#aa critical

[puppytweaker]

the fact that AA/NA, an abstinence-only, deeply religious, non evidence supported model based off writings from the 1930s, is seen as the first, only, and mandatory form of treatment for problematic/dangerous drug use is insane and ridiculous and i hate it and i hate how normalized and institutionalized AA is. people have to choose between AA or jail, AA or not having custody of their kids, AA or not getting welfare it's embarassing that the war on drugs and drug use has gone on this long with so much evidence against it

[litsenn]

Sorry but...

[not the epiphany I talked about earlier, just another thing I've had in mind]

Hm... the way AA says "love" reminds me so much of how he mimicked Cazador at the beginning of act 3, when he was making fun of him.

Visit Original Link

Back then, Astarion was mimicking Cazador's arrogance and disdainful tone (and Neil, who directed Graham, said that he took it from him. See below.)

But the thing is that AA isn't trying to mimic anyone. It's the path he chose, the vision of the world which he adopted with the ritual. Adopting Cazador's bias and ideas about people, relationships and sentiments. And it's... well, so very sad after how he evolved through the second act.

(this is all inspired by @michanvalentine's last post about Cazador and Astarion, and their respective actors).

As for Neil talking about that impression, it's here (Starting at 1:21:43)(Neil is so cute please help).

[ari-kari]

slight social media/AA manifesto below. i mostly wrote it for myself, but given the content, it felt right to post here as well. you've been warned lol

been thinking a lot about my AA days lately.

i actually have a nuanced take on the movement as a whole that isn't solely doom-and-gloom. i think it provides an invaluable service to a lot of people, many of whom would be dead without it. unfortunately, I experienced things in the course of my treatment that I would qualify in hindsight as "religiously traumatic". It has taken me years of distance from these spaces to begin to trust my own mind again.

idk. i've been thinking about it a lot.

about how for years when I left, I'd hear the distilled voice of "The Program" in my head, subtly tearing down everything I did and thought. Labeling me as stubborn, or willful, or "my own higher power." How, years after I'd deconstructed the ideology and walked away, I still felt like a lost and rebellious little lamb. Destined to return to the flock once I'd "seen the light".

i think about this. and then, more optimistically, I remember my recovery. How I was sent to my first behavioral-health-specific program after 4 years of illness (most are overshadowed by substance programming) and received my OCD diagnosis almost immediately. I began to strengthen the very supports that AA had weakened - to view myself as a whole person whose perspective mattered, rather than a broken sinner whose inner voice couldn't be trusted. I learned to express disagreement and speak my mind without a reflexive jolt of shame.

.....and then, I start to think a bit about tumblr.

this website does not "religiously abuse" people. My experiences here are nowhere close to the ones I had with (certain corners of) AA. But as I've continued to grow in my values, and build a solid and enduring sense of self...boy, certain things are beginning to feel very familiar. Eerily so.

there are unconscious truths here that I've swallowed unquestioningly for years, but that look progressively more crazy the longer I spend in the real world. Like the idea that empathizing with your enemy, or engaging with them as humans in any way, makes you even worse than them; that political dialogue of any kind is naive and traitorous. that you are nothing more than the sum of your opinions, which must be flawless and beyond reproach. But I think the most damning part of all is that, ever since I joined this site at age 14, I've had this voice in my head I just can't shake - the voice of this site. One which, every time I question the prevailing "wisdom" I've acquired here, mocks me for my disobedience. Reminds me what a lost and rebellious lamb I'll always be.

abuse? no. but it's definitely horseshit.

i'm tired of letting these choruses of intolerance consume me. i'm tired of collapsing beneath their weight. it hasn't made me a better, more politically active human being - it's done the opposite. I spend so much time defending myself from imaginary people in my head that I haven't actually done much to benefit the world at all. and the longer i spend away from this place and engage with political causes on my own, the more i'm convinced that this place isn't an "activist site" at all. more like a bunch of angry people using the language of justice as a cloak for their lowest, most basic instincts.

idk. when it comes to it i think this rant is like, a decade late. it's obvious at this point that the heyday of Tumblr's infuence is long past - most people think we're dead, for god's sake. But the spirit of unchecked hostility that I recall so clearly from my adolescence is clearly alive and well. and i speak on behalf of my confused adolescent self when i say, directly to this spirit - choke on a bag of dicks. you are not the arbiter of good and evil, and never will be again.

[imsosocold]

Oh boy I kind of like Max he's super interesting I sure hope an aspect of his character revealed later on I won’t make me despise him.

That Ben and Trilo duo is kind of like Robbie and Rex but less racist I sure hope they deal with Ben’s character and his anxiety sensitively

[snapdraqons]

With ppl discussing how aa6 could be fixed here's my take.

You could not truly fix aa6 and still have it fundamentally be the same game. Khura'in and it's story is so poorly done, in terms of both general world-building/narrative and being a weird homogenisation of south asian culture and faith/spirituality, that you wouldn't really be able to fix it without changing the game on a conceptual level.

There are ways you could improve the game, especially its prosecutor while keeping the game fundamentally the same, but on a wider level the whole thing is just. Kind of a mess. And I say this is a very passionate Nahyuta Enjoyer.

[giveamadeuschohisownmovie]

Regarding the “Danganronpa vs. Ace Attorney” argument, while I generally prefer Ace Attorney, the one area that I feel Danganronpa beats Ace Attorney is gameplay mechanics. What I mean by this has nothing to do with the difference in gameplay, but about how the gameplay is portrayed in the game. 

In Ace Attorney, the games went for in-universe explanations in order to teach players how to play the game. In Danganronpa, the game stops whenever a new mechanic is introduced and gives the player an opportunity to learn them. While Danganronpa’s way of teaching the player might kill the gameplay momentum (insert Arin Hanson rant here), Ace Attorney’s method actually kills the story immersion.

Think about it for a second. Since Ace Attorney uses in-universe explanations, the games make the characters seem incompetent. Like, Phoenix Wright and Mia Fey are supposed to be licensed attorneys. They went to law school and passed the bar exam. So...why don’t they know what a cross-examination is in their first trial? As a lawyer-in-training, that’s basic shit that you should have learned in law school. I’m sorry but this instantly killed the immersion for me when I first went through the AA games.

While Danganronpa does stop the gameplay in order to teach the player, at least they do it in a way that doesn’t take you out of the story. I mean, can you imagine a version of Danganronpa where Makoto asks Kyoko, “How do you question people? What does ‘presenting evidence’ mean?”  Like, Makoto may be a dumbass, but at least he’s smart enough to recognize the basics of questioning people in order to find out the truth. 

Also, when Danganronpa does do in-universe explanations, it still fits with the story. These are high schoolers who have probably never been to a real trial, so it makes sense that Monokuma has to explain what a trial is. On the other hand, I sometimes wonder if Phoenix and friends actually attended law school with what they say (god, I’m starting to sound like Godot lol).

[imsosocold]

I love Apollo, there are so many great aspects to his character and backstory but the statement “he’s a normal guy with nine backstories because the writers forget to give him one the first time” does sort of apply. It’s all just so much and it’s not balanced that well narratively.

[giveamadeuschohisownmovie]

So I know a majority of the Ace Attorney fanbase considers either “Turnabout Big Top” or “Recipe for Turnabout” as the worst episode in the original trilogy.

But after a few months in law school...I’m gonna have to say “Turnabout Samurai” makes me cringe the most. It’s mainly because I can’t get past the fact that the game tried to classify a self-defense killing as a murder. If the killing is justified...then there’s no crime, she should’ve gotten acquitted on the murder charge. The only crime they could’ve gotten her on was tampering with the evidence and perjury. 

Now let’s say Dee Vasquez didn’t get the self-defense claim. Even then, Dee Vasquez lacks intent. At best, her crime would be voluntary manslaughter. So yeah, “Turnabout Samurai” is the worst for me. It’s the worst depiction of the court in the original trilogy in my honest opinion.  

“Reunion, and Turnabout” is also pretty cringe with how they had Phoenix claim that a self-defense justification would make Maya guilty of murder. The only reason why that episode isn’t as bad to me is because that’s Franziska’s introduction chapter. And I fucking love Franziska, okay.