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qqueenofhades · 1 year ago

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Hello! This is kind of a weird ask, I'm sorry to bother you, but seeing as you're a very intelligent studied historian that I deeply respect, I was hoping you could offer some advice? Or like, things i could read? Lately, i feel like my critical thinking skills are emaciated and its scaring the shit out of me. I feel very slow and like I'm constantly missing important info in relation to news/history/social activism stuff. Thats so vague, sorry, but like any tips on how i can do better?

Aha, thank you. There was recently a good critical-thinking infograph on my dash, so obviously I thought I remembered who reblogged it and checked their blog, it wasn't them, thought it was someone else, checked their blog, it also wasn't them, and now I can't find it to link to. Alas. But I will try to sum up its main points and add a few of my own. I'm glad you're taking the initiative to work on this for yourself, and I will add that while it can seem difficult and overwhelming to sort through the mass of information, especially often-false, deliberately misleading, or otherwise bad information, there are a few tips to help you make some headway, and it's a skill that like any other skill, gets easier with practice. So yes.

The first and most general rule of thumb I would advise is the same thing that IT/computer people tell you about scam emails. If something is written in a way that induces urgency, panic, the feeling that you need to do something RIGHT NOW, or other guilt-tripping or anxiety-inducing language, it is -- to say the least -- questionable. This goes double if it's from anonymous unsourced accounts on social media, is topically or thematically related to a major crisis, or anything else. The intent is to create a panic response in you that overrides your critical faculties, your desire to do some basic Googling or double-checking or independent verification of its claims, and makes you think that you have to SHARE IT WITH EVERYONE NOW or you are personally and morally a bad person. Unfortunately, the world is complicated, issues and responses are complicated, and anyone insisting that there is Only One Solution and it's conveniently the one they're peddling should not be trusted. We used to laugh at parents and grandparents for naively forwarding or responding to obviously scam emails, but now young people are doing the exact same thing by blasting people with completely sourceless social media tweets, clips, and other manipulative BS that is intended to appeal to an emotional gut rather than an intellectual response. When you panic or feel negative emotions (anger, fear, grief, etc) you're more likely to act on something or share questionable information without thinking.

Likewise, you do have basic Internet literacy tools at your disposal. You can just throw a few keywords into Google or Wikipedia and see what comes up. Is any major news organization reporting on this? Is it obviously verifiable as a fake (see the disaster pictures of sharks swimming on highways that get shared after every hurricane)? Can you right-click, perform a reverse image search, and see if this is, for example, a picture from an unrelated war ten years ago instead of an up-to-date image of the current conflict? Especially with the ongoing Israel/Palestine imbroglio, we have people sharing propaganda (particularly Hamas propaganda) BY THE BUCKETLOAD and masquerading it as legitimate news organizations (tip: Quds News Network is literally the Hamas channel). This includes other scuzzy dirtbag-left websites like Grayzone and The Intercept, which often have implicit or explicit links to Russian-funded disinformation campaigns and other demoralizing or disrupting fake news that is deliberately designed to turn young left-leaning Westerners against the Democrats and other liberal political parties, which enables the electoral victory of the fascist far-right and feeds Putin's geopolitical and military aims. Likewise, half of our problems would be solved if tankies weren't so eager to gulp down and propagate anything "anti-Western" and thus amplify the Russian disinformation machine in a way even the Russians themselves sometimes struggle to do, but yeah. That relates to both Russia/Ukraine and Israel/Palestine.

Basically: TikTok, Twitter/X, Tumblr itself, and other platforms are absolutely RIFE with misinformation, and this is due partly to ownership (the Chinese government and Elon Fucking Musk have literally no goddamn reason whatsoever to build an unbiased algorithm, and have been repeatedly proven to be boosting bullshit that supports their particular worldviews) and partly due to the way in which the young Western left has paralyzed itself into hypocritical moral absolutes and pseudo-revolutionary ideology (which is only against the West itself and doesn't think that the rest of the world has agency to act or think for itself outside the West's influence, They Are Very Smart and Anti-Colonialist!) A lot of "information" in left-leaning social media spaces is therefore tainted by this perspective and often relies on flat-out, brazen, easily disprovable lies (like the popular Twitter account insisting that Biden could literally just overturn the Supreme Court if he really wanted to). Not all misinformation is that easy to spot, but with a severe lack of political, historical, civic, or social education (since it's become so polarized and school districts generally steer away from it or teach the watered-down version for fear of being attacked by Moms for Liberty or similar), it is quickly and easily passed along by people wanting trite and simplistic solutions for complex problems or who think the extent of social justice is posting the Right Opinions on social media.

As I said above, everything in the world is complicated and has multiple factors, different influences, possible solutions, involved actors, and external and internal causes. For the most part, if you're encountering anything that insists there's only one shiningly righteous answer (which conveniently is the one All Good and Moral People support!) and the other side is utterly and even demonically in the wrong, that is something that immediately needs a closer look and healthy skepticism. How was this situation created? Who has an interest in either maintaining the status quo, discouraging any change, or insisting that there's only one way to engage with/think about this issue? Who is being harmed and who is being helped by this rhetoric, including and especially when you yourself are encouraged to immediately spread it without criticism or cross-checking? Does it rely on obvious lies, ideological misinformation, or something designed to make you feel the aforementioned negative emotions? Is it independently corroborated? Where is it sourced from? When you put the author's name into Google, what comes up?

Also, I think it's important to add that as a result, it's simply not possible to distill complicated information into a few bite-sized and easily digestible social media chunks. If something is difficult to understand, that means you probably need to spend more time reading about it and encountering diverse perspectives, and that is research and work that has to take place primarily not on social media. You can ask for help and resources (such as you're doing right now, which I think is great!), but you can't use it as your chief or only source of information. You can and should obviously be aware of the limitations and biases of traditional media, but often that has turned into the conspiracy-theory "they never report on what's REALLY GOING ON, the only information you can trust is random anonymous social media accounts managed by God knows who." Traditional media, for better or worse, does have certain evidentiary standards, photographing, sourcing, and verifying requirements, and other ways to confirm that what they're writing about actually has some correspondence with reality. Yes, you need to be skeptical, but you can also trust that some of the initial legwork of verification has been done for you, and you can then move to more nuanced review, such as wording, presentation of perspective, who they're interviewing, any journalistic assumptions, any organizational shortcomings, etc.

Once again: there is a shit-ton of stuff out there, it is hard to instinctively know or understand how to engage with it, and it's okay if you don't automatically "get" everything you read. That's where the principle of actually taking the time to be informed comes in, and why you have to firmly divorce yourself from the notion that being socially aware or informed means just instantly posting or sharing on social media about the crisis of the week, especially if you didn't know anything about it beforehand and are just relying on the Leftist Groupthink to tell you how you should be reacting. Because things are complicated and dangerous, they take more effort to unpick than just instantly sharing a meme or random Twitter video or whatever. If you do in fact want to talk about these things constructively, and not just because you feel like you're peer-pressured into doing so and performing the Correct Opinions, then you will in fact need to spend non-social-media time and effort in learning about them.

If you're at a university, there are often subject catalogues, reference librarians, and other built-in tools that are there for you to use and which you SHOULD use (that's your tuition money, after all). That can help you identify trustworthy information sources and research best practices, and as you do that more often, it will help you have more of a feel for things when you encounter them in the wild. It's not easy at first, but once you get the hang of it, it becomes more so, and will make you more confident in your own judgments, beliefs, and values. That way when you encounter something that you KNOW is wrong, you won't be automatically pressured to share it just to fit in, because you will be able to tell yourself what the problems are.

Good luck!

#coffeeandcoyotes #ask #school stuff #critical thinking

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tai-janai · 11 months ago

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ok so apparently all the voices have a little ability ? of some sort that comes from different forms of trauma responses and the sake of safety so im going to list what i think they are. im open to discussion

tldr: they all are their own form of trauma response

with the obvious:

The Voice of the Paranoid with reign over the system. It goes with the fact that someone with anxiety has more stress responses than the average person, he knows how to keep the heart from exploding. His response is pretty clear, the nightmare is very clearly traumatizing. His focus works on survival from the inside.

The Voice of the Hunted has his animalistic instinct and heightened senses. I stand by the fact that he could hold his own better than any other voice in a battle to the death. Though he may not outsmart an enemy, his focus works to keep the system safe.

The Voice of the Hero is, in a way, inconsistent. I think his ability has to do with adaptability. I also have this minor headcanon that he isn't quite the same as the other voices, since he's always kind of there. He can reach the Quiet even when others cannot. His interactions with and reactions to the princess depend on the player more than any other thing. His focus is less of a Hero, and more of an ally.

The Voice of the Broken is fear in a way Paranoid is not. His fear makes him small, but more powerful. In the instance of "Fight or Flight," his response is "Fawn," as in he will use his power to give in to the fear. His will and fear are very powerful compared to the others, being able to control the Quiet's actions without much effort. In a way, his focus is making himself powerless.

The Voice of the Cold is pretty infamous for being as unfeeling as possible. I believe this is not just his little emo persona, I think his focus has shifted in a way that he has become unfeeling (usually as a result of turning off after being stuck in Nothing for "eternity"). His focus is a straightforward lack of empathy as a response to the trauma of nothingness and murder.

The Voice of the Opportunist is like the Hero with adaptability, but that is not his focus. He works with self-interest in mind. He is focused on self-improvement, with the self becoming the best and most powerful. When others backstab, and when you, yourself are a backstabber, it is often that one learns from this to get a vantage point. He is very clever to the best situation and outcome, not caring how he gets there. His focus is the self's best interest.

The Voice of the Stubborn is a very angry little guy. Fight or Flight, his choice is pretty obvious. In the route of the Adversary, of which he is the foil, his response is to become the enemy. He has to fight her, until it becomes a game where "nobody can get hurt." He, like Paranoid, can keep the body from stopping. Remind you of anyone named Frisk Undertale? His focus comes down to denial and determination. He won't let himself be the victim.

The Voice of the Skeptic is, of course, constantly questioning. Once bitten, twice shy, as we all know. The lies , this time from the Narrator, are definitely stress-inducing, and coming from someone that preaches trust, it is not so easy to replenish the guy's trust in anything. His views can venture beyond what is available; he is the first to think outside of the box. It comes down to the focus of self-preservation, the opposition to the Opportunist's focus of self-interest.

The Voice of the Contrarian is similar, but it can be argued that he isn't exactly a trauma response. He is just a reaction to the self. There is a disorder (i cant remember the name) where its just constant denial and contradiction, and that feels more like him than anything. But we all know Conty. It's very clear his focus is Brewing Chaos. His affect can literally alter reality as the reality is being perceived.

The Voice of the Smitten is ... a little bit sad. I'm sure we all know about stockholm syndrome, but in a lot of instances, Smitten will trauma bond with the princess. It's as if she can do no wrong, right? even when she kills you? Multiple times? And will again? ? ? The sheer denial and willingness to be hurt is, yes, another trauma response, wanting the person you love to be perfect, and hoping that they are. His focus is effort; trying his best to love and be loved. Often in vain. It is arguable that his affect effects reality more than any other Voice.

Last but not least, The Voice of the Cheated. Thought of as weak, but could have been more if he was "treated fairly." Anyone who feels as though they have been treated unfairly in the past knows the desire to have things be fair. In the route of the Razor, he also has an incredible resolve and determination. His stubbornness comes from a need to "settle the score." He can unify, and eventually "empty the cup," as in letting go of his vengeance. All of the voices do not bother him. If anything, he is glad that everyone can have their effect, and he hopes his efforts will be enough. His focus is equality, and unity.

#stp #slay the princess #character study #?????#thats a lot of words #pick your favorite #the voices #stp voices #the long quiet #i have a lot of feelings #traumatized birds #all of them but the contrarian #i think hes just a freak

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saccadesoup · 1 year ago

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random tim thoughts. i have been thinking about him a lot lately

- gets flustered SO easily,,, tease him even slightly and that’s it. he’s bright red. stuttering. thinking ab it for the rest of the day.

- speaking of stuttering: had a really bad stutter as a kid. got put in speech therapy and now it’s mostly gone but it does come back slightly when he’s upset/stressed

- either has the most horrific, realistic, fear-inducing nightmares or unhinged fever dreams. like it’s either “i just watched faceless shadow figures tear into jay and hang his guts on the wall then i had to run but i couldn’t so they did it to me next” or “i had to rescue lady gaga who was also nick cage from an evil lizard then we made out”

- secretly enjoys ABBA (would rather die than admit it)

- COLLECTS VINYLS you cannot tell me this man isn’t a vinyl elitist. keeps them neatly organised and will pitch a fit if you even breathe on them wrong

- writes a shit ton of lyrics that’ll never see the light of day. it’s basically his version of writing poetry

- went to college for music composition but never put out any of the stuff he wrote (he thought people wouldn’t like it), it’s all kept on usb sticks in the attic tho cause he couldn’t bring himself to get rid of all the songs he poured his young little heart and soul into

- can fall asleep anywhere anytime during the day, but the MOMENT he gets into bed at night. he’s awake. cant sleep. not happening.

- generalised anxiety disorder i’m not elaborating

- overthinks every interaction he ever has

- however. he’s also a stubborn bastard. communicates in sarcasm and affectionate insults

- has the most beautiful, deep, rich singing voice... such a warm baritone. think david le'aupepe from Gang of Youths

- snores like an old man he literally sounds like a freight train

#the soup mind #he’s so babyboy #i need to hold him close and kiss him gently #and stroke his hair and tell him i love him #AUGHFJSKSK #he’s like a sad awkward dog w those sad awkward dog eyes #marble hornets #mh headcanons #tim wright

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jseegoramblings · 9 days ago

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the JSE diagnosis (according to me. This is my opinion)

(THERE WILL BE ALTRVERSE SPOILERS AHEAD SO IF YOU DON’T WANNA BE SPOILED, DON’T READ THIS POST/RANT.)

so… I was recently thinking about the DSM-5 and the JSE egos… plus with Seán’s recent diagnosis with Autism (welcome to the club) I thought I would do this. I also will use behaviours we have seen from the egos and state how that applies to the diagnosis to some level.

note- this is my opinion however, if you disagree, that’s cool. Let me know what your thoughts are or if you have any questions. (Note: I know I don’t go into detail on how these connect to the diagnosis but hopefully The points below make some sense? Also… please don’t self diagnosis yourself based on this information alone… if you suspect you have something please consult a profession before doing so! Also… all videos will be listed as Tumblr has a 30 link/image limit… so comic images will show evidence, but video names will be listed.)

JBM: AuDHD

this one I thought I would start with because he is not only the easiest to see why I would state he is this, but also with the comics- it has become clear and most of the fanbase seems to agree with this. 1. he has a special interest in heros (Autism/ADHD)

now… in the comics, this is clear when in VOL 1. He is talking to the movie theatre worker about the movie…. Now look at this face. Does this look like the actions of someone who is neurodivergent explaining something that is interesting to them?

not only that… but when trying to problem solve… he imagines himself as a hero to help his thinking

Also… in VOL 0… his room clearly shows signs that he loves superhero’s… sure, you could shake this off saying that he’s just a nerd. Which yeah. May be true… but with the additional above info? It seems he is very genuinely interested in this and gets happy and excited by this

2. he overthinks social situations to avoid doing the wrong thing(Autism)

Yes. This is something VERY common in people with ASD, especially for those who struggle with social connections (yes. Even for those considered ‘higher functioning’)

you may wonder… where the hell is this present? Well… look no further than that same scene as before… the one where he was day dreaming. Where he was trying to come up with solutions with how to socialise properly

this by itself, shows he struggles socially, but also expects the worst as he doesn’t know how to socialise on a typical level… however, if someone were to ask him about hero’s? I have no doubts he would rant about it for hours!

3.he is often in his own world(ADHD)

this is more seen in Vol 0, when the manager of Ion X is talking to him. He’s in his own world thinking to himself- which is common in those who have ADHD.

4. he can take things literally(Autism)

I mean… just look at how he got his hero name.

he could have chosen a different name… but as soon as he heard the question of ‘what is you’re name’ he goes to answer his real name. Which is taking the question word for word

5. perseverates when something is new/different/unknown (Autism)

Perseverating- the act someone who is neurodivergent does when they can’t let go of something and think of it consistently. (Definition by me) I mean… just look at how he reacts when he discovers where his powers are coming from isn’t positive… he thinks about it constantly until something takes his attention away from it.

As soon as he stops that though… and goes back to doing nothing… he instantly thinks about it again.

if you’re thinking ‘well that’s something everyone will do’… sure… but, I’ll use myself as an example. I have a VERY intense fear of needles. If I get a bloodshot, I can’t even talk about it for WEEKS. And my body feels itchy in the spot blood was drawn. so yes. Perseverating can happen when individuals face something that is anxiety inducing.

6. sometimes misreads social cues(Autism/ADHD)

now… my main argument is 2 things for this is when Jackie is ranting about his interest, and has no idea the worker at the movie theatre is not interested until he actually looks

another thing to point out/notice… he doesn’t even pay attention to how the robots aren’t harming anybody… or take a moment to look at his surroundings, he instantly goes to beat up the robots, and it isn’t until too late when he realises… this.

If this doesn’t show struggling with social cues… I don’t know what will.

7. Changes/messing up can cause anxiety.(Autism)

now… again, this is seen as something that you may not think Jackie shows…. However, there is one scene in particular that shows he is hard on himself and when he makes a mistake. He is discouraged and has anxiety on messing up.

these 2 scenes above just show he wants to do things right, and when he doesn’t- he shuts down easily. And that’s the reasons why Jackie fits AuDHD as a diagnosis.

Marvin: gifted

this one, was a bit tricker and it wasn’t until recent that I found one that fits him… you may be confused why I chose this… well, first of all- what the heck is gifted as a diagnosis? gifted as a diagnosis refers to individuals who have a higher than average IQ, and are quick to understand things… but struggle a ton socially, it’s similar to autism, but it can be misdiagnosed as ADHD.

1.really good at magic, doesn’t have to study it

now I know you may be thinking ‘well yeah duh! In the comics, he has a higher power.’ And… I would agree with you there… however. I’m Vol 1… he had a look at a book for one… maybe 2 minutes at best… and what happens?

now…. I have no idea about you but for me at least? I would need to read something over and over again in order to understand it and make a connection. 2. gets discouraged when he doesn’t understand something right away/fails

now… you may wonder where that shows and think ‘well that’s everyone’s reaction!’ Which is true!! But… look at his reaction to failing the exam…

obviously, failing is upsetting… and yes. Especially when you fail the first time… however it’s not usual to get frustrated or upset when you don’t understand something… as an older adult.

however, when you expect yourself to know everything… you tend to put higher expectations on yourself which can absolutely weigh on you. 3. Knows right from wrong, and not afraid to stick with gut.

this one may seem a bit odd and you might think ‘well… yeah. Doesn’t everyone?’ Yes… but with gifted individuals… they tend to know right from wrong. And when they know someone did wrong doing… it can cause them frustration. Just look at this scene when Marvin discovered the twins erased his and others memories of what happened to the murder?

this up here, shows that when he knows someone went against what is morally right. He is not gonna have it and sticks with his guns.

another moment to point out. Is initially… when offered a really high position with the Magic circle:

this, by itself really shows he sticks to his guns and initially… he does stick to this decision until Ramesses mentions that Moria and Marvin could be put in a position of danger. normally, you would expect children to stick to their opinions regardless… but Marvin here? He goes back. Because his mom could be put in danger. Which is not right!

now… I would be willing to say that… when his mom dies. We will see him act in a way that shows that he will stick with his knowledge on how he has a strong moral compass later on in the comics. I can guarantee it!

4. is quick on his feet

now… i know this may seem odd. But… a lot of gifted individuals tend to be quick on their feet and know how to act. And Marvin demonstrates this in a few scenes:

below, here- Marvin finds a family that is about to be killed by a robber. What does he do?

which, that by itself, causes the person to flee.

another really powerful instance. And something I almost forgot to mention is that sometimes with gifted individuals… they tend to have a sense of humour as well that may come off as being more adult.. even though Marvin is an adult. This kind of shows how he has a sense of humour and how the humour helps him be quick on his feet.

also this moment… from when he was a teen.

I’m not sure about you, but normally for me… it takes me at least a few days/hours in order to figure out a good comeback. Not a few seconds. 5. smart

now… this one… may seem like a character trait… and you would be right… however. I would like to point out… that Marvin is damn smart… probably more so than people in the universe realise… this can be seen even before getting into magic school.

that fridge clearly shows a photo of an A… showing that he is smart. I won’t stick on this point too much as I will show some more evidence that he is smarter than people think… IQ wise.

6. has high expectations of himself

I think at this point. The lightning image enough is showing how he has high expectations over himself but incase you’re wondering why I put this out? It’s because of how gifted individuals because they are so smart… and because they just tend to know everything, when it comes to learning and understanding new topics and things, there’s impossibly high expectations that they put on themselves and they get frustrated and overwhelmed easily when they don’t know something that is hard.

Marvin getting A’s in school show he is very smart… but I bet if you threw him a chemistry question at that age… don’t be surprised to see a tantrum.

7. enjoys talking to other people who love magic… but not so much every day people

I know this may seem weird but let me explain. For anybody with neurodivergence… they tend to find it easiest to connect with people who are similar or have similar knowledge or interest in things that they love. It’s no different for those who are gifted. Don’t believe me…

well in VOL 1 of void silver… we see Marvin not be social… nor be friends with anybody at his school. But I’m Vol 2, after moving into his new school… what do we suddenly see?

genuine excitement over talking and being around other people! Hmm…. Now if this doesn’t scream neurodivergence… I have no idea what will!

8. gets excitement over something new or challenging

at this point… you may be confused as to where I get this info from… well… just look no further to Marvin doing his math homework…

he’s bored… and clearly craves something new! That expression certainly does not read excitement unlike when you compare him to doing magic… something that causes him to think… that really challenges him.

9. has strong curiosity of the world:

you may find this weird… even wonder why I put it in… but… consider these 2 images… both come after meeting Ramesses, he’s curious and can’t stop thinking about it no matter what. His brain can’t let it go!

That, and plus. When you look at the excitement for magic. It’s clear he’s curious and gets excited by new things.

so… those are all my reasons for why Marvin falls into this category… now onto the next character… Chase Brody.

Chase: ODD/ADHD

videos for evidence:

“IRIS project Anomaly found”

“JSE power hour-Chase Brody”

“TIE a game about depression”

all videos by “Jacksepticeye”

Now here’s another one that you may be shocked as to why I put this on Chase. ADHD, you’re all probably familiar with, but, you may be wonder what ODD is.

ODD (Oppositional Defiant Disorder) is basically a diagnosis where an individual is someone who will go against any authoritative figure, and be defiant in every single way- even if they are wrong.

1.has a drinking problem (ADHD/ODD)

this may seem like a weird one and a confusing one to put. But, let me explain.

so… think about Chase. Obviously everyone calls him ‘sad dad’ but… he also seems to have a serious drinking problem. If you disagree with me. Then why is it that he is okay with drinking when he is about to drive a car or when he is upset dealing with his emotions.

So with that, I was doing research. And it turns out, those who have ADHD tend to have a higher chance of developing a substance abuse. (Which includes things like drugs, coffee or alcohol). now, another important thing to know is that just because I say this does not mean it applies to all people with ADHD. kind of like how not all autistic individuals love trains or need headphones for noise sensitivities, everyone has their different strengths and stretches when it comes to these diagnosis.

no 2 individuals will be exactly the same

2. Is defiant with authoritative figures (ODD)

I know that this may be an odd one to have but… hear me out. this evidence comes straight from what he was like in ‘Anomaly Found’. Thinking back. He didn’t seem to cooperate too much with the scientist and in fact seem to annoy him on purpose despite being in a place where he had no power.

I know that this may seem unfair, especially considering the circumstances on what was going on were brutal and almost borderline torture. However… I would think that you would at least try and do all that you can to follow what is expected in hopes of getting out.

I can hear you saying “but… that was traumatising! I bet if he was somewhere else he would be different!” Possibly yes! However, there is evidence out there that proves that when he is in a place of authority or a place where he can control others? He has no troubles!

3. doesn’t follow expectations (ODD)

again, I know this one seems a bit weird. But I also have some backup evidence of this.

one of my pieces of evidence is the fact that during his first video, there is a scene where he is doing trick shots. And a moment in the video he says “this one is called the drive by” before we hear people scream as he is shooting people. (Note: I understand this is a character and this moment has probably been disproven but I’m still putting it in here.). Obviously, if he did do this and actually shoot people- it’s illegal. But it shows he has no hesitation.

4. irritable (ADHD/ODD)

yes… he has shown some evidence of getting irritable with people…

for one, the Anomaly found video is enough evidence to show that he can get irritable.

even excluding that though… he has shown he gets irritable when things don’t follow what he plans/what he has in mind. For example, in an older video, I remember Chase being in the bathroom and as soon as the camera comes in on him. He looks annoyed at the camera before yelling “Get out!” Clearly someone being in the house was not part of his plan.

now there is some more evidence I could discuss… but I’d rather move on to get some of my other points done.

5. Can be a bit scattered/is disorganised (ADHD):

There are a few moments where we can see Chase can have scattered thoughts and is not the most organised.

one moment in particular is the scene in ‘CHASE’ where he opens his car door and trash just comes out. Sure… we can account this as him being depressed, but I would also like to mention how even in Anomaly found, we can see that he is not thinking straight some of the times there- easily distracted. Side tracked by voices and visuals popping out of nowhere. we can even see this in his first video- with his first appearance. Even during THAT- it was clear that his thoughts and ideas can be all over the place and even a bit disorganised.

6. acts childlike as an adult sometimes (ADHD). I know this may seem odd… but this is kind of something I notice.

I notice that people I see who are diagnosed with ADHD, tend to be a bit more hyper or even child like in energy. I’m not saying that this is a bad thing! But it is a pattern that I see in the adults that I hang around who have ADHD.

does this remind you of anybody? Chase perhaps?

well… I think that’s all the evidence for why I believe Chase has ADHD and ODD. Moving onto Anti!

Anti: Autism

videos referenced

“Say Goodbye”

“IRIS project Anomaly found”

“KJSE”

videos by: Jacksepticeye

Now… I know some of you may be shocked by this… however, I have my reasons for putting Anti as this specifically.

1.Sensory seeking behaviour

you may be confused and thinking. “Where the hell does Anti show this?” well first of all, what do I mean by sensory seeking? Let me explain.

when it comes to anything with the word “sensory” it refers to anything to do with the 5 senses. Now… for neurodivergent people, they may easily be overstimulated or under stimulated easily. “Overstimulation” is when someone’s senses are way too overwhelmed that it makes them shut down or go into a fight/flight response to help deal with calming their senses. This is why some individuals on the spectrum feel the need to cut tags off because tags on clothes can sometimes trigger some individuals who get easily overstimulated to the tag touching their skin. “understimulation” is the opposite. This refers to someone who doesn’t have enough going on with the 5 senses being not triggered enough, and they need to have more- having under stimulation is just as unpleasant and can cause someone to sometimes use too much energy making them get tired easily. So for example, may be why you may see some neurodivergent people LOVE weighted blankets, because it provides extra feeling when you don’t get enough. Which is “sensory seeking” (I don’t know if this is a word, but it seems to fit)

now what does this have to do with Anti? Well… I like to think back to “Say goodbye” what was one of the FIRST things Anti did when he took Jack’s body over? Slit his own throat. And this… can be seen as seeking out stimulation. hell, he even walks around with no socks and shoes (we’ve all seen his feet- get your phones back you dirty minded people!)

and he also seems to almost ALWAYS have something in hand- it’s mainly his knife, now… this obviously I think stopped but before 2019ish… he had his knife always!

2. glitching can be considered stimming

Let me explain!

stimming is something that someone who is neurodivergent may do that seems like a repeated motions, or even repeated noises. This can often be used to help calm or settle someone sometimes. what is something that Anti in the past has done?

lot’s of twitching and glitching. And although it’s something he somewhat doesn’t seem to control. I do notice that the more agitated or aggressive he becomes, the more intense the glitches and twitches are. Which ties together with the fact that stimming can be used to help calm someone down who is neurodivergent.

3. stumbles and stutters over words sometimes

once again. This may seem odd and you may not even notice he does it…. But he does do it! Especially when he first took over Jack in ‘say goodbye’ now, obviously since then he hasn’t done this lots but in the beginning when he was in a new environment, and a new type of situation…. It was certainly there.

4. Gets agitated and angry easily

once again. I know this may seem odd… but, for some people on the spectrum. It’s very easy for them to get upset or peeved off especially if something does not go their way or if there is a change in routine. it’s obvious that Anti has a plan for what to do and what he wants…. But he has also made it clear that if that plan goes sideways… there is hell to pay and he will not hesitate to attack. hell, he even shows that he will go through with what he says he’ll do!

now… I think that’s enough about Anti… now onto JJ.

JJ: PTSD

videos referenced:

“JSE power hour- Jameson Jackson”

“JJ’s Jolly Jaunts”

all videos by: Jacksepticeye

this. Is another one that I think is a bit more clear, and here are a few reasons why. For those of you who are unfamiliar, PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) is a diagnosis that is an intense Anxiety disorder that can appear after a very significant traumatising event that can scar people for life and make everything harder to deal with including triggers…. It’s a diagnosis although commonly seen in soldiers, can happen to anybody who goes through a traumatising enough event (sometimes events that may be close calls to death.)

JJ for this, his traumatising event would be what happened in his first appearance and I’ll explain why. (I don’t have many reasons for this but I do have a couple)

1.gets scared a bit when strings appear

I know this seems weird…. However, at first. Think of when the strings first appeared in his second video. Any normal person would be a bit confused but shrug it off… how did JJ react?

sure he did seem confused, but in his eyes- there’s also a bit of fear- as well as anxiety as if he knows what is about to happen. It’s clear Anti has done something messed up enough for him to get a bit worried about strings.

2. signs of anxiety

this seems to happen when Anti is about to attack or is impacting JJ in some way.

this example comes from “JJ’s Jolly Jaunts” but when Anti takes over at the end…. This is how JJ reacts:

JJ has the heavy breathing, the panicked look, the fight and flight response he even dissociates as if he has been triggered and his brain shuts down to protect him.

this all may seem weird but the brain blocking out certain memories, even moments being erased from conscious is not unusual.

Sure… memories can come and go and that is completely normal… however, sometimes the brain, when it recognises a stressful enough situation, it will just block that memory out from being recalled, it’s a protective mechanism and can be healthy!

However. What is not healthy is when our brain as a coping strategy decides to dissociate to escape a situation no matter what. It’s not only unhealthy, but it can be draining and even dangerous.

it’s at this point I will take a moment to mention that if you or anybody you know is struggling with mental health concerns I would HIGHLY Urge you to talk to someone you trust or therapy. It’s not healthy to hold things back. If there is nobody around there are also hotlines you can call to try and get some help.

Schneeplestien: BPD/ADHD

videos referenced:

“Jacksepticeye Powerhour- Doctor Schneeplestien”

“KJSE”

both videos are by Jacksepticeye.

this one, I also struggled with- but I ended up a bit satisfied with what I have. Even though it took some digging. for those of you who don’t know, BPD (Borderline Personality Disorder) is a diagnosis for those who have intense mood swings, and struggle to maintain control of those emotions. And both ADHD and BPD can be diagnosed together so… I felt this fit.

1.coffee addiction(ADHD/BPD)

once again. This may seem like an odd one but like I said for Chase’s those who have ADHD are more likely to have a substance addiction.

coffee is obviously considered a substance, and Henrik here shows more than enough evidence that it is an unhealthy addiction that he needs in order to be okay. This goes all the way back to his first video, and even some IRIS tweets that are speculated to be ‘Zee Good Docta’ mention coffee so yeah. I think Henrik drinks an unhealthy amount of Caffine.

2. impulsive(ADHD)

this one I think Henrik shows lots of. He not only talks about how he will end patients lives who don’t listen. But he also has a graveyard of patients apparently (yes. He mentioned this before)

now… even if this is all something that you’re thinking “well that was old Henrik Von Schneeplestien” possibly… but. I maybe consider the fact that him looking into time travel or… whatever that portal was at the end of a newer video. I don’t know about you… but you would have to be pretty impulsive to look into something like that.

3. threatens when things don’t go his way(BPD)

this one… we generally see with his patients. But also… in my research, people who have BPD can also not only threaten to harm themselves. But also if triggered enough may threaten and even harm other people.

Sound like anybody?

4. has mood swings(ADHD/BPD)

ironic but… Henrik has shown he can go from happy to angry to sad in a few seconds. Yes this may be due to the Caffine however, it happens pretty fast and is concerning how he can go from happy and wanting to help a patient to threatening to kill them and drug them to death is pretty extreme and someone who is not emotionally stable.

no surprise here, this is a common sign of BPD as they tend to have lots of mood swings.

5. Fears of rejection (ADHD/BPD)

you may be confused but once again… let me explain. Those who have BPD tend to have fears of being rejected by others around them.

we see Henrik have a couple moments where he seems to hate and fear the idea of rejection.

1- the fact he went to Doctor school instead of art school shows that he’s worried about letting his family/parents down.

2- the fact that he ties a connection to him having a license to keeping his wife and child and is devastated when he rips it up.

once again. These 2 things show he has a fear of rejection.

and this is all of my thoughts about them! Hopefully you guys enjoyed reading this!

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nocturnalnewsiestrash · 6 months ago

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I was thinking more about this lovely post from the lovely @shaylogic, specifically the why of Charles' shirt changing to black immediately after Crystal talks to him about them staying friends.

And I think it has less to do with the fact that it's her telling him they should remain friends since she can't handle a relationship right now with all her trauma from David. I think this part, the "from her trauma from David", is really really important. Because from Crystal's perspective, she's essentially saying she cannot deal with romantic involvement so soon after David while he's still massively messing with her head and is in no way trying to say that it's because Charles is too similar to David, it's just that all her romantic memories are completely entirely filled with memories of David and when she's put back in the headspace of romantic feelings it brings up all the trauma of him and she needs more time to work through her trauma before she can revisit romantic feelings again.

Now from Charles perspective, he hears her saying that she can't handle a romantic relationship with him right now because of David being so in her head still. And Charles, ever the Reading People's Emotions boy that he is (built from his own trauma mind you) can tell that there's more to why she's saying it now. Like she quite literally just woke up screaming from a nightmare as she puts it and immediately says she's "fine" with an earnest nod to. With this context Charles is reading into why this conversation is immediately following this nightmare, which he has no details about so of course he's analyzing it and why she's saying this after it. Not to mention the fact that she pulled his specific move of brushing of concerns about your well-being. And we have to remember that this is following all the events of the Devlin house shaking his trauma to the forefront of his mind, everyone's look in their eyes following his attacking of the Night Nurse, and all the shaking of all his uncertainty about him being a Good Person and being Needed by the people he loves into the ruminating focus. So with all of this fresh in his mind, with him and David being referred to in the same sentence both with the same romantic context, even though it's entirely NOT what Crystal was saying, Charles still hears this, already in overanalyzing mode out of his worry for her and his own worries that are bouncing around in his mind so easily attach themselves to her worries and twist them until they look alike as overthinking anxiety often does. And to HIS brain he's now worried that he's like David. That now he has some "proof" that he might be a bad person in Crystal connecting him to David, at least enough proof for his own trauma induced "what if" anxiety to think that maybe these fears he's always had and repressed that are now being brought into reality somewhat actually ARE true. No matter what Crystal could have said in this scene he heard David and him in the same context and it became his own worry spiral even with his ever-present smile masking it.

So essentially in Crystal's attempt to explain without revealing her own trauma too much because she can't bear to do that yet she set off Charles own trauma response from dealing with his father of reading into every minute emotion and action to figure out how to understand so he can help her (and himself from the past) and this instinctive trauma response brings out his overthinking which then brings out his worries that he was already recently overthinking and they then got all mashed together in an overthinking sandwich and grew his what if I'm not a good person worries enough to take him down an entire shirt shade. His emotional well-being has been knocked down a whole nother peg from his new worries over any similarity to David. So that's why this conversation was the catalyst for the burgundy to black transition.

#i love love love that they made this be the moment his shirt goes full black it says so so much without saying anything at all #I hope Dunsmore understands how much we adore her she deserves everything she's ever wanted she's so fantastic at what she does #shaylogic really got my brain into a frenzied analysis over this detail ahakajfhfah thank you for your analysis waking up my analysis brain #dead boy detectives #dbda #charles rowland #charles rowland character analysis #crystal palace #crystal palace character analysis #charles rowland my beloved <3 #crystal palace my beloved <3 #i forgot to add all the taggy tags oopsies i got too engrossed in sharing my analysis to actually get it where people can see it

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bbcphile · 1 year ago

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Mysterious Lotus Casebook and Complex PTSD Representations: Part I

One of my favorite things about Mysterious Lotus Casebook is how surprisingly nuanced and unusual its portrayal of complex PTSD is. So many shows either introduce character trauma to make the character Sad and Brooding, Angry and Violent (if they’re a villain) or Hesitant to Start a Relationship (if it’s a romance), and that’s usually as in-depth as it gets. If they address the unique after effects of child abuse that lead to complex PTSD at all, it’s usually either explain why a character is a homicidal monster (which is all sorts of problematic) or it’s limited to a single phobia, which can be overcome by the Power of Love, or it’s just something that crops up occasionally for Plot and then forgotten about the rest of the time.

Mysterious Lotus Casebook gives us two deeply traumatized characters–Li Lianhua and Di Feisheng–who each have clear symptoms of complex PTSD, and yet, their cPTSD manifests completely differently because of the types of traumas that caused it and their relationships to the people causing the traumas. And their manifestations of cPTSD affect just about every level of their being, including their sense of self, their decision-making, and their relationships with others, and it includes some of the incredibly important manifestations of cPTSD that are almost never shown in media while avoiding the most insulting stereotypes!

PTSD vs cPTSD

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is an anxiety disorder caused by experiencing a single (or short lived) traumatic event (an accident, assault, medical emergency, fighting in a war, etc), where the symptoms last for longer than a month. Symptoms include things like reexperiencing the event (flashbacks), avoidance (of things related to the event), changes in mood (depression, anger, fear, etc), and issues with emotional regulation (hypervigilance–being constantly on the lookout for threats–irritability/angry outbursts, etc.).

Complex PTSD happens if someone has experienced long term, chronic/repeated trauma that induces hopelessness and no chance of escape (survivors of extended child abuse, human trafficking, domestic violence, prisoners of war, slavery, etc.). It’s also often interpersonal in ways a car crash or medical emergency is not, and is particularly linked with chronic trauma during childhood: chronic stress hormones introduce literal physical changes in a growing brain, particularly the amygdala (which processes fear), hippocampus (which is responsible for learning/memory), and the prefrontal cortex (which is responsible for executive function), so it can affect every aspect of life and also affect a child’s progression through developmental stages. In addition to these physical changes to the brain, the prolonged trauma–particularly the helplessness–distorts a child’s sense of self, the perpetrator, and the world in ways that alter their decision making, their memory, and their future relationships.

For instance, whereas a traumatic event that caused PTSD might make you depressed or not trust the person who harmed you (or to fear driving), the trauma from cPTSD might make you suicidal, blame yourself for your victimization, decide to isolate to avoid interpersonal relationships to keep from getting hurt, or become obsessed with never being harmed again.

Basically, cPTSD has the core symptoms from PTSD with some extra challenges, including issues with emotional regulation, self-concept, interruptions in consciousness, difficulties with relationships, perceptions of the perpetrator, and systems of meaning.

DFS and LLH: CPTSD Symptoms

There’s so much more to say about this than I can cover in this superficial introduction, so this will be the first of a series of metas; I’m hoping to go into more depth about some of these categories in future posts (the DFS and emotional regulation/violence one is already drafted, so stay tuned).

Difficulties with Relationships (problems with trust, communication, missing red flags): Both DFS and LLH have a history of trusting the wrong people and not trusting the right people, both in the past and in the present of the show: in the past, LLH missed the fact that SGD hated him and DFS missed the fact that JLQ was obsessed with him, and as a result, both sects were destroyed, many people died, and the two almost destroyed each other. If they had communicated with each other instead of fighting at the donghai battle, they might have realized they were being set up and could have worked together, but their difficulties with trust after perceived betrayal made that impossible for them. They both have a history of overlooking red flags in the present–DFS in particular, keeping the red-flag-personified-JLQ around despite her history of poisoning people, including himself–and they both tend to struggle with relationships in the present: LLH runs away from and/or drugs the people who care about him, and DFS sends endless mixed messages by not telling Li Lianhua most of his plans to help him.

Self-Concept (Self-hatred and self-fragmentation): Li Lianhua is basically the poster child for having a negative self concept: he has an overdeveloped sense of self-blame and responsibility, even believing he deserves to die for leading his men to their deaths, and once he learns he was manipulated and SGD was behind it all, he seems to think it’s his own fault that he was manipulated, lied to, and abused. His self-loathing is so extreme that he imagines his earlier self, Li Xiangyi, to have died, and tries as much as possible to be nothing like that earlier persona. His repeated insistence that Li Xiangyi and Li Lianhua are NOT the same person is reminiscent of the fragmentary sense of self that comes with more extreme trauma, like Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) or Other-Specified Dissociative Disorder (OSDD), where traumatic experiences are so painful that people form different alters, or differentiated self-states, that can have different names and skills and memories and identities.

Di Feisheng doesn’t have the self-hatred or guilt that LLH does, and it seems like he tries to skip over questions of self worth, blame, or hatred by focusing exclusively on staying true to his code of ethics he’s developed for himself and focusing on gaining the strength necessary to fight for his freedom from mind control and the Di Fortress. But even though he’s kept his Di name, kept his goals the same since escaping Di Fortress, and hasn’t tried to separate himself from his trauma the way LLH did with LXY, he’s even more willing than LLH to take on different identities: it’s literally one of his martial arts skills. The Bone Constriction Skill lets him become someone else for a time, whether that’s a child or Shi Hun. It fits well with his willingness to be whoever he needs to be to accomplish his goals: he’s perfectly willing to be seen as a heartless villain if it lets him protect LLH, and he’s willing to flirt with and pretend to be jealous of JLQ to get information from her, and he’s willing to be LLH’s a-Fei, both with and without his memories.

Interruptions in Consciousness (Amnesia and nightmares for Everyone): LLH and DFS both have nightmares and flashbacks/memories of traumatic events, and as mentioned above, both have interesting hints of having fragmented/fluid senses of self. They both also dissociate, or separate themselves from the present when dealing with traumatic things: LLH spaces out and gets stuck in his past memories about SGD when talking to FDB after burying SGD, and DFS dissociates from physical pain so as not to make noise both after he’s been stabbed and poisoned with Wuxin Huai and again when JLQ is torturing him in her water dungeon.

They both also have dissociative amnesia that takes away trauma memories, although one is from a poisonous incense plus the magic of qi macgyvering: LLH forgot the existence of his older brother who died in front of him, and DFS as a-Fei had just about all of his memories (except a few of killing as a child) taken away. Amnesia is a huge part of cPTSD, because it’s the brain’s way of trying to protect you from truths that you might not survive. It can manifest as blocking out one single traumatic event, a bunch of thematically or temporally linked traumatic events, a skill set related to the trauma, or, in the case of something like DID or OSDD, just about everything. It’s endlessly fascinating to me that the show gives us one example of definite traumatic amnesia through LLH, and then seems to almost transform the experience of having DID and being a new part and finding yourself with a new name and very little else into an exaggerated fantasy setting (interestingly, people often report experiencing debilitating headaches when they try to regain memories behind the amnesia barrier). I doubt this is what they were actually going for, since DID is almost universally portrayed incorrectly and offensively in media (one of the alters is almost always portrayed as a serial killer, but that’s a rant for another day), but the different names and the presence of amnesia with LLH made it a fascinating enough parallel that I had to mention it.

Problems with Emotional Regulation (Lashing in vs. lashing out): Li Xiangyi and Di Feisheng are polar opposites when it comes to struggles with emotional regulation: whereas LXY turns his anger inward, directing it all toward self-hate in what’s often called a “toxic shame spiral,” both after the donghai battle and after he finds out about SGD’s role in his shifu’s death, DFS lashes out physically at those who have harmed him, usually via choking people, although he is usually exerting an impressive amount of control over his emotions and strength. To put in perspective just how different their emotional strategies are and how much effort DFS puts into emotional regulation, compare how much more calm he is than LLH during any revelation of past betrayal or painful information, any scene where they confront the people who have abused them, or any scene where they learn they’ve been wrong about something big; LLH is most likely having an emotional flashback (re-experiencing the emotions from the earlier traumas) and DFS is probably compartmentalizing them or dissociating from them to process later/never so he can stay semi-functional and not show a potential opponent a weak spot.

NOTE: This means that DFS is loooong overdue for a very dramatic breakdown when it eventually all catches up to him and he can’t distract himself from it anymore.

Perceptions of Perpetrators: In this way only, Di Feisheng has one advantage: he knows the head of Di Fortress is a cruel, abusive tyrant. While he clearly still fears him, even as a physically strong adult (he has nightmares, flashbacks, and dedicates his life to being free from him, which means he still to some extent feels young, small, and helpless when he thinks of him), DFS knows that he hates him and wants to be free of him. This is probably part of why he’s spared some of the self-hatred LLH experiences: he knows he didn’t deserve the abuse because seeing it happen to other children means he knows the abuse wasn’t a personal reflection on him. It does, however, motivate him to want to be stronger and invulnerable so as to never be helpless again, and that obsession is what drives him to have a single-minded focus on reaching the pinnacle of the jianghu.

It’s so much more complicated for Li Lianhua (and for a more detailed analysis, check out this meta): the childhood perpetrators were manifold–a slew of bandits, whichever children and adults on the street would abuse him for existing and being poor–it probably felt like life itself was to blame. It’s no wonder that when his shifu and shiniang took him in, they were the ultimate rescuers whom he hero-worshipped, so when he felt he made a mistake and his life fell apart, he blamed himself: at least there would be someone to blame that way and something he could do about it (try to kill his past self and hate everything about him). It’s also very telling that LLH doesn’t blame JLQ or YBQ all that much when he learns they poisoned him, and that he’s more angry that SGD murdered their shifu than he is that SGD set him up, hated him, and was the real mastermind behind everything he had blamed himself for; he struggles to stay angry at people who harm him, and would rather blame and hate himself for being tricked than hate the person who tricked him. So, whereas DFS tries to destroy the people who abused him, LLH tries to destroy himself.

If you read this far, thanks! I’m probably going to be posting the DFS and emotional regulation/violence against perpetrator meta next, because it’s drafted, but if there are any of these you desperately want me to talk about more sooner rather than later, let me know! :D

#mysterious lotus casebook #mlc meta #di feisheng #li lianhua #Li Xiangyi #complex PTSD #child abuse #sorry it's so long! This is the short version #The original version was 2700 words #dissociation #trauma #I am so here for non-monolithic representations of mental illnesses #PTSD #In case you can't tell I am very invested in depictions of PTSD and cPTSD #I'm always up for talking about fictional portrayals of trauma #so feel free to message if you have questions about any of this and don't want it to be in the notes for some reason

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eves4pple · 7 months ago

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YUI KOMORI HC’S

A/N: heyyy! I got a lot of really good feedback from my post about the mukami brothers! And everyone seemed really interested! So here’s so more! Regarding the mention of my AU I will be doing a small guide to what I’ve been working on so you all can enjoy it to the fullest extent!

Mentions of SH, ED, and religious imagery

- Grew up strictly Catholic. So even now she does the cross across her chest when she sees a statue or a painting of Christ, God, and The Virgin Mary. As well as before she prays.

- Favorite historical figure is Joan of Arc cause she related to her so heavily as she also thought she could hear the word of god as a child. Turns out it was something else

- Has a very dull appearance. Dirty blonde hair and brown eyes rather than the vibrant pink eyes and blonde hair

- Had doubted her faith a lot, even more since living with the Sakamaki’s

- has pretty prevalent SH habits, these doubled when she started living with the Sakamaki’s as well

- Her and Cordelia share a brain and body, rather than an awakening in my AU Yui has had contact with Cordelia since puberty

- Cordelia can switch places with Yui easily due to their connection

- Her relationship with her “father” is rocky. Since a young girl she denied a lot of what the church taught her and her father would punish her. The nuns really cared for her more

- was exorcised due to her telling an older nun that she was hearing voices, this has happened twice within this universe

- favorite animals are little rodents. Mice are really her favorite out of them all, she thinks they’re sweet and thinks their big ears are funny

- definitely a Cinderella lover, she relates a lot

- lowkey a picky eater? But mostly because she’s constantly stressed out and eating makes her feel sick.

- hates hates HATES dolls. Her and Kanato don’t really get along well due to this fear of her’s

- she actually tries really hard to be nice to every person she meets, but after some time at the manor she really stopped caring as much and her personality also dulled

- Horrible Social anxiety, she literally only has herself or Cordelia for a good majority of time

- smoked weed once with a guy she met when she was living with her father still and actually really liked it. Has partook time to time in the current events of the au, but it’s limited cause Reiji threatened to cut her soiled lungs out of her body if she continued. When in the Mukami manor she partakes more often but its anxiety inducing now.

- In my au Yui is a mixed blood, solely due to Cordelia sharing her body for years. Yui is technically a vampire, when she hit puberty and got her period that’s when Cordelia started talking and engaging with her more often. So when Yui arrives to the manor the awakening was already in process

- Wanted to be a writer as a kid and would sneak out to read books from the nearby library

- has a fear of dogs as well

- ED habits, this started when she first arrived at the manor due to the way the brothers would prod at her skin plus influence from Cordelia

- hates Coffee

- Demi romantic and Demi sexual- meaning she needs a genuine connection with a person before dating/having sex

- claims she doesn’t have favorites but is seen more with Subaru and Reiji more than the other brothers. Does indeed have favorites at the Mukami manor, and it’s Azusa and Yuma

- hates apples a lot

- has had horrible insomnia since a kid

#diabolik lovers #diabolik lovers fandom #diahell #komori yui #dialovers

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ghost-bison · 1 month ago

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something interesting about executive dysfunction that i realized yesterday is this: if you have it, and someone tries to tell you you are "lazy" and to just "get out of bed, it's not that difficult", then you should know that executive dysfunction is linked to the dopamine deficit in your brain (research that i think it's common in neurological disorders).

dopamine is responsible for your motivation, your pleasure, and overall satisfaction. meaning, if your brain doesn't produce enough of it, it can lead to intrusive thoughts, extreme perfectionism, you never finishing anything because you fear it's never good enough or because of the pressure around it (yes i am looking at you, school projects), and also anxiety, depression, simple tasks (showering, eating, chores, taking public transportation) making you feel existential dread (= you would rather decompose than do those and in fact, the prospect is becoming more and more attractive).

so yeah, conclusion: no dopamine = shit.

now, something else that's interesting is how i came to think of that: i was talking to my mum and she mentioned that her aunt died of parkinson's disease, and that nowadays they "treat" parkinson with... drum rolls... dopamine! that's right bitches, it is that deep.

i looked it up on the internet, and apparently, "parkinson's disease first induces a gradual degeneration of the dopamine neurons in the brain, dopamine being a neurotransmitter involved in the control of several functions such as voluntary movements, cognition, motivation and affects".

so if i got this right, there is literally a connection between parkinson and executive dysfunction.

so if anyone bothers you again with how "lazy" you are, try to explain this to them because you are valid, you shouldn't feel guilty about fucking things up when your brain is literally conditioned to do so. and you should know that even though it is, you are not doomed for failure, there are ways around it! crutches if not miracles, but still crutches: take your meds, talk to a therapist, don't be afraid to take advantage of the commodities that have been put there for you to use; they are there for a reason, you know?

stay safe, you are understood by more people than you think. fuck those who don't try. fuck those who don't believe you; i do.

#executive dysfunction #adhd #autism #neurodivergent #neurodiversity #dopamine #dopamine deficit #therapy #adhd meds #mental health #parkinson's disease #neurological disorders #disclaimer: i am not comparing adhd with parkinson's disease!#i am merely saying that #adhd and autism should be taken more seriously #it's not a quirk it's a disorder #disclaimer 2: i am not a doctor #i am just a tired young adult

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woodlaflababab · 9 months ago

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Aang, Psychology, and the Concept of “Running Away” (A Breakdown Of Aang's Trauma Responses)

So, one thing that always kind of threw me off about atla was Aang's ignoration and dismissiveness of the things that have happened to him and continue to happen to him. He never seemed to have any kind of trauma response (besides nightmares).

Recently I've realized that the ignoration is Aang's trauma response, and it runs pretty fucking deep. Aang shows a lot of trauma responses but they are not as noticeable because Aang is also ridiculously good at emotional regulation, to a toxic point imo, and probably due to his upbringing by monks.

Aang, as is pretty well covered by the show, has a problem with trying to 'run away’ from his problems. This steadily stops happening as much throughout Book 2 (though he is learning in Book 1), but what's interesting is, while his tendency to physically run away from problems ends, his tendency to emotionally run away increases.

We go from Book 1 in which Aang confides in Katara about the separation from the monks, to Book 2 in which Aang literally actively rejects attempts at comfort in favor of an emotional shut down, to Book 3 where, after the failed invasion, Aang immediately tries just about anything he can to avoid talking about it.

He's not necessarily 'running away’. He still owns up to his duty and is right on the ball when Zuko shows up to teach firebending. It is not the work he shies from, it is specifically talking about the failure. This is Aang's main trauma response. Before I delve deeper into that though, I want to talk about Aang's other trauma responses that get bypassed thanks to his ability to ignore them.

Quoting ‘What is Child Traumatic Stress’, “Traumatic reactions can include a variety of responses, including intense and ongoing emotional upset, depressive symptoms, anxiety, behavioral changes, difficulties with attention, academic difficulties, nightmares, physical symptoms such as difficulty sleeping and eating, and aches and pains, among others.”

Aang shows almost all of these at one point or another, and typically they show themselves when he finds himself incapable of mentally 'running away.’

Intense and Ongoing Emotional Upset:

I'm mostly eyeing the avatar state episodes. His immediate reaction to traumatic events he is helpless to is explosive anger, but it fails to be ongoing because it is immediately followed by a shut down.

- Aang on Zuko's boat. In this episode, while fighting with Zuko, Aang shows some pretty intense fear and his first (technically second) experience with the Avatar state is for survival and driven by fear (also, notably, a repeat experience of the same thing that caused the actual first experience). Yet, as soon as Aang is off of Zuko's boat, he's melancholy for a hot second and then turns on a dime and starts talking about the adventures they can go on. Avatar State -> Shut Down/dismissing or ignoring the problem.

- Aang at the Southern Air Temple. He starts off in deep obvious denial, like this kid is so obviously blocking. Then he sees Gyatso's body, goes into a rage and grief induced Avatar state, gets pulled out, can no longer use denial as his mental defense, and so once again turns to shut down. He's expressionless as he comes down, and when he's fully out he's just kind of tired and speaks with a soft almost toneless quality. He's admitting to the trauma and yet there's a numb resignation to it. He's not emotionally connecting with it. We see him after with Momo and Appa smiling and just being like “we gotta stick together :)”. That's not the appropriate response to admitting there's only three survivors of your home. Avatar State -> Shut down/dismissal

- Aang and General Fong. Aang experiences an extremely distressing and helpless situation while he watches Katara, one of two whole people in his life, be buried. He goes into a rage induced Avatar state, again, and then literally 'nope's out of the situation with help from Roku. And when he comes back, he shuts down. He doesn't react emotionally, he once again speaks in that soft, even, almost dead tone, apologizes, and dismisses the event. I mean, the way he addresses General Fong, the person who just caused this whole thing, is extremely chill, almost uncharacteristic. Just a simple, “you're out of your mind” with a tone that could make you think he was having a casual conversation with someone who just suggested eating cereal out of a cup. And then he's good! Momo comes back and he smiles and everything is all good again. Avatar State -> Shut down/dismissal.

- Then we have the desert, one of the few times Aang does not shut down immediately, but then it culminates in the Avatar State and he stays like that for a bit but once he comes down, his faces changes again, to what is almost resignation, like he's given up on being mad, which really, he has as we see later. And then the next episode and he's playing in some water, but as soon as Sokka brings up Appa, we see the face and tone that's now kind of familiar: soft, dead, dismissive. He's once again refusing to emotionally connect and is downplaying it. Avatar State -> shut down/dismissal.

Depressive Symptoms/Anxiety:

He shows fits of both, though these aren't as evident because, again, most of the time he's in an emotional block and ignoring the problems. But when he cannot ignore the absence of his lifelong companion, he has a long period of anger followed by a numb depressive state, he literally talks about giving up hope. He is entirely hopeless at this point.

And then when he cannot ignore the Day of Black Sun coming in a few days, his anxiety goes through the fucking roof.

However, these don't last long and that'll connect to me talking about emotional regulation later.

Behavioral Changes:

Aang changes A Lot over the course of the series. Book 1 Aang is very distinct from Book 3 Aang (though we still see the core traits of him throughout). He becomes more hyper focused on doing his duty, tends to fall to the background when he can, generally takes on a much more somber demeanor.

Difficulties With Attention:

This one's not really huge. He has about the same amount of attention focus in Book 3 as he does Book 1, if not improvement.

Nightmares:

I don't think I have to explain this. Aang goes through multiple fits of nightmares.

Difficulties Sleeping or Eating:

Once again, I look to Nightmares and Daydreams, one of the few times Aang is unable to shut down or block. He cannot sleep for the life of him. I have plans to go back and pay attention to eating habits in Book 3 in order to potentially add onto this joke meta, but I would not be surprised if there were signs of a lowered appetite, even if the writers did not intend it.

Aches and Pains:

He doesn't ever complain about this but also like, would he? Even if he was experiencing them? Kid tried to fight people and fly through a storm while newly recovering from a lightning injury. Aang gives no shits.

Then the article also covers childhood PTSD diagnoses which I'd also like to go over real quick. “the child continues to re-experience the event through nightmares, flashbacks, or other symptoms for more than a month after the original experience; the child has what we call avoidance or numbing symptoms—he or she won’t think about the event, has memory lapses, or maybe feels numb in connection with the events—and the child has feelings of arousal, such as increased irritability, difficulty sleeping, or others.”

Most of these I just covered, but I think it's notable that numbness is also mentioned here, the exact symptoms I've been talking about. Avoidant, won't think about it, numb in connection.

And just to be sure that everyone is on board let me go through some other examples of Aang shutting down:

Katara brings up the 100 years and Aang immediately blocks that shit. It's literally too big for him to conceptualize, so he dismisses it as okay because he has a new friend now and moves on and doesn't think about it.

The Northern Air Temple. I think most people agree that the lesson in that episode was wrong. Aang had every right to be angry. There's nothing okay about taking over and destroying 100 year old artifacts of a nearly extinct culture. We see Aang react to this with a numbness. There's even a moment where he's just frozen and uncomprehending. “This place is unbelievable.” “Yeah. It's great isn't it?” “No, just unbelievable.” He reacts with anger later (notably when he feels like he can do something instead of being helpless), and then when he can no longer do anything, he once again just rejects any negative emotional turmoil in favor of that “it's fine” attitude and accepts what the people have done.

Then the desert, one of the few places we don't see him shut down immediately. Except, literally the next episode is all about Aang's hardest shut down yet.

There are other examples but I think you get the point. He does this A Lot.

Okay cool, so we've covered the denial and trauma responses part, but how does emotional regulation play into this?

I'm glad you asked.

So, when I was first considering Aang and this whole thing, I thought Aang exhibited emotional dysregulation, especially in regards to the Avatar State, but then I actually did some learning on emotional dysregulation and realized, actually, no, he doesn't. Emotional dysregulation is mostly characterized by emotional responses being out of proportion with the event, but I think we can all agree, pm every time he goes into the Avatar State, that emotional response is uh, rather warranted. Now, Aang does, in these moments, show the lack of control that can come with emotional dysregulation, but also like, who wouldn't.

Considering Aang's behavior outside of the Avatar State Outbursts, he's actually very good at emotional regulation. Scary good, in fact. Number One in the reasons I say this is everything I said above. The ability to shut down is often an active choice. Aang does not like who he is when he is upset and, outside the initial outburst, has a pretty firm grip on his emotions. He shows anger at times, but they are in appropriate places with more or less appropriate responses.

The Desert stands out so much because Aang loses the control he normally has. This is where we see him lose his grip on himself and he spirals.

He rarely shows grief. During his lessons with the Guru he passes all the chakras with amazing ease because he legitimately is that good at controlling and managing emotions which, like I said at the very beginning, I attribute a lot of that to him being raised by monks. I mean, he's a 12 yr old who is skilled in meditation. I don't think it's a stretch to think the monks taught him other such things.

He doesn't react to small things that would normally piss people off. Examples include The Headband when he gives absolutely zero shits about the bully, and The Southern Raiders where he accepts Katara trying to steal Appa and doesn't react to Zuko mocking him and his culture.

Aang also, paradoxically, can be pretty good at expressing emotions when he needs to. He's typically very emotionally intelligent, with the exception being pretty much any trauma. He will react to basic things in the moment and is unafraid to show frustration or anger or uncertainty, as long as it's Not connected to a thing he is distinctly Not thinking about.

And one of the most damning examples of his emotional regulation skill, that is actually the scene that started me thinking about all of this, is the scene with Koh the Face Stealer.

That scene threw me off so much because I felt like it was incredibly out of character for Aang, this incredibly expressive kid, to be able to show no emotional reaction. It didn't make sense and for a long time I dismissed it as just, the writers thought it'd be cool so he did it. But of course, I can't let things lay, so I never really stopped thinking about it until I realized, in context of everything I've talked about before, it actually makes perfect sense.

Aang is emotionally expressive by choice. He has the ability to control his emotions and responses to a ridiculous degree. He knows how to be emotionally intelligent with basic things, where to express emotion and how to do it.

(Of course, he's not perfect. There are plenty of times he acts out, the Bato episode being the first thing to come to mind, but even there, after just a few hours, he has wrestled with his jealousy and responds appropriately to guilt, he owns up to it. He does try to explain himself but when Sokka makes it clear he's not going to listen, Aang does not continue to press the point. He accepts Sokka's decision, does not lash out, and for once doesn't shut down or exhibit happiness soon after. He is sad and expresses it without shoving his emotions onto others. For a 12 yr old, this is fucking impressive.)

Aang was taught well by the monks, but the one thing they couldn't teach him was response to trauma, and that's where he falters, but that emotional regulation means he's not going to respond in a typical way. Instead, he turns to denial as his coping mechanism of choice and uses those skills he learned to achieve a workable state of being but through unhealthy use.

Where am I going with this? Idk. Nowhere really, I just wanted to talk about Aang and psychology tbqh.

Anyway, I will finish this up by a fun delve into Things He's Probably Going To End Up Suffering From:

Denial can lead to memory blocking, where it's more than just not thinking about it, the brain actively suppresses and alters memory to cope. Adult Aang's recollection of the Ozai year is probably not going to be super accurate. Would not be surprised if someone was like “hey remember that time you were almost executed by a town for your past live’s mistakes?” and Aang just went “No???” and legit has no recollection of any such thing.

Selective numbing will eventually turn into collective numbing. You can selectively numb for a temporary period of time (which is how people fall into the trap) but eventually your brain will start to numb everything, not just the bad things. At the very least teenage Aang absolutely goes through a period of dissociative complete numbness.

Speaking of dissociation, if you're not going to react to trauma the normal way, dissociation happens. It starts as a coping mechanism but like with numbing, it cannot remain controlled and will develop into something. Aang will have a dissociative disorder, I'm telling you. Which one? Idk, but I assure you, it'll be there. I'm leaning toward some basic depersonalization/derealization and/or OSDD type four where trauma and meditation accidentally mix for the worse.

So yeah, there you go, a breakdown of Aang, his trauma responses, his emotional intelligence, and the consequences of those two things put together.

I'm gonna be a nerd here and add shitty citations but this is mostly in case you're also a psych geek and want to read things.

“What Are the Dissociative Disorders”. International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation.

“Developmental trauma: Conceptual framework, associated risks and comorbidities, and evaluation and treatment”. National Library of Medicine.

“What is Child Traumatic Stress”. The National Child Traumatic Stress Network.

#aang #atla #aang talks #woodlaflababab #avatar the last airbender #can you tell im a psych major

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