#doctor who cuckoo theory

[iconsumethesoulsofthedamned]

Doctor who time lord cuckoo theory got me acting strange.

#ITS JUST SO GOOD #GREAT META ANALYSIS #fanart #ictsotd-art #10th doctor #doctor who #doctor who fanart #10th doctor fanart #digital art #time lords #space #doctor who cuckoo theory #artists on tumblr

[cyanmountains]

The Lost 🤝 The Not-Things

Telepathic shapeshifters outside of normal spacetime who take the forms of the doctor and their recent companions, attack their emotional weaknesses and relish in causing fear

#dt uses a similar voice for the lost and the not-doctor (at least initially) #space carcinization cuckoo theory <- wish i could find the theory posts again but if you know you know #dalek universe #doctor who eu #the lost #wild blue yonder

[strangestcase]

Tell me about your version of Jekyll and Hyde. Just go for it, dont hold back. Info dump at me. I can take it

“So, about these… Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?”

MURIEL CAREW- “Dear Henry… He is many things. A selfless researcher, a proper gentleman, a loyal friend, an experienced professor, wonderful company at dinner parties, and the most dedicated doctor down at Bedlam House. How generous and kind they are! A man with such a good reputation was expected to keep up that prim image and not stain his record- so of course it was a surprise when that… fellow claimed to be associated with him.

Jekyll always brushed it off. He was a patient of his, he said, a troublesome yet fascinating man. And how troublesome, this Hyde was. But the good doctor insisted their mind was worth studying, and everyone assumed they meant its obvious abnormal behavior. When he became his protégé, now, it was clear it was a case of blackmail. With every passing day, the young lad turned more and more monstrous, abandoned to vice, until it culminated with the murder of my fath- well, you’ve read it all on the papers.”

LUCY HARRIS- “Henry Jekyll is a pretty nice guy. Real polite. A bit weird, gotta give it to ya. I just don’t know what he saw on Eddie. That tosser still owes me… let’s see, three tables, ten chairs, and so many drinks. He keeps terrorizing my clients, too, even when there’s a reward for its head… if you ever see the ugly fuck, send it over to me. We have stuff to settle.”

HASTINGS LANYON- “Oh, Dr. Jekyll is a good friend, yes, but I’m afraid he‘s going a little cuckoo. Their work was always a little out there, sure. The Aspect Theory, however, is absolute garbage. Scientific heresies, I’d say. Sounds like something a madman could come up with in a dream. A complete disregard for all reasonable organization of the human brain. The Duality of Man. Ridiculous! I am me, and no-one else. What is he trying to say?

As for the ethical concerns… Thankfully my position at the Ethics Board allowed me to block those proposals. They were rather implausible. Separating the key components of the psyche, curing evil… destroying free will...

Then… there’s Edward Hyde. I had the pleasure of meeting him on a couple of occasions. If I got to be honest, I understand why Henry finds him so fascinating. Whatever is going on behind those creepy, glassy eyes must be absolutely wild. It’s an enigma why Jekyll never had them properly lobotomized, particularly after the Carew thing. Our poor friend Muriel is still grieving her father’s death.”

EMMA CAREW- “Hyde. Wasn’t that the guy who killed our dad? Muriel is still fuming about it.”

LISA CAREW- “Awwww, Dr. Jekyll is so dreamy… shut UP, Emma, I know he’s twice my age! Wait, what do you mean he doesn’t swing that way…?”

SIMON STRIDE- “A fucking twat, that’s what Henry Jekyll is… Bonkers fucking ideas, such as that ridiculous… Aspect Theory, he called it. Pure bullshit. Worst part was, I was already working on my own psychoanalytical model at the time. And then they had the balls to claim I was copying him!

About his plans… What was it, making a drug? Eugh. No wonder Dr. Lanyon doesn’t approve of it… What even did he plan to do with that, feed it to our lunatics?

Edward Hyde…? Oh, you mean the freak that killed Sir Danvers? Met him once. I wouldn’t be surprised if Jekyll had already injected him with some of their concoctions. Man’s crazy, I tell you… but if he was to kill the doctor… I’ll be fair, I really wouldn’t care!”

IVY PETERSON- “I… I don’t think I’m allowed to say anything about Mr. Hyde… though… I tell you, Dr. Jekyll has been nothing but sweet to me… very understanding… even tried to get Ed to reason-

Sorry, sorry, sorry… talked too much, didn’t I?”

GABRIEL UTTERSON- “Henry is my best friend. I don’t know what would I do if anything happened to him…

He’s a wonderful person. A little feisty sometimes… and eccentric. I am aware Jekyll isn’t quite the person most people see when they look at him. I get it; it must be exhausting trying to keep a facade all day. They don’t really like that many people other than me, among them Muriel… and Hastings… I never got to ask her what had caused him to fall out with Harry in such a way.

Whatever that awful man -if it is even a man- wants with him, they won’t have it.

And, please? Don’t listen to Professor Stride. He’s a massive jerk, that’s what he is.”

LOUIS AMBARSAND- “Oh, I work with him at Bedlam. Yes, he’s a funny guy. As for Hyde, well, never met him.“

HENRY JEKYLL- “Um… you mean… me? Talk about me? Golly- I refuse to answer this question. It‘s a trick, isn’t it?”

EDWARD HYDE- “FUCK OFF MATE WHAT’RE YA, A FUCKIN’ COP? DAMN BLOODY WANKER.”

#doc talks #jekyll and hyde #dr jekyll and mr hyde #jh #gothic fiction #gothic literature #long post

[dream-girls-evil]

Ratched: Episode 8 Reactions

Three Months Later

It’s here! The finale!!! I did watch this while slightly intoxicated

Pinecone people aren’t creepy, nope, not at all

....Shrunken Apple, however

Literally who let Louise work here (I know it’s Betsy but still)

“Louise, I love and pity you, but you terrify the patients”

Ooh Louise and Betsy aren’t on the same page about Edmund anymore—and therefore probably about Mildred as well

Ooh Mildred and Gwen 😍

Oh honey. Chemo is no fun 😞

Ahhh the classic lesbian pose! No for real, historically pictures of women posed with one sitting and the other kneeling or one standing and the other sitting, that kind of thing, was used to signify that a book or magazine or what have you was about a lesbian relationship

Well, it seems like Mildred’s come to terms with not being able to save Edmund, but does Edmund know that?

Oop and Mildred is imagining dying in Mexico. Romantic?

Aw Mildred. So hopeful. I really hope Gwen is okay.

Ah I was right it seems that Mildred doesn’t work at Lucia anymore

Betsy found a woman doctor yay!!!

Betsy really coming through with comforting Mildred! Still the must unexpected alliance

Her tune changes a little when Mildred isn’t around, but I still don’t think she really believes in execution, and she can feel sympathy for Mildred’s pain without forgiving Edmund for his crimes

What if Edmund just like, made a dashing getaway on horseback? No?

Is Mildred gonna be here watching the execution?

Ugh this asshole governor—OH the electric chair...this is going to be much more painful than an injection. Mildred’s going to panic and realize she has to figure out something to save Edmund?

Oh my god he’s on fire. This is horrible.

Ew can they kill him? The way he thinks it’s okay to talk about their bodies is disgusting.

Okay so Mildred is still not arguing for a stay of execution, just for going back to the injection.

Gwen putting her arm behind Mildred’s back and touching her hand is so sweet but like be careful

The LOOK Mildred gives him

The close ups on this guy’s mouth make me so uncomfortable

Gwen check yourself.

Aaand he knows.

Dude that is FAR from the only reason she wouldn’t sleep with you.

Oh good so at least he’s not a homophobe (insert eye roll here)

Lmao Betsy I really don’t think they’re here to talk about catered lunches

Is Mildred gonna try to kill him herself? Ah Yep.

Angels of mercy 🙃

I do not think this is going to go smoothly. Edmund’s going to get away, isn’t he? And he’s going to HATE Mildred. Maybe he already hates her for not being able to save him from this.

Haha he thinks there’s rat poison in the food. That would be far too simple.

Suddenly Edmund is just a little kid talking about animals

The Escape

Charlotte Wells!!!

Not Charlotte Wells. Technically.

...no. Don’t tell me.

Y E P omg they’re really saying she absorbed Dr Hanover as another personality after killing him?

Does Betsy even know Hanover is dead? Did Mildred ever tell her?

Omg wonder if Charlotte is gonna help Edmund escape. I mean, that was Hanover’s plan with Charlotte—spirit her away so that he could cure her and prove himself.

Nothing bad better happen to Huck. Like they’re trusting him to help with Edmund and now help with Charlotte WHO JUST FOUND A GUN.

Oh man that’s how Huck got his burns

Okay maybe reminding her of Harold isn’t the best idea. The man was murdered right in front of her.

NOOOO NOT HUCK

SECRET DOOR?! FUCK!!!

Why do people say “you’re gonna have to shoot me”? That’s like...a really good way to get shot.

YEEEP I WAS RIGHT SHE’S GONNA TAKE EDMUND

Do NOT shoot Betsy do NOT.

I love how Edmund still believes Mildred has a plan to save him.

Fuuuuck Betsy don’t tell him!!!

Fuck. I was right. He knows Mildred was going to kill him, and he’s going to hate her for it.

Fuck Mildred’s going to show up to Lucia and see that all of this has happened!!!

Lol what if she actually passed their car it would be like the meme

Omg she DID

1950

...and now suddenly it’s 1950???

Gwen!!! Well she’s got her hair back so I’m guessing she’s in remission

Edmund hasn’t killed again? Doubtful. He probably just changed his MO.

BETSY

I’m glad she’s cool with the lesbians

Good on Betsy for moving with the times and realizing her old treatments were bad

What is Mildred looking at?? Please don’t say Edmund. Is she just lost in thought or is she always on edge like this? Waiting to him to appear out of the shadows and take everything from her?

“It’s so nice to be rid of them” “Who?” “Men!” I LOVE IT

Fuck fuck fuck she’s going back to the house on her own. She’s gonna find something or he’s going to appear. She feels herself being watched. He’s there, isn’t he?

KNIFE OH NO

Good she has a gun, but this whole thing is definitely not going to get wrapped up that easy. It’s going to be a cliffhanger or otherwise drawn out.

CHARLOTTE FUCK

Bathing in blood okay Dandy

Fuuuck no bullets NO!!!

Omfg a DREAM?!?! I hate everything. That was too stressful.

Ahhh another pretty nightgown for Mildred!

I love Gwen comforting her. This is definitely a routine.

I love Betsy, she’s delightful.

Fuck I bet there’s actually gonna be something in the newspaper this time.

Multiple murder in Chicago.

Seven nurses. Yep that’s Edmund.

How long is this telephone cord?!

Someone she knows sold her out. But who knows she there except for Betsy?? Please don’t say it’s Betsy.

Ooh she’s coming for YOU, Edmund.

LOUISE GODDAMNIT

Thoughts and Theories

Well that was a ride!!! Honestly, nothing too unexpected, but that’s not a bad thing! A few plot twists are always good, but I hate stories where literally nothing is predictable, because then it’s just confusing. A good story should give you enough hints that by the end you can figure out how the pieces go together. Charlotte showing back up was a surprise, but as soon as she did, I could see where things were gonna go. Still raging about their portrayal of DID tho. And now we have the lead into next season! I still can’t believe it was Louise. She’s so kooky that it should be funny but man is she insufferable.

So now we’ve got the set up for next season: a cat and mouse game between Mildred and Edmund. Plus whoever they’ve got in tow. I highly doubt Edmund will keep Charlotte and Louise around for long, but Mildred has Gwen, and that’s worrying. Either she’s going to get left behind for safety or she’s going to get roped into this chase and something terrible will probably happen to her. There’s just really no good ending to this love story, considering we know who Mildred ends up being. Honestly, best case scenario is that Gwen leaves of her own volition because she can’t be okay with knowing there will probably be casualties in Mildred’s feud and that Mildred will consider them justified. But who knows? The last episode did redeem their relationship for me a bit though. It’s clear that there were definitely talks and negotiations during these past two years about Mildred’s past and how they communicate. I just wish we could have seen them.

Honestly, the thing that worries me most about this is that I have no idea how we’re going to end up getting to Cuckoo’s Nest from here. How and why will she end up back at Lucia after all of this? What will happen to Betsy and Gwen that they’re not with her anymore by the time she does? How is this personal fight with Edmund going to translate into her being someone who is really a product of an institutional problem? I actually have an essay in progress on the last point, which in summary is that I really don’t think they will be able to bridge that gap successfully or are even really trying to.

Final notes: I love Betsy Bucket and hope you enjoyed my reactions!

#ratched #mildred ratched #ratched spoilers #all hail the queue of hell #betsy bucket #nurse bucket #edmund tolleson #charlotte wells #gwendolyn briggs

[roominthecastle]

If I remember correctly, both Red and Jon used the word “assume” in regards to Tom being babydad. Another thing to put on the “Agnesgate is just a fun theory but it sure is interesting” list ;) (if I remember it wrong, just ignore, lol)

Yes, I remember that too, anon! I think he said it was not safe to assume he was the father but they were going w/ it. Could be his inability to answer a question w/ a simple yes/no, or… :D And I’m gonna grab this opportunity to add some other smaller items to this aptly named list that may or may not be relevant:

(1) the cuckoo clock scene in 413 and the linked theme of “not knowing one’s origins”

Red: (handing over a box) The truth will out. It always does.Liz: What is this?Red: For Agnes.Liz: (opening it) Oh, it’s beautiful.Red: You’ll find your time with her goes by too quickly. That’s why cuckoo clocks are perfect. I don’t really care what time it is, I just want to hear the birds sing.

Cuckoos laying their eggs in the nest of other birds gels w/ the possible Red-Katarina parallel of “my child is being raised by someone else” that Cape May was toying with, and if we look at that clock scene through this specific filter (which is already bias, I know, but we are having fun here), “I don’t care when, I just wanna know” is a fitting remark for Red to make if he suspects something. There’s a nice parallel btw the phrase “the truth will out” and the clock that pushes a cuckoo out to sing. “the bird is singing” is an idiomatic expression meaning a confession of a secret. And when a cuckoo lays its egg in another bird’s nest, the jig is usually not up until the chick starts growing, but then it becomes kinda obvious. (it’s also obvious that I am reading v heavily into this clock thing but oh well)

This is also the episode where Tom’s like “my biological father was a stranger to me, why should I care?” It’s followed by the odd moment where he tells Liz there is only one thing he wants to know and she kinda freezes for a second. Then he cracks a joke, asking when he became the old guy who falls asleep on the couch, which is another curious remark given that it was Red who nodded off on that very same couch as he was waiting for Liz to come home after their clash over the pregnancy.

(2) To continue on the bird path, Dr. Krilov’s name means “wing” and we still don’t know what memories he meddled with, so I def wanna hear him sing but as we know, caged birds don’t sing, so someone needs to free him stat.

(3) In 415, Red is dying. A concoction was made to target his “preexisting conditions” (which the episode never reveals) by someone who knew his detailed medical history (thanks, Mr. Kaplan), and the way Red echoes the blacklister of the episode is also quite interesting:

Red: I’ve lived my entire adult life surrounded by a corona of death. Some days I’ve even longed for it. But lately, I find I’m unwilling to go gentle into that good night.Blacklister: I’m not afraid to die, but it turns out I have something to live for. I’m gonna be a father.

(4) In 603, we learn that about a year ago Red hired a bio hacker specializing in human gene editing to work on a yet-to-be-disclosed project for him. In case of pregnancies where the father’s age is more advanced, the risk of genetic issues also goes up. Or Red may have a hereditary condition or a predisposition (see above the undisclosed medical history) which could affect Agnes, too, if she is his.

In 320, the doctor is asking about the medical histories of Agnes’ parents saying “the more genetic blanks I can fill in the charts, the better I know what to screen for.” Tom had no info to offer and this scene (similarly to the random cuckoo clock gift) had no clear relevance to anything, so it’s possible that whatever standard genetic screening was done on baby Agnes missed something, something Red is maybe aware of and is trying to stay ahead of?

If the Raymond/Katarina/Kirk/Liz & Red/Liz/Tom/Agnes parallels are not a result of coincidence or simple teasing, then a genetic issue might be what leads to the reveal of Agnes’ true “origin” just like it did in case of Liz and Kirk when they discovered the cover up after a genetic testing.

#anonymous #tbl spec #or more like mass spec #i also got a good message concerning the holes in this theory which is coming up next #bc it never hurts to try and shred a theory to see how well it actually holds up

[littlemisssquiggles]

Hello! I'm sorry if I'm bothering you, but have you watched the Alita Battle Angel movie? If not, the synopsys is that an old doctor finds a cyborg bust in a scrapyard of trash that is dumped everyday by the floating city above, called Zalem. In your latest musing you mentioned something about trash being dumped from Atlas. What would you think if Upper Atlas were similar and it would dump trash in a scapyard, in Lower Atlas? And the workers there making use of it however they can?

‘SupYellow.Always a pleasure to hear from you so no worries there fam. Unfortunately I have notseen Alita.But I definitely want to since I’ve heard positive things about it; both themanga and the recent film adaptation. Despite knowing jack about the series, Ido like the idea you present here. 

It wouldn’t surpriseme if something like that were possible with Atlas. It’s funny. Folks keepreferring to Atlas by Upper and Lower. Wouldn't Upper Atlas technically be just Atlas while the lower sector is the remnants of Mantle?

That’swhat I assumed it was. The lower city being Mantle below, unless I am deeplymistaken. I like the idea of Atlas dumping their trashinto Mantle with the People of Mantle living the life of scavengers;only managing to survive due to their resourceful nature by crafting workingmachinery and equipment from whatever scraps of and parts they managed tosalvage and/or pilfer from the junkyards dumped from Atlas.

It’dbe interesting if Atlas has become rather snobbish and discriminatory towardtheir Mantlese brethren over the years to the point that they don’t even donate their broken or unused materials to Mantle’scitadel, only granting them use of whatever they can scavenge from the massivepiles of junk they dump into their kingdom periodically. Like the rich andelite only granting charity to the poor by allowing them to take what they canfrom their trash bins for the week and considering that an act of generosity.

Imagine if … the Atlesians are the typeswho have grown so spoilt from their riches that they no longer see worth in their products anymore. To Atlas, it’s allabout advancement.Forwardever, backward never and when theold outdates the new, the old is disposed of so that the new can rise up andthrive. Take over even and lead them successfully towards a bright future. Itwouldn’t surprise if that is the mantra of Atlas because that is precisely whathappened with Atlas and Mantle’s history. Atlas rose up to the point that it overshadowed Mantle and rather than aid those left behind intheir predecessor kingdom, it seems that Atlas has lost all touch with itsroots.

Allthe more reason why I’m digging the concept of the People of Mantle being scavengers—thegood kind who see worth ineverything around them, since their generations have been forced to survive onso little for so long and thus become more adaptive and more appreciative ofwhat they have and cherish.  And becauseof that, they are able to make wonders with what bit they can use from the UpperWorld.

Thisalso makes me think of a really cool hunch I have concerning Penny Polendina’sfather/creator. For the sake of my musings, I’m going to refer to him as Dr. Japheth Polendina until his official canon name is revealed. If mymemory serves correctly, Gepetto isthe Italian form of the name Japheth whichis a name of Hebrew origin meaning ‘expansion’.  

I think Japheth is afitting pseudo-name for Dr. Polendina since my assumption is that he is a greatand well-renowned scientist and inventor in Atlas whose inventions hascontributed towards the kingdoms’ advancement. Makes sense, right? Beyond that,another theory I have is Dr. Polendina is unlike a lot of Atlesians . Itwouldn’t surprise me if Dr. Polendina, like many from his generation (MariaCalavera and Nicholas Schnee) was born after the Great War and contributedtowards Atlas taking over from Mantle.

Howeverunlike other Atlesians who seem to have discarded theirMantlese heritage and traditions, Dr. Polendina still holds stubbornly onto his.I like the irony of Dr. Polendina being old-fashioned despite being the inventor of so many creationsthat helped Atlas move forward. I think that could be a cool contrast to hischaracter. I like the idea of Dr. Polendina being a smart yet modest and humbleold man (maybe even a lil cuckoo for coco puffs), who doesn’t just create foradvancement but rather help humanity because he genuinely sees wonder and value in everything around him. Despite it being a traditionhis younger associates don’t understand and have tried to beat out of him foryears, y’know since they all mostly consider him a fossil and only keep himaround for his unique genius. Nonetheless Dr. Polendina sees worth in everything—includinga lifeless robotic husk he treated and loved like a daughter. That’s my theoryfor Dr. Polendina if you or anyone who were ever curious.

Ithink an anon-ninja once asked me what elements of Gepetto/Pinocchio I think will be incorporated in V7. Well I thinkthat’s one of them. I’d love to think that Japheth also shares a history with Arthur Watts.I can’t help this nagging hunch I have that Arthur Watts was probably the formerapprentice of Dr. Polendina who he loved like a son.

Inthe Pinocchio tale, Geppetto was an elderly woodcarver whoseemed to not have any former children of his own hence why he createdPinocchio and wished for him to be a real boy.

Imagine if it was the same for Dr.Polendina. Whatif… Japheth was a man who had dedicated his life so much toadvancing Atlas that he never got the chance to have the thing he wanted morethan anything—a family or at least someone to love him like one. Picture Japheth living a depressing life where he losttouch with his former family in Mantle and the closest thing to a family he hadin Atlas was a former apprentice who he cherished like the child he never had whoended up betrayinghim before disappearing entirely,believed to be dead (i.e. Dr. Arthur Watts) and lastly, Penny—the android heloved like a daughter but also ultimately lost.

Ican go on and on about my theories for Dr. Polendina but that’s the theory Imainly wish to share here. As you brought up Alita, it made me think ofsomething interesting. I have this Penny-centric theorywhere as soon as our heroes arrive in Atlas, they soon discover, much toRuby’s shock and disgust that Penny was made into a line of sentient service androidswho was being mass produced and sold to the People of Atlas.

Picture Detroit Become Human but with just Penny asthe sole android series. RWBY Chibi S2 kindof teased the concept of Penny being sold as a doll. So what ifthat will be the case for V7? What if…in current Atlas, Penny is now a popular brand of service androiddolls sold to the Atlesian public to perform many different roles insociety. Picture Penny being like the Barbie Doll of Atlas exceptthat she’s a life-sized sentient machine. Picture all kinds of Penny models beingsold each programmed with a series of different functions tailor made to fitwhatever role her user/buyer bought her to perform.

Imagine Ruby standing in acity populated with different Pennies—-Waitress Penny, Nurse Penny, Traffic Cop Penny, TourGuide Penny, etc.—who all look and sound just like Ruby’s Pennybut isn’t her. And what’s even more horrifying to Ruby is what Penny’s legacyhas dissolved into. Back in V3 I believe, Penny told Ruby that she wasoriginally made to protect Remnant. She was made to be a hero. The first of her kind tobe used to protect humanity.

Imagine howmuch of an insult it would be if this is what Ruby finds out Atlasdid to her friend after she was murdered. Not remember her as a hero butbasically a living toy to beused and abused as her consumers feel.

That’sinsane!Which is all the more reason why I want this theory to come true. I was askedlong ago by a FNDM fam about how Ruby would feel if she saw Penny locked away insidesome pod inside a laboratory. I never got around to actually answering that questionbecause Tumblr buried the original response post I was going to edit. If thatuser happens to read all of my answer posts, here is my answer to your questionnow.

Rubyreacting to a rebuilt Penny being locked safely inside a pod? Ahahaa! How about I giveyou something grimmer?

Ontop of Atlas mass producing Penny and treating her like a plaything rather than the heroshe was meant to be, you wanna know my theory for what they did with originalPenny?

Myhunch is that originalPenny is put in the trash. Meaningthat after her body was returned to Atlas, there was a meeting between themembers of the Atlas Council debating on whether or not the military projectPenny was born from should be terminated or not. Even though Ironwood is the mainauthoritarian from Atlas that we’ve met so far, I’d like to think there is another topleader calling the shots whoIronwood actually serves under.

Ifthe Atlas Council is anything like Vale’s, then there are at least threemembers on the council governing the Kingdom. From what I remember back in V4,Ironwood says he holds two seats on the council. This leaves the third and lastseat and it’s here where I think we’ll have a new authoritarian character who Ironwoodlistens to.

Basicallyit was this Atlas Council Member introduced and signed off on the idea ofturning Penny into a doll to be sold to the public.  I don’t know of any puppet masters in any knownfairy tales but perhaps this Councilman, as I’ll refer to him in mymusings, could be based off of the Coachman from Pinocchio. In the 1883 book TheAdventures of Pinocchio, the Coachman was a villain who kidnapped children tobring them to Toy Island in which the bad children turned into donkeys.

IfFNDM fam thought General Ironwood was a cross due to his deep authoritarian waysand leadership then imagine someone worse than Ironwoodbut lacking the compassion. Picture… the Councilman being the type to make ajackass out of the General Ironwood since Ironwood generally has torun everything by him and the Councilman has Ironwood wrapped around his pinkie,especially now that he hasn’t been well—psychologically. I actually kinda digthis idea.

Sothe Councilman convinces Ironwood that the best way to dissolve the mess the Vytalescapade left on the military and the People of Atlas following Beacon is to turnPenny into a doll series—allowing her to fulfil the purpose she was made for.Serving humanity by serving humanity as a service doll. There are even Penniesbeing used by the military.

WhileDr. Polendina wouldn’t sign off on something like this—imagine it being oneof those uncomfortable scenarios where one’s hand is forced because they arebacked into a corner by people trying to either bullyor manipulate them. In the case of Japheth, it was both theCouncilman trying to bully him into doing his job for the military and Ironwood,though sympathetic towards the doctor and his loss, still trying to somewhatemotionally manipulate the man into doing as he and the Councilman ordered byusing Penny and the reasons she was made in the first place as his motive.

It’snot a nice game but in the end, against his wishes, Dr. Polendina had no choicebut to hand over his research and the original body of Penny and concur as themilitary—mainly the Councilman did what they pleased with her.

Andin the end, once they were done, they didn’t even have the common courtesy toreturn Penny to her father. Instead, like many things in Atlas, Penny wasdiscarded and her remains ended up in the junkyards near Mantle. I even have away RWBY canincorporate Monstro into the Atlas Arc. You know how in Pinocchio,Gepetto got swallowed by the giant whale?

Wellwhat if…at some point, the heroes visit Lower Atlas on their voyage towards Mantle. Mytheory is that at some point during the Schnee Family Affairsstoryline of the Atlas Arc, Weiss will go in search of her missing grandfatherNicholas Schnee and her searches will take her and her friends down from Atlasinto Mantle’s depth. During their voyage, the group end up in the junkyardsbelow.

Apparently,people aren’t allowed to go in the junkyards. Part of it is due to Atlas being stingy towards Mantle even with their junk and anotheris for the reason that there is a massive Grimm known to roam the junkyards.That monster is GrimmMonstro—a colossal land whale type Grimm that burrows undergroundand swims through the sea of garbage in the junk piles looking for anyunsuspecting victims to rise up and swallow.

I have this idea where Ruby andOscar are swallowed alive by Grimm Monstro and it’s in the belly of the Grimm where Ruby discovers Penny’s originaldestroyed body. Perhaps…as a better alternative, that’s how she and Oscargot swallowed in the first place. Ruby spots OG Penny while in the junkyard.Goes off on her own to retrieve her despite Oscar’s initial warnings that somethingfelt off about the junkyard however Ruby ignores hisadvice. Ruby makes it to Penny’s body in time for Grimm Monstro to rise up.Oscar jumps in to rescue Ruby. The two try their best to outrun the giant Grimmbut end up getting swallowed alive. That could be FREAKING EPIC!

Little Red Riding Hood and PrincessOzma working together to escape Monstroand save themselves plus Pinocchio is a future RWBY episodeI’d love to see for Atlas. YES PLEASE! Sign my ass up!

Andif all that comes true, we could even get Ruby and Oscar working together to revive original Penny.

Ifmy theory about Oscarawakening his inner mechanic and inventor comes to fruition, imagine Ruby begging Oscar to help her revive her formerfriend using his skills. Knowing and fully understanding how much this means toRuby, Oscar accepts and the two rosebuds get to work together. I would lovethis so much!

Ithink this could be really cool especially if after Penny gets successfully restoredthrough Oscar’s know-how, she starts calling Oscar ‘brother’. I’ll give you three veryimportant reasons why I love this idea.

Firstly,I’ve seen some fans comparing Oscar to Penny so me, being the proud Pinehead and Polendiva (Penny Polendina fan) that I amstarted to dig the idea of Penny and Oscar having a brother-sister dynamic.Like after Oscar helps rebuild her, Penny starts treating him like he was her big brother.Not father since Dr. Japheth is her father.

Secondly,I like Penny calling Oscar ‘brother’ because of the obvious, very on the nosecall back to FMA. Come on! You know how much I love those.

Andlastly, I love this idea because it appeals to another Pinehead headcanon I have where Oscar becomes an apprentice under Dr. Polendina anddevelops a father/son bond with the old inventor. I did say I wantedOscar to have a godmother type character who adopts him in Atlas. Perhapsinstead of a fashion designer, it’s an genius inventor who acts as hisgodfather.

Penny andDr. Polendina both adopting Oscar into their family = HELLA FREAKING YES.

You know my mantra. #EverybodyAdoptsOscar

I’dlove to expand more on this idea some more but I think I’ll save it for anothermusing. This response post is long enough. But for what it’s worth, I hope youlike my answer Yellow.Let me know what you think if you can pretty please. Would like to hear yourthoughts on my thoughts.

~LittleMissSquiggles(2019)

#squiggles answers: rwby #oscar pine #ruby rose #penny polendina #rwby theories #rwby v7 theories #rwby volume 7 #rwby v7 #yellow-eyed-green-crocodile #pinehead headcanons #squiggles pinehead headcanons

[depressed-sock]

Hi! Your writing is amazing! Can I request an AU about how n!Sidestep gets badly hurt when helping out on a Rangers mission? Then they're admitted to a Rangers hospital, and the truth of what they are comes out. The doctor wants to hand Sidestep over to the government but Ortega and Anathema (and Steel!) are like OH HELL NO, much to Sidestep's surprise. 2nd perspective of any character will be great!

Alright, so two things: This was going to end up way past my writing limit so I had to cut it short and couldn’t fit everything in (Though I’m most likely going to continue this later because I love the idea), and I completely forgot you requested 2nd pov, so the first part has 2nd pov and the 2nd part has 3rd… I’m sorry!

Fallen Hero Rebirth ; Sidestep Truth AU

@fallenhero-rebirth

Spoilers!

Sidestep:

 “If you take me to a hospital… I… I’ll,” the words come out slow and slurred, your trying so hard to hold onto consciousness. “I’ll fucking murder you,” it comes out as a murmur with no actual bite; your head is starting to droop against your chest.

 “Hey,” Ortega grabs your face trying to stop you from dropping into unconsciousness, “Look at me. You need to stay awake.” They’re trying so hard to remain calm, but you can see the terror in their face splattered with blood…blood…

 Your consciousness comes swimming back, “Your hurt!”  You try to move your arm, try to touch their face but it doesn’t move. Do you even have a body to move?

 Their face contorts to pain and you wonder exactly how hurt they are, “I’m not hurt Sidestep.”

 “Don’t fucking lie,” your eyes close, why is it so hard to open them? “There’s blood,” you think you say it but you can’t tell anymore. Everything feels so quiet.

 “It’s yours-”

….

 3rd

“-Fucking stay awake!” Their voice trembles as Sidestep’s head lulls in their hands. They fall forward into Ortega’s arms completely limp but still breathing. “Fuck! Steel, Anathema we need to get them out of here!” Ortega’s voice is filled with worry, the absolute terror in their demeanor palpable. If they don’t do something fast Sidestep wasn’t going to make it.

 They can hear footstep rush towards them, Anathema kneeling by their side, “I’ll take them! Steel needs backup!” They reach out lifting and cradling Sidestep in their arms, Ortega helping them quickly stand.

 “Get them to our hospital,” Ortega hesitates a moment before squeezing Anathema’s shoulder, softly saying, “Don’t leave their side.” Anathema gives them a nod, Ortega’s told them their theories. That Sidestep is running from something … or someone. Neither of them knows what, but it’s obviously bad enough that Sidestep avoids hospitals like the plague instead of getting proper treatment.

   They run holding tightly to Sidestep, hoping they’ll make it in time.

…

 The patient the young hero brings to her has her trying to hide her smile. Luck, coincidence, fate… whatever it is, it has landed the estranged cuckoo into her lap and she’s giddy with excitement. She’ll have to fake its death, ‘How sad that they died during surgery’, mix up the wrong papers, have the body supposedly sent to be cremated. She has to cover her tracks well, after all, heroes are too nosey for their own good, even government paid ones.

 “We need to get them into surgery!” She commands, trying to turn her glee into professionalism. It’s difficult to do; this is her big break after all. No more spying on the useless Rangers, procuring DNA samples from them. No, now she had a lost cuckoo and that alone should propel her through the ranks.

 Everyone moves quickly under her command prepping the ‘hero’ cuckoo for surgery, the young hero tries to follow them in and she moves to stop them, “I’m sorry but no one who isn’t a doctor or nurse is allowed into the room.”

 “Too bad, I’m going,” they respond with a shrug and a grin; determination set in their stance. It makes her eye twitch. She could try to deny them but that could lead to other risks… She’ll have to come up with something else…

 “Fine, It’s not my place to argue with a Ranger but you should be fully aware that you’re putting them at greater risk,” she has a plan. They don’t bother responding walking past her, missing the manic grin on her face for a few seconds.

 The surgery goes well, the damage the cuckoo sustained not as life-threatening as everyone had feared. Her people work aside the regular hospital staff and they keep glancing between her and the markings. They know and they’re waiting for her command. Perfect.

 She motions silently, something easily missed by those untrained and suddenly an alarm starts blaring into the room. The hospital staff start to panic. You turn to the ranger, schooling your voice into a panic, “Get out! There’s some kind of contamination!” They don’t move for a second worriedly glancing at their friend as their vital’s suddenly drop, “Fuck! Out Now!”

 They move fast leaving the room quickly, the doors slamming shut behind them. Everyone but you and your people are in a panic. Someone saying the system is wrong, you respond your voice cold, “Oh no, this whole lab is contaminated.” No one hears the gunshots as the alarms blare.

….

   “Where are they!” Ortega yells angrily at Anathema who flinches back. They don’t know what happened, but 4 people where dead, 5 were missing… and so was Sidestep.

 “I don’t know! They said there was some kind of contamination and then Sidestep’s vitals dropped and…” Their face scrunches up trying to stop themself from not crying, “I panicked and left… I didn’t know if it was my fault.” Their left arm crosses their chest, nails digging into their other arm.

 “I…I’m sorry,” Ortega places a hand on their shoulder only for Anathema to shrug it off looking away from them.

 “There’s something else…” they whisper, their eyes firmly meeting Ortega’s, “They had… tattoos.”

 “So?” Ortega looks at them quizzically.

 “Not normal tattoos,” they say slowly, not sure how to describe the situation as Steel walks up to them.

 “I’ve got a lead,” he says it gruffly giving Anathema a narrowed look; they need to discuss this privately and at a later date.

 “Great! Let’s go fucking save them!”

#fallen hero rebirth #fallen hero #Ortega #anathema #sidestep #my writing #god i fucking love how this one's going #when i get time i'm going to sit down and finish it #Fallen hero spoliers

[healthislit]

Discrimination and Illness

Using both “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” by Ken Kesey and Angels in America by Tony Kushner I plan to outline how patients were treated in the context of both texts during the times they were published in the real world by either those in a medical profession, the world, or themselves. 

BACKGROUND OF MENTAL HEALTH FACILITIES: 

To start, a Psychopathic Hospital as stated by the online Merriam-Webster dictionary is “a hospital for the observation, examination, treatment, or temporary retention of patients showing evidence of mental disturbance”. This was the version of the mental hospital that would have been more accurate to the time the novel was originally published and while this is what it was called on paper,  Kesey paints what could be seen as a more accurate image of mental health facilities during the time because there was also a strong lack of regulations, especially regarding patient rights and as is seen even today with all sorts of medical regulations patients are still treated without the respect they deserve no matter the affliction, except now its behind closed doors and professionals who do this do so with the assumption they won’t have to face any consequences. 

CUCKOO’S NEST: 

The staff of the mental hospital (including Nurse Ratched) were more like guards than those prepared to really assist those afflicted. Because there was little to no proper federal regulation medical staff had complete control over the patients while they were in the facility. And as I pointed out previously even if these regulations existed at the time it wouldn’t have made a difference regarding the patients because Nurse Ratched was very well versed in manipulation tactics. Or maybe it was simply just that easy to manipulate those who were less mentally sound than she was. This could be said because there is evidence in the character of Randle McMurphy who came into the mental hospital with a stable mind and would fight Nurse Ratched on changing things within the hospital. It could be said if any of the other patients were like McMurphy they would have argued about some of the things that were being called “treatments”. 

When the medications were being given to the patients which the reader witnesses for the first time, McMurphy walks up to take the medication. He attempts to ask the nurses what he’s putting into his body and the response he gets is that they don’t have to give him that information and he has to take it. This would very clearly shock anyone if they saw this happening today because no matter what patients or guardians of the patient are required to be given this information. 

Another violation of patient rights if they existed at this point in history would be electroshock therapy. While still practiced in few places today, its become increasingly unpopular as its a procedure where death can occur of the brain or the body. In “Cuckoo’s Nest” this was a scare tactic Nurse Ratchet used when patients lost control, either through a mental breakdown or mindful defiance as shown in the scene above. The scene in the novel differs from this because its both McMurphy and Chief Bromden who get into a fight with the aides due to George’s phobia regarding cleanliness. To further explain, the scene in the book describes the characters who went on the fishing trip coming back. Nurse Ratched tells them they need to get cleaned up and George begs them not to use the salve they sprayed him with. 

When Cheswick stands up to Nurse Ratched the reader is already aware he’s in the ward voluntarily. In theory, if a patient were checked voluntarily into a facility and becomes angry (clearly not having a breakdown or an episode) about something being taken away from him that he has the right to (his cigarettes) he is very outraged by this and gains the courage to stand up to her because McMurphy has set that example. Nurse Ratched responds to this outburst by calling the aides to take Cheswick to the disturbed ward of the hospital so he would receive electroshock therapy and afterward Cheswick is suspected to have killed himself when his fingers got stuck in a hole in the pool. Furthermore, Nurse Ratched’s keeping the cigarettes from them is clearly not about their well-being because not only did people not know just how bad cigarettes were to smoke, if they did in this text it wouldn’t have mattered because the Nurse Ratched didn’t have much concern for the medications the patients were taking. The FDA hadn’t been around that long with its existence only just starting in 1906 and there was sure to be some regulations which needed to be created or upgraded still. 

Billy Bibbit was 31 years old and had a severe stutter which is considered to be a speech disorder, not a mental disorder. Nurse Ratched and his mother were friends and she was able to convince Billy to check himself into the facility where she was able to manipulate him through his relationship with his mother, making him the most vulnerable to her. This was the moment for many readers that we helplessly read the unfolding of just how monstrous Nurse Ratched could really be. Aside from her cold, uncaring stance we see when she doesn’t tell Billy she won’t tell his mother and his resulting breakdown, her decision to have him put in a room with doctor’s equipment he was able to use to kill himself. 

In the 1950′s, the setting of Kesey’s novel, racism was rampant in America. Because of this it surprises me just as much as it doesn’t because the aides in the hospital gave in to the voice that said they could do whatever they wanted to the patients because they didn’t have any rights like African Americans were supposed to. Their same uncaring attitudes for the patients and the pain they helped inflict--both physical and mental--was something they could have said wasn’t right. They didn’t have the rights they deserved just like the patients in the hospital and while the situations weren’t the same they were still all people and deserved better. You could argue because of Racism they didn’t want to push any buttons, but when you see the extents they go to for control that argument is clearly invalid. They could have simply restrained the patients but with them getting into fist fights and taunting them as they often did Bromden with the nickame “chief broom” its makes the reader really want to be in the book themselves so they could be in a position to help. 

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF AIDS: 

Jennifer Power states clearly the overall belief when it comes to AIDS before HIV was found was “...that it was contagious and deadly” and that it “...merged with existing homophobic attitudes to produce and image of gay men as diseased and dangerous--guilty not only of misdirected sexual predilections but of their newfound potential to infect and kill...”. Once this further influenced homophobia it was a bigoted ideology that exists in the minds of many still today but was heard outright more from the early 1980′s to at least the 1990′s which would put us right in the era Angels in America was published (1991). 

ANGELS IN AMERICA: 

In scene nine of Tony Kushner’s play, Roy goes to an appointment he has with his doctor where the reader finds out he is having symptoms of sarcoma, which turns into HIV, which turns into AIDS. Roy goes on to insist he’s chooses not to use the homosexual title because its a powerless one but instead he describes himself as a heterosexual man who “...fucks around with guys” (Kushner, 47). Roy is dealing with denial in the worst form: He chooses to continue seeing himself as straight despite being treated for two previous STD’s by his doctor, Henry and he is discriminating against himself out of fear because he’s earned a powerful enough position to where he can call the President directly and doesn’t want to lose this powerful position he’s in. Because Roy antagonizes Henry enough, he snaps and tells him to figure out how to get on the list for AZT, an experimental drug which he can’t even get Roy on. Roy’s doctor after treating him for such a long time (as is insinuated in this scene) clearly cares about Roy and there is no sign of mistreatment here from anyone except Roy himself. Roy is looking to keep it that way, even going so far as to tell his Henry to say its liver cancer if anyone were to ask. Not only will it uproot his entire life, in his mind it will subject him to an overwhelming amount of homophobia. 

Prior and Louis are at his grandmother’s funeral when Prior tells him he’s contracted sarcoma and early warning sign of AIDS. Louis’ immediate concern is getting as far away from him as possible, not because of the illness itself but because he doesn’t know how to be there for Prior through this. Granted you could feel a small amount of sympathy for him considering his grandmother just died, but that goes away when he shows its just in him not to be there for those who really need him during difficult times. Prior doesn’t have the same option as Roy to hide, so not only would he be expected to experience discrimination based on his sexuality, everyone is going to know he contracted the AIDS virus which could make it harder for him to face. 

For this purpose there doesn’t seem to be many in medical professions that outwardly discriminate, but can carefully express their disgust anyway as seen with Roy and Henry. At least, this isn’t seen in the screenplay because its not exactly the purpose and it discusses other issues at certain points of the play. Most of the “ discrimination” comes from themselves out of fear and berating which is still highly important. Unlike Cuckoo’s Nest, however, there are still people there for Prior besides Louis, like Belize who time-and-time again calls Louis out when he’s saying all the wrong things in defense of himself from the beginning to the end of the play. 

By this point the Hippocratic Oath was in effect and because of this physicians couldn’t refuse to treat patients with AIDS, but they were in a position where they could make sure the patient didn’t come back to see them for treatment which is what can be assumed to have happened to many patients with AIDS at this time, but its certainly nothing to the emotional distress someone who contracts the illness can impose on themselves. 

Whether caged in your own mind and body or behind sterile walls, the suffering is just as painful in both texts. The improvements we’ve achieved in both fields are immense and were greatly needed. Hopefully conditions will continue to improve for patients suffering from any of the issues suggested through compassion and the world will be an even better place. 

Disclaimer: I own none of the videos or images used. All credit for quotes, definitions etc., go to the authors!s I will add citations to this post shortly, I in no way am taking credit for anyone else’s work, just mine. 

#american literature #angels in america #one flew over the cuckoo's nest #cuckoo's nest #kushner #kesey #lgbt #mental health #health #patient rights #illness #aids #hiv #homophobia

[anigeosm]

Ratched (2020) Ryan Murphy, Evan Romansky

Ratched itself is a reimagining of ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest’ with a focus on the life of the main antagonist, Nurse Ratched. The show makes a point of making the character, who is fundamentally horrible in the book and film adaptation of OFOTCN, one of light and shade, good and evil in ‘Ratched.’ The cinematography of Ratched takes a great deal of inspiration from the film adaptation of OFOTCN, which itself uses many of the spatial tropes, shot compositions and camera movements as Stanley Kubrick. Simon Dennis, head cinematographer for ‘Ratched’ states in an interview on the Get Creative Show podcast that Kubrick was a direct inspiration for Ratched. His example was that, unlike other films in the horror genre, ‘The Shining’ (1980) uses large and well lit sets filmed with wide shots. A particular motif in Kubrick’s cinematography is a tight shot of an object or character with a slow zoom out. The sets for Ratched, especially the infamous Oregon State Hospital, were 360 degrees, allowing the cameras to move freely throughout the space in long continuous shots- creating an inescapable feel to the space. Both Kubrick and Dennis subvert the dark and claustrophobic feeling and themes of their films by capturing them in bright, large spaces which are unsettling to the audience who are used to the trope and are subconsciously made to feel slightly off, while being able to enjoy a visually diverse and pleasing set of shots. 

(above) The Shining (1980) Stanley Kubrick (below) Ratched (2020) Ryan Murphy, Evan Romansky

Another very key aspect to ‘Ratched’ was colour theory. Throughout the show, Mildred Ratched wears many monochromatic outfits with bold colours that the Director’s explain correspond with her mood or intentions in each scene. Similarly all of the sets were incredibly boldly coloured, in line with Ryan Murphy’s signature style, which meant a very high resolution camera was needed (RED helium 7k resolution) to increase the colour space to accommodate the set colour and ensure no official post-production enhancement would be needed.

Additionally, high intensity colour filters are used periodically to convey specific instances of intense emotion. Green is used to show scenes of a sexual nature or when a character is feeling lust greed while red is used to show a when a character is losing control.

(above) The Doctor consumes sedative gas as a means of coping with stress. (below) Nurse Ratched discovers two of the nurses having sex in the break room.

Cinematographer Simon Dennis explains that these scenes were especially difficult to film as using bold colours affects the depth of the shots for example, with red the camera is losing 2 stops of range as a primary colour. To combat this, incredibly bright LED’s had to cover all of the sets and be edited out in post production to maintain the depth and detail. 

#research #filmlanguage

[mei-be]

I decided that this year, I will make a resolution. This in itself is a bit revolutionary, because I’ve always been the anti-traditionalist, anti-precedent, just anti-. This year is different, because it started off in a fever pitch, whined to a rotten crescendo, and now is whimpering to a close. At the literal beginning of this year, my mental and physical health had taken a major shit in the proverbial bed. I started the New Year terrified, and sick with worry. I had been hospitalized against my will, in a psych ward, and found myself creeping through a very real life version of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. I had a delusional roommate, haunted by The Man, who watched her and hurt her. Hurt her though food, through medicine, invaded her life, drained her bank accounts, made it so she couldn’t sleep. Now that I was her roommate, he was watching me too, and I couldn’t close any doors, take a shower, or shut my eyes. There was the drooling, heavy lidded non-verbal man, who shuffled through the hallways attached to an IV, and had one hand permanently lifted and dangling. There was the angry kid, who yelled obscenities, and complained about the bullshit, his medication, how he was treated, only to periodically break down in tears and screaming, and had to go into the Quiet Room. The Quiet Room was a very small space, complete with bed decked out in restraints. The only thing missing was the padded walls and the straight jacket. But that would be undignified. A nurse stood behind a little window, distributing drugs at specific times. I asked her why she broke the pills out of the blister pack, into a paper cup, and tipped the paper cup into my waiting hand. Why not just break the pills from the blister pack into my hand. It’s the same amount of touching by the both of us, and then they could reduce that additional waste and cost. My mind works like that. She didn’t know, that’s how they did it.

That week felt like a month, just like this year felt like a new lifetime. Since then, I’ve been going to therapy, seeing doctors, paying attention to my diet, getting regular sleep, and working on the rats nest that is my brain. It’s what you do, and it’s all good and healthy and mindful, and positive. But what I’ve been really struggling with, is the anxiety. My anxiety rips through me like a cancer. It denatures and decays every day, no matter when it arises. All the good I ever did is wiped away, and I’m left with grime and ash. It used to stay in my head, but now it’s ventured out mycelium-esque threads into my body. It makes me weak, it takes the ground out from under me, my heart machine over heats, my fulel expels and lays wasted, my body-cage aches...

It is what it is.

I am circling the drain. I’ve been here before, I’ve seen this movie, and the ending does no justice. Leitmotifs are small, recurring, characteristic of a composition; so much so that they become the composition. I don’t want to be this ring-cycle, I wont cement this reality through repetition. And so, I’ve decided to wage an attack on this misery. An attack in the form of a Happiness War, to make the goal of happiness as if it were a life or death situation. To furiously, religiously, and zealously seek Happiness with an intensity alike to terror; only matched by the ferocity of the terror inside.

So I make a stand, I screw my courage to the sticking place and screw my fear and stick it to my panic. I choose, I chase, I become a champion of happiness. It is the only choice. I remember a story I once heard. A man was telling his friend about hunting rhino in Africa. It had been a long hunt, and he had finally come to meet his prey. The rhino was a dense, black, death machine of a beast. He fired, but missed. His second shot jammed the rifle. Panicked, he looked around, there was nothing but grass in every direction. No weapon, no tree, no rocks to climb. Just grass, heat, and angry rhino. He could hear the rhino’s approach like thunder, he could very nearly feel the animals hot breath on his neck. Entranced in the tale, his friend asked, “So what did you do?” “I climbed a tree right in the nick of time!” He said. “What tree?”, the friend asked, “You said there was no tree!” “Don’t you see?”, answered the man, “There has to be a tree, there is always a tree, you have to look for it, but that is the point of my story. There is always a tree. Find the tree.”

I take constant support and inspiration from this story. Where there is life, there are more stories. So you do the damn thing until it’s dead, or you are. Never give up, never surrender. There is always another way, even when the rhino is upon you. It is always darkest before the dawn, you just hold on. Find the tree.

Part 1. Gratitude

I did an informal poll, and asked my friends on social media some questions about Happiness. It’s a pretty banal question, and definitely leads to a lot of cliches and derivative content. But even though the question has been asked so many times, to the point of being historical, it still echos in the collective heads of many. So here we go, here we go, here we go again. The way that I research and make decisions is such: I read as much as I can about my subject, and disregard the biases of each individual body of work, even though I know that there are definite biases. Instead, I look for repetition. Despite people’s stance or mediated perceptions, I believe that there are certain, close to absolute truths that will emerge, if given enough experience or exposure. This way of digesting information began when I was grade school aged, and learned about the Free Marketplace Theory. Basically, you give everyone a chance, and the quality items will rise to the top, and prove themselves by their worth. No monopolies, no deceitful practices, no bull. This sounds like a great way to go about scholarly work, but you can imagine me trying to buy sponges, or find recipes, or, most everyday things.

So, one of the threads of commonality that I noticed when asking people about their Happiness, is gratitude. Either as a precursor or an after effect, I see a theme of being happy because of what you have. Interestingly enough, it seems that gratitude is interwoven with a sense of, “It could be worse, but it isn’t”. This strikes me as odd, because it seems that a sense of misery, or acute un-Happiness, is necessary for Happiness to exist. One of my friends wrote this, “Hammocks without spiders. Water when I’m thirsty. Really cold soda on a hot day.” This seems like a simple, light-hearted, cute statement, but look at the profound presence of suffering. To experience the relaxation of a lovely hammock, she apparently had previously experienced a hammock that came with spiders. Good god. That seems like a nightmarish exercise in vulnerability. Yet, it is that horror, that leads her to appreciate each spider-free hammock session, and even more; to list it as one of the top things that make her happy. We run from misery, we avoid it, we do everything we can to keep it at bay. But it’s the other side of happiness. To experience Happiness, apparently you have had to sit in the Shit for a while. I’ve thought about the Shit before, and have come to this similar conclusion. When you are faced with the question of, “Why is this happening to me?” Or the ever-popular, “ Why do bad things happen to good people?”, perhaps the answer is, “So they can learn to be very fucking Happy”.

Two key takeaways here: 1. Caveat- The bad things, the Shit, cannot kill you. If it does, then the conversation is over. Don’t let it kill you, if you can. Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Where there is life, there is hope, and more story. For those of us who suffer from suicidal tendencies or ideation, this is a point that needs to be made, for we are the ones in the strange position of being both powerless, and the only one with the power over our lives. 2. The Shit cannot become your life. If the Shit is all you see when you look around, you can never gain perspective. You won’t be able to learn from it if you can’t get some sort of distance. Distance, or progress, is the very mechanism of the story. The shit is your conflict, and conflict is the very catalyst that moves the story, into its rising action and climax. In other, plainer words, that Shit has to move, man. A story that ends before or at its climax is bullshit. It’s an artsy literary move, but for me, that’s just lazy writing. Having your audience choose their own ending saves you from having to write THE ENTIRE REST OF THE STORY. Work that Shit, move through that Shit, don’t let it be everything. That’s just shitty.

2. Progress

A therapy that I’ve just began exploring is ACT, or Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. If you’ve ever even dipped a toe into any sort of counseling or self help, chances are, you’ve come across some form of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. It’s like the Gold Standard of psychological treatment. It’s based on the idea that your psychological and behavioral issues are based in faulty thinking and or behavior. It’s rooted in repetition, an endless cycle of catching bad thoughts, and turning them into better ones. Often, you literally find the opposite of that negative thought, or look for evidence to support or deny it. You also try to find origins or deeper causes of the negative behavior. The idea is that if you do these exercises long enough, the repetition forms new connections, and new habits. It’s super boring. It works. ACT takes a lot of the same models found in CBT, with one difference. Instead of fighting your negative thoughts, you first accept them. It’s in the name. So, you still go through the rigamorole of identifying your negative thoughts, and trying to find their origins and evidences. However, one deviation that I’ve found really helpful is that there is no way not to choose. By not doing something, you are choosing NOT that thing. Given that you’ve already made a choice, acknowledge that choice. Now that you’ve made a stance, decide the quality of that stance. If you are someone like me, who’s fight, flight, or freeze sympathetic nervous system most often chooses to freeze, and when frozen, reconciles itself into the form of a panic attack, this mode of CHOICE makes a huge difference. Let me lay it out for you in this example:

Conflict: I don’t know what to do with my life, I’m aimless, unmotiviated, torn. It’s too late for me, I can’t do it, I’m not good enough.

Assuming you’ve already gone through your basic reframing thoughts, positive thoughts, SMART goals checklist, you might end with something that looks like this.

I don’t know if getting a Nursing Degree is right for me. It makes sense, and I’ve already put a lot of effort into it, but it’s not what I love. I love foraging, herbalism and dietetics. However, those fields are not sustainable, feasible, or a good fiscal degree. I don’t know what to do.

But today, right now, I am currently not actively pursuing a nursing degree. So, today, I’ve chosen not to pursue a nursing degree.

For some people and some situations, this in and of itself, brings a deep clarity, a relief, and a resolution. But if it doesn’t...

Acknowledge your choice: For the next week, I choose to not pursue a nursing degree. I’m not going to exert energy thinking about it, arguing with myself about it, it is a non issue. I am not pursuing this. What’s left? The foraging, the herbalism, the dietetics. This is your stance.

Now that you’ve made that stance, think about the quality. What kind of herbalist am I going to be? How far am I going to take this? What opportunities can I find?

The idea here is that you’ve redirected the energy you would have spent arguing with yourself, and instead are now pointed toward a more productive path. You may circle back to the original decision, but now, you’ve moved forward in the journey instead of being stuck at the beginning quandary. You’ve expanded.

3. Presence

[dream-girls-evil]

Ratched: Episode 7 Reactions

Oh wait Hanover has a family??? A child?!

Ahh a classic case of a doctor married to his work

Oh no this is heartbreaking

Ahh and this is when he meets Lenore and Henry, pouring himself into this work

Huck!! The sweetest boy!!!

Ohhh does he like her?? Omg this is precious

I hope she’s honest with him about why she can’t. Cuz he’s so kind and accepting.

And this is the first time she’s really said this out loud to someone

Why couldn’t Dolly have fallen for Huck?

“Blowsy, alcoholic jazz baby” XD that is exactly what Louise is

Finally we’re back to this! Fuck is Betsy going to find out that they’re siblings?!

Oh FUCK SHE KEPT THE PRIEST’S TESTIMONY!!! YOU NEVER KEEP THE EVIDENCE!!!

Damn and Betsy not wasting any time confronting her about it! Everyone finding out her secrets!

Wait she...wants to help her? Is this gonna be actual help or like blackmail “we can benefit each other” help?

“Now I don’t know what I think he deserves” called it! Her conviction is wavering!

Betsy doesn’t think Edmund deserves the death penalty either? Now that’s a surprise. Ah well, I guess she’s got Hanover’s view on things.

Ooh was she discharged for killing that guy? Multiple men, I guess.

Betsy being so understanding is...weird. But I kinda get it? She really has seen Mildred be kind and caring and strong. She knows she’s far from a heartless killer.

Ooh Betsy has a plan? To save the hospital?

Ahh they’re trying to get full private funding, and maybe take over the hospital themselves? Remove Hanover from his position?

Oop Mildred didn’t share everything she knows about Hanover lol

Bucket’s shock is so funny XD that wasn’t on the list!!!

Make Huck head nurse!!! Give him a purpose!!!

So Mildred is definitely setting things up so that she can cut and run, with or without Edmund, when she needs to

Go Betsy go!!! I love her dismissing Hanover

“That’s why I’m letting you go” aw they kinda reconciled

He’s gonna know this is all because of Mildred tho

I bet Charlotte’s gonna regress

Yay racism

Something’s not right with Charlotte. Is she gonna die? Oh no oh no he put her in a closet. She’s gonna regress.

Oh fuuuuuuck and that’s the end of Hanover

Aw poor Charlotte. I’m glad she called Mildred. Mildred’s going to help.

This makes three patients they’ve literally just spirited away on buses or trains lol

How does Mildred know about the hospital in Mexico? I wonder if she’s planning on fleeing there herself

Getting lye for the body? Or a saw?

Oh hey lol now she can deliver his head after all

...I do have to wonder if Charlotte getting triggered and killing Hanover was the best-case scenario all along

Haha IN A HAT BOX

Lenore totally has a little bit of a thing for Mildred

Is Henry gonna kill her? He looks like he wants to kill her.

Dude literally how do you think this is going to work out for you? She’s the one who wipes your ass.

Louise must be so tired of people coming to visit Mildred 😂😂😂

Oh!! The social worker!!!

Justifiable homicide!!! GOOD.

Aw wow Mildred had been looking for him for so long

Hmm why do I feel like he’s not gonna be there when she shows up to get him?

I’m completely lost with the timeline here. How many years ago was this? Did he give her the slip to go kill the priests?

Haha we’re back to “doomed since conception”

Wait, did Mildred not know why Edmund killed the priests until now? That changes things.

Aaand here we go, Anna’s going to confirm to her that Edmund is a lost cause

Gwen’s going East. I wonder if she’ll go to Boston lol

Why the weird focus on her drinking the water? And why looking through this car window?

Okay it’s just Mildred watching from the car

Ooh they need to talk! So things are not all good between them.

Ah yeah Gwen’s pissed. And she’s right on the money. Mildred does whatever is best for Mildred.

Honey this is not time for a love confession. This is time to apologize and then let her decide how she feels.

Gwen doesn’t want a part in this!!!

Really? Cancer? Jesus.

Tbh I’m...not about this kiss?

I BET LENORE LEFT EVERYTHING TO PETUNIA HAHAHA

Lmao Mildred’s look when Betsy says she’s an example of grace

WHO NEEDS DOCTORS okay Betsy loving the confidence but also...you do. You need doctors.

Thoughts and Theories

Only one episode left to go!!! Tbh, I keep waiting to suddenly realize the meanings between the red and green lights, but it seems like they’ve abandoned the whole thing at this point, so who knows? Also, pretty sure my favorite character in this whole thing is Betsy Bucket. She’s just so delightful. I also really liked how she called Mildred out this episode, and I love that she got over Hanover and realized she deserved better and could run things on her own. And speaking of Hanover, what an ending! I feel horrible for Charlotte, but we all saw this coming. And despite everything, I really like Hanover as a character. He’s weak-willed and very idealistic and has a drug problem, but he’s a compassionate man. I think he’s a really good example of how despite the rampant corruption and abuse in psychiatric hospitals at the time, which Cuckoo’s Nest was written to comment on, there were also a lot of very well-intentioned doctors and nurses who truly did believe these treatments were what was best for their patients. They were products of their time. 

On to other things, I must admit I’ve been excitedly waiting for Gwen and Mildred’s first kiss and I was...really disappointed by the whole scene. I don’t like how Gwen’s very real and reasonable objections to being in a relationship with a liar and murderer are dismissed as a tactic to make Mildred go away because Gwen is scared of dying. I don’t like how Mildred reacts in the scene either. The way keeps trying to touch Gwen even though Gwen is batting her hands away is not an okay thing to do, and she really seems to thing that everything should be fine between them and she should be forgiven because she had reasons for killing and hurting people, but that’s not a decision she gets to make for Gwen. She doesn’t really seem to acknowledge or respect that Gwen is not comfortable being with her, and in a situation like this where someone is trying to tell you “no” and trying to explain their feelings, insisting on how much you love them is not a comfort; it’s a manipulation.  Idk, the friends I’ve talked to who have finished the season say that their dynamic improves in the last episode, so I’ll try to go in with an open mind, but this is not what I’d hoped for. It’s completely understandable that Mildred has some unhealthy relationship behaviors, but they need to be portrayed as such, and this kind of thing often isn’t. Gwen has always been so straightforward and insistent about being heard and respected that her giving in like this seems out of character, too.

#ratched #ratched spoilers #mildred ratched #dr hanover #betsy bucket #nurse bucket #gwendolyn briggs #all hail the queue of hell

[clownsgobeepbeep]

3, 8,9,14,23,32,50 all your pic :3

3: What is/are your character’s favorite show(s)?

Pepper loves American Horror Story, Cuckoo the Twilight Zone, Cosmos, Ula and Jelly are big fans of Stranger Things8: Would your character sacrifice a friend for $10,000,000 

Honestly, it all really depends on what kind of sacrifice it is, but the one who would do it without a doubt is Missy

9: What song does your character always sing in the shower?

When Jelly takes a bath alone, she sings Heart of Glass(Postmodern Jukebox Cover), Sway, Call Me, Cake by the Ocean, but mostly the first one...she might even sing some sensual songs...

When she’s bathing with Ula, she sings a lot of Disney songs, mainly It’s a Small World or anything from the Little Mermaid

14: Favorite book?

Ula’s favorite book is Alice in Wonderland

Jelly’s likes too many books really, but one she often reads is The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers

Pepper(and Cosmos, also Jelly sort of) really likes Stephen King books

23: What was their email in the 6th grade?

Well they didn’t go to school or had an actual time when they could be considered sixth graders, but have this

Cosmos: [email protected]

Pepper: [email protected]

Jelly: Never had one, she just uses her professional/job one

Cuckoo: [email protected]

Ace: Never had one, not even now

32: How does your OC deal with having a crush on someone?

Cosmos and Pepper are in total confusion, both end up really flustered and stutter a lot. Not even Cosmos is smooth, he gets too nervous

Jelly is confused and angry at herself, constantly trying to word harder to forget all that but once she sees her crush, she gets shy and after a while tries to befriend them

Cuckoo just breaks, so so flustered and shy.

Ace…Ace just wants to crush them because how dare they. Except Jelly of course, he just drooled when he saw her

50: What kind of blog would/does your character have?(ie: food, aesthetic, SJW, porn, b&w, anime, etc..)

Cosmos: Galaxy aesthetic, 80’s/retro blog and one where he would post lots of memes and shitposts

Pepper: One is a pastel/candy aesthetic blog, another is one where he posts whatever really(memes, art, etc.) and he has a secret one which is just blood/gore aesthetic 

Jelly: Sea/Ocean Aesthetic and Facts w/ pictures she’s taken underwater or in the aquarium, main blog like Pepper where she just posts whatever, secret blog for writing stories and a few fics~(she stays anonymous)

Cuckoo: Victorian/gothic aesthetic, secret Doctor Who blog where there’s a bunch of theories and you know all that fandom stuff…including fanfics about the characters(you know Ben Wyatt from Parks and Rec? Cuckoo is like that)

Ace: He’d just have a main blog where he posts random bullshit really, makes a lot of posts where he rants 

Ula: Has a blog where everybody thinks she’s older and she makes really good posts with lots of good facts, opinions, she has a really good aesthetic and photography, holy shit?

[anditjustmadeherkind]

Deep, soothing breaths, everyone, or, 'how I learned to stop worrying and love Rob Thomas'.

Comment to the author of meta on the following link: 

http://cadhla.livejournal.com/?skip=50&tag=veronica%20mars

Deep, soothing breaths, everyone, or, 'how I learned to stop worrying and love Rob Thomas'.

Mar. 14th, 2005 at 3:28 PM

All right: there's a lot of kerfuffle in 'Veronica Mars' fandom right now, over some spoilers that have managed to get leaked to the general public. There's always a chance that they're actually foilers*, but since that's difficult to count on, there's been an understandable amount of consternation. I will now weigh in. Because I am a very pushy blonde who does this sort of thing, especially when she can't put everyone involved into a hot bathtub with lots of lovely bubbles until they feel better.

(*For the fandom-impaired, 'spoilers' are leaked bits of information about the show -- things like 'Smurfette was actually created by Gargamel, gasp!' or 'Doctor Who regenerates in this episode!'. 'Foilers' are bits of false information leaked intentionally to confuse the issue; 'Buffy decides to kill everyone and stay in happy la la psychosis land' or 'Megan and Firefly finally get married in a simple, tasteful, trans-species ceremony'. Simple, universal terms.)

( Collapse )

So here's the basic skinny: Logan turns out to have been involved in Veronica's rape, in that he a) supplied the drugs used on her (although they weren't intended for her, and nothing says he would have agreed had he known she was the target), and b) did body-shots off her while she was out cold, for which he winds up apologizing, and for which she apparently forgives him, as they appear to be dating, and are, in fact, caught making out at a surprise party for Logan. He winds up defending her in front of all his friends and family, and takes her back to his room. Veronica is waiting on the bed, alone, when she catches sight of a camera on the ceiling, and flees. The next shot is of her riding away with Weevil.

The actual spoilers are more detailed than this (as

ohimesamamama

will doubtless point out, when she sees this post), but that's the general gist of it. The item causing the most furor is, obviously, the camera. 'How DARE they?!' shriek the fans. 'How can Logan DO that to her?! How can Veronica run out without telling him?! How...' And then there is wailing and gnashing of teeth and rending of garments, and then comes the lamentation of the women, especially those women who like the Logan/Veronica pairing. There has been, unsurprisingly, a

lot

of lamentation. Nothing laments like a 'shipper who fears their cruise has been cancelled.

But worry not, lamenters! Worry not, because there are a few facts we're tending to overlook in the general wail-gnash-rending. Most notably, these are:

1. Rob Thomas is not Joss Whedon. Say it with me, folks: Rob Thomas is

not

Joss Whedon. More importantly,

Rob Thomas is not Marti Noxon

. Look. Joss was a great guy; he created great characters and a great universe; he poured his heart and soul into making something we could care deeply and passionately about; then he went away and left it all with a half-crazed Romanian au pair who thought the original 'Dark Shadows' was the height of thematic subtlety. Rob? Rob has not done this thing to us. Rob has not said 'wow, I think I'll go play in another sandbox, here, Angst Queen, use your super angst powers to keep the viewers coming back while I enjoy myself elsewhere'. Rob is, in fact, right there, every day, working his butt off to make the show as good as it can possibly be. If he has a Romanian au pair, she's chained up in the closet, being used as a script-checker -- whenever she gets excited, they drop that plotline.

2. Logan is not Spike. Veronica is not Buffy. Logan and Veronica are not Buffy and Spike. Logan? Is not so sick and crazy with denied love that he's going to throw her down on the bathroom floor and try to claim his territory. Veronica? Is not so self-centered and neurotic that she's going to wind up him up with disgust and lust and need and loneliness, then dance a happy contra on the shattered wreckage of his heart. They are, in short, not making each other cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs. They annoy each other. They irritate each other. They brace each other up. But they don't cause raw insanity to come into the picture. For which I am very thankful. Also, Veronica, while she can be both careless and heartless, is not self-centered -- if anything, she's self-

sacrificing

. She's giving up what she wants in favour of what she thinks is right: she's throwing away her chances at going back to a happy obliviousness in favour of finding the answers about what happened to Lilly. If Veronica were the Chosen One, she wouldn't whine, she'd just go kick some undead ass.

3. Just because you get hurt once, that doesn't mean you're going to get hurt every single time. Joss Whedon comes up a lot in discussions of the current spoilers, and the basic theory seems to be 'Joss wouldn't have let them be happy, so Rob won't either'. Folks, it doesn't work that way. Seriously. One girl saying something mean about your hair doesn't mean all girls hate it; one show creator whose outlook on romance seems to make the relationships on 'Swan's Crossing' look stable doesn't mean all show creators are going to rip away the happiness of their characters just for fun. Let 'Veronica Mars' rise or fall on its own merits -- and so far, those merits lead me to trust in Rob.

This is also where the topic of tropes has to come in. Every creator, from the rawest writer of fanfic to the most well-established and famous producer, has tropes. Wes Craven loves him some unexpectedly evil boyfriend who was totally supportive right up until he tells you that he's the one who boiled your bunny. Stephen King adores putting beautiful girls with men who do some form of physical labour, and destroying writers with the products of their own imaginations. Michael Swanwick likes modern pageantry as a means of showing you the corruption that underpins society. Tropes are unavoidable. What does Rob Thomas believe in?

Well, if we go by his own work, he believes that opposites attract. He believes that love is fundamentally broken but just as fundamentally necessary, and that if you work for it, it will happen. He believes that the snarky guy gets the girl. He believes in true love, lasting love, love that is forever, love that redeems your sins, love that sees you home. He believes that the surface is only one layer, and that there's a lot more out there worth looking at.

Rob Thomas believes in happy endings. And Rob Thomas believes in redemption. Two things Joss never really showed us he had any faith in.

That message is there in his fiction -- most specifically in 'Rats Saw God', although most of the stories in 'Doing Time' are redemption stories, one way or the other -- and in his television work; I mean, 'Cupid' is one long story about redemption

through

true love, and if

that

isn't support for calling those his tropes, I don't know what

is

. He doesn't believe that these things come easy, but he does believe that they will come, given time and sufficient effort on the parts of the people involved.

That's another thing. Rob Thomas doesn't waste effort. Especially in a show as crammed with symbolism and meaning as 'Veronica Mars', there just isn't

time

to spend this much screen time and energy making the audience fall in love with Logan, a statement that becomes even more concrete when you consider the fact that he's extremely unlikely to have been Lilly's killer -- there won't be a zero-hour unmasking of the Luna Ghost in which we find out that it was Logan all along, and he calls Veronica a 'meddling kid'. Logan has had a

huge

redemption arc this season, and there's simply no point to that if you're going to turn around and throw it all away doing something that most of your audience is guaranteed to hate. Can he be villified next season? Sure. But this season? The timing is off. If Rob wanted Logan to be a bad guy in season one, he'd have just left him that way. As it stands, he's used Logan to prove one of the essential concepts of noir. Namely:

Your narrator is wrong.

Veronica starts out by lying to us: she tells us Logan is a psychotic jackass. She doesn't tell us until later how close they were, how good a friend he was to her and to Lilly, or that she used to enjoy his company. Just that he's a jerk. We get the details on Duncan right away, but on Logan, her glass is clearly clouded. Logan, meanwhile, targets her a lot, but never actually hurts her. Now, he does hurt her car -- which

ohimesamamama

has symbolically explained better than I could -- but he never lays a hand on her, never strikes her in anger, and isn't even seen being particularly active in spreading the nasty stories about her. There's old love there, and old love gone sour hurts more than almost anything else.

Logan is, oddly, a very honest person; he doesn't like to lie, he doesn't like to act, and when you push him far enough to make him hurt you, it's either calculated, distant and remote, or it's immediate and in your face. Planting a camera to catch Veronica, who he's publically called his girlfriend, having sex? Doesn't fit either of those categories. Also, frankly...okay, great. You now have a tape of yourself having sex with someone largely regarded as the town slut. How does this hurt her? Other than the betrayal -- and she's nearly numb to those -- what does this get you? You could hand the tape to her father, but he'd kill you. And as high school students on their age and social level, and little boyfriend-girlfriend sex? Sort of expected. It's not

surprising

. Doing that to Meg would be calculated and mean. Doing it to Veronica? Is pointless. It's not Logan's style.

Something is missing. The spoilers don't include dialogue; they don't include context; they don't include Veronica's voiceover. There is, in short, something very large missing from the scene -- we're panicking over a picture without words, and those can mean

anything

. If you step back, and take a moment to trust in Rob's already-proven ability to be true to character, genre, situation and plot? We have to have it wrong, because right now, as stated, the scene makes no sense. Rob has always been very true to his characters. This? Is not true to his characters. And that means something we don't see yet will put it all into focus -- another major trait of noir.

Veronica is the detective; Logan, in a way, is thus the gangster's moll. And since Veronica's real enemy is the town of Neptune -- the 'gangster' Logan belongs to, whether he likes it or not -- her winning him away from it, bit by bit, stumble by stumble, is part of the long-term observance of the genre. In noir, in the end, the hero walks away. Sometimes with the dame, sometimes without, but always having made the choice. That dame may betray him, reject him, stab him in the back, but they always find each other again, until the sun is going down and the gumshoe rolls out of town. Veronica has a long way to go before she sees the city limits. That means, by genre, that she and Logan can't be finished yet.

Trust Rob. Just because Joss let Marti take us into a dark alley and beat us up until we handed over our lunch money, that doesn't mean Rob's going to. Trust the man who gave us Trevor and Claire. Trust the man who introduced us to Dub. He's a good guy. He's never handled me wrong, and that's saying something.

Also, breathe.

#vm meta #fave #veronica mars #logan echolls #LoVe #rob thomas