Ah yeah. There was that excellent Twitter chain when the show screened from a practising psychologist talking about how bad the therapy was. /
i mean... there were also veterans, real veterans, who spoke about how that was the "therapy" assigned from the uS government so it wasn't so inaccurately. it I'd wrong but yeah they said that's exactly what they get which sucks... there was this woman specifically, a Black woman, she does tiktoks and so and she did a long video on YouTube talking specifically about that scene and how much it sucks that the real actual government gives them that...
I’ve seen that video. It was a great video with a lot of insight into veteran experiences. I don’t remember what she said about therapy specifically but she spoke a lot about how hard it was to get the system to recognise her trauma or for her abusers to have any form of retribution.
From memory though, most of the vets were commenting on the first therapy scene. The psychologist I referenced was also talking about that scene. It was a great scene of bad therapy, not because it’s unrealistic, but because sadly it isn’t. That said, it doesn’t affect the headcanon that the therapy program was just to keep an eye on Bucky. Vets who had poor experiences with the VA say they feel it was aimed at getting them back into duty without actually addressing their trauma. A lot of people (myself included) liked the first therapy scene when it screened, because we saw bad therapy for a traumatised POW and thought the story was going somewhere with it, but....uh, nope. (** This post is already getting too long but good storytelling isn't about realism, it's about creating meaning)
I haven’t seen many comments from vets (apart from one commenter on the other post, thank you 😊) specifically talking about the couples therapy scene. And I was talking about the couples therapy scene specifically as being so poorly done (and in context of the poorly researched writing elsewhere in that series) it's unrealistic.
Firstly, massive faux pas in Raynor disclosing Bucky’s treatment to JOHN F(ucking) WALKER. That’s a HIPAA violation right there and while Bucky might not know anything about it, Sam could report her ass right there and then. Also Walker somehow…can dictate the treatment program? (Although I wouldn’t put it past the military) But he’s not even Bucky’s superior officer? Bucky's not even in the military? Raynor said in the first therapy session that “you’re a civilian now” so how does Walker get a say?
Raynor then discloses treatment details to Sam - although I’ll let this one go because Bucky might have consented to that. She then insists Sam join Bucky for the session, which…can happen but neither Sam nor Bucky wanted it, and why would you want to spring a group session on not ONE difficult patient but two?
When Sam sat down, he had to ask her name, which means they’ve never met before. He tries to tell her it’s a really bad time, and it’s clear from his tone and body language that he’s not wanting to engage. She not only does nothing to address that, she doesn’t even do the basic courtesy of taking a history from Sam before launching into her confrontational “treatment”. Look, maybe psychologists are built different but a clinician starting treatment without even knowing the background? If we’re going to treat psychology as real therapy and not voodoo science, then like all physical treatments, it comes with risks. How TF do you assess that risk if you haven’t even talked to the patient??
So she then subjects Sam and Bucky to “couples therapy” which unsurprisingly triggers both of them because she hasn't assessed her patient. Sure, prolonged eye-contact between real couples is meant to increase intimacy and empathy. But you know what other situation people use prolonged eye contact? When the fight response is engaged and it’s a warning for imminent aggression.
So, good work fake therapist for doing the human equivalent of making two angry bulls lock horns then patting herself on the back on creating intimacy. “Look they are touching their foreheads together how cute” no the fuck not they are about to gore each other in the eye.
Luckily for her Sam and Bucky had enough wits about them to not actually hit each other, but they did the verbal equivalent of the same, and both of them left that therapy session more angry and hurt than they were when they started.
TL;DR - the second therapy session was a load of BS because
HIPAA violation upfront and throughout
Walker for no reason dictating Bucky's treatment
Raynor dragging Sam into therapy without having ever met him before
Raynor subjecting Sam to therapy without assessing him
Eye contact used erroneously in a situation that is likely to increase aggression
These are not just bad therapy, it's bad writing from someone who doesn't know how therapy works.
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man, reading ch3 was a ride, it's like all fun and jokes and then all of sudden, Nope! It's time to be sad now! but it's so good with it? like, I really enjoyed how seriously you took it, and that moment in the classroom was really like 'oh shit this is legit' in a way that had my heart just sinking in my chest and with the tone whiplash from the rest of the fic so far, it was just literally so good to read. also, seeing byleth and the rest of the class just kinda grapple with wth to do with dimitri while he's deep in this episode is just very interesting, especially when they all have their own hangups and issues with everything. 👍
YESSSSS. I'm always so excited to post the moment the story actually kicks into gear, and this chapter was it for Weekenders. A lot of fun.
I wrote a post a while back about people's discomfort with writing severe mental illness,
and while I wouldn't say Weekenders is a spite fic, it was influenced by how difficult it was to find non-modern AU fic that wrote Dimitri specifically as somebody on the schizophrenia spectrum/bipolar.
It was so hit-me-over-the-head obvious while I was playing! His entire personality and behavior flipped on a DIME in Part 1, and it flipped 'back' in Part 2. He couldn't switch topics, he was ranting incoherently, he was having headaches, he was doing nothing but training, he obviously wasn't sleeping or grooming, he was convinced a 12yo had orchestrated an assasination - that's not depression/anxiety/PTSD, and it's not even just a psychotic episode (mania does have elements of psychosis, hence the paranoid delusions). And, obviously, the actual hallucinations, delusions, antisocialness, lack of grooming, impulsivity, etc, of Part 2 that rang very loudly of a schizophrenic/schizoaffective psychotic break.
But equally important is the fact that Dimitri's illness did not make him hateful and homicidal. Dimitri was always a hateful person. I don't think he's naturally hateful nearly to the degree that he shows while having an episode, but one of the most important lines in the BL route is when Dedue just says that Dimitri was always angry and hateful, and that he just hid it. His behavior in late Part 1/part 2 is him losing all capability to hide it. I don't think he's a pathological liar, and I don't think the Dimitri we see throughout Part 1 is 'fake' - I just think he withholds a lot. Dimitri's cruelty is just as important as his generosity. His hatred is as important as his empathy. The horrible sides of his illness are just as important as the comfortable sides. Do you see what I mean?
That is what interests me about Dimitri so much. Dimitri wants to be Marth. Dimitri tries to be Chrom. Dimitri dresses up like Roy. He is not. He is an angry, paranoid, brutal murderer. Any depiction of Dimitri that forgets that - that unironically only protrays the Dimitri that he shows the world and never the sides of him that he's ashamed of - is kinda buying what he's selling, and it both demonstrates a deep disinterest in who he is and a discomfort with the sides of his illness that aren't palatable.
Dimitri's psychosis did not make him hateful (I think his PTSD had a lot more to do with his anger problems). It made him scared. Mania and psychosis are a very, very scary experience. His mind is constantly telling him that he's in danger, that Byleth's in danger, that everybody and everything around him wants to hurt and kill him, that he is a sinner if he doesn't avenge his dead family. And Dimitri is a good child soldier, and he knows that we destroy our enemies with prejudice. He's a good leader, and he knows that the BL are never safe and that their enemies are everywhere. He's a good son, and he knows that you have to avenge them. Violence solves problems and Dimitri is scared and angry and if he doesn't solve the problem he can't protect the woman and people he loves.
This is serious to me! I'm trying not to make this THAT long but I could go ooooon lol. I understanding wanting to either make him realistically/explicitly schizophrenic OR make him violent, because violent schizophrenics are a bad and harmful stereotype. But I think both sides of him are important, because I don't want to whitewash Dimitri's illness or his experiences. It's scary for the people around you. It very frequenty is triggered from trauma and hardship and it is informed by your life. Like many characters in FE3H, Dimitri is the product of the evils of his world.
Byleth's arc in this story is about her growing into a human being. It is shown as a beautiful thing. It is wonderful to be a person. It would contradict the message of the story to show Dimitri as anything else but a human being - flaws, traumas, SMI and all. He was Marth to her. That's the point.
I went on for soooo long lol but thanks for the ask!
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one thing i find really difficult about navigating the IF space is the direct line of contact between readers and authors. we share the same space, and i think that plays a big part in this weird blurred line we have in this community and overall lack of boundaries.
for a lot of people this is a fun hobby and while i personally try to keep it... semi-professional most of the time, it's easy to get wrapped up in having fun on tumblr (or the forums, or reddit, wherever it is that you mainly post/interact) and have a lot of personal interactions with both readers and authors alike - which is fun! i like it more often than not, but i also think that's why a lot of comments in this space can end up being really entitled, over-familiar, and inappropriate.
it's no secret that most authors get really weird messages on here, and while this is also a problem on social media at large and not just specific to IF tumblr, it is still definitely a big problem in this community.
and to be clear i'm not saying that you can't be friendly with authors or readers (i've become friends with a handful of readers myself) and i definitely don't mean to imply that there needs to be a huge divide between us; that's silly - again, most authors are readers, most readers are authors, we’re just people on the internet sharing the same space. but all of us deserve to have our boundaries respected. this is my story, and we are strangers. as a general rule of thumb: if you wouldn't say it out loud to someone you just met, you probably shouldn't be saying it to a stranger online. especially anonymously.
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i understand critiquing garroth and laurance stalking aphmau for multiple years but also... yes, that's the point. you're supposed to not like them. narratively, it's taking them out of the running so you don't see them as a valid candidate as aphmau's love interest. aarmau was very, very forced in the earlier seasons and this is pretty evident by how the characters are written.
like, why does nana continue to irl ship despite it making everyone around her uncomfortable? because it's an excuse to pair aarmau together and cause shipping moments for them. why do all of the boys like aphmau yet inexplicably commit cruel acts? because it makes aaron look better. why does michi "i am not attracted to aaron lomenza because he's quiet" suddenly want to pursue him? because it also makes aaron look better.
like, there's an episode where garroth and laurance get trampled over by aarmau shippers it's not very subtle you're supposed to dislike them
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Genshin characters age headcanons masterlist (updated)
Yeah. I could give you many reasons why I believe some of the more debatable/"controversial" ones are very sensible and Good based on just freaking paying attention to context given in the game but for now I'll just compile a basic list. If you'd like to hear my reasoning for some of these you're welcome to ask as long as you're polite about it.
List under the cut.
Aether/Lumine: 19
Amber: 18
Kaeya: 22
Lisa: 33
Barbara: 17
Razor: 16
Xiangling: 16
Beidou: 29
Xingqiu: 15
Fischl: 19
Ningguang: 31
Bennett: 18
Noelle: 18
Chongyun: 16
Sucrose: 20
Jean: 21
Diluc: 22
Qiqi: 6-8 (Hard to tell given she's a zombie and talks and acts differently from normal)
Mona: 20
Keqing: 21
Venti: 20 (biologically)
Klee: 7-ish?
Diona: She's so hard because she literally runs a business and acts like an adult but she's super short. I have no idea.
Tartaglia: 21
Xinyan: 19
Zhongli: 37
Albedo: 21
Ganyu: 23
Xiao: 20
Hu Tao: 18
Rosaria: 23
Yanfei: 21
Eula: 24
Kazuha: 20
Ayaka: 18
Sayu: 9- or 10-ish maybe?
Yoimiya: 18
Kujou Sara: 24
Raiden: 28 (biologically)
Kokomi: 18
Thoma: 20
Gorou: 18
Itto: 26
Yun Jin: 19
Shenhe: 23
Yae Miko: 30
Ayato: 26
Yelan: 24
Shinobu: 20
Heizou: 21
Collei: 16
Tighnari: 22
Dori: Super hard to tell, because again, she lives alone and runs a business by herself despite using the short girl model.
Candace: 24
Cyno: 23
Nilou: 21
Nahida: 7-9
Layla: 18-19 (she seems to maybe be in her first year of college - definitely in college, I'm just guessing the year here)
Faruzan: 24 (I know she's like a hundred years older but she was stuck and didn't age and I'm talking biologically still)
Scaramouche: 21 (biologically)
Yaoyao: 7-ish?
Alhaitham: 26
Dehya: 25
Mika: 17
Kaveh: 27
Baizhu: 34
Kirara: 20
Lynette: 20
Lyney: 20
Freminet: 17 (Don't know how much younger he is than his siblings, just guessing based on context and the way he talks and acts)
Furina: 21 (biologically)
Neuvillette: 36 (biologically)
Wriothesley: 32
Navia: 26
Clorinde: 27
Sigewinne: Basically impossible to know as she's a Melusine and not a human
Charlotte: 21
Signora: 29
Dottore: 33
Arlecchino: 31
Dainsleif: 22 (biologically)
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