it's all about the stories we tell ourselves

reader/listener who frequently binges Good Omens/OFMD/Sherlock/MCU/Cabin Pressure fanfic. SincerelyChaos on AO3. Loud introvert with a slight obsession with stories, all things psychology and neuroscience. working psychiatry, living neurodiversity.

[naonic-blog-deactivated20230221]

John Oliver Buys $15M of Medical Debt for $60K and Forgives It All, Because He Could

Once again John Oliver proves that you can do anything with money and lawyers

Oliver then proceeded to detail how with $50 and knowledge of the law he was able to successfully apply online to create a debt buying company named “Central Asset Recovery Professionals,” or as Oliver put it, “CARP” named after “a bottom-feeding fish.”

After setting up a rudimentary website for CARP, the satirical, but still real company was offered a $15 million package of medical debt for $60,000.

Oliver explained that the debt was out of statute, which means it is the kind of debt that a collector can only continue to collect, but not sue the debtor for.

Then, instead of chasing down the 9,000 debtors in the debt package as a normal collection agency would, Oliver decided to stage the largest one-time giveaway in television history and work with the nonprofit RIP Medical Debt to forgive the $15 million with no consequences for the debtors.

[helloquirks]

Okay but now I know what I want to do of I get rich?

[beabaseball]

You dont have to be rich to do a bit of this actually

RIP Medical Debt is a charity (and therefore takes donations). They buy the rights to medical debt and then forgive them. So far they’ve forgiven over 1B in medical debt.

So a little ray of hope for someone out there today.

[shayvaalski]

Donating $10 buys $1,000 of medical debt. This is real, it works, and we’ve done it ourselves. You can too.

[yummy-tummy-time]

As of June 29, 2024, the charity is still active under a new name, Undue Medical Debt

[spiralarray]

Signal Boost!!!

[ffcrazy15]

If you’re Catholic this is a great thing to do for the Jubilee year by the way. Forgive debts and set captives free!

[bringmemyrocks]

Now renamed as Undue Medical Debt:

Undue Medical Debt Homepage

Undue Medical Debt makes it easy for donors to make an impactful difference in the lives of those struggling with medical debt.

[getvalentined]

I got a letter recently letting me know that a $3k medical bill from an emergency room visit in 2018 had been purchased by Undue Medical Debt and destroyed. Gone forever. They were very clear that I didn’t have to do anything, but they would appreciate it if I would talk to people about it to spread the word about what they were doing. Fucking phenomenal.

[leebrontide]

I got $2k erased last year!

[clandestinegardenias]

My therapist just told me my problem is that I need to write more fanfiction.

[clandestinegardenias]

This sounds fake but the logic behind it is actually really interesting? She said obsession with a new fandom triggers quick dopamine release when we consume all this related content--it's easy and addictive.

What we're NOT getting is that 'slow dopamine' that's more sustainable and engaging. That's the kind we get from DOING things that take effort but are ultimately rewarding.

So like, she suggested that writing fic and making fanart are ways to balance the quick dopamine of watching a show/reading fic with the slow dopamine of working at something that takes effort.

Moral of the story is you should engage in the process of creation around your favorite things. You'll feel better for it.

[owldaughter]

Oh.

OH.

[dduane]

Let's all go do fandom.

FOR SCIENCE!

:)

[clytemnestraaa]

i feel. like on a fundamental level. i do not understand x reader fic. i am not exactly opposed to it because let a thousand blossoms bloom etc. but like. i genuinely don’t get it. it seems like the exact opposite of how i engage with fiction. like the whole point is that i’m not in there. i don’t wanna be in there. if i’m in there it’s going to be very stressful.

[mortallycrispygardener]

[shiftingbonesofapoltergeist-dea]

I'm sorry WHAT

[smallerontheoutside]

'lazy people don't feel guilty about not doing anything' is insane to me and I have been trying to make my brain believe it for a long time, it shocked me to my core when I first heard it

[sdwolfpup]

More Joy Day is BACK

What's More Joy Day? In short it’s this:

Every year since 2008, in the interest of spreading more joy, I’ve proposed that on a designated day in early January we each engage in one act, either online or physical space (or both!), which brings joy to another person, in the hopes that that person will spread that joy further, and exponentially onward.

This act can be as simple as leaving a comment on a fanwork to as complicated as planting a tree or flower in someone’s honor and sharing a photo of it and why you chose that person. If you want the longer version (and more suggestions) you can check out this post from 2024 which provides both.

The 19th annual More Joy Day is on Thursday, January 8, 2026.

(Can you believe it's almost been twenty years?!)

I’ll have at least one more reminder before the day, so start thinking about how you’re going to spread some joy, because we need it now more than ever and I am NOT going to let the bastards bring us down entirely.

[theweirdwideweb]

[rimonoroni2]

unfortunately very true. Doing Better does not always mean never being upset or never being triggered or never having trouble. often Doing Better means experiencing those things and being able to keep going/cope healthily/move on. if you’re in a bubble with no sensation, if you’re numbing yourself out, that’s not what recovering really is. it won’t help you have a happier life it’ll just make your world smaller and smaller until you can’t fit anywhere anymore. gotta learn to make peace with the hard stuff too, that’s the only way to keep going

[phoen1xr0se]

Having hard conversations and sitting with your partner through the mucky parts is how you rewire the trauma.

Shutting them out or avoiding them completely is not.

[kosmo-mckogane]

rereading my own writing is just a constant fluctuation between "damn, girl, you wrote this? (affectionate)" and "damn, girl, you wrote this? (derogatory)"

[aurevoirblog-deactivated2023082]

I am also “damn, girl, you wrote this? (forgetful)”

[gailcarriger]

I don’t think I’ve ever felt anything more in my life.

[pilferingapples]

MAY ALL YOUR OBSTACLES COLLAPSE IN THE YEAR TO COME LIKE UNTO A GIANT STRAW GOAT IN THE WIND

[baddywronglegs]

[a-sinister-wizard]

[sincerely-chaos]

My neighbour has fallen.

A real face-plant during last night's storm instead of a fire this year.

[sincerely-chaos]

Currently rewriting the earliest chapters of my first fic.

It's an oddly empowering thing to look at what you wrote about a decade ago and being able to say "I can do this so much better now" and then proving it to yourself.

[sincerely-chaos]

Currently working on a new chapter of current fic project.

So far, the characters have surprised me at least three times by doing something I hadn't planned, but which in retrospect seem like exactly what they would do.

Usually, I start writing a chapter knowing only one scene I want in it, and figuring out the way to get there as I go. This makes for quite a few surprises along the way.

I sometimes wish I was the kind of person who could make detailed outlines for a story and then methodically work my way through it, but I never have been, and I'm also finding a certain charm in the fact that as I write the story, the story kind of reveals itself to me, which makes me want to keep writing because I too want to know what happens next.

[mikkeneko]

planning my fic in a normal way. 1) what incredibly indulgent scene do I want to write next? 2) what connective tissue do I have to set up between indulgent scenes to get us there?

[aidashakur]

a lesson i learned this year is that a person's capacity for growth is directly linked to how much truth they can face about themselves without running away

[youremyheaven]

THISSSS

[ceruleanmindpalace]

Inktober No. 28 - Exposure + CCTV

I think this is my Inktober art I like most this year. Photorealistic has always been one of my favourite things to aim for.

From @whumptober's prompt list for Inktober 2024.

I am flattered if you reblog, but do NOT post my art on other sites/social media or use in any other way without my written permission.

The downside of this is many just scroll past my art thinking it is a photo. But for me people saying 'I thought it was a photo' has always been the highest praise. During my studies I heard some argue 'photorealistic is not ART, it is just a depiction of things that are', but for me it is a demonstration of skill and those who make 100% of people think it is a photo even at second glance are masters. I think I might reach 85% with this.       

[sincerely-chaos]

Conductivity by liriodendron

Currently rereading so many of my favorite Sherlock fics for the first time in about seven years or so.

One particular favorite, that's even better than I remember it, is the Conductivity series - we get them as the lunatics they truly are, a Nightmare and a Nebula, with cases, ownership that means more than love, gritty romance and amazing takes on what makes them work and how they rationalise it all.

And also synesthesia. Because of course John glows like a full moon or like Christmas because of Sherlock's head injury, and of course head injuries gives them their own language.

I still can't do the fancy link thing, but if you want to get absorbed into something (I'm currently at part 4 and enjoying every word), give this a try:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/585348

[orion-lake]

[tfw-adhd]

[meet-again]

This is weird bevause ive had this exact thought before

[wordsaremylife]

Actually it really does help to paint the picture

[slightlyrebelliouswriter23]

"why don't you set an alarm to remind yourself to put your marbles in your bag?" i will fill your shoes with goo