way back when? Pretty sure this started it all. Ri got the back end of the stick. This image got stuck with him throughout his career though he wasn't doing any favors for himself. I don't think he was neccessarily the lesser member, but he definitely felt inferior to them. His parts in their songs contributed so much to BB's signature sound. As I see it, the odd hierarchy system on the basis of age that Koreans have, held him back. It's good that there's a change in the younger generations. Sorry for the rant, BB's comeback gets me emotional.

it was clear he saw himself as inferior and the public back did then factually make it known he was the lesser. he was well aware. at the end of the day, you must not ever entertain or promote such behavior (you = the group) cause thats what gives fans the platform to talk about these things.

they had better management before alive era and around alive but after it just became too open and out there.

[veliusthewanderer]

My Most Rage-Filled Rant EVER!

As I’m writing this, nearly a month has passed since the Capitol Hill riots which took the lives of 5 people, injured dozens more and very likely contributed to the greatest Covid-19 spread in the new year, I feel a need to make my feelings known. I also have to make clear that not everyone who is a conservative is going to get the full fury of my rant. Hence, I decided to break this down into two sections. The first will be addressed to those conservatives who might’ve supported Trump until the Riots happened, then turned their backs on him. I’ll even address those who may have abandoned Trump well before the events of January 6. I will be dignified, respectful, and compassionate. The second part will be broken down for three groups, and here I will not be so merciful, so if you offend easily, you may wish to stop reading now.To the first group, now that you’ve seen how Trump behaved during the last four years, and up to the dreadful day where 70,000 people stormed the Capitol on his orders to stop the election certification, do you have any regrets backing him back in 2016? You likely have turned your back on him and even denounced him. The first step to handling any problem is acknowledging that you have a problem, and its never easy to do so, especially in a time where emotions continue to run high as a result of the most contentious election that this country ever had. You no doubt have family, co-workers, friends, lovers who have all but ostracized you for your decision to abandon ‘the cause’. As hard as this will be to read, at this point these people should be considered lost causes. No matter how much factual information you try to provide them, they will never accept it. Instead of trying to rehabilitate them, its better to cast them adrift and let them stew in their disgust. You may feel like you need to keep a line of communication open-and that’s certainly your choice-but you run the risk of inflaming the resentments to a point in which the outcome will not be a good one, so if you choose to keep a line open, always approach the topic slowly. For many in my own inner circle-family mostly, there may never be a way to bridge the gulf of misunderstanding. As much as I would love to open their eyes to the damage Trump has done, its never going to break the hypnotic trance he’s put them in. For you, its enough to know you aren’t alone in not knowing how to handle the division. You took a big chance in condemning Trump even if only because of his role in the Insurrection and for that you have my never-ending admiration and respect. I personally will not shame you for the prior support you gave to Trump because you honestly didn’t know what kind of person he truly was. I will apologize if I have put you in the crosshairs with your colleagues who still adore Trump, but you needed to know that I do not hold a grudge against you for whatever prior support you showed him.Now that I’ve addressed the first group and offered them my moral support, its time to address the lost causes out there. I must insist again that if you’re easily offended by the slightest truth, then you need to stop reading because the gloves are about to come off. I will be addressing three particular groups in this second half: the rioters (assuming they haven’t been arrested already), the co-conspirators in Congress (all GOP, by the way) and lastly, the people who while not directly involved in the Insurrection continue to espouse the Big Lie that Trump was cheated. I will be sure to break my rage-rant down, but all will start with the same opening line. I will also remind you that as my identity has not nor will ever be revealed, there is no point in posting death-threats. However, if you insist on doing so, I WILL report them to Tumblr and the police.

- To the rioters who have yet to be arrested:

HOW DARE YOU!! How dare you attempt an insurrection against a lawfully elected government on the basis of a BS claim by your ‘Great Leader’ Trump. You claim to be fighting against ‘communism’ yet you’re willing to enact a fascist dictatorship because you’re frightened of the alternative. This is a DEMOCRACY, and in a democracy there are winners and losers. Those who lost have an opportunity in four years-unless they’ve already had two presidential terms-to run again. Had Trump not incited 70,000 people to storm the Capitol with calls to hang Mike Pence and Nancy Pelosi, then half-heartedly attempted to stop the rioting, he could’ve had his chance again in 2024. Because of your actions and his role, he will very likely NEVER run for political office again. The fact that many of you who participated in the Insurrection were military veterans is the most damning thing about this situation. You fought against fascism, you were on guard against communist insurgency, you defended this country from Islamic extremism, yet you were willing to march in lockstep with a soon-to-be ex-President Trump to install a dictatorship because you bought into the Big Lie. You should not only be ashamed of yourself, but you should be stripped of any medals and commendations you earned in your career. Another point to make, and one I will repeat throughout the rest of this rage-rant, the fact that 5 people died during the insurrection. 5 people that shouldn’t have had to die. Four of the deaths were rioters and at least one of them was a military veteran. One police officer who did his duty to hold off the mob also died. You may think you did your patriotic duty by making your outrage known, but that is no consolation to the families of the people who died. They died because you wanted Trump to seize power and stop a legal election process. If the very thought that their families will now have to celebrate birthdays, Holidays, anniversaries and other happy occasions without them doesn’t make you feel guilty and ashamed, then you are not patriotic at all, only cold-hearted and stupid

-To the GOP traitors who abetted the Trump Insurrection:

HOW DARE YOU!! How dare you aid a would-be dictator to overturn the results of a legal election. You not only bought into the Big Lie, you promoted it within your offices. You even ran on the Big Lie and-somehow-won. Case in point is Marjorie Taylor Green, the woman known for her QAnon videos. She was on record as suggesting execution of Democrat leaders would be the only way to end the ‘pedophilia ring, Deep State system’ that she claimed was working against Trump. But its not just Green. Josh Hawley of Missouri and Ted Cruz of Texas were the loudspeakers for the Big Lie, and even after the Capitol had finally been cleared of the rioters, insisted on objecting to the electoral results even knowing the objections were based on false claims and would not be considered. Even now, they remain committed to the Big Lie and have already begun their effort to obstruct President Biden’s agenda which can help ALL Americans regardless of political views, particularly where the pandemic is concerned. They would rather see Americans suffer with disease, loss of jobs, foreclosure, eviction because they still believe Biden is illegitimate and Trump is the rightful winner, than to assist in improving the conditions the pandemic has left and continues to leave in its wake. I make this warning clear: we will remember what you did when 2022 comes and you’re up for re-election. This goes for the other 137 House GOP and 13 Senate GOP who participated in Trump’s attempted coup and in some cases (Mo Brooks of Alabama) even fired up the rioters just before the Insurrection began. I should also remind you that the blood of 5 people coats your hands, and that the families of those 5 souls lost on that terrible day will never forgive you for your role in it. Shame on you and may you rot in eternal damnation.

-Finally, to those who still believe Trump won:

SHAME ON YOU!!

You, who spread the Big Lie around social media. You who couldn’t be bothered to actually research some new claim before spreading it around because it came from a ‘trusted source’ such as a family member, close friend, co-worker, fellow churchgoer, even ‘news’ outlets like F*X News, OANN, and Newsmax. You like to tell those who challenge your information that they refuse to question ‘facts’ and buy into whatever CNN or ABC News says. The cold truth is, it is YOU that refuse to fact-check. Whether its because you believe the source or because the idea that the alternate fact is in fact a bald-faced lie scares you doesn’t matter. It was because of you that 70,000 people went to Washington DC, listened to the fiery orations of Trump, Don Jt., Giuliani, and Brooks, then marched with the intention to take hostages, even execute government officials all for the purpose of making sure Trump won his second term. It’s because of you that Marjorie Taylor Green is now a congresswoman and still-despite her claims otherwise-attached to QAnon. It is because of you that there is division in this country that may or may not ever be truly healed despite the best efforts of the new POTUS. Worst of all, it may very well be you that keeps us locked down in a pandemic that your so-called ‘saviour’ had the power to defeat but instead chose to sit on his butt and dismiss as a novelty that would magically go away. If you’re already thinking of sending hate posts in response to this, I can only see it as your continued refusal to come to reality and accept that your Great Leader lost the election, lost his numerous court battles to save his legacy, and ultimately failed to forcefully overturn the legitimate results of an election that was already contentious before Covid-19 changed the rules. You are a lost cause and should henceforth be treated as such. And if you went to Washington DC to participate in the rally-turned-insurrection and have found yourself hence without a job, ostracized by friends and family, then you deserve it. You cannot blame the “libtards” for costing you your job, costing you your love life, costing you respect. You ultimately have only yourself to blame. You might as well hide in the basement, stick your fingers in your ears and hum as loud as possible for the next four years because like it or not, Biden is now the POTUS

[leagueofawesomedudes]

2020 LOAD Week 7 Preview

Alright boys, we’re friggen back. I sat at my computer watching a rant-filled groupme conversation as I flipped back and forth between the 37 tabs of the historical data LOAD spreadsheet when I came to the decision 6 weeks is long enough. No longer will you be deprived of my majestic, dare I say, God-like pen to paper fantasy football previews. That’s right, pucker up your buttholes and be ready to masturbate with your tears of joy, laughter, and distraught as I destroy each and every one of you. No Browns talk, no putting it lightly, no bullshit.

Before I start, TJ we appreciate your commissioning efforts in the 2020 season. This is not in spite, I just really missed the preview articles and is my push to somehow keep them around.

And now back to your regularly scheduled cheek spreading unadulterated fun.

 “Jared, wait for this sick drop” The Injured Reserve (1-5) vs.

“Burg, I think these guys actually want to fuck me” Can’t Guard Mike (3-3)

If Jon’s not ferociously defeating the CoCo (Covid19) or nervously giggling as the Squad guys make questionable sexual advances on him, he’s putting together a solid team. I mean you can’t knock a guy with a 3-3 record when you’ve scored the most points in the LOAD. Buuut I’m going to anyway. Suck it Jon. Casey’s still recovering from drafting Joe Mixon in the first-round last year but I will say has elevated his strive for the playoffs. He even did a trade! Good job man someone had to respond to Dom eventually. Your participation in the Groupme on game days (mostly Monday nights) is welcomed and if you ever schedule a tee time at 7am that doesn’t also require a 2 hour commute I’m totally down. Unless Doug’s there I’m all set on my 401k. Unfortunately for Casey, Jon is returning Michael Thomas after his teammate altercation (HideYoWifeInNawlins?) and looks to earn a playoff spot the old-fashioned way with his record.

Jon > Cholly

 “The Snowman” SheDiggsMyCobb (0-6) vs.

“Why’s the Snowman doing all my coke” Pelting Coopers (4-2)

Bennett as much as I appreciate you on my side of the Kicker argument your record is almost making me want you on the other side. We’ve all seen the “historical” data showing where you stand but you do realize you have to get W’s or you fall behind right? This is what you get for recklessly abandoning your strong stance on a roster full of white players only housing 4 on the roster? And to think we all depended on you. Dom I have to say we all enjoy you a lot more without the bullshit time advantage our previous waiver wire system afforded you. The FAAB system has given us all new found time and sleep on our hands but unfortunately for you has also opened the door to the testing facility every other Wednesday. No one blames you with the LA puh and that hair of yours. Speaking of trade rapes, no one talks enough about the Hunt for Edelman straight up during a tough Browns opener and an extremely intoxicated Chad. Well done sir, whether ethical or not, well done. Bennett stays as defeated as his meat on page 113 of XNXX and counting, and takes the L.

Salami > Benito

“What’d you say you use to slow balding?  My friend was wondering” Dj Play Moore Drake (2-4) vs.

“Bro check it it’s River, like Rocky River, where I live, get it?!?!” jared donovan’s team

 Man, I’ve seen few people more confident than Paul heading into the season. He had the mock drafts, the magazines, the insiders, hell even Reddit! And yet here we are. You all thought I was trade raped but yet here. we. are. Our loving Paul with the closest thing to an unbreakable spirit, almost broken. I do think there’s potential for a rebound this year, but Jared is totally trying now and never was before last year so it won’t happen this week. New house, new puppy, same Jared. Guy throws a moving party on my birthday weekend of all weekends. Just when you think Jared can’t surprise you any more, he gives me an entire day to show off how fucking big I am in front of all my friends. No ladies, your boyfriend is still not bigger than me.  Thanks again dude it was the highlight of my 2020. Jared somehow gets one of the top QB’s in the league AND Darius Slayton for a rookie QB potentially on the rise and he’s in a spot to continue to do some damage in the LOAD. Paul, you’re going to need one of Jared’s 3 hour long showers to recover from this beatdown.

Jerry > Pav

 “I’m not triggered but CEH’s game was undisputedly the 1st game of the year” 2 Younghoes 1 Kupp (4-2) vs.

“Wait I don’t have Wentz anymore?” Under the Influwentz (2-4)

A Mr. Douglas Yeckley is the latest to join the fiancé gang and I personally can’t wait until I hit my annual quota of 1 face to face hang out at the Secret Santa to congratulate him in person. I’m still trying to figure out if he checks his email more than the groupme and actually knows he’s the second-best fantasy manager in the LOAD. Yahoo favors the autodraft, can’t wait to see how he does without it next year :) Sam, Sam, Sam. Trying to determine how I feel about writing this on your birthday. I can hate on your dedication to Fantasy as much as I want, but gosh darnit do I have to respect it. Especially with Ashley calling all of your shots this year. We all know she’s been the brains behind this operation this year. Just wait bud, that spreads into all decisions you make real soon. The old “well her lease is up so it makes sense” is how it alllll starts my friend. Won’t be long until that hair of yours starts to look like mine and Pauls. And just because I always root against you, I’m sticking to my guns.

Fur > Sammy

 “You said she’s 18? Nah too old for me” Street Charks (3-3) vs.

Dad (6-0)

Battle of the daddys. Chad out on the streets, and Shawn in the burb life. I’ve been sitting here trying to determine which one of their kids has a better chance of coming out with a bomber on. History repeats itself so I think we have the answer. It’s not often I’m called a trend setter, but this may be the start. Shawn needs to watch out as Chad’s newly shaved arms not only make him look more jacked, aerodynamic when he fights, but it also packs an extra punch in fantasy. Shawn’s the only remaining undefeated team left, but I feel the walls are closing in on him with some injuries to the roster. Even as he’s reading this Chad’s defending Shawn in his head, and giggling as he hears “Right Shawn?” “No, left Shawn”. Just hoping I can get one random, witty comment from Shawn in the groupme from this and I’ll feel accomplished. You’re upset of the week boys, you heard it here first.

Wardog > Carothers

 ***Game of Ze Week***

“It’s actually classified as hair-thinning, that’s all” Kickers & Defense (4-2) vs.

“Oh yeah? Well my friends all tell me I’m the best commish they’ve ever had” Tony Time (3-3)

 If you thought I was going through all of this trouble to write this and not putting myself as the game of the week you’re dumber than Malik. And with that, I’ll lead into a fan favorite, story time:

It’s a brisk Fall morning amidst a global pandemic but more importantly, fantasy season. The squad members have begun to wake and start their days. It’s Friday, so Solden has already been trying to get the troops going as Chad frantically thinks of things to talk about. A small tickle from his mustache causes Tony to slowly open his eyes, taking in a deep breath as Petey licks his face. It’s a calm 8:45, so he still has time to drink his coffee outside before starting his day. As he scrolls among the 37 groupme notifications he figures, why not download the Yahoo app and see what’s going on. Notifications? Hmm I wonder what that could be. His eyes widen. Mouth drops. Sweat begins to pour as The Darth Vader coffee mug slips from his grasp. *Justin Herbert – Questionable (ribs)* *Dionte Johnson – Out (back)*

*Clyde Edwards-Helaire  – Questionable (Ankle)*. This can’t be he says. I rallied them all yesterday it mustn’t be! These trades were fool proof! He frantically sprints over to the computer as Petey sits next to his empty food bowl. “At a time like this?!? Not now Petey!!!” He repeats in his head chant-like “The spreadsheet will have the answers, the spreadsheet will have the answers” as he frantically logs in. No…   No it can’t be…. He had it saved to the desktop he’d just edited it the night before for 9 hours! Noooooooooooooooooo!!!!

“Tj wake up” He jumps. He checks his mustache to make sure it’s still there. It was just a dream. And all is right in the world again.

Solden > Tj

  What’s that Jon? I can’t hear you with Trumps dick in your mouth. Boom Roasted.

Tj is your full-time job as a Commissioner or at Park Place? Boom Roasted.

Dom a 3 is still a 3 in LA we all see the snaps. Boom Roasted.

Shawn locked yourself out of your house lately? Boom Roasted.

Sam when’s the coronavirus peak coming? Boom Roasted.

Jared it’s going away right after the election, right? Boom Roasted.

Doug I’m not talking about work at Secret Santa. Boom Roasted.

Chad a 3 is still a 3 in Lakewood we all see the snaps. Boom Roasted.

Casey I miss driving you to O’Bleness. Boom Roasted.

Paul I’m writing this while I’m working from home at home. Boom Roasted.  

Bennett I’m writing this while I’m working from home at home. Boom Roasted.

Malik you’re an idiot and can’t read this. Boom Roasted.  

Damn that felt good. Until next time boys. Solden out.

[nerobombs]

The Support Report, Or: Why people only want to DPS

At the behest of @shitteadrinkersays​, I recently bought Overwatch and have been having some modicum of enjoyment with it. I’m only level 38 now, yet I have a pretty solid understanding of the game and a good grasp on the current competitive meta, even though I only quickplay.

And like all games that utilise some form of the Trinity (tank, DPS, healers), Overwatch is rife with DPS one-tricks who only want to do damage and get kills and refusing to take on the utility roles of tanking or healing in any occasion. As I’m very late to the Overwatch train, I’m sure everyone is familiar with the the “No Healers” warning being accompanied by a lastpick Hanzo whose presence is about as useful as a DVD rewinder, or the “No Tanks” message being helpfully accompanied by a Genji or Symmetra.

But why does this happen? There’s plenty of answers that can be gleaned superficially--people want to make flashy plays, DPS is “more fun”, and the DPS heroes and classes are cooler. These are all correct to some extent, but I’d like to go a little in-depth with it, and more importantly, suggest some things on how to improve it the apparent unattractiveness of utility roles.

Bear in mind that I use the term “support” to include both tanks and healers.

1). Support roles don’t directly interact with the enemy.

I would argue that this is the biggest gremlin crawling around on the backs of support roles in most games and the largest reason as to why support roles are universally the least-played role in almost every multiplayer game.

Simply put, when you play support, you are mostly dependent on the other members of your team to directly interact with the enemy. The support role has very little personal agency when it comes to interacting directly with opponents.

The biggest draw of video games as a medium is interaction. It’s what separates video games from books or movies: the consumer is a participant, not merely an observer. In the context of video game combat, there are at least two different levels of interaction that can loosely defined as direct interactions and indirect interactions.

In combat, direct interactions can be interpreted as anything, well, direct. Dealing damage, applying debuffs, taking damage, avoiding damage, and thinking of how to better do these things. In any case, all of these actions deal require that the player interact with the enemy whether they be another human player or merely AI, and these actions have immediate feedback and gratification: when you engage in direct interactions, the game usually lets you know that you’ve hurt the enemy, and when you win, the enemy dies.

Indirect interactions consist largely of the perceived “support” roles. Healing allies, buffing allies, and giving allies the opportunity for direct interaction. In certain games, this can include more esoteric ventures such as building structures or scouting for enemy locations.

Most “support” roles in video games engage in very little direct interaction with the enemy. The vast majority of support roles comprise of “indirect interactions”: you heal your allies so they don’t die, and if they don’t die then they can defeat the enemy. You shield your allies so they don’t die, and if they don’t die then they can defeat the enemy. You buff your allies so they are better at defeating the enemy. You scout for your allies so they know where the enemy is, so they can defeat the enemy.

It can be frustrating, and is a part of why playing support is unsatisfying: the goal of the game is to defeat the enemy, you know that the enemy is there, but you are expected to refrain from or are completely incapable of directly contributing to that goal by interacting with the enemy.

You are almost entirely dependent on your team to interact with the enemy. You don’t get to directly interact with the enemy, for the most part. You can’t really shoot them because you do no damage. You can’t run forward and hit them because otherwise your team takes damage. The only thing you can do is sit there, and hope that your team is good enough to win the game as you hold them up with your tanking or your healing. You lack the agency to directly interact with the enemy.

I’m sure anyone who’s ever healed or tanked in a game has rolled their eyes at bad DPS. After all, DPS are the ones who directly progress the “defeating enemy” goal, and yet they’re dying to mechanics or getting shot in the face. You can try to prevent this, but preventing your allies from dying is not the same as “damaging the enemy”. There is no guarantee that saving your allies contributes to winning the game, because your allies are doing all of the interactions with the enemy, not you.

--

2). Supporting lacks gratifying feedback.

In any game with combat, direct interactions are considered the “fun” part of the combat by the majority of the audience, because it is ultimately a simple system that provides instant and effective feedback. You hit the enemy, you see their health go down, they die, you get points or whatever. The appeal of the interaction is on-screen. 

In competitive multiplayer games, direct interactions are further rewarded with voice prompts like “Double kill!” and “Multi-kill!”. In Overwatch, direct interactions are rewarded with things like “Play of the Game”. And it makes sense: if your goal in this game is to defeat the enemy, then actions that contribute directly to that goal (by defeating the enemy) are rewarded. 

However, as a support, you pretty much don’t get to receive any of that positive, rewarding feedback. Even worse, sometimes you only receive negative feedback from dumbass DPS players who refuse to support and/or completely fail to understand how to support at all.

After all, if you play a DPS and kill five enemies,  you receive immediate feedback from the game that “Hey, you killed five enemies! You win for defeating all the enemies!”, or “Killing spree!” or “multi-kill!” and there is a very simple direct correlation established that “defeating enemies = winning”.

Supporting lacks that very simple correlation. 

Now, it’s not as if supporting is entirely devoid of feedback. In MMORPGs especially, it can be hugely satisfying to see HP bars spike upwards with massive heals, or to see a giant megalaser attack only do three damage to your team.

But still, in the context of “goal = defeating enemy”, supporting lacks feedback that indicates that you as a player are contributing to that goal in a meaningful fashion. You can infer it (i.e. “I’m healing and my team isn’t dying so they’re killing the enemies and we’re winning”), but there is rarely any meaningful, direct, gratifying indication from the game that what you are doing is important.

When people say that “supporting is boring”, this is mostly what they’re referring to, in combination with the above.

--

3). Supports are rarely assigned distinct goals.

This is somewhat tied with #2 and #1. 

Remember, in games with combat, the game gives you the goal. It says “defeat the enemies and you will win”. There is a correlation between “doing damage = defeating enemies = winning”.

However, as mentioned, supports tend to lack this correlation, because you’re not directly contributing to the goal; you’re indirectly contributing to the goal by allowing your allies to directly contribute to the goal, which is not the same thing.

For the most part, the players who play support have to make up their own goals. “I have to heal and keep my team alive”. “I have to shield my allies.” “I have to rez.” For some people, making  up their own goals is very gratifying. For most others, however, it’s simply irritating.

In World of Warcraft, there was a boss fight called Valithria Dreamwalker. The fight ended when a green dragon named Valithria was healed to full HP. This is an example of a distinct goal being given to supports by a video game: “You must heal this ally to full HP, and if you do, you win.” That establishes a slightly modified version of the above correlation: “pumping out heals = healing allies = winning”.

Goals establish the above correlation, which makes the games “more fun”. However, as said repeatedly, supporting lacks such direct correlations. Remember, you’re not reaching any goals: you’re allowing your allies to reach their goals. And this can be fun! Just...not all the time, and certainly not for everyone.

I will admit that this point has the highest potential to be largely subjective, but I would argue that for most video game players, this is an important note: it is satisfying to be given a goal to reach, reaching it, and being told that you did well by the game. Supports don’t get these.

So how do we fix this?

There’s a couple ways, and if you’ve read my rant up to this point, you probably know what I’m about to say. 

Bear in mind that these aren’t mean to be catch-all solutions, but more suggestions as to how to make the supporting role more appealing to the majority playerbase.

--

Allow supports to support their allies by directly interacting with the enemy.

While indirect interactions have their own sense of appeal in combat, that appeal is far from mainstream as far as the gaming crowd goes. The easiest way to allow for supporting mechanics while maintaining direct interaction with the enemy is to make one dependent on the other.

For example, taking damage from enemies lets you turn that damage into a shield. You heal allies by draining life from enemies. If you heal your allies, you deal more damage to enemies. Things like that.

This increases the skillcap by a considerable amount, yes, but direct interactions are “more fun” for most people. 

Implement greater feedback for supporting.

Overwatch has an MVP system, and it’s rare that healers and tanks aren’t voted as MVP by the others on the team, especially on a winning team. This is a step forward in the right direction! It feels gratifying.

However, Overwatch’s MVP screen only happens at the end of the game. There needs to be feedback during the game to let support players know that what they are doing is important.

Sometimes this can be fixed simply with bigger numbers. More exotic methods could be tested: for example, if you manage to save someone right before they die, a “Savior heal!” voice shoutout is played, or something.

Either way, supporting roles in video games need greater feedback to be more appealing.

Related to “greater feedback” is the following:

Support players should have relatively clear goals given to them by the game.

Now, like I said, supporting is largely indirect. It lacks the simple and direct correlation of “dealing damage = defeating enemy = winning”. 

However, that doesn’t mean goals can’t be implemented. For example, a simple tick that says “Heal 5000 health for your allies”, or “Block 20,000 damage”, and giving rewards for achieving those goals, can lead to supporting being rather rewarding.

Overall, supporting can feel like a chore in a game, but it doesn’t have to be a chore. There are ways to improve how supporting is implemented in a game to make it more fun and therefore, hopefully reduce the number of games I get fucking instalock Hanzos or Offensive DPS Ana’s who never heal in my Overwatch games.

[bpellerin]

Kids who enjoy reading? Imagine that...

Great little rant in the Boston Globe magazine about summer reading programs libraries have.

"In June, my 6-year-old son got very excited about our town’s summer reading program, in which kids who read for a certain number of hours vote for a movie that gets screened at the library. For several days, he reminded me we had to track the time we spent reading and check boxes off his chart so he could participate. But then he spent time with a California friend whose library’s summer reading program offers passes to Disneyland. A free movie suddenly seemed lame by comparison. He lost interest in the program and, for a while, in books, too.

Across the Commonwealth, public libraries encouraged schoolchildren to read this summer by offering prizes, often related to the big screen or sports, for those who met the minimum number of hours or books. In Arlington, we had the free movie. In Boston, if you read three books, you were entered into a raffle for Red Sox tickets. Maynard’s raffle was for a new bicycle.

There’s nothing wrong with movies, or sports, or amusement parks — or with programs aimed at spurring children to read. What’s wrong is the underlying message that books are a chore and that kids who endure them deserve payback.

Why, I wonder, are civic programs framed around this assumption? Is it because most kids don’t like books? Because adults don’t like them, either? Or because parents and educators and even doctors talk so much about The Importance of Reading that we have forgotten it once was (and still could be) a widely enjoyed activity?

Couldn’t agree more. But also: What else did you expect? The entire North American educational culture has been slowly but surely moving in the direction of making everything related to learning a chore for many long years now, with the result that kids grow up not valuing playing with their imaginations because that won’t be on the test. It’s been so long now that many of those young kids’ parents and teachers were raised that way. Kids are surrounded by people who think learning and reading is a hassle to get over with so we can get back to sucking screen.

Children start pre-school programs earlier and earlier; it’s not uncommon for two- or three-year-olds to begin their pre-K education in school-like settings where parents very much expect they will learn skills that will give them a leg up when the time comes to start junior kindergarten. Once there, little kids are swallowed up by an educational machine that makes them sit in rows and pay attention to what the teacher is saying. Oh sure, there’s play involved. But the playing is relentlessly didactic, because the adults involved worry about educational achievements above just about everything else.

I’m all for educational achievements. But they don’t come from programs designed to measure and track children on flowcharts designed by a committee of educationators. Real learning happens when children themselves want to learn, in settings where their natural curiosity hasn’t been dulled by overly didactic programs.

In plain English: If you stick your toddlers and young children in a classroom and make them drill (with a song! and a dance! or a screen!) until they can regurgitate something measurable, you will kill their natural curiosity and make them think that everything you want them to do is a chore.

I have three daughters whom I’ve been homeschooling since birth. They are now 10, “almost 9” and 7. If they went to school they’d be entering grades 6, 4 and 2. But if you heard them speak or read out loud, you’d think the eldest was half-way through high school already. Both parents are writers, and we both put a lot of emphasis on reading, writing, and oral expression. This is not to boast (well, OK, but not much), but to illustrate my point.

My kids don’t have to sit around learning things for much longer than 60 or 90 minutes a day, which we tend to break up in chunks of 20-30 minutes, in between which they are allowed to stretch or play or read. They don’t have goals to meet, as far as their educational achievement goes. I do, but they don’t know what the goals are. They just keep learning stuff until I send them off. They’ve never had to take a formal test in their lives, and I believe it’s one of the main reasons why they are still excited to learn things, especially if it involves story-telling. (Math and piano practice, not so much.)

When they are not made to sit down and listen (i.e. the bulk of their average day), they are left to play by themselves. We don’t tell them what to do, we let them figure out their own games. They also read a lot. For fun, I mean. They have books we assign to them (we loosely follow a classical education curriculum and their assigned reading books tend to be classics of literature), but they are free to pick anything they like for their free reading. They have library cards and they use them like little fiends.

Our local library branch has one of those summer reading clubs where the kids earn stickers and small toys every time they finish a book – and then they get entered into a draw for a free book. I never pressured my kids to join it, but they’re all enrolled. And they love nothing better than to rush there to tell Kelly, the friendly and incredibly patient custodian of the kids’ section, about the books they’ve read.

They don’t do it to get the toys and stickers, although they enjoy those. Nobody would read three novels just to get stickers. If baseball tickets and Disney passes aren’t enough to entice non-reading kids to get lost in a book for fun, stickers certainly won’t do it. But my kids really do enjoy the reading, precisely because to them it’s not a chore.

One important point: with very rare exceptions we do not insist that they finish a book that doesn’t interest them. Instead we ask them to explain why they don’t like it. The explanation does not have to convince us but it must be coherent and grammatically correct. Some books are terribly dull, and often it’s a matter of taste whether we like a style or not. Sometimes a person isn’t ready for a particular title, for no obvious reason, and they’ll like it a lot a year later. Heck, it took me three tries and a dozen years finally to enjoy Les Misérables, who am I to push Little Women on kids who aren’t, at the moment, digging it?

Fortunately, for parents of children who are not so keen on reading, there is a remedy, and it involves getting your kids immersed in stories. Here’s how you do it: If they are young (it helps a lot to start this when they’re babies), read stories out loud to them. Not just bedtime stories either. Real stories that involve character development, heroes slaying beasts and people succeeding despite long odds. When our kids were little we read all the Dr. Seuss books to them, over and over again. We eventually graduated to the Narnia Chronicles, the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Swallows and Amazons, that sort of thing. It didn’t matter that the kids were too little to understand the story. The point was for them to get used to hearing stories. To fill their little heads with sounds, poetry, rhythm, and images. We didn’t shy away from stories that featured bad people and tragedies. Real life is full of those and little ones need to know this, provided the stories make moral sense and preferably end well, because nightmares are no fun.

Nowadays we still read out loud to them. We also let them listen to audiobooks until their ears fall off. They now insist on doing some of the reading we do themselves, which is something we encourage because it lets them practice speaking properly and also because it gives us a chance to spot problematic words and correct their pronunciation where needed. We let them watch movies (not educational TV programs; those are banned around here), and every now and then we’ll pick up a screenplay and act it out together. Macbeth is a favorite; you should see the delight they take in impersonating those witches.

The result of all this is that my kids love being immersed in stories. When they play freely they often re-enact movies they’ve watched, and they have their own parallel Harry Potter universe. Their imaginations are engaged and they eagerly seek out new stories.

It’s never too late to engage your children in good storytelling. But you have to do it with them. Kids have a very annoying habit of ignoring what we say and paying attention to what we do. If they never see us excited about a story, they’ll just think we’re trying to get rid of them when we send them to read. Watch movies together and discuss them – play with alternate endings, ask them how they’d want certain characters to behave instead, and see where their imagination takes them. Don’t expect too much at first. Treat imagination like a muscle; if your kids have already spent a few years in a school system that privileges measurable achievements over free play, they’ll need some practice. But the payoff is amazingly worthwhile.

Plus you’ll save loads of money on Disney passes.

[theliterateape]

Best of Literate Ape 2018 | Don Hall Dies & Other High Points

By David Himmel

Sometime before dawn on August 24, 2016, I wrote Don Hall an email. The subject was, “The Fate of Creativity, the Need for True Journalistic or Gritty Commentary, The Focus of Far too Much Anger.” It was 956 words long and it was glorious. That is, if you will define glorious as the controlled rantings of a wily madman hopped up on early morning java and amphetamines. It was my pitch to him that we partner up and do some kind of literary, artful thing. I asked him out for a beer so we could discuss the idea.

Long story short, that’s how we got to the Literate Ape you see today. Fiction, poetry, commentary, quips, events, podcasts, a stable of thoughtful, talented, funny writers. And sometimes, enough money in the bank to pay those writers. We’ve come a ways and we’re not even close to where we want to be, but by golly, we’re sure as fuck getting there. These things take time. And while considering time…

2018 was a good year for The Ape. As Hall and I bait the internet for search results, we’re offering up our year-in-review, Best of The Ape. He has his opinions and I have mine. And if they differ, well, that’s what oftentimes makes us a great team.

David Himmel’s Best of The Ape 2018

Don Hall 1966–2018

My favorite moment this year was when I killed off Don Hall. It was true fiction based on fact that never occurred because I believe that what I wrote is exactly how Hall could have died and one day should die. Raging out over rage profiteering seems likely, and it was an accidental metaphor for precisely what’s wrong with a small, but noisy corner of our modern culture. Furthermore, it was our second most-read piece of the year — just 40 views shy of Bill Arnett’s Breaking Down the 2nd Amendment. It’s not that I want Hall to die, rather, I’d love the guy to live forever, but I know that this April Fool’s post gave many in that small, but noisy corner hope that their enemy had been vanquished. And that it wasn’t true, that they took the bait still makes me smile. Granted, there were those who did not like this post. His wife, Dana Jerman, for one. Bill Kurtis and Donna LaPietra were annoyed with me. But come on… I had him shit himself: “The apartment stunk. It stunk bad. Like hot milk and scorched opossum innards. Don had shit his pants.” That’s funny. I don’t care how heartbreaking Hall’s demise will be. Poop in pants is always funny.

Fast & Short: A Flash Fiction Collaboration | Love Curse

This was an experiment. Get eight of our writers to collaborate on a short story, each writer adding their own spin in flash fiction form. The individual submissions on their own are fun to read, and the larger, completed piece is equally as interesting. As the editor, I had a few moments wondering how the next piece would keep everything connected, but that was one main reason for doing this at all. We wanted to scratch our heads and wonder where it was going. So much writing out there is expected and safe. Love Curse, and its parts, is not going to change the way fiction is written or read, but at least it offers hard turns on gravely roads that still get us to our destination. Best of all, it allowed our writers to work together for the greater good of Literate Ape — the shrewdness united in one goal with many different points of view and voices. I think it’s a good example of what America ought to be more like.

I Will Let Go of Straws When You Let Go of the Bloated Corpse of Capitalism

Kari Castor’s disquisition against the straw ban was beautiful. As the debate over whether keeping plastic straws would kill us or if banishing them from eateries everywhere would save us raged on, Castor jumped in with a piece of journalism that was well-researched, persuasive and entertaining. And of course, it was riddled with that wonderful Castor wit we’ve come to love so dearly here at The Ape. In this story, Castor does more than just destroy the take that a straw ban is sensical or beneficial in any real way; she brings down the all-too common school of thought that popping zits will cure your acne. Little bricks build a big house, yes, but sometimes, thinking too small is just naval-gazing. The piece comes with a long headline, which is not good for click bait or search results, but that’s not how we do things here. Although, maybe we should have used the four stand-alone words Castor used in the third paragraph as the headline: “Fuck your straw ban.” It says exactly what it needs to on a variety of levels and it is perfectly and gracefully Kari Castor. 

For the Love of Little Broken Things: A Chicago Hairstylist Emerges After Fire

Another piece I’m proud of with another long headline. I don’t choose this because I wrote it. I choose it because the story it tells is a good story. It’s one of true grit — the kind Chicagoans ubiquitously pound their chests about, the kind Carl Sandburg and Mike Royko and Studs Terkel wrote about. Reporting on Cassie Krepel’s story made way for Literate Ape to reach a new audience thanks to Krepel’s sharing of the story, which is important if this thing is going to thrive. And, I hope, it helped Chicago meet this neighborhood workhorse and drive some business to Krepel’s Little Broken Things studio. I’m now a dedicated customer. She cuts good hair and the place is exactly what you want in a neighborhood business: down-to-earth, friendly and interesting. Plus, Krepel digs The Ape and supports us by reading our stuff, promoting our writers’ books and attending events — how about that! After leaving the initial interview at LBT with Jerman, I said to her, “Little Broken Things is like Literate Ape — if Literate Ape did hair and had a storefront.” It’s cool to have a friend in town.

Letters to Harrison Himmel

Whenever writers of The Ape are together, I feel good about what we’re doing. Whether it’s with collaborative projects or at our events like BUGHOUSE!, herding the writers into a room to meet each other and participate in literary shenanigans is ultimately the thing that keeps me from calling up Hall and saying, “Fuck it. This is stupid.” I like our little community and I like how it’s growing and I like how, as time goes on, we’re all going to become more invested in each other’s success and the collective success of The Ape. But as it relates to our personal successes, I can find no better example than when Hall and Brian Sweeney — completely exclusive from one another — offered up advice to my son shortly after he was born. If anyone on this planet is ever going to make the most of their time here, they need good people. They need to feel loved and looked after and know there are people who have their back. And this is how they learn to love and be kind. My son has that. When I read Hall’s A Few Pieces of Unsolicited Advice to Young Prince Harry Himmel, I got misty-eyed. The same thing happened when I read Sweeney’s Advice and Wisdom to Baby Himmel. Not only did these two pieces reveal that Harry already had a support system outside of his bloodline, but it also revealed that the two writers knew and understood Harry’s parents. Things like this make all the difference in a person’s life. And with advice from Sweeney like, “Ghosts are real. The ghosts of your ancestors are around you at all times and they watch you changing clothes and they jack off. They watch you go to the bathroom and they jack off. When you sleep, they watch you and jack off. When you wake up in the morning and have crust in your eyes, that's the ghost cum of your ancestors,” and Hall’s “If you only have one thing you are passionate about and talk about and write about, don't get upset when people stop inviting you over for ‘game night’,” I know my kid is going to be A-OK. 

Bonus — American Shithole by Eric Wilson

Eric Wilson’s writing reminds me of that of Hunter S. Thompson. It’s insightful and funny without being jokey. I read Wilson, and like when I read Thompson, I am inspired to be a better writer. Wilson is ripe with rage but manages to hone it into prose that is smooth yet cutting. Beyond that, I appreciate the guy. He’s a new friend I haven’t met in-person yet, and he’s already managed to find his way into the acknowledgments of my latest book.

✶

There you go. This co-editor’s picks for what made another year of Literate Ape worthwhile. Of course, I’m proud of everything we publish and I hope you’ll keep reading, spreading the word and enjoying what we’re all doing here. And to the Apes who dump their brains and hearts and guts out on the keyboards, thank you. All of you. Even if you didn’t make the list this year, none of this shit we’re flinging matters without you.

[zapan00]

Micro-transactions and longevity

Or how to turn one idea into an everlasting rant

Recently, the discussion around micro-transactions in the video game industry have become commonplace, and I thought I’d chime in.

Every youtuber, game blog, online article that mentions them either praises them or, more often than not, makes the argument that they are predatory gambling practices.

I would like to add a new argument to this discussion. How does micro-transactions affect game IPs longevity ?

Video game franchises like Diablo, Fallout, Devil May Cry, etc, are household names. However, in order to get to that point, they had to gather their fans at some point in their history. Name recognition is an important part of the video game industry, one could argue an important part of any entertainment industry.

When a new game with a famous IP is released, the game company is guaranteed a certain amount of sales based solely on the name recognition of the IP. This is why so many IP rights are so hard and expensive to secure, and also the reason why a lot of game adaptions of movies are often low quality. The licenses are expensive. They are so because they guarantee (to a certain degree) a good amount of profit.

Now to my point, before I stray too much out of my way. I strongly believe that there is a point at which the companies that are using micro-transactions will burn out customer fidelity. Consumers are willing to tolerate loot boxes and micro-transactions in their favorite games, probably for an entry or two in the series, maybe a bit more. But there will be a point when these micro-transactions filled games will no longer feel special, and will just blend with the ever-expanding number of titles that are all filled with micro-transactions. That is because the very use and reliance on micro-transactions will require modifications of the very concept of the game to be adapted.

I don’t particularly care that Fallout is no longer Fallout and that Diablo Immortal is coming to mobile because I am of the mind that these companies are failing companies who are struggling with innovation and creativity. These same companies that created legendary classics are now frozen in fear of bothering either the shareholders or the very vocal online community. New companies will take their place. New IPs will emerge. New games, new concepts. To me, it just seems like the natural evolution of an industry, with giants slowly becoming rusty relics of the past. They have contributed to this wonderful industry, they have given our youth wonderful times, and now new companies will emerge to take the torch and once again create new and innovative experiences.

It doesn’t matter if the next Elder Scrolls will be using the same engine as the previous one and probably not produce a game that will match expectations. It is sad, but it is ultimately irrelevant. Just like CD Projekt surprised everyone and pulled an amazing feat by creating a game that met a lot of player’s demands, another will pop out, one day, with a new IP. There is no shortage of middle age fantasy setting stories, and it’s not about to disappear into oblivion (pun intended) any time soon.

What I’m trying to say, in this long, rambled rant is that this attachment to old IPs is overvalued. Why do we expect so much from our games ? Why do we expect so much from an IP ? In a world where spiritual successors are popping out everywhere, where the video game industry is richer than ever, with more tools than ever for creating new video games, i see a lot of people (myself included) are still trying to get the perfect version of Morrowind to release.

To get back to my point about micro-transactions, I don’t think these big names will survive forever with such practices. Star Wars : Battlefront II is a good example of that. The backlash has caused EA to scale down on their practices, but the game hasn’t really recovered. Whether the reason is because of the quality of the game, or the media backlash, or because the structure of the game was thought around loot boxes and when removed they created a void difficult to fill, the result is here.

While it is sad that the Star Wars license will not be used to create the games that everyone would love to experience, I think the importance of it all will fade. New generations are coming, and with them new ways of consuming and experiencing video games. While my generation (I was born in the late 80′s) is very attached to the Star Wars universe, I’m not sure it is as compelling for upcoming generations. They will have different references, they will have a different view of how technology works. They will be aware of machine limitations.

This is something else I would like to address : growing up, I felt like most games were amazing. I had no idea how computers worked, much less how code worked, and beyond that, I didn’t have “video game culture”, meaning I didn’t have all the knowledge of how video game works. Nowadays, with smart phones, computers, websites, etc. a big part of everyday technology participates in educating how basic features work, and very often a lot of these are used similarly in video games.

An obvious example of this is how interfaces in general function. Settings, menus, toolbars are all very common in our daily life thanks to ever present technology.

All of this knowledge contributes to video game experiences bound to change. I am no longer impressed when I right click on an object in the game world and I get a drop down menu with some options, because that is commonplace now. We are less impressed, but we are also intrinsically more knowledgeable about the limitations of machines. Most of us, from regular usage of their devices will have an instinct about how much a machine can deliver, what is and what isn’t possible in a video game.

This is also reinforced by the standardization of mechanics in video games. Back in the “golden age” of video games as it is often referenced, control schemes, camera placement, and in general most rules didn’t have a point of reference. No company had set and provable ways of doing things, so there was still a lot of experimentation. This is when things like movement weren’t as obvious as they are now. Nowadays we can expect a movement scheme to be on WASD keys on PC with the help of a mouse or we can use an analog on a controller, but back in the day it wasn’t something that developers took for granted.

All of this rambling contributes to my point, which is that we will not get better versions of our beloved games. In our collective, nostalgic minds, we are convinced that these games were so great, not because they were but because we were discovering the boundaries of what machines were capable of achieving. Considering where we were when video games started to become popular in the 80′s and where we are today, barely 40 years later, the industry has made bounds that little to no other industry can match. Maybe medicine or weapons.

Anyway my point is that the glory of the past days of video games is bound to disappear, and probably for the better. Just like how mute and black & white movies are golden treasures that very few people still enjoy, these games will be the same.

And we will be treated by a plethora of new and innovative games that have long ago ingested all this “video game culture” into their collective knowledge and will push the boundaries of what we know much farther.

When it comes to micro-transactions, I have a few other things I’d like to mention. First is, there is a definitive difference in how game companies use them. Fifa Ultimate Team's microtransaction system is a much worse offense than Overwatch’s loot boxes in my opinion, but whatever the implementation, there is always a feeling of loss sensed on the part of the player.

I mean sure the loot boxes in Overwatch don’t bother me so much in the sense that if you play regularly you will still get some currency to buy your favorite skins, but there is always a slight annoyance to thinking there are things that you cannot unlock unless you spend an unreasonable amount of time playing the game, logging in at every event and spending hard earned coins to pick up the elusive skins.

Then there are games like Call of Duty. I recently picked up Call of Duty Black Ops 3 for free on Playstation Plus, and I was shocked at how ugly the game looked. Not because of the graphics mind you, far from it. The sheer amount of customization in this game is a problem to itself. For a game so realistic about their guns and the feel and weight of it, popping into any match looks like a parody of a game with overcolored buggy character models. Beside the obvious reason of not including a feature like that because of the predatory model of micro-transactions in a game destined to teens and young adults in general, the way players have customized their characters is most of the time outright ugly. Which makes sense, because no player is supposed to be a character designer, and it shouldn’t be their job. Overwatch controls the customization with pre-made skins.

When the discussion pops out, the general sentiment is that AAA experiences, with their already high entry price, should not block content behind more payments. That is an argument most people can get behind, yet I feel it has deeper impact on the situation. It will in the long term make way for new and creative companies to take over.

The video game industry is and always has been ruthless, compared to many other and is only at its very beginning.

If you've made it this far I am really surprised you did, and I thank you for reading my long rant.

I am more than happy to hear your thoughts, whether you agree or disagree or just want to talk about anything video game related.

Cheers,

[bestmovies0]

‘Hunger Games’ gave today’s teens the best blueprint for defeating the NRA

Peeta and Katniss: Playing the media game in’ Hunger Game: Catching Fire ‘ figcaption>

Image: lionsgate

Inside the Capitol, the political elite have become immune to the regular destroys splashed across their screens. They’ve rationalized it as the price they have to pay for their way of life. But a handful of teenage survivors of the massacre are starting to speak out, use their status as heroes to start questioning the whole system on live TV.

The teens are enunciate, telegenic, highly media savvy, and highly dangerous to the president’s party. They’re the best chance for profound political change that anyone has seen in years, and they end up provoking revolution.

SEE ALSO: The standout instants that built CNN’s gun control town hall feel like a game-changer

That, of course, is the basic plot of Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games trilogy, in which the eponymous plays pit teen “tributes” against one another in murderous trials by combat. It’s likewise a pretty good description of what happened this week in American politics as the teen-led #NeverAgain movement continues growing into the most powerful army for change since #MeToo.

For days we’ve been amazed as the survivors of the Parkland massacre have repeatedly spoken truth to power — specifically, the moneyed power of the National Rifle Association and its bought-and-paid-for politicians. But should we be so surprised? This is exactly the response we should expect from a generation brought up on dystopian YA novels in which downtrodden teens rise up.

They wear their nerves on their sleeves, and we cannot assistance but love them for it.

Not that Emma Gonzalez and her countrymen are immediately inspired by Hunger Games protagonist Katniss Everdeen. But there are distinct parallels. Like Katniss, these teens have just the right combination of righteous fury and unbelievable calm under pressure. They are strong enough to be visibly vulnerable. They wear their hearts on their sleeves, and we cannot aid but love them for it.

Thrust into situations not of their choosing, their authenticity stands out in a ocean of political artifice. When their friends die in a preventable misfortune, they call BS. And they have the cunning to know how to stretch out their moment into a movement, planning national marchings and strikes that ensure we’ll be talking about this at least two months from now.

As author Patrick Tomlinson noted on Twitter, it really shouldn’t astonish us if teens are following the YA dystopia playbook. Especially not given the lane the generation in power has played the responsibilities of the the bad guys.

Really? You followed the damned script to a T. You pumped up millions of kids, for two decades, to believe they and their friends could make a difference. Then you thrust them all into a dystopian nightmare of violence and persecution.

And NOW you’re shocked they’re all Katniss?

— Patrick S. Tomlinson (@ stealthygeek) February 21, 2018

The Lesson of the Mockingjay

Suzanne Collins was initially inspired to write Hunger Games in 2003 by an unsettling juxtaposition on her Tv. She was channel-surfing, flipping between a reality display and the U.S. invasion of Iraq. It wasn’t too much of a stretching to imagine a future society that ritualized war, turning the killing of adolescents( who are, after all, the majority of members of combatants in most modern conflicts) into must-see TV.

That setup soon became a cliche, the premise that launched hundreds of thousands of post-apocalyptic dystopias. But appear more closely at the original, because what really interested Collins was combat by media: how the teenage participants in the ritual oversee become all that Tv attention to their advantage.

Re-reading the book trilogy today — as opposed to rewatching the movie quadrilogy, which focused a little much on the action and bloodshed — “thats what” comes across. Katniss and her fellow tributes are hyper-aware at all days of the cameras, of the viewing public, of the scale of the game and the specific characteristics of the audience.

They’re in the fight of “peoples lives”. They’d better damn well be trained and ready.

The tributes adapt to the reality of reality TV culture. They both strive and receive media coaching from any person who is cares to advise them. And here is the perfect rejoinder to any conspiracy theorists who think they have a “gotcha” in the idea that the Parkland survivors were coached for their TV interviews: Why shouldn’t they be? They’re in the fight of their lives. They’d better damn well be trained and ready.

Katniss and the ever-scheming President Snow.

Image: lionsgate

The battle for the future of Panem is a game of chess in which everyone is treating Katniss as a pawn — including, crucially, Katniss herself. When both the president and the cynical leaders of the resistance treat her as a strategic media asset to be either built up or torn down, why wouldn’t she take command of the narrative herself?

The lesson of the Mockingjay is this: if you’re going to be the story anyway, be the tale on your own terms. Attain it count for something good.

SEE ALSO: Powerful New York Times ad calls out lawmakers funded by the NRA

The Parkland teens are use their instant in a way most activists is simply dream of. Less than a week into their political tenure and they’re participate in the NRA on in the spotlight of the Tv arena, and actually constructing it appear weak by comparison.

They’re strolling right up to Marco Rubio, who has taken the most NRA dollars of any senator, and asking politely that he stop — to a standing ovation. Live on CNN Wednesday night, like a poor parody of Hunger Games Tv host Caesar Flickerman, Rubio could have been focus on his own media power: “People buy into my agenda! “

In American politics, this is how you win: via memorable sight in which you look like the strong, savvy, and reasonable one.

The NRA actually is weaker than most people belief. Many gun owneds already know it’s a shell of its former ego, a front for producers that sends out membership cards to anyone it can get in its database whether they wanted to join or not, artificially inflating its numbers to 5 million.

But that fact alone doesn’t effect any change. What you need is someone with a measure of impunity to step forward and say loudly what needs to be said: The emperor wears no clothes. The courtiers all knew it, but it took small children to say it. And for the first time in a decade of legislative success, the NRA abruptly appears to be on the back foot.

NRA chief Wayne LaPierre is now incoherently calling about socialism. This is a new level of insanity for the NRA.

And you know what’s inducing it? They’re intimidated. Because they know the kids at Stoneman Douglas are more powerful than their money.

— Caroline O. (@ RVAwonk) February 22, 2018

Snow and Trump, separated at birth ? strong>

Meanwhile, the person who is fills the Oval Office is trying to have it both ways — but largely attaining everything there is about him. This week ascertained Trump mouthing vague support for a minor piece of gun regulation, likewise making outrageous remarks about arming teachers and then, in another desperate bid for a news cycle, claiming he was misunderstand. Somehow, again, the president’s deflections helped him muddle through; the person who is took $30 million from the NRA has not receives an one-tenth of the ire that was directed at Rubio.

Our non-fictional chairperson doesn’t have one iota of Hunger Games President Snow’s cunning. Snow was supremely silver-tongued and faked empathy well, whereas Trump has to be coached to say things like “I hear you.” But they have at least this in common: they know it’s good optics to be seen on Tv talking to the teens, whether in a White House “listening” event or a Panem-wide victory tour.

One sign of the present strength of the #NeverAgain teens: They haven’t yet been the targets of Trump tweets. He’s made a half-hearted stab at suggesting the CNN event was rigged because one teen who drew out of the event claims he was fed a question( which CNN denies ), but “hes having” bided away from assaulting the children themselves.

This was more surprising than you might gues. The man with the world’s worst impulse control, who has ranted at Gold Star households and judges, who casually fired his FBI chief, insulted America’s allies and retweeted abominable lie-filled racist videos, still won’t dare touch these kids directly.

“What is to prevent, say, an uprising? ”

Possibly because, when it comes to controlling the media narration, game recognizes game. More likely, he only doesn’t know how far this thing could go, or whether he and his NRA buddies could have a youth revolution on his hands.

“If a girl from District 12 of all places can elude the Capitol and walk away unharmed, what is to stop them from doing the same? ” President Snow asks in Catching Fire . em> “What is to prevent, say, an uprising? ”

An excellent question, Mr. President. To which we might add: if a bunch of children from Parkland, Florida can defy the organization that basically bought the U.S. Capitol, and walk away with sky-high permission ratings, what is to prevent an uprising of teens from all across the U.S. from doing the same?

Read more: https :// mashable.com/ 2018/02/ 23/ parkland-hunger-games-dystopia /~ ATAGEND

from https://bestmovies.fun/2018/02/25/hunger-games-gave-todays-teens-the-best-blueprint-for-defeating-the-nra/

[lorrainecparker]

Review: DreamColor Z24x G2 “junior” monitor has come a long way

Last week, I received the second-generation (MSRP US$559) DreamColor Z24x G2 “junior” review unit. I am ecstatic to tell you that it is much better than I expected. Better than what? Better than its predecessor, the very first entry-level DreamColor Z24x. In fact, the second generation model is even better than HP’s official response to my initial questions at the private press conference before NAB in April. Ahead I will tell you all the great things that I discovered, together with the very few gotchas that are currently the norm at this price point, from any manufacturer. I also go into use cases (when this model is appropriate) and proper integration for proper framerate/cadence and audio/video sync when monitoring.

In this article, you’ll find:

Framerate compatibility beyond the official specs

DreamColor remains high-quality matte

New panel offers superior off-axis viewing

Full control of aspect ratio display

Calibration profiles stored in the DreamColor display, not in the computer

Recommended integration in an editing/grading system

Analog audio output: a tiny feature with a huge benefit

Built-in 4-port USB 3.0 hub

VESA mount for flexibility

8+2 FRC dithered rather than true 10-bit

Do you dream in 18-bit color, 24-bit color, or 30-bit color?

What I’d like to see in the future

Conclusions

My comment/rant about rounding framerates versus prices

Framerate compatibility beyond the official specs

For the same reason that video editors and graders (etalonadores) consider a DreamColor monitor for color accuracy, they also need to be able to see proper cadence of a project/sequence. Nowadays, professional editor/graders need to be ready to handle any framerate. It is silly to think that they can buy a professional display that is locked down to only some framerates, since they need to handle any project that may arise. Just as they don’t want a monitor that shows inaccurate color or contrast, they can’t afford to have the display occasionally jump to catch up with a mismatched framerate. Even in consumer (non professional) circles, for many years, participants of home theater forums have complained that the AppleTV device lacks proper framerate support to play back even movies purchased from iTunes.

Back at NAB time, the official response from HP that the new DreamColor Z24x G2 was “60Hz ±0.5%”, which basically meant that it was only good for 29.97p, 59.94p and 59.94i (aka 29.97i in Avid terminology). That initial news disappointed me greatly, However, I tested the DreamColor Z24x G2 myself and it is much better than officially announced and reported by HP. I successfully fed it the following framerates, and it locked and displayed them, although by rounding to the closest integer except for a single case:

23.976p (Yes, it’s a rounded number, as is 23.98p too.)

24p exact

25p

29.97p (Yes, it’s a rounded number too.)

50p

59.94p (Yes, it’s a rounded number too.)

The fact that it rounded the non-integer framerates to the closest integer was not a surprise, because so far, no DreamColor has reliably indicated non-integer framerates numerically, although all but the original DreamColor Z24x have been able to lock perfectly to all of these framerates.

Please realize that HP does not officially support anything other than 59.94 and 60 on this model, which means that it can officially work with 29.94 and 59.94 (as well as the non-standard 30 and 60 for television since before 1953). However, HP has assured me that (unlike consumer displays), all DreamColor models including the lower-cost Z24x G2 are guaranteed to maintain the same components throughout the model life, so if you acquire a DreamColor Z24x G2, you should get the same results with all of these framerates as I did, as listed above.

PLEASE NOTE: The upcoming DreamColor Z31x (at an official MSRP of US$3999) will be the first DreamColor model with a built-in calibrator and promises to display framerates including proper decimals. I plan to review it as soon as it becomes available. However, it’s clear that those who consider a Z31x for US$3999 are probably not the same ones who consider a Z24x G2 for US$559, so please keep reading 🙂

DreamColor remains high-quality matte

If you have read any of my monitor and laptop articles before, you know that I cannot stand glare and reflections. Fortunately, all DreamColor displays I have ever tested to date are extremely high-quality matte, and the DreamColor Z24x G2 is no exception.

New panel offers superior off-axis viewing

The DreamColor Z24x G2 has a new panel that is a Gen 2 IPS (Gen 2 technology, also called AH-IPS). Unlike the original Z24, this one has excellent off-axis viewing, so when I stand up, sit down, or look it it from the sides, it appears the same to my eyes. Those were the same eyes that were so disappointed with the first Z24x’s off-axis performance. The official rating is “Up to 178° horizontal/178° vertical”, but I am telling you how good it looks to my own eyes at off-axis.

Full control of aspect ratio display

I am extremely happy that the DreamColor Z24x G2 offers several options in the Image Control>Aspect Ratio Display section of the menu. They include:

Fill to Source Aspect Ratio (Proportional)

Fill to Enter Screen (Non-Proportional) which was the default as I received it, but I don’t recommend it for editing or grading.

Pixel-for-Pixel

For daily editing, I would use and recommend the first option (Fill to Source Aspect Ratio (Proportional)).

For special situations, I would use Pixel-for-Pixel when using a spatial resolution under 1920 pixeles wide. The native resolution of the DreamColor Z24x G2 is 1920×1200, so a standard 1080HD raster will occupy 1920×1080 in the vertical center, leaving black horizontal stripes above and below of 60 pixels high each. So for a 1080HD project, the first and third option will give the same result. However, with a 720p (1280×720) project, the result will be different, since 1280×720 will use a small area in the center if set for Pixel-for-Pixel. This is good for special situations, i.e. when you are doing an animated transition and want to be sure whether any artifact is part of the animation or a possible side effect of the display’s scaler, which will be inactive in Pixel-for-Pixel mode. At my last count, there were approximately 41 720p networks in the US, so I am glad that HP still supports it, both Fill to Source Aspect Ratio (Proportional) and Pixel-for-Pixel. See the section called Why do some networks choose 720 over 1080? in this article to learn the ±41 720p networks in the United States and their logical reasons for selecting it.

There are also options for Overscan in the DreamColor Z24x G2, which were fortunately off by default.

NOTE: I found those aspect ratio options via the HDMI input. There may be fewer aspect ratio options via other inputs, as was the case with the original LP2480zx, which I reviewed back in 2009. If you find that to be the case from a legacy device like the long discontinued Multibridge Extreme with DVI output, just connect it using a DVI<>HDMI cable to regain the aspect ratio options I covered above.

Calibration profiles stored in the DreamColor display, not in the computer

In applications like pre-press and photo retouching, it may be considered okay to store profiles that affect the image of a connected display in the host computer. However, for professional video applications, things are different. That’s why I am glad to see that (like all other DreamColor displays to date), when you do a calibration with the HP calibration software for pro video, together with one of the supported colorimeters like the DreamColor Calibration Kit from HP (which has been discontinued), the X-Rite i1Display Pro (retail version) (Amazon link • B&H link) or the Klein K10-A, all profiles are stored in the DreamColor display, not in the host computer. That is because often (after the calibration is finished), the DreamColor will not be connected directly to a host computer at all, but to a professional video interface, like the one to be covered in the next section. If you calibrate a monitor in such a way that it needs to depend on a host computer, those settings would be lost when that same monitor is no longer connected to that computer, but to a professional video device.

NOTE: I verified the above information during a telephone conversation with the Z24x G2’s architect. I didn’t receive any colorimeter to do it myself, but I am very familiar with the process from prior experience with other DreamColor displays.

Recommended integration in an editing/grading system

Over the decades, I have used and written about many professional video interfaces from different manufacturers, including AJA, Blackmagic, DPS (Digital Processing Systems), Matrox, Truevision and more. In the age of interlaced video (which is fortunately going away), those professional interfaces were necessary in order to generate a proper interlaced signal when monitoring from a computer. However, the main reason that these devices are still necessary today are often to do with another issue: The capability of displaying the signal being edited or graded at diverse non-integer framerates. As I have covered in many past articles, in NTSC and ex-NTSC countries, non-integer framerates like 23.976p, 29.97p and 59.94p are still used extensively. Some 1080HD TV stations in ex-NTSC regions even still broadcast 1080i true interlaced, although often they are actually 23.976p with a 2:3 (aka 3:2) pulldown over 59.94i… or 29.97PsF (Progressive Segmented Frame) over 59.94i using a 2:2 pulldown.

Both macOS and many Windows-based computer systems still struggle to deliver these non-integer framerates, and cause hiccups. You probably produce in non-integer framerates, unless you exclusively produce 25p/50p/50i for PAL or ex-PAL regions, or exact 24p for DCI/DCP for projection in movie theaters, or exclusively for Blu-ray and the web at exact 24p, where 23.976p is more common, although exact 24p is also acceptable. So if that is the case, the lowest priced solution I know of are the entry-level ones from Blackmagic, which are also the only ones to support the ever popular DaVinci Resolve for both grading and editing, in addition to supporting many professional software products from Adobe, Apple and Avid.

One that I have covered extensively is the US$145 UltraStudio Mini Monitor (shown above, covered in these articles, Amazon link • B&H link) , which is capable of all of the framerates I have covered in this article, up to 1080HD. That’s why it makes a great match for the DreamColor Z24x G2, since it too has a resolution that matches 1080HD very well. (If you need to monitor 4K UHD or 4K cinema, standby for the upcoming DreamColor Z31x and pair it with a 4K capable interface.) As I have covered in this 2012 article, the US$145 UltraStudio Mini Monitor is ideal if your host computer has Thunderbolt and you generally don’t deliver 4:4:4/RGB files to your client. Anything you deliver for the web, Blu-ray, DVD or mobile devices are 4:2:2 or 4:2:0, so the UltraStudio Mini Monitor is fine. If you often have to deliver files like DNxHD444, DPX RGB or ProRes4444… or a tape format like HDCAM-SR RGB, then you are better served with a higher-end interface… and (perhaps) a higher-end DreamColor too.

If your computer doesn’t have any available Thunderbolt port, then Blackmagic offers similar devices for USB3 and for PCIe. Blackmagic interfaces are the ones to consider if you already use, or think you might use DaVinci Resolve in the future. To my knowledge, other brands of professional video interfaces like AJA and Matrox don’t work with DaVinci Resolve to display program video full frame, the way that Blackmagic’s interfaces do.

Because low-cost interfaces like the UltraStudio Mini Monitor don’t offer any analog audio output (only digital audio embedded with the video), be sure to read the next section about how to resolve that with the DreamColor Z24x G2 to assure audio/video sync as you monitor.

Analog audio output: a tiny feature with a huge benefit

The Z24x G2 fortunately offers a stereo TRS 3.5 mm analog audio output (see my TS/TRS/TRRS/TRRRS: Combating the misconception epidemic for details). This delivers a derived analog signal from the embedded digital audio that may come with the digital video input via DisplayPort or HDMI. This is extremely important to be sure that you can monitor the audio via the same clock as the video, especially if you use a professional video interface like the one covered in the prior section. Your audio will be in perfect sync with the properly timed video.

You may connect that line level analog audio output to a pair of professional powered studio monitors like the iLoud Micro Monitor (Amazon link • B&H link) I reviewed in September 2016. However, if you don’t have a ±US$300 budget for powered monitors and just want to be able to hear what you’re editing with proper sync,

you might consider purchasing the <US$19 NQ576AA HP LCD Speaker Bar (shown above, Amazon link) which is compatible with the Z24x G2 according to its own spec sheet, to snap on the bottom. Although certainly not comparable to the iLoud Micro Monitor, the NQ576AA HP LCD Speaker Bar will at least allow you to hear what you’re editing in proper sync with the video, if you follow the integration indicated in the above section. In its price class, the NQ576AA HP LCD Speaker Bar has earned good ratings on Amazon, although I haven’t heard it myself yet.

If you choose to acquire one, the NQ576AA HP LCD Speaker Bar’s built-in power amplifier will get its electrical power via USB, but no worries: The DreamColor Z24x G2 has you covered with that and more, as you’ll see just ahead in the next section.

Built-in 4-port USB 3.0 hub

The DreamColor Z24x G2 has a built-in USB 3.0 hub. This can potentially save you money and reduce clutter on your desk when you need to connect multiple USB peripherals to your computer, some of which may take advantage of USB 3.0 speeds —including fast hard drives or arrays, and others may be legacy USB devices, like pointing devices and wired keyboards.

VESA mount for flexibility

The Z24x G2 comes with a desk stand that tilts -5 degrees to +20 vertical and has a height adjustment range of 16-167 mm. However, it is also good to know that the Z24x G2 uses a standard 100 mm VESA mount for use with standard VESA arms, brackets or wall mounts.

8+2 FRC dithered rather than true 10-bit

Nearly 8 years ago, back in 2009 when I reviewed the original LP2480zx DreamColor Display, I included lots of information about its true 10-bit (aka 30-bit) panel. Here I’ll review that, and then explain how the lower-cost DreamColor Z24x and DreamColor Z24x G2 are a bit different than other DreamColor displays in this department.

Do you dream in 18-bit color, 24-bit color, or 30-bit color?

Each pixel in any color LCD monitor contains three subpixels. Each subpixel corresponds with one of the three primary video colors: red, green, and blue. The bit-precision of the display determines how many levels of brightness can be shown for each primary color. A 6-bit monitor offers 64 (26) levels from darkest to brightest for each primary color. An 8-bit monitor offers 256 (228) levels for each primary color. The bit-precision is determined by the electronics which control the liquid crystal cells in the panel. Since there are three subpixels, the maximum number of colors that a pixel can display is 2n x 2n x 2n where n is the bit-precision of a subpixel. Therefore, an 8-bit monitor offers 28 x 28 x 28 = 16,777,216 colors (which is often rounded as 16.7 million). Many consumer LCD monitors have inexpensive 18-bit panels (6-bit per subpixel x3). Most professional LCD monitors have 24-bit panels (8-bit per subpixel x3). Only a very few high-end LCD models have true 30-bit panels (10-bit per subpixel x3). Since the original DreamColor LP2480zx, Z27x, and upcoming Z31x all have a 10-bit/30-bit design, they can display a simultaneous palette of 210 x 210 x 210 = 1,073,741,824 colors which is often rounded to 1.07 billion colors.

Beware the term billion in international circles

That number you just read (1.07 billion) is expressed with the US billion nomenclature. In traditional European English, that number would be written and spoken as 1,07 thousand million (except for those Europeans who have adopted the US billion, and the UK in documents starting in 1974)! Castilian readers should interpret it as 1,07 mil millones… or 1,07 millardos if they use modern terminology 🙂 Both in traditional European English and in Castilian, the term billion (or billón) is a much bigger number, with 12 zeros instead of 9.

Unlike all other DreamColor displays to date, the Z24x (original) and Z24z G2 (second generation) use a newer dithering technology called 8+2 FRC. This new dithering technology is much better than a traditional 8-bit panel, but not as good as a true 10-bit panel like the ones in higher-priced DreamColor displays. HP describes the Z24x G2 as being “color accurate” as opposed to “color critical”, which is still available in the higher-priced DreamColor displays. A calibrated Z24x G2 is a much better choice than a multistandard HDTV set, which is what I previously recommended instead of the original Z24x (first generation) due to its lack of framerates beyond 59.94 and 60 Hz, and its unacceptable off-axis performance. At its low price, full framerate support (albeit unofficially so), excellent off-axis support and the capability of being automatically calibrated to 100% of BT.709 or 97% of DCI-P3 with the appropriate colorimiter, the DreamColor Z24x G2 now easily checkmates the 1080p multistandard HDTV set on several fronts.

What I’d like to see in the future

If future generations of the entry-level DreamColor Z24x are to be developed, and HP continues with a 16:10 aspect ratio, I would love to see HP take advantage of the extra 160 vertical pixels to have a continuous textual display of the incoming source, i.e. one of the following:

1080/59.94p (Yes, it’s a rounded number.)

1080/50p

1080/48p

1080/47.952 (Yes, it’s a rounded number.)

1080/29.97p (Yes, it’s a rounded number.)

1080/25p

1080/24p

1080/23.976p (Yes, it’s a rounded number, as is 23.98p too.)

720/59.94p (Yes, it’s a rounded number.)

720/50p

I often see video editors or graders creating a new project at a new spatial resolution or new temporal resolution (framerate), but forget to make the corresponding change in the hardware interface. That’s why I believe it will be so valuable to have that optionally visible onscreen, so the human editor grader will be able to be continuously reminded about the current hardware settings.

Conclusions

Although not nearly as good as the DreamColor Z27x (Amazon link • B&H link) or upcoming DreamColor Z31x, the new DreamColor Z24x G2 is great for the price, but be sure to budget for the corresponding colorimeter, be it a closeout or leftover DreamColor Calibration Kit from HP (which has been discontinued), the X-Rite i1Display Pro (retail version) (Amazon link • B&H link) or the Klein K10-A.

My comment/rant about rounding framerates versus prices

In my humble opinion, all manufacturers (including those that create cameras, displays, video mixers and software) should state non-integer framerates to two decimals (i.e. 29.97 and 59.94) both in spec sheets and OSDs (onscreen displays) for best understanding and usage by the production community. Furthermore, whenever possible, they should also state 23.976 to three decimals, and only if constrained in space should they state it as 23.98. However, professional products’ list prices should be proudly and officially set at the closest round number, i.e. US$560 and US$4000. Otherwise, they look like sleazy consumer marketing, rather than sophisticated professional marketing.

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