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heroheart · 7 years

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i really wanna watch s2 but is it That bad??? :((

ummm ok i'm gonna try and answer this as objectively as i can but it gets very very long so i’m putting this under a read more in case yall think i’m Whining

(ok it’s really long)

the one thing that makes me very sad about season 2 of sg is that, for me, it's lost the main feminist undertones™ that made me wanna watch it in the first place. (kinda comes with the loss of caIista fIockhart/cat grant, and the forcing of mon eI into the scene.)

james's character was almost completely binned.-- literally overnight from 1.20 to 2.01, kara, who'd spent the entirety of season one pining for him 'james is one of the most incredible people i've ever met. he makes me be a better superhero.' (paraphrased) immediately turns round and tells him that they're better off as friends, after one date (continuously interrupted by Crime™ which is ok??? that's what happens when you're secretly a superhero???) but she's literally... she was always smitten by him and i don't? know why they decided to get rid of a relationship built on so much respect and trust?

on the subject of james, i don't think their relationship would've worked out (purely because james has always been in the shadow, whether it's standing at sg's side or superman's, and as the season unveiled guardian, it kinda made sense tbh. but kara and james had so much chemistry which was immediately trampled all over with the arrival of mon eI.)

kara's relationship with mon eI has hindered a lot of her character growth, which is very sad. especially as the show is literally... about her... she's the titular protagonist... if anything, a character should allow her to grow (even negatively. for example, max Iord. even then, max Iord's character was a device for baby superhero kara to understand that she can't decide who lives and dies.)

the writers handle a lot of scenarios quite poorly. for example, winn gets a girlfriend, Iyra. she's an alien refugee from starhaven and most likely has ptsd from the treatment she suffered. she had an anger outburst, and the writers tried to ??? make it funny??? like it was a comedic moment??? smashing beer bottles and yelling at winn (who, remember, was raised by a serial killer...buddy) and i think it's important to highlight mental illness, but it was so calloused??? the writing was so poor here and let down her character.

with a lot of scenes, and a lot of episodes, i've felt as though the writers have thought of a Really Cool Plot (for example, alex being kidnapped because someone figured out who sg is and therefore that she was her sister. having maggie and kara working together, when they've butted heads before, to save the person that they care about the most. that's a sick idea. i like that.) but they change the characters in order to service the plot. for example, kara relying on her muscle and powers to save alex, and having to be taught that she has to use her words sometimes by maggie. this is by no means anti-maggie. this is the writers forgetting the copious sg speeches™ that kara's delivered throughout the series about hope and humanity and how we can be better. to me, it's just... lazy. it’s lazy writing.

mon eI is a problem for me. that's it. that's the bullet-point.

(ok no. mon eI is a problem for me because the writers wrote kara rejecting his advances MULTIPLE times throughout the first half of the season, only to turn around and be like 'actually maybe i can have it all' and suddenly falling for him in like 2 episodes? he personally embodies a lot of traits i don't like in general so. douchebag mcgee)

all female characters' screentime has cut in half. even kara's. what are you doing with this extra screentime what is going on why is this happening

SO ! MUCH ! HAPPENS ! sooooo much. so much. it's so rushed. the plots are cool, but there are so many of them. they're like - piling every single cliche and every single possible story arc into thie season, and it's just... a lot. this leaves a lot of the other arcs rushed and unfulfilled, and it's kinda like ... weird... for example, jeremiah comes back and kara and alex butt heads because he's a cadmus operative, and there were some really quite nasty things said by both of them (for example, it became a kind of blood vs adoptive family thing and that...yikes. i feel for both of them.) this was not resolved. this was not spoken about. the danvers sisters did not talk about this. the danvers sisters, who talk about everything, who talk about homeland theories and what they're going to have for dinner, and probably kara asking alex stupid shit like 'why have i never seen a baby pigeon', did not talk about a possible schism in their family.

for every 10 minutes of screentime kara/mel gets, san/vers gets 30 seconds. i adore alex's coming out arc. and i adore her relationship with maggie. i really do. however, to me, it feels like the writers are like 'haha, see, we've got a canon wlw relationship... as long as we give them 0.2 seconds every 5 episodes, all is well. we're progressive. we appeal to the lgbt community.' and from what i've seen, the audience is largely lgbt. (hey, it's rare to find canon f/f pairings that don’t die so when you do, boy you jump on that.) i would love to see more maggie/alex i love them:/

the writers have been pushing the fact that romantic love > familial love since the start of the season and it's a useless rhetoric which i don't need to see lol

tl;dr: a lot of the characters are ooc, mon eI is a problem, and the core of the show has been lost.

butttttttt i'm gonna give you some actual good things which happen in season two.

Iena Iuthor, love of my life, light of my world. possibly one of the only saving graces for the season for me. a Good depiction of a woman in science, a ceo, and overcoming previous stereotypes and crawling out of the shadow of her family. i love her and she deserves better than everything this show's thrown at her

san/vers... my daughters... making alex a lesbian was the best decision season 2 made. one of the worst is not developing maggie beyond 'she's alex's girlfriend, she has trust issues, and is a lesbian cop with a traumatic past'.

superman being present when kara is able to actually step out of his shadow. cIark also beginning to understand and appreciate kara's feelings on the matter.

james stepping out as guardian!!! my boy!!! please devote more time to my beautiful boy because he didn't get nearly enough screentime as he deserved. actually, he pretty much disappeared for most of it.

honestly if you want to watch it, then watch it. what i say isn't gonna change that, and it's not gonna change what happened. maybe i'm just bitter and cynical and maybe it's not actually that bad i really don’t know anymore

#out.#tbd.#this is anti a lot of things so basically read at ur own risk #anonymous

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minisoc · 3 years

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As requested, line by line breakdown of testoster2's anti communist rant about parties.

> idk which baby leftist needs to hear this

off to a great condescending start from someone whose only left credit is claiming to be on the left on their Tumblr

> but joining a socialist party will be a waste of your time.

I couldn't imagine a more cop opinion to start us off with. i see things like this and i think: whose interests does this serve? "oh no baby leftists, don't join a party" just brings to mind this image

> you'll probably have to pay a monthly due

that's true. every communist party in history has taken dues from members. it's typically scaled to what you can manage though and it's part of the collective effort of the party organization to make social change. my dues sent comrades to Venezuela and Cuba to learn from socialists there, they produced our programs for free lunches, it built our community centers. i have no regrets about paying my dues, i pay dues to my union as well.

> that goes to like. flyers no one reads

projection. sounds now like op is defending their own lack of action with a lack of belief in the possibility of change. in my experience people do read things and even change their minds after reading things. if people were not able to be affected by the written word then propagandists on all sides would be in a tough situation.

> that you yourself will have to give to people

oh no, you mean joining a party means you might have to do outreach and talk to people? can see why it's not for op, then.

> (this in case the money doesn't go straight in the party leader's pocket).

op has never seen this but says it like it's a fact. it would be pretty easy to find out if your party leadership is embezzling and your party should be structured in a way that you know they'd be thrown out if they betrayed everyone like this. i have that confidence in my party, at least.

this is also very reminiscent about how anti communists engage with propaganda. they feel comfortable making claims of any kind whether supported or not. anyway, this is another obvious cop opinion.

> you'll waste time writing papers and reports and shit, it'll feel like having a second job.

not explained is why writing is a waste of time. i think writing for a party is almost always a useful activity, whether you're making plans for a new action or campaign or producing new agitational materials or analysing the results of previous work so you can improve on it.

it is a job, though. being a communist does mean doing work, society won't change by sitting at home and attacking communist parties on Tumblr. the lifelong sacrifices made by hard working communists are why we have seen so many socialist victories in the last century.

> the most exciting events will be lib shit like elections

this again can only be projection. the most exciting times for me have been in some of the countries largest protest actions, organizing campaigns to free political prisoners, providing at risk communities with basic needs and engaging with them, building new unions, etc. etc

> or peaceful protests that the party would still organize w/o you as a member

here's the key issue with op i think. they want to be vital to the revolution. they don't want to think that they're only one of many people all working together. yes it's true the party will continue without you, especially a wannabe cop like you. but it doesn't mean party work is useless, it just means you are useless as an individual.

> (showing up at a protest w/o having a party affiliation gives you more freedom

freedom to do what, i do wonder? being afraid of party work bc it doesn't let you do whatever you want is kinda silly, if you don't want anyone to ever tell you what to do then yeah don't join a party. if you want to make change in the world then do.

> + makes you a bit less arrestable - as opposed to if a cop saw you carrying a name tag w the hammer and sickle on it. just fyi)

this again appears to have been just made up by op. I've never been arrested for wearing a pin or a party tshirt. i don't know a single person who has. and I've known plenty of people without any markings get arrested.

> all this w/o even mentioning how (depending on your luck) there could be a lot of infighting, splits, sometimes purges

well yes it sounds like there would be a lot of drama wherever op goes but it doesn't seem to be the case generally. my party did form in a split, but over 15 years ago. i don't see any reason to worry that it would happen again any time soon. we don't infight at all, sorta the concept of the party is people who want to work effectively together.

another bit of funny evidence that op is anti communist is the inclusion of the word purges, lol. purge means expulsion from party, ooh very sinister.

> all in all, joining a socialist party is a very, Very ineffective way of building communism lmao

well first it's simply a truth that no socialist country was ever built without a communist party. not one.

but also, did any of ops points have anything to do with effectiveness? all i gathered is they're pushing an individualistic, don't tell me what to do outlook. and the condescension about protests and flyering suggest they want something more adventurist, possibly involving violence. remember the fbi and police always instigate when they infiltrate groups. they always push for criminal actions and violence.

> i'd instead recommend you talk to your neighbours abt their lives, and see how you can help each other.

hey, guess what a party does! do you think our new tenants unions and unemployed councils could come into being without talking to neighbors? do you think our new unions could come into being without discussing the way we could help each other?

> if you live in like a very rich neighbourhood or something, instead of joining a socialist party

well isn't this an interesting premise. i wonder what it says about op that they want to emphasize what the well off should do.

> it'd be way more effective if you joined a liberal/conservative party and then fucked their shit up as much as possible

sure, just see every other attempt in history at wrecking or entryism with the Democratic party. i encourage you to look into it

> if ur only goal is meeting other leftists, only go to the first 2 or 3 party meetings, by then you'll know the scene and you'd have already befriended the interesting people. that;s my advice at least

this piece of advice is generally good. in fact before applying to join any party if at all possible i encourage you to meet with the members local to you, see how they work, see what you think of their ideas and what they're doing. if they're not active in your community, ask why not. there's nothing requiring you to join if it isn't for you. but if you want to make change in this country, learning how to do it from those with experience is best. and working together in an organization that can effectively chart a path forward is the only option there is. every communist revolution was built with the leadership of the communist party.

#testoster2 #close reading #communist parties #socialism #us politics

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randomnumbers751650 · 3 years

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Long, unedited text in which I rant about comparative mythology, Joseph Campbell and his monomyth,

Back in 2012 I wanted to improve my fiction writing (and writing in general, because in spite of nuances, themes and audience, writing a fiction and a nonfiction piece shouldn’t be that different) and thus I picked a few writing manuals. Many of them cited the Hero’s Journey, and how important it became for writers – after all Star Wars used and it worked. I believe most of the people reading this like Star Wars, or at least has neutral feelings about it, but one thing that cannot be denied is that became a juggernaut of popular culture.

So I bought a copy of the Portuguese translation of The Hero of a Thousand Faces and I fell in love with the style. Campbell had a great way with words and the translation was top notch. For those unaware, The Hero of a Thousand Faces proposes that there is a universal pattern in humanity’s mythologies that involves a person (usually a man) that went out into a journey far away from his home, faced many obstacles, both external and internal, and returned triumphant with a prize, the Grail or the Elixir of Life, back to his home. Campbell’s strength is that he managed to systematize so many different sources into a single cohesive narrative.

At the time I was impressed and decided to study more and write in an interdisciplinary research with economics – by writing an article on how the entrepreneur replaces the mythical hero in today’s capitalism. I had to stop the project in order to focus on more urgent matters (my thesis), but now that I finished I can finally return to this pet project of mine.

If you might have seen previous posts, I ended up having a dismal view of economics. It’s a morally and spiritually failed “science” (I have in my drafts a post on arts and I’m going to rant another day about it). Reading all these books on comparative mythology is so fun because it allows me for a moment to forget I have a degree in economics.

Until I started to realize there was something wrong.

My research had indicated that Campbell and others (such as Mircea Eliade and Carl Gust Jung, who had been on of Campbell’s main influences) weren’t very well respected in academia. At first I thought “fine”, because I’m used to interact with economists who can be considered “heterodox” and I have academic literature that I could use to make my point, besides the fact my colleagues were interested in what I was doing.

The problem is that this massive narrative of the Hero’s Journey/monomyth is an attempt to generalize pretty wide categories, like mythology, into one single model of explanation, it worked because it became a prescription, giving the writer a tool to create a story in a factory-like pace. It has checkboxes that can be filled, professional writers have made it widely available.

But I started to realize his entire understanding of mythology is problematic. First the basics: Campbell ignores when myths don’t fit his scheme. This is fruit of his Jungian influences, who claim that humanity has a collective unconsciousness, that manifest through masks and archetypes. This is the essence of the Persona games (and to a smaller extent of the Fate games) – “I am the Shadow the true self”. So any deviation from the monomyth can be justified by being a faulty translation of the collective unconsciousness.

This is the kind of thing that Karl Popper warned about, when he proposed the “falseability” hypothesis, to demarcate scientific knowledge. The collective unconsciousness isn’t a scientific proposition because it can be falsified. It cannot be observed and it cannot be refuted, because someone who subscribe to this doctrine will always have an explanation to explain why it wasn’t observed. In spite of falseability isn’t favored by philosophers of science anymore, it remains an important piece of the history of philosophy and he aimed his attack on psychoanalysis of Freud and Jung – and, while they helped psychology in the beginning, they’re like what Pythagoras is to math. They were both surpassed by modern science and they are studied more as pieces of history than serious theorists.

But this isn’t the worst. All the three main authors on myths were quite conservatives in the sense of almost being fascists – sometimes dropping the ‘almost’. Some members of the alt-right even look up to them as some sort of “academic’ justification. Not to mention anti-Semitic. Jung had disagreement with Freud and Freud noticed his anti-Semitism. Eliade was a proud supporter of the Iron Guard, a Romanian fascist organization that organized pogroms and wanted to topple the Romanian government. Later Eliade became an ambassador at Salazar’s Fascist Portugal, writing it was a government guided by the love of God. Campbell, with his hero worship, was dangerously close to the ur-fascism described by Umberto Eco (please read here, you won’t regret https://www.pegc.us/archive/Articles/eco_ur-fascism.pdf).

“If you browse in the shelves that, in American bookstores, are labeled as New Age, you can find there even Saint Augustine who, as far as I know, was not a fascist. But combining Saint Augustine and Stonehenge – that is a symptom of Ur-Fascism.”

Campbell did that a lot. He considered the Bible gospels and Gnostic gospels to be on the same level. Any serious student, that is not operating under New Age beliefs and other frivolous theories like the one that says Jesus went to India, will know there’s a difference between them (even Eliade was sure to stress the difference).

But Campbell cared nothing for it. He disliked the “semitic” religions for corrupting the mythic imagination (which is the source of his anti-Semitism), especially Judaism. When I showed him describing the Japanese tea ceremony to a friend who’s minoring in Japanese studies, she wrote “I’m impressed, he’s somehow managed to out-purple prose the original Japanese”. So, it’s also full of orientalism, treating the East as the mystical Other, something for “daring” Westerners to discover and distillate.

What disturbed…no, “disturbed” isn’t the word that I need in the moment, but what made me feel uncomfortable is that, in spite of all his talk of spirituality, the impression I had of Power of Myth is that I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone more materialist than him. Not even Karl Marx, founder of the Historical Materialism, was as materialist as Campbell.

At one point in the book, he was asked if he believed in anything and he gave a dismissive reply and said “I want to get experiences.” A man who studied all the myths of the world available, apparently didn’t believe in anything. Is that what spiritual maturity is? A continuous flux of experiences? Being taken by some sort of shamanistic wind like a floating plastic bag?

In nowhere in the interview he talked about virtues. In rebellion with his Catholic childhood, he said that we should go to the confessionary and say “God, I’ve been such a good boy”. Any cursory reading of the Gospel would say otherwise. Wasn’t this exactly Pharisee’s prayer in Luke 18:9-14? While the wasn’t the publican, who went with humility and asked for forgiveness, the one who walked out with an experience? And not only in Christianity, since in Tibetan Buddhism, a tulpa is something you have to kill, not foster like an imaginary friend like in some internet circles, contamined with this obsession with experiences.

The way I came to see Joseph Campbell as a man who was so stuck in his own world that nothing could move him out of it. All he wanted to do was this big experience, but in the end it’s as wide as the ocean, but shallow as a puddle. Even when Campbell speaks about having a “cosmic consciousness”, all that New Age jargon, claiming it’s about people discovering they’re not the center of the universe, it’s still so…self-servicing. It addresses a crowd so obsessed with experiences, but wants nothing to do with anything that requires compromise. He quotes the Hindu concept of maya, that life is an illusion, but I wonder how right he is about it.

I want to share this critique, by a researcher in comic studies: “We do not remember The Night Gwen Stacy Died because Gwen’s death reminds us of our own mortality, ‘the destiny of Everyman’, but because the story exposes the fragility of Spider-Man reader’s fantasies. Even icons can die.”

The exposition of the fragility of myths, especially the Hero’s Journey, never happens in Campbell’s work. It never talks about the potential of myths hindering entire societies, causing strife and causing people who can’t fit to become outcasts. Not even the cruel ones, like the Aztec death cult is treated as sublime, ignoring the fact that the Aztec neighbors helped to Spanish because they had enough of the Aztec myth.

I have changed my article. While I will still write on the hero entrepreneur, I’ll take a more critical view. The focus of the entrepreneur as an individual has many issues, because it ignores the role of public investment (necessary for high risk enterprises, like going to the moon or creating touch screens) and it treats with contempt the worked wage. Cambpell also treated with contempt the “masses”, who cannot be “heroes”. The theory on the entrepreneur is the same, treating the entrepreneur as a hero and the waged workers as lowlifes who have nothing to do, but to work, obey and be paid – to the point it feels like some economists treat strikes as crimes worse than murder. Not only that, but they can exploit the worker (see a book named “Do what you love and other lies about success and happiness”, it could be replaced with “Follow your bliss…”).

Campbell wrote in a time that there was no Wikipedia. So his book was the introduction of myths to a lot of people. It helped it was well-written. He considering his approach apolitical, but it’s clear that’s it’s not exactly like that (though this is a reason why Jordan Peterson failed to become the next Campbell, since he’s also a Jungian scholar, but he tried to become a conservative guru and this was his downfall). And, nowadays, Campbell is still inevitable in the circles that his themes matter, unlike Freud and Jung. Read it, but be aware of its problems, because it has already influenced what you consume.

#my rants #this is just a rant #so don't take it as a final word #sources can be provided on request

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maddieandyou · 5 years

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Analysis on The Good Doctor episode 8 ‘Stories’

Metaphors and themes of love, forgiveness and betrayal

Melendaire but could be read as unromantic or romantic also.

This episode dealt with 3 different couples (both romantic and ‘professional’) dealing with some form of betrayal and throughout the episode the characters receive and resolve their feelings and relationships in different ways, either one doesn't want to talk to the other and they want to split or one comes to forgive the other. Two out of the three stories however are more similar than the third.

The episode showed 3 couples dealing with betrayal and forgiveness, 2 of which were patients or family of a patient and the other Claire and Neil. The main question that the last few episodes has been building up to is how they are going to resolve their issue and the episode that focuses on that is also surrounded by 2 other couples and how they deal with a form of betrayal.

The car crash couple and Claire and Neil share a very, almost mirrored journey in this episode. And luckily both end positively. However the other side to the resolve between Claire and Neil could have ended up like the anti vax couple as they too shared a few similarities which I will explain below.

So my idea is that the episode purposefully contrasts two different couples dealing with a betrayal and how it is resolved. These resolves get influenced by medical revelations and the other characters putting their help and opinion in.

However these 2 couples are only here for one episode, they don’t really matter in the grand scheme of the show, but they do add to the narrative themes and putting across to the audience an idea or feeling. Those feelings to name a few are basically betrayal, love and forgiveness.

The one story line that is staying, that is important and is therefore the central progression of the episode is the story line between Claire and Neil that gets tackled within the episode. The story line between Claire and Neil is also about betrayal, love (if u ship it anyway) and forgiveness.

This is all done on purpose to highlight the and even become a foil for the relationship of Neil and Claire when comparing to the other 2 couples.

In the episode you can see Claire is dealing with something herself whilst also trying to help the husband forgive his wife for her (not really purposeful) betrayal. This is paralleled by Melendez not forgiving Claire for her breach of protocol and in both situations it is putting the relationship at risk of splitting up.

There is also a lot of symbolic comparisons made between them too, but I’m just taking this from their choice of having certain things be said and then cutting to Claire’s reaction while she herself is going through a similar situation.

“everything was good” the shot is on Claire, her residency was going really good, she was improving and had progressed her (’professional’) relationship with Melendez, especially in this second season

“the last few months with todd, it was like our honeymoon” the shot is on Claire, honeymoon works as a metaphor here of course, the honeymoon could mean the good place Claire was in with her career and the same from the above.

(I know those cutaways were also Claire doing her thing and noticing the problem with the patient but its too much a coincidence as well, they could have cut to Shaun more than they did)

The purpose of these similarities is that Claire relates to it and therefore when she was able to come to her own conclusion with her issues it in turn helped her to say the right things to the husband that convinced him to forgive his wife. The way in which she was also able to say the right things to convince Melendez to let her back on his team, but this time due to her having the control of the situation which I will dive into later.

But overall Claire seemed on edge all episode, even saying things like “sometimes people, even the people you love and trust betray you”, although I think is most likely to do with her experience with her mother than Melendez

(just also wanna throw in the line the wife says “I couldn't imagine living without him”, like lol nice Claire reference)

Now to compare this to the other couple, the anti vaxx, once the husband finds out that their son has been vaccinated at his wife's request he feels betrayed he refuses to talk to her and from what the son says wants to divorce, they refuse to communicate and talk it out through their stubbornness. And for the last few episodes Claire and Neil have not been speaking to each other and communicating about what happened because of both of their stubbornness. And the ‘divorce’ between the two in this episode is represented by Claire looking and being sorted out by different hospitals, they are therefore at risk of splitting up.

Their is a theme of marriage in this episode using key words such as ‘honeymoon’ and ‘divorce’

This is what I mean by the resolve between Claire and Neil could essentially go either way in parallel to the couples. Luckily however they go for the resolve closest, to the car crash couple. Even some of the scenes and features of their arc are mirrored. As I’ll describe in this simplified format:

(I’m writing this in a more romantic sense but it can also be more as a professional opportunity as well tbh, get ur bread claire)

Claire to the car crash husband right after her scene with Melendez: “She acted on every impulse and temptation she had and was NEVER tempted to leave you...she NEVER stopped loving you”

Also Claire in this episode: Had various options to leave the hospital for a different residency but was willing to put her pride aside to give a cover for Melendez because she never really wanted to leave (him) she was never tempted to, (she never stopped ‘loving’ him)

Another example

The car crash husband: Isn’t sure he can forgive his wife for the betrayal, but realises it was out of her control and goes to approach her to talk about it and probably apologise, but waits until others leave the room first.

Melendez: Isn’t sure if he’s willing to let the breach of protocol go even though Claire saved the woman’s life. So he goes to approach her to talk and probably apologise (not confirmed what he was gonna do tho) but waits until the other people leave the room first.

Mirroring like this that is shown in this episode is not done accidentally

It could have ended differently, Claire could have stuck to her resolve and left, and Melendez could have refused her on his team again, or continued to be stubborn.

Instead though, Claire was able to learn from the car crash couple and she helped them too, helped them deal with the situation.

Yes, there is the question of who was right and wrong but at this point Claire realised it wasn't as important as both of their careers and their relationship to each other, once she realised it was not worth throwing away she found a resolve for her and Melendez and in turn was able to help the car crash couple.

She needed to think outside of the box and show initiative

Claire when she finds out whats wrong with the car crash wife: “There’s definitely something, I think we were just looking in the wrong place”

Now I know there were a lot of opinions on Claire having to be the one to apologise and people had a lot of issues with Andrews too, but I think he was needed. Someone had to step in and let them know what a ridiculous situation they were in.

What I thought was needed for Claire's development that lead her to her impressive resolve, which I don’t think would have happened if Andrews didn’t say this to her, was to remind her of who she is, a resident. That is why she is being treated this way in this situation. In the past there have been issues with sexism that Claire has had to face in both seasons, but in this case Claire needed a different approach

In her push for respect and to be taken seriously or she walks, she lost her way a bit. Claire sees her issue with Melendez as if they are equals which is fine when talking about gender, disability or race which have come up before in the show. But in this case it was rank and this needs to be taken seriously when peoples lives are at stake.

Where I think Claire realises her approach was wrong was when she confronts Andrews for coming to her first, challenging that it’s because he thinks she is easier to push. But then Andrews tells her it’s because she is a resident and not an attending . There is like a look on her face which makes me think she now knows that in order to still stand her ground she has to approach this a different way.

So what does she do? she plays along and lets something as small as the word ‘sorry’ not dictate whether or not she gets to stay in the hospital with the team and get education she wants. But if shes going to have to say sorry to Melendez she gonna sure as hell let him know that shes doing it to save his ass and she doesn't mean the apology because she has the upper hand in this situation, she plays the hierarchy game and wins, I guess we’ll see where this takes us. But she also is happy to have their relationship back to normal too, their cute little smiles made me happy : )

Claire is working from the bottom up by giving in and saying sorry instead of standing her ground but the sacrifice is worth it because in the end she gets her way, lets Melendez know that shes still sticking to her guns but still gets to be back on his team, while also giving a good impression to Andrews, letting him think he got his way. When Melendez walks away she looks so happy, she did it and Melendez understood that and didn't argue it, he in a way ‘forgave her’ because she was able to find a way for it to work for her that stayed in protocol, as opposed to breaking it which he didn’t like, he expects better from her and she delivered.

Claire is just head of surgery material like she just played two of her superiors lol

“the man may be the head but the woman is the neck and can turn the head any way she wants”

But overall when discussing this episode with my friends I feel that this episode proves that we can expect further development between Claire and Neil, but it’s not going to happen quickly or even in this season, but it’s planting the idea. The show will go back to normal now and will have a different relationship to focus on, but they’ve let us know that this isn't the end.

sorry this is so long hope you enjoyed!

#the good doctor #melendaire #neil melendez #claire browne

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idealistic-imaginings · 7 years

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idealistic-imaginings BTS Fic Rec (Summer 2017)

If I’m gonna reblog fics, I’m gonna do it right. In an organized and set fashion. And sure I’m a complete no one, but these fics deserve love and attention because they’re all beautiful in their own way. And hey if this fic rec catches at least one persons eye, then I’ll be satisfied.

You’re gonna see a lot of the same authors...possibly their whole masterlist.

Once again I am a no one, but I’ve actually decided to do an endless series of fic recs because they’re constantly gonna be new stories to find and share. Some fic recs could be seasonal (as in I discovered them in that season, THIS), Memorable (these fics are ones that have strongly affected me and as it says are memorable), YouNeedaCheckIt (Chaptered stories, I’m keeping up with) and masterlist (a list of fics I’ve fell in love with in particular, in a persons masterlist, or several people’s. Basically gonna tell you who I stalked.)

I also just started reblogging (August2017) fics so theres a ton of hidden jewels I’ve read, but lost. Or haven’t read yet.

Ah Summer, the warmest season of the year. In the northern hemisphere it is linked to vacations, the end of school, and fun. Fun in the sun. For me it’s a time to finally take a break from school and relax. Hang out with friends, family and it is filled with opportunities to read fanfics. So with that heres my Summer fic rec... (there’s lowkey way more fics I’ve read this summer but those will go in SEVERAL other lists)

Kim Seokjin:

Show me by @floralseokjin (Seokjin x Reader)

W|C: 14,138 AU: College Genre: smut, fluff, little angst Summary: your friend Jin has a proposition for you that you can’t seem to refuse, no matter how hard you try.

Great Romances of the 21st Century by @floralseokjin (Seokjin x Reader)

W|C: 12,799 AU: Highschool Genre: drama, fluff, smut, comedy Summary: in which you must tutor the most arrogant and pretentious jerk that ever existed, who can’t seem to concentrate on anything other than football, working out and girls… but then something changes and you find yourself thinking – maybe Kim Seokjin isn’t so bad after all?

Regret by @hskswife (Seokjin x Reader)

W|C: 473 Genre: Angst Summary: I miss you, I really do.

Home Is Wherever You Are by @hijoonie (Seokjin x Reader)

W|C: 3,600 AU: Military Genre: angst, fluff Summary: Kim Seokjin believes he can face any and all things with dignity and strength - prides himself in his resilience and armoured heart. He is a brave man, through and through. The only fear he has is the inability to find his way back into your arms, which in turn would mean he has lost his way home. Because home is wherever you are.

Min Yoongi: lol why is there no Yoongi. Don’t worry Yoongi is one of my three main biases (umm my bad). See it was originally Taehyung, but then that faithful day came 150309 (did I seriously fall in love with him on his birthday) in this video , I don’t know how or why, but there was some sort of shift and I saw Min Yoongi in a different light (there weren’t any english subs even). And then I slowly fell in love with Min Yoongi, for all his layers and personas. For his tsundere complex and love for armys, his ability to say what he feels but at the same time not say anything at all. Especially his passion for music and hard working mindset, even though it makes us worry a lot about him. He’s chillaxed and easy-going and isn’t afraid to stray from the crowd, he’s comfortable and confident with who he is, but there’s so much more to him under the surface. And I really admire that about him. Also for being my spirit animal ey.

But trust me he’ll be in a whole bunch of other fic recs. Trust me, it’s just bad timing, In fact I started reblogging fics more then halfway through August. And it’s either I’ve saved those Yoongi fics to read later on. They’re a chaptered fic that hasn’t been updated in a while. Or they’re meant to be on another list.

Anyway you may be wondering who that third man is, well he’s up next. You see I don’t know how this man swerved and wiggled and danced his way into my heart. I guess it slowly happened over the course of a semester and the summertime, until finally he officially sticked. The golden hyung (who I lowkey think will kill it on broadway), a man of many talents, the happy virus, our hope, our angel. But also an amazing brother (and mother) to his BTS members, who carries such a passion for his art. In fact he’s fighting Yoongi for 1st place. As you can see from the total difference between the amount of fics I’m recing of his. (I’m sorry Taehyung)

Jung Hoseok:

Journeys Which Are Long Gone by @strawberrymarshmallowstories (Hoseok x Reader

AU: Magic Genre: Mystery Summary: Your days pass as usual, customers to meet, life to be risked with getting trapped in unknown realms. Just, the usual

Bones by @floralseokjin (Hoseok x Reader, Yoongi x Reader)

Chapters: 5 AU: College Genre: angst, smut, friends with benefits, fluff Summary: you were broken from a past relationship, and Hoseok wanted to fix you, but what price was he willing to pay? Would he end up worse off, or would you realise in time, that your best friend was the one…?

It’s Alright Honey by @strawberrymarshmallowstories (Hoseok x Reader)

Chapters: 4/? AU: Normal life Genre: Angst Summary: There had always been something underlying burning between you two, something that you never had a chance to explore as one of you had always been in a relationship. You played around with each other a lot, teasing, inviting, but always stopped when this innocent game was in danger to turn serious.

Dressed Like A Daydream by @dat-town (Hoseok x Reader)

W|C: 10,354 AU: Royalty, Cinderella Genre: adventure, fluff, romance, humour Prompt: Cinderella did not come to the party to enjoy it, but is instead an assassin tasked to kill the prince. (cr.) / I snuck into the castle to kill you, but wow you’re good with a sword, and I quite like your eyes Summary: When the Crown Princess’ best friend agrees to go to the ball instead of her, to kill Prince Hoseok and save her from an arranged marriage, that’s definitely not how she planned this.

Part of Your World by @guksthighs (Hoseok x Reader)

Chapters: 5 AU: Mermaid/Siren!Hoseok Genre: Fantasy, Angst, Fluff Request: AU where he is a merman and he tries to get you to go and live in the sea with him thanks Excerpt: ‘never trust a mermaid because they could be a siren in disguise’

Waiting For Him by @strawberrymarshmallowstories (Hoseok x Reader)

W|C: 880 Genre: slice of life, fluff Summary: When rainy evenings make you feel alone

First Meeting by @strawberrymarshmallowstories (Hoseok x Reader)

W|C: 1,360 Genre: Fluff Summary: You knew nothing about him, and he knew nothing about you. But in that moment you knew enough. His name was Hoseok.

Early Fluffy Mornings by @strawberrymarshmallowstories (Hoseok x Reader)

W|C: 1K Genre: Pure Fluff Summary: Early mornings with Hoseok were the best.

Kim Namjoon:

Mission Bad Boy by @oppamansae (Namjoon x Reader)

Chapters: 6/? AU: Highschool Genre: Angst, Humour Plot: What if you could win 100,000 Won by giving someone a makeover? But here’s the catch – you have 6 months to turn a nerdy, anti-social male into the school’s biggest heartthrob.

Park Jimin:

Young and Beautiful by @hayjeon (Jimin x Reader)

W|C: 12.6K AU: Great Gatsby Genre: angst, mentions of smut/murder, slight fluff Summary: “For a moment, all of earth and heaven held its breath as they witnessed a man who’d loved so fiercely, so unconditionally and thoroughly that he challenged god. Maybe once, the world had stood at this place, compelled into a trance at the single man who had dared to live so passionately to the greatest of human potential that one could ever comprehend nor desire to understand, faced with the man who’d dared to dream as magnificently as Park Jimin did.

Bitter Aftertaste by @hskswife (Jimin x Reader)

W|C: 689 Genre/Warning: Angst, Cheating Summary: Your love was like coffee. It had a bitter aftertaste

Kim Taehyung:

The Beautiful Creature Living In This House by @lthyl (Taehyung x Reader)

Chapters: prologue + 3/? GENRE: Horror / Angst RATED T: for mentions of esoterism, blood, death, and mature themes SYNOPSIS: It’s a rainy night when you end up getting lost in the woods and then it’s a silent night when, luckily, safety comes in a form of a strange house and a tempting man. Somehow you feel no danger with him, but, really, shouldn’t you, when the old rooms hold such a mystery and his eyes such a dark gravity?

Xeno by @oppamansae (Taehyung x Reader, Jungkook x reader)

Chapters: prologue + 8/? AU: Furturistic, Idol!JK, Scientist! Reader Genre: Fluff, Angst Plot: The best part about being an assistant in a lab was watching all new inventions come to life, although sometimes some of them fail, leaving them away in a storage room, never to be bothered with; free for the taking.

The T-Shirt Thief by @jungblue (Taehyung x Reader)

W|C: 9,812 AU: Idol Genre: fluff, smut Description: In the midst of your loneliness due to Taehyung’s absence, you decide that you need a distraction, which somehow manifests itself as going over to his apartment and stealing a t-shirt or two… or three… Request: being in a relationship with taehyung, and stealing all of his t-shirts while he’s busy with bts’ latest comeback + smut

Jeon Jungkook:

The Blue Princess and Her Red Rose by @cutaepatootie (Jungkook x Reader)

W|C: 34.8k AU: Prince!JK,Princess!Reader Genre: Angst, Fluff & Smut Summary: After all, he was her red rose, while she was just another one of the many blue roses that grew in the dying gardens of Greyria.

Portrait by @guksthighs (Jungkook x Reader)

W|C: 1.1k AU: College, Photography Genre: fluff Summary : You choose Jeongguk to work with for a project or is it because you have a crush on him? Request: oumaimafngr said: Hey, I love ur blog so much, and if requests are open I hope you’d make scenario of jk at college and he found out that his current crush is his childhood best friend thank you so much for writing great scenarios ❤❤

Untitled by @floralseokjin (Jungkook x Reader)

W|C: 1,679 Genre: angst Listen To: untitled // gdragon

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jackoshman · 7 years

Text

#BellLetsTalk

let me introduce myself for those not close to me: i’m josh, a university freshman from a middle-class family. a middle-class home in a middle-class neighborhood. i’m a white jewish cis male so, you know, the world is pretty much set for me to succeed - i’d like to start this by explicitly making note of that. i live on treaty 1 land, the land of the dene, anishinaabe, oji-cree, metis, ojibwe, cree and dakota nations (although the dakota never signed treaty 1). no matter my problems, there are many that inherently have had it much tougher simply because of their skin colour, religion or sexual orientation.

all that aside, i write this with hopes that i can reach 1 person who is going through something similar to my life. i’ve been reading a lot of articles and stories from people that are experiencing the same adversities, and i’ve found a lot of comfort in seeing that i’m not alone.

i wont beat around the bush. lets get right to it.

my mother has struggled with a crack/cocaine addiction for approximately 12 years. it has been generally swept under the rug, as most families with addict-parents and small children do. until last year. after spending a lot of time at my girlfriends house and seeing how other people live, i convinced my mom to join narcotics anonymous. this was one of the hardest conversations i’ve ever had to have.

although she struggled to stay sober for months after her first NA meeting, the dialogue opened and i have been able to start my healing process. i’ve realized my deeply-rooted anxiety problems and just being able to be open about this has been such a free-ing experience.

i know there are many questions. how did our household function? what was it like?

right off the bat i’d like to mention my mother never used in front of me until this last year, which was another huge step towards pushing me to get her help. for over a decade she was able to keep me pretty sheltered. in 10+ years i only spotted strange men leaving my garage maybe 4 or 5 times. i only saw the lingering, distinctly thick smoke a handful of times. i rarely came face to face with a pipe and never the actual substance itself. my mother really did make a conscious effort to make sure my sister and i were never completely traumatized. for me personally, the events i look back on as traumatizing (seeing the smoke, dealers, my mother high) only have emerged as traumatizing this year, when i actually realized they were traumatizing. many childhood memories are tainted with the idea that my mom was likely either high, about to use, or in the process of using, just across the hall from my bedroom.

to give some more context, i’ll go a little further back.

my mother’s sister committed suicide on halloween in 2006. i was 7 and my sister was 9. this sent my mother spiraling into a deep depression and so her use increased. by the time i was 9 and my sister was 11, we were used to my mom being locked in her room for hours each night. because we grew up with friends who lived across the street and loved playing outside for as long as we could, we definitely used this to our advantage and got to stretch our curfews more than a few times. -

- this is an incredibly common thing among children of addict-parents. because an addict’s behavior is so dramatically different depending on what amount of substance is in their blood, the rules of the house get bent or changed basically at complete random. this plants a seed of mistrust in the child; a lack of trust between the child and their parent, and generally all figures of authority.

in november of 2008, i was in the 5th grade. i remember waking up one day and instantly knowing i was late for class - this was a frequent occurence in our house, another product of our complete lack of real structure. sometimes when i noticed i was late, i would just lie in bed and wait for my mom to wake up and yell at me and then go to school for the afternoon or whatever. this was one of those times.

the hours went by. it was almost lunch time and my mom hadn’t come to yell at me, so something felt strange. i left my bed to go see if she was still sleeping. her bed was empty. i looked out the kitchen window to see if she had left but the car was in the garage. i checked the living room, nothing. and then i checked the basement. the light was on, which my mom always got on us about turning off. when i go down the stairs i see my mom asleep on the couch. a little unusual perhaps, but nothing that extreme. i walked over and began to lightly shake her to wake her up. nothing. no response at all. i shook her harder. still nothing. it was at this point that i went upstairs, got dressed, woke my sister up and filled her in with what was happening. we both went back down and shook her at the same time. my moms eyes briefly opened and she made out a few unintelligible sounds. after maybe 10 more minutes of this my mom finally gained enough consciousness to assure us she was fine and sit herself up. within 10 seconds she was completely slouched into her own lap. we shook her again. she fell to the floor and went completely limp. i ran to the phone and dialed my baba. my grandfather picked up and i did my best to explain what was happening. although clearly confused and unclear about what was happening, he came over within about 10 minutes. it was when we lead him down the stairs to her that i actually noticed something weird. there were pills scattered everywhere (my mom was on a plethora of anti-depressants, pain-killers, etc.). my grandfather dialed 911 and luckily she made it and spent the next 2 weeks in the ER and psych ward at the hospital.

it wasn’t the hospital visits that were the most difficult. after the ambulance came to get my mom, i was dropped off at school and all my friends rushed to me to ask why i was late. i had no idea what to tell them. i had no idea what the fuck just happened. the first responders explained to me that my mom must have accidentally taken too many sleeping pills. even though i always considered myself the smartest person in my class, i completely believed thats what happened. but i was too ashamed to even tell my friends that; i just walked away holding back tears until i could get to the washroom and let it out. the rest of the day i avoided the question and all the kids, as kids do, got something else to be excited about. -

- a few follow ups to this story: i didnt understand my mother attempted suicide until years later. looking back i have absolutely 0 idea how it took me so long to realize this, but what i’m finding is that it’s extremely common among children of addict-parents to have distorted ideas of reality. because children are often given a sugar-coated version of stories, children of addict-parents are at an exponentially higher risk to confuse what they see with what their told and so they have trouble wondering what’s real and what isn’t. their external and internal realities often exist separately. are they crazy? is it their judgement that’s flawed? obviously it’s easy to see that the child is rarely delusional, but for the child that may be difficult to see, especially if they have nobody to talk to about this problem, which nicely ties in the 2nd follow up to this story: living with an enormous family secret is one of the toughest things a child can experience. mainly, the shame is unimaginably overwhelming. a child of an addict may avoid friendships with other children and may feel they cannot invite their friends to their house, because their parent might be at home high, coming down from the substance, in the process of getting high or drunk, and the parent will embarrass them. another result of a major family secret is fear and/or paranoia. a child of an addict lives in constant fear of having their truth revealed to someone outside the house. the child is constantly worried they might be taken away from home and put into the foster system, and that their parent could go to jail for their addiction.

after reading x many articles theres definitely a lot of the same things i’m noticing between the stories and experiences of children of addicts. heres a small guide that can help u understand ur trauma if u are a child of an addict, or a guide that will help u offer better support for those u know who had a strange childhood:

lets talk about “normal”. i briefly eluded to this before but i want to be more clear. children of addicts have no idea what the fuck normal is. let me tell u. generally speaking, normal shouldn’t include instability, fear, or any form of abuse. for children of addicts, this is literally new information. normal for us is taking care of your household, your siblings, your parent(s), and very rarely yourself. this is a major reason that many children of addicts are seen as pushovers or unable to stand up for themselves. we’ve learned forever to put other people before ourselves, because nobody has put us first. ever. an addict parent, to be very blunt, puts their addiction before their children all the time, whether they mean to or not.

fear. fear is an instinctive feeling that everyone experiences at some point or another. everyone is afraid of something. but it’s very different for children of addicts. we live in fear most of the time. and the fear is hidden — sometimes very deeply. we’re afraid of the future, specifically the unknown. the unknown has been our reality for many years. we may not have known where our parents were, or when they’d return. we might not have known if there would be a pleasant family dinner or awkward silence through the whole house. while we may know now that we no longer have to worry about our households because we’ve moved out or some other reason, life can still be terrifying. coming home and not knowing what to expect (at all), all through your childhood, is a major factor in making us incredibly anxious people. this fear or anxiety may express itself in a number of ways, everything from anger to tears. we probably won’t recognize it as fear or anxiety without professional help or doing our own research. so read as much as u can!

we feel guilty. about everything. we don’t understand self-care. we don’t have clear-cut boundaries. if we stand up for ourselves, we feel guilty. if we take care of ourselves, we feel guilty. our life is built on a foundation of i give to you and receive nothing. we don’t know how to receive. this is a super tough thing to learn for us and can take a really long time to understand. it was very difficult for me to move out for this reason. how could i not be there to help my mom? shes kinda fucking crazy and doesn’t have many friends. what is she gonna do without me? eventually you have to hold your addict parent accountable, solely for your own mental health. you didn’t make them an addict. get yourself some space and distance. you can tell them to join AA or NA (which aren’t that helpful for a large % of people, sadly) or some other rehab program, but at the end of the day the addict has to want to get better. and that is only on them. nothing to do with u. at all. trying to empathize and work with an addict will drive u insane cause their brain doesn’t work properly anymore.

obviously, we had no peace in our childhood. we don’t know peace. chaos, stress, unrest: these are comfortable for us. we feel at home in these circumstances, not because they are healthy, but because they feel normal. we develop different survival tactics that people shouldn’t need until much later in life. we have trouble planning things and managing our time. many of us would rather live without a schedule. nothing in our households have ever been consistent. and so we learn to deal with random fucking shitstorms all the time.

after a month and a half of detox and rehab programs, my mom is now a few months clean and i am living at home. things can always get better. that being said, getting here has been the toughest thing i’ve ever had to do in my life, and by no means is it over. addiction is a struggle my mom will have to deal with daily. i have panic attacks. but reaching out to others for support has been instrumental in getting my life in order.

i know i talked about this already but having to keep a secret like this from your friends and other family members is mentally and emotionally exhausting, and after over a decade this manifested in me into anxiety, depression and paranoia. because i couldn’t explain this problem to anyone without explaining the root of it, nobody knew what i was going thru for over 5 years. opening up to my closest friends, some of over 15 years, has been the toughest but best thing ive ever done (they have been wonderful so i’d like to thank them here for that). i’ve cried more in the last year of my life than the other 17 combined. it has been sooooo worth it and i can’t stress that enough. i was never able to have any sort of real relationship before i sorted my brain out, and this is often the case for those struggling with mental illnesses and/or trauma. there is nothing more important than than your own mental health. put yourself first for just a bit. sharing your experiences opens the doors for yourself and others who are struggling to come forward.

this is also (maybe obviously) why i’m so hellbent on doing away with the war on drugs - and capitalism as a whole but i’ll leave that for another day - because i’ve literally been on the dark side of it. the war on drugs, though ADMITTEDLY a war on poor (black) people, has failed massively as a detterent away from drugs. treating addicts like criminals is the worst and most damaging thing we can possibly do. my mom was scared of getting help for all of those years, and partially, rightfully so. coming forward with two young kids could’ve sent me and my sister away from her, could’ve put her in jail, not to mention the massive public shame she would feel from the jewish community, and our local community. keep in mind were just a middle class family in winnipeg manitoba. the damage the war on drugs has taken onto marginalized communities across the USA (especially) and the world is beyond measure. what we know concretely, is that this system of prohibition doesnt work. it never has over the course of modern history. what does work is decriminalizing, best showcased in Portugal where money once spent on harrassing and imprisoning addicts has been redirected into rehab programs and subsidies for companies willing to hire addicts. this is what progress looks like!!! their overdose and addiction rates generally have plummeted since decrimnalization. the choice here is simple.

anyway thanks for reading my rambled story. thank you to everyone voicing their issues today. dialogue is our best medicine. be kind to each other and think about where people may be coming from before you jump to conclusions about them.

love, josh

#bellletstalk

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