#paraphrasing-techniques

[sorry-not-feeling-it-right-now]

Thinking about Stubborn and Oppy

So like. They’re quite similar to each other. But also very different. You’ll hear that a lot when I’m comparing the voices together. Both of them wants to like. “Get to the top” in some regard. Stubborn in overpowering the other, while Oppy wants to get to the top of the pecking order. They would want to “get to the top” in very different ways.

For Stubborn it’s through hard work and through a more “smash it until you get there” technique. He loves a challenge, and he would rather not take it lying down.

For Oppy it’s through lying and cheating his way up the ladder. He is also very lazy, and would rather let others do all the hard work for him before snatching their victory away for himself. I hate him.

Stubborn focuses more on the physical and willpower aspect of “getting to the top”, while Oppy focuses more on the socially and power part of it. Hell, their mirror princesses reflects that part of themselves, with how you get the vessels being locking in with them in an endless cycle of violence/betrayal. And they are really happy about that it seems.

And funny thing is(not actually funny but. listen.) both of them had expressed distaste towards Broken. Stubborn dislikes him because, from his perspective, Broken is just giving up without even putting up a fight. Oppy hates Broken because, paraphrasing his words here, doesn’t have any dignity for himself. Both of them dislike Broken because they think Broken had already given up the fight even before it had even begun.

Which I think explains their difference in perspective in MOC. Oppy had already decided that, socially speaking, there is no other way to get around Clarity aside from doing what she says because she is the top of the pecking order. She has the most power, so might as well become her lackey to make things slightly better for us. In their words, they’re tried literally everything, so Oppy must have concluded that she is a power that he does not want to mess with. So might as well fawn over her.

Stubborn, on the other hand, still wants to overpower her in a physical manner, whether it’s by trapping her forever or just fighting her. Just anything. The body is still standing, therefore they have to keep going, even though the mind and the will had already withered away. Which is probably why Stubborn is acting so irritable in the route. He needs to keep going, but the fire inside of him is dwindling, and it had already dwindled even. He needs something to punch and smash, hopefully to reignite whatever was lost in those loops.

Interestingly enough, despite having your will stripped away from you in MOC, you also have the option to not go to the cabin. That is probably the only choice you have aside from the inevitable. In a way, you had overpowered the Princess through this action, and hence keeping her trapped in there. This might be part of Stubborn’s doing, since out of everyone he seems to be the only one who still wants to overcome her despite how tired he is.

[capricorn-0mnikorn]

Let's play a little game, shall we? ("Professional Advice for the Disabled" edition)

Context:

Back in September, 2012, I came upon an online pamphlet titled "Living With C.P." from The Ontario Foundation for Cerebral Palsy.

And in the middle of the pamphlet was a paragraph that was just two (moderately long) sentences.

The Game:

It's a one-question multiple choice quiz. I'll give you the first sentence, and you pick the sentence that you think comes next. Because it's a long sentence, and I'm not sure it'll fit in Tumblr's poll fields, I'll write each choice out in full, marked "1," "2," "3," "4," and "5," and paraphrase in the poll itself. Okay?

The First Sentence:

It can be frustrating for adults to deal with a health care system that appears to have little knowledge or interest regarding the changing needs of aging with a disability.

What Comes Next?

A healthy, well-balanced, diet, combined with as much exercise as you can manage, and a regular sleep routine, is beneficial to your mental and physical well-being.

A trusted friend or family member, who knows you and your symptoms, can help explain your situation to your healthcare provider.

Maintaining a strong social network, especially among your fellow patients, can help reduce stress, and combat feelings of loneliness.

A positive attitude makes a big difference, and developing relaxation techniques and coping skills can have a beneficial effect on mental and physical health.

A diary of your daily routine, especially keeping track of your changing abilities, can be a useful tool for you and your healthcare provider.

Let's see if we can match with with Service Professionals (I'll reveal the actual answer at the end of the week, once the poll closes).

If you vote, please reblog, to get this outside my private corner.

[thatswhatsushesaid]

re: my tags about jgy and qin su in my reblog of that "does your blorbo have ptsd" tumblr poll, can we revisit that excruciating conversation in the jinlintai treasure room in cql? because one of my least favourite reads on jgy's expression and body language here is that he's being "creepy." and to be clear, i'm not trying to say you're wrong to draw those inferences here, because his behaviour is deeply, deeply unsettling, and i also find this scene hard to watch and to read in the novel. but i think if that's where your examination of him begins and ends here, you're doing yourself--and zhu zanjin's exquisite performance--a disservice.

so the 'creepy' bit is preceded by what jgy says to qin su while she has her back turned, and i find his words heartbreakingly sincere and very reflective of a man who has spent his life forced to feel shame and embarrassment over his mother, who he loves dearly and who he watched suffer right up until the moment of her death:

there are a few more very poignant lines in there about his mother and the depth of his gratitude to qin su (these show up in the novel, too), but i think the above encapsulates the same message. then the atmosphere shifts, and so does jgy's expression when he talks about jin rusong and how his death would have been inevitable--essential, even. this is also where i most often see him described as acting like a creep, and i have two separate responses to this that i don't really have the time to get into right now, but which have both doylist and watsonian components to them so 👀 you can probably make some guesses about what my arguments would be. if there's enough interest, i might come back to this later and put together a separate post about it, idk. anyway, i'm not going to get into the 'is he a creep' argument here because tl;dr no, i don't think he is, and also--

i find jgy's expressions here to be more indicative of a man who is, shall we say, Not His Best Self At The Moment 🫠 rather than a man who is intentionally trying to make a wife who, by her own admission, he has treated very well for the entirety of their marriage, uncomfortable. his attention isn't even on qin su or the hell that she is experiencing right now--because he is re-experiencing his own hell. because he, too, is traumatized by this knowledge! he's just had a decade and change to develop some deeply unhealthy coping mechanisms and masking techniques to hide it.

at this point qin su whips around and slaps him, which i know everyone likes to gif and fistbump and holler about in a positive way, but given there is no one in this scene who isn't enduring profound trauma in this moment, i, uh. you know. won't be doing that. i will focus on his face journey in the expressions that follow because they are just so

dissociating

dissociating

dissociating

/executive function switch is flipped in his superbly wrinkly brain, and then "qin su :) we still have so many guests to attend at the discussion conference :)"

a-yao? sir?? hello??? also i do not have the quote from the novel directly in front of me, but iirc he says something very similar here to what he does in the novel, which i'll have to paraphrase: that this revelation is only bothering qin su so much because she is actively thinking about it! it's only thoughts, you see! just don't think about it! haven't they actually been very happy all this time, while only one of them had to live with this knowledge and could not share it with anyone?

to which i can only respond with abject, horrified shock because, like. have you, jin guangyao? been happy and unperturbed by this devastating knowledge? because i think the answer is a pretty definitive no.

anyway i just wanted to quickly keymash my thoughts on this before they fled my brain completely but tl;dr yes, while jgy would not use this language to describe himself, he's absolutely got ptsd specifically around his marriage to his own half-sister, and their son.

---

this post has been added to my dreamwidth meta archive here: https://thatswhatsushewrote.dreamwidth.org/10607.html

[olderthannetfic]

Your point about how knitting basic cable patterns isn't too hard but results in something that looks like it was hard (I hope I paraphrased that accurately) reminds me of the Byzantine weave in chainmail, which likewise is a very simple weave that nevertheless looks pretty fancy. I don't know, I just think it's fun when crafts have simple techniques that result in fancy-looking outcomes.

--

Yeah!

[its-not-a-pen]

according to the historian Ban Gu: "when I heard about Zhang Liang's bravery I thought he would be a macho man but he actually looks super girly. Well, serves me right for judging a book by it's cover! As Confucious said 'when you assume, you make an ass out of u and me.'" <- slightly paraphrased.

in the words of Emperor Gaozu himself, "Zhang Liang's strategy from the tent could decide the outcome of a battle 1000 miles away." in light of this, i decided to draw him in a pose similar to L from Deathnote, since he's a modern incarnation of the East Asian Genius Twink Strategist. it's all come full circle.

Note: this twink is 40 years old

the hairdo was reverse engineered from this Han dynasty mural. like i said before, not all mens hairstyles from this time had that signature "high and tight" look and it's something i'd like to see more of! the microbangs are a little fanciful so i'll probably be ditching it later, but i want to at least show it here. i think it adds something to the look.

this mural could have been made as late as 100 years after his death so i wont vouch for the accuracy, but i do like to pay homage to the earliest known art of these people.

there are several ways to get a loose bun, so i just picked one from the terracotta warriors that i liked (bottom left).

bonus fact! he's a member of the "tried and failed to assassinate Qin Shi Huang club" population: 3

his assassination technique was equally shitty but he made it out alive and avoided the nation-wide manhunt so that counts for something at least.

[beautifulpersonpeach]

Lol.

This will be short. I’ll go on a little tangent but I’ll tie this back to Jungkook and BTS at the end.

You know, I was mostly ambivalent about the feud between HYBE and Min Heejin until I heard her call Bang Sihyuk and his sycophants “bastards” for ‘overpaying for garbage and forcing everyone to eat it because they think the price makes the music good.’ - I’m paraphrasing a bit because her language was more crude. That made me sit up a bit, because her sentiments mirrored my thoughts about the direction Bang Sihyuk has been taking the company in for some time now.

Another random connection is that, to me at least, it seems clear BigHit is still trying to make the HYBE America investment worth it, given:

1. The unnecessarily long credit lists filled with Scooter-linked writers that appear to have become a fixture of most HYBE releases. Bang PD is clearly taking advantage of Scooter’s connections although it’s yet to yield any significant improvement in music quality, and in terms of chart performance the results are mixed at best;

2. The fact that in addition to HYBE paying US$1.05 Billion in cash for Scooter’s company, essentially overpaying for Ithaca Holdings by consensus estimates (a deal Min Heejin also openly criticized as being hare-brained), HYBE America still generated hundreds of millions of dollars in losses as of the last fiscal year, two years after the acquisition was finalized.

But this is old news, we all knew that.

The thing about Min Heejin’s comments that concerned me is that, despite what is now clearly an underperforming investment both in terms of Scooter Braun himself and the man at HYBE that arranged the deal in the first place, Lee Jae-sang, rather than work to correct course and minimize losses, Bang Sihyuk appears to be doubling down on the deal by rewarding these two men in particular with more music and business opportunities within HYBE, even if the music quality suffers as a result, even if HYBE continues overpaying for shit, and even if the artists/idols are negatively impacted in the process. And according to Min Heejin, one big reason Bang Sihyuk allows it is because those men are adept at greasing his arse and eating it out.

Basically, it’s become an expensive joke. But he’s brute forcing the deal to work because so long as BTS is involved and so ARMYs are involved, it’s a joke that Bang PD is guaranteed to take laughing all the way to the bank.

This is where I say I realized shortly after Jungkook’s fan song for Festa was announced, that I wasn’t excited to hear it. I’m saying this only because now that the song is out, it’s confirmed everything I expected. And also because that apathetic feeling was so at odds with how I’ve been feeling about Jungkook as a person for the last year. If it’s not been clear from my reblogs and gush posts, I’ve been spending the better part of this hiatus loving Jungkook extremely. Jungkook is an empathetic songwriter, an emotive vocalist, a talented producer.

But nothing about Never Let Go is exciting. Who wants to listen to a fan song written by people who’ve never had fans? And on top of that, Jungkook is making less money from that song than any fan song he’s written before. Meaning, the song is mediocre, it feels blatantly insincere in ways only a crowdsourced fan song can be, and Jungkook has to split his revenue from the song with about 10 white people. Just look at this.

I’m actually laughing typing this out, but this turn of events is at least a little tragic.

Golden worked as a concept album because it was a collection of songs Jungkook felt represented his taste, he could take on the challenge of putting out a full English album with some help from the writers, and he showcased new vocal techniques and styles that only showed an evolution from his prior work in BTS. The songs themselves were just okay, good decent pop, but as a collection it worked.

Everything about Never Let Go feels almost audaciously soulless. Not quite a slap on the face but it’s like someone coming all up in your face with a bad case of halitosis and their nose barely touching yours, daring you to do something about it.

I have no issue with HYBE working with Scooter-linked writers or producers if it means something actually good comes of it. But it seems HYBE seems to believe their work is better simply because they slap on as many foreign names in the credits as they can fit. It betrays a worrying mentality about the head honchos in the company. Looking at the peak quality in FACE by Jimin, or in Right Place, Wrong Person by RM, which included acclaimed Korean, other Asian, and Black talent supposedly hand-picked by Jimin and Joon themselves, it’s clear HYBE has access to remarkable home-grown and foreign talent that could improve the work of the members. But what I’m seeing with too much frequency is HYBE picking off the bottom of the barrel in the unending list of Scooter’s contractors and otherwise choosing to do the bare minimum.

And that’s how we end up with a Festa fan song with a topline that sounds like an AI-generated jingle written by a soccer team of hired help.

Or idk, maybe I’m being just a bit too full of it. Maybe I’ve been brainwashed by the witch Min Heejin, maybe this was just one more song Jungkook worked on with his Golden team as he had no time to write a proper fan song, nothing more. And maybe as a silver lining, there are no glaring grammatical errors though I found the ones in My You very charming, and honestly part of the appeal. To hear the way Jungkook sees the fans who have been with him till now, even if in English it didn’t quite make sense.

I said this would be short but I’ve rambled, as usual. Sorry for that. When I started out writing this post, I did intend to keep it short.

To end things on a somewhat lighter note, for me the only thing I’m excited about this Festa, is SeokJin coming back. I’ll be working on a deal during the fanmeet so I didn’t bother participating in the raffle, but I’m happy for the ARMYs who get the opportunity to hug Jin, and for Jin who gets to spend time with his fans after so long. With him returning, things are starting to feel more right, even though there are worrying signs in high places. We’ve got about 1 year left to endure most of the members enlisted and then, the crew will be rounded up again.

Now more than ever, I find myself looking forward to that.

[schizodiaries]

a guide to hearing voices

(Note: this information was given to me by my therapist and is not my original writing. The information provided in this post comes from the UK based mental health charity known as Mind, and is paraphrased by me.)

What are voices?

A hallucination is a perception you may have that is not shared by those around you. Hearing voices is a type of auditory hallucination where you hear voices when no one is present, or that other people cannot hear. Some examples of voices you may hear include:

Hearing your name called when no one is around.

Hearing things as you fall asleep.

Feel as though you can hear other people’s thoughts.

Threatening voices that tell you to do dangerous things.

Friendly voices that encourage or support you.

Multiple voices arguing or talking with one another.

There are many reasons why you might hear voices. Some reasons include lack of sleep, hunger, physical illness, being under the influence of drugs, grief, abuse/bullying, physical illness, trauma, spiritual experiences, or mental health problems such as psychosis.

How can I help myself cope?

Understanding your voices and how they relate to your past may help you feel more in control, recognize when voices cause problems, stand up to your voice, or develop a better relationship with your voices so they don’t interfere with your life.

Some questions to help you think about how your voices relate to you are:

What was happening when I first heard voices?

Where was I and how was I feeling?

What did the voice say?

What did they sound like?

Do they represent a person or a problem?

Are there any patterns to the voices?

What do the voices want me to do?

What do I want to do?

It may be helpful to keep a diary and record when you hear voices or what they say. This can help you identify patterns and understand how they affect you over a period of time.

Here are some suggestions to help you feel more in control of your voices:

Ignore them, block them out, or distract yourself.

Give them times when you agree to talk to them and times when you won’t.

Tell them to wait.

Stand up to them, ignore their commands and threats. They have no power over you.

Try to ignore the voices you don’t like, and focus on the ones you find easier to listen to.

Use grounding techniques, like taking note of the things you see, hear, smell, etc.

The recovery approach

This helps reframe the way we see recovery. The main principles of the recovery approach are:

Live the best life you can have the you can with your experiences and the consequences they’ve had.

Focusing on what you can do, not what you can’t.

Making your own choices and being your own person.

Seeing recovery as a journey, not a destination.

Seeing setbacks as ways of learning more about yourself.

Maintaining hope.

How other people can help

If someone you care about hears voices, you might find it hard to understand what they are experiencing. But there are many things you can do to help support them.

Accept that their experiences of voices are real, even if you don’t understand it.

Try not to make judgements about what hearing voices means for them.

Learn their triggers.

Remember that they are still the same person you’ve always known. Hearing voices doesn’t change who they are.

Ask them what would help, and avoid making assumptions.

Reassure them that they are not alone. There are lots of reasons why people hear voices.

Encourage them to talk about their experience. To you, to a doctor, or to a support group.

Learn more about the experience of hearing voices and fight the stigma.

Help them seek treatment and support, if they want it.

[ageha-sds]

Can you talk about your process? I find your renders really gorgeous but I think I don't really understand the work that goes into them.

Whoof! That's a question and a half, anon. Typically the process initially starts out with the model itself - a fresh rip. I almost never ever work with pre-ripped files as I always find they have something I don't like and also are not up to my standards. I'm extremely picky which means I do things by myself. Not that those providing the rips are bad! But I prefer things my way. Once I got the model and all of its assets (textures, ancillaries like materials, values, etc.) I throw them together into Blender. I'll usually whip up a material on my own and, if need be, eyeball certain things. Not everything looks that good out the box and some stuff needs tampering, but that isn't too often. Provided I get the model right where I want it to look, from there I immediately jump into posing the model. Back in the day I used to begin at the legs and work my way up, but recent years have seen me throw caution to the wind and just play with it. In the end, posing isn't much different with playing with toys. (Which is why I have a collection of them. No, I'm not pretending my high end figures aren't toys!)

Note: I never use IK/FK rigs ever. I'll use the skeleton at hand, but I don't like using IK/FKs. I pose bone by bone. This is where part of my thinking comes in: What can I do that's interesting? There's this clip from the Spielberg biopic I always think about when David Lynch shows up, there's a line that's always stuck with me: "When the horizon's at the bottom, it's interesting; when the horizon's at the top, it's interesting; when the horizon's in the middle, it's boring as shit." Paraphrased but regardless, you get the gist. My goal is to make the pose interesting to look at. So I'll do all kinds of things: Shape play, twisting, really weird stuff, if I'm having trouble I like to look at Vogue or fashion magazines in general, and kinda go from there. I'll work the pose from there that I feel fits the character but keeps it interesting to look at. Something ill-forgotten is that when I do my renders, I really treat them in the way a cinematographer/photographer would: Composite for the shot. So I'll look at the pose I'm doing and once I get it to a point, I'll go "okay, let's get a camera in now" and start playing with things like FoV. Example: My Sadu render had some very narrow focal length, I think 14mm? Some renders have a very wide angle lens of 80mm. If I find I like the camera lens and angle, what I'll do then is check if the pose needs adjustments. Make it fit more, make it interesting, break the model here, all that. Make the pose work for the shot, don't worry about how it actually looks from any other angle.

Then comes lighting. Lighting is really tricky, because you can really easily blow out a lot of stuff. Skin, you can just over-expose in a way that looks bad. White is another one that you gotta be really, really careful about. It's a balancing act.

But before that, I like to use HDRIs. But I don't just use them. See, I kind of follow a general basis of using colored undertones for my HDRI, and I like using studio HDRIs because they're generally no color. What I like to do is mix into the HDRI a noise texture to really get all kinds of weird, crazy colors! It makes things look interesting and makes it really easy to have that color variety. There'll generally be two main colors that get the highlight though e.g. cyan and orange.

From there I begin lighting actually. I use every part of the buffalo. Spot lights, sun lights, area lights, not as frequently called but still used point lights, they all serve a purpose. What I like to do is at grazing angles, give the light a nice pale color, and then accompany it with another light of a similar color that's actually saturated so that the value changes. You usually use this for rimlights and it's a technique called a kicklight, but I like to use it on my main lights too since that can make stuff pop a lot.

After that it's just making whatever comes naturally to me in terms of lighting. Shadows are good. They're really really good! You always wanna use the heck out of shadows in this stuff, because when you don't, you lose out so much depth.

Speaking of depth, once I get everything I have needed, I like to add an ambient occlusion layer in compositing and then I like to use a technique called sfumato, which is what you sometimes see in my renders when they fade into a color. This is achieved by using the Mist option in Blender. If I'm doing a transparent image I like to get the alpha and Mist both, plug them into Color Ramp nodes, then multiply Mist by the alpha. (and I make sure the black position is set to .999 on the color ramp!)

From there, after I multiplied the AO to the composited image, I'll add the multiplied Mist node to another Mix Color node and set it to add (though you can experiment freely with this! I don't always do it like this!) then play with as necessary. After that, I just render it out at 4k resolution, then downsample to 2k res. That's about it!

This was a bit of stream of consciousness and I could easily have forgotten a few things, but, that's generally the process more or less!

[too-antigonish]

The Great S7 Rewrite: 7 July 2024 Update...

Posted this yesterday as a reblog update to the Great S7 Rewrite but now posting separately...

Here's a summary of where we are in the Great S7 Rewrite and some ideas moving forward:

Bone of Contention #1: Opera Rules

@astridcontramundum is in favor of keeping Opera Rules (voiceovers, framing scenes, etc.) as well as featuring more of the bespoke opera written for S7. I love her suggestion that Morse and Violetta have their own leitmotif! 

@oeuvrinarydurian suggested the possibility of leaning into Opera Rules—going a little crazy with tropes and techniques and being fanciful. 

I *love* the idea of leaning into Opera Rules and it’s actually what I’ve thought R.L. should have done all along. Now though, when I think of doing it within the context of the existing storylines we’re working with, I run into difficulties imagining it. The stories don’t fit into a “playful” world. That may simply be my own limitations. I’d love to see it done somewhere, sometime—especially somewhat whimsically and especially in the Morse universe.

One possibility I’ve considered is still having Opera Rules (voiceovers, framing scenes, etc. as well as opera tropes and themes), but actually taking them seriously instead of making them OTT. I’m heavily paraphrasing, but Astrid, in one of her stories has Bix say something like, “Real life isn’t like one of your operas,” to Morse. And it’s always struck me that for Morse, his real life *is* like one of his operas. His childhood? Being essentially orphaned. Evil stepmothers. Oxford? Almost marrying the princess so to speak. Being cast aside and cast out. What he sees at his job? Murder. Betrayal. Greed. Jealousy. Grief.

Basically, instead of making Morse’s life suddenly work according to Opera Rules, you could show how Morse has been living an opera all along by suddenly making all of the parallels visible.

Another thought that builds on Astrid’s idea about both Opera Rules and her later thoughts on the Towpath Case is to center the story on the opera that Morse attends at the beginning, "La Sposa del Demonio" (or "La Cura Per L'amore").  What if the story of that opera is reflected in the story arc of the Morse, Ludo, Violetta—whatever that ends up being? 

Bone of Contention #2: Ludo and Violetta?

Astrid likes the idea of having Violetta genuinely in love with Morse. 

@librawritesstuff brings up Violetta as “Unattainable Fantasy Woman” and points out that part of Morse’s attraction to her can be explained by the fact that by the end of S6, he’s been screwed over in just about every way possible. He’s ready to just say fuck it and go after something just because it’s there and he wants it for a change.

She then points out that the bigger problem with Ludo and Violetta lies in the implausibility of their storyline. What was the plan with Morse? Was there a plan? What’s the deal with the “pet policeman”?

Durian: Hates Ludo and Violetta as characters, but her big issue is with lack of logic in the whole opera storyline and too many implausibilities. Did Morse and Violetta meet at the opera by chance or design? Did Ludo know about them the whole time? What was the “pet policeman” about? Was Violetta actually involved in the nuts and bolts of engineering the accidents?

@fanficrocks Looks at making Morse’s relationship with Ludo more believable: less OTT as a character, maybe journalist friend of Dorothea, this gives a believable reason for him to be in all of the towns where the accidents happen and believable way for Morse to trace the accidents to him. Suggests possibly lose “pet policeman” concept and just have Ludo and Morse friendship poisoned by affair

Astrid again: Loves idea of Ludo as journalist; She notes with Violetta: Morse attaching to her out of recklessness seems reasonable but they didn’t make her attachment to him believable in any way. Also, while there was a reconciliation at the end of S6, Morse would have still been carrying resentment about having been pushed aside

I love the idea of Ludo as a journalist. I’m also intrigued by the possibility that he could be a music journalist. This would provide a plausible explanation for so many things—Dorothea introducing him to Morse, Morse actually wanting to become friends, his frequent travels, etc. 

It also gives me an idea re: the big opera La Sposa. What if it were a newly discovered opera? Morse goes to Venice for the premier. Ludo is there covering the premier but for some reason does not attend with Violetta. The plot of this opera could somehow also form a backdrop for the overall Morse, Ludo, Violetta story arc (story within a story).

I completely agree with Libra about the “Unattainable Fantasy Woman” thing for the initial two week affair. Where that starts to break down for me is with the extended affair and her cooking meals for them in their love nest at Beirut dancer’s apartment. There just seems to be no basis for their connection besides sex. Certainly not enough that he would be expecting her to leave Ludo and start a life together.

If we keep Ludo and Violetta as characters, which seems to be the way things are leaning, I do think they both more or less need personality transplants to justify Morse’s continued interest in them. I’m also with Astrid on having Violetta genuinely in love with Morse. I think they left it ambiguous in the show because they were playing on the whole idea of “If it's beautiful, does it matter if it’s real?” (“treason of images” ) thing, but it never really worked.

As for the overall implausibility of overall opera storyline: Yes!!!! It’s a mess. Every point raised by Libra and Durian is valid. Whatever happens with the storyline, those holes need fixing!

Bone of Contention #3: Towpath Storyline

Astrid: Universe within universe for towpath killings. Make it opera related. Gives more scope for Thursday/Morse conflict. Deranged fan? Thwarted performer? Also, while there was a reconciliation at the end of S6, Morse would have still been carrying resentment about having been pushed aside.

Durian: Eliminate clutter in Towpath mystery: get down to “is it or is it not Carl?” Leaves room to carefully craft the conflict between Morse and Thursday

I definitely agree that the clutter in the Towpath mystery needs to be eliminated. There was no clear throughline and the story pulled in too many directions. The specifics, though, depend on a lot of other decisions that need to be made first.

The conflict between Morse and Thursday definitely needs to be more carefully established. How do we get from the seeming reconciliation of Degüello to sniping at each other in Oracle? I completely agree with Astrid that Morse would have still been carrying resentment, but there needs to be something more to explain how it would erupt in such a public and painful manner.

Bone of Contention #4: The Episodic Storylines

Astrid: “I’d definitely keep those gay wrestlers!  I might feature them more! They could be another nod to it all. Thursday said wrestling was a lot like opera. Heroes and Villains. Faces and Heels.”

I love this comment! And I loved the gay wrestlers. They were just so unexpected and their presence was so understated in a way that I found hilarious. 

But it also gets at one of the themes of S7 that I did actually find interesting: How chance puts us on one side or the other, makes us winners or losers in the great game. Raga is the most blatant about it with politics, immigration, race, gambling, etc. but also with the Faces and the Heels in wrestling or the fate of  the firstborn son vs. the second born.

Ludo sums it up—while also perhaps referring to his crimes—by saying to Morse, “Life, death, rich, poor. It's all a roll of the dice, Morse. There's no reason to any of it. You're not responsible. Some people are just unlucky.” It's eerily reminiscent of Charlie and Conrad Greel in Ride.

OK, I think that's it for now. Please let me know if I misrepresented your comments in any way or missed something that was said! I assure you it was accidental.

[lollystocks]

Therapy for the Dead and Buried

A Danny Phantom x The Bright Sessions Crossover

DP Crossover Angst Week Day 6 - Runaway

Summary: Alone and in hiding, Danny is sent to mandatory therapy. It's a bit... strange. And unusual.

Notes: First chapter of a multific! Should be relatively friendly to those unfamiliar with The Bright Sessions, as it's mostly Danny's POV.

AO3

“New patient. Session one. Male, seventeen, no known history of psychological counseling. Referred by school for ‘antisocial behavior’, but no examples given, and strong comments were made about his, quote… ‘unsettling vibes.’ Condition unknown.”

-

It was a very ordinary-looking room.

Danny wasn't sure what he'd been expecting, but "boring" hadn't really occurred to him.

The office of Dr. Bright was reasonably spacious, with pure white walls and a thick baby blue carpet. A single sash window overlooked the park, and before it sat a laminate desk - almost certainly IKEA - with precisely organized trays of papers and stationery. No photos or trinkets adorned it. Not even a Newton's cradle, disappointingly.

Towards the center of the room sat two small sofas - firm looking, upholstered in dark blue vinyl. The hospital type, designed for ease of cleaning up bodily fluids. Plump-looking cushions softened their corners. A low coffee table sat between them, sporting a small succulent and a large box of tissues.

Danny had chosen the sofa which faced the window and door, with his back to the blank wall. He got the impression that he'd made the wrong choice, somehow. He didn't give a shit.

The doctor was looking at him, one manicured eyebrow just a micrometer higher than the other. The silence stretched on, awkwardly.

"Um. Sorry. Could you repeat the question, please?"

"Of course. I asked if you knew why you were here, James?"

Danny stared out of the window, into the cloudy sky. There were many ways to answer that question. Classic shrink tactic, probably, to suss out his brain. Most of the answers that came to mind were smartassery - because this is where your office is. Because the bus brought me here. Because of human evolution. Because I'd get kicked out of my school if I didn't come.

What impression did he want to give her? Who did Danny James want to be now? What was most useful to him?

He looked at the doctor's face. "Because people are unsettled by me. I can't help it, but they are. And they want me to stop. Unsettling them, that is. And you're meant to teach me, like, body language techniques or something."

Doctor Bright settled into the sofa a little, like a question had been answered, or a data point obtained. She smoothed the creaseless paper in her lap.

"And what makes you think that?"

"The whole, 'James, there's clearly something deeply fucking wrong with you, and it's freaking out your classmates. Get help,' thing kinda clued me in, Doc."

"I assume you're paraphrasing."

"I'm not, actually. F-bomb and everything. Scout's honor."

"I'm surprised that your principal would use such language with you, James. That must have been disconcerting."

Danny stared at her. That was an unexpected response. "You saying you believe me? That he said that?"

"I do, James. My job here isn't to be a skeptic, or to 'find out the truth'. I'm here to listen, offer advice, and help you learn some skills and techniques to redirect your own behavior and mentality as you wish." The doctor adjusted her glasses. "So yes, James, I believe you. And as your therapist, I will believe whatever you tell me in this room, no matter how... outlandish, you may feel it is. That is my job here."

Danny couldn't help but smile at that, just a little. "That's a sweet sentiment Doctor, genuinely, but you can't mean that seriously. You must get all sorts of compulsive liars or straight-up crazies through here, there's no way you just decide to believe them all."

"Let me rephrase, then. While it's true that many of my patients will tell me things that they know not to be true, I find it best to start from a place of belief. If I decide, after getting to know them, that they are in fact serially lying to me, or are mistaken, I adjust accordingly. But until I can know that? I believe them."

"So if a crackhead told you they could fly. You'd just believe them?"

"I would, yes. Up and until I come to the irrefutable conclusion that they are lying or mistaken. Does that surprise you?"

Danny scoffed. "Yeah, that surprises me. It's nuts. There's no way you can do your job properly like that."

Doctor Bright smiled. "I've found it works best. For one thing, any patients I get through this door will come to learn that, no matter how strange or unusual it may be, they can tell me. I will not judge them, or turn them away, or have them committed."

There was a pause.

"So. You want me to tell you how ' strange and unusual' I am."

"No, James. I want you to tell me whatever you wish to tell me. This is an introductory session, I just want to get to know you."

"Specifically, you want me to tell you outlandish things about myself. Things no one else would believe. Things that make others scared of me."

"James, I merely-"

"Nope. Bye. Tell Principal Khan I failed at therapy, I guess."

He grabbed his backpack, and left.

-

“End of session one. Patient left abruptly.”

Chapter 2 here

Masterpost here

[dbmars]

DB Reads Hannibal Rising: Peritext

@adreamwithin and I have discussed reading (or re-reading in some cases) the Harris books together. Initially, we planned to read the same copies of the books, swapping them back and forth so we could leave each other annotations and notes in the margins (called marginalia, btw, though that sounds like a butter substitute). In the end, she sent me the two books I didn't happen to find in a not-so-Little Free Library (my former middle school has been turned into a community center and antique mall, and they kept the library as it was, so folks can leave-a-book-take-a-book kind of thing).

I'm not sure how many of these posts I'll make, but I'm going through a rough patch right now where my goal is to do whatever it takes to give myself good brain chemicals. It's a beautiful Sunday morning here in Iowa. I woke up at 5am to have quiet time to myself before my family wakes up, and this morning my brain said, "Hey, you should make a tumblr post about reading Hannibal Rising. And I was like, "Sure thing, Brain, whatever you want. If you give me the happy chemicals, I'll do pretty much anything."

So, here we are. BTW I saw this movie around the time when it came out, but I have never read this book.

This is the copy I'm reading:

I'm a strong proponent of always studying the peritext of any book. you care about or want/need to study. Peritext is a subcategory of paratext. The concept of paratext was defined by Gérard Genette (1997) as common elements provided within a book (peritext) and elements outside of the book (epitext) that refer to the book and can affect individual and cultural perceptions of a text. Examples of peritextual elements include the foreword, table of contents, index, dedications, introductions, publication information, and source notes. Epitext refers to communications outside the book that can influence whether and how the text is read. Examples of epitext include book reviews, interviews, author websites, letters, and critical literary analysis. Paratext = peritext + epitext (paraphrased from this source).

First page after the front cover. This is, like, the hype page. So if you're picking up this book off the shelf in a supermarket or something, it's supposed to entice you into buying it. I find it hilarious. I guarantee Thomas Harris did not write this piece of shit. It's a mess of past/present tense and the images are confusing and trying to sound cool but not quite hitting the right tone. This fits thematically with the commercial reasons for this book being written (ie. Dino de Laurentiis forcing Harris to write it).

After the "Also By Thomas Harris" page we have a Japanese ink painting.

It's tempting to just breeze by this thinking, oh, I know there are Japanese characters in this book etc. Slow down! Look at the painting. Find out who painted it and when, and the title of the work. But how???

Skip to this page:

Aha, here we go. "Ink Drawing of a Shrike on a Twig" by Musashi. To the Google Machine!

(okay, another cup of coffee first)

First of all, SHRIKE! Of course, we're all thinking Minnesota Shrike. But the title is just the beginning -- turns out the artist is Miyamoto Musashi (1584 - 1645)... and the translation of the title provided in Hannibal Rising is a lot less heavy metal than some of the other translations I found (Shrike Sitting on a Barren Branch, Shrike Perched in a Dead Tree). In Japanese, Koboku meikakuzu.

I hope Musashi comes up in the story as someone Hannibal studies. Turns out he wasn't just an artist, but a legendary swordsman, philosopher, author, calligrapher, and sculptor. His most well-known piece of writing is the most important Japanese treatise on strategy, the Book of the Five Rings (Gorin no Sho). I found a wonderful blog post about the painting and here are my takeaways:

Musashi's artistic technique echoed the bold precision of his swordsmanship. The strokes are confident and precisely placed like cuts with a blade. It achieves perfect balance. Nothing is missing, nothing is unnecessary. Immediately I want to believe that Hannibal's art is the same way -- as precise as his own way of dealing out death.

There is a worm headed up the stem. It seems like the shrike is going to be surprised, but this is a visual story of predator and prey, the moment before the shrike strikes.

Musashi, born into the samurai class, was orphaned and adopted by his uncle... just like Hannibal. He became a ronin, or a masterless samurai.

From the Water-Book: 'In strategy your spiritual bearing must not be any different from normal. Both in fighting and in everyday life you should be determined though calm. Meet the situation without tenseness yet not recklessly, your spirit settled yet unbiased. Even when your spirit is calm do not let your body relax, and when your body is relaxed do not let your spirit slacken.' I could see Hannibal embracing this in every way. Think about his unflappable demeanor as Mads plays him, to the point where when we do see emotions breaking through it's singularly jarring. The way of the warrior as described here is something a young Hannibal would ascribe to, and file it away under wise teachings instead of acknowledging that he lives in a state of constant hypervigilance due to trauma. If it's a warrior code, it's not a weakness.

Musashi believed in acquiring knowledge for a well-rounded view of the world -- learning many professions, a true renaissance man. This is reflected in his creative output. Hannibal has a vast knowledge base and strives to master many arts -- cooking, drawing, music, etc.

I ended up ordering a copy of The Book of Five Rings (which, eew, apparently is often read by executives for management purposes, and probably by a lot of incels who think they're cool cuz they read The Art of War and stuff but okay) because of the lines at the end of the blog post. Something I really needed to hear right now.

"The artistic creative process has many dimensional facets to it. Sometimes it is an active and full-on mode. At other times, it is a sparkling solitude of precious silence. The artist, like the warrior, is brave in embracing the journey as it unfolds. Each to their rhythm, pace and timing. Like the painted branch of this scroll, one brush stroke with intention can hold a world of wisdom."

Here's a list of the other copyrighted materials that will apparently appear in Hannibal Rising:

"This is the first thing" -- Collected Poems by Philip Larkin (1998, 2003)

"No way to see him" -- The Ink Dark Moon: Love Poems by Ono no Komachi and Izumi Shikibu, translated by Jane Hirshfield and Mariko Aratani (1990).

"Definition" -- Rococo Summer and Other Poems by Lawrence P. Springyarn (1947).

"From The Tale of Genji" -- Women Poets of Japan by Murasaki Shikibu, translated by Kenneth Rexroth and Ikuko Atsumi (1973) -- free online!

"Amidst the notes..." One Hundred More Poems from the Japanese by Akiko Yosano, translated by Kenneth Rexroth (1976). (I found another source, hope the translation is good).

I'll address these as they come up in the book so I can analyze how Harris uses them in the text. I guess I'm gonna be a big weirdo and buy some of these books... me and my deep dives, good Lord!

This was fun. A nice break from fanfic. Maybe I'll keep posting! Honestly I'll be way more likely to continue if folks heart, reblog, or (best ever) comment.

Love, DB

[perry-fics]

This article shits on Steve a little 🫤

CONCERT REPORT OF JOURNEY

“Steve should fulfill his role as a frontman”

By Kumazawa Keiko (Music Life)

---

[Editorial Introduction / Top Text]

Journey's performance this time was fantastic. Their presence was overwhelming, and it was clear that they are truly a band made up of top-class musicians.

What caught my attention most, though, was Steve Perry's place within the group. Since joining Journey, Steve has taken on the job of frontman, singing passionately while trying to interact with the audience and lead the show.

But was he really able to live up to the expectations of what a “frontman” should be?

---

[Middle Section - commentary continues]

Steve's singing ability is unquestionable. His voice has power and range, and his high notes especially shine in live performance.

However, when it comes to being a “frontman”—the person who not only sings but holds the entire show together, communicates with the audience, and represents the band’s energy—he’s still learning.

At times, it felt like he was trying too hard. His movements seemed a bit exaggerated, and his comments to the audience felt scripted, not natural.

That’s not to say he isn’t trying—he’s giving it everything—but compared to other great frontmen in rock, he’s not quite there yet.

There were moments when Neal Schon or other members seemed to carry the momentum more than Steve.

---

[Bottom Commentary – possibly quotes or paraphrased thoughts from Neal Schon]

“Steve’s doing great. He’s really trying to engage with the audience,” said Neal Schon. “But to be a frontman means more than just singing well. It’s about bringing the crowd with you, making them feel like part of the band.”

Still, Neal says he supports Steve and thinks he’ll grow more into the role with time.

---

[Bottom Caption Next to Neal’s Photo]

Neal Schon

“Steve needs to keep reaching people as himself, not just with technique,” he says. “He’ll get there.”

[jesperweidemann]

Writing Engaging Introductions and Compelling Conclusions Part 3: Understanding the Intention of Conclusions

The Purpose of Conclusions

Conclusions are the final opportunity to leave a lasting impression on the reader. They serve several critical functions:

Summarizing Key Points: A conclusion should succinctly summarize the main points discussed in the piece. This helps reinforce the information and ensures that the reader leaves with a clear understanding of the key takeaways.

Reinforcing the Thesis: The conclusion should restate the thesis in a new way, reinforcing the main argument or purpose of the writing. This helps to solidify the reader’s understanding and agreement with your perspective.

Providing Closure and a Final Perspective: A strong conclusion provides a sense of closure, wrapping up the discussion neatly. It also offers a final perspective, leaving the reader with something to ponder or act upon.

Elements of a Strong Conclusion

An effective conclusion typically includes the following elements:

Restating the Thesis: Paraphrase the main argument or thesis statement to remind the reader of the central point. This should be done in a way that feels fresh and not repetitive.

Summarizing Main Points: Briefly revisit the key arguments or points made in the piece. This summary should be concise and focus on the most important aspects.

Final Thoughts: Offer insights, implications, or a call to action. This is your chance to leave the reader with something meaningful to think about or do.

Techniques for Effective Conclusions

There are several techniques you can use to craft a compelling conclusion:

Echoing the Introduction: Refer back to the introduction to create a sense of symmetry and closure. This can be done by revisiting a story, question, or quote used in the opening.

Including a Call to Action: Encourage the reader to take specific action based on the information or arguments presented. This can be particularly effective in persuasive or argumentative writing.

Ending with a Quotation or Provocative Thought: Use a relevant quote or thought-provoking statement to leave a lasting impression. This can add depth and resonance to your conclusion.

Reflecting on the Broader Implications: Discuss the broader implications of your topic, considering its impact on a larger scale. This can help the reader see the significance of your writing beyond the immediate context.

Common Pitfalls to Avoid

When writing conclusions, it’s important to avoid common pitfalls:

Introducing New Information: The conclusion is not the place to introduce new arguments or evidence. This can confuse the reader and undermine the sense of closure.

Being Redundant: Avoid simply repeating what has already been said. Instead, aim to synthesize and distill the main points in a fresh way.

Ending Abruptly: Ensure that your conclusion provides a sense of closure. Avoid ending too suddenly, as this can leave the reader feeling unsatisfied.

Examples and Analysis

To understand what makes a conclusion effective, let’s break down some examples:

Example 1: Echoing the Introduction

Introduction: “When I was ten years old, I discovered a dusty old book in my grandmother’s attic. Little did I know, that book would ignite my lifelong passion for history.”

Conclusion: “Just as that dusty old book sparked my passion for history, I hope this piece has ignited your interest in the past and its lessons for the future.”

Analysis: This conclusion echoes the introduction, creating a sense of symmetry and closure. It ties back to the initial anecdote and reinforces the main theme.

Example 2: Call to Action

“Now that you understand the importance of daily exercise, I challenge you to incorporate at least 30 minutes of physical activity into your routine. Your body and mind will thank you.”

Analysis: This conclusion includes a clear call to action, encouraging the reader to apply the information in a practical way. It’s motivating and actionable.

Example 3: Quotation

“As Albert Einstein once said, ‘Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.’ Let’s keep moving forward, embracing change and growth.”

Analysis: This conclusion uses a relevant quote to leave a lasting impression. The quote is thought-provoking and ties into the theme of the piece.

Example 4: Reflecting on Broader Implications

“The impact of climate change extends far beyond our immediate environment. It affects global economies, health, and future generations. By taking action now, we can create a sustainable future for all.”

Analysis: This conclusion reflects on the broader implications of the topic, helping the reader see its significance on a larger scale. It’s insightful and forward-looking.

Crafting Your Own Conclusion

When crafting your own conclusion, consider the following steps:

Restate the Thesis: Paraphrase your thesis statement to remind the reader of the central point. Ensure that it feels fresh and not repetitive.

Summarize Main Points: Briefly revisit the key arguments or points made in the piece. Focus on the most important aspects and avoid unnecessary details.

Offer Final Thoughts: Provide insights, implications, or a call to action. This is your chance to leave the reader with something meaningful to think about or do.

Create a Sense of Closure: Ensure that your conclusion provides a sense of closure. Avoid ending too suddenly and aim to leave the reader feeling satisfied.

Revise and Refine: Review your conclusion to ensure it is clear, concise, and impactful. Don’t be afraid to make changes to improve it.

Additional Tips for Writing Conclusions

Be Concise: While it’s important to provide a thorough summary, avoid being overly verbose. A concise conclusion is more likely to leave a strong impression.

Stay Relevant: Ensure that all the information in your conclusion is relevant to the main topic. Avoid tangents or unrelated details that might confuse the reader.

Use Clear and Simple Language: Avoid jargon or overly complex language that might alienate the reader. Clear and simple language is more effective in conveying your final thoughts.

Create a Smooth Transition: The conclusion should smoothly transition from the main body of the writing. Ensure that the last sentence of your main body leads naturally into the first sentence of your conclusion.

Engage the Senses: When using descriptive language, engage the reader’s senses by describing sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and textures. This can make your writing more vivid and memorable.

Reflect Your Personality: Let your personality shine through in your conclusion. Whether you’re writing in a formal or informal style, your unique voice can make your writing more engaging and relatable.

Remember, the conclusion is your final opportunity to make an impact, so take the time to craft it carefully and thoughtfully.

< Part 2 ||| Part 4 >

[fulcrumstardust]

i saw that video where a guy said (paraphrasing) "people will criticize your swimming technique while the boat is sinking and you're trying not to drown" and I needed to hear that so bad. thanks.

[writerbuddha]

Okay so I recently saw a reblog to Jedi Apologists refutation of the Jedi being a cult which talked about mindfulness as a bad thing with it’s emphasis on self compassion leading to narcissism (I’m paraphrasing). Anyway, this really didn’t sound right from everything I’ve read about it on various pro-Jedi blogs and have taken away from Star Wars itself. And we’ll when I looked up mindfulness some of the stuff I’ve found went into how the practice has been corrupted by Western capitalism and how Buddhists have criticised the way it’s used too.

So as a practising Buddhist how does Western mindfulness deviate from its Buddhist roots and how do the Jedi use mindfulness in the truest sense?

First of all, people have a tendency to forgot or to actively ignore that there is a difference between these four:

Mindfulness

Meditation

Mindfulness meditation

Being mindful of your emotions

Mindfulness in Buddhism

Mindfulness in Buddhism can be defined as maintaining a flow of voluntarily awareness or attention, holding, bearing something in mind, without distraction, without forgetfulness. This awareness, attention is non-judgmental, not filtering things through subjective opinions, or labeling things as good and bad based on like or dislike. But it entails you to have a clear view of what's happening in your mind, body, and environment, and you can recognize which ways of speaking, behaving and using the mind is conducive to your and to other's well-being, which are afflictive, toxic, harmful to you and to others, and you can do the sensible, compassionate thing.

Buddhist Mindfulness and Western Psychology - mindfulness versus meditation

In the context of Western psychology, "mindfulness" often refers to mindfulness practices incorporated into the Western therapeutic toolkit, most often mindfulness meditation. However, one must understand that even as all forms of Buddhist meditation involve mindfulness, mindfulness is not the same as meditation and not all types of mediation is mindfulness meditation. The Buddha taught his followers to practice mindfulness all the time. It should be clear that one can make Buddhist mindfulness a day-to-day activity, but it would be very difficult to stay in the state of mindfulness as it is defined in Western psychological context.

Mindfulness in the Western context is becoming more fully aware of the present moment and becoming more fully in the present moment, completely and non-judgmentally. It generally involves heightened awareness of sensory stimuli, e.g. noticing your breathing, feeling the sensations of your body, being in the “now.”

Buddhists define meditation as a tool used to habituate yourself to constructive, realistic and beneficial emotions and attitudes, to build up good habits of the mind. It's used to transform thoughts and views so that they are more compassionate and correspond to reality. Some forms of meditation are aimed to develop mindfulness. Whereas in the Western context, meditation is often defined as a set of techniques that are intended to encourage a heightened state of awareness and focused attention.

Therapies incorporating mindfulness practices include: Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), Mindfulness-based art therapy (MBAT), Mindfulness-based pain management (MBPM) and Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MSBR).

The Jedi way: "Be mindful of your emotions"

The Jedi way of being mindful of your emotions in George Lucas' Star Wars is to hold your emotions in calm, non-reactive ("passive") and peaceful awareness. When you do that, you can realize: you are not your emotions. You are not your fear; you are not your anger; you are not your aggression; you are not your hate. They're arising within you, and when you're not mindful of them, you are pulled by them to places where you didn't really want to go. However, when one is mindful of their emotions, instead of being carried by them, one can recognize where fear, anger, hate, aggressive feelings are leading them, and can choose the light path over the dark path: to act with firmness, spacious clarity and compassion.

This kind of mindfulness practiced by the Jedi, the Jedi teachings of "be mindful of your emotions", "be mindful of your thoughts" and that one's mind should be where one is, in what they're doing, are very much identical to Buddhist mindfulness. But it should be noted that even though many Jedi - Qui-Gon, Yoda, the whole council, etc. - and even Jar Jar were meditating, this doesn't mean that they attempted to incorporate meditation into a therapeutic toolkit.

Western pop-culture mindfulness

The Western pop-culture mindfulness is to immerse yourself into the present moment, focusing your full and undivided attention to your experiences, whether it's within you or around you. It lacks the aim to discern what is conducive to your and to other's well-being, and it's just experiencing passively. Most worryingly, it's promoted as a way to increase the pleasures you receive from the present. Eat mindfully, get a massage mindfully, walk mindfully, have sex mindfully etc. And this is profoundly non-Buddhist, because it's all about squeezing out more intense and more lasting pleasure of the things that are coming and passing. When "mindfulness practice" is removed from other Buddhist teachings, guiding us to release our greed, anger, to develop empathy, kindness and compassion, and non-attachment, "mindfulness" could reinforce negative qualities. For example, if one fails to differentiate between self-compassion and self-indulgence, self-care and self-centeredness, they likely conclude that their narcissistic tendencies are self-compassion.

Most worryingly, mindfulness is conflated with mediation and is marketed as some kind of relaxation exercise or stress-reduction technique. But mediation was designed to gain insight and wisdom, not to relax. Also, it's popular to treat it as a tool or as a magical remedy for psychological healing, whereas it wasn't designed to be anything like that. It can powerfully support therapeutic processes, but one must know that Buddhist practice is not a substitute for, say, psychotherapy. And when pop-culture mindfulness fails to deliver, people often believe, what they did to themselves was Buddhism and mindfulness, whereas that wasn't Buddhism or mindfulness at all.

[chussyracing]

what has been happening in the world of motorsports lately?

Charles' race engineer Xavi Marcos will be replaced by Bryan Bozzi from Imola onwards while Xavi moves to a different project within the team

Ollie Bearman will be completing junior FP1 session for Haas in Imola

Ferrari tested new anti-spray wheel covers during their filming day in Fiorano (they look horrendous) - as well as the new upgrade package they will introduce in Imola

besides them, also RBR and Mercedes are bringing upgrades - Mercedes will introduce them over the next 4 races, Oscar will get full package Lando got in Miami and Sauber are set to introduce the upgrades to help with their bad pitstops

Pierre will have a special Senna tribute helmet in Imola

Jamie Chadwick scored her first podium in Indy NXT

Miami GP donated over 40 thousand portions of food that was left over from the race weekend through Food Rescue US

Marc Priestly says multiple Red Bull workers are considering departure from the team after Adrian Newey left (if you don't know him, he is maybe the most well known former mechanic)

Helmut Marko said that the rumours about Daniel getting replaced by Liam Lawson were started by Liam’s management and that’s why it was reported by a New Zealand journal first

Red Bull will present RB17 hypercar that Adrian Newey developer at Goodwood

George has a film??? Made with UBS (but it is actually a short video on social media?)

McLaren has new merch line for Monaco which is inspired by the (good) old times

German media are saying that Audi already took over Sauber and both current drivers would be out of the team

Abbi Pulling became the first woman to win British F4 race <3

the f1 Brad Pitt movie’s budget is already over 300 m AMERICAN DOLLARS

Joe Saward thinks that Alpine might be the destination for Carlos Sainz starting from next year because neither Mercedes nor Red Bull want to commit to him and rather prefer to wait and see how people shift across the teams first and since Carlos Sainz sr worked with Bruno Famin for Peugeot in Dakar, he has some links to it

speaking of, Carlos Sainz sr has been confirmed as Ford’s driver for Dakar 2025

multiple drivers or former drivers (Charles, Lando, Oscar, Zak Brown, Mark Webber, Ollie Bearman, Arthur Leclerc and even Adrian Newey) went to see Grand Prix de Monaco Historique this weekend (also just for fun: Zak Brown drove Williams FW07B

after Guenther Steiner sued Haas, Haas took a look at Surviving to Drive and they are suing him for unauthorized use of their trademark :))

Loic Serra and Jerome d’Ambrosio will start officially working for Ferrari from October

MotosportWeek spoke to Alex about his future and he refused to confirm he will drive for Williams next season (despite having a contract through 2025) and James Vowles didn’t want to comment on potentially letting him go sooner with an exit clause either

there are more rumours about Chicago GP, this time of it potentially being signed already from 2026 onwards

it’s been confirmed that the HP (ew) deal is worth 100m dollars a year with additional benefits and all technique equipment from the company (laptops, computers, printers, 3D printers etc) to Maranello

Ford confirmed their targets for 2026 RBR power unit are being met, the rumours about them being behind in the development are nonsense and they obviously don’t know where others stand with their engines

Helmut Marko said that if he was in Newey’s position he would choose red (or something like that I am paraphrasing oe24.at)