#deeply integrated into the friend groups of the other groups i stan

[kim-woonhak]

jangjun :) he should pay me for making him look this cute

#golden child #jangjun #lee jangjun #kflops #useroro #hijaehyukkies #golcha #gncd #*ambiv.art #hello every 3 months i have to get my fix of inhaling an entirely new boy group preferably with 10+ members. bonus if they're #deeply integrated into the friend groups of the other groups i stan #ive collected so many groups at this point i need to be stopped ... #in the past week i've watched nearly every eng subbed jangstar and ssap possible and idol dictation contest episode that i can find..... #also that vlive that he did in the company stairwell... n the one of him swimming in the creek and catching fish lol #and his appearances on masked singer and knowing bros and isac i- #it's bad i know ! he's so annoying i want to fight him why am i obsessed with him !!! #anyways i drew him to remind myself that sometimes he's capable of looking cute and normal and isnt always an unhinged meme of a person :')

[onelastbreath-writes]

On Bruce And Texting:

Author’s Note: Hello and welcome, this is my first properly written fic, originally posted to my AO3, and now that I have finally created a writing blog, it’s here as well. Please enjoy!!  AO3.  Masterlist

Warnings: Hopefully none, its all cute and fluff <3

Summary: Bruce Wayne texts like he's sending correspondences to the Queen, so of course the little monsters he calls children just have to make fun of him! Brats, the lot of them, but he wouldn't have them any other way.

Features: Bruce Wayne/Selina Kyle, all the bats and birds, mentions JL, no crime fighting, only family fluff, jokes and nods to Millennial and GenZ shenanigans.

Word Count: 2.7k

---

Billionaire, genius, tech expert, father of many children, and all around up-to-date-with-just-about-everything type of person he may be, it is also a well-known Fact that Bruce Wayne, the Batman(TM) himself, can’t text to save his life.

Whether it’s due to his Very Proper English Upbringing, his inability to be informal via written correspondences of any type, his indifference, or the fact that it bothers his children so much, Bruce Wayne has not and never will text with anything less than perfect grammar, spelling, and formality. If he has not sent you a proper letter (featuring a dedication, indentation for every paragraph, signature, and post-script when applicable), he did, in fact, not send you that text. Informality is not his Batman Way(TM) according to his children... he’s not too sure what that even means, but it makes his young ones laugh so it’s probably fine?  

His oldest children (Richard and Jason) were raised in the time of Change, where computers, internet access, social media, and all things similar were only just being introduced into households en-masse. They were young enough to remember a time without such devices and connectivity (both for very different reasons, of course, but they grew up without the newest technology none-the-less). They could understand his relationship to the digital environment more so than his younger children, but they still tended to poke fun at his ‘texting blunders’ regularly. All his kids somehow ended up as brats. He doesn’t know how this happened. It’s certainly not his fault. He blames the League members, and especially Clark Kent, for their defiant personalities. 

His younger children, whom he loves dearly, like to confuse him as much as they possibly can with their slang, egregious spelling errors, and all-around ‘internet humour’. He doesn’t know what ‘wig’ or ‘worm’ or ‘oof’ or anything means. He has no idea what those dances are, or how they relate to the music that seems to always accompany them, and for the love of all that is good, don’t ask him what he thinks of this or that ‘meme’. What even is a ‘meme’, and should he be more concerned about his kids being obsessed with them? He tries, oh my god, does he try to follow the children’s conversations, but they somehow all learned a language he has no idea how to decrypt. His best response to them once they start speaking in tongues is as follows: smile but not too much, listen to child even though he is deeply confused, and pat child on head or shoulder when they are finished and are looking for assurance.  

He refuses to be a parent who ignores or tunes out his children, so he always makes sure to put down his work, his crossword, his tools, or whatever else is in his hands when a child searches him out for a conversation. But somehow, despite all the time he spends around them and their strange words, when he gets text from them comprised of abbreviations, acronyms, and completely random words, he goes a little cross eyed. He would never tell anyone, but he keeps a running list on his phone about the things they say that he has had to translate in the past. Spilling tea? Speaking the truth, usually to do with gossip. Wow? Multiple possible meanings: either a video game, or someone saying it (different pronunciation depending on context and who sent the text). Stickbug? A nice little prank with no ulterior motives, just for fun. Something along the lines of “this basic bitch Karen at the grocery store who is a dirty rat-licker and is def an anti-vaxxer just took 45 (forty-five) minutes to decide she didn’t actually want that almond milk. I Stan the cashier who had to put up with her. Rad af dude.” roughly translates to “A rude, middle-aged white woman who wasn’t wearing a mask and doesn’t believe in disease control or vaccinating her children wasted a great deal of an essential worker’s time in the checkout line. The cashier was very professional in their dealings with said customer and should be commended on their actions.”  

Given enough time, the internet for searching up new slang words, and occasionally some help from a friend (Alfred, Selina, Lucius, another of his children, etc), Bruce could decode and respond appropriately to most texts. He was quite proud of these achievements, and although he didn’t always like how often his children were on their phones or computers or gaming systems, he was quite proud of how integrated and easily they adapted to the ever-evolving world of electronics. All his kids were gifted in many ways, but their ability to learn, their hunger for knowledge, and their perseverance when exploring new and challenging ideas were always the things that he was most impressed by.  

He could do without their comments though. Yes, surprisingly, he did manage to get girlfriends with his type of texting. No, he doesn’t miss the ‘good old days’ when telegraphs were the main form of long-distance correspondence (how old do these brats think he is?!). And yes, he does know what a “tweet” is, and how to “post” on his social media accounts, and what “sliding into your DMs” is (thanks to a frantic search after a WE employee mentioned it near him). The Wayne children, truly whom and what Bruce considers his pride and joy, are cruel little jerks to him sometimes. His hoard of parenting books fails to mention what one should do when their children gang up on them. Bullying is covered of course, but he can’t really talk to a teacher or his guardian about how his second son calls him an idiot sandwich, or that his third son regularly tries to get him to do something “For The Vine”. His oldest and youngest boys are only slightly better in the bullying him department; Richard and his puppy dog eyes when he wants to do something dangerous or not-Alfred-approved, and Damian and his growing collection of pets because “Mother never let me have them, and I am deprived, and don’t you love me Father?”.  

His only good child is his beautiful daughter Cassandra, the flower of the Wayne clan. She gives him hugs, and pats his hands, and can sit with him and just enjoy the quiet and stillness when his other children are not around. Her language skills are improving by leaps and bounds every day, and her heart and spirit are unparalleled, but her main method of communication is in her movements. Her hands, her posture, her dancing; Bruce couldn’t think of a more graceful, fluid, powerful person if the world depended on it. His amazing little girl doesn't bully him (and if she ever does, he probably deserves it, he trusts her), so he turns to her most of all when it comes to communicating with someone else. She doesn’t let him send anything that is “sketchy” or “wrong words, bad meaning, Dad”. He would give the world to his children, but for Cassandra, he would destroy it and build her an entirely new one.

Social media, especially with his terrible children all having accounts dedicated to making him look like a simpleton, was another rocky terrain he had to navigate on the regular. He had professionals in place at WE to run the company’s many accounts, paid top dollar to help appeal and relate to the masses, but he mostly had to manage his personal accounts himself. And so, @TheRealBruceWayne was one of the greatest struggles in his adult life. Why can’t he just retweet every post from @WE_Offical and leave it at that? People should only want to know about what’s new with the company. What do you mean they want to know more about our family and private lives? That’s unnecessary, and not important to the running of the company, right? Right? Why are you laughing?!

Luckily, most people in his life aren’t so intimately aware of his struggles. He can act and lie all he wants about being “hip” and “woke” and whatever else the kids are saying these days when he’s with the JL or in board meeting intermissions, networking with his associates. The Batman knows all and sees all, Green Lantern, of course he understands how “Tiktok” works. The Batman is a robot without a funny bone in his body, Green Arrow, but I did witness him sigh and say “same” when he knocked his cup of coffee over while on monitor duty once. No matter how badly his darling children call him out, the Justice League would be so much worse. So, it’s one of his most importantly guarded secrets... even more so than his secret identity at this point. Being unmasked in front of every Gotham rogue would be less detrimental to him than his “friends” learning of his utter ineptitude in staying on top of the younger generations’ lingo.  

When questioned why the League doesn’t have a group chat or a forum or anything that they can use to contact each other outside of world ending matters and communicator (”because we’re friends, Batman! Ma and Pa Kent would love to have everyone over for a barbecue!”), the person who dared even mention texting isn’t even given a verbal response. They are just glared at, silently, often for several uninterrupted minutes, frozen in place only able to breathe shallowly in fear of setting off the Bat. “You know why” his glare says, “I’ll eat you, your family, and everything you have ever held dear” the younger members hear. No one makes the mistake of asking about it twice.  

Outside of his children and Alfred, and his small circle of true friends involved in all aspects of his life, there is only one more person Bruce allows to know of his Darkest Secret. Selina. Someone most people would recommend he not be involved with. Catwoman: accomplished thief, distraction, chaos-incarnate most nights, and his significant other. Sharp as a whip (ha) and crafty like no one’s business; he is head-over-heels. On again/Off again and all over the place their long romance has been, but no one has ever challenged him, intrigued him, like this clever, beautiful, amazing woman has. He’s brought his partners around his children before, both for their judgement, and for their worst behaviours to vet out any “unworthy” suitors. He trusts them explicitly to tell him the truth about those he allows into the manor; were they rude about Bruce wanting to have group outings, did they say something about Bruce’s money, did they get angry or shout or make anyone uncomfortable while they were here? If his children even looked slightly unhappy with someone he brought them to meet, that person would not be invited back. Children, he finds, have the best sight when meeting people; no motives other than finding safety and love, no fear of consequences from speaking honestly...  

Selina, or Catwoman, as they had known her first, was someone all of his kids liked without issue right off the bat. She would make puns and play word games with Richard, his first Robin, tiny, still working on his English, able to connect with him over their acrobatic abilities. His second Robin, Jason, skittish and feisty as an alley cat, knew of Catwoman and her daring escapades long before Bruce found him. The young boy had a few heroes, and no one (not even Wonder Woman) could compare to the incredible burglar who bought food and jackets and medicine for the street kids in Crime Alley. She was saintly in his eyes, and to this day, Bruce was still working on convincing Jason he was good enough for Selina. Tim and Cass and Stephanie (basically another daughter to Bruce, she spends so much time with the family) all joined the Wayne clan around the same time and officially met Selina as a friend and partner of his, and in the good graces of his first two sons. Selina, in all her nightly business, and many travels and acquaintances, had met the three independently, helping Tim get home safely back to Drake Manor when he escaped to photograph Batman and Robin in the dank darkness of Gotham when he was just a young boy, spending some time with Cassandra when her despicable father left her alone long enough to recover from his rough treatment, showing her the first scraps of kindness in her short life, and watching over and protecting Stephanie as she followed and sabotaged her father Cluemaster and his criminal activities. There was no need to win them over once they met her civilian identity, she had already gained their favour and acceptance, and they were happy to have her near their new family. Damian, his youngest, his biological son, took the longest to warm up to Selina. He would never fault his little boy for fighting so hard against a woman that was not his birth mother, especially after all the manipulation and cruelty dealt to him by Talia for the first decade of his life. But as he began to learn about his father, these people in his father’s life, and this woman that was Not His Mother but “still okay, I guess”, he grew to see her as acceptable. Her cats definitely helped, he’d say, no one with cats that loyal and happy can be a bad person.  

Selina, the love of his life, he’d admit quietly to himself, was also a dirty traitor and in cahoots with his terrible children. She would say his texting skills were “sweet” and “very gentlemanly” when she was asked by anyone outside the family, and privately to him she would say she thought they were “adorable” and “please don’t ever change, Bruce, I like it.” However, nothing seemed to bring her more joy than his children sending her texts and “Snaps” and “memes” about him to her. Sometimes it was screenshots of the family group chat that they forced him to join, where he would post “To whom it may concern...” and “In regards to...” when he needed to reach all his delinquents in a timely manner. Sometimes it was video clips of him staring at his phone intently, then typing something on his laptop, then him reading and nodding along, and then finally going back and responding to the text he received with a small, pleased smile. And sometimes, when he got too injured or was too incapacitated to text coherently, he’d have his nearest able child transcribe his text to her. Depending on who was texting her for Bruce, she could expect many different things. From Dick, she’d get lots of shorthand and silly emojis, and many, many, winky and crying/laughing faces in brackets depending on what Bruce had made him type. Jason, bless him, used proper English most of the time, but would never write a single word of Bruce’s soliloquy to her, instead she enjoyed the TL;DR version: “hurt again, missing you, come home soon, blah blah blah, sappy gross words here, love you”. Tim would allow speech recognition to run on Bruce’s phone, and just let it go until the man passed out. Stephanie, the little chaos child, would film it and send it to her, including all her muffled laughter and shaky camera shots of Bruce emoting with his available undamaged limbs. Cass, still more versed in physicality and emotive movement, would interpret Bruce’s text into mostly emojis, hearts and happy faces and animals, but would include photos, and phrases that she found important enough to type out for Selina. Damian, forever his Father’s son in any way possible, texts very formally, referring to her or his siblings Bruce mentions by last name only, and lots of “Father requests me to tell you...” and “Kyle, know that Father...”. She adores these kids, and once Bruce recovers enough to text her himself, or she gets back to the Manor, they get to laugh about whatever she was sent this time.  

So, while it’s true that Bruce couldn’t text his way out of a wet paper bag, and his kids are sometimes brats about it, there’s probably a lot of different reasons he doesn’t spend too much time trying to improve his skills. Whether it’s the smiles of his children, the giggles of his significant other, or the warm feeling in his chest when he sees all his important people bonding over him, well, in the end, who’s to say?

#batman #batfam #bruce/selina #batcat #bruce wayne #selina kyle #bruce x selina

[evangeline-of-montfort]

DIVERSITY IN RED QUEEN

everyone I just need a moment to like. sit down and appreciate the world we got with Red Queen because it’s pretty fucking amazing.

BLACK CHARACTERS

- cameron cole, fifteen years old and terrified, but stands up for her own beliefs and doesn’t shut up no matter who tells her to. liberates her people! has a great relationship with her brother! has a happy ending and a complete character arc!

- prince bracken, silver king, secondary villain, but NUANCED, cares about his children like a good father should

- carmadon. fucking gay. sense of humor is amazing. sense of style is amazing. excellent gardener and chef and does not hesitate to call evangeline on her bullshit. 

- wren skonos. can literally regrow hands. probably has saved everyone’s ass at one point or another. joined the montfort medics and is the breadwinner for her family (ptolemus, you lazy bum). awesome, i love her. 

LATINX CHARACTERS

- mare. fucking. barrow. is CANONICALLY latina or brown. ladies and gentlethem we have FINALLY gotten a popular book series about overthrowing oppressive systems and the main character isn’t white i adore this. 

- rafe!! electricon badass that sticks by his friends and is a really good fighter! god i adore him

- ada wallace has golden skin in canon so i think she’s latina, personally. (evidence: gisa barrow is also described as having golden skin and she’s latina.) and ada is also canonically one of THE kindest characters, and in glass sword she was integral to mare’s cause. incredibly intelligent and later goes on to represent the ENTIRE nortan states in government and at international coalition meetings. go her. 

- actually i’ve blanked please reblog with more i’m sure there were more

ASIAN CHARACTERS

- evangeline samos what a fucking queen. i can’t believe we got an asian character who wasn’t defined by introversion and math skills in ya lit. can’t BELIEVE it. the strict parents are still there, but that’s a universal experience if i’m completely honest. but evangeline gets a happy ending with a loving support group! cut off all the toxicity from her life we stan one (1) queen.

- ptolemus!! i actually love that he and evangeline are characterized as warriors. honestly ptolemus might even classify as a Brute (temper control 0, able-to-kill-you 100, shoulder width 500, has a soft spot). i never NEVER see this for east asian male characters, so this is incredibly important. 

on top of that, tolly is also a stay at home husband, which is something you hardly ever see either. especially with a character that’s been introduced as a warrior-type and was literally the king of an entire nation. 

- all of house viper, by extension. an entire noble house of east asian descent!! i adore it. 

- DANE FUCKING DAVIDSON IS CANONICALLY EAST ASIAN. VAVEYARD CONFIRMED IT. the LEADER of an ENTIRE COUNTRY who is INCREDIBLE and basically spearheaded a movement for red equality across the ENTIRE CONTINENT and is in a loving relationship with his unproblematic husband. 

BROWN/FIRST NATION CHARACTERS

- iris cygnet. orrec cygnet. cenra and tiora. we have canadian FIRST NATION PEOPLE as rulers of an INCREDIBLY powerful country. iris can hold her own against maven. she and her mother basically reversed the flow of the entire archeon river. she practically flooded an entire city until it was nothing but rubble. 

and even though they’re villains, they’re shown to care for one another deeply. again, more nuance in poc characters. fuck yeah. 

- house iral. another royal house of poc! and they’re a POWERFUL house, too. the best spies in all of norta are iral. tiberias v’s prince consort was an iral. the head of their house was literally nicknamed the fucking PANTHER that’s how good they were.

- lyrisa from broken throne (skin like cold copper). badass strongarm piedmont princess. unapologetic about her past, willing to do what it takes to save herself, but she still cares for other people. again, i LOVE that we have poc characters in positions of power. also, lyri is a great example of what to do with a stalker ex: physically rip his head off his shoulders. 

LGBTQ+ CHARACTERS

- gisa barrow. her relationship with a montfort shopgirl is brought up totally casually, with complete acceptance. that is SO important to me, that in red queen some of our gay characters can just... exist. gisa doesn’t have to fight for acceptance or love, and that’s such an important example of how the lgbt community should be treated in real life.

- davidson and carmadon. fuck. tell me they literally aren’t parent gays to evangeline and elane. that scene where davidson introduces them all to his husband, and evangeline practically cries because she realizes she can love openly?? i can’t even articulate how important that is to me.  

- evangeline and elane. let’s get one thing straight right here. if evangeline wasn’t willing to go to such huge lengths for her girlfriend, i don’t know what state norta would be in. eve shoved marecal back together to be with elane, and we owe her big for that one. also, if she’d married cal, a union of norta and the rift might’ve been too big for red revolution to take hold in. thank god, evangeline. 

(however it would have been nice if elane had more of a personality in war storm. that was a flaw that struck me.)

- how could I forget about maven calore? this one is a little more in the gray zone. first, i do appreciate that maven is bi/pan. second, while it would be problematic if maven were the ONLY gay character and his relationship with thomas was the Tragic Backstory, that is not the case. we have an entire cast of lgbt protagonists in healthy relationships. I personally think that maven shows that lgbtq representation can have nuance and villains and still be done well. 

- gay royalty: tiberias v took a prince consort. leonora calore took a queen consort, mariane nolle (broken throne). thank you victoria for giving us a HISTORY of lgbt figures in this universe.

long post, but how else could I properly appreciate well-written diversity in YA lit?? god bless victoria aveyard for existing. i would die for her, no cap. reblog with more if you can think of them! 

#red queen #mare barrow #evangeline samos #maven calore #diversity #poc representation #victoria aveyard #long post #rq fandom #evangelane #evangeline of montfort

[queenofthefaces]

kyle for the character thing!!!!

Buckle up bc I’m extra af and love talking abt characters. Be aware this is like, entirely personal opinion and personal interpretation and also it’s almost 2am so LETS GO

1) sexuality hc: I’ve always really liked bi Kyle ahsjdkfk and tbh I’ve always found the idea of his attraction to other ppl really interesting

The way I characterize him is that he’s someone who’s like, typically very passive with his attraction. He’ll kind of glance at someone and think they’re attractive but he doesn’t necessarily have any strong feelings towards them or desire/drive to want to pursue anything with them. If he does want to pursue them it’s usually out of a sense of obligation or expectation—like a “well I might as well” or “this is what I’m supposed to do” kinda thing

Except Kyle DOES have exceptions—when he finds someone he feels passionately about, someone he’s emotionally and mentally invested in, it’s like 0-100 in terms of difference, bc suddenly he can’t stop thinking abt that person, how much he wants to be with them, etc. and a lot of that characterization, for me, falls in line w the specific ship I have for Kyle (which is obvious if you’ve followed me for a few but I’ll get Into That in the next section)

2) OTP: KYMAN by far my fave Kyle ship and one of my all time fave sp ships overall. I’ve always LOVED rivals/enemies to lovers ships that specifically have 1) characters who are equals 2) characters who are incredibly intimate and close w one another even if (or because of) it’s in the context of the rivalry 3) the characters have either some level of co-dependence or a need for the dynamic or one another in some way bc the relationship is fulfilling to them and bonus if 4) they’re the only ones that really understand each other

And I jus. Love that. Esp w kyman it’s so much fun taking that dynamic, the codependency and obsession, and just. Playing with it, on a storytelling/character analysis level. And then making it healthy, having them work through issues, bc the idea that “we’re both in way too deep with each other, we can either destroy each other or learn to get along” is jus 👌👌👌

And w kyman I love having Eric be Kyle’s exception. Kyle feels basically nothing towards his other s/o’s in contrast to how deeply he feels about Eric, and for Eric to have just as much depth of emotion in return. It’s fascinating and really fun esp when written from a kind of duo-redemptive story—they both start out toxic towards each other, and their relationship is toxic to other people, but they can’t bring themselves to put an end to it so they finally make it to that middle ground and come out as better peoole, together

This applies to a lot of my rivals/enemies to lovers ships but w kyman in particular there’s the added Funkiness of the childhood friends dynamic which is TASTEY like some nice sprinkles to jus add that extra Flavour. I love the concept of Kyle and Eric forming parts of their entire identities around each other from the time they were in diapers and everyone accepts that they’re always gonna he crazy for each other bc no one has the bond they do it’s so much fun

4) brotp: I should think more abt Kyle friendships tbh I don’t give those as much attention ahsjdkfkfk—tho I definitely have a soft spot for the super best friends kyle + Stan, I just have to work some development into it.

I love exploring their friendship as smth that deteriorates bc they grow apart as people, but then they realize they don’t WANT to grow apart and have to work to stay friends bc being friends isn’t as easy as it was when you were 8. It brings this really cool development that confronts Stan’s passivity towards his friends/his nihilism and Kyle’s entitlement and lack of emotional sensitivity and how they both need to make some compromises (but esp Kyle, bc I can see Stan as someone who tries very hard to not get much feedback).

In terms of Kyle being friends w other people I’m thinking it would be pretty situational. I can see Kyle getting some really eye opening perspectives from other ppl if he opens himself up to their views but that requires knocking Kyle down a few pegs lol, it’s fun to have him learn to recognize his own assumptions abt ppl and learning to value them as individuals yanno?

3) notp: honestly? Any other kyle ship. I can personally only see Kyle w Eric ahsjdkfk kyman endgame all the way. For me, a lot of other Kyle ships like, don’t make any sense, a lot in part bc I see Kyle as someone who has a lot of issues w socialization, entitlement, and selfishness along with his UNENDING OBSESSION w Eric Cartman (which also somewhat stems from those issues bc of Kyle’s sense of self identity vis a vis the rivalry)

Like, I can’t see Kyle sitting down and forming a meaningful romantic relationship w anyone else bc like, no one can provide the fulfillment, engagement, drive, and push/pull of Kyle’s relationship w Eric. Kyle would leave at the drop of a hat to confront smth Eric was doing and I don’t think he’d ever compromise with that. And someone who does compromise on that probably isn’t someone Kyle would want to be with in the long run.

I think the only ship I can see would be like, poly m4 bc that draws on pre-existing dynamics and doesn’t break or try to divy up Kyle’s attention. (Even tho like I said I don’t like Kyle w anyone else romantically)

5) 1st hc that pops in my head: my Kyle is autistic as fuck. Characterizing him as autistic gives a lot of insight into how his mind works and why he acts the way he does—a lot of his thought processes are just. What makes the most logical sense to him. It’s just that those trains of thought are on KYLES logic and that’s when he struggles to realize when he’s crossed a line or overstepped a boundary. Or how his brain is usually always “self-centered”—not in a morally negative way, just in that it’s not a natural reflect for him to remember other people.

And a ton of other things as well( including a fun hc of Kyle trying to use his autism as an excuse for being a dick, until Also Autistic Craig steps up like, no dude you’re just an asshole bc you’re not trying to do better). And bc as an autistic person, I really relate hard to Kyle to the point where if he were real I’d probably hate him bc we’d be too similar lmao; I think esp when I was a kid I acted a lot like Kyle—the self righteousness, the bossiness, the belief that my way was the only way that made sense and everyone else was just Wrong, the anger issues, etc.

It’s why I’m tough on Kyle a lot of the time, but it’s also why I love thinking abt his development, bc I know firsthand that he can mellow out, change, become a better, more wellrounded and emotionally aware person, and how he can make an effort into doing so

6) oh shit I didn’t even mean for this but obviously one way I relate to Kyle is the Above autistic hc and how I characterize him. Like I said, I acted a LOT like Kyle when I was a kid, so I know he’s an irritating little shit, but also brilliant and too thoughtful for his own good sometimes.

But another thing: I characterize Kyle as someone who is a natural leader, but hates being in official leadership positions. And this is also smth I’ve kinda written due to personal experience. But also from the way kyles often portrayed in canon—in the games, he’s always a support role, always a healer, ranged fighter, or someone who boosts and buffs allies

I see Kyle as the type of person who can easily take control in, for example, a group project situation, or when he’s hanging out with Stan and they’re only doing what Kyle wants to do bc Kyle comes up with all the ideas and Stan just goes along with them

But I can’t see Kyle as someone who’d want to be, like, student counsel president. (That’s more Wendy’s wheelhouse) Mostly bc there’s too much responsibility that it’s just exhausting, and more than that, those official positions are STIFLING. They run on someone else’s schedule and they’re creatively constructive. You can’t fully do your own thing bc you have to be constantly aware of how the group works and what the group wants. I can’t see Kyle as being happy in that position bc he’d get sick of having to conform his ideas to what other ppl want—he just wants to do his own thing.

So instead, Kyle would be more comfortable in a supporting role. Bc in a position like, for example, secretary or VP, he can still have a lot of influence, power, and knowledge, but he’s free from those restrictions that come from being the face of a group. And he’s also free from the social obligations of being a leader, esp in having to deal w other groups in like a business sort of way. AND if the group falls, Kyle won’t take as much of the blame, bc it’s probably not his fault anyways so why should everyone point fingers at him. It’s much less pressure.

(And it’s also kinda inspired by his role in the CBAA??—Cartman’s perfect in the CEO/face of the company position bc Cartman is comfortable with and relishes in the attention and social aspect of being the face/leader of a company, and Kyle can reap all the benefits of being a part of that company, including being an integral pillar of the company, w/o the deficits. If Eric and Kyle ran a company they’d work together, sure, but Eric would crumble without Kyle’s support, and Kyle would hate the stifling pressure of the head position, which makes them a perfect pair.)

(And again this is based on personal experience—I’m a natural leader. People listen to me, I can organize groups, and I’m a good mediator, but I hate when it becomes Official bc I can’t just. Do my own thing as I want to and it’s far too much to keep track of and most of it doesn’t interest me. It always irritated me when my parents tried to push me into like running for student president bc I just kept thinking abt all the work I’d have to do that I wouldn’t care abt)

7) what gives me secondhand embarrassment about Kyle? Well. Just......how much he reminds me of when I was a stupid kid. He’s such a little shit oh my god Kyle shut the fuck up YOURE NOT GHANDI. When Kyle’s being entitled and stuck up, when he thinks he’s better than other ppl, and when his own big mouth and pride are what fucks him over I’m just oh my god. Oh my GODDDDDD SHUT UPPPPP.

Mostly it’s secondhand embarrassment bc I’m jus oh my god ur an idiot—but again bc I know he has the ability to grow out of that and look back on himself with a grimace at how dumb he was ahsjdkfkfk

8) cinnamon roll or problematic fave? Definitely the latter, I love Kyle and I love when he’s happy and contented but him as a cinnamon roll kinda character feels so flat to me. I love him as a problematic fave he’s so much fun as a disaster. He’s complex—he’s tough and caring and angry and compassionate and an absolute fireball of EMOTIONS but he tries to act like he’s a logical rational person and I jus? He’s so much more fun and dynamic when he’s allowed to be messy

(Of course this is long why wouldn’t it be AHSJDKDKKFKGLGLH)

#long post #kyman #south park #kyle broflovski #fl5k #creo talks

[ambitionsource]

What’s your guys favourite front nine character? favourite recurring character? And Adult character? And why?

Dearest anon, you should know that the moment I showed this to Katie and Es all three of us were like “oh no” because choosing a favorite is like. So hard. It’s like pulling teeth. It feels downright impossible, especially when it comes to the front nine. And yet, and yet, we will do it anyway. Thanks for the challenge!

Katie (co-producer)

Favorite Front Nine: Farkle. Look, this was a tough call, but obviously it has to be Farkle. I love him so much it's unreal, in every universe. I think his depiction of mental illness is really real and important and relatable. I know he's kind of a villain for a little bit there (maybe more of an antihero), but he's MY antihero and that's fine! Farkle Protection Squad coalition of one! His spiral into self-hatred and eventual recovery... yeah. Very important to me. I love him!

Favorite recurring: Yindra. No one is surprised. I love Yindra. Queen of confidence! Queen of talent! If I went to AAA, I would have the biggest crush on Yindra, hands down, because she’s incredible. Someone needs to be that iconic! Plus, her dynamic with Zay and Nigel... literally incredible. Everybody put some respect on my lesbian queen.

Favorite adult: Eric. I dunno if I really need to explain why, but I will. His compassion and understanding is one of my favorite things about him, and I love the way he works through the issues he and Jack face at the school. Plus his and Jack's dynamic... iconic. Love them. (It was a tough call between the two of them but I figure more people are gonna say Jack.) And him and Isa! 🥺🥺🥺 Best counselor award when?

Esther (co-creator)

Favorite Front Nine: Since maggie got to break the rules I will too. My favourites are Dylan and Isadora. Farkle and Charlie are close behind as I love their storylines and delving into their minds and mental headspace, but Isa and Dylan are definitely at the top and have very special places in my heart. Isa I’ve been attached to since gmw in much the same way maggie has been with Lucas, as she’s the only canon female autistic representation I’ve ever had and she provided some really relatable moments for me. I clung onto her and haven’t let go since. I also just love how complex she is and how much duality exists in her, most notably with being a techie and performer, but also the fact that she’s extroverted in some ways (performing, needing friends around her) and introverted in others (pushing people away, craving space and alone time). I could write a whole essay about her but I’ll save you the time and simply say I love her very much. Dylan definitely snuck up on me as a favourite character, but it was inevitable as I’m always drawn to loveable goofballs like him. He’s just so good natured and loving, he cares so much about his friends and would do literally anything for them and I love him for that. He’s also just really funny and pure and I’m lowkey in love with him rip 

Favorite recurring: This is really difficult as there are so many incredible recurring characters. Maggie, Katie and I have talked about the fact that the show could easily have like twenty main characters with how entertaining and full of potential the rest of the a class are, but alas, every episode would be at least three hours long if that were the case. In the end I think I have to go with my girl Jade. She works so hard and makes literally amazing, beautiful pieces of ART on the regular, and is overlooked so much but still keeps on going and doing what she loves. She’s also just lovely and I love her dynamics with the other characters. She’s an integral part to the techie group, and the a class as a whole. Also, when Jade speaks up about something, you know it’s serious... 

Favorite adult: Eric 100%. He’s always been my favourite of the adults, and I stand by that. He’s very similar to Dylan in a lot of ways so of course I’m going to be drawn to the lovable goofball yet again. I also love how much he cares about the students and the school and how passionate he is about them going on to be the best versions of themselves they can be. As an Isa stan I also adore their dynamic, and am very excited to explore it more in s3.

Maggie (co-creator)

Favorite Front Nine: I’m gonna say upfront that I’m breaking the rules on this one. I don’t care. I can’t do it, I literally cannot choose only one front nine. The shorthand answer is Lucas, Farkle, and Dylan, but all for entirely different reasons. Farkle is my favorite character to write story-wise, as exploring his arc and his development as essentially the pseudo protagonist has been one of the best parts of this experience. He is also my favorite performer in that I know if we could watch / listen to these performances, his would always be my favorite. There’s just... a je ne sais quoi. Then LJF and Dylan are my personal favorites, but like... for opposite reasons and vibes. I almost can’t even explain it. Like anyone who knows me knows LJF is deeply rooted in my heart and has such a precedence and importance to me (and this version of him in particular is so special to me), so there’s that. But then with Dylan, who really blossomed and came out of the woodwork with AAA and S2 especially, there is just such a warmth and brightness and love to him and writing his character that makes me so happy. It feels like home in some ways, like a comfort space, and he really represents what I wish more of the world was like -- optimistic, genuine, comforting. So yeah. No I’m not crying. Anyway... I feel I should also mention that Asher was close here as well, but his pitfall is that he’s unintentionally way too similar to who I am as a person GJDKFGJLKDSH so it’s harder to look at him from an objective angle.

Favorite recurring: This is tough too because I love the A class after spending so much time with them + developing their quirks and eccentricities, but I think I’m going to go with Nigel (with Jade as a super close runner-up). Nigel just has that perfect balance of coolness and wit that I find really enjoyable, but he avoids the pitfalls that Farkle falls into in that he’s also a very genuine and grounded person. I love so many of his one-liners, and I really enjoy getting to bake a little more of him and Jade and their dynamic into the upcoming season.

Favorite adult: This one, on the other hand, is easy. Jack. Jackson Hunter all the way. I love writing him, I love reading about him, I just love him. I love that he is this sharp (but necessary) contrast to most of the tomfoolery of AAA. I love how we come at him from an angle of expecting him to be almost heartless because he’s a practical realist, but then we see how much he cares about the students and the school in his own right. I love his clash with Eric and how that develops and grows into an even and essential partnership. I love his light sarcasm, his exhaustion, how he tries to do the right thing even when it feels impossible -- but that he also isn’t perfect, and slips up or bends the rules when he really feels it’s the decision he needs to make (mainly regarding Lucas). Which of course... I love his dynamic with Lucas. They are I think the most unexpected thing to come out of writing the show for me, but I am obsessed with them. I would rank them up very high in my favorite dynamics of the whole show, they’re that important to me. And I definitely know that that contributes to why I love Jack so much. I just think he’s neat. I love the man. A fave fave fave.

#Anonymous #aaa friday #ambition quarantine 2020 #really was so so difficult... please dont think this means we don't love the ones not listed here #bc we do. this was so painful i hope y'all understand GFJDKLGDSFH #we didn't even do it right and it was painful #ask the creators #answered

[thecomicsnexus]

SWAMP THING #37-39 JUNE - AUGUST 1985 BY ALAN MOORE, RICK VEITCH, JOHN TOTLEBEN, STAN WOCH, STEVE BISSETTE AND TATJANA WOOD

SYNOPSIS (FROM DC DATABASE)

John Constantine is an occult investigator from England. He learns that something large is set to occur in the world of the supernatural and sets about learning all he can about it. But his search proves frustrating as he moves among his contacts. No one has a great deal of information for him, but to say that "He's coming back". One source thinks that he is a living black hole. Another believes that it is the old one, Cthulhu. An old nun even believes it to be Satan. The only thing his contacts appear to agree on is that the entity's arrival should take place in about twelve months.

Meanwhile, Abby has been slowly helping to nurse the Swamp Thing back to health. A mere bud of an entity, she has been treating the diminutive plant with water and pesticides. It is an excruciatingly slow process and over the course of days, He regains only half of his overall strength at this point. Day by day he's growing more parts of himself.

John Constantine is in the apartment of Emma (New Earth) who he departs with after waking up to go find Swamp Thing.

He eventually finds Abby and the Swamp Thing. He chides the Swamp Thing for his ignorance and informs him that he is the last remaining plant elemental. He has the ability to extend his essence through any vegetative matter – with the ability to instantly teleport nearly any place he chooses to on Earth. Desperate to know more, the Swamp Thing pleads with Constantine to stay and tell him what he knows. Claiming that he has other places to be, John leaves them, but before he does, he admits that he plans to be in Rosewood, just outside Chicago, in a week's time, and that he would explain more if they were to meet there.

Meanwhile, Emma instinctively draws a terrible picture of a disfigured man. The being, known as an Invunche, comes to life and the terror-stricken artist pitches herself through her studio window to her death. There's also a montage of a few other evil acts from the other contacts that Constantine encountered.

Back in Houma, Swamp Thing seems to have completely regrown, and is pondering. Abby half jokening brings up the prospect of a honeymoon for them, since their "communion" in the issue Rites of Spring. He is vaguely recalling the name "Rosewood," and he is too wrapped-up in that train of thought to pay any mind to Abby's "honeymoon" proposal.

In Rosewood, Illinois, a group of boys swim in a pond, despite their parents' warnings. Suddenly, the boys realize that the pond is infested with leeches, and they all rush out except Nicky, who has grown unnaturally pale. Just below the surface, vampiric creatures have drained him of all of his blood. The boys are too afraid to go back into the water for him, and they run away. The vampires return to their homes, deep under the water in old Rosewood, the sunken town.

Elsewhere, Abby Holland and the Swamp Thing reluctantly part ways, as he decides to take Constantine's bait, and go to the town of Rosewood, Illinois. Upon Constantine's hinting, he attempts to transport himself there by regrowing himself through the Earth, to the new location. As he concentrates on getting there, he recalls that he had been there once before, and that the town had been corrupted so deeply by a dark presence that the Swamp Thing had cleansed the town by exploding the dam. He mentally locates a small seed in Rosewood, and uses it to begin regrowing himself there. He immediately thinks of Abby.

Abby, meanwhile is talking with one of her teacher co-workers. She's lost in thought thinking of Swamp Thing and her friend, Deanna, chastises her for not paying attention to her. Abby apologies and tell Deanna that she was thinking about someone, and Deanna shoots back "...You're going to have to face facts...your husband's a vegetable". She of course is speaking of her literal husband who is in a coma still, but also unknowingly referring to Swamp Thing.

Constantine is in Chicago, at a bar, and he's just learned that the girl he was with previously in the last issue, tossed herself from her studio apartment. It's reported as suicide, but as shown in the prior issue, she was chased out by a demon.

Eventually, the boys decide not to go back for Nicky, or tell anyone what they saw. All of them leave except for Howard, who returns to the water alone determined to try to rescue his friend. At the same time, the vampires prepare the creature they call the Mother for a mating ritual. This massive creature once known as Charlene – a supermarket worker in Rosewood who once worried about her pimples and marriage prospects – now has an integral part to play in the vampires' conquest on land.

Swamp Thing regrows a new body in Rosewood successfully. He notes that after his 'death' by Nukeface which took him weeks to respawn himself, now took him a matter of hours and with no "hang over". When he is complete he is met there by Constantine, who warns that some of the vampires that were drowned out two years before had survived, and formed an underwater community. When the flood of Rosewood took place, a few where inside an airtight refrigerator unit in a supermarket. They were already bitten, but were hiding out from others. The gate was opened, and the flood washed away everything else, but they survived. Here, they found refuge from the harmful sunlight as well as from humans who might kill them. Constantine further explains that the virus that causes vampirism is anaerobic; oxygen can be a harmful substance to them. He bargains that he will reveal Swamp Thing's nature to him if he will deal with the vampires in the water. Annoyed, Swamp Thing begins walking into the water.

As Howard returns to the pond, Nicky appears to be alive, and demands that they go swimming again. It becomes clear that Nicky has become a vampire himself, and Howard is swarmed by Nicky's new companions. The Mother gives birth to many, many eggs, which soon begin to hatch. Both she and her mate descend into the dark waters and – their bodies torn apart after breeding – begin to decompose and die as the oxygenated water flows through their bodies.

After the boys Nicky and Howard don't come home overnight, their parents interrogate their friend Bill for information. Eventually, all of the parents decide to go out to Rosewood and find them.

Swamp Thing encounters the vampires in the sunken town of Rosewood, and when they discover that he has no blood, they begin to herd him toward the site of the “nativity,” the old stadium, which is full of eggs. Swamp Thing watches in horror as the eggs hatch, and the newborn creatures devour each other until only one remains – a giant fish-like vampire which attacks and destroys his body.

Meanwhile, the parents discover Nicky and Howard at the water's edge. Nicky, now a vampire, lures his own mother to them, and then drains her of her blood. Soon after, his father is devoured by the fish-creature, along with Bill's father. The remaining parents grab Howard and drive away in horror.

Swamp thing allows his body to die once more, and then rebirths, this time ever quicker. He then stretches his consciousness out across The Green. He gathers his energies and becomes one with the land, adjusting the terrain so that the water within the lake begins flowing again – right into the river that birthed it. The vampires residing in the lake cannot survive running water, and they die as their flesh is torn off their skeletons. This is a rather significant leap from the powers we've seen him display previously. He is learning more and more to wield the power that he has available to him.

Later, Swamp Thing encounters John Constantine in the ruins of the now drained town of Rosewood. Astonishingly, the Swamp thing is able to perform a complete body regeneration in only fifty-one seconds, suggesting that he has already learned much about himself and his abilities due to his association with John Constantine. John expresses his disappointment that the outcome of their endeavor has caused word to spread supporting the existence of vampires. This plays right into the hands of those responsible; it helps create the "right sort of atmosphere" to allow their plan to come into fruition. After he offers this cryptic warning – which is consistent with the theory Emma shared with him shortly before she died – he asks that they meet again in Kennescook, Maine in two weeks. They then part ways.

REVIEW

First official appearance of John Constantine. He is supposed to look just like Sting in 1985, let’s compare...

Yeah, I guess he looks like him.

Anyway, this story is really important because it’s the moment Swamp Thing learns how to “regrown” anywhere around the planet. We are also starting to understand what Moore was hinting back when Abel was explaining why the world needed an avatar of the Green right now.

This story also acknowledges the Crisis. Unusual for most books during this period of Crisis on Infinite Earths (most tie-ins seem to be in 1986, including official Swamp Thing tie-ins).

Moore has a way with words that works perfectly in a comic-book. With a lot of ironies, and twists. And the images complement the words very well. This is what comic-books should be. An engaging medium that forces you to process words and images at the same time, at your own speed, both adding something to the final product that on their own wouldn’t be good enough. Moore goes beyond justifying why these characters are in these stories. He is pretty much justifying these stories happening in comic-books.

Of course there are other writers and creative teams that managed to do the exact same thing, but here, considering other books coming out at the time, it’s astonishing.

And boy, this is real horror.

I give this story a score of 10 

#steve bissette #john totleben #john constantine #sting #horror #swamp thing #dc comics #comics #review #1985 #modern age #crisis on infinite earths

[kehayesmj-blog]

Happiness and Celebrity Worship: So What’s the Problem?

Imagine being in the shoes of a world-famous pop culture icon. You’re sitting in the back seat of an expensive limousine as it comes to a halt, and your manager and bodyguards direct you towards a fancy building for a celebrity interview. Upon reaching the stage, you see everyone is listening carefully, anticipating a spark of inspiration. With the awareness that you are about to change a large percentage of the world’s disposition, you are ready to inform everyone of not only your life, but to change how they live theirs as well. You have a message to get across in this interview, so you stand up, clear your throat, and proudly proclaim that birds aren’t real.

This is a situation that has occurred numerous times over. The bird theory is interchangeable with any other outlandish claim or theory, but the concept is constant. Nearly thirty percent of people under the age of 30 would quit their jobs for fame alone and follow the lifestyles of celebrities in some form. Furthermore, do you know someone that has obsessed over or “stanned” a popular artist, possibly to the point of intimate attraction? It turns out that these two circumstances are rooted in the same mental ailment. If the issue seems familiar, it is because celebrity influence affects everyone, whether they want it to or not. This has some merits to it but can also harm large groups of people in various ways such as indoctrination and stalking. Many lives are affected in some way more than just culturally because of this. Perhaps your friend is adopting their favorite musical artist’s fashion sense, has social media accounts dedicated to their favorite actor, or even has pictures of them printed out to fit their aesthetic. All these tendencies are in some way a form of celebrity worship. Dr. Lynn McCutcheon of the North American Journal of Psychology separates celebrity fandom into “Entertainment Social Stage,” which defines more casual followers and people that simply seek entertainment on a non-serious level, and “Worshipper” which defines obsessive tendencies such as studying a person’s whereabouts, owning an unnecessarily large amount of keepsakes related to a popular person, or extreme sexual fixation. With further research conducted on mental health since the mainstream rise of celebrity obsession culture, a much more psychological case has appeared that defines and details every variant of celebrity worship. There have been cases of people led to harmful lifestyles simply because it was what their favorite movie star thought was beneficial, such as with Charlie Sheen’s and Jenny McCarthy’s fans believing in their conspiracy theories. Without awareness or recognition, this is a problem that could potentially mislead people at an even larger scale. With governments picking up on the relevance of certain celebrities, the case of celebrity worship is beginning to gain influence on the national level in some nations. In recent years, South Korea has made a statement and endorsement for their native pop stars under the condition that they abide by the nation’s values, directly affecting the opinions of fans worldwide. Whether a case of icon obsession is affecting a loved one’s mental health, radicalization, or personal economic decisions, celebrity fixation is a topic with many influential details. Obsession over celebrities and their values is an informational and important study for the good of modern mental health, and the importance of recognizing this is crucial to furthering personal fulfillment.

Misinformation and Radicalization

��          People have been falling for the unusual ideologies followed by celebrities since celebrity culture’s shift to pop culture in the early 20th century. However, their ideas were not seen as widely until the late 20th century with pop culture becoming more experimental and expressive. While musical artists such as Elvis Presley, Mick Fleetwood, and Dave Mustaine were always known for some strange views, actors, hosts, and talk personalities usually kept their views to themselves with minimal exception. With social media’s rise, it is much easier to convince the public of things that would normally be seen as extreme or nonsensical. In 2006, Patricia Heaton convinced a group of followers to refuse and deny embryonic stem cell research. This view became such a hot topic because she had proposed to discontinue stem cell research, contraceptives, and pregnancy termination to a group that continues to believe and support these ideas to this day due to her prestige. Many groups focused on unsupported claims, extremism, and conspiracy theories have seen an increase in subscription because of how easy it has become to follow polarizing figures. Charlie Sheen has come out as a Truther and a conspiracy theorist, going as far as making a film with undertones of false information about the attack. Sheen claims: “There are still a couple of things just rooted in simple physics that beg some measure of inquiry. I was in contact with a lot of family members and they were in concert with a lot of my questions.” Jenny McCarthy has gone on record claiming that vaccines gave her child autism. Podcast host and researcher George Ouzounian has stated that “Celebrity worship is the reason we have anti-vaxxers,” attributing the entirety of the anti vax movement to the misinformation of celebrities. “We have people like Jenny McCarthy going on record saying vaccines gave her child autism and her fans just eat that up. Correlation must cause causation, right? She failed to control variables such as chemicals, clothes, plastic, known carcinogens, water, etc,” says Ouzounian in episode 29 of his podcast The Biggest Problem in the Universe.

Another example of blindly following an affluent figure is Stan Culture. “Stan” culture is a popular form of celebrity fandom and worship in both the West and Eastern hemispheres. The western term is derived from an Eminem song titled Stan (short for Stalker-Fan) where the rapper goes in depth about the story of a fan that designs his lifestyle around the lyrics in Eminem’s music. He misinterprets the insane, violent nature of the rapper’s on-stage persona as a lifestyle that he actually lives, causing the fan to go insane and murder his girlfriend in reference to another of Eminem’s horror story type songs called “Kim”. The cautionary nature of the song Stan’s message ironically did not get across to the current generation of celebrity “Stans”, as they view the stalkerish nature of the Stan character from the song as something to look up to, just as Stan looked up to the character Eminem plays in some of his music. Stan Culture causes fans and obsessors to defend everything their idol does, even if it is misguided. “You got some issues Stan, I think you need some counseling. To help your ass from bouncing off the walls when you get down some” says Eminem in the song “Stan” referring to the stalker fan needing medical and mental health attention. Further evidence of this can be found in a case of Ariana Grande not understanding many subjects of appropriation she had used in a music video led to her fans misleadingly defending her with no juxtaposition. Naijaeaux on Twitter says “All Arianna does is drop hits and mind her business, but y’all continue to critique and harass her.” This culture of “my idol can do no wrong” completely removes the subjective concept of art and halts many conceptual conversations that are important for analyzing music.

Stan writing to Eminem, https://twitter.com/mscaitlin55/status/846561100263034882

Stan culture goes even further, however, when focus is on more socially involved governments. Motoko Rich, foreign bureau chief for New York Times reported that North Korea requested eleven kpop acts to perform for their leader as a form of covert diplomacy. Meanwhile, nearly 40 million people claim themselves to be dedicated fans of the Korean pop music genre with feral hive-minded communities swarming every crevice of social media. The implications of North Korea’s propaganda system getting ahold of one of the world’s most flourishing genres would naturally scare almost anyone. Additionally, the People’s Republic of China, a nation currently known for brainwashing internment camps and suppressing many of what the West knows as inalienable freedoms, has recently seen quiet support from NBA personalities such as Adam Silver and LeBron James. After being asked to share thoughts on the topic multiple times, both personalities had refused to speak up on any of the Hong Kong protests in the past out of fear they would lose endorsements from China. When nations have access to beloved personalities that are generally looked highly upon, it becomes easier for them to accumulate supporters to justify their causes.

Kim Jong Un with South Korean group Red Velvet, https://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2018/04/02/598812832/kim-jong-un-was-deeply-moved-after-k-pop-performance

Another case of the strange ideologies of popular figures being followed by a growing crowd is Terryology. A study by Dave Schilling, General editor at Grantland covers a firsthand interview between the author and actor Terrence Howard. Terrence Howard is proposing a new way of thinking and problem solving coined “Terryology,” that involves the idea that scientific and mathematical theories can be solved in a minimalistic form of analysis and still make sense. For example, the expression 1x1 having the number 1 stated twice means that there are two of them, and therefore equals 2 and not 1. Many fans of this ideology have begun converting their mathematics to Terryology despite the world still running on the normal mathematic system we have today. Some critics view this as a misinformed, dropout mathematics major turned movie star losing his mind in the fame that surrounds him. However, many news outlets and art enthusiasts view this as an expression of creative integrity that should be considered a legitimate theory. “In that piece, Mr. Howard explains a philosophy for life so powerful, so revolutionary, so magnificent, that most people who read about it were driven mad or had their heads swell up like the bad guy from Total Recall.” -Schilling

Mental Health

           Aside from altering people’s thoughts ideologically, celebrity obsession also has a strong effect on the mental health of people that follow celebrities. Professor and journalist Neil Peterson conducted a study in 2005 claiming that teenage girls tend to have lower self-confidence if they constantly follow celebrities online or in the media. Recently, another study of 437 Hungarian citizens found that people that considered themselves celebrity worshippers also tended to have higher levels of problematic internet use, maladaptive daydreaming, and desire to be famous. These individuals are led to not being as productive and not being in the mindset to make their lives better due to always looking up to someone that has no direct effect on their life. In conclusion, overall happiness and productivity are hindered by celebrity worship. In 2013, more cases of schizophrenia emerged with the leading cause being cultural icons. This may not have been the intention of the celebrities, but some fans of them with less than stable home and mental lives may find this to be a difficult and life halting struggle. In Hungary, internet addiction has been linked to obsession with popular figures for purposes such as envy of appearance and infatuation. Celebrity worship is prevalent among all people but is most present among teenage girls up to age 17. This is a time where most people are still discovering their identity as a person and will likely have a long-term effect on them for the rest of their lives. Due to the age range this disorder affects mostly, there is a higher potential for identity crises later in life. This early age of developing issues also has the largest margin of change to financial literacy and decision making. Adults that spent their adolescent years obsessing over famous people may not know that those people spend all their money carelessly due to their wealth and could cause others to pursue the same luxuries without an enormous bank account to fall back on. School of Psychology professor at the University of Leicester, John Maltby, says “Significant relationships were found between attitudes toward celebrities and body image only among female adolescents. Multiple regression analyses suggested that Intense‐personal celebrity worship accounted for unique variance in scores in body image.” In addition to mental health, celebrity obsession can also affect financial stability. Many communities near or below the poverty line struggle with addiction and abuse, and celebrity worship can be seen as a form of this. From a distance, obsessing over another person’s personal life doesn’t seem as bad as abusing substances, but they both have the same psychological dependence and reaction when consuming both contents.

Chairman ZeBron,  https://lushsux.bigcartel.com/

Diagnosis of Celebrity Worship Symptoms

           In addition to mental health, celebrity obsession can also affect financial stability. As Daniel Guilbert stated in The Science Behind the Smile, one way to determine happiness is to break it into statistics. Many communities near or below the poverty line struggle with addiction and abuse, and celebrity worship can be seen as a form of this. From a distance, obsessing over another person’s personal life doesn’t seem as bad as abusing substances, but they both have the same psychological dependence and reaction when consuming both contents. Robert A. Reeves from the Augusta State University Department of Psychology reports that “Celebrity worship, materialism, and compulsive buying were significantly related to lower self‐concept clarity and to lower levels of well‐being, supporting both absorption‐addiction and empty self-theories” -Celebrity Worship, Materialism, Compulsive Buying, and the Empty Self by Robert Reeves. Celebrity Worship Disorder has also proven to make mental health cases worse. This is proven by more reports by Reeves emerging in 2013 of worsening cases of schizophrenia due more to cultural icons than any other sources. The same study shows that this fixation on pop culture is mostly a coping mechanism for other symptoms including depression and ADHD. These coping methods are an incredibly unhealthy way of dealing with personal problems, as it does nothing to further the mental state of anyone involved. The subgroups of this diagnosis can more easily help find solutions if recognized.

           The first stage of rehabilitation is recognizing what the problem is, which is why groups of diagnoses are so valuable. Celebrity Worship syndrome is a registered mental and medical disorder that Gary Laderman groups into three categories: Simple Obsession (70-80% of cases- between individuals that have shared personal relationships with each other), Love Obsessional (stalking, convinced that they are in a relationship with the individual), and Erotomantic (less than 10%, believe that the celebrity is in love with them and sending subliminal messages to the person, and often a symptom of schizophrenia). All of which are diagnosable disorders that victims can seek therapy or rehabilitation for. George Ouzounian from The Biggest Problem in the Universe expands by connecting these examples to a shift in culture and the fact that youth are more commonly swayed based on culture and wealth (Episode 29 of the podcast).

John Maltby also acknowledged three ways that people can begin their celebrity obsession: celebrity products, personal characteristics of the celebrity, and peer influence. These are all cultural aspects that reflect how modern society is constructed to revolve around these people. “Thematic analysis revealed that 3 major factors influenced participants to become celebrity worshipers: celebrity products, personal characteristics of the celebrity, and peer influence.” -John Maltby, School of Psychology. HaengRyang Huh from Sejong University brings up digit ratios and their importance in finding out exactly who is most affected by mental obsessions. “The digit ratios for the entire sample were positively correlated with CAS scores. Our research found evidence of a significant positive correlation between 2D:4D ratios and celebrity worship in females but not in males, which indicated that females with lower digit ratios were less likely to worship celebrities” -HaengRyang Huh. The gender ratio of celebrity worship varies and affects the level of loyalty to an individual someone has. Additionally, depending on the year and trending names, the ratio fluctuates even more.

The most troubling element of this issue is the amount of lives taken by celebrity worship. Romeo Vitelli, Ph.D. reported on an international connection involving copycat suicides. In Japan, a trend arose when famous pop singer Yukiko Okada committed suicide in 1986. Since then, chain suicides in the country enacted by fan groups were referred to as Yukiko Syndrome. Romeo Vitelli claims the trend began in 1774 when Johann Goethe’s book The Sorrows of Young Werther led to an influx of suicides duplicating the main character of the story. Studies on the chain suicides revealed that nearly all of the participants had existing mental health problems throughout their lives. “In understanding why celebrity suicides can be contagious, social learning theory suggests that the example of a well-known celebrity committing suicide may make them into role models for vulnerable fans to imitate. Once suicide is seen as an acceptable behavior, people experiencing depression may be more likely to commit suicide as a result.” -Vitelli, 2016. Social learning theory can be drawn as the cause of many celebrity related actions, and it is important to consider that as a factor to why these individuals are followed.

Origins of Copycat Suicides, https://www.slideshare.net/gauravhtandon1/copycat-suicides-when-suicides-comes-in-clusters

           Parasitic Relationships

           Celebrity culture on a wide scale has undoubtedly led to many trends and movements, but how do people with this platform have the power to influence opinions? The answer is rooted in the personalities of each popular figure and how they are perceived. A stern person known for minimal emotion may not have the same public image as someone that is often affectionate to others. It is somewhat the matter of whether you would prefer Gordon Ramsay or Lady Gaga to be your grandparents. One option is short tempered and often hard to emote with, while the other appears more considerate and carries their heart on their sleeve for all to empathize with. If the audience sees a humble, welcoming celebrity, they will feel more at home watching or listening to them. Down to earth celebrities tend to have the highest influence on people’s values and thoughts. These relationships are occasionally very beneficial for both audience and performer, causing the rise of many positive movements. The positive appearance of the trend of following celebrities encourages more people to follow them. There are still a handful of beneficial traits that come with celebrity culture such as confidence, individuality, perseverance, and humility. Many cultural figures today have improved society in some form. Bill Gates has committed to a foundation called the Giving Pledge where he and other billionaires donate a majority of their income to new charities to bring notice and support for lesser known causes. Upon his first year as a charting artist, Chance the Rapper immediately started a tradition where he donates $1 million to schools in his hometown Chicago, as well as actively participating in Faith in Action. Elton John actively participates in and has created multiple foundations spreading awareness for sexually transmitted diseases and support for those who suffer from them. Conversely, some pop culture icons take the route of studying policies firsthand in an effort to connect more people with how society can be improved. The late Nipsey Hussle is another person well known for his charity work and had planned to meet with the Los Angeles police department to learn about and discuss alternative solutions to the gang violence he grew up with. All of these people have made positive changes to how people seek to improve their communities and have plenty of supporters participating in their causes.

Elton John speaking at the anniversary of the Aids Foundation, https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/8030099/elton-john-celebrates-25-years-of-aids-foundation

Although celebrities often have good intentions, their fans may not. This is once again attributed to the fact that celebrity worship is caused by the fan’s mental health situation. Even if a pop icon promotes a positive relationship between themselves and the fans, there could still be a dangerous obsession by the fan. Korea calls this relationship Sasaeng and is seen as normal for fans. Sasaeng are fans who will stalk and obsess over the most popular musical idols of the time, often resulting in devastation to the fan. Sasaeng, or fans, will also spend large amounts of money on traveling to meet their idols or buying excessive merchandise. Famous celebrities, as well as Stans, are often publicized without a clear image on whether their actions as obsessive fans are good or bad. Many people will find these statements, regardless of good or bad intention, as something to look up to and shape opinion based on. This is why fandoms for eastern pop groups have become so viral in the past decade. If being a feral fan is seen as a positive trait, more people will aspire to follow the trend. Due to so much attention being on these people in eastern countries, many of them are also required by contract to refrain from certain actions such as dating, stating opinions, or associating with certain people the labels and contractors have not approved. In Japan, a female member of a famous pop group, AKB47, was seen in public on a date with a boy and was later required by label officials to shave her head and apologize to both her fans and music group on camera. This strict image can sometimes even be too much for the celebrities to keep up with and reflect how strict and obsessive everyone involved is. Other people may feel entitled to forcing contact with famous people or may even feel they deserve special treatment from their idols. Furthermore, if an induvial has violent tendencies or disorders, celebrity obsession could amplify them. “On the periphery, however, resides a much smaller group of individuals who lack the ability to discriminate between their own private fantasies and the public figure’s behavior, believe they are entitled to pursue the figure, and may present a risk of violence.” -J. Reid Melloy, pg. 3 of Stalking, Threatening, and Attacking Public Figures : A Psychological and Behavioral Analysis.

As icon worship grows in popularity, it is important that ways to identify the trend grow with it. With so much stigma around the culture of celebrity worship, is it possible to support and follow a famous person without any of the burdens of mental health or misinformation? In simple terms, yes, as long as you’re able to educate yourself with more than one source and viewpoint. Knowing the positives and negatives of views and lifestyles is crucial to enlightenment. Therefore, it should be a priority to educate yourself from every angle on any type of new information you want to learn. This, along with prioritizing mental health will allow for a healthy experience following any public entertainer. Connecting happiness to life is mandatory for fulfillment and should never be compromised in favor of someone you’ve never met.

[totorishop]

Source: From the collection of Julie Berebitsky

Sexually harassed for three years at different organizations and sexism reigning

Company One

A managing director named “Stan” pulled on my bra strap at a department dinner

Stan put his hand on my waist also at a department dinner

Both instances in group settings

Another managing director named “Charles” shoved paper in my face

Charles yanked pens out of my hand

Charles stood in my personal space as I was sitting down at my desk, towering over me as if to intimidate

Scared that my career would be over if I reported them

Reported the incidents in writing as part of my exit interview

In the investment finance field, I had just moved to the Bay Area from NYC in May of 2015.  My first job in the Bay Area was at a major public global investment institution on Market Street in San Francisco.

The organization was having their annual real estate asset management meeting at headquarters in Connecticut.  All asset management teams across the country were invited and highly encouraged to attend; absence of course was frowned upon. 

The first evening was an employer-provided dinner at the hotel.  I was standing on the buffet line with another colleague from our SF office.  A senior manager named “Stan” (this is a fake name) from the headquarter office (who from what I was told was the right hand of the head of all real estate) came in line behind me and initiated conversation with my colleague.  He pulled on my back bra strap and snapped it.  Apparently, he was trying to get my attention as I was looking elsewhere and not engaged with the conversation he was having with my colleague.  I was shocked.  He then told me to go grab a drink from the bar. 

I was so scared.  Later that evening, I called my best friend, my mother and my mentor panicking.  The annual meeting was held at a hotel, the same hotel we were staying at.  I was scared that somehow he’d find out where my room was. 

A day or two later, we had another dinner.  I doubt it was a coincidence that I was assigned the same dinner group as him (each dinner group was assigned to different restaurants).  We just arrived at the restaurant and tables were assembled together for our group.  I purposely waited to see where others were sitting, and then I chose the right corner end seat with people already seated to my left and in front of me.  I was relieved and had moments of joy until to my horror, the waiter at Stan’s direction, pulled over an empty table to my right.  Stan took a chair and sat adjacent to me where there was previously no table.

After dinner, the company was having a happy hour.  A woman named “Sandra” who was sitting in front of me, said “Jackie, are you going to drinks?”  I said “No, I’m beat from the flight and will call it a night.”  Stan immediately said, “Come on Jackie, you should go.”  The woman said, “Okay, well Michael isn’t going either.  Michael, you should walk Jackie back to the hotel to make sure she gets there safely.”  I THANK THE LORD SO MUCH for Sandra.  Michael and Stan didnt know each other which was great.  I wouldnt have to worry about Stan trying to do anything sneaky through Michael and now I had a male to escort me safely back  in case Stan tried to follow me.  I thank God so much for Sandra.  I dont know how it happened.  It really was God.  I didnt know Sandra previously.  Perhaps she saw how horrible Stan was at the table - Stan put his hands around my waist at dinner and I had pushed him away. 

That was the company meeting in Connecticut.  On a daily basis, back at the office in San Francisco, my boss Charles, displayed acts of micro-agression.  When he gave me an assignment, he’d stand at my desk extremely close to me where his leg would be touching my arm chair.  This is within anyone’s personal space.  At least a 6-foot man (probably 6′2 o4 6′3″), he’d tower over me and on occasion shoved paper in my face and when he wanted to explain what he wanted from an assignment, he’d yank the pen out of my hand to write something down.  No one saw.  I’d sit firmly with my shoulders squared and stiff.  My arms remain in place on the desk when he entered my personal space.  I intentionally didnt budge.  I did not want to show him that he could move me, frighten me or push me around through his intimidation.  But in my heart, I was scared and drew strength from Jesus.  I ingrained in my heart the following scripture:     

“So do not fear for I am with you; do not be dismayed for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and hep you; I will uphold you in my righteous right hand” Isaiah 41:10

Every day, every morning, I read scripture to get me through each day at the office.  I had no friends yet, no community yet.  Reading scripture, praying, journaling and being thankful to God for what these horrible experiences were teaching me were my defenses and my strength-building exercises against so much fear for my safety at work.

Some 14 months of working at this job, I resigned with another job lined up.   At my resignation, I said to Charles “Thank you for being hard on me.”  He said, “You handled it well.”  I was surprised he acknowledged that he intentionally threatened me during my tenure.  A few people are surprised I thanked him.  Being thankful for what this horrible experience was teaching me, was what got me through each day there.  I also felt it was a way to tell him that he couldn’t scare me or budge me.  That he was ineffective.   On top of that, I was moving on to a company he respected and admired.  He had asked me where I was moving on to and had a look of surprise.  He said, “XYZ company?  That’s a very good company.”   At the time, it seemed like such unintended sweet revenge...moving on to a company that was admired where I could prosper and contribute greatly.  And still leave this horrible place in a professional manner.

Company Two

It was an organization that did good business, one that valued integrity, one I so looked forward to working at, one that I had gone through extensive interviews for and one I had asked many questions that were important to me too.  As it turns out, I went to another company who relegated me to all administrative work when our admin assistant unexpectedly went on and remained on disability leave 6 months into my job and never returned; turned out to be another job where my boss’s boss sexually harassed me by massaging my shoulders at a meeting when we were discussing a new potential acquisitions deal; a job where at my resignation my boss admitted to me that he stunted my career and wasn’t there to support me.  He said, “I am sorry that I hindered your career.  I didn’t support you.”  I am relieved he acknowledged this because honestly, I thought there was something wrong with me.  Was I inept?  Was I uneducated?  Am I stupid?  Why does this keep happening?

Looking back, there’s a big part of me that wishes I had quit both jobs sooner for my own well-being.  However, there’s another part of me that says I may not be as sensitive and aware of how deeply entrenched sexual harassment and sexism is in the workplace today.  And that one day, if I ever become a leader, I’d teach both men and women that sexism and sexual harassment are wrong.  That it is unjust, isolating, frightening, demeaning, and that it destroys a person.  It is psychologically damaging.  It is abuse. 

More to come...

#metoo #sexualharassment #sexism #sexismisreal

[ishipitsomuch]

***this is gonna be long oops*** ugh this is dumb, even i admit it but the thought came to me and ought to be expressed I think. *super ultra brotherly mega interest combining powers activate* South Park characters and what I think their sun signs are. they all have birthdays but i doubt matt and trey give a shit about astrology of took that into account at least so im ignoring it and going solely on their portrayal in the show. Later may do just the main squads natal chart (just for fun i guess)

Stan: (Scorpio) - No not eric fuck you guys scorpios are good people. The reason I chose this is because Stan is a very emotionally complex character, who also shows deep compassion for others. Stan is ride or die and very loyal to his friends (unless he feels they have wronged him in someway) in relationships he can be a bit obsessive and possessive, easily prone to jealousy and frustration. Stan is a voice of sound logic in the show, but is able to remain true to his core emotions. Like a true scorpio that can sometimes take advantage of you and cause you to become self destructive and scorpios are the sign most likely to become addicts (next to aries) fueling of the mars energy. I could go on but i think i'll save it for his natal reading tbh (rising-Gemini, moon-Cancer)

Kyle: (Leo) - First of look at that hair guys /the hair/ Kyle is feircly independent and passionate, always sticking to his core principles. Kyle values his image (even if he doesn't admit it) proven to be a germaphobe, uses styling gel, and got so upset he contemplated arson and possible murder at the idea that his peers may not view him as conventionally attractive. not to say all leos are vain because they're not and neither is Kyle. Kyle is wicked intelligent which is also a common trait for leos. He is a born leader and always has an opinion on what's going on around him. Also like a true leo he loves giving advise to people around him and is fairly good at it even if he is terrible at taking his own advise. (rising-Virgo, moon-Capricorn)

Eric: (Taurus) - This isn't a diss on taurus, you guys are great, Cartman is seriously fucked up in the head, ignoring that im just looking at habits and core traits. Materialistic and a little vain, Eric is known for preferring to be home relaxing and enjoying his life trademarking the infamous phrase "Screw you guys i'm going home" he is the embodiment of indulgence. He is incredibly stubborn and at times can come off as arrogant or unintelligent. However the opposite is true just like for most tauruan people, Eric is quiet smart when it comes to life knowledge and understanding people. Taurus is the sign that will always try to make you feel special and important but never at the cost of their own comfort and happiness. (rising-Gemini, moon-Aries)

Kenny: (Aquarius) - The first clue is his alter ego whom is appropriately named "Mysterion" Kenny is an enigma, we know the least about his true feelings because he seldom talks. Which is true for an aquarius as well, often preferring to observe or keep to themselves, not one to discuss their true feelings or intentions. Aquarians are joksters and get a lot of joy from making people laugh or being the funny guy in the room. aquarius is the humanitarian sign, the sign to represent a deep care for the healing of man kind, due to his rough family situation we are able to see this side of him quiet clearly. He cares deeply for his friends and his family (especially his younger sister Karen), despite this he is often forgotten about of left alone. Most aquarians feel alone inside, like no one understands them and it means no one can get very close. (rising-Leo, moon- Sagittarius)

Butters: (Gemini) - yall remember when there was a whole episode where they kept misdiagnosing him a multiple personality disorder? yeah Talkative and curious, gemini's love to have fun, as kids they are deeply imaginative and creative. there is a flip though, Gemini's need a good amount of time in solitude in order to sort out their thoughts and decompress. We see that when butters is bothered by something it effects him deeply and he can come off as moody and a bit bitchy. that being said in a social setting his default mood is to be light hearted and unserious. an advocate for just having a good time fellas. (rising- cancer, moon- Leo)

Craig: (Libra) - Balance! craig doesn't like to talk about his feelings very often, i think this has a lot to do with the environment he is raised in honestly, but from an astrologers view point he is with holding. Libras often struggling in relationships and tend to be the kind of person that "can do no wrong" or always blames the other for the issues. this being said they try to be fair and open minded to all possibilities. Libras are social butterflies and have friends in all walks of life and tend to be popular in school or work, even if they're infamous. They are quick-witted and like to cause a bit of uneasiness despite being huge dorks. (rising- Aquarius, moon- Scorpio)

Token: (Virgo) - I think Token is the rawest form of a Virgo tbh. Organized and practical. Virgos seldom do anything without thinking it through and will get very annoyed if things dont go according to their plan or how they perceive that things should be. A good example is in faith +1 when Token realizes Cartman never cared about the plan he had set out and old wanted to win his selfish bet, token snapped and beat the shit out of him. This is very rare for his character who is shown to be mostly passive. He speaks intelligently and is the voice of reason in his friend group. (rising- Virgo, moon- Taurus)

Clyde: (Cancer) - Sensitive and emotional, I think just using an off hand count Clyde has cried more than anyone else in the show when taking into account of screen time. Cancers aren't necessarily crybabys, but they do feel things deeper and more quickly than most any other sign. They also care deeply for the people close to them and can tend to mother them at times. Cancers are true memers and are online often. also very romantic in nature, clyde at such an early age is crazy into girls and spends a good amount of time and money hanging out at raisins. (rising- Aries, moon- Gemini)

Jimmy: (Capricorn) Capricorns are very funny naturally. They tend to be ambitious and stubborn, they will do what it takes to get their point across and get offended if they feel like they are being looked down upon. Jimmy fights hard for the things in his life and strives to reach even higher goals, putting his whole self in all of his tasks. (using steroids to win the special Olympics, delivering the school paper door to door when he was threatened with censorship, and trying to get the news crew to stick to the integrity of journalism despite his peers complaints) Jimmy is a climber and has a lot of Earth energy. (rising-Pisces, moon- Leo)

Tweek: (Aries) Impulsive and volatile. Tweek is reactive to the things around him. (In general Aries should avoid caffeine) Tweek's anxiety is elevated by the fact that he is impulsive and has a lot of energy. We know Tweek is kind of a bad ass which is an energy arians give. He can fight and handle a weapon. In "The Stick of Truth" his warrior class was the barbarian in which he covered him self in war paint and didn't wear a shirt which is a pretty aries thing to do tbfh. Aries are also quiet emotional (even if they don't always show it) and tend to be good at whatever they put their mind too, Tweek just needs some motivation from time to time. (rising- Sagittarius, moon- Gemini)

#south park #astrology

[peachywise]

night owls

stanley uris x reader

– one-shot

– synopsis: Your father has kicked you out, and you got no where to go. Stanley Uris might have an idea, however. 

– notes: this is a request from my sunshine anon!! “a Stan fic where this girl he finds cute (the reader) is unofficially part of the losers club and he’s out at night for whatever reason and finds her on a like a park bench and gets worried or smth (you decide why ;) )” i might make a part 2 of this, like the morning after?? if that interest any of you?? i’m not sure. let me know! 

A new town, a new park bench, the same old argument.

You guessed that no matter how much your father wanted to run away from his own problems, he would still drag them with him wherever he went, like a bad virus or an extra unwanted limb. Derry was supposed to be his solution to a better life. A fresh start where you and him would get along, and he could run from all his debts and toxic relationships. And for a month, it had worked. As much as you still fought and argued and yelled, everything would brush over in about an hour, and your father would have forgotten anything had ever happened.

Unfortunately, it appeared the clock had run out on your free trial to the decent dad subscription, because here you were again, kicked out in the middle of a cold autumn night, sitting on a park bench trying to figure out what to do.

You knew in the morning you could come back and not have him say a single word, but if you even tried to sneak back in tonight, it wasn’t going to end well for either side. Back in your old town, you would often just knock on your friend’s window and crash at their place, but since you had only been here a month and had thought all these troubles had gone away, you didn’t exactly have an emergency plan in place.

Not that you should ever have to plan anything like this at all.

It’s not like you didn’t have friends here or anything, but you had only just started to integrate yourself into their group. They called themselves The Losers’ Club. You thought it was a weird title to label themselves, but as you go to know them, it started to make sense. They were all outcasts, very different in their personalities, but seemed to mesh in such a close knit way that you couldn’t help but desire to be let in, to have those same people there for you as they were there for each other. 

It had taken you a long time to feel comfortable enough to even sit at their lunch table. The only reason you could now was because of Stan. He had been the first person you had met when you moved here. Your assigned counsellor had forced suggested you join an after school club to get into the Derry high school spirit. Everything but the math, dungeon and dragons, and bird watching club were closed for members, so you got a choice of three. You chose bird watching, thinking that at least that way you wouldn’t have to be cooped up inside all the time, and on cold days, it would most likely be cancelled. 

Stan was the president of the club.

He was also the only member.

Actually, there was this one girl Delia that would show up once in a blue moon for five minutes, but Stan said he had no idea who she was and that she wasn’t on the official club roster. You learned not to question it after awhile.

Since then, every Wednesday and Friday after school, you would meet Stan in the second floor Bio classroom and talk about birds or go outside to parks and try to see what ones you could find and identify. At first, you were really bored, but you really liked Stan and didn’t have the heart to quit. Then, eventually his bright passion grew infectious, and you found yourself enjoying it. Really, you found him to be the infectious one, but you wouldn’t ever admit it if he asked.

It’s why you chose this park bench, after all. This was the park you and Stan went to most often, and just being here made you feel a little safer. You just wished you’d had time to grab your damn coat so you didn’t feel so cold as well. 

“Y/N?” A soft voice called from behind you, sounding a hell of a lot like the bird boy currently on your mind.

Wow, you really were in deep, huh?

“I really need to get my head out of the gutter,” you mumbled to yourself, as you tucked your hands between your legs in an attempt to stay warmer. You knew you couldn’t stay here all night. Maybe there was a 24-hour diner in town somewhere? 

“What?” the incredulous voice asked again, but this time close enough behind you that it startled you back into reality. Turning around, your cheeks heated up as soon as your gaze locked with the curly haired boy, Stanley Uris.

An awkward, “uh…” was all you could muster in reply.

Stanley gave you a confused look as he moved around to stand in front of you. “Why are you out so late? Especially without a coat?” he questioned, and all you could do was stare in shock at him. How the hell were you going to explain this? You needed a lie, and fast.

“Here, uhm, take my scarf,” he mumbled, as he unwrapped the fleece patterned-plaid from around his neck and slung it over your shoulders. You hoped it was dark enough that he couldn’t see your inevitably red face. “Thanks,” you replied quietly, as you wrapped it around a couple of times, trying not to breath in his scent that clung to the fabric too deeply.

You hoped that by not replying to his question, he’d forget he asked. “Why are you here?” you offered instead, uncrossing your legs and crossing them the other way anxiously. Stan’s face dropped for a second as he looked down at his feet, embarrassment crossing his features. “I live a block away from here, I’ll have you know. I heard an owl and thought I would walk around to see if it was still around.” A small smiled curved your lips as you asked, “is it?” Stan just sighed in return, moving to sit next to you on the cold metal bench. “No. I think I scared it away.” Nodding your head, you said a simple, “ah. He was a skittish bird.” 

Stan nodded as well, before both of you were cast into silence. 

“So are you really not going to tell me why you’re out here?” Stan softly spoke again, turning to give you a look that reflected… concern? Why was he worried about you? Looking back down to your lap, an inner debate raged on whether or not to tell him. In all honesty, you knew you couldn’t even give a convincing lie. “I just told you I snuck out of my house at eleven at night to try and find a bird. I’m sure whatever it is, it isn’t that bad,” he added. A snort escaped you before you could stop it. “You snuck out?” you laughed, as Stan rolled his eyes and gave you a knowing look that screamed ‘that’s not important, now fess up.’

Sighing, you slid down lower on the bench, averting your eyes to the starry sky. You didn’t want to look at him while you explained, more fearful of the pitying look that was no doubt going to follow your story. “I got kicked out, alright? My dad and I don’t get along too well. He was upset that I talked back to him about getting fired, so I got tossed out for the night. It’ll be fine to go back in the morning. He’ll forget it ever happened,” you muttered, as you felt your heart pound in your chest, an uncomfortable pressure building in the form of a lump in your throat. How come you never cried when it happened, but as soon as you talked about it, emotions started to well up? It was bullshit. 

Stan was silent for a moment, but you could feel his eyes on you. Soon enough, Stan stood up, and your heart dropped. Yep. This was it. He was going to leave, and never talk to you again. At least there was no pity. 

“Come on,” Stan said, holding out his hand towards you. “What?” you sputtered, staring wide eyed at his outstretched hand. 

A small blush rose to Stan’s cheeks, and you had to fight back against the urge to say how cute it was out loud. It was absolutely not the time for that. “You don’t have a place to go, right? So come on, we can go to my house,” he mumbled, as your heart sped up once more. You didn’t think you could deal with all these emotions bubbling up.

“Stan, it’s really fine,” you started to argue, but he easily cut you off by saying, “Y/N, you’re shivering. I won’t force you, but it’s safe and right over there,” he stated, adding an even softer, “please,” at the end after you didn't reply. No one had ever been this kind before.

Swallowing back your slight embarrassment, you took in a deep breath and clasped his hand. He easily hauled you up on your feet. Giving each other a tentative smile, Stan began leading you out of the park, but dropped your hand after a minute and giving you a sheepish look after realizing he had still been holding it. You thought you heard him mumble “stay cool, Stanley,” under his breath, but you couldn’t be sure it wasn’t just the sound of the soft wind around you. 

By the time you had reached his house, Stan turned and gave you a serious look. “We’re going to need to sneak in through my window,” he said sternly, as if admitting a long held secret. You blinked. “Okay,” you stated, waiting for him to show you exactly which window you had to squirm yourself through. An odd look crossed his face, like he had expected a different reaction entirely. “Alright,” he continued, as he made his way to the side of the house. You shrugged it off. 

For a bit, Stan struggled to get a proper grip sliding the window up, trying to push against the glass and get traction that way. After around a minute, you couldn’t stand idly by anymore.

“Here, I got it,” you laughed, bumping your hip into his to scoot him out of the way. Wiggling your fingers under the small crack at the base, you got it up an inch, and from there, it was easy enough. Turning towards Stan, you questioned, “have you never tried to break back into your house before?” Stan shook his head. “I’ve never even snuck out before tonight.” As you began to quietly step through the window frame, you offered, “next time, keep the window open a small crack,” Stan couldn’t stop the small smile that appeared on his face. “Duly noted,” he replied, following in after you. 

Quickly, Stan moved over to switch the lamp on beside his bed, and you awkwardly stood in the middle of his bedroom, unsure. As many times as this exact situation had happened in your old town, this was different. You didn’t have a stupid little crush on all your other friend’s you’d spent the night with. In all honestly, you didn’t know what to do. By the looks of it, neither did he. 

Clearing your throat, you awkwardly gripped your forearm as your eyes wandered around. “No bird posters?” you asked, and immediately wanted to slam your head against the wall. Jesus, was that the only thing you could think of to say? Stan chuckled. “Can I tell you something?” he questioned, moving over to sit on the edge of his bed. You nodded your head. “The bird watching club was something I made up so I could have some alone time away from The Losers’ Club. It gave me an excuse to go home quickly.” 

You didn’t expect that. Looking a little wide eyed, you asked, “what?” positively shocked. Stan offered an embarrassed smile your way. “Yeah. I showed up when they said there was a new member, and you seemed to really like it so I kept coming…” he trailed off. Bringing your hands up to your face, you felt utter embarrassment wash through you. “No!” you whisper yelled, conscious of the fact his parents were asleep somewhere in the house. “Wait, are you serious?” you giggled, unable to stop. Sitting down next to him, Stan laughed as well, giving a small confirming, “yep.” 

“I only went because I was told I had to join a club. I was going to quit but you seemed so passionate about it and, I don’t know, I like hanging out with you,” you admitted, dropping your hands to see his reaction. He busted into laughter and you quickly joined in. 

“Shh!” he sputtered out, still unable to stop the laughter as he clapped his hand over your mouth, and you his. Eventually, both of you calmed down enough. And then awkward silence filled the space once more. 

“I’ll just sleep on the floor, if that’s okay?” you said, fiddling with your hands on your lap. Stan let out a very quick, “no! No, uh, I’ll sleep on the floor, and you take my bed,” he commented as he stood up and took one of the pillows, tossing it to the ground. “I don’t mind, honestly,” you continued, before Stan shook his head once more, already grabbing a blanket and nestling onto the floor. Argument settled then.

Kicking off your shoes and taking of his scarf, you crawled into bed carefully, a little tense and all too aware of your surroundings once again. You just laid staring there at the ceiling for a few beats, before Stan asked, “can you turn of the lamp?” 

Turning over, you quickly switched it off, feeling a little more comfortable now that it was dark. After around five minutes, however, you were still no closer to falling asleep, and memories of your fight with your father were creeping back into your mind once more. You had almost forgotten all about it in the presence of Stan. “This isn’t the first time this has happened before, is it?” Stan’s unsure voice spoke from below, and you felt your body grow cold. “No,” you whispered back, your voice slightly breaking, “it’s not.”

Unable to contain everything you had pushed back for the last couple of hours, silent tears started to slip from the corner of your eyes, and you quickly lifted your hand to wipe them away before they could stain his pillow. In a second, Stan was up off the ground, turning back on the light and shuffling to sit next to you, peering down at you with a concerned look over his face. “Please don’t cry,” he pleaded, his hands hovering over you like he wanted to comfort you, to wipe your tears away, but was just unsure if it was okay to do. “You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want,” he continued. 

Sliding up, you rested your head against the headboard and painfully rubbed your eyes. “It’s okay,” you sighed, letting your hands fall to your lap. “It’s been like this since I was fifteen. It’s always just been me and my dad, but he gets really angry sometimes. The only thing he knows to do is kick me out,” you laughed humourlessly, unable to meet his eyes. “I had places to stay in my old town, but I thought it was going to be different here. This is the first time since we’ve moved, and I’m just—“ you started, as tears fell again. God, would they ever stop? “I’m just alone here,” you finished. Shock registered through your thick emotions as you were brought into a quick unexpected hug. That made you cry even more. 

Stan’s hand stroked your hair softly, as he gently stated, “you’re not alone.”

Bringing your arms up to wrap around his neck, he continued to murmur in your ear, “I’m here, I’m always here.” Leaning back out of the hug, Stan’s hand moved to cup the side of your face as he brushed the left over tears. A small reassuring smile warming his face. In a moment of bravery, you leaned forward to place a small kiss on his cheek, but instead, he moved his face slightly to the side, and you fleetingly kissed his lips instead. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to!” he started to fumble out, but you cut him off by leaning foreword to give him another chaste kiss. The butterfly’s in your stomach were a welcome feeling. “I’m glad I met you, Stan,” you quietly said as you pulled away, face still only inches from his. His thumb brushed against your cheek one last time, and the shy look that crossed his features made you smile in return. “I’m glad I thought I heard an owl tonight, Y/N.” he replied, and soon enough, both of you were back to laughing again, foreheads pressed together, shh’ing each other in between snickers.

– general tags: @multi-parker @stan-the-losers-club-man @babylovereddie @ubertrashmouth @this-cute-shit-xo @hummingstan @derrysdenbrough @socially-awkward-nerd @emmaamalie @catching-fire-in-the-wind @mikoalabear

#stanley uris #stan uris #wyatt oleff #stanley uris x reader #stan uris x reader #stanley x reader #stanley uris imagine #stan uris imagine #it #it 2017 #it imagine #it fanfic #it fanfiction #stanley uris fanfic #stanley uris fanfiction #wyatt oleff x reader #richie tozier #finn wolfhard #beverly marsh #sophia lillis #jack dylan grazer #eddie kaspbrak #jaeden lieberher #bill denbrough #ben hanscom #jeremy ray taylor #chosen jacobs #mike hanlon

[readersforum]

Facebook loses CPO Chris Cox and WhatsApp VP Chris Daniels

New Post has been published on http://www.readersforum.tk/facebook-loses-cpo-chris-cox-and-whatsapp-vp-chris-daniels-2/

Facebook loses CPO Chris Cox and WhatsApp VP Chris Daniels

13-year Facebook veteran, Chief Product Officer, and the spirit animal of the social network Chris Cox is departing the company after two years of seeking to do something new. Cox’s exit is part of a big executive reshuffle as Facebook embarks on prioritizing privacy through messaging, groups, Stories, and backend unification of its chat features.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg explained the departure of his long-time friend, saying “For a few years, Chris has been discussing with me his desire to do something else . . . But after 2016, we both realized we had too much important work to do to improve our products for society, and he stayed to help us work through these issues and help us chart a course for our family of apps going forward. At this point, we have made real progress . . .  As we embark on this next major chapter, Chris has decided now is the time to step back from leading these teams.”

VP of WhatsApp Chis Daniels leaves Facebook

Cox bowing out after so long is understandable, but more surprising is today’s departure of Chris Daniels, an 8-year employee who was moved from being head of Internet.org to VP of WhatsApp just last May in a major re-org. Daniels always felt like a strange choice to oversee international chat leader WhatsApp and its struggles with misinformation in India given he’d led Internet.org when its zero-rated Free Basics app was banned in India for violating net neutrality.

The changes solidify that Facebook is entering a new era as it chases the trend of feed sharing giving way to private communication. Cox and Daniels may feel they’ve done their part advancing Facebook’s product, and that the company needs renewed energy as it shifts from a relentless growth focus to keeping its users loyal while learning to monetize a new from of social networking.

Here’s the breakdown of the executive changes:

Chris Cox will depart Facebook, but hasn’t revealed plans for what’s next. He will not be immediately replaced

Chris Daniels will leave WhatsApp, and Facebook declined to provide any details on why or the circumstances

Will Cathcart will go from running the main Facebook app to VP of WhatsApp

Fidji Simo who was the VP of Product for Facebook video, news, and advertising will take over Cathcart’s role running Facebook’s main app

Javier Olivan who was Facebook’s VP of growth will lead the task of identifying how to integrate Facebook’s products, including the plan to unify the backend of Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram direct to expand encryption and allow cross-app messaging that some see a shield against Facebook being broken up.

Instagram VP Adam Mosseri, Messenger’s VP Stan Chudnovsky, Simo, and Cathcart will now report directly to  Zuckerberg, while Chief Marketing Officer Antonio Lucio reports to COO Sheryl Sandberg

Cox was one of Facebook’s first 15 engineers, joining in 2005 after Zuckerberg convinced him to drop out of a Stanford grad program. He became Facebook’s Director of Human Resources and then in 2008, its VP of product. He was promoted to CPO in 2014 and aided in Facebook’s clean up after the 2016 presidential election, working on misinformation and at-risk countries to deter future attacks on democracy. Over the years, he remained a fixture of Zuckerberg’s inner circle of friends and lieutenants. Oh, and he’s a wicked keyboardist who plays is a very respectable reggae band.

Known for his hit talk revealing the Timeline profile at F8 2011 and giving rousing orientation speeches to each batch of new Facebook employees, Cox’s departure could drag on Facebook’s already-shaky morale. Some staffers saw him as a preferred replacement for Zuckerberg should he ever leave the CEO role. That leaves the line of succession an open question at Facebook, with Sandberg, Olivan, and Mosseri as the most likely candidates. Cox was seen as so essential that Facebook filed an 8-K disclosure with the SEC about his departure.

The biggest clue to Cox’s departure might be the juxtaposition of a line from his departure note with one from Zuckerberg’s. Cox writes about redefining Facebook around privacy and encryption that “This will be a big project and we will need leaders who are excited to see the new direction through.” Meanwhile, Zuckerberg wrote “Will [Cathcart] has helped lead our teams focused on security and integrity, and he believes deeply in providing end-to-end encryption to everyone in the world across our services.” Reading between the lines, it seems Cathcart was more enthusiastic about executing Facebook’s new roadmap of encryption than Cox.

Some consider encryption as a potential hinderance to other safety work, since it could make it difficult to detect the spread of misinformation or illegal activity. TechCrunch’s investigation into child sexual abuse imagery on WhatsApp revealed that its end-to-end encryption makes to much tougher to catch bad actors.

WhatsApp has an encrypted child porn problem

The change in priority from growth to sustainability through privacy is cemeted by Olivan’s new responsibilities. While rarely in the spotlight, his team was seen as one of the most important and powerful at the company. His talents will be applied to making Facebook’s apps work together to prevent churn of its enormous user base, which will take careful product design and a savvy understanding of people’s expectations. Instagram and WhatsApp have become golden geese for Facebook, and Olivan will have to ensure they’re not tarnished through deeper connections to Facebook’s battered brand.

Mark Zuckerberg’s blog post

Hey everyone — I want to share some important updates as we organize our company to build out the privacy-focused social platform I discussed in my note last week. Embarking on this new vision represents the start of a new chapter for us.

As part of this, I’m sad to share the news that Chris Cox has decided to leave the company. Chris and I have worked closely together to build our products for more than a decade and I will always appreciate his deep empathy for the people using our services and the uplifting spirit he brings to everything he does. He has played so many central roles at Facebook — starting as an engineer on our original News Feed, building our first HR teams and helping to define our mission and values, leading our product and design teams, running the Facebook app, and most recently overseeing the strategy for our family of apps. Along the way, Chris has helped train many great leaders who are now in important roles across the company — including some who will now take on bigger roles in our new product efforts.

For a few years, Chris has been discussing with me his desire to do something else. He is one of the most talented people I know and he has the potential to do anything he wants. But after 2016, we both realized we had too much important work to do to improve our products for society, and he stayed to help us work through these issues and help us chart a course for our family of apps going forward. At this point, we have made real progress on many issues and we have a clear plan for our apps, centered around making private messaging, stories and groups the foundation of the experience, including enabling encryption and interoperability across our services. As we embark on this next major chapter, Chris has decided now is the time to step back from leading these teams. I will really miss Chris, but mostly I am deeply grateful for everything he has done to build this place and serve our community.

At the same time, as we embark on this new chapter, Chris Daniels has also decided to leave the company. Chris has also done great work in many roles, including running our business development team, leading Internet.org, which has helped more than 100 million people get access to the internet, and most recently at WhatsApp, where he has helped define the business model for our messaging services going forward. Chris is one of the clearest and most principled business thinkers I’ve met and the diversity of challenges he has helped us navigate is impressive. I’ve really enjoyed working with Chris and I’m sure he will do great work at whatever he chooses to take on next.

While it is sad to lose such great people, this also creates opportunities for more great leaders who are energized about the path ahead to take on new and bigger roles.

I’m excited that Will Cathcart will be the new head of WhatsApp. Will is one of the most talented leaders at our company — always focused on solving the most important problems for people and clear-eyed about the challenges and tradeoffs we face. Most recently he has done a great job running the Facebook app, where he has led our shift to focusing on meaningful social interactions and has significantly improved the performance and reliability of the app. In his career here, Will has helped lead our teams focused on security and integrity, and he believes deeply in providing end-to-end encryption to everyone in the world across our services.

I’m also excited that Fidji Simo will be the new head of the Facebook app. She is one of our most talented product and organizational leaders — passionate about building community and supporting creativity, and focused on building strong teams and developing future leaders. She has played key roles in building many aspects of the Facebook app, including leading our work on video and advertising. She believes deeply in helping people get more value out of the networks they’ve built. She has already led this team for much of last year while Will was out on parental leave, and she is the clear person to lead these efforts going forward.

Our family of apps strategy has been led jointly by Chris Cox and Javier Olivan. Chris managed the leaders of the apps directly and Javi has been responsible for all of the central product services that work across our apps, including safety and integrity, analytics, growth, and ads. Javi will now lead identifying where our apps should be more integrated. Javi is an incredibly thoughtful, strategic and analytical leader, and I’m confident this work will continue to go well. Since we have now decided on the basic direction of our family of apps for the next few years, I do not plan on immediately appointing anyone to fill Chris’s role in the near term. Instead, the leaders of Facebook (Fidji Simo), Instagram (Adam Mosseri), Messenger (Stan Chudnovsky), and WhatsApp (Will Cathcart) will report directly to me, and our Chief Marketing Officer (Antonio Lucio) will report directly to Sheryl.

This is an important change as we begin the next chapter of our work building the privacy-focused social foundation for the future. I’m deeply grateful for everything Chris Cox and Chris Daniels have done here, and I’m looking forward to working with Will and Fidji in their new roles as well as everyone who will be critical to achieving this vision. We have so much important work ahead and I’m excited to continue working to give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together. 

Chris Cox’s Facebook Post

It is with great sadness I share with you that after thirteen years, I’ve decided to leave the company.

Since I was twenty-three, I’ve poured myself into these walls. The pixels, the code, the products we’ve built together, the language, the culture, the values, the big ideas, and most of all, the people. Most all my personal highs and lows of the last decade have been tied up in the journey of this company, with Mark, and with so many of you. This place will forever be a part of me.

On Monday I gave my last orientation at Facebook to a hundred new faces. For over a decade, I’ve been sharing the same message that Mark and I have always believed: social media’s history is not yet written, and its effects are not neutral. It is tied up in the richness and complexity of social life. As its builders we must endeavor to understand its impact — all the good, and all the bad — and take up the daily work of bending it towards the positive, and towards the good. This is our greatest responsibility.

As Mark has outlined, we are turning a new page in our product direction, focused on an encrypted, interoperable, messaging network. It’s a product vision attuned to the subject matter of today: a modern communications platform that balances expression, safety, security, and privacy. This will be a big project and we will need leaders who are excited to see the new direction through.

I’m proud of the team who will succeed me: Fidji, Will, Adam, Stan, and Antonio. They are strong leaders, serious thinkers, good managers, craftspeople, and most importantly, deeply good people. I trust that, along with Mark, they will carry on the work of building out our platforms in a way that honors the responsibilities we have to the billions of people who rely upon our tools each day.

Mark, thank you for creating this place, and for the chance to work beside a dear friend for over thirteen years. Thank you Sheryl, Schrep, and Javi for your partnership, and for showing me what a wise and dedicated team is meant to be. And to the company: thank you for your creativity, humanity, resilience, and sleepless nights. It has been an honor to work alongside you and I will miss you dearly.

-Chris

[sheminecrafts]

Facebook loses CPO Chris Cox and WhatsApp VP Chris Daniels

13-year Facebook veteran, Chief Product Officer, and the spirit animal of the social network Chris Cox is departing the company after two years of seeking to do something new. Cox’s exit is part of a big executive reshuffle as Facebook embarks on prioritizing privacy through messaging, groups, Stories, and backend unification of its chat features.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg explained the departure of his long-time friend, saying “For a few years, Chris has been discussing with me his desire to do something else . . . But after 2016, we both realized we had too much important work to do to improve our products for society, and he stayed to help us work through these issues and help us chart a course for our family of apps going forward. At this point, we have made real progress . . .  As we embark on this next major chapter, Chris has decided now is the time to step back from leading these teams.”

VP of WhatsApp Chis Daniels leaves Facebook

Cox bowing out after so long is understandable, but more surprising is today’s departure of Chris Daniels, an 8-year employee who was moved from being head of Internet.org to VP of WhatsApp just last May in a major re-org. Daniels always felt like a strange choice to oversee international chat leader WhatsApp and its struggles with misinformation in India given he’d led Internet.org when its zero-rated Free Basics app was banned in India for violating net neutrality.

The changes solidify that Facebook is entering a new era as it chases the trend of feed sharing giving way to private communication. Cox and Daniels may feel they’ve done their part advancing Facebook’s product, and that the company needs renewed energy as it shifts from a relentless growth focus to keeping its users loyal while learning to monetize a new from of social networking.

Here’s the breakdown of the executive changes:

Chris Cox will depart Facebook, but hasn’t revealed plans for what’s next. He will not be immediately replaced

Chris Daniels will leave WhatsApp, and Facebook declined to provide any details on why or the circumstances

Will Cathcart will go from running the main Facebook app to VP of WhatsApp

Fidji Simo who was the VP of Product for Facebook video, news, and advertising will take over Cathcart’s role running Facebook’s main app

Javier Olivan who was Facebook’s VP of growth will lead the task of identifying how to integrate Facebook’s products, including the plan to unify the backend of Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram direct to expand encryption and allow cross-app messaging that some see a shield against Facebook being broken up.

Instagram VP Adam Mosseri, Messenger’s VP Stan Chudnovsky, Simo, and Cathcart will now report directly to  Zuckerberg, while Chief Marketing Officer Antonio Lucio reports to COO Sheryl Sandberg

Cox was one of Facebook’s first 15 engineers, joining in 2005 after Zuckerberg convinced him to drop out of a Stanford grad program. He became Facebook’s Director of Human Resources and then in 2008, its VP of product. He was promoted to CPO in 2014 and aided in Facebook’s clean up after the 2016 presidential election, working on misinformation and at-risk countries to deter future attacks on democracy. Over the years, he remained a fixture of Zuckerberg’s inner circle of friends and lieutenants. Oh, and he’s a wicked keyboardist who plays is a very respectable reggae band.

Known for his hit talk revealing the Timeline profile at F8 2011 and giving rousing orientation speeches to each batch of new Facebook employees, Cox’s departure could drag on Facebook’s already-shaky morale. Some staffers saw him as a preferred replacement for Zuckerberg should he ever leave the CEO role. That leaves the line of succession an open question at Facebook, with Sandberg, Olivan, and Mosseri as the most likely candidates. Cox was seen as so essential that Facebook filed an 8-K disclosure with the SEC about his departure.

The biggest clue to Cox’s departure might be the juxtaposition of a line from his departure note with one from Zuckerberg’s. Cox writes about redefining Facebook around privacy and encryption that “This will be a big project and we will need leaders who are excited to see the new direction through.” Meanwhile, Zuckerberg wrote “Will [Cathcart] has helped lead our teams focused on security and integrity, and he believes deeply in providing end-to-end encryption to everyone in the world across our services.” Reading between the lines, it seems Cathcart was more enthusiastic about executing Facebook’s new roadmap of encryption than Cox.

Some consider encryption as a potential hinderance to other safety work, since it could make it difficult to detect the spread of misinformation or illegal activity. TechCrunch’s investigation into child sexual abuse imagery on WhatsApp revealed that its end-to-end encryption makes to much tougher to catch bad actors.

WhatsApp has an encrypted child porn problem

The change in priority from growth to sustainability through privacy is cemeted by Olivan’s new responsibilities. While rarely in the spotlight, his team was seen as one of the most important and powerful at the company. His talents will be applied to making Facebook’s apps work together to prevent churn of its enormous user base, which will take careful product design and a savvy understanding of people’s expectations. Instagram and WhatsApp have become golden geese for Facebook, and Olivan will have to ensure they’re not tarnished through deeper connections to Facebook’s battered brand.

Mark Zuckerberg’s blog post

Hey everyone — I want to share some important updates as we organize our company to build out the privacy-focused social platform I discussed in my note last week. Embarking on this new vision represents the start of a new chapter for us.

As part of this, I’m sad to share the news that Chris Cox has decided to leave the company. Chris and I have worked closely together to build our products for more than a decade and I will always appreciate his deep empathy for the people using our services and the uplifting spirit he brings to everything he does. He has played so many central roles at Facebook — starting as an engineer on our original News Feed, building our first HR teams and helping to define our mission and values, leading our product and design teams, running the Facebook app, and most recently overseeing the strategy for our family of apps. Along the way, Chris has helped train many great leaders who are now in important roles across the company — including some who will now take on bigger roles in our new product efforts.

For a few years, Chris has been discussing with me his desire to do something else. He is one of the most talented people I know and he has the potential to do anything he wants. But after 2016, we both realized we had too much important work to do to improve our products for society, and he stayed to help us work through these issues and help us chart a course for our family of apps going forward. At this point, we have made real progress on many issues and we have a clear plan for our apps, centered around making private messaging, stories and groups the foundation of the experience, including enabling encryption and interoperability across our services. As we embark on this next major chapter, Chris has decided now is the time to step back from leading these teams. I will really miss Chris, but mostly I am deeply grateful for everything he has done to build this place and serve our community.

At the same time, as we embark on this new chapter, Chris Daniels has also decided to leave the company. Chris has also done great work in many roles, including running our business development team, leading Internet.org, which has helped more than 100 million people get access to the internet, and most recently at WhatsApp, where he has helped define the business model for our messaging services going forward. Chris is one of the clearest and most principled business thinkers I’ve met and the diversity of challenges he has helped us navigate is impressive. I’ve really enjoyed working with Chris and I’m sure he will do great work at whatever he chooses to take on next.

While it is sad to lose such great people, this also creates opportunities for more great leaders who are energized about the path ahead to take on new and bigger roles.

I’m excited that Will Cathcart will be the new head of WhatsApp. Will is one of the most talented leaders at our company — always focused on solving the most important problems for people and clear-eyed about the challenges and tradeoffs we face. Most recently he has done a great job running the Facebook app, where he has led our shift to focusing on meaningful social interactions and has significantly improved the performance and reliability of the app. In his career here, Will has helped lead our teams focused on security and integrity, and he believes deeply in providing end-to-end encryption to everyone in the world across our services.

I’m also excited that Fidji Simo will be the new head of the Facebook app. She is one of our most talented product and organizational leaders — passionate about building community and supporting creativity, and focused on building strong teams and developing future leaders. She has played key roles in building many aspects of the Facebook app, including leading our work on video and advertising. She believes deeply in helping people get more value out of the networks they’ve built. She has already led this team for much of last year while Will was out on parental leave, and she is the clear person to lead these efforts going forward.

Our family of apps strategy has been led jointly by Chris Cox and Javier Olivan. Chris managed the leaders of the apps directly and Javi has been responsible for all of the central product services that work across our apps, including safety and integrity, analytics, growth, and ads. Javi will now lead identifying where our apps should be more integrated. Javi is an incredibly thoughtful, strategic and analytical leader, and I’m confident this work will continue to go well. Since we have now decided on the basic direction of our family of apps for the next few years, I do not plan on immediately appointing anyone to fill Chris’s role in the near term. Instead, the leaders of Facebook (Fidji Simo), Instagram (Adam Mosseri), Messenger (Stan Chudnovsky), and WhatsApp (Will Cathcart) will report directly to me, and our Chief Marketing Officer (Antonio Lucio) will report directly to Sheryl.

This is an important change as we begin the next chapter of our work building the privacy-focused social foundation for the future. I’m deeply grateful for everything Chris Cox and Chris Daniels have done here, and I’m looking forward to working with Will and Fidji in their new roles as well as everyone who will be critical to achieving this vision. We have so much important work ahead and I’m excited to continue working to give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together. 

Chris Cox’s Facebook Post

It is with great sadness I share with you that after thirteen years, I’ve decided to leave the company.

Since I was twenty-three, I’ve poured myself into these walls. The pixels, the code, the products we’ve built together, the language, the culture, the values, the big ideas, and most of all, the people. Most all my personal highs and lows of the last decade have been tied up in the journey of this company, with Mark, and with so many of you. This place will forever be a part of me.

On Monday I gave my last orientation at Facebook to a hundred new faces. For over a decade, I’ve been sharing the same message that Mark and I have always believed: social media’s history is not yet written, and its effects are not neutral. It is tied up in the richness and complexity of social life. As its builders we must endeavor to understand its impact — all the good, and all the bad — and take up the daily work of bending it towards the positive, and towards the good. This is our greatest responsibility.

As Mark has outlined, we are turning a new page in our product direction, focused on an encrypted, interoperable, messaging network. It’s a product vision attuned to the subject matter of today: a modern communications platform that balances expression, safety, security, and privacy. This will be a big project and we will need leaders who are excited to see the new direction through.

I’m proud of the team who will succeed me: Fidji, Will, Adam, Stan, and Antonio. They are strong leaders, serious thinkers, good managers, craftspeople, and most importantly, deeply good people. I trust that, along with Mark, they will carry on the work of building out our platforms in a way that honors the responsibilities we have to the billions of people who rely upon our tools each day.

Mark, thank you for creating this place, and for the chance to work beside a dear friend for over thirteen years. Thank you Sheryl, Schrep, and Javi for your partnership, and for showing me what a wise and dedicated team is meant to be. And to the company: thank you for your creativity, humanity, resilience, and sleepless nights. It has been an honor to work alongside you and I will miss you dearly.

-Chris

from iraidajzsmmwtv https://ift.tt/2UAkEaZ via IFTTT

#IFTTT #iraidajzsmmwtv

[sheminecrafts]

Facebook loses CPO Chris Cox and WhatsApp VP Chris Daniels

13-year Facebook veteran, Chief Product Officer, and the spirit animal of the social network Chris Cox is departing the company after two years of seeking to do something new. Cox’s exit is part of a big executive reshuffle as Facebook embarks on prioritizing privacy through messaging, groups, Stories, and backend unification of its chat features.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg explained the departure of his long-time friend, saying “For a few years, Chris has been discussing with me his desire to do something else . . . But after 2016, we both realized we had too much important work to do to improve our products for society, and he stayed to help us work through these issues and help us chart a course for our family of apps going forward. At this point, we have made real progress . . .  As we embark on this next major chapter, Chris has decided now is the time to step back from leading these teams.”

VP of WhatsApp Chis Daniels leaves Facebook

Cox bowing out after so long is understandable, but more surprising is today’s departure of Chris Daniels, an 8-year employee who was moved from being head of Internet.org to VP of WhatsApp just last May in a major re-org. Daniels always felt like a strange choice to oversee international chat leader WhatsApp and its struggles with misinformation in India given he’d led Internet.org when its zero-rated Free Basics app was banned in India for violating net neutrality.

The changes solidify that Facebook is entering a new era as it chases the trend of feed sharing giving way to private communication. Cox and Daniels may feel they’ve done their part advancing Facebook’s product, and that the company needs renewed energy as it shifts from a relentless growth focus to keeping its users loyal while learning to monetize a new from of social networking.

Here’s the breakdown of the executive changes:

Chris Cox will depart Facebook, but hasn’t revealed plans for what’s next. He will not be immediately replaced

Chris Daniels will leave WhatsApp, and Facebook declined to provide any details on why or the circumstances

Will Cathcart will go from running the main Facebook app to VP of WhatsApp

Fidji Simo who was the VP of Product for Facebook video, news, and advertising will take over Cathcart’s role running Facebook’s main app

Javier Olivan who was Facebook’s VP of growth will lead the task of identifying how to integrate Facebook’s products, including the plan to unify the backend of Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram direct to expand encryption and allow cross-app messaging that some see a shield against Facebook being broken up.

Instagram VP Adam Mosseri, Messenger’s VP Stan Chudnovsky, Simo, and Cathcart will now report directly to  Zuckerberg, while Chief Marketing Officer Antonio Lucio reports to COO Sheryl Sandberg

Cox was one of Facebook’s first 15 engineers, joining in 2005 after Zuckerberg convinced him to drop out of a Stanford grad program. He became Facebook’s Director of Human Resources and then in 2008, its VP of product. He was promoted to CPO in 2014 and aided in Facebook’s clean up after the 2016 presidential election, working on misinformation and at-risk countries to deter future attacks on democracy. Over the years, he remained a fixture of Zuckerberg’s inner circle of friends and lieutenants. Oh, and he’s a wicked keyboardist who plays is a very respectable reggae band.

Known for his hit talk revealing the Timeline profile at F8 2011 and giving rousing orientation speeches to each batch of new Facebook employees, Cox’s departure could drag on Facebook’s already-shaky morale. Some staffers saw him as a preferred replacement for Zuckerberg should he ever leave the CEO role. That leaves the line of succession an open question at Facebook, with Sandberg, Olivan, and Mosseri as the most likely candidates. Cox was seen as so essential that Facebook filed an 8-K disclosure with the SEC about his departure.

The biggest clue to Cox’s departure might be the juxtaposition of a line from his departure note with one from Zuckerberg’s. Cox writes about redefining Facebook around privacy and encryption that “This will be a big project and we will need leaders who are excited to see the new direction through.” Meanwhile, Zuckerberg wrote “Will [Cathcart] has helped lead our teams focused on security and integrity, and he believes deeply in providing end-to-end encryption to everyone in the world across our services.” Reading between the lines, it seems Cathcart was more enthusiastic about executing Facebook’s new roadmap of encryption than Cox.

Some consider encryption as a potential hinderance to other safety work, since it could make it difficult to detect the spread of misinformation or illegal activity. TechCrunch’s investigation into child sexual abuse imagery on WhatsApp revealed that its end-to-end encryption makes to much tougher to catch bad actors.

The change in priority from growth to sustainability through privacy is cemeted by Olivan’s new responsibilities. While rarely in the spotlight, his team was seen as one of the most important and powerful at the company. His talents will be applied to making Facebook’s apps work together to prevent churn of its enormous user base, which will take careful product design and a savvy understanding of people’s expectations. Instagram and WhatsApp have become golden geese for Facebook, and Olivan will have to ensure they’re not tarnished through deeper connections to Facebook’s battered brand.

Mark Zuckerberg’s blog post

Hey everyone — I want to share some important updates as we organize our company to build out the privacy-focused social platform I discussed in my note last week. Embarking on this new vision represents the start of a new chapter for us.

As part of this, I’m sad to share the news that Chris Cox has decided to leave the company. Chris and I have worked closely together to build our products for more than a decade and I will always appreciate his deep empathy for the people using our services and the uplifting spirit he brings to everything he does. He has played so many central roles at Facebook — starting as an engineer on our original News Feed, building our first HR teams and helping to define our mission and values, leading our product and design teams, running the Facebook app, and most recently overseeing the strategy for our family of apps. Along the way, Chris has helped train many great leaders who are now in important roles across the company — including some who will now take on bigger roles in our new product efforts.

For a few years, Chris has been discussing with me his desire to do something else. He is one of the most talented people I know and he has the potential to do anything he wants. But after 2016, we both realized we had too much important work to do to improve our products for society, and he stayed to help us work through these issues and help us chart a course for our family of apps going forward. At this point, we have made real progress on many issues and we have a clear plan for our apps, centered around making private messaging, stories and groups the foundation of the experience, including enabling encryption and interoperability across our services. As we embark on this next major chapter, Chris has decided now is the time to step back from leading these teams. I will really miss Chris, but mostly I am deeply grateful for everything he has done to build this place and serve our community.

At the same time, as we embark on this new chapter, Chris Daniels has also decided to leave the company. Chris has also done great work in many roles, including running our business development team, leading Internet.org, which has helped more than 100 million people get access to the internet, and most recently at WhatsApp, where he has helped define the business model for our messaging services going forward. Chris is one of the clearest and most principled business thinkers I’ve met and the diversity of challenges he has helped us navigate is impressive. I’ve really enjoyed working with Chris and I’m sure he will do great work at whatever he chooses to take on next.

While it is sad to lose such great people, this also creates opportunities for more great leaders who are energized about the path ahead to take on new and bigger roles.

I’m excited that Will Cathcart will be the new head of WhatsApp. Will is one of the most talented leaders at our company — always focused on solving the most important problems for people and clear-eyed about the challenges and tradeoffs we face. Most recently he has done a great job running the Facebook app, where he has led our shift to focusing on meaningful social interactions and has significantly improved the performance and reliability of the app. In his career here, Will has helped lead our teams focused on security and integrity, and he believes deeply in providing end-to-end encryption to everyone in the world across our services.

I’m also excited that Fidji Simo will be the new head of the Facebook app. She is one of our most talented product and organizational leaders — passionate about building community and supporting creativity, and focused on building strong teams and developing future leaders. She has played key roles in building many aspects of the Facebook app, including leading our work on video and advertising. She believes deeply in helping people get more value out of the networks they’ve built. She has already led this team for much of last year while Will was out on parental leave, and she is the clear person to lead these efforts going forward.

Our family of apps strategy has been led jointly by Chris Cox and Javier Olivan. Chris managed the leaders of the apps directly and Javi has been responsible for all of the central product services that work across our apps, including safety and integrity, analytics, growth, and ads. Javi will now lead identifying where our apps should be more integrated. Javi is an incredibly thoughtful, strategic and analytical leader, and I’m confident this work will continue to go well. Since we have now decided on the basic direction of our family of apps for the next few years, I do not plan on immediately appointing anyone to fill Chris’s role in the near term. Instead, the leaders of Facebook (Fidji Simo), Instagram (Adam Mosseri), Messenger (Stan Chudnovsky), and WhatsApp (Will Cathcart) will report directly to me, and our Chief Marketing Officer (Antonio Lucio) will report directly to Sheryl.

This is an important change as we begin the next chapter of our work building the privacy-focused social foundation for the future. I’m deeply grateful for everything Chris Cox and Chris Daniels have done here, and I’m looking forward to working with Will and Fidji in their new roles as well as everyone who will be critical to achieving this vision. We have so much important work ahead and I’m excited to continue working to give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together. 

Chris Cox’s Facebook Post

It is with great sadness I share with you that after thirteen years, I’ve decided to leave the company.

Since I was twenty-three, I’ve poured myself into these walls. The pixels, the code, the products we’ve built together, the language, the culture, the values, the big ideas, and most of all, the people. Most all my personal highs and lows of the last decade have been tied up in the journey of this company, with Mark, and with so many of you. This place will forever be a part of me.

On Monday I gave my last orientation at Facebook to a hundred new faces. For over a decade, I’ve been sharing the same message that Mark and I have always believed: social media’s history is not yet written, and its effects are not neutral. It is tied up in the richness and complexity of social life. As its builders we must endeavor to understand its impact — all the good, and all the bad — and take up the daily work of bending it towards the positive, and towards the good. This is our greatest responsibility.

As Mark has outlined, we are turning a new page in our product direction, focused on an encrypted, interoperable, messaging network. It’s a product vision attuned to the subject matter of today: a modern communications platform that balances expression, safety, security, and privacy. This will be a big project and we will need leaders who are excited to see the new direction through.

I’m proud of the team who will succeed me: Fidji, Will, Adam, Stan, and Antonio. They are strong leaders, serious thinkers, good managers, craftspeople, and most importantly, deeply good people. I trust that, along with Mark, they will carry on the work of building out our platforms in a way that honors the responsibilities we have to the billions of people who rely upon our tools each day.

Mark, thank you for creating this place, and for the chance to work beside a dear friend for over thirteen years. Thank you Sheryl, Schrep, and Javi for your partnership, and for showing me what a wise and dedicated team is meant to be. And to the company: thank you for your creativity, humanity, resilience, and sleepless nights. It has been an honor to work alongside you and I will miss you dearly.

-Chris

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