#and entrench you further into a distorted self image + reflection....

[pendraegon]

hello hello can u tell us about jouka's curse?

YES if you want more on vouniverse here’s my tag for it: vouniverse

YES jouka time<3 i literally love talking about him, if given the chance i would NEVER shut up about him which might be kind of egotistical but i’ve really put so much thought and care into almost every aspect of him (for example mireuk’s rapier is supposed to represent lancelot’s red hilted sword BUT there were truly some aspects that came as a surprise or like...that i realized much later like how jouka’s torn red silk around mireuk’s new sword can represent again like how they’re both doomed to kill the person they love most, but also, that it’s the red string of fate that connects them!!! literally i was like “oh shit my subconcious mind that was SOOO sexy” aosdjfassa), but it’s always very different and heart warming when someone else cares for jouka too, you know? 🥺😭💌 this is gonna be long so i’ll put it under a read more here<3

i had inspiration for jouka’s curse from diana wynne jones’ howl’s moving castle! i always loved the concept of how even though sophie was cursed at first by the witch of the waste, it is her own power and subsequently her own self-hatred that keeps her in that state — likewise, i wanted jouka’s self inflicted curse to (im just gonna copy and paste what i wrote last night in a text post bc mind broken aosifjdsaofda:) it’s supposed to represent how negative self thought can cause people to spiral into further negative self reflection to the point that it’s impossible to get out of, or rather, it takes genuine reflection and assessment and the desire to change and make mistakes and get better to truly foster a sense of self-love and self respect.

for jouka he’s the bastard son, he’s technically the eldest, but he’s not because he’s NOT a proper tae, and throw in the fact that he’s the only half-elf? yikes. (i wanted him as a half-elf because i was like...well...........you know. when you’re multiethnic. how it is.) and tie that into the fact that despite the fact that he’s obviously hated and despised by the town + his father and step mother, he still WANTS to belong — even though he’s seen as less than dirt or a nuisance or even the fact he’s a scapegoat, even though he fucking hates everyone for how he’s treated, he still wants to belong, he still wants acceptance, he wants these people to want him too. [of course, lem and aino aren’t like this at all, if anything i’m very adamant that the siblings all truly love each other (which like we see bc jouka’s “korean” name has the same character that lem’s and aino’s do which is what occurs in siblings — they’re all “hwa/hua” and lem and aino GAVE jouka that character which shows of their acceptance of him as their brother) despite the fact that there may be tension between them in regards to lem burdening the responsibility of the silk trade and being jealous of jouka’s “freedom” while jouka doesn’t want to take lem’s place but he wants that respectability that isn’t given to him and then later on with jouka leaving aino and aino being understandably upset and simultaneously not wanting to see him again but wanting to reunite.]

SO, jouka at his core is this....he’s this little half shadow of what-could-bes and what-ifs and childish dreams which is why it’s so easy for him to slip into other guises, like, that of germy. jouka himself isn’t even THE real jouka, jouka goes by seokhwa even though his REAL name is seokga, and isn’t that scary that jouka doesn’t even know WHO seokga is?

ANYWAYS CURSE. so. mireuk of course we know because i’m telling you this that he’s actually the “hero” of the story and that the eventual twist is that he’s doublecrossing the people in power at the end this entire time — mireuk who stabs jouka because jouka is, rightfully infuriated, that someone he loved would destroy their village, destroy aino’s hardwork, implied to have killed lem or have been responsible in lem’s death but the worst part is that it’s not just that at all? jouka, who hated the village even though he longed for acceptance and connection, jouka who wanted to destroy and grind everyone to dust who was cruel to him, for jouka — if mireuk had told him, if mireuk had said that he was going to set the village on fire and kill, jouka WOULD have been fine with it, as long as aino was okay — for jouka, his disgust stems also not from his self hatred and lack of self worth but from the fact that he wishes that were him, that he was the one who was setting the fire aflame, that he was the one to hurt and destroy and kill. jouka is, a kind person, he’s gentle yes, but he’s not a good person — he’s never really been a good person in that all he cares about only are his siblings, lem and aino, and mireuk (and eventually, nyx) and now seeing the fact that mireuk killed lem, how can jouka reconcile that? SO mireuk stabs jouka in the shoulder and tells him to run as far as he can — and maybe i was like...a bit too indulgent in that i too have a shitty shoulder, but in that scar that one of the loves of jouka’s life gives him (the other love of his life being, nyx, of course), a physical manifestation of jouka’s self hatred is present, it bubbles up, it debilitates him, it glows and it grows and it overtakes his body. jouka uses music to temper that and i’ve talked about that before and how that ties both into finnish and korean mythos/shamanism. but when jouka then goes to the elves and the elves say that it’s life threatening it truly is supposed to represent how jouka’s hatred at everything is something that he internalizes so much that it’s killing him slowly and painfully and that not even his implied godhood can save him because if you believe in something enough, of course it’ll be true — and for jouka who is this like literal ball of loathing and missed chances and regrets and so so so very contradictory, it’s something that he blames on mireuk while knowing deep down that it’s HIM that’s the problem the entire time but unwilling and too scared to actually look into it.

[expatimes]

Ardern vs Collins: New Zealand is at a crossroads

New Zealand voters go to the polls on Saturday, the culmination of a stuttering electoral campaign disrupted by a fresh outbreak of COVID-19.

A profusion of parties - spread across the ideological spectrum - have presented their vision to constituents. In a world turned upside down, voters have placed a premium on parties that appear best equipped to contain virus spread and limit the accompanying economic damage.

Advance voting suggests that the election may have a sizeable turnout, with 700,000 Kiwis placing votes over the past week. Voters are also casting ballots on whether to legalize cannabis and euthanasia.

The centrist Labor Party, led by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, appears on course to win an outright parliamentary majority - the first time a single party would be able to rule since the nation's mixed-member proportional system of representation was brought in a quarter of a century ago.

Throughout the COVID-19 crisis, the party has consistently polled about 50 percent. That is largely due to its exceptional management of the pandemic threat: a humane, health-first approach calibrated towards saving lives while insulating the public from the economic hit associated with lockdown measures.

As such, Ardern has pitched a vote for her second term as a vote for stability.

“These are uncertain times, but we've seen what we can achieve with a strong plan,” she said in the party's first major campaign advertisement, released last month. "So, let's stick together - and let's keep moving."

That five-point plan revolves around retraining Kiwis by providing free apprenticeships in the trades; investment in “shovel-ready” infrastructure projects and upgrades to the health sector; further support for small businesses, via interest-free loans; and leveraging New Zealand's reputation as a relative safe haven to attract investment.

“Together we went hard and early to fight COVID,” says Ardern. "Our plan now is to rebuild the economy even stronger."

The party's first term in power was marked by a series of traumatic incidents: the Christchurch terror attack, the Whakaari / White Island eruption, and the new normal of life amid viral menace.

In each instance, Ardern used her clear communication skills to reassure and unify an oft-divided country; The public has positively to this good-faith brand of politics, which prioritises public wellbeing.

However, in other ways, her government - a coalition with the center-right New Zealand First, with the Green Party providing confidence and supply - has struggled to deliver flagship policies or live up to the policy goals of its 2017 election campaign.

Change has been painfully incremental, as opposed to Ardern's bold promises of “transformation” last election.

From the right, this incrementalism is cast as flagrant incompetence; from the left, as evidence that the party remains committed to the logic of the neoliberal era.

The government Kiwi Boyild real estate development project is a bleeding political wound. Efforts to mitigate the country's unconscionable levels of inequality, particularly child poverty - where, after housing costs, about one in five, or 235,400, children live in relative poverty - have barely scratched the surface.

The nation's castigatory welfare system remains in need of significant reform, yet the government has not acted on the advice of its own Welfare Expert Advisory Group, which last year recommended immediately raising benefits by up to 47 percent.

Its capitulation to NZF's opposition to its promised capital gains tax lends weight to the argument that Ardern is too timid of a leader. With the latest 1 News Colmar Brunton poll putting NZF on just 2 percent, the party and its veteran leader, Winston Peters, would not make it back into parliament.

Ardern has since categorically ruled out implementing that tax at any point in her premiership - even absent NZF's opposition - effectively conceding the argument to the nation's rentier class.

Regardless, her administration has achieved noticeable improvements in the health and education sectors, in which it inherited systems run-down, most recently, by nine years of deliberate neglect by the previous National Party government.

Ardern has promised to build on those improvements, announcing a 1 billion New Zealand dollars ($ 658m) health plan last month. The plan includes a 200 million NZ dollars ($ 132m) funding boost for the country's drug-buying agency, Pharmac, and dental health grants that amount to 176 million NZ dollars ($ 116m) for people on low incomes.

If the public does deliver labor an outright majority, hopefully, Ardern abandons her more cautious, conflict-averse style of politics and further embraces the transformational, big state recovery this pandemic demands.

From the left, the hope is that the center-left Green Party crosses the 5 percent threshold for entering parliament, far from a certainty, and that Labor's polling forces it to form a coalition with the party.

The Greens strong push for legalising cannabis - with the accompanying economic, health and social benefits - is an example of common sense, progressive policymaking.

The only other parties that could force labor to the left - or are offering fresh thinking - are the Maori Party and The Opportunities Party (TOP).

The Maori Party, which is running candidates in the country's seven Maori electorates, has provided a raft of policies focused on addressing the persistent inequalities created by colonialism, particularly across justice, health and housing. It additionally wants to establish a separate Maori parliament and see Maori language and history taught as core subjects in schools.

Regardless, if Ardern continues with the incrementalist approach, her administration, which leverages international recognition for domestic legitimacy, may come to represent yet another failure of the globe's vaunted new breed of liberal democrats.

Barack Obama, Justin Trudeau and Emmanuel Macron each, like Ardern, spoke the language of “hope” and “change”. Yet, ultimately, all further entrenched a poisonous status quo.

'A poor wee thing'

In contrast to the government assured management of the pandemic, the main opposition National Party has careened chaotic throughout the crisis.

Its complete meltdown raises serious questions about its ability to cope with the pressures of managing the country at a time of global catastrophe.

From the earliest stages of the crisis, the center-right party played politics, attempting to undermine the government's health-first priorities by criticizing lockdown measures and demanding a lifting of restrictions.

It invented a homeless man in a managed isolation facility, leaked the private medical records of COVID-19 patients to the media, attempted to stir-up racist sentiment towards returning New Zealanders, engaged in conspiracy-baiting, and is on to its third leader in six months.

Unsurprisingly, the party's support has plummeted, and it is now routinely polling in the 30 percent range. In desperation, its caucus has turned to Judith “Crusher” Collins for leadership, after former leader Todd Muller, suffering panic attacks, resigned following 53 disastrous days at the party's helm.

“We're actually better. If you look at our team, our experience, ”said Collins upon being selected party leader in July,“ it's all better than Jacinda Ardern and her team. ”

Yet, the party has not fared noticeably better under Collins, who personifies a toxic current that has long run through New Zealand politics and society; one of casual nastiness and brazen self-interest.

The 61-year-old, six-term MP comes replete with significant political baggage. This ranges from allegations of conflict of interest to passing on private information for use in smear campaigns.

Despite a short-lived attempt to soften Collins's image, the leader has predictably reverted to the attack-style of politics that many New Zealanders find repellent, and which ultimately turns people off politics.

Following the first leaders' debate between Collins and Ardern in September, the National Party leader called Ardern a “poor wee thing”.

This posturing has only gotten worse since.

The party has consistently misrepresented Labor Party policies. Most recently, the MP Alfred Ngaro falsely claimed that Labour planned to decriminalise all drugs, allow full-term abortion, and "abortion based on gender and disability."

At a time when the country grapples with misinformation, Collins has additionally attacked the acclaimed investigative journalist Nicky Hager, in her book, Dirty Politics, she featured prominently.

“He is a dreadful man and what he wrote about me was disgraceful,” Collins told a gathering in Nelson. "He still needs to meet his maker."

It is difficult to determine whether the party's pumping out of bald-faced lies and misinformation is a deliberate strategy or merely reflects engrained party culture. Either way, this approach sows division and can distort public perceptions.

It is a play that right-wing demagogues around the world routinely employ.

One need look no further than the United States and the United Kingdom - Donald Trump and Boris Johnson, respectively - which have failed miserably when confronted with the most severe of reality checks: pandemic.

In terms of the policy, the party is offering nothing new.

Its centrepiece policy of temporary tax cuts appears little more than an attempt to bribe high and middle income earners.

Even worse, the cuts, worth 4.7 billion NZ dollars ($ 3bn), would be drawn from the COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund: money generated by the Reserve Bank's quantitative easing program, and set aside for a potential future outbreak of COVID- 19.

At a time when minimum wage earners have kept the country running, offering those very same people about 8 NZ dollars ($ 5.2) extra per week - or 560 NZ dollars over 16 months - speaks to the party's skewed priorities; people earning 90,000 NZ dollars would pocket an extra 58 NZ dollars per week.

Other policies appear superfluous.

The party has vowed to establish a new "National" cancer agency. Yet, the country's Cancer Control Agency - headed by a renowned cancer epidemiologist and operational for less than a year - has been well-received by medical practitioners and the public more generally.

Stripping away the spin, the party would likely put pressure on public services, by failing to increase spending to match rising costs. It looks poised to ensure further environmental degradation, promising to repeal regulations aimed at cleaning up waterways polluted by intensive farming and opening-up new off-shore oil and gas exploration.

Regardless, Collins soldiers on, spitting venom and invective - and therefore sucking up media oxygen.

By the beginning of October, she was pandering to the country's evangelical Christians, describing herself as a person of faith who believed in “miracles” while attempting to inflame the urban-rural divide.

And, of course, reaching out to the conspiratorial fringe.

"Why aren't we talking about other deaths like the flu?" she asked right-wing broadcaster, Mike Hosking, who has previously suggested that official calls for people to get COVID-19 tests was a government ploy to spread fear and win reelection.

It has been quite the display.

However, if Labor drops a few percentage points and the Greens fail to poll above 5 percent, there is a chance that Collins could head the next government.

For this, her party would need to increase its vote share to 37 percent and form a coalition with its long-term ally ACT, which is polling at 8 percent according to the latest Colmar Brunton poll.

That latter party is far-right Libertarian and has benefitted massively from National Party voter-bleed over the past six months. Its leader, David Seymour, promulgates a narrative of personal freedom to legitimise - or cover for - a raft of extreme free-market policies.

Its policies raise real alarm bells.

ACT promises to: abolish the Maori seats in parliament, hate speech laws and the Human Rights Commission; relax gun laws; scrap the Zero Carbon Act, which provides that nation's framework for addressing climate change; slash $ 7.6bn NZ dollars of “wasteful spending” a year from public services; reduce tax rates; freeze the minimum wage for three years; reinstate 90 day trials for workers; and cut winter energy payments and benefits while monitoring the spending of certain beneficiaries. And so on and so forth.

A National-ACT government, put another way: austerity.

The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial stance.

#world Read full article: https://expatimes.com/?p=11748&feed_id=9541

[aedraeatingdisordercentre]

Negative body image

Negative Body Image and eating disorders

We all have a body-image. Beginning at birth, body image develops as we experience life, incorporating the messages of our personal experiences and of the culture, (through adverts, movies, the internet) into the picture that forms in our mind’s eye. Ideally, this inner self-image is going to be mostly positive; I say 'mostly' because I've yet to come across someone with a 100% positive body image, as everyone seems to find some fault with the way they look, but the ideal would clearly be a good balance of seeing the good and accepting the not-so-good. Body image isn’t a uni dimensional construct. It’s actually made up of four aspects:

Perceptual body image: how you see your body

Affective body image: how you feel about your body

Cognitive body image: how you think about your body

Behavioural body image: the way you behave as a result of your perceptual, affective, and cognitive body image (NEDC, 2017) 

Body image concerns are beginning at an increasingly young age and  often endure throughout life. By age 6, girls especially start to express concerns about their own weight or shape, and 40-60% of elementary school girls (ages 6-12) are concerned about their weight or about becoming too fat.(1) . Furthermore, over one-half of teenage girls and nearly one-third of teenage boys use unhealthy weight control behaviours such as skipping meals, fasting, smoking cigarettes, vomiting, and taking laxatives (2).

BIOLOGICAL EXPLANATIONS

Researchers are increasingly finding a biological basis for negative and distorted body image within eating disorders. A team led by Henrik Ehrsson, a neuroscientist at University College London,  identified that the parietal cortex generates the body image. Disruption of this region's normal functioning could play an important role in conditions such as anorexia and body dysmorphic disorder.Other research has found that different sub-types of eating disorders, with their cognitive differences, may be related to the activation of different parts of the brain;  with the amygdala being significantly activated in AN-R (restrictive anorexia) patients, AN-BP (anorexia binge-purge) patients, and healthy women, and The prefrontal cortex (PFC) was significantly activated in AN-BP patients and healthy women, but not in AN-R and BN (bulimia nervosa) patients. Brain activation pattern differences between the various EDs may underlie cognitive differences with respect to distorted body image, and therefore might reflect a general failure to represent and evaluate one's own body in a realistic fashion (3)

CRITICAL SELF-TALK AND POOR BODY-IMAGE

The biological explanations for the existence of this dysfunctional scheme for self-evaluation within so many people with eating disorders, doesn't mean the issues can't be addressed. We can tackle poor body image at several levels, not least the constant flow of self-critical thinking that ensures negative self-image becomes entrenched enough to be central to our actions, relationships and approach to life and cause everything we say, do and think to become distorted by the lens of this belief about ourselves. People with eating disorders, as well as survivors of trauma, tend to fix their attention on these distorted perceptions of themselves. In an attempt to avoid these ' felt' connections they may numb feelings and sensations to stifle overwhelming emotions, and engage in punitive and negative thoughts and self talk regarding their perceptions of themselves (4)Because of the deep interconnectness of our body with our thoughts, attitudes and feelings, the body and mind cannot be treated independently of one another (5)

STARTING TO HEAL POOR BODY IMAGE

Developing or increasing our capacity to resolve  damaging body-image issues must include examining what underlies the negative perceptions and feelings. Exploring the impact of your self-perception  has to  include an emphasis on living “in” rather then controlling the body.All too commonly those of us with EDs see ourselves as failures, disappointments and burdens to their families and loved ones. There is, more often than not, a voice stuck on a continual loop repeating that we're worthless and possibly even telling us that nobody would care if we weren't around.These emotions are felt and experienced in the body, (with me it was always like a cold weight in my chest) ; it can be a knot in the stomach that can make you feel heavy, weighed down and hopeless that things will ever feel different. Nothing ever feels quite real, and no accomplishment (getting the 'right' job, or the  'best' qualifications or whatever) will feel quite enough.

THERAPY FOR  POOR BODY-IMAGE

In order to begin working on poor body image psycho-education , experiential therapy and therapy informed by psychodynamic counselling can help work on enhancing your strengths (we do all have them!) and begin to re-balance our body image so that negative thoughts are no longer dominant. We can learn to identify how our self-perception takes form and exists in our body, and how we express this through our body language. This sort of therapy involves helping understand how we see ourselves, and, importantly, how we believe or perceive that others see us. In order to properly understand and challenge how our body- image impacts our lives we must explore and develop strategies to resolve these damaging body-image issues.When you feel you are turning towards disordered patterns as a response to stress, anxiety or other feelings of being overwhelmed, therapy can help you learn to use these feelings or distortions as a warning that you are having a conflict; this can be an important way to identify what feels wrong, so you can choose to take positive, healthy action and avoid lapses in your eating disorder recovery.

The use of Dance/Movement Therapy (DMT) as one of several types of expressive therapy can help address poor body-image.Using carefully monitored movements and breathing techniques, DMT can help you to develop body awareness and tolerance. 

Expressive movement techniques are developed by the therapist to embody understanding of emerging issues and this movement work is processed on a body level as well as a cognitive level. Using  journals or worksheets to externalise insights on body image can create a useful resource to establish 'mini-goals': from this you can create action plans on body image issues. Feedback from your therapist or coach provides further direction and support, along with a framework for guidelines for further exploration of body image issues

We may use an eating disorder (once it has been triggered and become established) to make us feel less anxious and more in control . It can quite successfully move the focus away from the things that we don't want to address or feel, like the effects of our poor body-image. Self-compassion work, and therapies such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)  can help us find ways to acknowledge, accept and learn how to express our feelings. A 2011 Harvard study found that mindfulness techniques, especially meditation, helped create measurable differences on sense of self.

TIPS TO START WORKING ON  YOUR BODY IMAGE TODAY

1. QUESTION WHAT THE MEDIA IS TELLING YOU

Always question what you're being sold by adverts on TV, magazines, the internet. The diet industry is massive, generating approx $68.2 billion a year globally, and continues to grow by exploiting and manipulating poor body-image and low self-esteem. These messages are constant and unrelenting, telling us we have to buy their products and their programmes to get 'bikini ready' or  banish that cellulite' , " bounce back after baby" or "fight for those six back abs"; we're always being told we should regard some foods as 'bad' or 'naughty' , trying to convince us that there's one version of beauty, an acceptable template we should spend our lives trying to fit. This, of course, is bullshit. It constantly reinforces the nonsense that thin=good and larger bodied=bad. Our worth is not defined by our weight, the size of our jeans or the shape of our body. We cannot tell the health of a person by the way that they look. The goal has to be to know your value and worth and nurture yourself so you have the energy and vitality to enjoy your life to its fullest.

2. EXPLORE YOUR BELIEFS AND VALUES

Take time to dig down and explore your own thought patterns and beliefs. It might help to keep a thought log during your day and find a therapist, coach or trusted friend you can explore these with. Where did your beliefs come from? What purpose have they served for you? Is there validity and truth to them or are they beliefs that you are able to challenge and unpack?

 3. GO THROUGH YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA

Begin unfollowing accounts that make you feel bad about yourself, like you need to change who you are or like you’re not doing enough . Social media can be a great thing and it can also be dangerous, for example, higher levels of Instagram use has been linked to significantly increased symptoms of orthorexia. Setting firm boundaries for yourself such as who you follow and how much time you spend on it can help keep it a positive tool (there are some great apps that can help with this)

4. OFFER YOUR BODY RESPECT

Self-love may seem a long way off, but you can practise respecting it and taking care of it. Respecting your body means appreciating it for all of the great things it does for you. Respecting it also looks like listening to and trusting your body's messages and needs. Focusing on what your body can DO over how your body looks can help begin this process.

5.  CHOOSE KINDNESS

In the simplest terms, be kind. Begin noticing the negative things you are thinking to yourself and substitute it with something kind and compassionate. A great exercise to practice is 'the criticiser, the criticised and the compassionate observer'. When you have a negative thought say it out loud. This is the criticiser. Next follow it up with the person being criticised. Begin to challenge those negative beliefs out loud. Lastly, practice speaking from a place of compassion. Saying it out loud can begin to put things into perspective and offer you a chance to really challenge your thoughts.Negative body image will never heal by changing what our body looks like. It needs to be really tackled where it starts, on the inside. The process is challenging and can take a long-time, but it can be transformational.

References

(1) Smolak, 2011

(2) Neumark- Sztainer, 2005

(3)  Brain activation during the perception of distorted body images in eating disorders.

Miyake Y1, Okamoto Y, Onoda K, Kurosaki M, Shirao N, Okamoto Y, Yamawaki S. .

(4) Kleinman, 2009

(5) Ressler & Kleinman, 2012