#to be 100% clear: I *do not know enough* to have an opinion about whether or not Dissociative Identity Disorder exists | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

thejakeformerlyknownasprince · 2 years

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Genuine question, what’s wrong with the DSM?

[OP refers to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, which I mentioned being unpopular among mental health professionals.] Disclaimer: I'm not a psychiatrist, I'm not a therapist, and I'm not trained in counseling. I'm a social psychology researcher. If a therapist contradicts me, listen to the therapist.

The problem with the DSM as I understand it: a lot of counselors/ psychiatrists/ etc. want to move away from a category- and source-based diagnostic system, toward a symptom-based treatment system. For example, think about Pepto Bismol: you feel nauseous, you chew pink tablets, it ends your nausea. It doesn't matter if your nausea is indigestion or seasickness or lactose intolerance. You match a treatment (pink bismuth) to a symptom (nausea) and don't waste time or money on diagnosis unless that treatment proves ineffective.

A large percent of counselors etc. would like to take the same approach to mental health. So we'd be researching treatments for nightmares (neurofeedback? MDMA?) in the long-term, and giving clients treatments for nightmares (meditation! Ambien!) in the short-term. All without worrying too much about whether the nightmares are caused by General Anxiety Disorder or a phobia or Seasonal Affective Disorder. There are many strengths to that approach.

Only, see, there's this big purple dinosaur holding us back.

[Image ID: Hardcover copy of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, DSM-5, American Psychiatric Association; the title is white text on a purple background.]

So if everyone who uses the DSM also hates the DSM, why does it still exist and why do we keep buying it every time a $100 text revision gets published? Two reasons, in order of importance:

Insurance

Communication

Insurance is, I kid you not, the DSM's #1 reason for existence. American insurance companies won't cover treatment unless it's for a diagnosed illness, and so therapists put diagnosed illnesses on what they'd often be more comfortable describing as "bro, this dude is hella distressed and I'm trying to help undistress him." Note the word American on the cover; other countries have other manuals, and no other country's counselors are as chained to theirs as we are to ours. This means that the DSM helps — yay, affordable therapy! It means the DSM hurts — sets of symptoms get grouped artificially, spectra get split into categories, and diagnosis happens way too early in the therapeutic process.

Another comparison to unmental health: I don't have carpal tunnel syndrome, but my insurance provider thinks I do. I only announce that I don't because I haven't told you who I am or where I live. (If the insurance companies find us... Well, we just won't let them find us. The thing you should know is everyone is getting screwed by health insurance. Yeah, even you.) I have wrist pain and tingling. It has the wrong antecedents for carpal tunnel, and it has weird manifestations — pressure on the base of my thumb causes pain in my pinky — but my OT wrote down "Carpal Tunnel" on the forms because the alternative was a $500+ round of diagnostic scans. No one cares whether my median nerve is inflamed or not; occupational therapy still looks like "try this stretch, that stretch, this brace, that brace, and these activity changes; keep whichever combination makes the pain and tingling go away."

This kind of thing also happens in mental health all the time. Many therapists don't care — and neither should you — if your serotonin levels are low; if you're miserable and an SSRI prevents the misery, take the dang SSRI. If your mother was harshly critical and now you feel panic at any hint of criticism, it doesn't matter whether that better fits C-PTSD or NPD; it matters whether you cope with soothing self-talk or if you cope with alcohol. Put something from the DSM on the forms, and focus on finding which stretches (breathing exercises) make the tingling (panic) go away.

Communication is the biggest strength of the DSM. It means that clients can benefit from labels ("I'm not lazy, I'm ADHD") and consistent standards of treatment can be applied across different clients in different states. The DSM has huge lists of things like "if your client shows memory problems, be sure to check for alcohol abuse" or "if they have self-harm, make sure it's non-suicidal before you do anything else" that are tremendously helpful. It can help therapists who encounter a set of behaviors they've never seen before to go "client is rigid, rule-bound, and lacks insight... huh, looks like I'd better refer them to an OCPD specialist." (It's also the source of a lot of toxic misinformation on social media when symptom lists get taken out of context without that all-important differential diagnosis information, but I digress.)

However, diagnosis should never be the beginning point for therapy — it's impossible to know your client's mind without first building trust and transference — but reliance on the DSM for insurance often forces it to be. Diagnosis should never be the end point for therapy — knowing your perceptions don't match others' because of Bipolar I won't stop you hearing the dang hallucinations — but home use of the DSM often acts that way. Categorical diagnosis is limiting if your therapist is primarily interested in how depressed you are but the Beck Depression Inventory uses an absolute cutoff point for "depressed" or "non-depressed." Categorical diagnosis is useless if over 50% of people diagnosed with a depression are later diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, and vice versa. So it's an imperfect book that does a lot of things well and a few things badly, and many of its heaviest users would argue that it shouldn't exist at all.

For further reading, I recommend The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk. I don't agree with all the axes he grinds or all the ways he grinds them, but he's got decades of psychiatry experience and is (I hope) predicting the next paradigm shift in mental health.

For instance, van der Kolk argues that it doesn't matter if at intake your client has long blond hair and is named Linda, only to show up the next time with no hair and the name Gerald, only to come next time with short red hair and the name Taylor. The therapist should only be asking "how does the client feel about these changes?" and "what are these changes doing for the client?" If Linda can't remember what Gerald did, then focus on the terrible memory gaps that alter identities create. If Taylor became Gerald to try and please you, then focus on teaching mindfulness and self-compassion. If this is a happily genderqueer person, then figure out why they're seeking help and don't worry about the appearance changes. If this is someone who thinks in absolutes and regards their personality as constantly changing, then work on teaching them to see the world and themself with moral complexity. It doesn't matter whether Dissociative Identity Disorder exists or not; just ask your client what they need and how you can help, then go from there.

Anyway, the DSM is an imperfect solution to a complex problem, and a lot of mental health practitioners view it as a relic of a more paternalizing era. No one has come up with a really good solution for how to remove and replace it, so for now it's the least-bad option.

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canyourfavesurvivecastledracula · 1 month

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I realize you don't like doing actual real people, but in honour of the date, what about Gaius Julius Caesar (100 BCE - 44 BCE) the Tumblr stabby boy?

You had me at "the Tumblr stabby boy" as if he didn't already get duper duper stabbed in real life also, as well as on the stage. But no, he's ours now.

So okay. We say Jonathan Harker ignores red flags, but like, a soothsayer bids Caesar beware the Ides of March, and our buddy Julius says "no 😌" Like the thing he's famous for (today at least) is ignoring warnings shouted at him by weirdos as he passes by. (By contrast when Jonathan is told to beware Castle Dracula - in much less clear terms, mind - his response is more on the order of "y tho?" at which point everyone suddenly stops being able to speak German. They are not the same).

The other main character trait he has, in the play at least, is arrogance. That's why they stab him all those times. The fear is that he's going to make himself King - Brutus says Caesar was ambitious, and Brutus is an honorable man. All through those early scenes, his advisors are advising him to maybe chill a bit, and he's just like "😎 haters gonna hate" about it - and then is genuinely surprised when they do. My guy...

Julius Caesar thinks he's All That, he thinks he's untouchable, he thinks he's a god. They may bond over stories of conquest but he's not going to take anyone's warning seriously or give Dracula the respect or deference he demands. And even if Dracula is baffled by his +7 shift ciphers (which he may be if he hasn't read the Dancing Men yet) it'll only make him angry. No matter his high opinion of himself, at the end of the day he bleeds like any other man, whether you're stabbing him 33 times on the senate floor or seeing if he really does have kisses enough for everyone.

Also apparently his horse had human toes instead of hooves, which is super freaky and I don't like it. It's not relevant in any way (or, in all likelihood, true) but I thought you should know.

Julius Caesar, the Tumblr stabby boy, at least as depicted by ol' Billy Shakes, can not survive Castle Dracula. And now we know where the Roman coins in Dracula's pile came from.

#julius caesar #shakespeare #classics #royalty #now as depicted in Asterix maybe we get a different outcome who knows #yeah Caesar used the same +7 shift cypher for everything and it worked because nobody could read in the first place #the history of cryptography is wild

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ezziefae · 7 months

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Things I'm excited to see in The Prisoner's Throne (March 2024)

I still can’t believe we have to wait till march 2024 for prisoner throne, y’all don’t understand the amount of excitement I have about going back to the world of Elfhame and seeing my favorite beloved characters. Here’s a list of some things I’m really looking forward to see or find out.

Taryn’s Child

Like we’re finally going to meet Taryn’s Child (who I’m assuming is a boy), I wonder if Holly Black has any plans of making them a big part of this book or if she has any plans of writing a separate book with the focus on Taryn’s kid.

Oak’s POV

Holly Black confirmed that we will see Oak's perspective of Elfhame, which wasn't discussed in TSH due to Wren's POV. From my understanding, there’s a lot of problems in Elfhame that we still don’t know about. All of the unknown will finally be revealed in Prisoners Throne, and that’s sooooo exciting!

Jude and Cardan

Its obviously very clear that everyone who is a fan of TFOTA series is very excited to see how the King and Queen of Elfhame are doing!!

I am very excited to learn more about Jude and Cardan. They have been together for around 9 years since the time of The Queen Of Nothing. I am eager to see what challenges they have faced during this time and how their relationship has progressed. We will not be reading about their teenage years, but rather their adult years. I am looking forward to seeing how Holly has portrayed their growth and transformation !!!! LIKE HELLO, MATURE CARDAN AND JUDE?? I just know both are going to give DILF and MILF energy, Jurdan fans will not survive. I will not survive.

Taryn and The Ghost?

It's possible that this book will give us insight into whether Taryn and the Ghost are romantically involved. In TQON, there were some hints that The Ghost had feelings for Taryn. It's worth remembering that Taryn saved The Ghost and they were both victims of Locke's abuse.

Some people don't think the Ghost and Taryn should be together because they find it strange. They have two main reasons for this. One is that the Ghost is about 100 years older than Taryn. The other reason is that some people don't think Taryn is good enough for the Ghost. (People don't like Taryn. Do I blame them? of course not)

Any opinions of this? I have a feeling that the ghost might of become overprotective of Taryn and owes her debt for saving his life. Could they be romantically involved? Maybe, we’ll have to wait and see!

Wren’s Family

In some way Wren will finally reunite with her human family. How?…i have no idea with the nature than the stolen heir ended in. But i’m excited to see how that goes, Wren deserves her happiness. It will probably be emotional, i’ll probably cry.

Jude, Cardan and the idea of having children?

OKAY!! I made a seperate post about this months ago (if you haven’t read it, please do!! click here)

Opinions on whether Jude and Cardan should become parents are divided among fans. Personally, I wouldn't be opposed to the idea. It's important to remember that Jude and Cardan are now adults and have grown since the last time we saw them.

Holly Black has already confirmed that Jude and Cardan are aware of the idea of having children. “they are all aware of it, it will be talked about more in Prisoners Throne”

Flowers blooming in Mab’s grave have fans speculating and making theories that Jude could be possibly pregnant.

According to Holly, it would be complicated for many people if Jude and Cardan had children. This is because if they did, Oak would be removed from the throne line. However, if Oak were to become the King of Elfhame, any children that Jude and Cardan have would also be cut from the line.

I still don't see why Jude and Cardan having kids would be complicated, I think it would make perfect sense. Oak wouldn't have to rule, and Jude and Cardan could keep their Power.

We’ll see where Holly goes with this in Prisoner's Throne.

Oak becoming King of Elfhame?

Okay soooo, Oak has already stated that he does not want to be King of Elfhame, we’ve known this since the beginning of TFOTA.

If Oak were to become king, Jude and Cardan would be forced to relinquish their throne and all of their power. Personally, I would prefer that Jude and Cardan maintain their position. The people adore Cardan and are terrified of Jude, which has been their longstanding desire. I don't want them to lose it all just so that Oak can take the throne.

There’s been theories that Oak will become the King of the Court of Teeth along side Wren. But that’s the part that confuses me, Wren never wanted to become queen, neither does Oak. So i’m wondering how that’s gonna work.

Oak and his sisters

I’m excited to see them all together again. Vivi, Taryn, Jude, and Oak. Holly did say something about how the the siblings dynamic will be important in Prisoner’s Throne. UGH I MISS THEM.

Madoc, The Traitor of Elfhame

With the ending events of TSH, i’m curious to see what’s gonna happen to Madoc. I soooo doubt Jude will forgive him. Madoc is known to be a traitor, If Madoc's exile is lifted back by Jude and Cardan, it may not be well-received by the folk. It will not look good for Jude and Cardan. Will Madoc betray them again? will he fight against Jude? or will he reedeem himself?

Tiernan and Hyacinth.

Soooo this is very ANGSTY. Tiernan and Hyacinthe were in a relationship, but things fell apart when Madoc betrayed Elfhame. Tiernan remained loyal to Elfhame, while Hyacinthe joined Madoc, turning them from lovers to enemies.

To make matters worse, Hyacinthe later became loyal to Wren, who is a new enemy to Elfhame. (Things do not look good for Hyacinthe). This turn of events is quite tragic, and it leaves us wondering how they will resolve their conflicts. So it’s TRAGIC, and i wonder how they’re going to resolve it all. Like where the hell do they go from there??? HOLLLYY TELL USSSS

The Undersea

It was repeated throughout the entirety of the book that the undersea is in chaos. Queen Orlagh is not doing well, and Nicasia is too weak. Will they be dethroned? Will Jude and Cardan be involved? (I'm guessing they will)

Jude’s Political Problem

I made a seperate post about this, click here to see.

. Holly has confirmed in a livestream that Jude will have a political problem by the End of Prisoners Throne. She didn’t say Jude AND Cardan…no, she said only Jude's name. So….MISS HOLLLY BLACK WHY ARE U TORTURING US. i'm dying to know what the problem will be.

(Id also like to point out that I think holly might’ve accidentally spoiled the fact that Jude and Cardan will still be king and queen of Elfhame by the end of prisoners throne)

Wren’s Magical Powers

Wren is a scary woman now, and she’s POWERFUL. Is she more powerful than Jude and Cardan? maybe? i hope not, but maybe. She was able to “kill” her abusive mother by speaking it into EXISTENCE. WTF. Have mercy Wren!

How Elfhame will approach Wren

Our girl Wren has made Elfhame her enemy by making the ONLY heir to Elfhame her prisoner. It’s obvious Jude will be furious, not just with Wren but with Oak. For going against her and Cardan’s orders of saving Madoc. Will Elfhame go to war? will Jude be angry at herself for freeing Wren in TQON?

Lady Asha

So, I'm assuming she still lives in the palace along side Jude and Cardan. Although I wouldn't be surprised if Jude kicked her out and sent her away. This lady is a B*tch. I'm curious to know what Lady Asha has been up to or rather what she's been scheming.

WHY DID JUDE KICK WREN OUT OF THE PALACE OF ELFHAME??

(Note: Jude is so petty for this, although I believe there is more to this than we might currently know, maybe Jude didnt do it, maybe it was Oriana or Lady Asha)

It was revealed that Jude ordered her guards to remove Wren from the palace. but WHY?? Why didn’t Oak intervene? Why did jude do it?

In TQON, Jude suggested to Oak that if he decided to wed Suren, then she could reside in the palace with them. This implies that Jude was comfortable with Suren living along side them in Elfhame. SOOO IM CONFUSED!!! I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS! and I want ANSWERS HOLLY BLACK !

Family Reunion: Oriana, Madoc, Oak, Taryn, Jude and Vivi.

Jude lives in the palace, while Madoc has been exiled and captured. Taryn has a kid and lives in Locke’s estates, Vivi lives in the mortal world with Heather. It's evident that they have gone their separate ways. It’s not TCP chapter 1 anymore, where they all eat dinner together and play games.

i have to be honest and say that i miss them together. and so does Oriana. In TSH she admitted to missing and wishing they were all together again. I hope to see some kind of reunion.

"I know," She [Oriana] said. "I cannot hope for one side to win neither. I used to wish that Madoc never went looking for those girls, and now all I wish is that we could be together again as we once were." (TSH, Chap 3, pg 55)

Locke’s Father

Holly has said many times that she wanted to do something about Locke’s Father (Yes, he’s still alive) I wonder if he’ll be introduced in this book.

Vivi and Wren

Wren was very hurt when Vivi stated she wanted wren away from oak in TQON. I want to see them together, maybe Vivi will apologize. Maybe they’ll become besties.

i hope they do, they just HAVE TO.

I’ll probably make a part 2. But what are you guys excited to see?

#jude duarte #cardan greenbriar #holly black #jurdan #the folk of the air #the stolen heir #oak greenbriar #the cruel prince #elfhame #the prisoners throne #IM SO EXCITED #TPT predictions

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96percentdone · 4 months

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It is deeply frustrating to me that it is a relatively common opinion that Amame murdering Uru was a moral good because it was "justice", and she "stopped Uru." To be clear, they're right that he needed to be stopped. His plan was evil, whether he has the sanity to parse that or not (and he demonstrably does not), but I think that's entirely beyond the point of the claims about the morality of Amame's actions. Whether or not Uru was in the wrong (he was by every possible metric) is not a worthwhile question to ask when it comes to evaluating what justice is.

First, and I cannot emphasize this enough, Amame literally didn't stop him. She just objectively didn't! Yes, he died, but the present day half of the plot plays out fucking anyway because it turns out the genocidal maniac had contingency plans to carry out his scheme! His guys do it for him! He says in his own tapes he planned for this just in case! Is that stopping him? The Nirvana Initiative gets as far as the genocide missile launching before his plan is actually ended. I cannot stress this enough; ya boi straight up almost won at KILLING EVERYONE posthumously. Sorry, but the in universe team "Amame did nothing wrong" is like suffering terminal hindsight bias, which is hilarious, because all of them were literally there when Uru almost killed everyone on the earth from beyond the grave.

Moreover, because Amame (and Gen who is helping her) spend that entire period of time trying to keep the murder a secret, she ends up actively getting in the way of stopping his plan until on the day of the initiative she finally steps forward because she can't take the pressure and the guilt any longer. She keeps critical information about the exact problem they are dealing with--like the fact that the guy they're looking for is fucking dead--a secret on purpose! Whether or not the police would have gotten anywhere faster if he lived is irrelevant; her actions for what actually happened made things worse. And there's a good reason for this! It's the same reason she is utterly ravaged by guilt for her own actions, despite how hard she tries to convince herself and the world she has no regrets: murder is always wrong, and Amame wanted revenge.

Revenge murder really isn't this incredible healing force people can hype it up to be in their heads. Amame says she went because she wanted to hear what he had to say. She wanted closure. Now of course he's severely out of his mind and everything he said in that moment pissed her off, understandable, and she'd have to wait like 100 years for him to maybe parse he was wrong, so okay, but did the revenge work? "I'm going to make you suffer the same pain..." She waits for him to be conscious when she kills him, she is explicitly out to make him hurt, but like...was it actually effective? No, lmao. The funny thing is, that first line we see of that flashback where she kills him is Uru referencing his own torture: "Yes, this world is an imperfect one. I was put through much hardship." At this point, even if he didn't tell her the details, we the players know he was held prisoner in a cell for over two decades and had his organs harvested so frequently anesthetics stopped working on him. We are being deliberately reminded of this fact so that when Amame says her classic one-liner, we'll know it was for nothing.

Revenge isn't justice. You can convince yourself that it will be satisfying, it's what he deserves, it's what you deserve to do, but what's left when it's over? What did you really gain? Amame didn't gain anything. This didn't heal her at all. She still mourns her father the same, only now she has to deal with new, worse problems of her own making. She spends the last of her free days catatonic from fear and guilt, she hates that she betrayed Shouma and Gen and her actions will force her to leave them, because she lost sight of what matters most in the name of punishment. It will never matter that Uru was wrong. Amame killed Uru for the same reasons he killed her father, and Horadori, and Jin; how could she ever be right? The fallout of her actions on her own psyche and on the world at large is the greatest proof of that.

If your definition of justice is just "we destroyed the bad guy most responsible for the problem" your definition of justice is worthless. The world is not meaningfully made better by punishing wrongdoers, but by healing the social and political ills that lead to their creation and that ravage to the victims they left behind.

#hope.txt #doi amame #amame doi #aini #nirvana initiative #aitsf #my meta #truly the most frustrating part of this is this is a common opinion with amame likers #and its like #do you guys actually like the character that was written or what #do you respect her story at all #do you respect the immaculate tragedy to her writing at all or just the idea of sad killer girl uwu #i forgot to tag uru #to be fair to me tho im the only bitch who posts in there #uru somezuki #somezuki uru

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bumblingbabooshka · 10 months

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Too many posts about how Chakotay would accept and follow Janeway no matter what she did for a man who was five seconds from starting a mutiny* against her in Equinox. He was 100% correct for almost doing that too but to me that means he would not be down with Janeway just doing whatever and has a strong sense of morality which is similar to but obviously not the same as Janeway’s and isn’t overridden by his affection for her.

After Chakotay sees that Janeway’s willing to torture and potentially kill even one person for her sense of justice he strongly opposes her and seems ready to back up that objection with action if necessary. *There’s a vague indication at the end of the episode that to mutiny against her would be “crossing a line” and so he wouldn’t have done it but One) I personally feel that’s something easy to say after the crisis has been averted and there’s no longer any need for action. “I wouldn’t have done it” is easy when push is no longer coming to shove and you don’t want to think about whether or not you would have. “I wouldn’t have done it” - does Janeway say this to herself about the slaughter of the Equinox crew? Two) I still can’t imagine that Chakotay would have been happy, even if he hadn’t mutinied against her - he still would have strongly opposed her and did oppose her enough to be confined to his quarters. and Three) This to me just reads as a ‘return to status quo’ easy line put in there to assure the audience that their relationship is unchanged when in reality I think such a large event would have to change their relationship in some way. Some lines require crossing. If someone you follow is doing something you consider morally wrong do you prize your loyalty to them over your own moral code? I believe it’s a very strong character choice that Chakotay’s answer seems to be ‘no.’ Until the very end of the episode it seems that there’s a limit to a ‘difference of opinion’ and he wouldn’t just let Janeway do something he considers evil unopposed because she’s the captain or he likes her. To say at the very end ‘Oh, he wouldn’t have ever gone against Janeway after all’ seems (to me) both disingenuous and weak from character writing standpoint.

In contrast, Tuvok also sees that Janeway has become obsessed with the idea of enacting revenge on the Equinox’s crew as he’s present for the ‘negotiation’ with the aliens in which Janeway literally promises the aliens that they can murder every last member of the ship.

Tuvok’s answer is clear as we next see him on the bridge at his security post, actively helping Janeway with her plan despite knowing that, if successful, it’ll lead to the deaths of everyone on board. This is very interesting to me as he acknowledges that her behavior is irrational and as he doesn’t experience emotions and does temporarily oppose Janeway it isn’t as if he’s motivated by revenge or thinks this is a good plan/thing to do. However, I think his reasoning has something to do with the fact that he has so much trust in her. When she says “I know what I’m doing, Tuvok.” he believes her and is willing to follow along with her plan even if he personally might not like it. It’s a shame we don’t get more of Tuvok’s reasoning in this episode. He doesn’t have any more meaningful lines after this so we never really know why he doesn’t fight harder against Janeway but if I were to guess I’d guess it has something to do with what he says to Seven in Year of Hell.

His trust in Janeway is absolute and he implies that he’d follow her and consider it the right thing to do even if he knew that her logic was flawed. That, to me, is also very interesting for a Vulcan. Early on in the series Janeway tells Tuvok that he’s her moral compass, that she relies on him as both a friend and advisor - that she values him highly for his logic and depends on their relationship as Captain of the ship and as Janeway the person. She does this after bringing Tuvok a moral quandary which Tuvok attempts to ‘solve’ by making the difficult choice she can’t due to her ethical standards.

Tuvok in this case knows that Janeway’s ‘highest priority’ is getting the crew home and that Janeway can’t accomplish this goal because she doesn’t want to break the law. However, Tuvok solves this by breaking the law for her. He acknowledges that Janeway won’t like this and says he’s prepared to lose his job and go to prison for it once they return to Federation space but to him it’s the logical choice and even at the very end of their conversation he upholds his decision as logical (as does Janeway, tempering it by pointing out how ‘logical’ reasoning is as prone to variance and the justification of wrong actions as ‘emotional’ reasoning.)

I can’t help but wonder if this experience changed Tuvok since I can’t recall him ever really going against the Captain again and this sort of behavior/reasoning seems to be...not against his later stance of “The Captain is always right.” but more nuanced. He still thinks Janeway is ‘in the right’ and acts expressly so that Janeway can keep being ‘in the right’ while still fulfilling her goals. Equinox has a Maquis rebel, once considered a terrorist and now considered a dear friend, your first officer (banished from your sight) telling you that you’re doing the wrong thing, you’re hurting people out of a sense of vengeance, he doesn’t even recognize you anymore. “I won’t let you do this,” he shouts through the vents. “You can’t do this!” Meanwhile your security officer, moral compass and friend of twenty years and counting is standing at the ready, pointing his finger at the sacrificial wolf-turned-lamb (an optical illusion, it changes depending on where you stand) that wronged you. “Right there,” he’s saying though he objected to this once as well and kept silent thereafter. “There’s the heart.” I don’t know. I don’t have any grand conclusion to this, I just thought it was interesting! Chakotay-Janeway-Tuvok morality play, when?

#Tuvok #Chakotay #st voyager #'this isn't about rules and regulations - it's about right and wrong' being something both Janeway and Chakotay think in Equinox #but to vastly different outcomes #contrasted by Tuvok's 'the captain is always right'#I want them all to duke it out philosophy style #Kathryn Janeway #Tuvok is the captain always right or do you always CONSIDER her to be right? (two different things)

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g-xix · 4 months

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Hi! I saw you were talking about the Dream situation and wanted to put in my 2¢. (I saw you explain why you wouldn't watch the video and 100% agree so if you want to ignore this ask go right ahead o7)

Dream made some good points in his video. And some... less good ones. Almost all of his evidence is a) just his word, b) conversation logs that he typed himself in pastebin or c) statements supposedly from a victim but without any proof that it's actually them. Even the more sturdy evidence, the snapchat data, has been edited and cropped. Not a lot of hard evidence, and not enough for me to have a definitive opinion. (and I have to say, seeing how much he lied about the speedruning stuff does NOT make me believe he would just admit to sexting minors if it was true)

One thing I definitely have an opinion on, is the racist edits and comments he made in the past few years. Defending the use of the r slur, the cultural appropriation/ disrespecting Native American culture, plus all the sex jokes he made about his minor friends. And then the way he's aware his community regularly harasses and doxes people he respond to, and not only haven't stopped (even in the video), but said he found it "satisfying." All of that was in the last few years, and none of it have been addressed.

And, I don't know if he groomed anyone. But he clearly was messaging several fans of his (huge power imbalance), when they were minors and he was an adult, on SNAPCHAT. Like, that's not something responsible to do?

There's more but I think I've made my point. If he did it, I hope his victims get justice. If he didn't, good! Less suffering in the world. But I do not and will never like him or his fans

Ayup

YESSS THANKU! I think in my first post ab "wtf is happening w Dream n allat atm?" I asked whether there's plausible evidence, and this answers that, so big thanks.

Context is suuuuper important when giving evidence and proofing your argument, and the fact that supposedly he's been cropping his without context does undermine his ethos which i assume he tried to create with these message logs. And yeah, his credibility would definitely only further reduced by previous lies told like that Speed-running one

And the racist jokes, I haven't seen before tbh but something tells me if i saw them i'd probs also agree is very morally fuking weird from him.

I think talking to fans online asw is just a big no, now especially. Like, we've been through so many "x is found for messaging minors on Twitter/snap/blahblahblah", i think it's safe to say that creators will just interact with their fanbases waaay less on a personal level - which is an interesting mix of good-riddance, and a bit sad, considering lots of editors or YouTubers are given a platform through interacting with their favourite creators, i.e. Ranboo, who got a reply from Philza in the DMs abt one of his first MC vids, which kinda helped him keep creating

(Not sure if that makes much sense, but j so that it's v v v clear - I do not support messaging minors sexually - that's fucking weird and a BIG no-go!)

But specifically using that power imbalance when messaging fans, particularly to get something out of them is fundamentally wrong - especially when it is (as accused) for sexual purposes. Like, c'mon, just date someone in your age group? Is it really that hard to pull someone your own age?

Yeah, cheers for the Xtra fyi's, anon 👍

#WAFFLE!!#dream #dream neg #dreamwastaken neg #dream situation #dwt neg

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petit-papillion · 3 months

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As a follow-up to some previous discussions regarding whether Charles was on board with Lewis coming to Ferarri or not:

I firmly believe Fred is at Ferrari because Charles wanted him there. And I think (again, all my opinion) Fred was asked to not only turn things around for Ferrari, but to build a team around Charles. Ferrari wants that dream of their homegrown, immensely likeable driver becoming their next WDC. Think Monza 2019 to the power of 100.

So Charles needs a teammate who will be able to help him get there, and it was clear that was not going to be Carlos. Different driving styles and setups, different comfort levels (when Carlos felt comfortable, the car did not perform well. When Charles felt comfortable, Carlos struggled to keep up.), and different attitudes (for Charles the team result always comes first, Carlos often wants to best his teammate).

I'm not sure who else Fred may have had his eye on to replace Carlos, but with John Elkann pursuing Lewis, I'm sure both Fred and Charles were in the know. And to have Lewis at Ferrari, I mean, come on! Look at the excitement it's created this week. It's a massive move by Ferrari to have two star drivers.

And yes, we know Lewis is (was?) hungry for that elusive 8 wdc, but he also dreamed of driving for Ferrari since he was a kid. So to be able to make that dream come true at the end of his career no doubt means the world to him.

Thinking about what this means for future (potential) championships: I think Ferrari has more to gain from Charles becoming the next WDC than Lewis getting his 8th. Yes, it would be another notch in Lewis's more-than-impressive belt, but it would mean so much more if it was their FDA-graduate, pseudo-Italian, lovable talent. Now they would have 2 WDCs to boast of. The boost in confidence it would give Charles would be huge. And his reputation at Ferrari would be cemented in history.

This doesn't mean I see Lewis as a number 2 driver. Absolutely not. More as equal partners with the common goal to lead Ferrari back to WCC, and eventually WDC. Ferrari will need two solid title contenders to steal enough points from alien-level Max.

Which also reminds me about how this move has put so much pressure on both Mercedes and Red Bull who now find themselves up against a team with a power duo of drivers. Red Bull only having 1 strong driver who's been single-handedly carrying their championships, and Merc is in an even bigger bind having lost their star driver. I'm sure George will be excited to be out of Lewis's shadow, but I think he still had a lot to learn from him. I guess he can still do so this year, but it won't be the same.

I firmly believe that, long term, Ferrari will be betting on Charles to lead the team, with Lewis having an important role as Ferrari's ambassador after he retires. Short term, they need two drivers who are on the same page with car development, driving capabilities, and team focus. I think that is exactly what they will have with Charles and Lewis.

#my ramblings #i could be so wrong about this #but i am hopeful #and maybe a little delulu as well #anyway i was right before so counting on being right again #charles leclerc #lewis hamilton #scuderia ferrari #lewis to ferrari #silly season 2024

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finelinens · 4 months

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Hey, about your media literacy post—which was very well done—I totally agree that we sort of unable to trust other users or institutional opinions right now. So the way I see it, the option left to us that is to learn to trust ourselves. Learn to pay attention to the way truth feels when we ourselves say it (on any topic, especially the tiny ones), what it sounds like, and what untruth feels like when we also say it (the instances where we say things we don’t mean). A focused study of truth in ourselves makes it easy to recognise in others and other situations.

For example, I’ll now know when my answer to a maths/logical question is wrong, because it feels/sounds like not the truth, even if it’s what I have logically deduced and therefore ‘should’ be right. So then I’ll know to stop and rethink until I do find the right answer, I’ll realise my logical thinking was off, which I recognise because it feels like the truth when I see it. (This is all easy to prove because they’re all maths / logic questions, for example. It works. And then extrapolate this concept.)

It’s interesting that in the past many would have dismissed this approach due to its seeming lack of objectivity—but it is glaringly obvious now that trying to form an opinion based off ‘objective’ evidence is just not going to be possible (and I’d argue, it never was). So, this is my approach of some tools to which to turn. Honestly, it’s the only way out that I see. Increasingly I am realising truth is not a set of facts, which can be easily manipulated, or which are scientific fact one day and not the next, but rather this total calm knowing which goes beyond all need for argument. I feel like if you can just calmly smile in an argument rather than argue back, you’re probably closer to the truth.

i debated a lot about whether or not i should post this message at all but it might be a good thing to talk about, so i'll post it for now

the thought process you described here has the potential to be really unbelievably dangerous, so i hope you can try to hear me out here. the truth "feeling" like the truth is such an incredibly subjective thing and is 100% vulnerable to your own biases. at one point in my life, the "truth" according to my feeling was... just not true at all. the "truth" according to my feelings was that transgender people were mentally ill and just needed some sympathy and help in order to get better. i genuinely felt this, and, like you described, it felt true and right. it was not true or right, though; my perceived "truth" was not truth at all, it was just ignorance entirely influenced by my own biases and fears. the way of thinking you described in your message is exactly what leads people to believe that their thoughts borne of ignorance are true and right, no matter what, because they feel right. of course they feel right! ignorance is comfortable! you could absolutely debate the validity of objective truth as a concept, but purely functioning on a vibes-based moral and ethical system is just accidentally giving yourself permission to remain ignorant or bigoted.

i apologize if my original post wasn't clear enough, as i said, i was just writing out my thoughts unedited! i wasn't trying to say that since there is no way to verify information anymore, we should just give up and go with our guts. i was saying that information is becoming increasingly more difficult to verify, so i'm nervous about the future of education and information gathering. i don't have a proposed solution, i'm just expressing fears that are widespread nowadays. a possible solution to this frankly existential issue is something i think about a lot, and i'm glad to see many others thinking about it too.

hopefully this makes sense, and hopefully it prompts you to reflect on your philosophy about your relationship with truth!

#ask #yet another very long post from me #this message was honestly very shocking to receive so i wanted to take the time to reply #but! i have christmas gifts to work on now. bye!

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danggirlronpa · 8 months

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Hey mind telling me what the story behind Kiyo’s sister is? I’m kind of clueless and only heard one story of the whole thing😅

This got decently long, so I've put it under a cut. I'll add it to the FAQ tomorrow as well, since it's come up a few times!

I will also request that this post not be reblogged to hate blogs or blogs specifically dedicated to "bad" or "disliked" content. As someone who has been harassed as a result of content being circulated in those circles, it makes me very panicked and anxious to see my work on similar blogs. If you do so, I will need to block you for my own mental stability.

In V3 chapter three, Korekiyo admits to mass murder and takes on the guise of his sister to do so. As a result of being nearly beaten to death at one point, Korekiyo created a tulpa of his dead sister (who we'll call by her popular fan name, Miyadera, from here on). He believed Miyadera wanted him to murder 100 girls, and claimed that they were once lovers.

In general, fans seem to take Korekiyo's claims at face value. Which is...weird, considering how obviously the whole thing is a "mentally ill delusional sexually deviant serial killer" trope played completely straight. And that his worldview includes things like "I should kill people so my dead sister has friends." But let's set that aside, and say that, for the sake of explaining the popular fandom viewpoint, Korekiyo is a reliable narrator.

So in chapter 3, when he is on the brink of being cornered, Korekiyo begins to switch between his own identity and the identity of his sister's tulpa. These are the only potential looks we have into Miyadera's personality. To give you the gist, here are all of the quotes while Korekiyo takes on his sister's guise that are listed on the Wiki.

(Please note that the "Apologize" is directed at another student who challenges Korekiyo.)

I'm going to be honest. I have reread this a LOT trying to figure out what everyone else is apparently seeing here that I am not. At worst, this reads to me as a slightly stern etiquette teacher. But the popular fandom perception is that this dialogue implies that Miyadera was manipulating and abusing Korekiyo. I could not honestly tell you WHY people believe this, but they do.

And people ran with that. They ran with that so hard. Every sin Korekiyo commits is pinned down as being Miyadera's fault, and Korekiyo is absolved of his crimes as a result of being an abuse victim. It's similar to the effect you often see in the way people discuss Junko and Mukuro, except that Mukuro does not invoke nearly as much sympathy on a larger level, even though Junko's mockery and subsequent murder of her sister are explicit canon.

Now, to be clear: I don't buy into this. I think this is an extremely generous reading of Korekiyo's character, and that it removed his agency and the horror of his crimes to make him more sympathetic (particularly for shipping purposes - if you glance through the Miyadera tag, you see a LOT of Korekiyo/Rantaro fics with Miyadera as the evil abuser Rantaro must rescue Korekiyo from). I also think that people give too much credit to the canonicity of Miyadera's "possession" when it isn't clear, even in the universe of the game itself, whether Miyadera is actually a tulpa or if it's an identity that resulted from Korekiyo's trauma, like Syo/Jack.

But on its own, I don't care about it THAT much. People have headcanons I disagree with all the time. I don't really like a lot of people's thoughts about Nagito's backstory, either, but I don't think about it very often, and I certainly don't care enough to get mad about it. The problem is...

People are very, VERY violent about Miyadera.

I'm going to ask you to reread the quotes from Miyadera as a reminder of literally everything we know about her personality. And then I'll ask you to read this post.

This...is, in fact, despite all odds, the predominate opinion on Miyadera. If you go into her character tags, there are an endless number of posts like these, daydreaming about doing violence on her person, murdering her, torturing her, etc.

As a Grandparent (25, the age of spinsterhood), this sets off some alarm bells. This is how people used to treat female characters who got in the way of their favorite ships, like Kairi from Kingdom Hearts. Now, that is popularly understood to have been a result of misogyny. It is horrifying to see that it has survived.

Fantasizing about committing excessive violence against a woman...is misogyny. Making up crimes a woman did not canonically commit as an excuse to justify fantasizing about violence against her is misogyny. It is one thing to dislike a character based on headcanons. It is a totally separate matter to participate in and encourage this level of vitrol solely to make a male character more sympathetic.

To clarify: I do not think that misogyny is the sole reason for this interpretation. By nature, Danganronpa appeals to teenagers, who tend to fall into this type of fandom-wide trap more easily. But it is, in fact, more concerning to normalize this sort of thought process among teens and young people. And so I am very defensive of Miyadera's actual character as a result.

#miyadera shinguji #asks #anon #meta #talk to the mod #hope this doesnt come across as too biased!#ill reblog this again later when its not 4 am lmao #korekiyo's sister

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sanguinarysanguinity · 2 months

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i've followed you for years but i can't anymore, it's so frustrating seeing constant posts about how 'anyone telling you not to vote is a psyop'. i personally don't believe in voting, i'm aware it's a controversial position, but i'm a real person. it sucks watching someone whose writing i like engage in this insistence that no *real* human being could have these opinions. to be 100% clear, nothing in this message is about whether you choose to vote. it's about the choice to pretend other people's ideas are simply fake.

I'm sorry. Making you feel bad was never my intent, and I do cherish my readers.

I recognize not everyone wants to hear about politics on tumblr, so I use consistent tags for those posts: 'voting' and 'us politics' should hide them all. Please block those tags if it would make you more comfortable.

In light of your message, I went back and reviewed my last psyop post: it describes how psyops operate; it does not assert that everyone who advocates against voting is a psyop. I assume your followers know you well enough to know you're a real person with real opinions, and that they can distinguish between you and a psyop. I hope they do. That said, the sad reality of tumblr is that strangers who advocate against voting must be regarded with suspicion, and I will continue to advise that.

For me, the last line of that post -- "anyone who tells you not to vote is not on your side" -- is not a statement that everyone who advocates against voting is a psyop, although I can see how you read it that way. Instead, I intended it as a bald statement that people who advocate against voting... don't feel like they're on my side.

I'm not going to get into the history of why I feel that way, beyond saying that I and my family have been the focus of many ballot measures over the years. My pain, grief, and confusion over self-named allies who chose not to vote on those measures is profound, and especially so when those ballot measures succeeded in taking my rights away. I really do have a difficult time believing that people who advocate against voting are on my side, hence my reblogging a post that said so.

But that's a different discussion, and you're obviously not here for the politics. Thank you for reading my stories over the years! Please block my 'voting' tag if it disturbs you -- or if you prefer to unfollow altogether, then do that, with my blessing -- and in the meanwhile, I wish you all happiness.

#voting #us politics #I would have answered this privately #but you're on anon and there's no option for that #if you want to come off anon and into my DMs to talk #you're welcome to do that

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augustgirl309 · 3 months

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Hi, new to tumblr. I have liked Poppy and Zena for a couple years now. I watched them pretty regularly; agreed with some of their takes, didn't really comment with others, but that's ok. Their streams were frequently informative, entertaining and dramarific- 3 things I always love.

Over the past 6 months+ my opinions been changing. The constant talking about their poly relationships was weird. There was a lot of drama, and then I read Milena's (who I didn't/don't know) and it really left a bad taste in my mouth.

And then the falling out with Courtney was just....it was so apparent that they were not in the right but were trying to focus on essentially inconsequential things (like Courney "threatening to dox Poppy" or "threatening to beat up Poppy", etc.) to completely try and pivot people's attention away from why Courtney got mad in the first place. And come on- Courney always struck me as a bit country and country girls talk like that. They weren't serious, intentional threats; they were things said in anger to try and get Poppy to not share any of the photos CO had sent her without CO's permission. This seems so clear to me.

One thing- the biggest thing- that really started to bother me with some of these dramas is that, somehow, whenever P&Z had a falling out with someone, it was never, EVER their fault. I'm fact, it was always 100% always the other party's fault and they refused to ever even attempt to take *any* responsibility for anything. And life....just rarely, if ever, works like that.

The other things that bugs me were the constant bitching about "ZZ erasure" as if this is some inexplicable, grave injustice. Now, I will say that I still kind of like Zena (Poppy too, even tho the criticisms are mounting), but this is such a load of shit. It's very, very obvious: the two of them co-host the channel. Poppy does like 90% of the talking, she's more lively and loud and seemingly extroverted than Zena. Zena just comes across as kind of introverted and more quiet, even a bit detached sometimes. You can't do that and then expect people to react to you the same way they they react to your loud, confident partner who takes the lead every time they post.

The last thing is I did follow Poppy and Noelle's relationship on Twitter, and it seemed super intense, super quickly. But ok, whatever. It happens. I saw the mention of Poppy having a convo with a friend who said that it sounded like rape, but Poppy said that the pov was interesting enough to share it on Twitter, but she didn't quite believe it. Then I saw her move from that position to full-on embracing that it was SA. How? Because the other party wasn't sure if she wanted to continue the relationship at the time? That's not sexual assault, buttercup.

Also, I seem to have just read here that Noelle (noehflake) is 20 years old. 20?! I thought they were in their 30s at least! Can anyone corroborate this? Then I saw some weird context-less announcements on the Discord server about how anyone who questions whether or not this was SA was out of the community. Whaa?

Anyway, thanks for having me an- again- I'm new to Tumbr. Please feel free to tell me anything I'm doing wrong.

#courtney peet #poppy and zena #poppy&zena #melina

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miss-allsundays · 1 year

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My take on Takemichi and Mikey's relationship

+ why I feel like what we've seen from chapter 275 is the perfect ending to their story.

[SPOILER FOR TR 275 LEAKS]

I know that many people have felt distraught/maybe disappointed with the new leaks, but I feel like Takemichi (possibly) dying by Mikey's hands, especially while trying to save him, perfectly summarizes their relationship as a whole: two people that very clearly love and care for one another (whether you view their bond as platonic or romantic it does not matter right now) and that at the same time can't be together because they destroy each other (both metaphorically and literally lol).

Right from the start, Mikey is introduced as some sort of rival for Takemichi, someone who is, at the very least, partially responsible for Hina's death; and although their relationship develops, Toman's 1st gen president still remains an obstacle to Hina's wellbeing and happiness, even if Takemichi has gotten much more hesitant on actually condemning his friend.

Mikey, instead, first approaches our protagonist because of the similarities between him and Shinichiro; then, of course, that develops into actual care for Takemichi, to the point where Manjiro trusts his friend enough to tell him about one of his biggest secrets, the dark impulses.

Throughout the course of the manga, this dynamic becomes more and more complicated: in the past timeline, we see the two teenagers only become closer and closer, and yet every time Takemichi travels to the future, the consequences of Mikey's curse become more and more evident.

What in the past is a simple friendship between two boys, in the future it shifts into a bond that makes both of them act irrationally and that causes pain for everyone involved in it: the main examples are Manila!Mikey, who kills every single one of their friends to gain Takemichi's attention, and the Bonten timeline, a future that the protagonist casts aside with “little” hesitance, despite it being the best outcome yet.

Their feelings for one another become very contradicting.

Takemichi is well aware of the fact that, logically, Mikey is the problem, and yet he cannot bring himself to abandon him, no matter the cost: during the Bonten timeline, he should be happy and satisfied with the outcome, and yet, the fact that Mikey is not able to live a normal life with his friends stops the time-leaper from truly enjoying his “success”.

On the other hand, during that same future Mikey is doing the complete opposite: he goes to great lenghts to isolate himself from the others, deeming himself as almost a burden because of his dark impulses. And yet, it becomes clear that a part of him has never moved on from toman, and from all the people he cares for: he desperately wants to be alongside his friends, his family, and most of all, he wants to be saved from the curse that has been part of him for most of his life.

Mikey and Takemichi’s bond is a constant tug-of-war between selfishness and selflessness.

Takemichi wants to save everyone, but most of all, he wants to save Mikey, which leads to decisions that might be considered selfish; Mikey instead, destroys all of his friendships because he does not want to hurt his loved ones furthermore, and yet he yearns for a savior, a hero.

And Takemichi is able to fulfill the role of the hero: his desire to save Mikey is so deep that it becomes detrimental towards not only those around him, but himself as well, resulting in his (again, possible, but not 100% certain) death.

Takemichi dying by Mikey’s hand is at the same time the best and worst outcome if we take all I’ve talked about into consideration: Mikey is saved from his impulses (which is something they both wanted), but it is at the price of Takemichi’s death.

In my humble opinion, this ending is genuinely the essence of their dynamic as a whole.

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blackswaneuroparedux · 1 year

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I believe a civilisation that conserves is one that will decay because it is afraid of going forward and attributes more importance to memory than the future. The strongest civilisations are those without memory - those capable of complete forgetfulness. They are strong enough to destroy because they know they can replace what is destroyed. Today our musical civilisation is not strong; it shows clear signs of withering… […] Conducting has forced me to absorb a great deal of history, so much so, in fact, that history seems more than ever to me a great burden. In my opinion we must get rid of it once and for all.

- Pierre Boulez (in 1975...he changed his mind in the 1990s)

Frenchman Pierre Boulez was classical music’s most celebrated maverick, widely regarded as the 20th century’s greatest innovator of classical music. Boulez’s 1967 proclamation that the answer to the stagnation of opera was to “blow the opera houses up”, is just one of many bold and candid statements that have won him recognition as one of classical music’s most outspoken and controversial figures.

But he has also said: “I don’t want my statements to be frozen in time. A date should always be attached to them. Certainly if you take a picture of yourself 30 years ago, that same picture cannot be used as a picture of yourself today.” His incendiary comments, whether directed at his contemporaries (he has described Duchamp as ‘a pompous bore’, Cage as ‘a performing monkey’, and Stockhausen, ‘a hippie’), or more general topics such as culture and history, however, suggest that he enjoyed the controversy.

It was Boulez who once declared, without a trace of irony, that any composer who did not acknowledge the necessity of Schoenberg’s 12-tone system was “useless”, and who wrote caustic articles such as “Schoenberg Is Dead”, criticising the Austrian composer’s approach just months after his death in 1951.

I find much to disagree with Boulez especially about his remarks on wiping out civilisations and defacing all past art, including da Vinci’s Mona Lisa.

But other times I agree 100% such as when he said, “In the provincial town of Paris the museum is very badly looked after. The Paris Opera is full of dust and crap, to put it plainly. The tourists still go there because you ‘have to have seen’ the Paris Opera. It’s on the itinerary, just like the Folies-Bergere or the Invalides, where Napoleon’s tomb is. […] These operatic tourists make me vomit. If I write a work for the stage I certainly won’t write it for star-fanciers; I shall be thinking of a public that has an extensive knowledge of the theatre.”

Or his views on minimalist music, “If you want a kind of supermarket aesthetic, OK, do that, nobody will be against it, but everybody will eventually forget it because each generation will create its own supermarket music - like produce that after eight days is rotten and you can’t eat it anymore and have to toss it away.”

Many young composers of his generation in the 1960s and since read his writings, but they didn’t always know his music. And yet what you might not guess from the polemics is the sheer beauty of his compositions.

Messiaen, who taught Boulez, would say of him that, underneath it all, he was simply a poet. Messiaen also believed it would take a long time for the wider public to really understand Boulez’s music, because it has a very particular and original sensibility. Messiaen would talk with pride of his former student, describing him as a formidable and immense talent, though when young “he was like a flayed lion”. Boulez was indeed a very angry young man.

He attacked anything in sight, including those who had taught him, such as René Leibowitz, a Schoenberg disciple who was largely responsible for introducing serialism to Paris. At one point, Boulez even turned against Messiaen, who had done so much to encourage and help him, and it was five years before their relationship was restored.

Boulez grew up in Nazi-occupied France. He was 20 when the Second wWorld War ended. The continent had to make itself anew. Messiaen used to describe travelling home on the Metro with Boulez after classes. Boulez would say “Who’s going to put music right? It’s in such a terrible state.”

And Messiaen would reply: “You.”

He considered himself from his earliest days to have an almost Napoleonic mission regarding music and its cultural role. His ambition was not only to compose, but to change the attitude of the public, institutions in France and - later - the wider western world with regard to modernism. He initially pursued this aim with a heightened form of ideological dogmatism. The works of the Second Viennese School, and composers such as Bartók and Varèse, were not played at all in Paris in the late 40s; that they are now part of the international concert repertoire is in large part due to Boulez.

As a conductor, his approach to the early modernist masterpieces has had a tremendous impact on the way they are considered by younger conductors and heard by audiences. He made stupendous recordings of hundreds of pieces of music – among them works by his illustrious contemporaries Carter, Ligeti, Kurtág, Stockhausen, Berio and Birtwistle - and has inspired and helped generations of younger composers.

Through the power of his personality, the scale of his reputation and his considerable personal charm, Boulez has made big things happen, way beyond the confines of manuscript paper. Paris’s new concert hall, the Philharmonie de Paris, owes its existence to him, as does the rest of the Cité de la Musique, his own group the Ensemble Intercontemporain and IRCAM, the musical research institution attached to the Pompidou Centre.

In his own music, however, he moved away from Serialism, the great rallying cry of his youth, and over the years further distanced himself from the concept, now viewing it with scepticism. For me, his best compositions are not the ones from his early years but the works in which the foundations of his earlier idiom are treated much more freely and with greater fantasy. I believe that only when he accepted he was fundamentally a French composer did he find his true voice.

Le Marteau sans maître (1953-57) was a breakthrough. It is a work in which you can also hear the profound influence of extra-European music, above all from Asia and Africa. This radically alters the sonority and the music’s sense of time and direction, as well as its expressive viewpoint and ethos. Boulez was by no means the first French composer to be open to, and ravished by, eastern music – it had already had a transformative effect on the father of modern music, Debussy, and on succeeding generations – but he took it a stage further, and the curious marriage between his already transforming serial universe and the extra‑European world produced a unique style.

For me, his quasi-symphonic portrait of Pli selon pli, portrait de Mallarmé – completed in the early 60s – is a greater masterpiece, and the decades that followed produced gem after gem: Eclat/Multiples, Cummings Ist der Dichter, explosante-fixe, Sur Incises. There is no better postwar musical piece written for orchestra than Notations, his five hyper-elaborate orchestral canvases, all based on very simple serial pieces he wrote for the piano in his early 20s.

Arguably the most important composer-conductor since Mahler, Boulez knows the orchestra more intimately than any of his colleagues, and these short, dazzling showpieces have an intoxicating exuberance and elegance.

Boulez only published around 30 works in his lifetime. When he died at 90 years old in 2015, I’m sure he regretted that he hadn’t written more. But I suspect he has not had the easiest of relationships with his muse. This is a man with a vastly refined and critical mind. His intelligence is so questioning and extreme, and his aural imagination so sensitive and acute, that composing must have been a taxing experience. The world today doesn’t need huge numbers of pieces, as it did in, say, Haydn’s time. What are needed, surely, are essential statements, singular and unique works. And these he has provided, without question by the time the curtain came down on his life.

Having cultivated the image of the angry young man of new music in the post-war years, it took a long time in public perception for the austere, uncompromising radical to morph into the hugely respected and revered figure Boulez became in the last decades of his life. As he mellowed further over the following decades, he also began to conduct music by a number of composers he would surely have dismissed out of hand in his hardline early years. That inevitably required some quiet revisionism.

I have an enormous regard for his rendition of Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen. It’s a surprising landmark in every sense. Boulez’s performance of Patrice Chéreau’s centenary production of the Ring Cycle shocked and then seduced audiences at Bayreuth. Filmed in 1980, it’s still among the most searingly insightful readings of the cycle, musically and dramatically, ever performed. Another of the highlights of Boulez’s operatic career, this 1992 performance of Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande in Peter Stein’s production at Welsh National Opera revealed the expressivity, focus, and clarity that Boulez brought to everything he conducted.

Like everything he conducted, though, it was the precision and lucidity of his performances that were so revealing, and which illuminated a range of 20th-century music in a way that few conductors before him had ever approached. And while a good handful of Boulez’s own works – the second and third piano sonatas, Le Marteau Sans Maître, Pli Selon Pli, Eclat/Multiples, Sur Incises, the orchestral Notations - will surely endure, it is his achievement as a conductor and educator in moving the music of our time and of the immediate past into the mainstream of our concert life that is likely to be his lasting, crucially important memorial.

His skills as a conductor are vast - he would have been every bit as intellectual and important if he was just a conductor and had never written a note of music himself. As it is, his music, thoughts, theories and treatises are all a massively important part of 20th and 21st century music.

#boulez #pierre boulez #quote #music #composer #french #sound #conductor #orchestra #france #serialism #paris opera #icon #essay

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narwhalandchill · 25 days

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(4.6 beta changes) (again) (guys this is so long im just. many thoughts and me thinking out loud abt arle and my pulling plans. & other nonsense etc. my bad)

ooookay so yeah def glad i didnt jump the gun and attempt some sorta "is this a buff or not" feelscrafting nonsense on arles adjustments jkwjkwdjkwdjkwdkjjk and waited for TC (mostly zajef lmao) analysis and opinion on the real changes that ended up happening

anyway so like. it appears to be an universal buff for her p much? but how big of a buff it ends up being depends on some mechanics we still dont have a definite answer as to how they function (mostly how her BoL stacking from E works during the ECAQECA reset thing, if it enables 140% total stacking = massive dmg buff overall)

firstly my fears of her becoming too ult dependent for overworld appear to be? not as bad as i thought? so thats nice at least very pog like if she can do her thing decently enough just for fun running around thats very good

secondly. the ER situation is literally on a 50-50 😭 because its all about whether she has particle ICD on her E. if she doesnt, thats actually like. 0 ER needed or at the very least incredibly little of it. if there is particle ICD. well. thats going to be another story

the way her rotations have changed now seem to gear her towards overload teams with chevy? since they have very long rotations and characters like fischl and yae can have full uptime over those whereas vape teams lose hydro application from yelan or XQ and buff uptime from characters like bennett over time when a rotation stretches past 24s

like from what ive been reading it seems to be a pretty common sentiment that these buffs will make the biggest impact in chevy overload teams specifically (even tho shes obvi buffed just in general in all teams) for that reason and that chevy teams Especially w her at c6 with arle should be the best bennettless teams ultimately. which is definitely an interesting turn ?

(and this isnt all of the changes btw im just talking abt the ones that matter most for my considerations rn)

anyway. my thoughts then.

so im obviously glad the changes turned out to be buffs so far. but. theres still stuff im a bit. ehhhhhhhh on

firstly the survivability situation (which in turn leads back to the teambuilding issues). bc her self heal did get nerfed. so arles no longer going to be able to risk taking very high dmg during a rotation and dragging herself back to full once the next one starts. which to me feels like an emphasis on dmg mitigation for her and shielding.

(not to even get started on the. spam NAs to reduce her now 30s E cooldown so its up in time for the next rotation meaning you Do Not want to be staggered and tossed out of her attack string. and gee would you look at that! neuvillette level interruption res on c1 now! great!!)

(like again. to be clear. its hard to say exactly how much interruptions to her NA spam will end up fucking her over. i could just be overtly wary about how bad it might feel. but at its worst. with enemies that run away from u or go invincible. or stunlock you. the fact that it will at least heavily risk arles ability to reduce her E cooldown the amount she needs for fluid rotations. could definitely end up feeling like shit to play in practice without that interruption resistance. be it from c1 or a shied)

but then if we go back to her synergies and look at. those more interesting (imo) chevy teams that should perform well even without bennett. like arle/chevy/fischl/yae. whos keeping ur arle from dying there 😭 its giving lyney spreadsheet impact vs actual reality trying to play him without a shield 😭😭 guess we know who he got it from...

and yea could replace yae for beidou for damage reduction but her dmg will TANK in single target. as a whole. defensive options list in pyro/electro units only just isnt that good. beidous the one who tanks team dps the least as long as ur in AoE, but outside of that its just. thoma and dehya. and they will 100% tank the team dps

whereas defensive options like zhongli to me feel like they will just end up w her teams just wanting to lean towards that. traditional vape and mono pyro angle. bennett and kazuha and yelan/XQ. the usual stuff. and shes not getting benny and kazuha from childe so we have an issue 💀💀

unironically i will prolly be looking for some double geo zhongli/chiori/yelan vape team calcs for arlecchino (hope someone makes them. all double geo team calcs ive seen so far assume bennett 😭) just out of curiosity in terms of. how much worse it is than her best teams. bc if i can just slap her in that setup its a big bonus to how flexibly i could use her but eh. prolly will end up weaker than any chiorinavia nation core i could play so who knows

but. all this yapping and im only now getting to the point JSWJKDWJKWDJK so. heres the BIG problem

i dont have a single fucking chevrolet 💀 but i do have like 38 pity on a guarantee.

and like people are suggesting that maybe chevy will be on arles banner and fair, especially with these new beta changes incentivizing arle chevy teams way more than before, it would definitely make sense for hoyo to put chevy with her. and i definitely am overall a fan of this possible chevy overload team direction for arle (anything thats not bennett for father. ANYTHING) so id love for that to be the case

but. thats not guaranteed at all. and the same sentiment i had over arlecchinos hypothetical best support in the form of the pyro archon (or honestly. with the lack of electro shielders for chevy teams even clorinde could end up being that missing piece) where id almost rather wait to guarantee that synergistic unit before getting arle herself on a rerun. actually applies to chevy here too. even just a c0 one

and like. yes. if i spend that guarantee now on c2 chiori. and it turns out chevy is indeed featured with arlecchino. i will Not be able to guarantee her anymore - ill get one 50-50 and all the chances for a few solid chevy copies on the way but thats it.

however. the other scenario here is that arle does NOT get chevy. she gets fucking. kaveh noelle mika. and then chevy is going to rerun with like. idk. random banner. clorinde who may or may not have synergy with arle

...and im not really sure if id even want to pick arle up on that guarantee from that sort of banner SJKDKJADJKDJK but ok id skip her. buuut im still sitting on a guarantee i might not want to use on a character i feel just eh abt. but who might be with chevy (and like. i do pull for 4* when im on a 50-50 and low pity, idm the early. so as long as thats the case i can see myself tossing a few pulls at Any chevy banner in the future).

... which brings us back to. okay yeah saving the guarantee for clorinde IF chevy isnt with arle and IF shes an electro shielder sub dps support for those arle chevy teams. and getting arle on rerun as ive considered. doesnt sound that bad. but clorinde might also Not be that. uncertainty uncertainty.

like im fairly sure clorinde Will be an unit i wont mind pulling at 17 pity xianyun style on a 50-50 no matter what. but if shes not that mythical arle BiS support she prolly wont be worth that guarantee is my whole complex here lmao

whereas. c2 chiori. isnt an uncertain factor here. like im investing in her im getting her c6 eventually, c2 is like almost 25% personal dps increase (also my husk pieces LOVE rolling ER so itd actually be useful) it feels like the "safe" option in a sense ya know???

like. yes id leave arlecchino up to a coin toss . (Jail for jen!! fake lesbian!!!) but id also be left with the option of skipping her banner (if no chevy rateup to be clear) in favor of seeing whether she gains any synergistic units in the future and seeing how the various aspects of her kit that i do somewhat worry about end up panning out ?? and i think. id be fine with that ? Over the alternative

ultimately tho. im super happy arle got overall buffed and that at least some of my fears abt her kit changes were indeed unfounded, but some concerns still remain. its kinda wild and still sad to me that she went from an absolute 100% must pull character just bc its Her to like. curse of pyro on fielder idk if i Need this right now 😔😔 but i Will be getting her eventually!! no matter what

anyway have a sticker if u stuck around for all of my bullshit. this is literally just arle buff thoughts into gacha pulls stream of consciousness rambling 😭😭😭

#pov ur watching me talk myself into ripping the bandaid off and just getting that goddamn c2 chiori WDJKDWJKWDKJWDJ #already went the way to the 50-50 for it like we might as well commit to my girl #arles beta is crazy tho like. i havent seen changes this massive to a kit since the yae and ayato days of yore 😭😭#v1 ayato yoimiya dual dps team ThoseWhoKnow LMAOOOOO #prayge for the particle ICD everyone. if she doesnt need ER. my cope zhongli chiori arle yelan vape idea. might actually work out okay #bc i can keep yelan on elegy for buffs and not just favge #aaaanyway. what a wild ride #manifesting the chevy on arle banner SO hard btw. even if i end up losing 50-50 there for arle in the end. it will be worth if i get chevy #genshin #rambles #long post

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vknq · 10 months

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hello everybody.

i realise i accidentally went on a bit of an impromptu hiatus. oops.

a lot of things happened in my personal life that have greatly affected me emotionally and it catapulted me into a depressive state that i have since come out of again. expectedly so, it stripped me of motivation and inspiration, and forced me to just take a break and tend to my wounds.

while i was off taking care of my mental health and prioritising emotional healing, i’ve also had time to think about my blog and more specifically my experience in the fic community.

NOTE: i’m not here to take a jab at readers or mindlessly complain about notes. that’s not at all what this is. i think enough people have talked about overall reader engagement and the lack of it. i see no reason to repeat their words, nor is it where the issue lies for me personally.

during the 6 or so months i’ve been here, i’ve experienced very empty support from fellow writers (no i ain’t gonna single anyone out bc it’s been a general issue of mine). i’ve had my upcoming works hyped up, my released fics supposedly saved to people’s tbr lists, i’ve had people ping me saying they’re totally gonna read my fics, whether that be on tumblr or discord, however less than half of said fellow writers went through with reading less than half of what they claimed to have very great interest in. and it’s not like they haven’t had the time. it’s been sitting there for months.

but okay, hear me out: i wanna make it very clear that i have absolutely no problem with people not reading my fics. i’d never force anyone to, i’d never expect my fics to be for everyone. if it’s not for you, then it’s not for you, and honestly it’s all good bro. but the thing that makes me feel great disappointment is when i’m being told to expect engagement... and then to not get any. expecting to hear from all the people that expressed to me they were gonna read my fics, only to hear nothing for months on end.. i don’t think it’s shocking that it left me feeling very disappointed. and the support and interest just feels empty, fleeting, and not genuine.

it has puzzled me ‘cause it comes from fellow writers who are very aware of the importance of engagement, even if it’s just a little. i am of course okay with someone not reading my fics and showing no interest in them. like i said; if it’s not for you, it’s not for you. it’s all good bro i’d never force it down anyone’s throat.

but don’t tell me you’re gonna read ‘em, if you’re not gonna read ‘em. it builds up expectation that is then never met. it’s a set-up with no pay-off.. and it has been particularly bad with my fic series, astral combat.

speaking of astral combat, it’s officially dropped. i have no desire to continue it. both for the reasons mentioned above, but also simply because of my own mistake of putting months of work into a fic that little to none will care about. that one is my own fault, like i shouldn’t have put my all into it, i was definitely doing too much. i know. the amount of effort and work i had to do on it... gosh, it’s just not worth it when the engagement is barely there. the imbalance is too harsh for me to continue it.

anyway, all these things have drained me of motivation, inspiration, and honestly it’s drained me of a wish to continue writing. ‘cause of empty support, fleeting interest, and a massively lacklustre sense of community.. even from fellow writers.

you are more than welcome to disagree and disregard this post, shrug it off, and keep scrolling. you have every right to do so. it’s 100 percent valid if your experience on this platform has been different from mine. this is simply me voicing how my experience has been. i think it’s very telling that i got tired after only 6 months lol

if you do disagree and feel the need to voice your opinion, i won’t stop you, you are free to do that, however i will ask of you to please not be rude, dismissive, or disrespectful about it. this post was not made to spark debate, but rather to just convey my reasoning as to why i’m gonna take a step back from writing fics... for now.

vsualitae is officially on a semi-hiatus.

i might write, i might not. i don’t know yet. i just know that right now i can’t be assed. excuse my french. i’d rather focus my energy on other goals i have in my life. i am a bit sad, ‘cause i have so many ideas for fics, however time will tell if i decide to write them or not. i guess you’ll know if i randomly pop in and jumpscare you with a release lmao

i do wanna say thank you to all of you that have read my published fics, especially those of you who have reblogged with reviews, i am beyond thankful for your kind support <3 know that i’ve taken it to heart and i really, really appreciate it!

#zekitalks #yeah idk what to tag it

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anghraine · 2 years

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Switching fandoms for a moment, a few people have asked my opinion on whether Faramir or Boromir was the one really meant (by the in-universe powers that be) to go to Rivendell, given the plot difficulties that would arise from switching their places.

I’ve talked about this before, but I don’t mind weighing in again.

The concise version of my opinion is this: Faramir was supposed to go to Rivendell. Boromir going was acceptable and roughly worked out in a big-picture sense, but this was the less preferred back-up plan and it would be a net improvement for the world if Faramir had gone.

Long version:

In the interests of full disclosure, I’ve always been fascinated by Faramir receiving the summons first and repeatedly, while Boromir only receives it afterwards, and one time. The clear suggestion IMO is that Faramir is the preferred choice.

In fact, I first got into writing fanfic specifically because I was so annoyed with the insistence that, because Boromir going worked out in the long run in canon, him doing so is the only way things could have worked out and Faramir going would have inevitably led to disaster. I’ve changed my mind about quite a few things since then, but not about this.

No matter how much the change disrupts the tightly-plotted structure of LOTR, there is no getting away from the dream-sender’s preference for Faramir. Nor is it difficult to see why such a person would consider Faramir better-suited to endure the corrosive presence of the Ring and Boromir to lead the armies of Gondor.

In canon, moreover, Faramir is friendly with Gandalf, forms an instant rapport with Aragorn despite his earlier reservations, and quickly makes a better impression than Boromir on at least three of the four hobbits. He has an Elvish-Númenórean-wizardly air that Boromir doesn’t seem to, and those are qualities that Legolas appears to respect in others (Aragorn, Imrahil), so it’s likely enough that he would have more respect for Faramir than for Boromir. (In canon, Legolas explicitly says that one of the Men in the Fellowship is Númenórean, excluding Boromir.) It’s hard to say for sure about Gimli, but he’s got enough of a poetical soul that I think he and Faramir would get on well, too.

Faramir is also less brash and proud than Boromir, which is significant considering that the Fellowship is essentially on a stealth mission where Boromir shines as a warrior and a battlefield general. Faramir’s mental powers and ability to command animals seem potentially very useful in that context, while his own abilities as a warrior (see Éowyn’s instant judgment of said abilities in ROTK) are suitable enough for occasions when fighting does become necessary. It also seems probable that Faramir would have more positive interactions with Elrond and Galadriel than Boromir did. So whether it’s fair or not, I do think that Faramir is a better “fit” for the Fellowship and its quest than Boromir, even aside of the Ring.

There’s also a relevant out-of-story detail that I didn’t know when I initially formed my opinion (though it only confirmed it). Faramir did not exist as a character until Tolkien was drafting TTT. I’d have to check HOME to be 100% sure, but this likely means that the dream-sender’s preference for Faramir is a later concept. This isn’t to say it’s less legitimately part of the text, but rather, that Tolkien felt this was important enough to go out of his way to add.

That makes it unlikely to me that the dream-sender’s preference for Faramir is either unimportant or an oversight by Tolkien. I also consider it very unlikely that Tolkien would have taken the trouble to go back and adjust this if the dream-sender is actually supposed to be mistaken in focusing on Faramir and it was always supposed to be Boromir. Additionally, I don’t think the sender is playing some kind of complicated mind-game with Faramir with the understanding that this will ultimately result in Boromir going—both scenarios strike me as more Tolkien fandom resistant reading gymnastics than at all characteristic of Tolkien’s use of imagery and dreams.

Relatedly, I also disagree with the theory that the dream was never sent to Boromir at all—either he’s lying or he essentially psyched himself into having the dream after hearing about it from Faramir. I’ve seen takes on these that are more sympathetic to Boromir than they sound: Boromir believes Faramir, but doesn’t think he’ll be taken seriously without Boromir backing him up, Boromir is consciously or subconsciously trying to protect Faramir by inventing a reason he can take Faramir’s place, etc. But I don’t find those scenarios likely for Boromir’s character or for Tolkien’s approach to prophecy, visions, etc.

Fundamentally, I agree with Tom Shippey in The Road to Middle-earth:

“Providence or the Valar sent the dream that took Boromir to Rivendell. But they sent it first and most often to Faramir, who would no doubt have been a better choice. It was human decision, or human perversity, which led to Boromir claiming the journey, with what chain of ill-effects and casualties no one can tell. ‘Luck’, then, is a continuous interplay of providence and free will” (136-7).

Now, I haven’t gotten into the specifics of how the mechanics of LOTR’s plot work out if we switch Boromir’s and Faramir’s places. There are some legitimate challenges—but these strike me as, well, mechanical more than thematic challenges, and subordinate to what Tolkien is trying to suggest through the preference for Faramir on the part of the dream-sender. Additionally, I think it’s very possible to overcome those difficulties even in the mechanical sense and come up with one or several scenarios where things work out more happily than in canon. But this post is already long enough, so more on that later.

#anghraine babbles #legendarium blogging #anghraine's meta #faramir #jewel of the seashore #fic talk #faramir goes to rivendell au #long post

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