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zepskies · 1 year ago

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Why We Love the Boys

As promised, here is my review of Supes Ain’t Always Heroes. I actually used to write book reviews in my high school journalism days, so here we go!

What this book is: A masterful deep dive. A study on character psychology, the source of the comic and show’s inspiration, and the narrative themes illustrated in The Boys that parallel American culture and our real lives.

It includes interviews from one of the comic’s creators, Darick Robertson, The Krip himself (Eric Kripke), and actors Jim Beaver (Robert Singer), Aya Cash (Stormfront), Chace Crawford (The Deep), Jessie T. Usher (A-Train), Nathan Mitchell (Black Noir), and of course, Jensen Ackles (Soldier Boy).

It also includes a small but significant ode to the creativity of fans and fandom (with a mention of fanfic writers)!

I’ll admit, I felt seen. 😊

Who wrote it: Psychologists Lynn S. Zubernis and Matthew Snyder, among several other contributors. Zubernis is a self-proclaimed fangirl of not only this show, but also of Supernatural and Eric Kripke in general. (That aspect definitely comes through in her writing.)

She is also editor of Family Don’t End with Blood: Cast and Fans on How Supernatural Changes Lives and There’ll Be Peace When you Are Done: Actors and Fans Celebrate the Legacy of Supernatural—both of which I now want to read.

As I mentioned, several other authors also contributed to this book, as their expertise and backgrounds lend to the subjects they’re covering, such as racism, sexism, the entertainment industry, the comic’s inception, and more.

Who wants to read this book: Anyone who enjoys learning about what makes characters tick. What drives their choices, their sense of morality and justice, and their trauma and strife that lead them to do heinous things. This book will help you better understand your favorite characters (and how to write about them).

Perhaps most importantly, this book is for anyone who wants to read it put into words, why many of us love The Boys, as well as Supernatural.

In a way, the latter is more escapism entertainment than The Boys. Because in this show, there isn’t much, if any escape.

Despite this being a “superhero show,” as we all know, it’s so much more than that. It’s a mirror held directly into our own faces: about why we enjoy heroes and antiheroes, and excuse the “bad behavior” of the ones we like.

About mental health, grief and loss, nature and nurture, coping mechanisms and the importance of choice in dealing with trauma; of racism, sexism, misogyny, weaponized social media, politics, corporate greed, and the power (and cruelty) of good marketing.

This book explores the true villain of the story...and it ain’t Homelander.

I’m going to get into my favorite aspects of this book—as well as an amazing chapter on Soldier Boy’s character study (and why we love him, perhaps too much).

There was also one small, but key thing I would add to that argument. But first...

The Mirror of The Boys on Screen

This world is a gritty, bloody, and at times all-too realistic take on how superheroes would be if they lived in our world.

They are the worst of celebrities, professional athletes, and politicians all rolled into one. They are the shiny products of a company and are marketed as such—and worst of all, they often buy into their own hype.

Some of my favorite quotes on this topic:

“The Boys often reflects darkness in our real world that is uncomfortable to watch. While we go through the tedium of our daily lives, trying to get by and using television or comics as an escape, it can feel difficult and overwhelming to confront the very real and insidious sources of authoritarianism, nationalism, and corporatism that are not just part of a story. “This show holds up a mirror and forces us to catch a glimpse of things we need to question, and asks us why we so easily believe the talking points of systems with marketing departments and press flacks behind them that carefully massage every word in order to get us to feel enamored with their product or policy.” (p. 227-228)

“The Boys works to reveal the nonaltruistic, sociopathic nature of contemporary US corporate culture. In a sense, The Boys uses the behavior of its characters to diagnose not an individual, but a culture.” (255)

In studying narrative I’ve learned that the best fiction and art serve to reflect the human experience. In this case, it’s something The Boys does expertly, even though it’s packaged in extreme, shocking, and often uncomfortable ways. But also in brutal, hilarious satire that’s fun to watch.

It “exposes real-world abuses, revealing many” of our own frustrations in American culture and in life in general (267).

Major Themes & Questions Explored

Several Boys themes are explored from a psychological, cultural, and narrative point of view, as I mentioned earlier. These are some of my favorite segments:

Toxic Masculinity & Narcissism

A whopper in The Boys, and the main theme of season 3. This book defines clearly what both of these words actually mean from a psychological point of view.

It also takes the bad taste out of your mouth that you might get from just hearing the words “toxic masculinity,” as it’s a phrase that can be carelessly thrown around to describe men and character traits that aren’t truly toxic...

How being emotionally available to your loved ones and not repressive of your feelings doesn’t make you weak, or less of a man. And how “being strong” doesn’t mean being physically violent and domineering. (AKA: the Big Swinging Dick™️ in the room.)

Narcissism is explored in a very interesting way. The book gives a diagram of different aspects of narcissists and how each character (Soldier Boy, Homelander, Butcher, and the Deep) falls into them.

Soldier Boy, for example, is classified as a “Classic Narcissist,” while Homelander a “Malignant Narcissist.” <- This will play into Soldier Boy’s character study, and the main difference between Soldier Boy and Homelander.

Butcher, however, displays narcissistic tendencies but is not, in fact, a narcissist. (More of an antisocial sociopath. Yay for him.)

Misogyny & Sexism

The classic superhero world of comics dates back to the 1930s and ‘40s. It has been, and in many respects still is a (White) male-dominated industry, where in narrative, female superheroes typically work under a male leading the team, as in Justice League, Teen Titans, and the Avengers.

As much as I love DC and Marvel comics, female characters have also been depicted wildly sexual for male readers and the male gaze, and non-supe characters have been written primarily as love interests and damsels for the hero to save. (Think Lois Lane, Lana Lang, and Mary Jane.)

Modern adaptions have given female characters more agency, but their foundations were rooted in underlying sexism and the mythic hero—an Odysseus-type with certain characteristics of male strength and heroism; and that goes all the way back to classic literature, like The Odyssey, Beowulf, and the Epic of Gilgamesh.

In The Boys, the female supes go through the same issues as their comic counterparts. They are treated how women are treated in the real world—marketable as sexual objects. Starlight’s forced costume change is a prime example.

Author Danielle Turchiano argues in the book that the women in power at Vought (Madelyn Stillwell, later Ashley) are given only so much power as men like Stan Edgar and Homelander give to them.

Stillwell, Ashley, and even Stormfront “drink the Kool Aid” of the misogynistic infrastructure of Vought, but they’re not truly “powerful” in and of themselves (112).

I would add that the only female characters that have or find true agency are Grace Mallory, Annie January/Starlight, and Maggie Shaw/Queen Maeve. Even Victoria Neuman is trying to work the political schematic and Vought by operating within the system Vought has created.

Mental Health, Trauma & Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms

This is a huge section, and rightly so. It kind of spans throughout the book, really, because all of these characters have traumas that inform who they are as adults making the (often grotesque) choices they make.

For many of these characters, it stems from their upbringing and fraught relationships with their parents, whether explicitly or implicitly explored in the show.

Butcher: Is an antisocial sociopath with narcissistic tendencies. Arrogant, emotionally manipulative, violent, and obsessive. He was also physically and emotionally abused by his father, led to use drinking and violence as a means to cope and express himself. His rage is so deep under his skin—he loathes himself for it (and his father), but struggles immensely to escape it.

Homelander (John): A malignant narcissist, the height of arrogance, and emotionally manipulative. He lacks empathy for others' pain, and in fact enjoys inflicting it. Yet according to Jonah Vogelbaum, "John" was a sensitive, gentle child who only wanted connection and love. Vogelbaum raised him like a lab rat and fostered him in a cold, detached cell. He was raised to be entitled and to believe he was an all-powerful god, the lord of his own kingdom within his mind, excused from the responsibility of his actions.

Soldier Boy (Ben): Also a narcissist; violent, arrogant, misogynistic, and often indifferent to the damage he causes, emotional or physical. Yet he was also emotionally abused by his father, who set high and exacting standards for what it meant to be a man. It drives Ben to try and prove his worth to his father, though he’s never able to. It fosters the lack of self-worth he probably feels as he seeks validation through fame, and what he believes power to be.

These three characters have many similarities, but also notable differences that set them apart from one another. And both Butcher and Soldier Boy use substances like drugs and alcohol to cope with their traumas—ones that their forced stoicism and sense of manhood won’t allow them to easily express.

“We see Soldier Boy use substances almost continuously in season three to deal with his PTSD from the childhood emotional abuse he received from his father, the betrayal and assault from his team, and the torture he endured from the Russian scientists.

“In the short term, the use of drugs and alcohol to avoid thoughts and feelings about traumatic experiences can be felt as helpful, but in the long term, it hinders one’s ability to process emotions and can cause a deeper depression from the guilt and shame of both avoidance and substance abuse.” (27)

Heroes, Antiheroes & Villains

This book explores two key questions that the show encourages you to think about:

Who the hell is the hero of this story?

And who is the villain?

The surface-level answer is that Homelander and other supes like him are the villains, and Butcher and his band of bros are the heroes (or antiheroes). But they commit just as questionable, sketchy, and downright murderous acts as the supes they’re trying to take down.

“Butcher is not really a good guy. He’s manipulative and self-centered. His reasons for wanting to take down Homelander are utterly personal. That it serves the greater good is almost a coincidence.” (9)

And if Butcher is not a hero, but a vengeful vigilante, then why do we root for him so much?

Well, we see his incredible flaws, of course, but I sympathize with his struggle in losing his wife and the life he could've continued to have with her. I root for the underdog going against the hydra head of Vought and the psychopathic Homelander.

I see in Butcher, as I also do with Homelander and Soldier Boy, their traumas and their internal conflicts, their deep-rooted self-loathing, and a desire, deep, deep down…to be loved.

(And to foster connection with others, even if they’re unable to sustain them.)

On the flipside, we have antagonists in this show who do truly heinous things. What makes them compelling even sympathetic at times, yet again, are their painful upbringings that have shaped them to be who they are. The supes of this show are byproducts of being treated like products.

Like the saying goes: Villains aren’t born, they’re made.

That’s why the real villain of this story is Vought International. It’s an allegory, and an indictment of the ruthless corporate greed that pervades American culture—and much of the world.

It’s why Stan Edgar is sometimes scarier to me than even Homelander (and was the true villain of my story, Break Me Down), if far more insidious.

Speaking of BMD, let’s get to it, shall we?

Here’s a (lot) bit about the Soldier Boy section of the book.

Soldier Boy: Why We Can’t Hate Him

I had to laugh out loud at the title of Soldier Boy’s chapter:

Loving the Villain: The Confusing Case of Soldier Boy

I’m not gonna lie. I felt called out. 😂

It is a confusing dichotomy. Soldier Boy is an absolute asshole. Misogynistic, narcissistic, arrogant, callous, violent…

But also deeply traumatized, a man-out-of-time, emotionally abused, a byproduct of the historically and culturally different time he was raised in, a man who just doesn’t get it…

And also charming, adorably grumpy, and undoubtedly attractive.

It’s hard to indict “Ben” as an unredeemable villain in the same way I do Homelander, the psychologist-labelled Malignant Narcissist.

Therein lies the main difference between Soldier Boy and Homelander: Soldier Boy doesn’t seem to take joy in harming others the way Homelander does...but, Soldier Boy still harms people, whether he means to or not. He is arrogant and callous, deeply traumatized and vengful.

Zubernis confirms many of my own conclusions and ideas about Soldier Boy, and why I still rooted for him to be better, and didn’t want him to die at the end of season 3.

As Zubernis rightly exclaimed during her own watch of the finale: “Noooo, don’t kill the Danger Grandpa Baby Murder Kitten!” (175)

Because Jensen did what he does best in his roles: He made us feel Ben’s pain.

��What’s funny is, in regard to Jensen playing Soldier Boy, you know he’s fucking fantastic, he’s just so good at bringing the audience, and it’s almost like—what I laugh about is, he was probably a little too good at his job!” Kripke said. (180)

And he continues, “In part it’s because of the fandom. So many people took his side in the finale, they’re like, Were’s on his side, fuck everyone! And you’re like, but he’s the bad guy and he’s trying to kill a ten-year-old.”

Were there fans who held this viewpoint? I’m sure. There are some radicals who don’t care about the humanity of characters or story and will side with their favorites, come whatever. But while I can’t speak for others, that’s not how I interpreted that moment in the season 3 finale when I watched it for the first, second, and even third time.

Yes, I think Soldier Boy was wrongfully willing to fight Ryan after cruelly batting him away. Do I think he would’ve killed him? I’m not sure. I think he would’ve continued to do what he had to do to get Ryan out of his way in his fight with Homelander. Maybe he would’ve been more violent than he intended, in the callous collateral damage he’d shown throughout the season. Maybe he would've held back at the last second. Or maybe he would’ve gone that far, if provoked.

It’s a tough call, as I think this character can go one way or the other in terms of his “villain” nature. We just haven’t seen enough of him in the series yet for me to make that conclusion on the canon-version of Soldier Boy. (In fanfic, I’ve explored my own interpretation.)

But overall, I think The Krip underestimated the power of Jensen’s acting.

…And the ardent nature of his mostly female fanbase. 😂

Why We Love Soldier Boy

The author cites multiple reasons for why we love Ben more than we probably should:

It’s Jensen Ackles: Fair enough. His talent speaks for itself.

Soldier Boy’s backstory: He was emotionally abused by his father and as a result, he has a complex regarding his self-worth, “something to prove,” and I would imagine a secret need for attention, validation, and praise.

He has trauma and PTSD: He is displaced from what is familiar to him and confused when the boys find him, and that is the least of it. He’s been tortured for 40 years. Can you even wrap your mind around that?

He’s charming: In a sexy grandpa, adorably grumpy, lovable asshole kind of way.

We’re drawn to danger: Dangerous “edgy” types are fun, especially when you’re physically attracted to the character.

He has his moments of vulnerability: Jensen’s ability to play the nuance in the character is the ultimate draw. I felt his pain, could see his torture, and his resulting PTSD. He even admits that he longs for a family, even if his ability to bring up those children is questionable at best. 😅

But I think the one aspect that can also be considered is the character’s capacity for change.

Soldier Boy’s Potential

Again, I don’t think you can write off Soldier Boy’s potential for positive character development the same way you can Homelander, or even Butcher.

For one thing, we just haven’t spent enough time with the character. In season 3, a lot of his collateral damage after he escapes imprisonment has been accidental, or PTSD-induced. Though we can’t discount how he murdered M.M.’s grandfather via collateral damage (and was callous about it).

I think this is what drew me to write about Soldier Boy. For all his arrogance, his chauvinism, his massive ego and general bastardry, there’s still humanity in Ben.

In the book, Nathan Mitchell says something amazing about his own character (Black Noir) that resonated with me about Soldier Boy as well:

"One of the ingredients of a compelling character is contradiction. How does one aspect of our personality contradict with one another? [...] Who is he underneath? How might his true nature contrast with the demands of his job?"

Or coded for Soldier Boy/Ben: The pressures he puts on himself to be the type of man he thought his father wanted him to be.

Again, his sexist, misogynistic ideals are shaped by the time he was raised in, by being a product of Vought, and of his father’s emotionally abusive upbringing. Does this excuse or justify all of his behavior? Of course not.

But I do think those 40 years in captivity changed him from the careless alpha dog we saw in 1984 Nicaragua…

He admits to Crimson Countess, with tears in his eyes, that he’d loved her. That he waited for her and his team—arguably the only social system he had in his life—to save him. He’s gutted to realize that not only did she and the rest of the team never love him, they hated him. They traded him for nothing. Just to get him out of their lives.

For all he claims to be afraid of nothing, tough as shit, he is afraid when he goes to face Mindstorm. He knows what the supe is capable of, and he visibly takes a shaky breath and tries to steel himself.

For a moment, he drops the “Soldier Boy” persona that he wears like that fine tailored suit, and he tells Butcher that the backstory Vought created for him was a lie; he grew up a rich kid who got sent to boarding school, but flunked out, because "he was a fuck up." And his father couldn’t be bothered to lay a hand on him, implying he didn’t care enough about his own son to "discipline" him.

He is reluctant to kill Homelander when he finds out he’s Ben’s son (sort of). He even claims that he would’ve been willing to share the spotlight “with his own son.” — Something I doubt even Homelander would do.

Ben even seems to be fighting tears when he levies the same vitriol at Homelander that his own father did at him:

Homelander: “Weak? I’m you.” Soldier Boy: “I know. You’re a fucking disappointment.”

Let me be clear. I don’t think it’s up to someone to change him (like a love interest). I don’t subscribe to that thinking, that a woman can “change” a man.

For example: In season 2, Butcher tells Becca, “Who was I before you? Nothing.”

And yet, she tells him that he put her on an unrealistic and unsustainable pedestal, in which she felt like she wasn’t allowed to fully be herself, unable to keep him from flying off the handle in rage. That kind of relationship (where one is dependent on the other to “keep them in check”) doesn’t work as a lasting, satisfying redemption arc, and it often doesn’t work in real life either.

I do think, however, that a person is capable of change if they’re broken down enough (pun intended), and if they themselves have a desire to change. Someone they encounter can inspire them to be better, like Butcher with Hughie. That person can help support the other.

At the end of the day, however, it’s Ben that has to want to change.

If he wants love and connection, he’ll have to somehow want it, and try (and sometimes fail) to get it, thereby giving him agency and a redemptive character arc.

Now, obviously, it’s up to The Krip where Ben goes from here. He seems to have a more indicting vision of the character than I do (at least, so far). But we’ll see! The fan demand to bring back the character has already had Kripke confirming that Soldier Boy will be back.

Maybe it will encourage him to give the character a more satisfying ending than Dean Winchester got in Supernatural. Though granted, that one wasn’t his doing, apparently he was in favor of that ending, which ultimately culminated 15 years of monster slaying and broments under Baby's roof.

Comparing Dean & Ben

In his interview segment, Jensen talks about what, if any, are the comparisons between Dean Winchester and Soldier Boy. AKA: Wanting a father’s approval, and an undercurrent of “John Wayne”-esque masculinity in John Winchester that Dean sought to emulate.

Jensen also talks about where he drew from to not only embody the character of Soldier Boy, but bring nuance to him—and show the peeks of vulnerability under the bravado and stoicism.

“He’s so fragile and his ego is fragile. Just like Homelander. These bigger-than-life powerful heroes really have a glass jaw… “And everyone walks on eggshells around him [Soldier Boy], and they tell him that they love him, and it’s the same with Homelander. Then when all of a sudden he faces his old team and Crimson Countess says we never loved you, we hated you—that’s a gut punch for him. Because even though on some level he may have known that, he never thought he would hear it. “And he probably propped himself up around trying to believe otherwise, because how can you walk around knowing everyone you’ve ever cared about hates you? It’s too painful.” (191)

It really is. I inherently felt this about Soldier Boy (Ben) when I watched season 3 for the first time. That’s exactly what I got from his performance and thought, there’s more to this guy than the toxic masculinity he represents.

This guy just wants to be loved, like everyone else. He wants to feel important, and even after his father’s dead, “show him” that Ben is the man his father wanted him to be. And so, he bought into the illusion Vought painstakingly crafted for him.

Whether he can come back from that remains to be seen, but I choose to be optimistic until evidence points to the contrary. 😅 (Maybe we’ll see in season 4!)

So that’s my personal take on Soldier Boy and this awesome book. 💚 Thank you again @kaleldobrev for recommending it to me! I hope you all enjoyed my long-winded review and want to check this out.

And if you do read it, let me know! I hope to read your thoughts as well!

Tagging people who said they wanted to read my review on this book: @venus-haze @jessjad @kristophalis @sl33pylilbunny

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cookieg122 · 5 months ago

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\^o^/ MORE Aya drawings!!! Recently, I was discussing with @pekoeboo some major changes to Aya's character, specifically to her age, backstory, and abilities. I'm gonna go in-depth about her lore here, so if you're interested, there's more under the cut! Khalan belongs to @pekoeboo!

Aya is an elven fairy princess from the Farfalla Empire. Her people are known for being war-hungry, ruthless, and proud people, but they weren't always like that. Aya grew up very sheltered. She lived in a secluded part of the castle with very few attendants. Her knowledge of the world is limited to the contents of storybooks, textbooks, and her father's triumphant war tales. Since she wasn't allowed to leave the castle, she spent most of her time on her hobbies, sword fighting, reading, and studying. >w</ No wonder she goes so crazy when she gets outta the house!! Aya may be naive and poorly socially adjusted, but she always maintains a very positive, childlike, and carefree demeanor. Speaking of childlike!! Her attitude is childlike because she is!! A child, haha. She is now 9 years old (in human years). I felt the age change better reflected her character. More info about her species! Aya's world is inhabited by fairy-elf-bug hybrids. These guys live super long lives, grow very tall, and can perform magic. They are characterized by their wings and antennae that differ depending on their birth region. (Aya's race's wings are based on butterflies! ^w^ <33) Anyway, since I changed her backstory from space alien to elven fairy princess, I figured it was only natural she could perform some basic spells. However, Aya is not very good with magic. ><' She can only cast strength and regen on herself to aid in battle. Unfortunately, casting these spells takes a lot out of her, so she has to eat TONS to regain her energy. Poor Khalan;; He already cooked so much! Previous details about Aya still hold true. She can still sense people nearby with her antennae, has a fast metabolism, and hosts a generally oblivious/chaotic nature. However, other things have changed. Her eyes no longer change color depending on mood, and her body is no longer naturally strong; she will have to cast a strength spell for that. The last lil quirk I added was Aya's BED TIME. Aya has a set time she goes to sleep every day, and if it hits that point- she is gonna sleep no matter WHAT is happening or where it is. It is TIME~. She just XD sits down on the pavement and goes to sleep. I always say this, BUT RIP Khalan, who has to carry her and bring her back safely from wherever they are. I promise she loves him;;; >< <33 Lastly is Aya's obsession with FIRE. She just- has a lot of wrong ideas that were taught to her as a child, and BURNING down a house is not OKAY. Please don't let the baby have fire. This is a PSA warning. x'D

OMG That was a lot! >o</ Thanks if you made it this far! Let me know if you have any questions about my baby. I still have much more lore about her that I'll have to share in the future so if you like her! Stay tuned! ヾ(≧▽≦*)o

#oc #original character #oc artwork #oc doodles #doodle #sketch doodle #digital art #drawing #doodle dump #aya armas #khalan al shariq #my art

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sweetbottletops · 1 year ago

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Can we just take a moment away from dumb jock Koga to appreciate the fact they are inching closer to how they look in that future Ikea "roommates" art?

ch 62

Aya is playing this way cooler than I'd have thought. Koga inviting herself over for the first time? And to study of all things? "No worries, I was completely free today." Exchanging social niceties like this is at all normal.

Oh, that's better. Her silly little "welcome to my home" hand is covering up her heart palpitations and the twin snitches are onto her too.

THEIR HANDS.

"...isn't this too much of a gap?" Koga not being good at school isn't a surprise to me. We already saw when Narita wanted to copy off her school work she hadn't even done it herself and she never seemed particularly interested in school or standing out academically. She was just going through the motions for so long. Uncle Joe's worries weren't entirely unfounded.

The real surprise is that Aya isn't that bad at school despite her appearance ("I could say the same about you...") and seems to be trying to get her act together after that earlier panic when she found out her other friends changed their minds and were going to cram school.

It seems like Koga's new interest in exams is her trying to stay beside Aya. Or to at least get a better sense of where they stand and what Aya's doing next. She got a TWO? Yeah, she's not book smart. This will lead to tears.

Aya's mom is cute. She raced up the stairs with her groceries still in hand. That's how rare this "boyfriend" event was.

She missed meeting Koga back when she walked Aya home after the concert but already got primed by the twins into thinking it was a boyfriend. Now her quick look before getting rushed out didn't help. "So cool!" At least she's ok with his her look.

It's never going to compute. Maybe not even at the wedding.

What else isn't going to compute is Koga catching up with Aya academically. Those are are a lot of X vs Os there. Hopefully she doesn't get discouraged.

Them both feeling like they are failing at their quests when they've really already won... would be exactly what they do.

#the guy she was interested in wasn't a guy at all #arai sumiko #manga #green manga #yuri #sweetbo reads

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religion-is-a-mental-illness · 2 years ago

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Published: Mar 30, 2023

For over a decade, the Gender Affirmative Model has been the standard of care for gender dysphoric youth across the West. Yet, despite its widespread and long-standing use, good evidence to support it remains elusive. Maybe that’s because there isn’t any.

A new paper reports on results from a survey of 1,655 parents of children who developed gender dysphoria during adolescence or soon after. American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines recommend affirming these kids in their new gender, and supporting them along the path to social, medical (hormonal), and surgical transition.

The results of this survey provide strong support for Dr. Littman’s Rapid-Onset Gender Dysphoria (ROGD) hypothesis, which suggests that gender dysphoria in this group may resolve with time and good psychological and social support, if needed.

Key Findings

Key findings of particular concern are that these children tend to have emotional problems that predate their gender-related issues by nearly four years. Furthermore, children with mental health issues were more likely than those without to have taken steps to transition. Children who were referred to a gender specialist were also more likely to have taken steps to transition. Parents reported feeling pressured by these specialists to transition their child. And parents reported a decline in their child’s mental health and social functioning after transition.

History of Gender Dysphoria and Standards of Care

About 15 years ago, Western countries began experiencing an exponential rise in adolescents and young adults suddenly developing gender dysphoria and being referred to gender clinics for treatment. Around the same time, a new philosophy on transgenderism began to take root: Just as there is nothing wrong with being attracted to the same sex, there was nothing wrong with identifying with a gender that did not match your biological sex. In other words, being transgender is perfectly normal. It is not a mental illness. If a trans person does have any mental health issues, it can be attributed to the extreme distress of having to live in a body that does not feel right (gender dysphoria), and the stress of living in a judgmental, transphobic world.

Out of this philosophy grew the Affirmative Care Model. This model focused on reassuring (affirming) people that their gender identity was real, normal and natural, and helping them take steps to relieve their gender dysphoria through social, medical (hormonal) and surgical transition. In order to address their social distress from lack of acceptance, much effort is devoted to creating a supportive environment among friends, family, schools and society in general.

Although there was almost no evidence to support it at the time, the Affirmative Care Model quickly became the standard of care in most Western countries.

In 2016, Dr. Littman noticed an anomalous spike in teenage girls suddenly declaring themselves transgender and became concerned. She conducted a survey of their parents to learn more about this new phenomenon. Based on what she found, she proposed that a new sub-category of gender dysphoria had emerged, this one sharing more similarities with anorexia and other eating disorders than with the previously recognized types of gender dysphoria. Dr. Littman described Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria (ROGD) in her seminal paper published in 2018.

ROGD develops suddenly, during or after puberty in a person who would not have met the criteria for childhood gender dysphoria. Most often, these kids are white, highly intelligent and come from well-educated families. ROGD affects mainly girls, and groups of friends often come out as trans together. The influence of social media is believed to play a role. They often have a prior history of mental health issues, developmental difficulties or have experienced a traumatic or stressful event before developing gender dysphoria. A prior history of self-harm and difficulty fitting in with their peers are also common. Sadly, transitioning is not likely to help these kids with their issues as it does not address the root cause. In fact, it has a good chance of making things much worse.

The ROGD hypothesis suggests that for these unhappy kids, “gender dysphoria” is a catch-all phrase for any kind of distress, and transition is the cure-all solution

Since the publication of Littman’s paper, the ROGD hypothesis has come under fire from proponents of the affirmative care model. It’s easy to see why: The affirmative care model is based on the premise that being transgender is perfectly normal. The ROGD model suggests that this particular kind of gender dysphoria – and the desire to transition – is most definitely not normal. It’s a maladaptive coping mechanism.

Unfortunately, there is little evidence to support either hypothesis.

The World Professional Association for Transgender Health’s newest Standards of Care, published in Oct. 2022 admits, “A key challenge in adolescent transgender care is the quality of evidence evaluating the effectiveness of… gender-affirming medical and surgical treatments.” “The number of studies is still low and there are few outcome studies that follow youth into adulthood.”

Testing the ROGD hypothesis presents its own challenges. In North America, gender clinics are still using the affirmative model as a standard of care, which views taking steps to transition as medically necessary and thus, would be unwilling to test the ROGD model. Further, ROGD has become such a contentious topic at universities that any academic who broaches the subject risks career suicide. Just ask Dr. Littman and Dr. James Caspian.

Survey Results

Concurring with Dr. Littman’s findings, our survey indicates children who are most likely to develop ROGD are of European descent (78.9%), with above-average intelligence. They are also more likely to be female (75%). Their gender dysphoria develops around the age of 14 for girls, and 16 for boys. This may be partly due to the fact that boys go through puberty later than girls.

Their parents are more likely to be progressive and hold positive views towards LGBTQ+ rights. Frequently, parents went out of their way to make sure the reader understood this when they told their stories. Many had family and friends in the LGBTQ+ community, and some were members themselves. They just didn’t feel it made sense in their child’s case.

A majority of these kids were dealing with mental health issues (57%) that began around the age of 10, well before they developed gender dysphoria, and 42% of them had received a formal psychological diagnosis. The most frequently-reported issues were anxiety and depression. Self-harm was also prevalent in girls. Attention deficit disorder, autism, and obsessive-compulsive disorder were reported in numbers higher than the general population.

Very often, these kids had experienced a stressful event before they developed gender dysphoria (72.6%). Some described issues that would be overwhelming even for an adult to deal with, such as the suicide of a close relative, receiving a serious medical diagnosis such as cancer, being sexually assaulted, or being present at a mass shooting. Sometimes, the stress was more mundane, like moving, breaking up with a girl- or boyfriend, or having a good friend turn on them, but the child was having a hard time dealing with it. During the lock downs due to COVID, the strain of isolation was especially hard on these kids.

Parents also reported that their kids were having a lot of trouble fitting in with their peers at an age when being accepted feels like the most important thing in the world. Only about a quarter of parents reported that their child was well liked, and only one third said their kids got along well with other kids.

Parents reported their kids spent an average of 4.5 hours per day on the internet and social media.

When asked whether their child had friends who came out at the same time, 60.9% said their daughters did, compared with only 38.7% of their sons. The average number of friends who came out were 2.4.

“My daughter used to be so lonely her only friend was her guinea pig. At 11, a girl at school befriended her as did her group of friends. All of a sudden, my daughter said she was bi, then gay, then pan, then poly, then fluid, now trans. Her mental health is deteriorating and the psychiatrists (this is her 6th) seem to push their own agenda and label me transphobic. I KNOW my daughter. When no social group will welcome you and one finally does, you’ll conform to fit in, to not lose the only ‘friends’ you have.”

~Parent of an ROGD Kid

Transition

The majority of the children had socially transitioned at the time parents completed the survey (65.3%), and girls tended to socially transition earlier (age 15) than boys (age 17). In general, parents reported that their children had not started taking puberty blockers or hormones, and surgery was especially rare.

Girls who had friends who socially transitioned were more likely to do so themselves (73.3%), compared with only 39.5% of boys who were more likely to transition if they had a friend who did so.

One very concerning finding was that children with preexisting mental health issues were also more likely to socially transition than those without. This is worrisome, because children with emotional issues may lack the judgment needed to make serious, and sometimes irreversible, decisions about their bodies.

Another troubling finding was that children who received a referral to a gender specialist were more likely to have transitioned. This is especially concerning because 51% of parents who took their kids to a gender specialist also reported that they felt pressured to transition their child.

Effects of Transition on Mental Health and Social Functioning

When asked about the state of their child’s mental health after social transition, they were much more likely to say it had worsened than improved.

Sadly, the change in the quality of the parental relationships also declined, as shown in the table below:

Conclusion

The results of the largest survey to date on gender dysphoric adolescents support Dr. Littman’s ROGD hypothesis. These youth are most likely using “gender dysphoria” to describe general feelings of dysphoria that they have no other name for, and do not understand. Transitioning will not help them. It can only cause irreversible harm and make things much worse.

Sweden, Norway, Finland, the UK and some States are backing away from the gender affirmative model, citing the lack of evidence and amid the growing number of detransitioners, many of whom are launching lawsuits against the gender specialists who harmed them. (See Ritchie Herron and Keira Bell, Michelle Zacchigna and Chloe Cole.)

Yet here in North America, the United States and Canadian Governments, the American Academy of Pediatrics and most other medical associations, are doubling down on the gender affirmative model.

If they truly want to “do no harm”, then they must follow Sweden’s lead and stop transitioning minors.

This should be good news. We have good reason to believe that distress can be resolved by treating the underlying cause, rather than through invasive and irreversible hormones, drugs and surgeries. How can this be a bad thing?

Because it's not about helping distress; if it was, they'd applaud the best treatment that causes the least harm. But it's about using anxious kids as pawns to remake society according to Queer Theory.

#Michael Sherman #Lisa Littman #Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria #ROGD #social contagion #mental health #queer theory #gender ideology #medical transition #gender distress #gender dysphoria #mental health issues #mental health care #religion is a mental illness

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nothing-suspicious-in-there · 5 months ago

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Slightly more dramatic than necessary for what we know so far, but still, maybe it will finally deliver on some more Good Koga Trauma as I hoped it would, to make this drama look more appropriate.

The way this is going has the potential to address a number of less-than-ideal things that i had an issue with in this manga, even if nothing big enough to make me stop reading a story I understand to be casual:

After the renewed attention given to Koga not studying, and then this I start to have hope that I can engage with this story on a slightly higher ground than just cute gay fluff. (Slighlty, it's still a romance manga not fucking. utena or something. but my expectations are so low nowadays that the co-occurrence of something I like also being decently written is akin to a miracle to me.)

So I'm not raising my hopes too much, but potentially these things would be real good if they happened (so Incredibly basic I feel dumb by typing them out like it's complex analysis, but again my bar is low):

Small setups

First of all a number of things that happened casually in the last few chapters seemingly without much bigger significance about them or seemingly solved could be leading up to this and make matters worse.

We have Koga having a dramatic moment of being jealous of herself. All very irrational and silly. But it's clearly been shown to be rooted in trauma (that again I hope it'll explore better to give it more weight than it currently has, it's very vague and not well defined enough to keep up these moments of drama as effectively as it should.) This clearly serious moment for her is created and resolved in the span of 3 4-pages chapters, barely anything.

Many previous plot points that have been raised simply get "resolved" extremely quickly and/or easily like this one, or her social anxiety, her feeling of not belonging, her bad grades, aya fearing koga will relocate. In an episodic story where the author is not concerned with exploring stuff or giving it time to stew or a realistic length for its resolutions. it means the story is just like that, it's a matter of what you like and want to write. And I personally don't enjoy this episodic-ness as much as the alternative.

In a story concerned with having satisfactory earned resolutions and a long development, those issues are shelved for later use, and given the last chapters I'd really hope the author is showing that she's writing the latter type of story, since it's what I prefer. Having a dramatic moment with Koga and then telling us it's resolved in .5 seconds without exploring it deeply just feels like a missed opportunity for me and I'd love if this and other small details would come together to do just that.

The fact that her social problems are resolved so anti-climatically is. fine for a casual story, but it would be more juicy if they were not solved as easily as just her hanging out with a couple more people, since the story is also trying to sell me that these issues are pretty bad and somewhat traumatic in nature. Maybe this will go somewhere more interesting now that it's getting de-shelved, and hopefully it wasn't supposed to be a neat and tidy resolution before.

The last fer chapters also has a very small undercurrent that I could have done without, specifically something like that small aya remark on how she likes Koga in the girls' uniform while knowing full well Koga's not into it (not Aya's fault, but also not ideal to say to a butch lol), or the fact that Koga's clearly-serious-if-still-irrational-and-obviously-dumb fear on how she's not really why aya keeps hanging out with her was "resolved" by being dismissed as a dog whining for attention. I myself made Mirror Dog Comic jokes literally the second i finished chapter 76, the story doing that joke themselves was funny and Koga's hilariously wrong ofc, but also huh, then the dog joke went on for like 3 chapters and idk. With how it was all framed it doesn't give off the best respect-for-the-character-vibes specifically because it's also framed as the result of some serious issues.

I always thought that this manga, unlike some other stuff, kinda give the impression it respected its butch character enough, or butchness in general, none of that "haha let's give the butch character girly clothes and laugh at how uncomfortable they are lol" manga loves. She does dumb shit and is called out for that, but she feels like an actual person, neither a complete dumbass nor the coolest person on earth. Recently though there was this slight movement toward "what a dumbass" in a way that doesn't feel earned and clashes against the subtext of why she's acting like that, this or the thing with aya just randomly saying she likes her in the girls' uniform were kinda strange. I'd really like if this is less of a falling into bad habits with depicting butch characters and more a setup for what'll happen after the end of this chapter, adding to the pile of things thanks to which Koga will feel misunderstood.

The premise

Another thing that developing her trauma does is solving an half-issue that has been there since the start of this manga and is kinda a problem of this type of premise unless you do a really good job at making sure to solve it. When you're writing a standard romance story where two people are, more or less, still supposed to get together in the end and You the audience are supposed to Want them to get together, it's important to not write the story in such a way that makes the audience Not want them together. And when you're writing a story where one of the person, knowing full well they're doing this, lies about significant aspects of themselves and who they are while also trying to pursue a non-casual relationship with them either platonic or romantic with no sufficient excuse about why they're doing it, you're writing one of the two people the audience needs to be on board with being together just. Being an Asshole. Full stop.

Especially if they know the other person have a crush on them, they see each other in another setting (school) and have no indication to believe they are not straight, but that last thing would make no difference about them still lying. Unless you give that character enough of a reason on why they can't but do that, if they have any freedom to not lie to who they want to be friend and/or partner with, they are fullstop an asshole who you don't in any way want to get together with the other person in the end. (I'm talking about normal romance plots and their audience, not toxic romance stories and their audience, which by definition need the opposite to happen to get the story they want ofc).

All manga I previously read with the same premise as kinioto had this issue, which honestly I don't think it's that wild to understand and correct, but apparently it is lol. So kinioto fortunately is at least miles away better in this regard for a number of reasons, but it's not exactly perfectly ideal either because while it does try to set up an excuse for koga to act this way and it's technically a solid one, for now it has been expressed in very vague and wishy-washy ways that don't sit as well with me.

We have an entire bonus chapter about Koga being bullied for her gender non-conformity with Ryhthm B, which would give her a very solid case against being an asshole (she's just a temporary and involuntarily one.) If the issue is that she was very afraid that, by saying the truth, aya would not care to keep being friends and would had no reasons to keep to herself Koga's gender-nonconformity, so Koga was afraid of the consequences of the whole school knowing, plus the story telling me there's trauma in there, her lack of any other platonic relationships and loneliness, general self-worth issues, being Gay(tm) and wanting to interact with aya, but also still looking only for a platonic relationship (or it'd be way way worse to justify), and being a teenager with no idea about what she's doing, it's a reasonable amount of leeway.

None of this excuses Koga from lying to Aya but it does paint a picture of her not Being an asshole, just accidentally acting asshole-y, which give her the opportunity to stop not too long after they become friends, repair the damage and do better later.

Another thing it does right is that Aya is Pissed when she finds out, and for good reason. It's still kinda eh that she's doing a 180 so quickly after the school concert and I'd have preferred if she had more time to reflect but still, at least the story says it was fucked up and aya is obviously angry at being lied to constantly by someone that knew she had a crush on them and that Aya thought Koga was a guy but said nothing while pretending to be said guy. There was no romantic relationship previous to this, they were just starting to be friends, and Koga asks her to start anew with their friendship after doing something she was terrified of doing as goodwill. Works fine enough in these circumstances.

Given it's very crucial that one of your protagonists doesn't become an asshole accidentally while you write it's important for Koga's motivation to lie to be sufficient to bear the weight of this premise. And until know she only vagued about being afraid Aya would not want to be friends with her, a very dumb thing to say since if you're lying 1. she's not actually friends with You, 2. she won't want to be friends once she eventually finds out, and if she's in the position of not finding out she's barely a friend, more like a casual acquaintance. The reasons Koga gives to why she's afraid of saying the truth doesn't do enough to escape the asshole allegations, it's either she's an asshole or she's Dumb of Ass in a way that's not well-written trauma induced and it's just random Idiot Ball induced. As I said Rhythm B thankfully starts to give a solid reason on why she would want to lie, but while I can infer it from there, this is too crucial of a point to leave only as a subtext sorta-text vague contradictory thing, and I need it to be fleshed out more so that it's unmissable that that's the reason she's lying, and that said reason is solid. If now there'll be any exploration of her issues we may be getting this clarity that would retroactively solve this half-issue for me.

Ok I'll stop typing about shit we don't even know will happen, peace

#tldr #too many words!#kinioto #the guy she was interested in wasn't a guy at all #tgswiiwagaa #words.txt//

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lloovvv · 6 months ago

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FROM THE START

trailer

“My name is Kamisato Ayaka. What is yours?”

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Has it ever happened to you?

You recognize someone because you see them everyday on social media.

You see their every move. It’s like.. you’re close.

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[name]’s introduction; trailer version.

My name is [name]. I’m a Liyuean girl who moved to Inazuma to study.

It’s like I moved to a universe I don’t know…

and I just met the center of this universe.

she’s Ayaka, the beautiful flower of the universe.

she’s more gorgeous in person than in photos.

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aya[name] first conversation; [name]’s pov.

“My name is Kamisato Ayaka, what is yours?”

“I…I’m [name].”

“Delighted to make your acquaintance, [name].” Ayaka slightly bowed her head before walking away.

she’s even cuter and prettier in person than in photos.

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WHEN AN INTROVERT’S FLOWER BLOOMS CLOSER.

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Ayaka is a popular girl at V-isions School.

I’ve been quietly following her on Instagram.

At home, at night, petting your dog, Latte, your phone rang with a notification.

[INSTAGRAM

K_AYAKA has followed you back]

you screamed, “GOD! Latte!!! Ayaka just followed me!” to which your dog barked at.

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ATTRACTED BY THE BEAUTY OF A FLOWER FROM A NEW UNIVERSE

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CHECKING HOROSCOPES AND CONSTELLATIONS

Mona and Kaedehara Kazuha were sitting at the same table as you like always. They’ve found out your crush on Ayaka.

“What day does your birthday fall on? Mon, Tue, Wed, Thurs, Fri, Sat, or Sunday?” Mona asked.

“My birthday was on [birth_day].” you quickly responded.

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WILL THEY GET THE HINT OR STICK TO HELPLESS FLIRTING?

“[name], what you did today was so cool.” said Ayaka.

“Really?!” you asked.

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“Every time you smile, I don’t know what to do with myself.” you told Ayaka nervously, to which she smiled.

“Are you flirting?” replied Ayaka with a slight smirk.

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THE ROPES OF JEALOUSY;

“Beautiful flowers are for a beautiful girl like you, [name].” Childe said with a smirk. He’s your ex although you see each other as like siblings. Why is he acting like this?..

“Ajax… Are you hitting on [name]?” Ayaka asked with a hint of jealousy (more like jealousy is all of her tone but [name] thinks she’s too sweet so she doesn’t see it)

“Let’s just say that [name] is special to me.” replied Childe.

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ACCEPT THE HELP?

“[name], you don’t know how to play basketball, do you? I’ll show you the ropes.” Ayaka said while holding a basketball

[end scene]

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REACH HER?

“Why is it like this? You like each other, care for each other, but you’re not in a relationship.”

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FIND A SOLUTION?

“Do you really like Ayaka, human? If so, this is your chance to tell her the truth.” Xiao said in a matter-of-factly tone

“I don’t know what to do… If I tell Ayaka that I’m actually ‘Seed’, she would be disappointed that I’m not a guy like she thought I was.”

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CONFESSING YOUR FEELINGS….

“I like you, Ayaka. Would you like to be my girlfriend?” you said as Ayaka smiled.

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AND… WILL OTHERS AROUND YOU FIND LOVE?

“This means we’re friends now, Xiao.” Aether said as their index fingers touched the other’s index finger.

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END OF TRAILER. STAY TUNED.

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notes: this didn’t turn out how i wanted it ro be but by the time i work on the other episodes i’ll have improved.

taglist (open): @stratusworld

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sypnosis: you, a loser with bad social life, moved from liyue to inazuma. going to your new school, there was a surprise you didn’t expect. kamisato ayaka, a popular influencer that you follow and love, met you while you were on the street looking for a cab or a motor-cab and helped you to go to the new school together. turns out? she’s your classmate. she’s inlove with a “guy” she met on instagram, called “seed”, it’s your account, but she doesn’t know. why did you pick the name seed? because her name means flower, and seeds admire flowers so much that they become flowers when they grow up. what happens? find out!

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#genshin smau #genshin impact smau #FROM THE START - lloovvv #ayaka x y/n #ayaka x reader #kamisato ayaka #ayaka smau #genshin ayaka

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love-bokumono-fics · 2 months ago

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Fresh Crops! October 7 - October 13, 2024

This week's newest fics and chapter updates for Harvest Moon and Story of Seasons on AO3!

LUST - by kopipuna; WIP, 12/?, 61k; Language: Bahasa Indonesia

Rating: Explicit; Archive Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Graphic Depictions Of Violence; Category: F/M Fandom: Friends of Mineral Town Relationship: Claire the Farmer/Gray; Characters: Claire the Farmer, Gray, Duke, Doug | Dudley, Ann the Innkeeper | Ran, Mary the Librarian | Marie, Zack, Brandon, Cliff, Anna, Rick, Karen Additional Tags: Romance, Sex, Drama & Romance, Friends With Benefits, Psychological Trauma, Hurt/Comfort, Social Issues, Social drama Summary: Ada pendatang baru yang membeli kebun bobrok di sana. Sebuah keputusan paling bodoh dan ekstra tolol, menurut Gray, lelaki 24 tahun yang sudah mengidap kebosanan akut. Gray sendiri sudah mengidam ingin hengkang dari tempat ini, kota sialan ini, juga segala hidup monoton di dalamnya. Apa yang dipikirkan pendatang itu? Terserah apa yang dimaui si pendatang, Gray akan berusaha tidak peduli dan jauh-jauh saja darinya. Takut ketularan tolol. Namun Duke muncul dengan rencana paling sialan di dunia. Gara-gara rencana konyolnya, Gray jadi terjebak dalam situasi bersetubuh dengan perempuan yang dikata-katainya tolol. Bukan hanya sekali, tapi berkali-kali, mungkin sampai ratusan kali. Sialannya, tubuh pendatang ini enak sekali. Namun meski seenak apa pun mereka merasakan persetubuhan, hubungan mereka hanya boleh sebatas ini.

Tell Me Why - by Dreamy_Serenade; Complete, 1/1, 2.1k

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences; Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply; Category: F/F Fandom: DS Cute Relationship: Jill the Farmer/Witch Princess Additional Tags: brief Lumina appearance, Rock does not appear but is talked about, sorry Rock is a dick here, Misunderstandings, Getting Together Summary: Jill and the Witch Princess had a fight last season, and still haven't made up. Jill, however, has had enough of waiting around for an apology, and decides to take a direct approach.

Runaway - by almakazam; WIP, 12/?, 115k

Rating: Mature; Archive Warning: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings; Categories: F/M, Gen, Other Fandoms: Back To Nature, Friends of Mineral Town, DS Cute Relationships: Claire the Farmer/Kai, Claire the Farmer & Kai; Characters: Claire the Farmer, Kai, Pete | Jack, Marlin | Matthew, Pony | Aya | Jill, Popuri, Gray, Mary the Librarian | Marie, Ann the Innkeeper | Ran, Cliff, Karen, Rick, Elli | Elly, Doctor | Trent Additional Tags: Runaway, Drama & Romance, Romance, Family Drama, Family Issues, Slow Burn, Double Life, Heir & Heiress, Childhood Trauma, Past Character Death, Based On Original Harvest Moon Games, Arranged Marriage, Forced Marriage, Near Death Experiences, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Other Ships Not Mentioned in Tags, Strangers to Lovers, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, Character Development, Slice of Life, 1990s, Light Angst, Friendship, Developing Friendships, Character Study, Smoking, Cruise Ships, Shipwrecks, harvest moon for girls, Mutual Pining, Other Additional Tags to Be Added Summary: Claire has always played the part of the perfect daughter, but behind the façade lies years of control and frustration. It all finally comes to a head when her father ends her engagement and arranges a new marriage to a man she doesn't know, ultimately pushing her to run away. Little did she know that her new groom-to-be is also planning his own escape.

Burning Gold - by AppleBeryll; WIP, 18/?, 46k

Rating: Mature; Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply; Category: F/M Fandom: Friends of Mineral Town Relationships: Claire the Farmer/Gray, Gray/Mary the Librarian | Marie, Claire the Farmer/Rick, Karen/Rick, Ann the Innkeeper | Ran/Cliff, Kai/Popuri; Characters: Kai, Claire, Cliff, Ann the Innkeeper | Ran, Doug | Dudley, Rick, Popuri, Saibara, Karen, Mineral Town Residents, Gray Additional Tags: Slow Burn Summary: Claire seeks a new life, will mineral town be what she's hoping for ?

Sasha and her vibrator - by Thefallen1986; Complete, 1/1, <100

Rating: Explicit; Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply Fandoms: Friends of Mineral Town Character: Sasha Additional Tags: Sexual Fantasy, Sexual Frustration, Vibrators Summary: Sasha has fun with a vibrator

#fresh crop monday #harvest moon #story of seasons #friends of mineral town #hm ds cute #back to nature

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upismediacenter · 6 months ago

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SIRENA: K-6 Students Perform at UPIS Variety Show 2024

UP Integrated School (UPIS) K-2 and 3-6 students exhibited their talents at the Variety Show last May 22 at the UPIS 7-12 Gymnasium.

A total of eight performers from Grades 3-6 performed in the event. Each one was given three to five minutes to show their talents to the audience. The performances were evaluated by the judges Mr. Joseph Tablizo from the Social Studies Department, Ms. Alexia Metrio from the Practical Arts Department, and Asst. Prof. Diana Caluag, our Assistant Principal for Academic Programs.

The competitors from Grades 3-6 showed a variety of song and dance numbers. Anica Gail Lopez from 4-Labanos dedicated her performance to God and sang the Christian worship song "Wala Kang Katulad''; Marco Bonganay from 4-Patani sang "My Favorite Girl" by Justin Bieber; and the Whitebored Band, consisting of Ulan Rico on drums, Lucas Dionisio on piano and vocals, and Caleb Kwe on guitar and vocals, performed "Raining in Manila" by Lola Amour and "Believer" by Imagine Dragons. Meanwhile, a student from 5-Arayat, Jared Alexander Lagrimas sang “Miss Miss” by Rob Deniel.

Lastly, Mikkel Caia Odulio from 6-Amethyst sang "Yellow" by Coldplay; The Shooting Stars duo, consisting of Vivienne Madamba and Sue Anne Giannan from 6-Amethyst, sang the English version of the Japanese song "Goodbye Sengen" by Wonderlands x Showtime (originally by Chinozo); Allyssa Sarenas from 6-Sapphire sang the English version of the Korean song "Only" by Lee Hi; and lastly, drawing the Grades 3-6 performances to a close, was Jam Brian Edmundo Sumayo from 6-Sapphire played the guitar while singing "Say You Won’t Let Go" by James Arthur.

In addition to the eight main performers, there were also five special performances by students from Kinder to Grade 2. A group called Power 5 consisting of Grade 2 students Cris Paculanang II, Aya Maria Villamayor, Zion Zingapan, Alexard Espino, and Aya Martheen Abaigar performed a dance number on the song “Kinang Pilipinas" by Shine Philippines. 2035 Band, a group of Grade 1 students— Francesslyn de Leon as the drummer, Macy Parlade as the vocalist, Luke Zaide Santos as the guitarist, and Mary Elisabeth Martinez as the pianist—performed “UP Naming Mahal” and “Dynamite” by BTS. Francesslyn de Leon from 1-Pipit played the keyboard while singing “Sana'' by Jolina Magdangal, Zandro Edwin Patnongon from 1-Kalaw sang “What a Wonderful World” by Louis Amstrong, and lastly, Danielle Sheyla Ulaso from K-Liryo sang “Speechless” by Naomi Scott.

Following the last special performance, the winners were announced. There was a Championship Award and Crowd Favorite Awards for the 3-6 performers and the K-2 performers. Whitebored Band bagged both the Champion award and the Crowd Favorite Award for Grades 3-6. The K-2 Crowd Favorite award was given to 2035 Band.

The members of Whitebored Band expressed their happiness and sense of victory for winning. They thanked their parents for supporting them all throughout their rehearsals and for paying the reservation for the studio where they practiced. They also thanked their teachers and their advisers for supporting them and encouraging them to participate. They also said they miss Jsam Samudio, the band's supposed vocalist, who wasn’t able to attend due to illness.

“We really miss him and we wish he were here with us to perform on stage," said Lucas.

This year’s Variety Show proved to be a success, overcoming numerous scheduling challenges posed by the extreme heat and suspension of face-to-face classes. According to Pamunuan ng Kamag-Aral (PKA) 3-6 President, Ethan Lakip, the biggest challenge in organizing this event was the unforeseen changes to the UPIS Week schedule due to the recent high heat index. This caused the original date of the Variety Show on April 17 to be moved to May 10, and eventually to May 22. He also added that due to the suspensions announced by UPIS, the original 4-day UPIS Week was streamlined to one day, forcing them to reschedule some events and cancel other events such as TALAYTAY: K-2 Palarong Pambata, 3-12 Sports Festival, TALISIK: 7-12 Trivia Competition, and ATLANT-ISKO: Club Wars.

Despite these hindrances, the Variety Show was able to push through and the students from Kinder to Grade 6 were able to showcase their talents.

//by Aisha Timbal

#MC2025 #News #English #Aisha Timbal

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fanhackers · 1 year ago

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During the pandemic, we, fans, have been able to rely on some of our already existing coping mechanisms to deal with the increased strain of our mental health due to the global crisis. Participants in a study about the mental health of PhD students during the pandemic responded that their coping strategies mainly included social interaction and recreational activities. Furthermore,

Lower scores of depression and anxiety were predicted by the strength of the overall social network (…) NAUMANN, SANDRA, LENA MATYJEK, KATHARINA BÖGL, SCHOLAR MINDS, AND ISABEL DZIOBEK. UPDATE ON THE MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS IN ACADEMIA: EFFECTS OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON EARLY CAREER RESEARCHERS’ MENTAL HEALTH AND SATISFACTION WITH PHD TRAINING, 2022.

In another survey, this one about Philippine BTS fans, social interaction and recreational activities were both listed as ways that fandom supported participants’ mental health.

Despite being isolated from one another geographically due to the lockdown, the fans felt that BTS was with them throughout the pandemic, through their music, live videos, tweets, pictures, and even the mere thought of them. VANGUARDIA, MARC. “LOVE YOURSELF, BTS ARMY: PARTICIPATORY FANDOM AND AGENCY DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC.” PHILIPPINES COMMUNICATION SOCIETY REVIEW, 2021, 229.

These digital networks of intimacy allowed for comfort, happiness, and healing to be conveyed and received across miles in the physical realm and created imagined yet profound connections that acted as safe spaces for ARMYs online. VANGUARDIA, MARC. “LOVE YOURSELF, BTS ARMY: PARTICIPATORY FANDOM AND AGENCY DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC.” PHILIPPINES COMMUNICATION SOCIETY REVIEW, 2021, 231.

By seeing other ARMYs and interacting with them on various social networking sites, the (survey) participants felt less lonely as a part of a community of people who shared not only the same interest and admiration for BTS but also similar experiences regardless of their cultural, linguistic, gender, and other identifying background. (Participants) pointed out that relationships were formed not only as fans of the same idols but as individuals who were included in each other’s support systems. VANGUARDIA, MARC. “LOVE YOURSELF, BTS ARMY: PARTICIPATORY FANDOM AND AGENCY DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC.” PHILIPPINES COMMUNICATION SOCIETY REVIEW, 2021, 241-242

The individual activities and actions that the participants engaged in as fans of BTS served as a distraction from the bleak reality of the pandemic. By being occupied with tasks such as streaming, voting, and getting updated on the fandom over stan Twitter, the fans were able to focus on accomplishing things instead of dwelling on their problems and concerning themselves with the situation of the world around them. By being able to control something they found an anchor that was constant, and had a sense of agency in a time of almost complete uncertainty. (…) The participants exhibited a high level of consciousness of the positive effects and potential drawbacks of their engagement in the fandom. They recognized the various ways that their actions could affect their well-being, and adjusted accordingly by putting themselves in conducive situations that would provide them the greatest benefit. VANGUARDIA, MARC. “LOVE YOURSELF, BTS ARMY: PARTICIPATORY FANDOM AND AGENCY DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC.” PHILIPPINES COMMUNICATION SOCIETY REVIEW, 2021, 239-240.

Fandom might be seen then, as a culture that adapted well to the pandemic. It would be tempting to characterise academia as also not needing to change drastically in a world in lockdown.

Drawing a parallel between these two is not a new statement.

In some cases, we argue that academic research interests paralleled fannish passion. HAYASHI, AYA ESTHER. 2020. “REIMAGINING FAN STUDIES IN THE AGE OF COVID-19 AND BLACK LIVES MATTER.” TRANSFORMATIVE WORKS AND CULTURES, NO. 34. HTTPS://DOI.ORG/10.3983/TWC.2020.2029.

However, both fandom and academia have their issues, which were not only carried over into the pandemic but might have been amplified by it . As McMillan Cottom explained in a roundtable about the state of higher education,

Overall, most college leaders saw COVID-19 as an opportunity to do more of what they had already been doing. Schools that had wanted to respond to inequality doubled down on that. School that had been trending toward profit-seeking especially under the guise of a public institution-like Purdue and Arizona State -doubled down. SHENK, TIMOTHY, MAGGIE DOHERTY, NILS GILMAN, ADAM HARRIS, TRESSIE MCMILLAN COTTOM, AND CHRISTOPHER NEWFIELD. ACADEMI AFTER THE PANDEMIC: A ROUNDTABLE ON HOW COVID-19 HAS CHANGED AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES. OTHER. DISSENT, 2021.

(…) participatory culture of affiliation in the BTS ARMY fandom can be ambiguous at best in its effect on fan mental health. VANGUARDIA, MARC. “LOVE YOURSELF, BTS ARMY: PARTICIPATORY FANDOM AND AGENCY DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC.” PHILIPPINES COMMUNICATION SOCIETY REVIEW, 2021, 243.

Notwithstanding the positive impacts of involvement in BTS ARMY? The participants generally agreed that some other ARMYs can be very “toxic”, or overly competitive, intense, or aggressive in their way of supporting BTS and engaging in “fan wars” with fans of other groups. To address this problem, some fans distanced themselves from stan Twitter altogether, avoided “toxic” fans by curating the accounts they were following or accounts following them, or decided to temporarily leave or stayed only to focus on ARMY common goals true to the ideals of BTS: The process if compartmentalization of personal and fandom life and interactions between online ARMY friends and personal/in-real-life friends that some participants reported as coping mechanisms for their mental health were a steady reality in network society where inclusions and exclusions always came together. VANGUARDIA, MARC. “LOVE YOURSELF, BTS ARMY: PARTICIPATORY FANDOM AND AGENCY DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC.” PHILIPPINES COMMUNICATION SOCIETY REVIEW, 2021, 243.

In a world so changed by the pandemic, looking forward, we cannot accept neither the idea that we can go back to normal, nor the idea that we have moved toward a digital utopia. Harris says,

During the protests and reckoning over systemic racism in American life over the past year, students have been a major part of the national energy. But they haven’t had the chance to be on campus, to be in spaces where they can organize. A lot of college leaders, particularly at predominantly white institutions, are very concerned about what is going to happen when students come back. I think a lot of energy that has been pent up over the last sixteen, seventeen months will reveal itself on campuses. SHENK, TIMOTHY, MAGGIE DOHERTY, NILS GILMAN, ADAM HARRIS, TRESSIE MCMILLAN COTTOM, AND CHRISTOPHER NEWFIELD. ACADEMI AFTER THE PANDEMIC: A ROUNDTABLE ON HOW COVID-19 HAS CHANGED AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES. OTHER. DISSENT, 2021.

We have to reflect on how to adapt to this world, possibly, how to use our current opportunities to change.

What practices can we introduce at conferences that don’t tokenize BIPOC scholars? (…) Let’s diversify editorial boards and conference planning committees. (…) Let’s create alternative funding for conferences and journals, to transform these practices from unremunerated service activities to activities where labor is honored. HAYASHI, AYA ESTHER. 2020. “REIMAGINING FAN STUDIES IN THE AGE OF COVID-19 AND BLACK LIVES MATTER.” TRANSFORMATIVE WORKS AND CULTURES, NO. 34. HTTPS://DOI.ORG/10.3983/TWC.2020.2029.

#fanhackers #fandom studies #academia #aya esther hayashi #timothy shenk #maggie doherty #nils gilman #adam harris #tressie mcmillan cottom #christopher newfield #marc vanguardia #katharina bögl #sandra naumann #lena matyjek #isabel dziobek #author: szabo dorottya

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