#operation inherent resolve
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US Navy SEAL vehicle interdiction in Iraq, featuring Disturbed.
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My home away from home in Iraq until next year
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People who compare transition to self harm or use real people they know who've self-harmed as a metaphorical comparison to transitioning aren't making the gotcha they think they're making - they're just showing that they don't have the compassion or maturity to engage with either topic at even a conversational level.
And, frankly, it's infuriating as a person who does see those who self-harm as my equal who doesn't need to be used as a cudgel against another group of often vulnerable people.
#trans#transgender#lgbt#lgbtq#ftm#mtf#nonbinary#self harm tw#self harm mention tw#sh tw#transphobia#transphobia tw#and as someone who has self-harmed AND transitioned it's been inherently different. it's not a comparison#and if you wonder why so many trans people have engaged in self harm: social factors. family. abuse. mistreatment#mine stemmed from unrelated abuse largely and also because i wasn't being treated well#absolutely unresolved dysphoria in trans people can inspire that - i know that already. ask me how (don't)...#...but it also isn't inherent to identifying as trans. dysphoria of any kind can make people desperate for any escape...#...and you help them by allowing them space and giving them tools that empower *them*...#...like for me the second a huge part of my dysphoria resolved through transition i was able to start actually fucking LIVING#because for all my life i'd been only able to operate at 50% at most. and now it's more like 80-90% just after transition
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So this super fun exchange about Izzy's competency is back on my dash and it reminded me I wanted to pull the metaphor into its own post:
Izzy is the antagonist in this show because he won't buy into Stede's muppetverse / co-captaincy / growth mindset / etc. Which in large part is because he's anxiety ridden and terrified of change and hostile to anything Stede specifically suggests, but also Stede's sales pitch in Season 1 is garbage.
Stede is the rich guy who has never seen the inside of a real job or business school in his life, but he's got it in his head that he can revolutionize workplace culture (read: piracy) with this new approach and he's got the resources to throw at it so... why not? Like, this metaphor is in the show immediately. And the show tells you it works! Awkwardly, and with stumbles, but the Revenge crew are thriving as they embrace the new-and-improved system.
Only... the Revenge crew are, like, tutorial level difficulty.
Stede collected a diverse bunch of wayward souls with no other opportunities and no prior success or attachment to the previous system. They didn't even sign onto his philosophy because they believed in it, they just didn't read or didn't take seriously the 20 page document outlining his leadership goals and methods when a decent salary and benefits was on the table. When he is serious about it, of course they adapt.
Edward, too, buys in, but not because he thinks Stede's system works. He's just at peak corporate burnout and he's already got all the riches and celebrity he could possibly want. His face is on every business magazine. He doesn't give a shit if Stede is a lunatic whose financials are a nightmare, because fucking around Stede's startup attending Feelings Circles and playing table tennis by the complimentary bagel bar is a vacation.
But Izzy? Izzy is already thriving.
Sure he's stressed, and things could be better, and Edward specifically is kind of a mess, but he's got 20-30 years of massive career investment paying off. He's got the corner office. The seven figure salary. A whole system of competent department heads who report to him. At least two personal assistants. A goddamn wall of meticulously framed performance rewards.
And Stede, without the slightest hint of irony, pitches him a low stress work environment with emphasis on the lifestyle benefits of mental and emotional health. A flat organizational structure (aka a massive demotion) and a general ban on formal performance metrics / disciplinary action in favor of group support systems tailored to each individual's set goals. Reframe criticisms as suggestions and put them in the box, and we'll discuss them in group after Tuesday's afternoon yoga break!
No joke, I would have stabbed him too (even before he started trying to fuck the love of my life 😆😆😆)
#our flag means death#i'm sure izzy would benefit from the ability to relax and not operating with the constant awareness that sharks are circling#but he would have been completely insane to sign onto stede's lifestyle philosophy in season 1#stede was giving him *nothing*#(and now we're back to the inherent class conflict between the two of them and how stede might resolve it in season 2)#(namely... offer izzy some fucking job satisfaction already. and maybe let him start enjoying his competency kink again)#izzy hands ofmd#stede bonnet ofmd#blackbeard ofmd#classism#my meta#ladyluscinia#ofmd meta
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It’s good to get some sort of official closure. This and the National Defense medal were often degraded as “participation trophies;” everyone got one because we were doin’ this shit for two decades.
#I do feel kinda proud having the GWOT-E though#Gator Navy doin' Gator Navy stuff#my ship went out to support Operation Inherent Resolve#Navy
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A Patient-Therapist's Anti-Psych Manifesto
Okay yall, I broke out my laptop for this, so buckle up, I’m about to have opinions.
I don’t owe anyone my credentials, but because I know the first thing out of some folks’ mouths is always “what gives you the right” let’s nip that in the bud right now.
I have been in and out of psychiatric care since I was seven years old. I have severe medical trauma from the experimental treatments I was subjected to, and have spent time in outpatient, inpatient, and all manner of different kinds of care. I’m also a published anarchic anthropologist, and a fully credentialed and actively practicing private therapist. To many, these are rightfully mutually exclusive roles. To me it is survival. Let’s explore some dialectics.
Dialectic: Per Merriam-Webster, a dialectic is any systematic reasoning, exposition, or argument that juxtaposes opposed or contradictory ideas and usually seeks to resolve their conflict : a method of examining and discussing opposing ideas in order to find the truth
In this case, we’re holding a few irreconcilable realities in tension with each other and working to resolve those irreconcilabilities.
Dialectic 1
Creating a class of healthcare professionals whose job is to dispense care to the masses inherently creates a hierarchy.
Any hierarchy that exists can and will become unjust under enough stress, with enough bad actors, with enough systemic intersections, if it is made so, etc.
People still need healthcare, including mental healthcare.
Dialectic 2
Because we already have unjust hierarchies involved in our medical care and research system, the question of who gets to define what is “mental healthcare” and what isn’t is inherently skewed in favor of kyriarchical** values.
Kyriarchy: a social system or set of social systems built around domination, oppresion, and submission
Many non-hierarchical forms of mental health care are devalued in our society and therefore do not receive the resources to operate at scale despite being extremely effective tools.
There will likely always need to be some form of “service” healthcare model in our society, even if it is wildly different from what we have now, because the worst person you know deserves care and it may need to be from people who are incentivized to provide it, and in privacy or isolation from others in the community.
Dialectic 3
Indefinite and involuntary detention can never be ethically or humanely performed. Period.
Some people need episodic or long term intensive care that comes from having someone available to them 24/7, and this is extremely difficult to provide at scale to an entire society in their homes, and your answer cannot be to offload the work onto relatives.
Current inpatient and residential programs typically serve, at best a holding pattern, and at their worst are breeding grounds for abuse and we will be hard-pressed to create models that do not replicate this pattern in our current systems.
We could keep going several layers deeper, but this is already getting long, so now I want to ask the next question.
These all feel really impossible to work with, Butts, you said I was supposed to reconcile all this and that feels super intimidating. What do we do with these dialectics?
Great question imaginary reader!
There are a lot of things you can do about it! Start by going to the Blackfoot digital library and watching this video about indigenous influences on modern concepts of the basic hierarchy of needs (link)
One of the things I’ve learned as an anarchic anthropologist turned therapist is that if you take what we think we know now about mental health, the nervous system, and chronic stress, and look back to this moment when Maslow and the Blackfoot community tried to communicate the resiliency of their community to the world, we can learn a lot.
A huge amount of mental health care, in my experience, boils down to learning how to regulate your nervous system, provide for your hierarchy of needs in your life, including the accommodations you need for your physical, cognitive, spiritual, and social world, and seeking, traditional or non-traditional therapy, pharmacology, and/or traditional medicine for the remainder of your needs.
What I mean by this is: mutual aid is mental health care, socializing with your friends is mental health care, taking a bubble bath is mental health care
But so are practices like MAST (link)- a non-hierarchical therapy style that allows people to support each other through therapeutic interventions via mutual aid (a genuine therapeutic concept we discuss in our training!!)
I imagine a world where we dare to question all of our assumptions about what therapeutic intervention needs to look like. Where “mental health care” looks like creating a society that seeks to meet every level of need for as many people as possible, and offers additional, voluntary community built and operated services to meet additional needs that arise.
What if we worked to minimize the need for inpatient services by providing ADL support crews for anyone who requests it? Need to just be a lump in bed for a week in order to be okay at the end? Ask for a crew to come do dishes and make meals and tidy and field calls and check in on you. Feeling manic and need someone to be your impulse control? Request one. Like theoretically these are things we can all do for each other regardless, but what if there were trained volunteers from the community, motivated and available who could be on call whenever they were needed for anybody no matter what? What if you didn’t NEED to have a friend who was available? What if you didn’t need to wonder if they would be annoyed because everyone is there by choice and by specialty?
Imagine if you didn’t have to wait until you were in crisis to call? You could just do it because you needed or wanted the help and that was fine too. Because the goal was prevention. Make sure no one gets so overwhelmed or stressed that they reach crisis in the first place. Make sure everyone has community resources.
The task rabbit mutual aid is the one I think is the most under-served in our communities. I think a lot of us are still afraid to truly take that last step into anarchic community building. After all, time is the most precious resource we have, and giving that to others without a guarantee of others giving back feels very scary. When I’ve done task-rabbit type mutual aid though, it’s always been my favorite experience, and I truly cannot recommend it enough. It provides such an immeasurable boost to the entire community’s resiliency.
I think another really useful direction is teaching yourself a little bit about polyvagal theory. It sounds like pop science, but it’s pretty cool stuff. Things like diaphragmatic breathing, certain manual manipulation techniques, etc can help you regulate your nervous system in moments of stress or intense emotion, as well as adjusting you into a better regulated state over time if you experience chronic dysregulation, such as from PTSD, ADHD, or Autism**
**This is not me saying it will cure your ADHD or Autism, it will not, but it can tone down the intensity of emotionally/autonomically dysregulated moments, or make them a little easier to end on your own time.
In the end, mental health, like so much, is deeply personal. There will be no "one size fits all" option. But we can create a society that provides a high quality standard of living for everyone, with the majority of their needs being met as a baseline, and create services that account for needs that may be episodic, additive, or unusual, as will almost certainly always eventually occur.
So the question is, when you begin to imagine outside the confines of the four walls of the psychiatrist's office
What does mental healthcare look like to you?
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The Narrative Morality of HBO's "Barry" Series Finale
OK, so post HBO Barry series finale, I'm trying to figure out what I call the "narrative morality" of the story. IE, what morality is rewarded, what gets punished, and whether or not there's a common thread at all, because a story where no consistent morality is rewarded or punished is also a statement.
So let's dive in with a few of my takeaways on what Barry is trying to "say", at least within season 4 and its finale. Cut for spoilers.
Possibility 1: "It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."
This to me is not the most convincing argument, but it is the quickest to articulate. There is no narrative morality. The fact is that Bill Hader is making a statement about the inherent senselessness of life. Fuches didn't deserve to get away. Coiseneau didn't deserve to go to jail for Barry's crimes. People deserved a happy ending who didn't get one, despite doing everything right, and people who deserved to die didn't and indeed, have every indication of going on to live fulfilling lives.
On a wider level, it's an indictment of Hollywood and films (in my opinion) like American Sniper that glorify violence and turn villains into martyrs. By expecting a moral to this Hollywood story, you are played for a fool. It means nothing. It all means nothing. Objectively, many people are dead who didn't deserve it or take any actions to cause it. To seek meaning in the violence is a fool's game.
Possibility 2: "To Thine Own Self Be True"
The only way to gain redemption in "Barry" is to operate with integrity. By coming clean to her son about what she did and who she really is, Sally secures for herself a marginally happy ending as a theater teacher with a son who loves her and the adoration of her students.
By realizing that he has always been, deep down, a heartless piece of shit and a criminal, Fuches self-actualizes, becomes who he has always been deep down, redeems himself by rescuing Barry's son (who he put in danger in the first place) and walks off into the night, presumably satisfied with his choices.
By resolving in his final moments to come clean about Janet's murder, Barry didn't fully secure redemption but he did get all he prayed for: to be seated at the right hand of his father figure in death, to be seen as a hero by his son, and to be lionized after his death.
By failing to admit to himself that he was the cause of Cristobal's death, NoHo failed to achieve redemption. Instead, he receives the fool's gold of dying in his lover's arm, a statue of his lover literally made of fool's gold. He told Sally there was nothing he could do to help her, he failed to take responsibility in that moment, because he did have the power to act with integrity, just like he did in the events leading up to Cristobal's death, and he failed to do so. His reasons were understandable but ultimately, he wore a mask, and those who wear masks are punished by this narrative.
Coiseneau is the fakest of them all. On numerous occasions he's given chances to come clean, to act with integrity, to care about what actually matters in life like Janice and his son. He is over and over again tempted away from acting with integrity by instead pursuing fame and the appearance of success. He is no inherently a bad person, but he is over and over again show to be far too seduced by the temptations of Hollywood fame and his own legend to ever truly break free and act with integrity.
Janice's father also fumbles with integrity at the end, choosing the easy explanation of Coiseneau being his daughter's murderer, rather than pursuing the truth. As a result, his daughter's true murderer is lionized by the media and her lover is wrongfully convicted of her death.
In essence, when people act with falsehood and give in to convenient narratives about themselves, instead of pursuing integrity and truth, regardless of the morality of that inner truth (being a criminal is still Fuches being true to himself) the narrative punishes them. When people are true to themselves and act with integrity, even if its only to admit their own monstrousness, the narrative rewards them.
As a story told by Bill Hader, who is embedded in the shallowness of Hollywood with its shifting alliances, massive egos, frailties and foibles, "Barry" as a story about fake people constantly failing to improve themselves, act with integrity, or even acknowledge who they really are, but choosing to live instead in the fairytale palaces of their false images of themselves, fits thematically with much of what we see on screen. It doesn't preclude other themes and morals, but to me at least, there's a running theme of integrity vs. falsehood in terms of who is rewarded by the narrative and who is punished.
Possibility 3: Every Act of Violence Removes More Of Our Choices
Violence is condemned by the narrative of "Barry" but in a very interesting way. One act of violence never cements a person's unhappy ending, but it removes choices available to them. Each lost life is one more path that has been cut off from the world, and the characters who commit violence, who commit murder, see their own lives and available choices pruned away as well with each murder committed.
The narrative is actually rather optimistic towards Barry when he first signs up for the acting class. There is a sense that this is his highest point, his earnest decision to try to escape the violence. However, his past haunts him. It cuts away options he might have had in his own happiness. When he chooses to return to that world out of self-interest, the narrative once again condemns him. Each murder, each coverup with another murder, spirals. Each death cuts away another path Barry might have taken in his life. He can no longer visit friends without guilt. He can no longer have people in his life, or be an actor the way he wanted to, or enjoy the acclaim he hoped to achieve, or live openly with his family eventually, in a place of his choosing, because of his acts of violence.
Sally commits only one major act of violence, but that too has a sense of placing a ceiling upon all she might have achieved in life. She can no longer act freely without guilt. She can no longer aspire to heights that would draw attention to her that might uncover the murder. She can no longer be all she might have been, because she is responsible for a man's death.
Coiseneau is punished by the narrative for the violence he partakes in. He is punished when he chooses to act with violence and shoot "Barry", who turns out to be his own son. He is punished when he does not act to bring Janice's actual killer to justice. He is punished when he doesn't wait a few more moments for Barry to turn himself in for Janice's murder, instead taking Barry's death into his own hands and damning his own memory as a result. All his choices are taken away by this moment of violence.
Fuches might have finally blossomed into the criminal he has always been, deep down, but his options are still limited. He is a figure of shadows now, incapable of coming out into the light. He can't share Barry's life with him, or be in John's life, or walk openly outside the criminal element. He has found himself in the darkness, but each act of violence has reduced all his other options to nothing, he cannot have anything but the life of a petty criminal.
The organized crime characters all have their choices limited by the violence they've committed, over and over. They don't get out. They suffer brief, brutal lives, often dying as a result of their own machinations. Cristobal tries desperately to go legitimate, but can't escape his past. NoHo wants desperately to live in a world where he can be safe, have Cristobal, be happy, and be fulfilled, but the violence he's partaken in precludes this, it closes so many of these doors to him. With Cristobal's death, he loses even more.
Each act of violence diminishes us. It diminishes the world. It reduces the choices available to us and to the world, because those two are inextricable. Violence is not only never the answer, it steals from the life and options of those who commit it.
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Quick question about Raphael, could you please give us some more insight on him? He's always portrayed as positive and "we can do this" in Spite of his brothers reluctance, how is this boi actually doing?
raphael's emotional state is actually pretty interesting, as he is basically made to be the one that acts as an anchoring force for the others. in this way, he's very difficult to actually wear down, with his positivity ingrained into his very being as an angel and essentially where he operates from as a default. that being said, i think his current situation in the au is what has been able to truly shake him for the first time (barring the war in heaven, when he was still rather young) and everything raphael relies on externally to help him maintain has collapsed. it obviously began with god's death, enough to make the whole of heaven unbalanced, but the deterioration of his family has multiplied that far beyond its initial impact - uriel fell into his coma, michael abandoned them, and gabriel was worked to the point of falling. as it stands, these issues are at best half-resolved as their family reconnects, leaving raphael in the middle of a complete mess that he doesn't have god to fall back on in while he tries to process a lot of pain and conflicting interests. so. he's. kinda actually stressed out for once.
however, like i alluded to in the ask about how the brothers might show their appreciation for him, he doesn't want anyone to know that he's beginning to buckle, and there's several reasons for that. the first is inherent, that this is part of his role as an angel and to fail at your fundamental work is a great shame to the host of heaven. the second is how he feels he's the last one still standing, that while he's taken several hits emotionally, he's really all they've got to hold them together considering what's happened to the other three beside him. the third and final ties into the second, that raphael simply feels he hasn't earned feeling stressed - gabriel has fallen and now must reside in hell, uriel has no more work to be done and can't seem to fully recover his consciousness, and michael now carries on all his previous responsibilities in a dead body. what does raphael have to complain about? it's just him. as he always was. he's okay. he hasn't been hurt the way they have, hasn't lost so much the way they have. of course it's hard for them, look at all the suffering they're each going through, the least he can do is be a soft place to fall for them all when he's come out so unscathed. he needs to fulfill his role now more than ever, yet he knows more and more he's running off of his own personal store of positivity. it refuses to give out, but it's proving to not be enough when he's asked so many times to provide it. and all he can feel is an ever-growing guilt.
however...i do think this works its way to a very much needed breaking point for raphael, because a key point of his personality is that he's painfully non-confrontational - if he ever had problems with someone, he inevitably would tattle on them to michael or gabriel so they could sort them out lol but now, he obviously doesn't have that option, and for the good of all of them he sort of...needs to allow himself to get angry. because he has been left to bear the brunt of all this emotional pain, because this comes at the end of possibly centuries of him doing this exact same work for a grieving heaven. raphael really hasn't been given his chance to mourn, to break down, to give space to all the negative emotions that have built up in this chaos. and in a way, he does feel so left behind. they all left him, and while he understands the choices they made, he can't stand how broken they've become - and so he loses his temper, though his anger is largely focused on michael. his insistent dogma is destroying their family and himself, he's so badly needed in heaven but he's totally preoccupied on restoring the punishments of hell. he must let go, he must see what's most important now is achieving whatever sense of peace they can. stop fighting gabriel, stop trying to kill his robot, and stop making it your personal mission to see every little torment of hell reinstated!!!! heaven should be michael's priority, rebuilding and helping the citizens adjust to so much newfound freedom. hell is beside the point!!! the prince of heaven needs to be in heaven!!!!
gabriel and uriel think for a minute they'll get off free, but they don't once michael's given enough to think about (it's a lot to be yelled at by raphael, who's never so much as raised his voice) gabriel NEEDS to stop antagonizing michael, he's absolutely belligerent and often challenges his belief in god which he KNOWS is going to inflame him!! fair enough that michael started it, but gabriel's absolutely let his temper get the best of him when it comes to how he's handled michael (gabriel's ready to offer a myriad reasons, but raphael sternly tells him he will hear him out later!!) and uriel has been far too silent altogether - raphael knows he agrees that what michael's doing is wrong, but he hasn't confronted him a single time. like i previously talked about too, uriel is likely closest with michael at this point and often spends time with him, so he knows his opinion is valuable not only in their relationship to each other but for his wisdom. raphael doesn't really get into his own feelings on the matter, but he says more than enough when he makes it clear he will no longer facilitate their implosion. unless they want true progress toward harmony and reconciliation, he wants no part in it. he's pretty much exhausted after taking such a stand and likely does later apologize for any harsh words, but his points all stand regardless. they can see raphael's not holding together as he once was (how could he) and they can see too they're all reaching a point of no return. while it should be obvious, raphael has made it clear this has gone far beyond any past bickering, and they need now to make the decision to remain a family or see what they have left collapse.
#raphael kind of has the endless ability to help#but he sees nothing he does for some time here move any needle#and it's at odds with what he thinks is best#so eventually he just can't keep playing as support with no meaningful change in any of them#so he just has to lay down what he thinks is best and separate himself from what's harmful and static#cake answers#raphael#fallen gabriel#michael#uriel#rise and fall au
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I think it's a slippery slope to use "abuse victim" when violence is so engrained into Cybertronian culture in general. Like, we have definitions of abuse in human contexts - but when is punishment considered too excessive to strong, powerful, robotic aliens that can have their parts swapped out? It's cyclical abusive violence to us, but what is it actually to them? It's one thing to say Megatron has more power, but Starscream also comes from a place of privilege. Megatron (as a gladiator) learned to resolve conflict through violence. Violence is very much something that gives him value and identity. Starscream came from a position where he looked down on people like Megatron, and likely this entitlement and privilege still serves him/motivates him to think he should have what Megatron has through whatever means. Violence is worth it if he gets what he wants in the end. To me, this doesn't fit the abuser/victim dynamic because they both have something to hold over the other. I'm curious as to your opinion, because to me it's literally two fucked up people fighting over power and control.
I’m not sure whether you’re referring to ‘abuse victim’ in the context of Megatron or Starscream, because I think I said they both were at different points…or if you meant just the term in general. Sorry. But overall, I’ll see what I can explain!
The whole culture is just fucked up. I mean, Megatron growing up where violence was widely accepted and expected of him doesn’t mean he was any less mistreated by the people who put him in that position. The whole point of his battle for reform was to eradicate that sort of mistreatment, but he perpetuates it even further. Groups within Cybertronian society are aware that the violence and mistreatment is bad…so they are aware to some extent that abuse is real. And it’s very similar to what Starscream went through. Just because it’s legal doesn’t mean it’s right, sort of thing.
And obviously, yes, humans are going to view the show from a human lens. And considering the human input that is canon in the show, I don’t think it’s far off to interpret things that way.
It’s not a slippery slope to use abuse victim in my opinion — I think it’s more harmful to deny it. The relationship is incredibly complicated, sure, and it’s not your cookie-cutter representation on what abuse has been popularly portrayed to be. But you can piece your body together, again and again, by virtue of being mechanical and robotic and still suffer the long-lasting effects the mistreatment caused you. Abuse victims aren’t defined by how well they can recover from its effects, or if they experience them at all. It’s about what objectively happened. Which in this case is multiple beatings and verbal humiliation. (Edit: Starscream was also hospitalized for a considerable time, and Knock Out stated that Starscream’s antique construction made it difficult to provide replacement parts. So in certain cases it’s not as simple as swapping out parts.)
Megatron was dealt very similar controlling, violent mistreatment within the gladiatorial ring and energon mines, so though violence is all he knows, there’s also a part of him that knows it’s wrong. His whole Galvatron arc In Megatron’s case, when he realizes what he was doing was wrong. And generally, he makes himself the oppressor so that he can’t be oppressed by others again.
Again, if Megatron can be a victim of unjust circumstances, and both the narrative and the fanbase can accept that, then so can Starscream. (Again I wasn’t sure which one you were referring to, or if you meant the term in general. But by wide consensus abuse does exist in the TF universe)
As for the privilege bit. Yes, Starscream was privileged on Cybertron before the war. But unless I missed something in the books, I believe Starscream operates under a more, ‘I inherently deserve power for myself, and I use my achievements to enforce that’, rather than a strictly classist worldview. He uses everything from frame type, his past positions, his strategic experience, etc. to portray himself as more qualified, and if he can’t portray himself as such, he’ll try to prove people wrong. That’s my personal interpretation of the character, anyway; I can use canon to support my theory if you’d like. I would genuinely appreciate hearing you flesh out the privilege bit more, because while I don’t deny its previous existence, I have complicated feelings about how much it still influences the relationship when Starscream is so far removed from his actual position of privilege. (Being commander doesn’t really count; his life is still dictated at Megatron’s discretion). I could only see his position of power leveling the playing field when they are on Cybertron, where he has an armada to enforce his otherwise empty title.
Starscream is 100% an entitled brat who gets on Megatron’s (and everyone else’s) nerves. But he’s viewed as more of a nuisance than a threat. Because he doesn’t have anything to support his claims of grandeur. He doesn’t actually have anything to hold over Megatron’s head…anymore, at least. That’s when the situation devolves into an imbalance.
But I see how that conclusion could be made, since I know he’s prejudiced against pretty much everything that isn’t a high-class energon seeker (and even then, I’m pretty sure he would find an excuse to deem himself superior. lol.)
But seriously, if I missed something about where that happens, I’d like to hear about it.
It absolutely is two people fighting for power and control. Overall in their relationship, they’ve managed to one-up each other at some point or another. But Megatron outclasses Starscream in many areas that align with abuse criteria (?? not really sure what to call it). His influence and power over the Decepticon army only enforce his physical might. If Starscream were to abandon the cause, Megatron would have no issue ordering his termination and capture…it would only depend on Starscream’s evasiveness whether that were to occur. Power imbalances are key factors in abusive relationships: inability to escape, fight back, reach out to others. And with how human-like other Cybertronian traits are, I don’t see how abuse would be viewed as drastically different.
Again this is all my opinion and interpretation. I have evidence to support if you’d like but nothing is set in stone.
This was fucking horribly written I’m so sorry anon, lol. But if you’d like to explain your viewpoint more I’d love to hear it and help expand on my own as well, since I don’t think I did this answer justice. And thank you for my first ask :)
#ask#this was actually interesting and helped me flesh out some points I hadn’t thought about#tfp starscream#tfp megatron
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Continuing some from this post, but for our functional multiplicity / resolution, we do have some amnesia for things in the past and our present day memory isn't perfect and between parts we still do loose bits - but that is not experienced in any distressing, intrusive, or distressing manner as it is an inherent part of our state and form of functional multiplicity and I've seen that confuse some people as a lot of talk around functional multiplicity operates on the "complete remission of DID related symptoms" which it CAN be - but it really isn't that nor needed to be to that extent for our system.
Our system is stable and we have very limited to no notable conflict - our system morphs and operates very fluently with one another and switches relatively easy - usually there is at least 3 parts co-con at once - often going upwards to 6-8 at a time depending on if they're so much as interested in doing so. Internal communication is pretty solid and easy beyond actually "summoning" the part to be near and actually tune in so that we can talk. Parts being near the front and "tuned in" is more so a choice to either involve that part or not by both the unseen collective and the individuals as a parts of a collective.
In our functional multiplicity, the individuality of parts - specifically key parts - is a large comfort and aid to the current stage of our trauma healing and the parts in our system serve exclusively a healing function in dynamic with one another and we all work for the betterment of one another and the whole. We haven't had a real issue beyond occasional (and much less frequent) PTSD flashback and triggers and even when those get tense, it isn't a conflict of parts but a stress and worry about one another than against one another.
Additionally, the only roles we use that are formally used are "host" "gatekeeper" and "trauma holder" as they explain key dynamics that are relevant to supporting and recovering forward as all the other roles are either the resting state of all parts (caretaker and soothers and what not are just all of us by nature of peer support) or not needed (we don't need protectors as most of us can handle ourselves individually and we are no longer needing to "just survive").
We've cultured a strong sense of radical acceptance and unconditional care and love among the parts and those that can help do help and those that need help are given it - and while holding that radical acceptance - we also hold respect to the brain's decision to keep us in different parts and the inherent level of denial and dissociation between events that each part has as it gives a unique and strong perspective that gives us a bigger and better insight when we discuss the topics.
We simultaneously fully accept and respect the reality of the other part while fully accepting and respecting the reality of our own and living in our own space and we largely acknowledge that our life - and life in general - is full of subjectivity and our individual realities of the events we've been through are all simultaneously true even when they conflict. Those subjective differences form the foundation of our individual extreme strengths that we can then use to build one another up.
At some point we do likely intend to fuse down in numbers - a number of parts are working on it as their key traumas and burdens get resolved and they themselves feel as if their separated conscious no longer holds anything new to bring up or add to our situation - but as it is, we handle trauma and caring for one another better as separated parts of a whole.
Divide, specialize, and conquer of sorts - and Ray does a great job in managing us. It's honestly a really peaceful and enjoyable existence operating as such a smooth and oiled system. We all have our place that is not so heavily and formally defined but a sense of belonging and purpose in the system. We all do what we do and live where we live. No one is responsible for anything or anyone but also everyone is still there. It's not a job, or a role, or a duty, but simply just how things are. We're a family and a community and we care for one another solely on the principle of putting out our strengths as an offering to the whole team, knowing that the others would pay it back. If one of us is unhappy, we all are. If all of us are happy, each of us are.
We have a lot of trauma to work through still, like A LOT of it, and these days a lot of the system changes and dynamics are in preparation to best refine our team work and individual strengths as parts to better ready us to accommodate the higher needs parts.
I work on not only maintaining but polishing and increasing my self regulation, patience and mindfulness as well as my general coping and insight to what I care for and what helps me and those around me.
XIV takes on a lot of responsibility for understanding what we need and as he keeps expanding his understanding of the collective needs of the system, what matters to us and what can be improved - he is our best advocate and he then focuses on building his ability to understand and assist parts in getting what they need, but also to regulate his own anger that comes with being the part most aware of what we deserve.
Ray, Lucille, and Aderis - the core elders - have worked and slaved hard for the system during the crisis era and they inherently have great skill to be able to help and care for one another, their work then comes in learning to live for themselves and to let us and the other parts that they used to care heavily over make our own mistakes and develop independently into self sustaining parts of our own while still maintaining their presence and expertise for when things get dicey.
Lin is working on a fusion with another part that would better equipt him to travel and manage the heavier trauma holding parts between our side system and eventually fall into a role as the "gentle ambassador" between known long-dormant trauma holding parts that we have long since - both by the parts themselves and our talking active ones - decided to let sleep until we have a life that we know is better for them, worthy for them, and completely the secure life that they deserve.
There are a a lot more parts I could further explain into their individual projects to improving our system dynamic into that of a perfect healing environment for the trauma holders that we know sleep in the back - but that would take more time than I'm willing to put into this point.
As it is though, our system is functionally set less to survive and cope (the main fronting parts all have that individually on their own, having a system for that purpose does little than encourage a sense of learned helplessness at this point), but more so to build a home and a beautiful safe space so that when the time comes that our deeper more hurt trauma holders come up, that there is a beautiful world for them to join us in.
Compared to a few years ago when it was trying to learn the system, understand it, parse conflicts, butting heads over ways to survive and live with one another without killing one another, etc.... its honestly really fun. Like genuinely, its fun to be trying to improve and set a perfect home for the hurt kids that will eventually join us up here. It's a fun group project and we are all deeply engaged, invested, and dedicated to.
It's a very whole experience and healing experience and I really do love that I am able to live my life operating in my individual self with a number of really skilled, amazing, and insightful different versions of me to build this beautiful thing of life.
I dunno, I think the rhetoric around complete remission of symptoms, while totally valid and understandable, is a very black and white situation stemmed from the pain that early stages of healing comes from. Yes amnesia, not always being in the front, and what not, that isn't "normal" functioning, but my brain has never been normal functioning between autism, very early childhood trauma, OCD and C-PTSD and what not. Just cause its not "normal" doesn't mean its not distressing.
I'm not even saying this in a "we are allowed to be not miserable about our disorder", I genuinely mean that not only do I not find the DID aspect of my disorder distressing, but in reference to the PTSD - I find the DID aspect of my disorder incredibly healing and comforting.
I enjoy my life with DID at this stage in healing. It gives me a different perspective and deep insight into myself. There is no "but secretly I hate this aspect" because really, no, I don't think there is anything about the parts in my life and brain that I secretly hate. Yeah some of them do stupid shit, some of them are annoying, some of them are headaches, but I love that about them regardless and its those differences that make them amazing and interesting to engage with.
Anyhow, thats just a bit of a ramble on the topic that I wanted to go on.
#alter: riku#functional multiplicity#resolution#healing#recovery#actuallydid#dissociative identity disorder#riku rambles
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Hi this is an ask inquiring about the fucked up details of the zones nothing is off the table I wanna know what u mean!!
hi!!
i guess what i want to see is how the bad parts of the zones affect killjoy culture/desert culture in general. like fucked up things on a larger scale i guess. i see a lot of easily-resolvable bad things (ex. someone gets hurt but then someone else patches them up, minor character death) or what's basically just violence for the sake of violence (everyones evil and kills and hurts other people in cold blood with no good reason, what i made the original post about). neither of these are inherently bad (though the latter usually isnt my cup of tea) and technically do acknowledge bad things in the zones but its on such a small scale. i wanna see worldbuilding!! bc theres so little canon content for danger days it makes it the perfect story to build up your own little world and i feel like people definitely build up the characters but don't build up the actual world as much. or maybe they do and i'm just not seeing it?
like one idea that i've been kinda toying with lately (that i hope is a good example) is the idea of medics usually being loners/in groups of other medics instead of each group having a medic or two because without proper medical care, something that might have an easy fix irl can be deadly or at least way worse in the desert, and because of that people fear getting sick. because medics are constantly around people who have potentially contagious diseases, people fear being around medics and try to avoid them if necessary to avoid getting sick. this is part of why being non-op if youre trans is so common- most people won't risk an operation if it isn't necessary to stop them immediately dying. this avoidance of medics is also part of why so many people in the zones are misinformed or just aren't informed at all about many illnesses- how are they going to learn if they won't get near the experts?
basically just worldbuilding my beloved <3
here's a bunch of ideas for potentially fucked up things beyond just killing murder violence and questions to prompt worldbuilding, if anyone's interested. under the cut bc this is long:
like i was talking about above, sickness. how do people generally act toward those who are sick? how much of a difference does the type of illness make in how the sick person is treated? does the way they're treated vary between different kinds of people (killjoys, neutrals, etc)? how do different groups go about curing sickness? how readily available is medical help or medicine? how good are the average desert dweller's first aid skills, and does it vary between groups?
hunger/thirst. what do different groups usually eat? where do they get their food and water from? do they get a balanced diet, or is it just whatever they can get their hands on? do they eat breakfast/lunch/dinner like we do or not? if not, how often do they eat? do they tend to have big meals or small meals? when there's not enough food for everyone, who gets to eat first? how do different groups feel about stealing from others to get what they need? are there certain groups that try to provide food and water for those in need, or is it everyone for themselves?
prejudice/discrimination. i know a lot of people hc the zones as being very accepting, but surely no place is perfect. are certain groups discriminated against in the city too, or is it specific to the zones? are they treated better in certain parts of the zones, or by certain groups? do they have their own spaces? are there any specific parts of desert culture that contribute to prejudice against certain groups?
capitalism. since most people agree the city is a capitalist hellscape and the zones seem to work somewhat similarly (people still having to buy things, a lot of people have written stories about killjoys trying to get enough money to buy things they need, etc) how do you earn money in the zones? if people have jobs, are workers paid well? what happens if you dont have enough money to get something you need? is trade/barter acceptable, or is it money only?
shelter. it gets pretty hot during the day and pretty cold at night, how many people have adequate shelter? will others take you in if you don't have shelter? do people stay in their shelter of choosing for extended periods of time, or do they move around a lot? how do people decorate their shelters, or make them more comfortable? what types of furniture or supplies are found in the average shelter?
violence. how often do people face violence in the zones? what reasons to people have to be violent to one another? does violence usually come from other zone dwellers, or does it happen between zone dwellers and better living industries? are violent incidents usually fatal or not?
childhood. how are children usually treated in the zones? how protected are they from the above problems? what lengths will people go to to help a child in need? what age is considered adulthood? do children lose the help and protections they once had (assuming they had any) once they're considered adults? is anyone willing to help those who've just reached adulthood?
obviously there's more things than that, but i think that's more than enough to get you started. lmk if you actually use any of these to do some worldbuilding, id love to see it!!
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F-16C Fighting Falcon out of Shaw AFB conducting a sortie during Operation Inherent Resolve.
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Walking around Camp
#combat engineer#sapper#Sergeant First Class#united states army#Iraq operation inherent resolve#Iraq
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Ok but now that you have brought the camilla in uniform-ish outfit from ttc, as a military person yourself what is your standpoint about the royals who are not in the military but wear the uniform?
Masaa el kayhr it is 2130 in Bahrain and I have risen from the dead and chosen violence once again. *sips covfefe*
A list of modern (post-George VI) BRF members and their tenure of military service:
Queen Elizabeth II - Auxiliary Territorial Service, Subaltern -> Junior Commander, WWII
Lord High Admiral BAMF, HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and Slayer of Nazis - Royal Navy, 1940 - 1953 although never formally discharged from service, Midshipman -> Commander (active duty), WWII
King Charles III - Royal Navy, 1971 - 1976
Princess Anne - *crickets*
Prince Andrew - Royal Navy, 1979 - 2001, Falklands War
Prince Edward - Royal Marines, 1986 - 1987
Prince William - Royal Air Force, 2006 - 2013
Prince Harry - British Army Air Corps, 2005 - 2015, Afghanistan
Now. Which one is the one, using the fandom's words, playing dress up every time they show up in a uniform? Why is it when the one without any tenure of military service is hyped up, encouraged, and idolized for doing so, whereas Ed is deemed a fake and relegated to cosplaying? You cannot have separate standards for this, otherwise it makes you look silly and, frankly, ignorant at best.
If we're going to constantly be triggered by uniform regulations and who does/does not "deserve" to wear them, then it should be applied across the board, which yes, includes Harry not shaving while in uniform.
Personally, (USN, Electronics Technician 2nd Class, 2012 - , Operation Inherent Resolve) I'm Unbothered™. It's usually done for ceremonies where some royals hold honorary positions in the military. It is an honor that was granted them, ergo they have the right to wear it (hopefully correctly). It has zero effect on my life whatsoever, and I have more important things to stress about here in 5th Fleet where Iran is constantly fucking around and trying to find out. Y'all stay more pressed than my dress blues.
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everyone is sharing their s5 finale hot takes rn lol so i guess it's my turn
tbh, i think that @buggachat's recent posts about the finale mirror my thoughts (here and here) and are really really well said. in short, she argues that the decisions made in the s5 finale mesh really well with adrien and marinette's respective character arcs, and that it sets up future seasons to have more conflict and tension.
i wanted to elaborate on a few things that she said. first, i wanna talk about the role of emotion in the viewing experience of miraculous ladybug as a whole, and especially the s5 finale. miraculous has always been a show of building tension and denied catharsis. the entire premise of the show–that these two superhero kids have crushes on each other but their secret identities keep them from being together–is basically designed to be a frustrating experience. but while it's frustrating, it's not necessarily unenjoyable! in fact i think that the frustration is what draws people to it; we keep watching in-part because we want the tension to resolve, but we also watch in-part to see the tension build and build and build. speaking personally, it's an experience that i really enjoy, and i like how s4 and s5 both found ways to progress the narrative and create interesting new dynamics while still maintaining the central tensions of the show.
one of the main points of tension is, obviously, that adrien's dad was the villain all along. as viewers, it becomes very easy to hate gabriel as both a dad and a villain because he sucks in both domains. so of course, the show implicitly posits the questions, "what would happen if adrien finds out that his dad was monarch? what would happen if gabriel finds out that his son was chat noir? (of course we have seen what would happen there in the chat blanc ep) what would happen in the final battle when ladybug and chat noir defeat monarch and see his true identity?"
a lot of people found the writing decisions made in the s5 finale risky and unexpected (myself included!) but in retrospect, it really makes perfect sense when you consider that miraculous ladybug's emotional pull is to tantalize its viewers with catharsis, and then deny them that. i don't think that it's inherently bad or good, but i do think that it is effective at getting people emotionally invested, and it is an experience that i enjoy. but i do think it could lead to some negative or uncomfortable feelings, esp when viewing the finale. i remember watching the end and feeling...kinda bad at first. it left a bad taste in my mouth, watching gabriel being celebrated as a hero when we, the viewers, know him to be an abusive piece of shit. it also felt so uncomfortable and heartbreaking and adrien doesn't know anything!! he's operating under the assumption that his dad was a martyr, and there is something that feels so unjust and wrong about that.
and i think that a big reason for these emotional reactions to the finale was that it denied the viewers catharsis. we thought that we would get a big cathartic reveal moment but the show said, "nope! not happening :)" just like it always does. and that experience can feel really uncomfortable and turn some people off from the show, but it isn't indicative of bad writing. if anything, it's consistent with the way that the show has always operated from an emotional standpoint, and it sets up future seasons to explore interesting dynamics and conflicts.
i’ll make another post about how i think the finale’s decisions ties into the character arcs and the themes later!!
#miraculous ladybug#ml#miraculous: tales of ladybug & cat noir#ml s5 finale#ml s5 spoilers#marinette dupain cheng#adrien agreste
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PM Barzani reiterates importance of maintaining duties of Coalition forces in Iraq - Kurdistan24
[Kurdistan24 is KDP-owned Media]
Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani on Tuesday stressed the importance of maintaining the duties of the US-led Coalition against ISIS to assist the Iraqi army and the Peshmerga forces in combatting terrorism and safeguarding security and stability.
Barzani’s remarks came during a meeting he held in Erbil with the commander of the Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve, Major General Joel B. Vowell, and his accompanying delegation, according to a statement from the premier’s office.
Discussing the stability and security of Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, Barzani stressed the importance of maintaining the duties of the Coalition against ISIS for the sake of assisting the Iraqi army and the Region’s Peshmerga in the fight against terrorism and safeguarding stability, per the statement.[...]
US Consul General Erbil Mark Stroh also attended the meeting, in which the latest political developments in the Kurdistan Region, Syria, and Iraq were discussed.
9 Jan 24
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