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dracothedeatheatingcupcake-ao3 · 3 years

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TPWP Introspective

Hey guys!! So, as you noticed, there was no update today either, like I had commented that I may try and do if possible. The reason I didn’t post today, though, is because I remembered that I wrote a little introspective thing about TPWP a few days ago that I wanted to post before the next chapter, if possible. I spent the last hour and a half intermittently touching it up (while also talking to friends, ha). I wrote this after waking up at five in the morning and not being able to go back to sleep, so I was fairly tired and rambley when writing it, ha.

Anyway, this is pretty long discussion about something that’s bugged me about TPWP for a little while, which is why I’ve made Taka so sexual despite not really thinking he would be like that in canon. In my attempt to write about that, my exhausted self also went into another problem I have with TPWP, which is the fact that neither Taka nor Mondo are really like their canon selves anymore. And while that was a purposeful thing, I never could pinpoint why, and I think I managed to in this post, so there’s that, ha.

Now, it’s getting late and I’m very tired, so I’ll add my introspective thingy in a read more. It’s about 5k words and goes over a lot about Taka and Mondo’s interpretation in TPWP.

Hey all! So, I wanted to go over something that’s been bugging me for a while in TPWP, though no one else seems annoyed by it. But I kind of am, so I just wanted to… I don’t know. Discuss it in case anyone else also has problems with it, but just isn’t bringing it up in comments. And the thing that I wanted to talk about is the fact that I’ve made Taka and Mondo so sexual in this story, despite this not really striking me as something Taka, in particular, would be like. In order to discuss all that, though, I have to go through a bunch of other explanations about what my main goal in this story has always been, as a kind of backstory. So, buckle up, my friends. This is a doozy.

See, while I didn’t have much of an idea when I started writing, the one thing I knew I wanted to play around with was the idea of dismantling Taka and everything that makes him tick. In the game, he is shown as a strict, passionate, highly motivated character, spending so much time studying and trying to better himself that he lost sight of who he is other than that. He doesn’t have friends and confesses to Makoto that he doesn’t even understand how people make friends through connecting over things like television, since he’s so detached from anything other than his goals. The writers even comment on how he is almost mad with his passion and righteousness.

That whole persona seems so unattainable to me. I’m someone who seeks ‘perfection,’ right? I’m a perfectionist and it burns me so much to know that no matter what I do, there will always, ALWAYS be faults in the things I create. I put myself and my creations against others and always find myself lacking. It burns me and makes me feel so… I don’t even know. Unhappy. Upset. Things like that. And I’ve gotten much better with this over the years, right? I accept that my work will not be perfect, and that anything I can create is enough since I created it and I enjoyed creating it. But the feeling is still there. The unhappiness. The discontent.

So, when I saw Taka and his madness to become better, I wanted to take that and see if I could deconstruct it. If I could break Taka down to his core, expose all of the secret little things inside of him that he must be hiding to present such a ‘perfect’ front, and turn it on its side. To give Taka reasons for his madness to better himself and then take it apart. Or, in other words, the entire premise I had for this story was to take Taka and break him down. And then, then I would build him back up. Into something less ‘perfect,’ less rules oriented, but a hell of a lot happier. Because in canon… Taka didn’t really strike me as happy. Not based on the things he would say to Makoto in both free time events and the school mode.

In order to do that, of course, I had to completely break apart the things that made him so rule oriented in the first place. And to someone who has spent almost their entire life building up this one persona, that sort of thing can be terrifying and uncomfortable. And it can lead to a lot of confusion and scrambling afterwards.

Chapter 17 was where I made the biggest break for Taka. I’d been chipping away at him for the first 16 chapters, and then 17 was the one where I took my sledgehammer and went to town. That chapter was the one in which Taka realized just how unhappy and discontent he had been growing up. He’d always stuffed that down and ignored it in order to keep going, forcing himself to ignore his pain so that he could become all that he wanted to be. He wasn’t even conscious of doing this since it was so deeply engrained in him by that point. Like I said in the very first chapter, Taka would run so fast and so fervently from his insecurities growing up that he didn’t even notice that they were occurring within him. Or if he did, he ignored them until it all went away.

In chapter 17, Taka stopped being able to run. His feelings for Mondo created a huge rift inside him and he didn’t know how to handle it. And then, after his conversion with his father, he realized that he’d been forcing everything down for all of his life, to the point that he didn’t know who he was. He wanted to be an upright, moral individual, but how could he be if he is in love with a man? How can he be when he can feel such impure, base desire for someone, a man especially? And I’m not saying that there is anything wrong with a man loving a man, not at all! Just… it went against the carefully constructed morality Taka, personally, had spent his entire life forcing himself to abide by, and that was a huge blow to him. He couldn’t comprehend it and he just… fell apart.

But he didn’t fall apart alone. Mondo was there to catch him as he fell, was there to help gather the pieces, and Taka latched onto that. He didn’t know what was happening or why, but he knew that Mondo was a vital component to all of it. In a way… Mondo was everything to him.

The main point is that I wanted to break Taka’s character apart, mostly because I cannot imagine someone being that moral and upright while not being completely miserable (or without actually being completely immoral, like all those people who preach righteousness while actually doing horrible things behind the scenes without care). There’s a sort of misery in enforced righteousness, especially considering how horrible the world can be. I liked Taka and I wanted him to be happy. And I couldn’t, for the life of me, imagine him being the way he was portrayed in the game and also being happy. Maybe that’s just me projecting, but… I don’t know.

But deconstructing years of a carefully constructed persona is— like I said— terrifying. And for someone like Taka, whose entire life plan was crafted around a certain image? I can only imagine that would be like jumping off a plane into a black, inky darkness, no idea where you’re going to land. But Taka did that, because the only other option was to continue living with intense unhappiness, lying to himself to keep his sanity. But the problem with lying to yourself is that it gets so much harder once you know the truth. It can be done, of course, but it leads to even more unhappiness and pain and Taka… Taka realized that he didn’t want that. He didn’t want to be in pain anymore. He… he wanted to be happy. Which is an incredibly hard thing to accept when you’ve spent years silently accepting your own unhappiness as a fact of life.

As such, everything that has occurred since chapter 17 has been Taka’s attempt at constructing a new personality, in a way. A personality that marries the beliefs and goals he has always had while also combining them with a new sense of happiness and contentment in his life that before now he’s never felt. And this… this is so, so hard for him to do.

And it gets harder when his and Mondo’s relationship shifts. When he gets a taste of something he’d previously not allowed himself to ever, ever feel. Which brings us to the questions of why, exactly, I put so much sexual content into this story, despite it not seeming like something Taka would really want to do in canon.

Because… it’s not about pleasure. Right? It was never about pleasure or desire. It was about Taka allowing himself to feel something that every human feels (or, you know. Not every human. But a lot). It was about making Taka acknowledge that he is feeling these ‘impure,’ ‘sinful’ desires and allowing him to feel it. And, of course, this can be overwhelming. Taka has never allowed himself to feel these sorts of things before, had always pushed them so far down he couldn’t even see them. So far down he could pretend they weren’t there.

But they were. They always were. Taka can feel desire and attraction. He can feel them just fine. The whole point of the sexual content was to show Taka that it is okay to feel like that and that it’s not wrong or immoral. That Taka can feel attracted to someone, a man especially, and not feel ashamed. But more than that, it’s about allowing Taka to acknowledge that can be who is he in general without shame. That he doesn’t always have to be ‘perfect’ or infallible. That he can just be… Taka.

The biggest problem in all of this, however, is the fact that Taka is not the only character in this story. He’s not the only one going through a metamorphosis. Because Mondo? Oh, you can bet your sweet behind I was making Mondo go through his own metamorphosis, too.

Because everything I said about Taka up until now? I also feel about Mondo. I view Mondo’s tough guy, biker persona just like I view Taka’s upright, moral one. It’s a facade. Something that is hiding what is truly going on under the surface. It protects their soft, gooey innards, keeping them both safe whilst also providing them a sense of being. Of belonging.

But it’s not healthy. Hiding behind a persona, not letting your true emotions show. It’s unhealthy and leads to, you know… pain and unhappiness. And Mondo… Mondo also strikes me as a somewhat unhappy character. His disconnect in the game is less towards other people, however, and more towards himself. Makoto acknowledges many times after speaking with Mondo during free time events that he has a hidden side to him. A softer, ‘cuter’ side that he tries (and fails, ha) to keep hidden.

Like with Taka, I wanted to break Mondo’s carefully constructed persona and remove this hidden person inside him. I wanted to bring that person to the surface, finally allowing Mondo to stop feeling like he has to hide behind anger and rage and being ‘strong’. I wanted… I don’t know. To allow Mondo to not feel so ashamed of his weaker side, I guess.

This was a lot harder to do than with Taka, though, for a couple reasons. One, I was not writing from Mondo’s perspective in TPWP, which means all of his metamorphosis was being seen through the eyes of another. Which is not always easy to portray, sadly. For another, Mondo has a huge reason to keep his inner self hidden and locked away. Taka’s reason is shame and a desire to prove himself, right? This, in my eyes, is fairly simple to deconstruct. All you have to do is find a way to remove the shame and realize that it’s okay to feel what you feel. And yes, this is challenging, but… it’s not impossible.

Mondo, though? What’s keeping Mondo back isn’t just shame and a desire to prove himself. No. What’s holding Mondo back is guilt. Mondo feels guilty for his weakness. He feels guilty that his supposed ‘weakness’ killed his brother. He feels guilty that this same ‘weakness’ is preventing him from telling the truth, from accepting the responsibility for his supposed crime. Mondo, in many ways, hates himself. In this story, at least. And guilt is a much, much harder emotion to deconstruct than shame. There’s also the fact that I made Mondo an abuse survivor, which adds another element into this all that I won’t get into since this whole thing is already much longer than I’d initially intended, oof.

Anyway. The point here is that both Taka and Mondo are going through this metamorphosis at the same time. And I did this purposely since I wanted to have them help each other grow. Right? Because I view Taka and Mondo as very similar characters. They both have a need to prove themselves and a sense of inner righteousness that guides them in what they do. They just took opposite paths in their expression of these things. But ultimately, at their core, Taka and Mondo are very similar in my eyes.

Honestly, that’s part of why I had them hate one another in the beginning (on top of the fact that they didn’t get along in the game at first either, ha). That was each of them seeing themself in the other, and absolutely hating what they saw. Because they hate themselves. Because they cannot stand the persona they’ve created. Because it’s such a painfully false front that it’s almost offensive to them to see it on another.

Chapter ten was my way of letting them acknowledge a sense of self love for the first time. By accepting the other as flawed, but still fundamentally good, it allowed them to see themselves in a somewhat positive light for the first time. To accept that this person they once hated with all of their heart is… not that bad when it comes down to it. And not only are they not that bad, but they’re actually kind of amazing, really.

I… hm. I don’t really know where I’m going with this. I am very tired and am kind of just rambling at this point. I guess I just… I wanted to acknowledge that I’ve changed both of these characters a lot from canon, Taka especially. And this change has been expressed in a great way in Taka’s increased sexuality. And that I know this, that I know this isn’t really what canon Taka would act like, but that’s kind of the point. As much as I love Taka as a character, he’s kind of one dimensional. All of the characters in Danganronpa are. I think, in a way, they’re meant to be. But when you spend time with them, during the free time events and the school mode, you begin to see a slightly more well-rounded picture.

But it… it still feels a little flat to me. A little hollow. So, in this story, I just… wanted to flesh out these characters that I like and see so much potential in. I wanted to take them, give them tragic backstories, and see if I could find a way to give them balance. To keep them somewhat the same as they once were, to not fully remove their canon aspects, but not have that be their sole, defining characteristic anymore. Taka is still the Ultimate Moral Compass, and Mondo is still the Ultimate Biker Gang Leader. But that’s not all they are. Not by the end of the story.

Now, did I succeed in my plan? I… honestly, I don’t know. This entire thing was never something I consciously thought of while writing. It was more… a desire of mine, which might be why I’m having such a hard time describing it here, ha. It’s up to all of you to determine if I succeeded in writing these characters in a way that respects their canon characterization, while also adding a sense of balance within them.

Also— not to sound pretentious (though I know I am, oof. I always am when dead tired, sorry)— but in a way, this whole story was a metaphor for self-acceptance and self-love. And allowing yourself to find peace in who and what you are, no matter what. I made Taka and Mondo literary parallels in this story for a reason, giving them similar backstories (Taka was abused by bullies and neglected by his father; Mondo was abused by his father and neglected by his mother. Mondo’s brother died, leaving a hole in his heart; Taka’s mother died, leaving a hole in his heart. Taka watched his grandfather fall from grace and used that as a catalyst to ‘better’ himself, thus hiding all the unpleasant and unsavory aspects about himself; Mondo watched his brother die and used that as a catalyst to ‘better’ himself, thus hiding all the unpleasant and unsavory aspects about himself… etc.) to showcase this metaphor, in a way.

And it… it was to show that them helping the other grow symbolizes allowing yourself to grow, too. It symbolizes taking all the harsh and ugly parts of yourself that you hate, seeing it in another person, and realizing you actually love them, really. It symbolizes showing kindness to yourself for your faults, something I personally struggle with. By having Taka and Mondo love one another so fiercely, even without fully knowing why… it symbolizes, in my mind, letting you love yourself.

And, like… I know how pretentious this sounds, ha. And I don’t think I really succeeded in portraying all of this, unfortunately. But I just… I don’t know. I love the idea of Taka and Mondo and I wanted to write a story where they love one another unconditionally, while at the same time learning to love themselves too.

In many ways, I wish I had made this story take place over the span of a longer amount of time. Three months is just… it’s too quick to do everything I wanted to do in this story. Like I’ve said before, this story was never meant to be so long, word count wise. And a lot of what I wrote about here was not really planned when I started writing. While I wanted to deconstruct Taka, I didn’t really realize how long that would take, oof. Or what it all would entail. I thought three months would be plenty of time in universe, but then more and more things started happening, and by the time I realized it would need more time to progress naturally, I had passed the point of no return, pretty much.

If I could do this story all over again, I think I’d make it take place over the span of a year instead. I’d start the school year in April, like it’s supposed to be in Japan, and extend the amount of time Taka and Mondo were enemies. I’d have them become friends shortly before summer break and when they come back, have them go through the beginnings of their friendship like I had it in the story, but allowing it more time to progress. Taka and Mondo would still have their fight on Halloween, since that’s kind of an important aspect of that chapter, but they’d have had a longer time to be friends before that occurred. And then, after that, they’d have their physical relationship progress a lot more naturally and less hurriedly, the relationship spanning from perhaps right before winter break begins to the end of the school year in Japan, which is March. It would give them more time to come to terms with everything and accept themselves.

Part of me honestly kind of does want to change around TPWP to do this, but it would change a lot of fundamental parts of the story, which would be a lot of work. And if I was planning on publishing this story, I’d definitely do it since I think it would fix a lot of the problems that I have with how this story progresses. Three months is not long enough to completely deconstruct your entire personality, really. A year is a lot better and makes more sense to me. But, as it stands, I… I like TPWP. Is it perfect? No. But… that’s kind of the point? Nothing is perfect and if I allow myself, I’ll keep digging myself into more and more holes with this story, and at some point, I just… have to acknowledge I did the best I could and move on. Also, I do think that having it take place over three months isn’t completely unrealistic. Not with how unhappy both Taka and Mondo already had been. And there are some things that would be unrealistic if it took place over a year, too, so… eh.

I really don’t know where I’m going with this anymore, dear god. I’m going to go back to my original point real quick and hopefully finish this now hour long, rambling rant I’ve for some reason been going on. Jeez.

So. The purpose of the sexual content in this story. It— like a lot of other things in this story— was more meant as kind of like… a metaphor. It’s not about the sex, it’s about self-acceptance. Taka spent so many years denying himself and his sexuality, fearing it and feeling ashamed of it. By allowing himself to be sexual and intimate with Mondo, he’s accepting that aspect of himself and embracing it. But, because he spent so long denying it, he doesn’t quite know when it’s too much. He’s spent his life pushing down his discontent and discomfort to become what other people want him to be, and as such, he doesn’t quite know where his own boundaries lie.

And I’m going to be quite honest with y’all: Taka doesn’t enjoy the sexual acts quite as much as he thinks he does. No, I’m not saying that Mondo is taking advantage of Taka, or that Taka hates what they’re doing, not at all! Just… Taka feels uncomfortable with the things he and Mondo are doing, but because he enjoys the sensation and enjoys being close to Mondo, he pushes down the feeling of discontent, like he’s done all of his life. He just… doesn’t know what else to do. He knows he likes being close to Mondo, knows he enjoys the things they do together, but can’t quite put his finger on the fact that he doesn’t really enjoy being sexual. That he only likes the sexual acts because it’s the only way he can be close to Mondo in the way he wants, both physically and— in a way— emotionally.

And part of Taka does realize this, right? The deep, deep, hidden part of himself that only comes out at night when everything else is silent. I call this the ‘introspective’ part. But this is a hard part of yourself to access and acknowledge. Especially when you’re young. I, personally, am a very introspective person. It’s why I can write about emotions and feelings decently, and why I am currently writing this little introspective about TPWP. But it was a lot harder for me when I was a teen to realize what that introspection meant. It’s why I didn’t realize I had undiagnosed anxiety until I was eighteen and in college, which was ironically a lot easier for me than high school was. It took me being out of the situation I was in to look at myself and realize exactly why I felt what I felt, even though I knew I felt that stuff much earlier.

Taka’s still in his bad situation, though. He’s still struggling with the desire of what he wants and what he’s forcing himself to settle for. And, basically, he doesn’t understand why he’s unhappy at being sexual. He knows on a base level that he is, but he can’t quite place his finger on the why. Which is, as I’ve said, because it’s not really what he wants. He’s settling for having Mondo in whatever way he can because he thinks he has to. But it’s not what he wants, and it’s honestly killing him inside to be so close to his desired outcome, but not have it. He hates that the only way he can have Mondo is in such a shallow, debased way, but he’s forced himself to believe that this is all he will ever have, and that he must be happy with it or else he will lose it, like he’s lost every good thing in his life before that point. And the thought of losing what he and Mondo have is just… it’s too much for him. He’s still figuring himself out, still building his new personality from the ruins of the old, and he kind of needs Mondo to help prop him up as he does this.

(Which is, by the way, unhealthy in a relationship. It’s very codependent and can lead to some negative outcomes in its own right. But this rant of mine has been going on for almost two hours, so I’m not going to get into this right now. Just know that I know, and that it’s not intended to be portrayed as a good thing. None of Taka’s coping mechanisms are, which is why they all fail in the end, leaving him discontent. But as of now, Taka kind of needs Mondo, so he’s overlooking the potential negative outcome and is just allowing himself to have Mondo. Make sense?)

In the end, the only way for Taka to fully come to terms with everything that is swirling within him is to have Mondo acknowledge the love they share for each other, since he can’t accept everything about himself until Mondo does. He needs Mondo to look at him, look at his flaws, and say ‘I love you no matter what. You are not perfect, but I still love you.’ And while Mondo has done this to some degree, it’s not the love Taka not-so-secretly desires. But, like I said earlier, Mondo is going through his own metamorphosis and isn’t quite at that stage yet.

All of this comes to a head in the last three chapters of TPWP. Does everything get resolved by the end? No. Of course not. There’s just not enough time for that. Discovering yourself takes years, really. And you never finish. Even if I had elongated the amount of time this story takes place to a year, there still would be things unresolved when the story ended.

That being said, the main problems both Taka and Mondo are going through reach a conclusion. I don’t want to go too much into this to prevent spoilers, but just know that everything I brought up here? Gets some form of acknowledgment in the last chapters and gets some manner of resolution. And everything else was initially intended to be resolved in sequels, which may or may not be written, who knows. But TPWP ends in a way that even without further writing from my part, I firmly believe that all of y’all can see where Mondo and Taka will go from here. That it won’t be easy, but that they will eventually figure themselves out.

So… yeah. That insanely long and complicated rant boils down to this: Taka and Mondo being sexual is not really about them being sexual but is about them understanding and accepting their love not just for one another, but for themselves, too. It’s a catalyst. And I didn’t go over Mondo’s views on this all, and I won’t since this has gone on so long (plus I’ve not written Mondo’s perspective on those chapters yet, so even I don’t fully know, though I have ideas), but believe me when I say it’s more than just sex for him, too. That’s one of the reasons why I didn’t really want to categorize this story as explicit at first, since it’s never been about the sex to me. It’s… more than that.

I don’t know if any of this made any sense, but I think I’m going to stop now. Maybe I’ll go back when I’m less tired and expand on this (and I’ll let y’all know if I do, writing after this break if I added anything or not) (I added a little to some parts and took out a couple of parts, but mostly this is the same thing I wrote between 5 and 7 am when I couldn’t sleep, ha), but for now, I’ll leave it.

And— final thing (that I added after trying to fall back asleep and failing, ha)— maybe I’m being more pretentious about my writing than it deserves. Maybe I’m saying all of this to try and excuse the flaws in my writing, like I always do internally. But… I don’t know. This is legitimately the sort of thing that went through my head whilst writing. I knew I wanted to put these elements in my story, even if I wasn’t consciously thinking about it, but trying to do all of that is just… hard. And I’m limited as a writer, I’ll acknowledge that. My thoughts are too big for my head and trying to write them all down is complicated for me. It’s why this little introspective is so long and rambling. It’s my way of trying to not just get you all to figure out what I mean, but also get myself to understand it. Because, while I know what I mean on an abstract, metaphysical level, I don’t really understand it all myself in a concrete, definable level. And this rambling is me trying to make sense of that. Does… does that make any sense at all? Or is this just gibberish? I don’t know. I think I understand it, but I have no idea if anyone else will. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Anyway. I hope this didn’t come across as too pretentious or like I’m trying to show off how ~~intellectual~~ I am. That’s not my intention at all. It’s just… it’s how I think. And it’s how I show myself to the world, in a way. My written work is always so personal to me. I put a lot of myself into my work, sometimes intentionally, but often unintentionally. And I’m not saying I went through any of what I put Mondo or Taka through. In fact, almost none of it relates to my life at all. I was never abused by anyone, nor was I bullied in school. I have a fairly good relationship with my parents and was well liked by my classmates, even when I didn’t really go to class often due to illness. I am not impoverished, nor have I ever really faced high expectations from family or the people around me. I’ve never really had to anguish over my sexuality, since I accepted myself as asexual pretty easily, though I still struggle to be open about it with everyone. And I’ve never lost a loved one.

So… no. It’s not that I’ve gone through what the characters have gone through. But… the emotions. The feeling. All of that… it’s me. Even if it’s imagined or created, I feel everything that I write and put down. It’s why angst comes more naturally to me, since I’ve felt a lot of negative emotions in my life. And most of it is self-inflicted. Like… I mentioned that I never had high expectations from family, but I did from myself. I expected so, so much from myself, and I still do. And while I was always well liked by my peers, I still felt alienated from them, like I… I don’t know. Didn’t really belong. And I feared that if they ever got to truly know me, THEN they’d hate me, and that was just… I don’t know. Too much for me. The thought that these things could happen. That I could have good things and then, through my own personal failings, lose them.

These fears are where I come from when writing. My fear of being hated and isolated. My fear of never being enough. My fear of letting everyone down. My fear of always being alone and losing the people I love. I write about it in my stories and I… I find a way to fix it. To show myself that even if something like that did happen, it… it can get better. You can still be loved even if you are flawed and kind of broken inside. And maybe I don’t believe that I ever will find love, maybe I can’t believe that anyone would look at me like that if they truly got to know me, but it’s still nice to read about it. To see my fears in characters I love and have them be okay in the end. It’s why I always like to have at least somewhat happy endings in my stories. I need to see that it’s okay. That even if the worst-case scenario happened… I’d still be okay.

(Also, I know people are going to ask this, but please know that yes, I am okay. I get like this sometimes, where I think a lot about stuff, and it can be overwhelming, which is why I write it down. It’s funny that I’ve never had a diary or journal, since it seems like something that would help me, but writing things down for my personal perusal never made sense to me. It’s why I always post things like this. It’s really personal, but it helps me feel better. Like I’m being understood in some way. So, just… know that I’m doing alright. I just wanted to try and explain something that has been bugging me in this story for a while now that I finally found the words for. And by letting it out into the world, I can remove it from my chest, I suppose. But introspection doesn’t really upset me much. It’s cathartic more than anything. Painful and confusing while going through it but relieving once it’s done. All I ask is to be heard, that’s all. And understood if possible. If you’re willing.)

(Also also, please know that I wrote this little introspective several days ago while very tired, and I’m over this burst of emotions by now mostly. So, again, I’m really okay. And I’m not pulling a Taka, trying to pretend I’m doing alright when I’m not. I do mean it, ha.)

(Also also also, but y’all can see where I get my writing style from when looking at this, ha. This is basically my thought process written down, which is why TPWP is written the way it is. I write like I think, which is long, rambling, and emotive. Just a little fun fact. ^-^)

#Random ramblings #TPWP introspective

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radicallyreidentified · 3 years

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hi! do you have any posts about reclaiming your chest / body and dealing with dysphoria over it?

Hello! Unfortunately I don’t have many posts regarding that so I’ll use this ask to make one.

So for me, personally I tried taking a slow approach. One thing radical feminism taught me is something that helped a lot with my body and something that my therapists say to me combined.

I struggled with my body post-detransition. I thought I looked ugly, unattainable, not worthy of being intimate with someone because I’m ugly, etc. I didn’t get top surgery but taking testosterone made my boobs look deflated and just... floppy skin lol.

I still don’t like my chest but I am a firm believer of, “your body is not about being beautiful or attainable. It’s main function is that it is helping you survive right now.” My boobs exist to signify I went through an important process of puberty. Even though pregnancy is not necessary to be a woman. Our bodies are meant to carry and birth a child so that way if I do choose to become pregnant they are there for me to bond with my baby and feed. I don’t think of them as something to be beautiful or attractive. They’re meant to help the baby that I carried lives. And I like that. As a woman carries a child and breastfeeds she is giving a part of her life into another living being. She does NOT have to do this. But evolutionary, we are built we the ability to CHOOSE. And our breasts are meant to be just in case we are the ones who do want a child. (if she can, this is NOT the only way and bottlefeeding is just as good)

My voice also changed a whole lot while on testosterone. I thought I couldn’t sing anymore or sound nice, etc. but then I remind myself the FUNCTION of my voice. To communicate properly with others. As long as my voice is heard and people can understand what I’m saying. My voice is okay. It doesn’t have to sound pretty. When it comes to singing we detransitioners are used to singing the way we did before our voice changed. We just need to redo our learning and work with our new tones. There are many singers with raspy voices and a singer doesn’t have to be flowy or low. It just needs to be itself.

And the same applies to rest of your body. Your body has a purpose and it’s all built for YOU and it’s okay to just BE. Your body isn’t meant to be beautiful or handsome. It’s meant to help you survive.

Now combating the dysphoria of it all is a tricky one. We don’t know other ways of handeling and I’ll admit I still have days or weeks where I wish I got back on testosterone. But, at the same time I also try to look deeply and keep myself from dissociating from my own body. I don’t need to “be a man” to be happy”. I don’t need to “be a woman” to be happy. I’m human and I am allowed to be happy even if we hate our bodies. Our body is built specifically for the individual. No matter how it looks like. Your body is functioning for you.

Personally I’m a man-hating dyke. So when I get dysphoric and I wish to be a man. I think of all the men around me and how they are and I ask myself, “Do I really want to be them or live in their bodies?” And my answer has always been “ew, no”. Your gut reaction to things like that may not be correct so give yourself some time to think critically.

Also it is okay, while you’re in the process of detransitioning. To take it slowly. If something that doesn’t harm your body ease your dysphoria than it’s okay to do it for a short while. And work slowly as to using it less and letting your body exist as it is WITHOUT judgement.

This isn’t much of a resource and I wish I had more but I really hope this has helped a lot.

#radfem #feminism #radical feminism #detransition #dysphoria

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girlobsessed21 · 4 years

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Thoughts on The 100 7x01

Before I get into the episode, I felt the absence of Bellamy and Octavia, they are my favorites and a very core part of this show. I was worried about the lack of Bellamy in all the promotional material, but Jason explained in an article that he needed some time off and they gave that to him, but he still plays a vital role and we will see him again. At the end of the day, we don’t know what happened, but the mystery around his disappearance into anomaly is quite intriguing.

For now, I’m holding out hope that he will return to my screen in full force, until proven wrong I’m going to be positive. Despite that, I enjoyed it. It wasn’t my favorite first episode, still a strong start spreading optimism for the rest of the season. Lots of surprises that made it worthwhile.

The anomaly colony

Hope wakes up with memory loss while Gabriel examines her tattoos. She runs away and finds a note to herself that says, ‘Trust Bellamy’. Bellamy, not Octavia, who she clearly knows, which seems like Hope wasn’t aware she would find Octavia in Sanctum.

Now, why would Hope want to trust Bellamy and stab Octavia? Perhaps she needed his help finding her in return for Diyoza? This seems like a logical conclusion given that ‘He’ has her mother. The Blakes certainly hold some key to the anomaly, everything points me in that direction.

I can’t say all that much about Hope, due to the amnesia she has no personality yet, but it’s clear she’s smart and capable.

Gabriel being an anomaly-dork. Gosh, I love him too bits. The acting in the scene where they try to figure out what happened to Octavia and Bellamy is a little cringy, but I turned a blind eye and focused on the dialogue.

I’m getting to the good stuff…

Roan coming back to haunt Echo is probably my favorite part of the episode, I’ve missed the king so damn much. He asks her who she is without Bellamy or her queen. I’m so glad they’re delving into the subject. If you read my previous blogs, you’ll know I asked this question many times. She’s such a bad ass spy, she needs a purpose and story apart from him. Nonetheless, I like Echo and I would love to see her gain some of her own identity and build her own life. Being distanced by time and space could really do that for her. Scroll down for the shipping part of this story…

The more important thing is that there are people who control the anomaly and know exactly who they are. Like Echo predicted because of the bad shots they were sent to capture and not kill them except for Hope. I assume it’s because she knows how the anomaly works. Who are they and what do they want? My guess, Bellamy and Octavia. Perhaps Clarke as well?

Loved the three of them entering together because a few second difference could mean months. That means Diyoza and Octavia could have been months, maybe even years, apart.

Rising from and burning to ashes in one afternoon

This new beautiful house with the dysfunctional family and Madi with Picasso is certainly heart-warming in a show that continues to push the bounds of darkness. How great is that little picnic in the yard? Now I’m curious, they drink to Abby, but have they forgotten Kane?

Also, good to see Raven and Clarke on better terms. They really spoiled her character in season 6 but it seems like she’s back on par. It’s clear that good things happen when they’re working towards the same goal, as family. That dynamic has been broken since season 2 and if there’s one lesson that can be learned from season 1 it’s that they’re outstanding on the same team.

At first, I wondered why they weren’t questioning Octavia, Bellamy and Echo’s absence but then I realized they probably saved them a room like they did for Jordan and assumed they were exploring the anomaly. It’s still the same day as 6x13 since they were having lunch. Episode 6x13 ended at dawn and 7x01 starts at lunchtime.

I know Murphy did a lot of obscure things in season 6 but he’s not to blame for Abby’s death. Emori’s right, Russel killed her.

Why did Clarke choose the master suite, though? It seems a little out of character for her to do something so selfish.

On to other things, I must point out Indra’s line: “Someone needs to speak for the commander and I’m hungry.” She’s magnificent, hard and sharp, as always. Pair that with Miller being a dutiful, abiding shoulder and you have greatness.

Raven makes a comment about mothers and daughters and Clarke says she’s fine. Later, Madi also asks her to open up about it, and she still claims to be fine. When I heard this the first time, I was instantly worried because they heap one set of PTSD on top of the other and never deal with it. The woman just lost her mother, how the hell can she be fine. The answer: She can’t.

And I’m really glad they expanded on that to show how utterly necessary it is to deal with your grief and trauma. Sure, Clarke is a powerhouse of a woman, but she’s human and clearly hurt, she can’t compartmentalize and continue on like nothing has happened – I hope she finds a way to actually deal with it instead of following in Jasper’s footsteps. She was already suicidal, give the damn woman a break.

Is civility an ability?

Faith is a powerful and dangerous thing. Interesting topic. While I don’t completely believe that faith is dangerous, when it comes to the point of blindly following charlatan’s into harms way, yes it becomes dangerous. My biggest thoughts on this narrative is whether peace can indeed exist in a world where different factions exist with various beliefs and opinions. I’d like to quote John Lennon:

Imagine there's no countries It isn't hard to do Nothing to kill or die for And no religion too Imagine all the people living life in peace, you

Keyword being ‘Imagine’, this song is written about an unattainable Utopia which is still a reality several hundred years into the future.

“Too many people”

“Good thing ALIE’s not around.”

The humor is all around outstanding this episode even Clarke cracks a joke.

We’re introduced to a few new characters and not much too say about them since we didn’t see much of them. I like Nelson, he is firm in his stance, logical and pragmatic. Trey is just annoying with his faith in the divinity of the primes. The only thing I got from Nikki is that she’s compulsive and lethal while Hatch has this Southern charm and charisma. He reminds me of Sawyer from Lost.

Next, Jordan goes to check on Russel. I appreciate the way they build around the morality we saw withing Russel at the beginning of season 6. JR Bourne is a fantastic actor with the depth he plays into the grief and guilt of losing his family.

Also, the softness of Monty and Harper still shining through Jordan. I’m glad he’s not adjusted and simply trying to keep the peace. Not sure if that’ll change. Curious to know why they saw the anomaly in their visions…

I just need to add that Murphy sitting at a bar is perfect!! Another amazing episode for him and Emori. He questions himself with his own varied degrees of morality while Emori continues to grow by reading Kay Lee Prime’s journal. I guess the believers must be blind to continue following their orders, but hey, props to Raven for exploiting the opportunity and Murphy and Emori did an entertaining job with it. Emori has come such a long way and the ‘We are one’ line felt personal in the sense that she had also established herself as part of the family.

Losing my religion

Can you truly lose your religion? What is a fleimkeepa without a flame, what is Sanctum without the primes and what is Echo without Bellamy? Sometimes faith is stronger than truth. Bad thing, no! Because what is the truth really? Interesting subject to explore but I don’t have an answer on this. I’d rather focus on the fact that I’m glad we’ll get to explore these characters on new paths.

Clarke’s composure vanishes. Boy oh boy, Eliza’s acting. When you compare s6 and 7 to s1, it just shows you the value of experience. The way that switch flipped when Russel handed her Abby’s clothes and wedding band. I looked at the fighting and her explosive rage in detail and I cannot help but compliment her on that perfect portrayal of the result of passive aggression.

Now, I don’t understand how Sheidheda uploaded himself into Russel’s mind drive when it was made clear that two consciousness cannot exist in the same mind. When Clarke killed Josephine in the mind-space, she came back to life within seconds. Will this be another Clarke/Josephine battle and are the other commanders still subdued?

If he is going to be one of the main villains of the season, I would like to get under his skin. I’m not interested in a one-dimensional pure evil villain. I’m hoping JR Bourne will make something remarkable of him.

Shipwreck

There’s a friendship blooming between Clarke and Gaia and I’m all for it. Could they be setting them up romantically? It’s a possibility and I’d take it as a consolation prize for Bellarke if it’s well-built. Focus on the well-built. If Clarke finds out that Bellamy is missing and goes through hell and beyond to save him, I will interpret that as Clarke still loves Bellamy. If they want me to fall in love with Claia, they should make me fall in love with Claia.

Although I’d always prefer Bellarke. From a storytelling or writing viewpoint, all loose ends should be tied with the conclusion. Bellarke is a complete loose shard. If romance is not their destiny, I hope they at least address the topic in full, because it has been building for seven years. If you haven’t read my post on Bellarke, please do so. I explain in the romantic elements of their story in detail.

As for Echo’s vision of Roan. He questions her devotion to Bellamy and says she will even betray the man she now claims to love. I interpreted that as him referring to Mount Weather as well as secrets she’s obviously hidden from Bellamy. For example, her real name. This could go two ways in my opinion. One, they’re trying to set Echo apart from Bellamy, separating them by time and space to break them up or they are trying to teach her how to be her own person as well as the other half of their relationship.

I’m not quite invested in their relationship, and they would have to rip one bigass hare out of the hat to get my attention. Love their characters individually, but season 6 showed me Bellamy still loves Clarke. If Becho’s relationship was built to last, the writers would have written it that way. When you compare it to Murphy and Emori or Monty and Harper, it’s clearly questionable.

That’s it, let me know if I got something wrong, if you agree or disagree, love to hear your opinions.

#the 100 #the 100 season 7 #the 100 7x01 #the 100 season seven #The100 #clarke griffin #bellarke #bellamy blake #octavia blake #john murphy #emori #echo kom azgeda #gabriel #indra kom trikru #gaia #raven reyes #russel lightbourne #jordan green

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welanabananaworld · 4 years

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Us and the voice of dystopia

Jordan Peele’s latest film, Us, is as uncanny and disturbing as his first movie Get Out which proved itself to be a cinematic feat at the time of its release in 2017. Rightly considered as one of the fathers of the horror film renaissance (see also Ari Aster), Jordan Peele has been succeeding not only in addressing societal issues and in adopting a critical stance toward his home country but also in injecting an artistic vision in what is unfairly and generally regarded as second-class films.

In Us, Jordan Peele’s strong sense of composition and framing reveals the main theme of the film : the duality of human nature through the evil self. Nothing revolutionary so far. Many films of the genre have explored the mythology surrounding the figure of the doppelgänger from multiple angles. For example, Alfred Hitchcock’s and Darren Aronofsky’s use of the double has a psychological bent; to dig through Scotty’s perverse psyche in the haunting Vertigo (1958) and to explore a mental illness in Black Swan (2011), whereas in The Great Dictator (1940), Charlie Chaplin chose to play both Hynkel and the Jewish barber for satirical purpose. In Us, nothing of the sort. Remember what we said about Jordan Peele’s films? About how the horror genre disguises social subtexts? But before aiming at the true meaning of this human mirror, one should focus more on the narrative use of the voice which proves to be of utter importance to understand what is at stake, because if you really listen to the voice, you understand the whole film.

Us tells the story of Adelaïde Wilson’s family who goes on holiday at the seaside in Santa Cruz. A series of strange coincidences reminds her of the trauma she experienced there when she was a little girl while vacationing with her parents. She made a disturbing encounter in the hall of mirrors of a funhouse. She came face to face with a little girl who looked just like her. After this event, she could no longer speak for a while because of, it seems, a post-traumatic stress disorder. At present day, overwhelmed with fear, she confides in her husband about her past. The same evening, they discover four people standing outside their house, their doppelgängers. Ruthlessly hunted, the Wilson family will have to look inward in order to counter their own selves.

What strikes first when they all meet is that Red, Adelaïde’s double, is the only one who is able to speak, or rather utter words. She is struggling with very word she says, as if her speech production was failing her somehow. When she starts speaking, her voice happens to be hoarse, cavernous, husky, strained, even choked. Her disorder of phonation makes her voice otherworldly such as of a creature’s coming straight out of hell. It feels like she is not used to talk, actually that this is the first time she tries to pronounce and articulate words to create sentences. In this perspective, it is worth stressing Lupita Nyong’o’s astonishing work to produce Red’s chilling croaky and guttural voice. She used spasmodic dysphonia to make a creepy voice, that is a neurological disorder that causes involuntary breaks or interruptions in the voice due to an irregular flow of air. This language impairment, however, does not prevent Red from telling her story; the story of a dystopian world.

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Red and Adelaïde are two sides of the same mirror. One learns that everything Adelaïde does is mirrored and has an impact on Red’s life, only the other way around. Everything that is happening in Red’s life is a pale copy of Adelaïde’s achievements and takes on a nightmarish dimension. Red’s husband, Abraham, is rough and dumb; her daughter, Umbrae, is born laughing and her son, Pluto, is a dangerous arsonist. The ideal family meets the poor and sad version of themselves who now claims justice through revenge, hence the imagery of the good and evil self.

Throughout the film, the mise-en-scène keeps referring to the double as a warning or rather a prophecy as to the coming of those doppelgängers clad in red jumpsuits, which strangely resemble the clothing of prisoners. The clues left by the director are the following ones : the twin sisters of the superficial WASP family friends, the shadow of each member of the Wilson family projected on the sand while they are walking on the beach, the recurring number « 11:11 » featured here and there (an extract from the Bible, Jeremiah 11:11), Jason wearing a mask (maybe a reference to the iconic masked murderer of Friday the 13th whose name is Jason?), Jason’s drawing showing a kid who looks just like him, a toy plastic spider behind which a true spider appears crawling across the low table of the living room, and of course the daze of mirrors.

All those elements evoke duplicity and foresee a parallel world unknown so far. Red’s voice, alone, embraces all that imagery and embodies the punitive prophecy hidden behind the verse from the Old Testament book, the Book of Jeremiah, whose verse alludes to God’s wrath : « Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon them, which they shall not be able to escape; and though they shall cry unto me, I will not hearken unto them. » The invasion of the doppelgängers across the world is a divine plague orchestrated by Red from the underworld to take revenge.

In fact, what the film tends to reveal all along is the existence of an underworld located inside « the thousands miles of tunnels beneath the continental United States », which are « abandoned subways systems », as stated at the very beginning of the film as an introduction. Those subways are inhabited by people who are the product of a failed governmental scientific experiment designed to replicate the bodies of those above to manipulate them. However, they discovered that the « soul » could not be duplicated, hence the repudiation and neglect of that population now doomed to survive below the Earth’s surface, with raw rabbits as sole source of nourishment, and to « act out grim recreations of their respective partners’ above ground actions like sad little marionettes. »1 The scientific dimension of this governmental conspiracy is foretold in the opening credits by the camera progressively zooming out the caged rabbits. This shot conveys the idea of a sanitized laboratory. The existence of two opposite worlds is also mentioned by the shot which shows the funhouse twice, by night and day (darkness and daylight).

The organised overthrow, which takes as an example the Hand Across America charity campaign of 1986 (giant human chain), can be interpreted in many ways : an uprising against social inequalities, such as racial, gender and salary based discrimination, which undermine the U.S (or Us); a country where climbing in the social ladder is more and more unattainable for under-represented ethnic minorities. It can also be seen as a denunciation of what America has become, unfair, poor and divided; a denunciation of the famous ideology of American exceptionalism through the ostentatious display of American symbols distorted by the horror genre. The « tethered » are done being downtrodden and ostracized. They want to embrace the American myth that had been promised to them by taking their rights back and by building a new world, hence Red’s assertive reply to Gabe’s question « Who are you, people? » : « We are Americans. » They claim themselves as being true Americans (to be connected to the Native American reference of the original funhouse’s sign), free from all materialistic concerns.

Only, this does not constitute the twist ending of the film. Like all self-respecting horror films, Us is no exception in the matter and does offer a shocking one. And this is the voice which hints at it all along and that turns upside down the government’s theory about their human experiments.

Red’s whistling while walking up the alley of the Wilson’s family with a pair of scissors in her hand in the dark is where the truth really lies. If one has well paid attention to the details, one would have noticed that Adelaïde whistled the same way when she was trapped in the hall of mirrors when she was a young girl, as if to ward off the coming threat. Do you see my point? Why is Adelaïde so reluctant and does have trouble engaging in a conversation with Kitty on the beach? Why would Red be the only tethered to be provided with the ability to speak? Why this eager for revenge? Because Red actually is the true Adelaïde. Back to the funhouse in 1986, young Adelaïde’s clone, Red, was lured to go to the surface as Adelaïde progressively approached to her tragic destiny.

What the film did not show is that Red strangled Adelaïde until she fainted, dragged her down the tunnel, attached her to her bed in the dormitory and switched place with her among Adelaïde’s family, hence her early language deficiency. While Red grew up like a normal little girl and learned how to speak, Adelaïde lost progressively her language abilities growing up among zombie-like human beings, which proves that the government’s theory is wrong. The soul cannot be duplicated but this does not mean that the tethered are « soulless creatures ». If given the chance, as Red has had, the tethered would have turned out perfectly okay. They would have followed the regular human evolution process called « hominisation » or « anthropogenesis », the process of becoming human. Indeed, the doppelgängers all look like primitive animals. Pluto, by his gesture, reminds of a monkey-like primate’s attitude and Abraham’s moans, groans and grunts are those of Cro-Magnon man. Their names evoke ancient times, something rough yet to evolve, and the mythology of the doppelgänger, Pluto being the god of the underworld, Umbrae the latin word for shadow. Abraham is the « Father of the nations » which can be connected to the human chain the tethered seek to initiate to rise up and find they own humanity. Red’s name could refer to the color of the tethered’ garments, and thus evoke the state of imprisonment which they have been reduced to until now.

In this perspective, Red’s voice is not only the voice of dystopia but goes far beyond this sole and somewhat manichean opposition which is the driving force behind the narrative of the film. Red’s voice, by also being the voice of anthropological evolution, mainly serves to establish a connection between the latter subject and the current state of American society. With no equality of opportunity, people cannot equally seek higher social and intellectual status and end up being the slaves of the system. America has now no other choice but to drop her delusions and take her mask off.

1 Bojalad, A., (2019, March 22). Us, Hands Across America, and the failed American experiment. Retrieved from https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/us-jordan-peele-hands-across-america/

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love-on-your-wrist · 5 years

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Analyzing Social Climb (pt.1)

K, so after finally getting back home and having actual WIFI in here, i decided to watch social climb again in its entirety and express some of my thoughts and observations i guess? Anyways lets go

The video starts with a 10-Second long animation of the band´s logo, and directly moves over to the visuals of a fancy-looking house. Over it, there is a bit of text and a headline:

“the TELEFOUNDATION presents

THOUGHT REFORM

&THE CORPORATE GUIDE TO SOCIAL RECONDITIONING”

Now, let´s try and analyse this :D

What is Telefoundation?

On the internet, i wasnt able to find any mentions of the word, let alone a definition of the word, so i assumed it was the name of a fictional firm in the iDKHOW universe But, i was able to find a similar word, “early television foundation” and also a link to something else here: http://www.cftf.org.uk/ if you want to take a look at that. The first one tho, it is a museum “dedicated to the preservation of the technology from the early days of television.“, as directly quoted from their website.

Furthermore, the website says: “Our website's mission is to preserve and make available to the public the history of early television, from the mechanical systems of the 1920s through the introduction of color televsion in the 1950s.“

Aha, so that museum just showcases different TVs from around 1945, how´s that connected to social climb and idkhow? I dont have an idea, but we know that the mv for social climb is a brainwashing propaganda video from 1977, broadcasted over television.

What is Thought Reform?

thought reform is another word for brainwashing used by Robert Jay Lifton, one of the first phsychologists to study both brainwashing and mindcontrol. Lifton was a US-american phsychatrist and author in the 60s. 1970 he was accepted as a teacher at washington school of psychatry. Later, he released his books called “Home from the War: Vietnam Veterans. Neither Victims nor Executioners (1973), and The Nazi Doctors: Medical Killing and the Psychology of Genocide” (1986), of which the publishing years bring us near to the time in which the iDKHOW story takes place.

returning back to ´thought reform´, Lifton offered 8 steps/methods of manipulating minds. I have copied them off http://changingminds.org/techniques/conversion/lifton_thought_reform.htm for anybody interested:

#1 Milieu control

All communication with outside world is limited, either being strictly filtered or completely cut off. Whether it is a monastery or a behind-closed-doors cult, isolation from the ideas, examples and distractions of the outside world turns the individuals attention to the only remaining form of stimulation, which is the ideology that is being inculcated in them.

This even works at the intrapersonal level, and individuals are discouraged from thinking incorrect thoughts, which may be termed evil, selfish, immoral and so on.

#2 Mystical manipulation

A part of the teaching is that the group has a higher purpose than others outside the group. This may be altruistic, such as saving the world or helping people in need. It may also be selfish, for example that group members will be saved when others outside the group will perish.

All things are then attributed and linked to this higher purpose. Coincidences (which actually may be deliberately engineered) are portrayed as symbolic events. Attention is given to the problems of out-group people and attributed to their not being in the group. Revelations are attributed to spiritual causes.

This association of events is used as evidence that the group truly is special and exclusive.

#3 Confession

Individuals are encouraged to confess past 'sins' (as defined by the group). This creates a tension between the person's actions and their stated belief that the action is bad, particularly if the statement is made publicly. The consistency principle thus leads the person to fully adopt the belief that the sin is bad and to distance themselves from repeating it.

Discussion of inner fears and anxieties, as well as confessing sins is exposing vulnerabilities and requires the person to place trust in the group and hence bond with them. When we bond with others, they become our friends, and we will tend to adopt their beliefs more easily.

This effect may be exaggerated with intense sessions where deep thoughts and feelings are regularly surfaced. This also has the effect of exhausting people, making them more open to suggestion.

#4 Self-sanctification through purity

Individuals are encouraged to constantly push towards an ultimate and unattainable perfection. This may be rewarded with promotion within the group to higher levels, for example by giving them a new status name (acolyte, traveller, master, etc.) or by giving them new authority within the group.

The unattainability of the ultimate perfection is used to induce guilt and show the person to be sinful and hence sustain the requirement for confession and obedience to those higher than them in the groups order of perfection.

Not being perfect may be seen as deserving of punishment, which may be meted out by the higher members of the group or even by the person themselves, who are taught that such atonement and self-flagellation is a valuable method of reaching higher levels of perfection.

#5 Aura of sacred science

The beliefs and regulations of the group are framed as perfect, absolute and non-negotiable. The dogma of the group is presented as scientifically correct or otherwise unquestionable.

Rules and processes are therefore to be followed without question, and any transgression is a sin and hence requires atonement or other forms of punishment, as does consideration of any alternative viewpoints.

#6 Loaded language

New words and language are created to explain the new and profound meanings that have been discovered. Existing words are also hijacked and given new and different meaning.

This is particularly effective due to the way we think a lot though language. The consequence of this is that the person who controls the meaning of words also controls how people think. In this way, black-and-white thinking is embedded in the language, such that wrong-doers are framed as terrible and evil, whilst those who do right (as defined by the group) are perfect and marvellous.

The meaning of words are kept hidden both from the outside world, giving a sense of exclusivity. The meaning of special words may also be revealed in careful illuminatory rituals, where people who are being elevated within the order are given the power of understanding this new language.

#7 Doctrine over person

The importance of the group is elevated over the importance of the individual in all ways. Along with this comes the importance of the the group's ideas and rules over personal beliefs and values.

Past experiences, beliefs and values can all thus be cast as being invalid if they conflict with group rules. In fact this conflict can be used as a reason for confession of sins. Likewise, the beliefs, values and words of those outside the group are equally invalid.

#8 Dispensed existence

There is a very sharp line between the group and the outside world. Insiders are to be saved and elevated, whilst outsiders are doomed to failure and loss (which may be eternal).

Who is an outsider or insider is chosen by the group. Thus, any person within the group may be damned at any time. There are no rights of membership except, perhaps, for the leader.

People who leave the group are singled out as particularly evil, weak, lost or otherwise to be despised or pitied. Rather than being ignored or hidden, they are used as examples of how anyone who leaves will be looked down upon and publicly denigrated.

People thus have a constant fear of being cast out, and consequently work hard to be accepted and not be ejected from the group. Outsiders who try to persuade the person to leave are doubly feared.

Dispensation also goes into all aspects of living within the group. Any and all aspects of existence within the group is subject to scrutiny and control. There is no privacy and, ultimately, no free will.

Most of these methods are intigrated into the social climb music video, showing an elite, almost cult-like group of people most liekly cut off of the rest of the world, etc. i think #3 could also be a reference to the song “modern day cain” by iDKHOW, of which (for example) the pre-chorus is:

“So now you've done a little wrong And you need to be forgiven By the Vicar and the company you keep And then you conjure up a fiction To get the pretty girl to listen“

and also the main chorus that is:

“This is the sin That I will confess to release myself From consequence And everyone can tell“

in which method #3: Confession is mentioned directly. (Oh boi, i think we gettin to the point now, but after 2 hours just straight out researching and writing the first two explanations/theories i kinda dont know how to formulate the next section. i´ll take a short break.)

What is Social Reconditioning?

As i did my research on the internet, the term “social conditioning” seemed to have appeared way more often in results, and doesn´t seem to differ that heavily from social reconditioning, so let me explain it first. Social conditioning is the definition of training someone to behave in a manner that is generally approved from society and/or peer groups in society. “Manifestations of social conditioning are vast, but they are generally categorized as social patterns and social structures including nationalism, education, employment, entertainment, popular culture, religion, spirituality and family life. The social structure in which an individual finds him or herself influences and can determine their social actions and responses. “ (Wikipedia)

So now that we´ve got that figured out, what would Social Reconditioning mean? I myself would explain it as having to adjust from one specific social pattern/structure to another. an example i provide is a soldier coming back home from the war and having to adjust into the general city-life from the strict life in an army. The “corporate guide to social reconditioning” is most likely to be a book in the iDKHOW universe abouthow to fit into a generally acepted form of society again. But what other social structure, or rather group of people is it, that one has to recover from?

This is what i think is worth mentioning in this wikipedia article:

“Propaganda.

Edward Bernays, Freud's nephew and the father of propaganda and public relations, used many of his uncle's theories in order to create new methods in marketing. In Propaganda, he published that "If we understand the mechanism and motives of the group mind, it is now possible to control and regiment the masses according to our will without them knowing it".[4] He used the herd theory in order to create public relations, thus conditioning the public to need particular goods from certain manufacturers. In the same publication he stated, "A single factory, potentially capable of supplying a whole continent with its particular product, cannot afford to wait until the public asks for its product; it must maintain constant touch, through advertising and propaganda, with the vast public in order to assure itself the continuous demand which alone will make its costly plant profitable."[4] His theories and applications in social conditioning continue throughout his work. “

In Summary/Conclusion

Social climb is a propaganda/brainwash video

It is from the late 70s (1977 to be exact)

The band iDKHOW is in it, joined by Whiteshadow (the white skull person with the mask), possibly meaning that Bamd has time-traveled into 1977

Social climb is very likely to be referencing Modern Day Cain, and probably MDCs music video

The propagande video might be advertising or warning the public about a cult-like group of elite people

Which are a Illuminati-like organization, if not Illuminati itself

speaking from scenes like the one at 1:19, where the Pattern on the table undoubtedly is a pyramid with an eye in the middle, having the letter i,d,k,h,b,t,f and m in each rectangle in the first row

if i get any more stuff facts about the actual video into this i might as well make a second part out of this

#social climb mv #social climb music video #social climb #my post #idkhow #idkhbtfm #i dont know how but they found me #idkhow theory #dallon weekes #ryan seaman #1981 extended play #1981 ep #mypost #choke #bleed magic #absinthe #do it all the time #long post

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wlwscorpia · 5 years

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I’m not really sure how to introduce this so I’m just gonna be straight to the point; this is an analysis of how Allura dying failed as a narrative choice and how I would have written the season 8 finale of Voltron.

I would like to note that I am trying my best to keep personal biases out of this and look at this from an objective standpoint. However I do feel the need to point out that Allura’s death, as well as the many writing failures, upset me greatly. Hell, I never really liked Lance as much as everyone else but even I’m mad about how his character was handled. I’ve gotten to the point now, nearly 4 months after the finale, that I’m able to take a step back and look at this ending from an objective standpoint, at what it succeeded and what it failed to deliver on.

I’m also not going to mention shipping. It’s pretty obvious why.

This gets very long so it’s going under the cut.

What Voltron Did Wrong

First of all, I would like to say that I love tragic endings--when they are written well. Killing off Allura the way they did was not good writing, and even though the scene itself was fine (it wasn’t violent and she got individual goodbye moments with everyone but Coran) it made little thematic sense and left plenty of viewers who connected to her upset and disappointed that she didn’t get a happy ending.

The main theme of Voltron is, inarguably, “the power of friendship and love overcomes all.” There are other themes, sure, but this is the main theme. It’s the classic, cheesy “we will defeat them with our friendship and courage!” show that I adore. Voltron itself is powered by the bond between its paladins and if that core base of love isn’t there, it cannot be formed, even by the most competent paladins. This is just indisputable fact.

So having one character take all the weight of the sacrifice and be the only one to die doesn’t tie in with that theme. The paladins fight together as one,and in doing that acknowledge that if they fail, they die together. If you take out Voltron, you take out all it’s paladins.

And most importantly, it’s impossible to ignore the aspect of what Allura represented to fans as a black woman. She was an excellent character that was powerful, yet still allowed to be feminine and beloved and considered beautiful by many, something that’s rare in the already paltry amount of black female characters in media. She had flaws and strengths and was allowed to be silly and serious and overall well rounded. Her voice actress, Kimberly Brooks, said she was moved to tears when she first saw Allura’s design. Killing off her, and her alone, feels targeted.

There’s no way they could have killed Allura that wouldn’t be upsetting.

When you do something like this, you need to establish what you want to communicate. Killing main characters for the sake of killing them is a horrible, horrible idea, especially in a long term series like Voltron where the audience has spent 2+ years growing attached to these characters and their stories. Shock value is the worst writing pit you could possibly fall into, and frankly, Voltron fell into it a lot.

There are questions you need to answer when you decide to kill off characters, one of them being: what do you want this death to tell the audience? There are two things I can see that Voltron was trying to communicate with Allura’s death: emphasizing the tragedy of war, and the bittersweet power of a heroic sacrifice. But instead of choosing one message to focus on, it straddled both to create a messy narrative.

We’re supposed to feel bittersweet and proud of Allura’s sacrifice because she managed to save all of existence and even bring back the long gone Altea and Daibazaal, yet how are we supposed to feel anything but depressed when we see her loved ones mourning her?

Coran (who was underrated and pushed under the rug throughout the whole series despite being an compelling character) never even gets to say goodbye to her. How are we supposed to feel like Allura had a fulfilling death when she never even gets a final moment with someone she literally quotes as a second father to her? How is Coran--the man who dedicated himself to Allura and would have insisted on dying in her place without hesitation--supposed to deal with knowing he failed to protect her? He spends the entire series worried about Allura’s safety and insisting she not place herself in danger constantly. Yet we never even get to see him properly grieve her, beyond a misty eyed speech a year after her death.

Lance, a fan favorite, looks horrifically depressed throughout the rest of the finale. He has random altean markings on his face now so he can always be reminded of her and how she died when he looks in a mirror. We see him curled up in his bed in a pitiful position with memoirs of his time with Allura all around him (the juniberry, the picture from their first date). How are we supposed to feel satisfied knowing that Lance gives up on his dreams of being a pilot to start a farm and wallow in the memory of his dead girlfriend for the rest of his life? Are we genuinely supposed to think that’s something Allura would have wanted?

This is the problem. The show can’t decide between a bittersweet ending and a purely tragic ending, which results in the show trying to make you feel better and falling flat because now it looks like our favorite characters will never be happy.

The way the show ended made no sense thematically and did nothing but upset audiences.

How to Fix It

There are a lot of ways to write a fulfilling finale. There’s no single way to end it that would be perfect, because different fans seek different things. Someone who loves tragic/bittersweet endings would likely be disappointed by a perfectly good “everything is better!” ending, while someone who prefers those would be disappointed by something emotionally painful.

A good ending for Voltron would be pretty easy to write. Everyone lives, they find a way to deal with the remnants of the Galra Empire, the Alteans find a new home, etc.

But this show rarely has easy, painless solutions. More often than not, lives are lost. Shiro, Thace, and Antok died taking down Zarkon. They lose the Castleship; their home and the last connection to Allura and Coran’s old lives fight with Lotor. Not to mention thousands of millions of people died in the intergalactic power struggle that occurred after Voltron disappeared for three years in the wake of that fight.

Suffice to say, giving the show a perfect resolution wouldn’t fit in with the rest of the series. The end of both acts before it, losing something/someone important to pay the price of victory is a key element. For them to win a battle as large as the series finale (in which their entire universe along with infinite others have been destroyed) they have to give up something big.

So instead of having one person sacrifice themself, it really should have been a group sacrifice. As in, all the paladins die. However, writing a satisfying group sacrifice would require some significant rewriting of the rest of the series.

The most important rewrite would be giving every character fulfilling development. A character dying with regrets is a very tragic thing and while it can be done well, for the purpose of this post I’m not going to engage the idea. They must have had an individual goal/obstacle that they struggle with and eventually overcome in a moment that focuses on them.

This is a gripe many people have with canon. In the show, almost all the characters are set up with specific, personal challenges and paths for personal development in act I, but throughout act II and act III those pathways take abrupt turns, and issues that previously emphasized are flat out dropped and never acknowledged again. In a rewrite all their issues would be actually addressed instead of switching course mid-show.

It would go something like this:

Shiro overcomes his trauma and learns to handle his PTSD. He finds solace in having a place in the team as a leader and learns to value his own life. His bond with the black lion helps reaffirm his worth. He knows that he is not a bad person, he is a paladin, and he’s helping people and doing good for the universe.

Allura learns the value of her own life. She does not ever have to forget her past or the people she lost, but she doesn’t let the sorrow of their memory weigh down her choices. She does not have be like her father, in fact, she learns from his mistakes and becomes an even better leader than he was. She leads her people with pride, reestablishing a connection with the modern Altean people, even though they are wildly different from the civilization she knew 10,000 years ago.

Keith puts his past behind him and opens himself up to new connections. His history does not define him and he can choose who he wants to be. He finds pride in his heritage, as well as his choice to be a part of Voltron. The team is his family, even if they are not related by blood.

Hunk overcomes his fear and fulfills his role as a protector. Essentially, he turns his concern for personal safety into dedication to the safety of everyone, especially innocents being exploited or caught in the crossfires of the war.

Lance learns to like, actually love himself instead of loving an unattainable ideal of himself. He knows that his place in the team is important and that his presence matters. He learns to be more honest and vulnerable instead of putting up a silly act to hide his true feelings and make people less concerned for him.

There is also the potential for a leadership arc with him, as I’ve noticed a lot of moments where he displays quick thinking and good leadership qualities, but that’s sort of subjective and would depend on how his personal arc is written.

Pidge learns how to form meaningful connections with others and rely on her teammates by putting down her prickly persona. Being bullied as a kid probably resulted in her closing off from people even before the Kerberos mission,so making true friends is a huge goal for her (big emphasis on it being Hunk and Lance). She reunites with Matt but Sam dies at some point, forcing her to rely on others to deal with that grief.

This way, none of them die without having done something significant on their own and settling their personal issues. They all get to see their loved ones before they go. No major loose ends, unless one of them accidentally left the oven on before jumping in their lion.

Now, in this situation the only character who would definitely survive is Coran. He’s always been an outlier on the team; not in a bad way, per say, but his role has always been to advise and support while the others take on the action. Him taking on the role of carrying on their memory would be quite poetic.

However, there should also be one other person to survive. The two characters who would fit that role most would be either Allura or Shiro.

Allura and Coran surviving while the paladins don’t. From the beginning there was a set divide between Allura and Coran with the rest of the paladins. They’re Altean, they’re from 10,000 years ago, while the paladins are humans from Earth no older than 25. The paladins became involved in a war they had no personal stake in (except for Shiro and Pidge, I suppose) while the Alteans had no choice and had a very personal stake in defeating Zarkon and reforming Voltron.

Allowing Allura and Coran to survive and reconnect with the modern Altean people is essential. The whole series, they’ve grieved for their people. Allura especially has to deal with the shock of waking up suddenly with her entire race murdered. She’s desperately sought any traces of her people so much that it sometimes leads to her being misled. But their people are not dead. They survived 10,000 years of persecution and--cough cough--are now in need of a leader because something happened to the other one.

Not to mention Allura has constantly risked her life throughout the entire series. I can’t even count how many times she’s thrown herself into something despite literally everyone screaming “DON’T YOU’LL DIE.” It would be nice to see this character has given up and lost so much be given a life to live out, sad as it would be without her paladins.

However if we’re going for a more depressing ending, having Shiro survive would be some major dramatic irony. Shiro never planned to outlive the other paladins, and spent a good deal of season 2 subtly preparing the team to carry on once his disease gets the better of him. So having everyone else suddenly be dead, with his illness cured and a long life ahead of him… it would be painfully ironic.

What I Would Have Written

With all these things in mind, if I wrote the ending of Voltron it would have gone something like this:

The biggest change in the rest of the series is that clone!shiro never pilots the Black Lion. Then, in season 7 or 8, the real Shiro gets to pilot the black lion for the first time since season 2, and the team goes back to its original formations, with Allura leading the Atlas. This way, it’s a dramatic and satisfying moment when Shiro finally reconnects with the Black Lion and everyone returns to their original lions.

Also, the Atlas does not transform into its own mecha because that was stupid as fuck (this is a personal opinion, I apologize).

During the final battle with Honerva, Allura leaves the Atlas under Coran’s command and travels with Voltron to chase after Honerva through the rift she created. Push comes to shove, Honerva is rejected by the new reality Lotor and things unfold like they did in canon. She it outraged and goes on a rampage, destroying realities left and right until nothing is left. Allura must go by herself to fight Honerva one on one, a parallel to her fight with Haggar in season 2, while Voltron takes on her mecha (a repurposed version of Lotor’s ship).

When they finally defeat Honerva, they look around and realize that everything has already been destroyed. They also realize that the power of Voltron (and Honerva’s mech being made of the same comet ore) has the potential power to restore the universe, and they must sacrifice themselves to do it.

Allura tries to sacrifice herself as well, but the others insist she needs to be the one who brings everything back while they give her their quintessence to do so. Perhaps a reference to Hunk choosing her to escape Bob’s game; “the universe needs you more than it needs the rest of us.” Allura is very tearful, but relents, because there literally isn’t another option.

They all say goodbye. The multi-verse is restored. Allura returns to their universe alone.

In a fast forward to a year later, Allura, Coran, and Romelle visit Earth, perhaps after a sequence showing them on the new Altean homeworld they’ve spent the past year settling. The whole Coalition is there to celebrate the lives and sacrifice of the Voltron paladins. While those who knew them are grieving, none of them are wallowing in misery and are moving on and doing good in the paladin’s names.

In this ending, it maintains the gritty realism of war that the show loves while also not leaving fans unsatisfied. The paladins did not die unfulfilled, and their loved ones have not become trainwrecks in the wake of their deaths. The surviving characters move on with their lives and better the universe the paladins fought for. It makes thematic sense for a show about friendship and love in the midst of intergalactic war. It’s sure to evoke massive amounts of tears while not pissing people off and feeling like a personal slight against fan favorite characters.

Again, I want to point out that this is my personal idea of what would have been a successful ending. I’m sure there are a lot of you who disagree, which is perfectly fine!

Feel free to comment/reblog with what you think would have been a better ending, because I know not all of us are going to feel the same way. I’m really curious to hear what you guys think, what you liked about it and what you didn’t. How much would your ending have diverged from canon? What message does your ending send?

#voltron #<— for blacklist #ally.txt #yes i just wrote All That about voltron leave me alone

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lotality-blog · 6 years

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Poisoned Perfection

There are several quotes on perfection that pushes society to strive for it but to also warn them of its unattainable reward. “Looking for perfection is the only way to motivate yourself” This is a quote I hear often that floats around this world that really gives a skewed view on how to live. Although perfection in everything that we do would be preferred, living by the confinements of what is perfect never encourages growth. Perfection can be poisonous when it is paired with pride, stubbornness and a closed mind and spirit. In my life I’ve lived in an enclosed bubble that has been all about how I can get close to perfection. Perfection in my grades, my relationships with people, my relationships with God and in my purpose. I’ve realized that living in my box has limited my growth, abilities and discernment of my actions. It is unhealthy to the mind, body and spirit to be sensitive to criticism and correction. This is a hard lesson I’ve been dealing with lately. When I want to get over something I’ve noticed that it doesn’t take much of a process, the healing and correction happens just as fast as the revelation but man perfection perfection perfection has been a hard cookie to eat. I don’t know why I’ve been so hard headed. Lately it has been extremely hard for me to accept my wrongs or my faults. But what’s worse than not accepting them is when I do finally understand them ... I do nothing to work on them. So I’ve had to infuse my struggle with scripture.

As a child I was always taught the fruits of the spirit ... honestly way before I was taught the 10 commandments or John 3:16. The fruits of the spirit is one of the lessons that are apart of my Christian foundation. As I go through the fruits of the spirit the main goal is to attribute these nine qualities to my walk with God. The fruits of the spirit are: Love, Joy, Peace, Faithfulness, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Gentleness and Self-Control. Along with these fruits that we should use to encourage and guide us we have added a toxic fruit called perfection. We desire so much to be like others or even God. When striving to be perfect we have turned our chase after God into a deadly race against ourselves and others. Our focus has shifted from really trying to be like him to comparing ourselves to society’s standards or even our own. Society is a place full of deceptive expectation, false success and elitism. People find themselves acting in the confinements of society’s definition of perfect. Striving to reach that perfection can keep us away from our true identity and purpose, that is why it is poisonous. When poisonous perfection becomes apart of you it is hard for true growth to take place. Acceptance of wrong doing are signs of selflessness, understanding and humility.

As I challenge myself to grow effectively I am learning what it means to really deny my selfish ways. I am a human capable of making mistakes but to what degree will those mistakes keep me from reaching my full potential.

I want to leave you off with some question:

What does perfection mean to you and is it impossible to reach? What parts of you are hard for you to let go? Are you struggling with poisoned perfection? If so, what can will you do to change it?

Love,

Lauren <3

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foundtheworl · 7 years

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New Post has been published on Found The World

New Post has been published on https://foundtheworld.com/travel-work-struggle-millennials/

Travel or Work: The Struggle of Millennials

The ‘American’ dream is to go to a good school that qualifies you to have a good paying job, which allows you to buy lots of things and eventually send your kids to a good school. It is a pattern that many people follow with their life, and being educated is very important however millennials are beginning to view their futures differently. Instead of valuing career over everything, many people are beginning to put their personal happiness as their main goal in life. Young adults are craving a healthy balance between work and play; employees are pushing for more flexible hours. The 9-5 workweek is changing because many jobs can be completed from anywhere in the world as long as there is WiFi. Society in 2017 is a lot different than it was 10 years ago, creating two schools thoughts for millennials when they view how they want to live their life. Is it more important to focus on having a career or to travel?

This generation has been a witness to financial depressions, and debt, creating a gap in the realistic idea of the ‘American’ dream, which has become a lot less appealing for millennials. We have watched our parents and grandparent work hard everyday of their lives yet they have little to nothing to show for it.

As a realistic generation, a lot people see that going to University and starting life off with a crippling amount of debt, is not tempting. But it is almost impossible to find a good paying job without a degree. This predicament forces many students to take out massive loans and then spend years paying it off.

Graduates understand that they will have to pay off their debt, but looking at a future of waking up everyday to pay off loans is mentally and physically draining. Before signing up for an office job, many North Americans I have met abroad share a similar story of wanting to travel before they begin paying back their financial obligations at a full-time job. But this reality does not offer a balance of work and play; it encourages living life to the fullest and paying for it in the future.

‘Travel while you’re young’ is a common phrase used to justify spending every dime in your 20’s. It is a fun, spontaneous, adventurous, and allows travelers to learn who they are and discover more about the world. But is it the best motto to live by? Wouldn’t it just theoretically add to the stress of the debt problem that most people will have during their late 20’s? Yet the argument of ‘travel when you are financially secure’ puts more emphasis on planning for the future, but will unexpected events prevent you from being able to travel? Travelling across South America will be almost impossible to do with a family and will your debt be paid off by the time you are 30 or 40? Life expenses of owning a house and car will add up on top of student loans. Is there really a perfect way to plan out the future?

The entire perspective of people in their 20’s compared to our parents is different because we have a shift in priorities. Now it is important to be unique, creative and to explore the world us. Yet, 30 years ago it was important to settle down quickly, then the focus progressed into having a prestigious career, and currently young adults strive towards personal happiness and not making the same mistakes of the previous generations.

Very rarely is the emphasis on wanting to build a family, now it is more individualistic and is a debate between working full-time or living out the nomadic dream. Instead of ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ millennials are busy ‘keeping up with Kardashians’.

Focusing on social media we are more connected to the world. With constant photos of breathtaking places around the globe and by being able to watch people explore, causes the impatient nature of young adults to come alive and work towards their personal discovery. It is also more in style to have a minimalist life and not own a lot of possessions; instead of spending money on things it is more important to spend money on experiences.

The rise of technology is greatly changing whey people are demanding a more flexible lifestyle. Around the world there are communities of people who specialize in freelancing and they are living that ‘balanced’ lifestyle. They are able to set their own hours, live where they want. However, this is not ideal for everyone because there is almost no job security in freelancing, and it is a lot of effort to constantly find new contracts. With technology there is a surge of new jobs available and many millennials do not know what they should do with their careers. Yet technology has given youth insight into changing how they want to live.

A factor that holds a lot of millennials back in the way they see their future is the stigma of not being successful, having an establish career is prestigious while backpacking through France is not. Many young adults have broken away from their parents’ ideas of success, however it is not always easy to drop everything and go travel.

Visiting other countries takes a lot of planning and it is an extremely educational and eye opening experience. When people from the older generations view travel, often they think of hippies or dirty backpackers that have no purpose in life. Yet, it isn’t an accurate description of how millennials explore the world.

As a young adult who values travel over everything, I often have to deal with the stereotypes of being someone who isn’t successful and has no career. That is quite the opposite, I am very lucky and because of my work online I can still work and visit new places at the same time. This gives me a great balance of work and play, which allows me to live my personal wanderlust dream.

In contrast to me, many of my close friends have different priorities and it is important to discuss how other millennials see the world and what they value. One of my close friends is focused on becoming a lawyer; she is constantly working hard in the field of academia to make her goals come true. As I talked to her she shared her opinions about our generation and she said,

“Career is more of a personal goal because it is a thing that will establish the rest of my life, and through that I believe I will be able to travel to places. Plus through work I can meet people to travel with. Or even better, money won’t be an issue! I don’t think a lot of millennials think the same way because a lot of them feel as though travel comes first. Do it while you’re young because of kids and etc. And to be honest I don’t think I have the same priorities as most millennials do! I feel as though this younger generation is trying to find themselves when traveling. The Older generation would mostly go for vacation and ‘travel’ but they are not as open to new cultures. So we will go places that the older generation would not go. We want to explore and meet new people, I think that we are a generation that is not afraid.”

When it comes to the grand topic of the future, millennials often struggle with being able to envision their lives, there are so many factors to consider and suddenly the dreams of being able to travel or have a prosperous career seem unattainable. Within North America, children become students, and then continue to go to school until they find a job that is able to support them, while hoping to pay off loans. Getting trapped into this continuous cycle of what we ‘have’ to do instead of want we ‘want’ to do is exhausting for young adults.

In this whole process, many people are not able to have a balanced lifestyle and end up feeling burned out and tired by the mundane routine of life. Between skyrocketing rent prices, budgeting for groceries, and car payments, there isn’t much time to take personal goals and sanity into account. The secret to having a balanced life is a mix of creativity and thinking outside of the norm. It is important to consider what is your priority because before you know it you have lost the ability to enjoy life.

In summary, millennials view the world differently than the generations before them when it comes to their futures. Both options of either travelling or working first are great ways to spend your 20’s; they will just be very different realities. Each option has pros and cons but the more important aspect is for millennials to be happy no matter what their circumstances are. The complete change of focus and priorities from the Baby Boomers generation before us to our millennial mindset means that we will have very diverse realities than our parents. As long we are willing to embrace the daunting topic of the future, remember to live within our means and be happy with our realities; millennials will endure to be a positive change for society, whether they choose to work or travel first.

#Future #Lifestyle #Millennials #Travel #Work #Young

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foundtheworl · 7 years

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New Post has been published on Found The World

New Post has been published on http://foundtheworld.com/travel-work-struggle-millennials/

Travel or Work: The Struggle of Millennials

#Future #Lifestyle #Millennials #Travel #Work #Young

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