#like i have actual interest in children and their development and a desire to lessen their school and life related anxieties

[earthly--truth]

What I believe in

These are my beliefs as someone who aligns with democratic socialism and progressivism. Feel free to critique it, challenge it, even just a few sections, whatever, but this is what I believe will make the world a better place, because people (and animals) deserve to live the best possible lives they can live with the only chance at life they got. This is going to be super general and long, and not get into nearly everything, but I hope it sheds a positive light on leftism.

Strong unions so that workers (the majority of people in society) have the ability have better footing to negotiate better wages, work hours, vacation days, benefits, etc. I also believe that in instances where it’s pragmatically viable that there should be a push for more worker co-op’s, in which every employee has a stake in the company they work at, and the ability to give their input (all companies should strive for more democracy). Both of these contribute to healthier, happier, and, and better payed people.

Raising the minimum wage in the U.S to $15 an hour. The current wage of  $7.25 is way too low. It’s just not a livable wage. There’s a reason why McDonald’s and Walmart are called corporate welfare queens, and it’s because they’re employees require welfare to survive, despite being the biggest corporations on the planet with multi-billionaire CEO’s. The richest in society should also pay more in taxes.

Stop investing so much in the American military, cut it by a third if you can. (Firstly this frees up a lot of money for other things) Get the military out of the middle east, and create other more peaceful avenues to ensure it doesn’t crumble like every single time the military pulls out and doesn’t try to actually fix the mess they created. The people in the middle east deserve to be able to rebuild and they’ll need help to do that (just not the type of help where america installs their own leaders).

Healthcare should be universal, paid for by taxes. Every developed nation is capable of doing it. Many developing countries are doing it. Americans pay more in taxes for healthcare than so many other countries, yet a trip to the hospital still can put you in debt for the rest of your life. That is inhumane, and people shouldn’t have to choose between crippling debt and their health.

There’s also an argument to be made for free/way cheaper university, since countries like Canada or America force people to get a degree if they want to live a decent life, yet in order to do that you have to pay $15,000 a year for university. A system like that either forces people to skip out on uni, or again go into major debt. If Europe can figure it out, I think the U.S and Canada can figure it out too.

Black Lives Matter. To be more specific, I want police/criminal justice/prison reform. I want police de-militarized and to stop acting so abusive towards to civilians and real justice for the police that do, I want an end on the war on drugs (this helps drug addicts get help and delivers a blow to gangs and the cartel). I want an end to mass incarceration and laws that make it easier to throw people in jail for years for basically nothing. I want an end to for profit prisons. I want an end to the policy of retribution rather than rehabilitation for inmates (countries who rehabilitate are way more successful at non-returning inmates). I want an end to treating prisoners like slaves so corporations can get cheap labour. I also want the government to actually start caring about the poorest communities, many of which are predominantly black and latino (in cities anyways). (Also the indigenous in Canada). Better infrastructure, better public works programs. These all contribute to the proliferation of these communities and helps lessen the potential for criminality by making their lives better.

The dismantling of gender norms and roles, and de-stigmatization of LGBTQ+ people. I want people to be whoever they want to be. For far too long we have expected men and women to act a certain way. Women have come a long way, but there are still remnants of the old way of looking at things. We still have a lot of social stigma about how women should look, and that they are not worth even paying attention to if they aren’t conventionally attractive. We still have social stigma about sexuality and sex work. We hyper sexualize women in the media, yet shame women as sluts if they have a lot of sex. We shame women who choose abortion as murderers, yet don’t offer any support for the mother once the child has arrived. On top of that, the positions of power are still predominantly very old men. I also believe in helping men. Men are lonelier, men are increasingly staying sexless (not by choice), men are getting more suicidal. I want to address this two ways. One, by tackling toxic masculinity (not masculinity itself, just the bad parts). TM is telling men to man up and not to cry, TM is telling men not to act feminine or gay. TM is telling men to bottle up their emotions and resolve their problems through violence. The second way to address this is through my beliefs about workers. Men are the most suicidal in countries where there is a heavy work culture, like Japan and South Korea. Where they can’t have lives, and live to make money for the company they work at. That isn’t good.

When it comes to LGBTQ+ people, we need more positive representation in the media. We need people to see gay, trans, and non-binary people as normal people. When it comes to trans people specifically, we need to end the constant wars against them. Whether you’re talking about bathrooms, or sports, or children/teens receiving trans affirming healthcare. Let trans people be the gender that they say there are in the places they want to be, and allow them to receive the healthcare they need which is just the overwhelming medical consensus. This, combined with more supportive parents. all goes a long way to reducing the suicide rate amonst trans people.

The proliferation of the developing world. I want developing countries to be more autonomous, and to stop being under the boot of western corporations. I want an end to sweatshop labour or borderline sweatshop labour. I want the west to stop treating these actual people like their robots for pennies to produce our ungodly amounts of junk, and to actually pay these people decent wages. I want the world bank to stop giving money in an exploitative way to poor nations so that they cave to western business interests. These are people, human beings, and they deserve to develop and live good lives just like us. I also want them to fight for democracy in their countries.

Environmentalism. To go off the last section, 100 Corporations are contributing 71% of greenhouse gases. That needs to change. Corporations are participating ungodly amounts of devastations to eco-systems and the atmosphere. Ecosystems destroyed, and the exacerbation of the climate crises. I want a green and blue earth, and that can start by a) changing to green energy as much as humanly possible; solar, wind, and even nuclear (and whatever we come up with in the future) are far better than the fossil fuels we use now, which we’ll run out of anyways. And second we need to hold corporations accountable for destroying the planet. If we don’t do this, we risk the climate crises getting really bad. Oceans rising which will flood coastlines, creating millions of refugees, more periods of extreme dry (no water/bush fires) and extreme cold (look at what happened to texas). Something needs to be done about it.

Finally, veganism, for many reasons. One, the switch to veganism will be a big contributor to saving the planet. Whether you’re talking about the devastation we do to places like the Amazon Rain forest and other ecosystems to clear the way for animal farming, or whether you’re talking about reducing emissions. Most emissions and waste from agriculture are from the production phase of animal farming. So much food, water, and energy is wasted by giving it to billions of animals that we purposefully breed into existence, then slaughter, rinse and repeat, every single year, when we could just grow food and give water to people and skip out the middle man (think about how many people are hungry and without water in the world).

Philosophically, it is also wrong to kill a living creature that desires to live, that is able to connect with other living things and it surrounding, to form bonds. A cow, pig, chicken, lamb, sheep, are no different than a dog, cat, or rabbit, and they should not be killed, exploited, and tortured (confinement, abusive conditions in industrial farms) for pleasure. I know it’s pleasure for most people, because vegans are living proof that you can live happy and healthy lives without animal products. Vegans are statistically healthier than non-vegans, and we can get all the nutrients we need, even on an inexpensive diet. There are exceptions of course. A very small portion of people literally cannot eat plants and can only eat meat, and the developing world doesn’t have the same access to vegan products as the developed world does. Those people are valid, but many many people can make the switch and they should, especially in the developed world

All I see from this is making the world better. Hopefully you can too.

[rubik-ashala]

Let Alucard have nice things!

This doubles as both a headcanon description and a rant so here goes:

I just got done watching the 3rd season of Castlevania and I am not happy. I have two things two say about it. This contains spoilers for the series so you have been warned.

First complaint and observation:

Did anybody get the feeling that the show was supposed to end after the second season but didn't? That everything was wrapped up nicely, Dracula was dead, the big world destruction war was halted, we were shown what the trio would be doing after everything etc. Like it was meant to end there but then a conversation like this happened:

Castlevania team: And that’s a wrap everybody! The good guys took down Dracula in an epic fight, the world was saved, Job Done! Time to move on to new things.

Shareholders, producers, etc: Uhh, actually we already signed you up for a 3rd season. So you might want to get on that.

Castlevania Team: What! But we weren't prepared for a third season! The whole plot is wrapped up! What are we supposed to do?

Shareholders, producers, etc: Don’t know but you better get to figuring it out.

Castlevania: I guess we will just game of thrones it terribly then and hope we make it through.

Because that is what it felt like happened. There seemed to be no overarching plot, just four separate ones and only two of them is even remotely together. They take two side characters Issac and Hector and give them there own plotlines. Issac gets the Denarius treatment for no real reason other than to seemingly follow in Dracula’s footsteps and Hector gets dragged to Camilla’s realm because, she needs a forge master to grow an army so she can take over what has been fractured. They split up the trio, suddenly giving Serphia and Trevor a romantic relationship with little to nothing building up to it and throw them in a quest to keep Dracula from coming back after some crazy monks due some occult doctor who style shenanigans to open a portal to other worlds. And while that is going on, Alucard aka Adrian Tepes gets left alone guarding his fathers now broken castle and the Belmont’s treasure trove for months after everything has happened.

Which flows into my Second point:

Alucard got done dirty in the third season!

We watch as Alucard deals with the mental repercussions of what he did, alone. We watch as he deals with the loneliness of being out in the middle of nowhere alone for months with none to talk too. And we see the toll it is taking on him albeit comedically. 

Then the siblings come in. 

They come to him for help and education on fighting vampires back in their homeland, something that Alucard is more than happy to help with. One, because he has company again and Two, passing on the knowledge to the new generation seemed fitting.

During the time they stay he grows fond of them and they him. You see them training and horsing around, eating meals together and other wholesome shenanigans.

You get to see a conversation where the sibling talk about how they notice how lonely he has been and how they believe he stays out here to punish himself and maybe they should do something for him before they move on. And it’s all like “aww that is so sweet!”

Then you see Alucard trying to sleep and failing miserably in his bed. Even so far as wondering if he should get a coffin to sleep in. Then you see the siblings show up in the door way and begin walking towards him in the bed saying , in a very sultry voice, how alone he must have been, how he should deserve a reward, ectera. Followed by them getting all hot and steamy with him.

 The scene makes a point to show how much Alucard is enjoying this attention, and how happy it is making him. Your watching it and it’s like “Maybe it's gonna be one of those fond memories he will be able to look back on after their gone.” or “Maybe they will become some Badass monster hunting thruple and Alucard wont be alone anymore.”

Nope! Not today in my Grim Dark Gothic Fantasy World!

They instead, after giving Alucard the night of his life, put these metal cuffs on him that shoot out a bunch of ropes that tie him in classic Jesus on a cross position and then proceed to try and kill him. 

Why?

Because the were under the belief he was lying and holding things back from them, and in particular about the castle not being able to move. And they were tired of being lied to.

Luckily for Alucard they didn't realize his sword could move on its own and they weren’t alive for much longer because of it but...Really?

Why? Why do this to him?

He lost his mother to a witch hunt, he had to kill his own father and now this? All in little over a year? What the Hell man!?

Let the Dhampire have nice things! He deserves better than this!

So, I made a headcannon to soothe me angry brain.

I took a fantasy race of mine that was inspired by the Crusnics of Trinity Blood and added them in to Castlevania. In Particular one specific one.

Name: Floki 

Age: Around Adrian’s age give or take a few months.

Hair: Black

Eyes: Mismatched blue/green

Height: About the same as Adrien’s perhaps a little taller.

Personality: Mischevious, HArdworking, Loves deeply, Fiercly but wisely protective, loves to work with his hands, loves to learn more about the world and how it works. Deeply fond of Adrian even though he hasn’t seen him in a few years. Also, a smidge psychotic, but just a smidge.

Floki is part of a race of beings referred to as “The Old Ones”. They are a race similar in habit to the Vampire but they feed off vampires, night creatures and other supernatural beings over humans. They are immensely powerful, even at young ages and have been rumored to be the source of some of the gods of Ancient Mythology. 

Floki’s father (Yet named)  was Dracula’s mentor and where he got much of his scientific knowledge from in his early years. They became friends during his teaching and even after parting ways, would still occasionally see each other every few half centuries or so to trade information and chat.

During this time, Floki’s father was desperately trying to have children of his own and failing. At one point believing that he was sterile and unable to father children. Something Dracula knew as well and so hid Lisa’s pregnancy from him for fear of making his sadness worse.

However, a few months later, It was revealed that his current love was with child and Floki was born accompanied by much drunken Norse revelry.

When the two men met again a few years later, Floki was brought with his father to show to Dracula that he finally had a child. A moment where Dracula also revealed his son and Where Floki met Adrian.

Floki showed Adrian what it was like to play and horse around. They would play pretend out in the woods, get dirty, skin thier knees, the works. And where one was, you would find the other close by.

The visits between the two powerful men became more frequent due to the boys wish to see each other, not that the parents minded all that much.

Over time Floki’s affection for Adrian would change and deepen. His longing to stay by his friends side would get stronger and one fateful afternoon when Adrian got hurt, FLoki would realize how he had fallen in love with him.

Adrian would never know this however, due to Floki’s unstable powers at the time, his sub par control of his hunger and the fear of hurting him.

As they got older, and partly to the above, their visits to see each other would lessen and by the time they were full grown, had stopped entirely. 

That is until Floki Heard of Lisa’s death at the hands of the church.

Even with his incredible power to teleport far distances it took him several months to reach Wallachia. He didn’t seek out Adrian immediately though, too curious to see the truth of what happened.

Each of “The Old Ones” Has a unique skill that is developed and evolved over time, according to personality, interest, skill and homeland. Due to Floki’s curiosity, his love for history and his desire to see how it all works together, he developed what he liked to call, memory recall.

His skill allowed him to see memories of the past through people, objects or locations where something that evoked strong emotional or magical reactions in the area happened. And if there was no such thing, if the event was more recent, if he had access to people that were there and stood on the location, he could see and feel the event as if he lived it.

Lisa’s death held him up in an inn for several days trying to chase the feeling of flames on  his skin. Dracula’s anger and grief laid him up for even longer as he cried himself sick. 

Gregit was better though, seeing the man who did the deed getting called out by a demon and then eaten gave him a bit of satisfaction.

Briela was fascinating though. He had to meet whomever managed to capture the ever moving castle.

By the Time Floki would arrive at the now defunk castle and underground hold, the siblings bodies are already outside on pikes.

This doesn't scare him away of course, and to find out why they were there he uses his memory recall. Where he sees through there eyes what they did to Adrian, albeit a little fuzzy. But is able to hear what the twins were thinking in that moment and see, just for a short time, Adrian tied to the bed afraid and hurt.

This causes him to snap his fingers and cause the corpses to burst into flames.

An action that draws Adrian’s attention causing a little bit of a fight before they recognize each other.

Over the next while Adrian allows Floki to stay and fix the castle as well as the Belmont estate and work towards getting the transportation engine online again. Eventually. 

Overtime, all of Floki’s feelings come back with a vengeance and he gives as much attention and TLC to Adrian as he allows. Eventually getting Adrian to allow him close enough to see though his memory what the siblings had done to him

A scene that will either start a few revelations with both Adrian and FLoki or lead to a very steamy situation. Possibly both.

But it all ends in Adrian getting all the Love and TLC that man deserves after the hell he was put through.

I just hope they aren’t trying to set him up to become an antagonist later... 

[blause]

Why Azula Doesn’t Deserve a Redemption Arc

With the Avatar Renaissance, I've seen quite a few people say that Azula deserved a redemption arc. I disagreed, despite her being my 3rd favorite character, and wrote a whole essay about it!

This is strictly about Azula in the show, not the comics!

Avatar: The Last Airbender is not only praised for being one of the greatest children’s cartoons created, but also creating one of the greatest character redemption arcs possibly in animated history.

Prince Zuko started as a bitter child, wanting only to restore his honor and be seen by his father as a valuable member not only to the Fire Nation but to Lord Ozai’s family. He spent years putting his heart and soul into a mission that was meant as a joke to keep him away, but when Prince Zuko actually finds the Avatar, Aang, it’s the first time he has had hope in a long time. That hope, though, was a flame tended by hatred, anger, and fear that he let get the best of him for two seasons of Avatar. And while there are moments in the show where he shows vulnerability and his true colors (see: “Zuko Alone”), his traumatic past overshadows any positive step he could truly take even if he had the best intentions.

It is in the third season where Zuko truly shines, standing up to his father and his sister, an abusive family where he hardly ever feels like he belongs, and joining the Avatar and his friends who he had betrayed so many times to finally do what was right and aligned with his morals instead of his father’s. It is with the love he had gotten from his Uncle Iroh from the beginning, and the compassion of his newfound friends, that he fights his own family for the sake of saving the world only to take his place as crowned king of the Fire Nation.

The reason I go into brief detail of Zuko’s character arc is to explain how fleshed out it makes his character. The questioning of himself, his morals and his motives truly make Zuko human. It makes him relatable, as nearly all true heroes in media try to be. There is an argument to be made that, despite his trauma and his warranted anger, he is not a three dimensional character in the first season of Avatar, but instead an angry child that wants his way no matter what his true motives are. Making Zuko end up on the “good” side was his fleshing out, and making him come full circle made genuine sense for the show.

So if Prince Zuko was able to get a redemption arc, doesn’t that mean his sister Azula, who also went through an immense amount of trauma, would be able to get one too and have it be just as great or make just as much sense?

No. I genuinely believe that giving Azula a redemption arc would not make sense for her character or the show.

Azula, Zuko’s younger sister and only daughter to Firelord Ozai, is seen as, what I believe to be, the secondary villain in Avatar. She was born with a natural talent for firebending, picking it up more easily and far younger than her brother Zuko did. Her personality type was nasty; she was a cunning, manipulative bully with relentless determination that reflected poorly on everyone around her. She commanded the attention of anyone in her presence, took what she thought was rightfully hers, and would not stop until she was the best -- the best being Ozai’s true approval.

In her introductory scene at the end of season 1, Azula does not even speak but it is not hard to see her emotions come through on her face. Beyond the “evil smirk” commonly associated with “bad” or “evil” characters, there is the radiating pleasure of being donned a serious task by her father. By the time you were to finish Avatar, it is clear to see in this 3 second introduction of Azula as a character that she is willing to do anything her father asks of her, thus turning into anything she would do to gain the respect and honor that Zuko also seeks out. It can be argued that, despite Azula receiving praise from her father both in her past and in the show, she never receives the honor that Zuko does.

In season 2, Azula is already cruel to those working for the Royal Family. This is to be expected, as she is only a 14 year old girl with the whole world wrapped around her talented finger, but the confidence and power in her tone as she commandeers a ship cannot be ignored. To have that ability and that intimidation at such a young age shows the complex that Azula develops with each success and conquer, only to end up being her downfall. When she reunites with her childhood “friends”, Ty Lee and Mai, it is through manipulation and fear that she gets them once again on her side (although with Mai and the way she hardly shows her true emotions, it is not as clear). It takes only minutes for Azula to get those on her side, showing the signs of a leader but also of an overlord.

While Azula’s bending powers are far beyond her years, it can be argued that her verbal powers are even stronger. Her confidence, persuasion tactics, and mastery of manipulation can sway anyone from vulnerable children (Zuko when she tried to bring him home as prisoner to her father as a traitor alongside her uncle), to an entire kingdom (not only the Earth Kingdom, but also the Dai Lee that held a leader confident in his abilities to lead the rogue society). As a counter, though, Azula’s verbal skills also lack when seen in season 3 as she tries to play the role of a “normal firebender citizen”.

She is shown at a firebender party having no social skills whatsoever, trying to find others ulterior motives, and overall struggling to fit in. While her traumatic past absolutely had a huge impact on her social skills, on top of being part of a royal family (Zuko shared similar struggles when going to offer to teach Aang firebending), it is interesting to see her confidence falter. In this episode is when we see Azula most vulnerable not only with those her age that she cannot immediately control, but also when she reflects on her mother and being called a “monster”. Those feelings of abandonment after Ursa left the Fire Nation only pushed her beyond her own limits to do anything in her power to keep Ozai’s love no matter how twisted it was

One of the biggest reasons I think that Azula did not deserve a redemption arc is because, much like Zuko, she chose her own path in the very end. If Zuko did not choose to seek out Aang and his friends in season 3, there would be no arc whatsoever. Obviously the writers chose this for him, and I see exactly why they did it. They showed Zuko’s wavering beliefs clearly over the years, despite his anger and his fear of not only change but forever losing his father regardless of how severed their connection had been for years on end. Azula, on the other hand, never showed anything but loyalty to her father and their shared beliefs and cause. There were countless openings for Azula to show some sort of questioning of herself and her beliefs, with the loss of Ty Lee and Mai, her father’s decision to make her the next ruler over the Fire Nation despite his plans as the Phoenix King, and the Agni Kai against Zuko and Katara, but she never did.

The closest she ever got was when her mental state and mental health began to collapse on her coronation day, and even that cannot be justified as questioning herself.

It’s heartbreaking to see the fall of Azula, the pressure put on her practically since birth finally crashing down around her. All the times that she had been called “crazy” by Zuko, Iroh, and others that she saw as disposable pawns finally “coming true”. It is when she begins to lose herself, not question herself, that she becomes such a big threat. While before she was cold and so tightly wound up in her ways, seeing the unraveling of trauma and how it can affect a teen girl whose true motivation was love and acceptance was powerful. The scene of Azula hallucinating her mother in the mirror was the acknowledgement of a lost past, a hopelessness that she could never forgive, and resulted in Azula’s genuine intentions to kill Zuko and Katara once confronted. And instead of stepping down, having enough awareness to see herself in such a deteriorating state, she challenges her brother to an Agni Kai.

Azula is truly gone the moment she steps off the throne. And even after she is defeated, instead of accepting the consequences of her actions or what led her to that point, she breaks down instead, forever sealing the potential of any character arc.

TLDR; So why do I believe that Azula doesn’t deserve a redemption arc?

1) She showed no desire to be redeemed.

2) Azula was already so fleshed out that it would not make sense to redeem her. Her anger, trauma, and actions take her down a road she cannot return from.

3) The fact that Zuko got such a terrific character redemption arc cannot be ignored in the sake of arguing whether Azula deserves one. If every character were to be redeemed, there would be no power behind the redemption. Giving both siblings a redemption arc, despite their (partially) shared traumas, would lessen the importance/meaning of the other’s.

4) Despite my personal belief that Azula is not evil, she is not good either. I believe that giving her a redemption arc would be a cheap shot at wiping clean or attempting to validate all of her past actions in at least some aspect. It would be a disservice to her as a character and invalidate her motivations and what she did to get to every peak she hit in the show.

[blueheartedmayor]

Dante Lore

Okay, so I’ve had a few ideas earlier on today, and now I’m getting a chance to write it down. I’ve already nagged the ears off of a few poor friends, so I’m giving the option of a read-more so it can be ignored! :D Also, it’s VERY long, this is your warning. I’ll be covering the following topics:

1. “Dante” as an identity. 2.  Dante breaking character... Mostly. 3. The Younger Seer Twin, and the Consequences of that. 4. Miscellaneous human headcanons!

Note: For the sake of not confusing matters, I’m calling him Dante regardless of whether I’m talking about him as he is now or when he was human.

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1. “Dante” as an identity.

I’ve already written about Dante calling himself an entity here before. Another option is ‘monster’, and at present he is rather uncomfortable with being referred as one. A lot of this stems from his own trauma of existing without humanity for so long. He is genuinely scared of ‘slipping’ back into that ‘monster’ mindset and never snapping out of it again. Not only that, he has seen how Darks in other timelines act. He doesn’t want to go that far.

(By accurate definition, he’s a ghost trapped in a body, but I’ll come back to that.)

Realistically, he's past the point of being in the 'danger zone' of slipping permanently after a bad day... But that doesn’t alleviate the fear. He’s had bad days where he has ‘slipped’, but he has eventually pulled himself back. It's a big factor in the intrusive thoughts that developed once he became ‘Dante’. I imagine those thoughts that had been at the forefront of his mind over the years had turned against him, tempting him back to better times. No guilt, no stress, no pains - all it would cost is his humanity. What could be better?

So he’s still trying to determine his sense of ‘self’. He isn’t ‘Dark’, he isn’t ‘Damien’. He’s trying to find that middle ground where he feels comfortable being ‘himself’, whatever that is. That will start by himself gradually becoming more comfortable with being in the ‘here and now’. Being in good company is certainly helping. The goal would be that he would stop comparing himself to the ideal self and the dreaded self and find the parts of his personality that he likes separate from both of them. Right now, he only sees himself as an exhausted, grumpy soul who is constantly in pain, so he’s got a long way to go. 

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2. Dante breaking character... Mostly.

One reason why Dante is a little messy in who he is is because he’s a Dark (that is solely a ‘Damien’ rather than an amalgamation) that has broken out of the role he was forced into... But he still hasn’t broken out of the ‘character’.

Think about it for a second. He wants out of the ‘story’, and his only connection to the mess should be watching over the modern!Mark he accidentally involved and whatever egos he knows, right? So then why does he still hold onto the belief that he’ll find peace if he gets his body back? Why does he feel he has to dress well instead of dressing in warm, comfortable clothes that would help lessen any potential pains? These are ties that still keep him connected to the ‘story’, whether he likes it or not. Breaking from these will help him move on, though he doesn’t realise these hold him back. Not only that, he’s almost replaced the Actor in the original role - fitting when his soul is technically linked to that body. He carries the burden of pains, the desire to be left alone, and the want to pass on and find peace.

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3. The Younger Seer Twin, and the Consequences of that.

Both Dante and Celine had the magic skills required to interact with the world beyond. For Dante, he could see spirits very clearly. When he and Celine were children, they used to chat with some ghosts they met, as she could hear them better than he could. At first, the parents and staff assumed they were talking to imaginary friends, but the family were unimpressed when they realised the truth. With a bad history of the occult in the family tree, both twins were discouraged from continuing. It was at this point that Dante stopped training. He had natural talent, but it was undeveloped. Why else was he disappointed rather than surprised in his sister confessing her training in the occult? As a result, he has some pros and cons when he aided in the séance later:

Cons: - Untrained. Was not protected from outside influence properly, and would be unable to defend himself. - Vulnerable to possession and outside manipulation/ghostly influence (will clarify)

Pros: - Better vessel to hold the stronger power. Had the entity taken him instead, it would have been able to leave. - Natural talent. He learned to not notice ghosts, but he’d be able to see them if he focused on the idea. - Working with Celine allows them to be a powerful duo (assuming Celine set the required boundaries to keep them both safe).

To focus on one con in particular. Since Dante didn’t have enough training to keep himself grounded and protected, he was a little more susceptible to ghostly influences than he ought to be when he was alive. The presence of an angry ghost could make him more irritable, while a lamenting ghost might have others surprised that tears were falling down his face. You could actually see this affect Dante during WKM. The best example is that he’s easily convinced there’s a storm outside, yet steps out multiple times into a beautiful, sunny day. Not once does he consider the idea of leaving.

On the topic of ‘consequences’, I think I’ve mentioned before that Dante didn’t die in the house. His soul was simply tossed out. That’s why Celine (who had died) had to go to such lengths to protect him. A living soul in the unforgiving place that is the void would have been pounced on by the darker creatures that lived deep within. Not only that, he died in that void, which further complicated matters for him, turning him into a ‘living ghost’, so to speak.

-

4. Miscellaneous human headcanons!

* As a human, Dante had a HORRIBLE temper, but no one knew about it. He grew up seeing Celine snap in frustration and get in trouble for it. As the son, he was encouraged to be courteous and polite, but ultimately it made him bottle up his negative feelings. While the modern cycle (AKA the modern Damien I normally write) has good patience but might briefly snap, Dante’s temper was EXPLOSIVE when it got the best of him. It was a rare sight, but it was truly a moment. If anything, it was almost like he was briefly possessed by a demon. Now doesn’t that sound like a headline in a newspaper that we saw somewhere...? (This also means that modern!Dante struggling with some emotions is a direct consequence of this)

*Another issue with this was that Dante seems ‘closed off’ to those that he didn’t know too well. He keeps his cards close to his chest, but it meant that people who worked with him for months would not know a lot about him. (But those that do know him well know he can be a little bit of a smartass)

* He didn’t trust Abe. During the poker night, he was polite, but couldn’t shake the feeling that something was ‘off’. It was only amplified when the detective began acting strange the next day during the investigation. If the House had let Dante find the investigation room, it would have caused a confrontation, I’m sure of it.

* He came from a very good family, one that had good money and reputation in the city he grew up in. It’s how he was able to learn instruments, dances for social parties, and other important skills. All to be a perfect young man in the eyes of society.

* Dante was essentially trained to be a lawyer to continue the family legacy from when he was a child as the only son of the family. He didn’t have much of a choice growing up about what he wanted to do, especially when they realised at a young age that he was academically bright. Going into politics was also something the family ‘encouraged’ to keep in the good circles. Dante was lucky that he found satisfaction in the career. But if you had asked him what his dream career was when he was a child (or what he would do if he wasn’t a lawyer/mayor), he wouldn’t be able to answer you. He was never allowed the luxury to imagine that possibility.

* He was also encouraged to keep his distance from others. According to his family, it was only good to be physically affectionate with someone when he was married to them, but he was known to hug the ‘gang’ in his younger days. It is partly why modern Dante has such an issue with touch.

* Dante LOVED the snow. Winter was his favourite time of year, but he was always interested in travelling to somewhere with snow. He adored how peaceful the world looked under a blanket of snow.

* He’s sensible when it comes to gambling games, but he’s a little ambitious when it comes to games that don’t have money attached (example, playing poker with poker chips instead of money). His legal training makes it that he’s good at keeping a straight face, but his university friend is better at it.

[silverwhiteraven]

Oooh the Krypto-Bat + twins au sounds really interesting! I would love to see more of that if possible!

Krypto-Bat + Twins AU (For the Krypto-Mari AUs) [ Posted on Ao3 ]

Twins AU with Marinette and Clark, Aka, Kia Jor-El and Kal-El

They were sent from Krypton at the same time in separate pods/ships, and when they land on earth, the pods are separated enough to land in two different places

Kal-El is, as originally, ends up in Smallville, adopted by the Kents as Clark

Kia ends up in Gotham

Bruce is already an adult here, and already Batman, including having taken in Dick and potentially Jason as well

Batman is the one to find Kia, mostly because, ever-vigilant, he knows about when something is about to crash into the territory he protects and is determined to be the first to arrive before anyone else.

He takes her in because for one, ‘what the heck, a tiny child with super-strength is in my backyard’ and felt he lucked out with her not ending up in the hands of a villain instead. For two, he’s really curious about what she and her little partially-destroyed space pod are. For three, The Justice League hasn’t been formed, it’s not even a baby of a thought in Batman’s head yet, so he has no one else he trusts to be able to hand a super-powered alien baby off to, so, congrats, Bruce, you have a daughter!

Dick is like ‘oh heck yes, someone else to teach all the ways of being one bendy acrobat’

Also, Since Dick can’t get the Nightwing name from Superman (since there is no Superman yet) He has a different hero name, Blackbird

Jason is the dotting older brother type and none of you will change my mind

“Oh god the teething” will be something Bruce groans about in the future when talking about raising this child. First of all, she’s really strong, and develops her physical invulnerability early on, so you have this baby that will probably chew on the granite gargoyles around the mansion and all the batarangs in the cave

Kia, now named Marinette Wayne, spends a lot of her time with Alfred, so she learns early on how to seem like some all-knowing, all-wise entity, and how to control her emotions and outward expressions. They bats will learn to rightly fear her as much as they fear Alfred

Learning how to be a mini-Alfred doesn’t stop her from being fun, being absolutely sweet, or even a sunshine child. Alfred made sure she doesn’t pent up or bottle emotions, she learns how to deal with them in a healthy way and divert the bad ones into powering good ones

Pair that Alfred attitude with training to control her powers and, eventually, training to defend herself as well as fight, in case she ever decides to join the ‘family business’, and you have a force to be reckoned with, even from a young age

The Jason dying thing can either happen or not

If it happens, when he comes back, his rage about being ‘replaced’ can be lessened, considering he already knew the Robin mantle wasn’t meant to ever sit permanently on anyone’s shoulders

Hell, he even looked forward to the day Marinette would be offered the chance to take it up, he may actually rather be more peeved that it wasn’t saved for her before someone else filled it in

A new hero name Jason may potentially take is Cardinal. He takes it up either because dying never happened, so he never becomes Red Hood after Robin, or, he eventually rejoins the family and decides to take up a new one after dropping the RH name.

Damian coming around is going to be funny, here is why

Marinette and Damian would be about the same age at this point, so you have two ten year olds duking it out

One ten year old is trying to kill all the Robins

The other ten year old is trying to prevent the other ten year old from killing her brothers

Damian is a trained assassin that knew she had super strength because the LoA knows things it shouldn’t, but they also don’t have knowledge of Kryptonite or her invulnerability, so he isn’t prepared at all for her interference

Marinette is a semi-trained not-yet-vigilante with super strength, invulnerability, and a determination to pin down her new brother and tell him to stop trying to kill their brothers

She utilizes a lot of her knowledge from Alfred and gains some well earned but reluctant respect and wariness from Damian

All her pinning of him, something she only manages to do out of pure strength because her fighting skills are not as fine and sharp as Damian’s yet, allows for her to continuously rant to him about morals, her explanations of why he shouldn’t kill her brothers, and her thoughts on how terrible and inaccurate the teachings of the LoA are. He is forced to hear all of this, and, eventually, he actually listens

It helps that he also learns to stop attacking the other Wayne children because, with Marinette as their ever-vigilant protection and buffer, he has no hope of succeeding, so he might as well play nice

Damian still takes up the Robin mantle, Marinette letting him, as she has no desire for it yet

They’re both 15 when Damian decides to take off the Robin suit and, instead of continuing to pursue the Batman title as a ‘rightful heir’, wants to make his own name for himself

His new hero name is Starling

Marinette finally accepts the offer to be Robin

This is such bad news for the criminals, not going to lie, but so much fun for her, for the bats, and for us

First of all, the new costume

We all know about how the ‘traffic light’ might just be a way for Batman to be able to keep an eye on his kid while also making sure no one will hit them with their car when they run across the street like idiots without looking

But Marinette is invulnerable and also has enough fashion sense to demand she tine down the colors

She also has taken a liking to the idea of following in her dad’s footsteps and making her Robin look to be as dark, scary, and Cryptid-y as possible

So here is the suit:

The cape is black on the inside, the outside is an almost-black green that allows for blending into the foliage of all the ivy that grows all over the walls of the old buildings of the city

The eyes/lenses of her mask are gold/yellow instead of white, since it was the only place she was willing to add the color. It helped that it would create a creepy eye-glow effect

The body of the suit is black as well

The gloves and boots are a dark red, with an uneven fade into the black of her arms/legs. This causes an illusion of her having been walking through the blood of her enemies, while having also just removed her hands from the chest cavities of the last ones she dealt with. Obviously, she’s going for the scare-factor with that particular look, and Bruce is admittedly impressed with it, even if he disapproves of her making people think she doesn’t follow the no-kill rule

Over-all, the look is high-key intended to make her seem like a Cryptid, much like the Batman one is supposed to

Second! This is about the time all her other powers are going to be coming into the light

So Gotham and its criminals are introduced to a new Robin, and while it may seem nothing odd, they have another thing coming

Robin is suddenly creepy as hell, for one, especially with the dark and bloody appearance paired with the seemingly unnatural ability to be bendy and lithe

Robin is also much stronger, and a few of the smart ones decide never to engage her in combat.

Robin is also suddenly much faster than before, randomly at first, almost seeming to teleport. Rumor has it even Batman was shocked the first few times

Criminals started using insulated grips on their weapons because their weapons were getting unnaturally hot

Coats became common with the minions of villains, because hearing breathing from the shadows would sudden be accompanied by indoor breezes and temperature drops

Wait… is, is Robin, looming? Since when did Robin loom like that? When did they start being able to soundlessly move closer? Wait, hold on, since when did Robin’s feet not touch the ground??

They hate how suddenly they can’t hide things, either, Robin seems to know where they hid all their weapons, their explosives, their traps, their plans, everything

Evil people start hoping really, really hard that the shadow they just saw move is Batman, and only Batman

You guys get the idea, Marinette as Robin is effective and scary and no one outside the Bat Clan/Family know how she does it

Clark, over in Smallville, is dealing with all these new powers, too, and our thoughts go out to him not having as great an outlet for them as Marinette does

But hey! He becomes Superman at, like, 22, so we can skip right to that! In just a moment!

[Interlude: Hawkmoth.]

It is purely by accident that Marinette, 16 years old and still freshly mantled, finds him and ends up taking him down. It was supposed to be a very casual family trip to Paris, nothing more, and it went rather sideways for her instead.

The Justice League still has yet to be formed, so asking for help was simply hit or miss with wherever Paris sent the plea. The Waynes didn’t even know one had been sent to Gotham while they were gone, aimed at Batman, until after the family returned.

The family got caught up in the middle of a joint Akuma and Sentiminster attack, Marinette the only one able to escape fast enough to change into Robin. She joins the Ladybug and Black Cat superheroes in fighting, her presence both shocking and relieving them

She learns about her vulnerability to magic during the fight. She can take the physical blows just fine, but the moment she’s struck by a magical blast, she feels it like any other person. She got lucky that it wasn’t a terrible hit, or one with magical side-effects, but it did injure her, and painfully

The other heroes realize she needs more protection, and are able to offer her a Miraculous, which she accepts in an instant, not at all wanting to keep getting injured. After she transforms, the blasts no longer hurt her, and she can take the physical blows even better than she had before, not to mention she was loving the extra power-boosts on top of what she already had

No, using a Miraculous doesn’t hurt her or make her sick, because channeling or ‘wearing’ magic is different than being attacked with it (Plus, in DC canon, Superman is able to use magic items (it was a sword if I remember right) that can grant him powers and such. Having a vulnerability to something does not equal having a negative reaction to general contact with it.

“Just because a knife can cut you doesn’t mean you have to grasp it by the blade; grab the handle.” - SilverWhiteRaven)

Her X-Ray and 4-D vision powers start acting up, and this is where she purely by accident gets to see exactly where Hawkmoth and Mayura have hidden themselves while they wait the fight out. She does notice she can’t X-ray any of them while their Miraculous were transforming them, and she guessed it was another magic thing interfering with her abilities

As soon as the Sentimonster and Akuma are defeated, she informs the two local heroes about who she saw and where

They seemed uncertain, and a bit sad about the news, and guessed they may have had previously unknown personal connections to their villains

She helps them make a quick plan of action. They used the post-battle recovery time that usually happens, the short recharge period, to their advantage

The three of them storm the Agreste mansion together, and it’s all over before even a rush of adrenaline can kick in

Robin spends a short moment of time to monologue a rant on morality and heroism to the two defeated supervillains as their two abused Miraculous are recovered. She was pretty sure that by the time she finished her speech and left to rejoin her family, both heroes were looking at her like they had instant crushes

Ideas for the Justice League start up after learning about the hit-and-miss cries for help from Paris

[End Interlude: Alright, back to it!]

By 22, Marinette has gone through 7 years of being Robin, and also college, and she and Damian have joined Tim in running Wayne Enterprises. Tim can go take a nap now, and none of the other Waynes are going to let anything stop him

Marinette, the genius she is, has invested in Stuart Semple, the creator of Black 2.0, as her first move in the business, and that I will come back to in a minute

Superman reveals himself to the world, and, loandbehold, every member of the Bat Clan who are in on her secret recognizes that very power set he displays, and all eyes are on Marinette

She realizes, too, that suddenly, she isn’t the only one. Her escape pod was too damaged and missing too many parts after crashing to have given her anything about her original home, and now there’s Someone Else who might have answers!

Pulling herself together, she asks her dad to accompany her to Metropolis, all the way in Kansas (yes, I am doing that, it is way more logical to protect a whole country when the city you put yourself in is in the middle of the thing and not even over on the coast closest to Alaska and Hawaii)

Marinette, when she gets there, makes her way to the top of the tallest tower, Batman in tow as her overseer and moral/emotional support

She gets Superman’s attention by legit just yelling for him, because what else do you do from the top of buildings besides yell into the wind?

He shows up, a little confused, but mostly surprised by the sight of someone who looks a lot like him

She’s very nervous now, a bit scared that they’re wrong and that Superman isn’t like her, that they are nothing alike, and as she notices their similarity in appearance, is anxious about how high her hopes have suddenly become, and how far of a fall the disappointment will be. But a little reassurance from her dad in the shadows and she gets the words out

“Hi, I’m Marinette, and I was wondering- Well, I mean, I needed to know- Just- Wow this is hard, I’m not usually like this, uhm- Superman, are you- are we- did you come from the same place I did? Can you look at me, and- just x-ray me if you can do that, because I can, and if you can, too, that might mean… Well… Please..?”

His eyes are wide and disbelieving but he does it, he looks, and all the time that he, too, spent looking at himself with his X-ray and 4D vision, comparing his biology and it’s differences to that of humans, recognizes the traits of a Kryptonian in her. “Kia?”

Marinette tears up at his response, and chokes out, “I don’t know if that’s me, but please, I want to find out.”

Marinette is able to collect herself, as is Superman, enough to call Batman out of the shadows and introduce the two, explaining that Batman had ‘assisted’ (have to at least try to keep secret identities intact) in her raising and was simply acting as backup and support for her while she came to Metropolis

Superman invites her to visit the Fortress of Solitude with him, and she accepts, telling her dad to head home and, if things went well, not to expect her home for a few weeks, as she would be spending all of her time learning everything she could

There’s a lot of happy crying and comfort hugs the moment the Fortress welcomes her as Kia Jor-El, twin of Kal-El

Just like she warned Bruce, she spends weeks away in the Fortress, learning as much about Krypton as she can get

She listened to the holograms of her birth parents telling her stories, even the ones every Kryptonian child was told to scare them into behaving, or little tales told to teach morals. She didn’t care that she was already an adult, already knew all these lessons from human versions, but they were what she wanted to hear

Learning of old legends, gods, and mythical creatures were some of her favorites to hear, and she was determined to retell them to her family when she returned

She listened to a lot of kryptonian music, too, discovering it had just as much variety in genres and cultures as Earth

You can bet your bucks that she is going to be recreating Kryptonian instruments a to learn to use, as well as learn every dance the Fortress has recorded in its archives

She has a field day when she discovers there are kryptonian puzzle boxes she can recreate

Her favorite days, however, are when Clark comes by to check on her, finding her in the middle of the day, after yet another all nighter of reading Kryptonian non-fiction novels, and he orders her to bed. She doesn’t like the orders, but after the first time, she never complained again. Clark had left the Fortress after day three of them being in the Fortress, and came back to check on her a couple days later to find her sleeplessly tired and still reading. After forcing her to lay down, he convinced her to stay put if he taught her one of the lullabies he had learned himself. Now, every night he was with her in the Fortress, they either sung the Kryptonian lullabies together, to each other, or, fell asleep to the voices of their parents singing instead

Keeping true to the self-promise, when Marinette returned to Gotham, she excitedly told her family as much as she could

Dick, inspired by many of the stories, and wanting to pay tribute to his youngest sister’s heritage, asks if he can create a new hero identity

She happily agrees after asking Clark about it over the phone, and Nightwing is born

They laugh a bit at it, actually, considering that Robin’s colors are a tribute to the Greysons, and Nightwing is one of the Kryptonian Gods, and yet they’ve ended up swapped between them

Justice League time! This is my favorite part, where it gets into pure identity shenanigans

Give it a few more years before the whole idea comes together. Batman may trust his daughter’s brother, but he still needs to get to know him. They still butt heads often enough, but Marinette is a good, if exasperated, mediator that helps them settle down and come to agreements more

When the JL is finally founded, Marinette is 25, and Bruce is, in fact, only there for the official first day of it in operation

That’s right, Bruce retires!

After so long of fighting the corruption and crime of Gotham, there has actually been progress and improvement. Enough so that Bruce is comfortable with actually retiring as a field vigilante, instead joining the behind-the-scene bats by becoming Agent B

Who other than Marinette takes up the cowl of Batman?

She outright told Dick he can’t pull off the attitude for it, and even Damian could agree she was the best fit

There were, of course, questions of how she would hide the fact of Batman suddenly becoming a woman. After rolling her eyes and saying the fact that female armor doesn’t have to look feminine, she tells them that the answer was simple!

Stuart Semple

That’s right, Marinette was already planning to become Batman after her dad!

She also manages to convince Bruce to play a long-term prank on the JL, all the way from day one. What is the prank, you ask?

They don’t tell anyone except those within the Bat Clan that the cowl is being passed on, and no one will ever know that there was a new identity behind Batman

So, how is it pulled off? Like this:

For one, Bruce will reveal his identity as Batman as a sign of trust to the heroes of the JL

Then, immediately after, he will go home and hang up the cowl for good

Then Marinette is going to take out her redesign and take up the Batman role

The entirety of the new suit is going to be made with Black 2.0, and combining it with the cloak that will cover her whole body, a new full-face mask/helmet, full body armor, a speed that will keep pictures from getting clear pictures of even her profile, and her Kryptonian ability to masterfully manipulate her voice to keep the frightening baritones of her dad, her identity is securely secret, and the prank perfectly maintainable

Add in her own personal touch of changing the usual white eye lenses to gold, layering the cloak with a mechanism that raises and lowers the layers to allow for maximum looming height (where no one can tell if her feet are touching the ground) while also keeping it out of the way when crouching or keeping low, and you have a Batman that not only looks like a literal and legit void with creepy glowing eyes, but one that is going to be scaring the hell out of every single hero, too, when she walks by them in the halls of the JL

Really, it’s the perfect functional prank

It gets more fun every time she comes home from a mission and tells everyone about how her teammates kept commenting that they had worried about Bruce’s age, but with ‘him’ upping the scare levels and seeming to actually be improving in ‘his’ skills, speed, and strength, they find they have nothing to worry about

It’s barely a week in before she overhears a few people considering begging Batman to tone down the endless-void look, but she accidentally scares them off when they spot her, and she’s certain the prank is going to last a good amount of time now

Gotham continues to improve, enough so that the constant presence of Batman isn’t required, easily manageable by the other bats, even in lessened numbers

Most of the bats suspect Marinette taking up the cowl and the new look had a great deal of impact on the most recent crime drops

Bruce has taken to putting lawn chairs in the mansion’s library and using one of Marinette’s old sippy-cups for his evening scotch and cocktails, claiming to be catching up on a missed childhood, with an adult twist

Bruce discovers the Wii, and family game nights have become a thousand times funnier after all the wrist straps get lost

There’s something else Gotham and the JL notice after Batman ‘stopped holding back’ along with the new look. Batman got gentle

It wasn’t that he wasn’t gentle before, no; Batman has always cared about others. Has always treated the villains with humanity and made sure the ones that needed it got the treatments they needed, always made sure no one got hurt unjustly and no one died. Always made sure victims were looked after and safe. But now it’s a lot more

Batman becomes slower, softer, gentler when handling people, good or bad, ‘his’ fist a gauntlet of iron coated in the fluffiest of velvet and stuffed with plush cotton. He even began using words first a lot more, kicks and fists less and less

It boggles everyone this sudden new contrast, this scary as hell void, this renewed cryptid, this beastly monster of the night, having a heart light as a feather, pure as gold

In fact, oddly enough, it scares them all, heroes and villains alike, a hell of a lot more

Everyone knows never to underestimate someone who seems soft, and if Batman is already a better fighter than before, and softer than ever, then please, they beg in the names of the gods, what else is hidden under that cowl?

The prank still works wonderfully, of course, because no one connects the cryptid-ness of the last Robin, that everyone was told had ‘moved on from the Robin mantle’, with the improved cryptid-ness of Batman. Remember that ‘I sure hope it’s just Batman’ thing? Well now they’re frightened of Batman all over again, but they still fear the ‘Return of Robin’, because once again, if Batman has improved, what in the world has Robin been up to?

The prank finally ends with the decision of picking her duty over continuing to keep the secret

Themyscira is in need of some help, some problem there that the Amazonians can’t figure out themselves

Thing is, it’s a women-only place

So the decision is to volunteer for the mission, or keep up the prank

Obviously, she’s a good person and volunteers, deciding it’s time for the prank to be revealed

Thing is, she doesn’t say she’s a woman or even drops the deep scary voice before raising her hand and saying, “I’ll go.”

Everyone is dead silent and just stares

Her hidden straight poker face cracks and she stands up with a laugh, before she unclasped her cloak and drapes it over the back of her seat

Then she pulls off the full-headed mask/helmet, fully breaking the look of an endless void

Everything is dead silent still as everyone stares, before Superman drops his head into his hands, realizing what has been happening, and just bemoans, “Kia, why…”

That’s when the noise breaks and everyone looks at Superman, basically all asking, “WAIT, you KNOW her???”

Marinette is cracking up, trying to suppress her laughter as she subtly sends a message to her family not present at the meeting that the gig is up

Everyone quiets down when Batman stands and clamps a hand down on our unmasked Batman

“Everyone, this is Marinette, ex-Robin, Bruce Wayne’s daughter, and Kia Jor-El, my twin sister.”

It’s noisy all over again, and this time she can’t keep the laugh in

Diana, though, may or may not be dead silent, staring at Batman, and feeling very, very gay right now

Everything settles down eventually, and everything gets back on track, but it will be months before the JL members stop being absolutely disbelieving that they got bamboozled so well and for so long, and they may just be even more frightened of Batman than ever before

The Bat Clan gets a whole new round of laughs after Marinette returns from Themyscira and describes the reaction of the Amazons when Diana introduces Batman as one of the volunteering heroes, before remembering to also mention that Batman, despite the name and previous holder of the mantle, is indeed a woman

Also, considering that Kryptonians are functionally immortal when their powers are working, Marinette is basically permanently Batman now, and can watch over Gotham and everyone else for basically forever now alongside Superman and Wonder Woman

Good luck figuring out how to explain it when the public notices the youngest Wayne daughter isn’t aging any more

Imagine all the kids she’s probably going to end up adopting into the Wayne family over time, too. ‘Mominette’ is too valid to exclude, and this is absolutely going to be a moment of “Oh my god, it’s a learned behavior.”

AND THAT’S BASICALLY IT!! I really hope you liked this, I had so much fun thinking up this whole idea!!

Edit: Now has a Companion/Alternate Story! Krypto-Rogue Twins AU!!!

[allisondraste]

Let’s Talk About Cole

Hi! It’s me again with another segment of “Allison Can’t Stop Analyzing Dragon Age Characters.”  This time, I am going to be talking about fan favorite Cole.  I think it’s relatively universal for people to like Cole and to enjoy his character.  People like to draw him, write about him, and just talk about our Fade Friend all the time. It’s great! 

However, the nuance of Cole is a little harder to understand, and as with most characters, he often gets reduced down to basic qualities and then those basic qualities are changed ever so slightly that the character starts to not even feel the same anymore.  I love Cole, and I have done some research about him in order to write a handful of scenes involving him, so I am just here to share some of the things that helped me out while I was learning about what makes him tick!

Step 1. If you have not read Asunder, I cannot more highly recommend it.  It has so much information about Cole’s back story.  Also, if you haven’t read Asunder and you don’t want spoilers for Asunder, you should probably go read it and then come back to my post later.

Step 2.  The Cole section of this post right here is literally magic.  The whole post is magic, but since this is a Cole meta, I’m specifically referring to the Cole piece.

Step 3.  Things about Cole that are essential to understanding him:

Cole is Neurodivergent ( and no, it’s not up for debate)

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the term, “Neurodivergent” is simply a word that describes a person whose mind works and processes information in a way that is considered different from an average joe neurotypical person.  Often times neurodivergent is used to describe autism, ADHD, and other conditions that affect neurological development.

Because Cole is a spirit, he processes the world around him differently from non-spirit characters in the Dragon Age Universe.  He perceives different things and understands things differently from how other characters might.  Cole also has some misunderstandings and misperceptions about human social norms and boundaries, that he becomes more acquainted with over time.  It is important to note that this development happens *regardless* of the path chosen for him with regard to Varric V. Solas (I am not a fan of this particular part of his character arc, but I am going to go into that later). The fact that Cole is neurodivergent means that someone who is neurotypical is likely going to have a hard time understanding him and may perceive him as “childish,” “naive,” or “helpless.”  They might also have difficulty understanding his speech patterns and especially recreating them if they seek to write him!

Neurodiversity is so important, and Cole is excellent representation, so it’s equally important that we strive to do our research and make sure that we are not removing that representation or presenting neurodiversity in a way that its harmful to others.  Different is different, not bad, and certainly not less.

Cole is Not a Child

I mentioned above that there is a tendency to interpret Cole’s neurodiversity as childishness or naivete, and even when it is unintentional, it is an ableistic view point that can be harmful to entire communities of people.  There is a pattern (not just in DA fandom, but also in DA fandom) whereby neurodiverse folks are often viewed as children.  They’re infantilized and treated as if they are helpless and/or cannot make good decisions on their own. Cole suffers from this as does Merrill (sometimes Sera, too).  

For Cole, this situation is not helped by the fact that the game portrays him as helpless and in need of a “father” figure to help him choose his path.  Hence we see Solas and Varric arguing on whether Cole should increase is affinity for spirtdom or for humanity.  I understand that everyone has their own opinion for what the “better” path for Cole is, and I’m not here to argue that; however, I do think that his arc would have had so much more meaning and been so much less invalidating for neurodivergent people if Cole had the autonomy to make his own decisions. In Asunder, we see Cole being very independent and making his own choices, figuring out who and what he is.  At the very end, his very last line in the entire book is, “I’m not helpless anymore.”  I don’t think that sounds like a character who cannot make his own decisions.

Fun fact: Cole is designed to be approximately 20 years old, which is the exact same age that Alistair was in Dragon Age: Origins.  (While Alistair is also the victim of infantilization… it still puts things into perspective a little bit). In order to avoid the “kid”/child dilemma, it is best to conceptualize some of the things in Cole commonly interpreted as childlike or immature as “newness.”  In Inquisition, Cole has only been in the mortal realm for a few years, and he has only been cognizant of the fact that he is not a human, but a spirit of Compassion for even less time.  Rather than treating him as a “baby” it is best to treat him as someone who is just learning a new culture, a new world.  

Cole is a Spirit of Compassion, Not a Spirit of Matchmaking and/or Meddling in your Personal Affairs.

A trend I see often is Cole as matchmaker, or Cole as interested in every detail of everyone’s sex life or Cole being a filterless vent for whatever the people near him are thinking.  It’s easy to assume that about him, as he does comment on a few relationships (Cullenmance, Solavellan, and Bullmance) in particular; however, there is an interesting tidbit of how Cole’s thought reading works located in his banter with Dorian.

Dorian: That little trick, Cole, when you dip into someone's mind and take a drink?

Dorian: Do you choose what you're looking for, or is it random?

Cole: It has to be hurt, or a way to help the hurt. That's what calls me.

Cole: Rilienus, skin tan like fine whiskey, cheekbones shaded, lips curl when he smiles.

Cole: He would have said yes.

Dorian: I'll... thank you not to do that again, please.

Essentially, Cole can only tap into thoughts that are 1.) Painful or 2.) Can help lessen the pain in some way, shape, or form. So, when he accesses thoughts about an LI or something else very personal, he does so to HELP.  It is not random.  It is not filterless.  It is a very pragmatic way to be compassionate. When I was thinking of ways to explain this, the first thing that came to mind was the work that I do as a mental health professional.  We are actual practitioners of compassion.  It is our job to listen to our clients and help them to solve the problems that are causing them to suffer.  We ask a lot of deep questions and probe about a lot of personal things, but it is very targeted.  We do not ask intimate questions just out of curiosity or just for the heck of it.  It is geared toward the issue at hand.  That is exactly what Cole does.  

Unless prodding your OC about the details of their sex life is going to make them feel better, he will not bother.

Cole is Not an Innocent, Precious, Little Cinnamon Roll

First of all, that goes along with the infantilization of his character, so it’s just a really ill-considered choice of language to describe him.  Second of all, it is simply not true.  

I understand that for people who have not read Asunder or played the Champions of the Just questline (and especially people who have done neither)  there is very little information about him to judge his character on, and what we do see is a person whose only mission, his sole purpose, is to help the hurt. That does seem very wholesome.

In Asunder, we see a much different side of him.  Believing himself to be Cole, a young mage who died of starvation after being forgotten by Templars, Compassion roams about the White Spire in a confused and lonely daze, unaware that he is actually a very powerful spirit.  He is called the Ghost of the White Spire, a legend that is terrifying to those that inhabit the tower.  Why?  Because he murders mages.

If you are thinking “oh, he probably killed them because he felt them suffering and he thought it was the only way to end their misery,” you are thinking exactly as I did, and you would be wrong.  While he did target individuals who were despairing, it was not altruistic.  He killed them because it felt good when they died, because that was the only time anyone could see him.  The way the book describes it, it was almost an “addiction” or a physiological need for him to kill.  He was distressed by his actions, but was not able to stop without Rhys’ help.

Over the course of the book, Cole learns more about his past and figures out what he is.  He also, through the help of his relationship with Rhys and Evangeline, comes to understand that he does not have to murder people to be seen and remembered.  When he is sent to the Fade using the Litany of Adralla, it all finally clicks and he returns to haunt Lord Seeker Lucius, for all the pain and suffering he caused his friends and loved ones. It is such a brilliant character arc and I so wish that we got to see more of it in the game.

Cole is a Person the Entire Time (Human vs. Spirit/Varric vs. Solas be damned)

Regardless of your opinion of Solas, one thing he gets right is in arguing that Cole is already a whole and complete person when he joins the Inquisition.  He actually argues for the personhood of all spirits in general, and I think that any reasonable person can look at the spirits (and demons) with whom we have interacted so far and, putting aside feelings about Solas, draw the same conclusions.

Let’s take a look at all of the Spirits/Demons we have had actual interactions with thus far:

Valor

Justice

Compassion

Command

Wisdom

Choice

Desire

Pride

Sloth

Rage

Fear

Envy

While some of these interactions were minimal, each of these entities show qualities that one would associate with personhood.  Qualities such as motivation, goals, higher order thought processes, emotions, etc.  When we meet Justice in DA:A, he is a thinking, feeling being who longs to right wrongs and comes to care for mortals a great deal.  He comes to this conclusion on his own after interacting with his companions in the events of the game. Choice, or Imshael, who we see in The Masked Empire, and in DAI,  has such an identity of his own that he does not like to be referred to as a demon. I could go on.  These are not mindless, thoughtless creatures, and so viewing them as people just makes sense. This is part of the reason I do not like the Solas vs. Varric questline (aside from the fact that Cole should be able to choose or not choose as he wishes).  Cole is already a person, and Varric’s line of thought is not “making him more human,” it is only serving to make him “less compassionate,” and that’s all.  He becomes more selfish which is why he is able to have more of his own personal goals (it’s not because he did not have them before; rather, it is because they were drowned out by everyone else’s).  

This is not to say that I think Cole should have to forgive his abuser.  He shouldn’t. Not unless he wants to, and that choice should be his to make, not Varric’s, not Solas’, and not the Inquisitor’s.  I have an opinion as to which path is better, but I’m not going to discuss that here because it will detract from the actual point which is that the language of “human” versus “not human” is just bad and here’s why.

It implies that forgiveness is not a human quality.

It implies that in order to be considered a person, one has to “think” and “do” as everyone else does.  

Because of Cole’s romantic/sexual interest in Maryden when Varric’s path is chosen, it implies that lack of romantic/sexual attraction is not “human,” which is aphobic.

Because of his Maryden interest in the “human” path, and because he has “become more human” in his thought processes, it implies that neurodivergent people cannot or are not interested in relationships, which is ableist.

TL;DR: I’m not a fan of that questline. Your mileage may vary.

Finally, and Probably the Reason You Sat Through the Rest of It: Cole’s Speech Pattern!

Cole’s speech is really difficult to capture in a way that is both enough and not too much.  It is not as simple as just seeing how much alliteration can fit into a chapter.  Sure, Cole uses a lot of alliteration, and it is incredibly fun to play with while writing him; however, his communication is not as simple as that.  If you check out the link I shared in Step 2, it will take you to a Character Files reference where there is some information about Cole’s speech pattern that is much more in depth than I am going to go so definitely check it out. When I am writing Cole, I categorize his speech into three different types:

Synesthesia

-  the alliteration, the purpley flowery descriptions, the metaphors, the in the moment, no regard for grammar, run on sentence speech he is known for.  This comprises most of his dialogue.

Direct thought reading

- when he is actually quoting characters’ thoughts or stating their feelings out right.  He might speak as them or he might speak as himself observing them.

Cole’s own thoughts

- Yes, he has them, and he has a lot of them.  Many of these show up as his interpretations of and suggestions for others regarding their hurt.  However, he also shows a lot of agency of thought.  He wants to know if Dorian thinks he’s handsome, he talks about wanting there to be more rabbits in stories because Bunny was Cole’s sister’s name and it reminds him of her.  Cole expresses a lot of his own thoughts and feelings if you just take time to listen.

Writing Cole effectively involves a good balance of all three types and I recommend just playing around with it!

To Sum It All Up

Cole is amazing, but he’s also often misunderstood and mischaracterized, and Allison has a lot of feelings about it that you could spare yourself from reading if you do Steps 1 and 2 and skip the middleman. The end!

[rirururu]

I want to tackle a more serious multi-chapter TanZen / ZenTan fanfic some time soon. I miss being able to actually develop them through a continuum of events and tying all the plot points together at the end. It’s not that I’m out of steam but I think people are losing interest in this project too ((´д｀)) I might have to either cancel or put the prompt challenge on hold. Let's see what happens. What do you guys think?

Click here for ao3 version or go to “Keep Reading.”

It’s only been eight hours and fourty-nine minutes since Tanjirou Kamado and Zenitsu Agatsuma officially became a couple.

And Zenitsu is already sure that he can’t take much more of this.

Waking up with the chirping birds like he always did, Zenitsu crawled out of his futon in the direction away from his snoring boar friend and made to fold it against the wall. Noticing the spot on the other side of him empty, the only conclusion was that Tanjirou must’ve started his day even sooner.

Looking for his (boy)friend- oh my god, that’s what he was now, wasn’t it- Zenitsu padded out of the room with yawn. He found his target leaning over a bowl in intense concentration. The thrumming drums of nervousness radiated from him in waves. The only thing that snapped him out of it was the sound of the sliding door gently slamming shut.

The effect was immediate. Tanjirou turned, face brightening like the sun. A warm blush colours his tan cheeks pink. Nerves almost completely disappeared. “Zenitsu, g-good morning!”

The blond covered his eyes with a sleeve. His heart was already racing at the sight. “Ugh, too bright… You’re too bright at this time of day, Tanjirou!”

The sun breather only laughed. And for the life of him, Zenitsu couldn’t understand why he looked so delighted to get such a snippy response. He didn’t have time to dwell on it though, not when the other suddenly stood up from his seat. Zenitsu didn’t have the mental power to react. Rounding towards him, Tanjirou wastes no time landing a kiss with the sound of spring on the blond’s cheek. “I made breakfast for you.”

Zenitsu flushes red. His skin buzzes like a bee covered in pollen where gentle lips touched. “Y-You…!” The lack of shame from the other seriously annoyed him! Zenitsu declares but he’s dragged to the table, swaying left and right as a decidedly warm happiness bursts near his chest. He may have giggled, swooned a bit and he’s sure if he were a painting, there’d be hearts emitting from his ears. But he doesn’t care.

Especially not when he finally sees what the fuss was about. Sitting innocently on top of the simple rice dish is an egg, sunny-side up and in the shape of a heart.

A heart…!

“Tanjirou, what’s going on?! My organs feel like they’re going to explode out of my mouth. Is this a disease? Is it fatal? Th-THAT’S IT! I’m dying! You’ve killed me…!”

“Don’t die, Zenitsu!” Despite the dire situation, Tanjirou is smiling. That bastard…! But ah, he can hear now that the ocean of nerves in his spine was subsiding as a calm peace replaced it. Maybe, perhaps, there was that very small chance that Tanjirou actually really cared what Zenitsu thought of his work?

The sentiment burns his eyes wet. He wheezes.

“IT’S TOO LATE.” Zenitsu clutches his stomach dramatically. “I thought I’d leave this world after having my brain giblets guzzled out and my limbs sliced to bits. I thought it’d be less depressing than this. BUT MY true end is THIS-! You’ve killed me with second-hand embarrassment, you fool!”

“That’s a weird way of saying love.”

“ARGH…!” Zenitsu covers his red face with his palms. It’s too much. Tanjirou was so impossible! His heartbeat runs a marathon in his ears, blood rushing, yet the kind sound of a flute and a crystal stream still embracing him is as clear as ever. Suddenly, he feels the light brush of fingers in his hair, and that stream reflects a rainbow.

Tanjirou hummed. His eyes never leave his boyfriend, taking in the tinge of teary golden orbs peeking from between shaking fingers. Yellow locks are still tussled wayward from sleep. It fluffs adorably between his own rough fingers. The cherry blossoms colouring his face contrast nicely, bringing out the image before him nearly as much as the scent of home. His mouth runs away from him, powered purely by his desire to have Zenitsu all to himself. “You’re so cute. I love you.”

Silence.

Finally realizing the weight of the statement, Tanjirou withdrew himself with a horrified squeak and red cheeks.

“Really? That’s what makes you realize how EMBARASSING you’re being?!” He whines. “TAN-JI-ROU…!”

That’s when Zenitsu officially decided that he couldn’t take anymore of this. Tanjirou was too much for him.

But maybe that was just fine.

(he loves him too)

-U-U-U-U-U-

It’s only been two weeks, five days, seventeen hours, and eleven minutes since Tanjirou Kamado and Zenitsu Agatsuma officially became a couple.

And Tanjirou is already sure that he can’t take much more of this.

He just returned to headquarters, haori tattered and blade vibrating with intense aftereffect. Some part of his brain still thinks he’s in battle. Bloodied, surrounded by the corpses of innocent children all under the age of twelve, his mission did not end well. No matter how long he works as a demon slayer, no matter what he sees, he can never stomach the sick feeling of being the only one to come out of it alive.

He was too late.

“Tanjirou.”

He stops merely two meters from the entrance. On the stone steps stood Zenitsu, out of breath as if he ran there at the sound of him. If the next sentence out of this beautiful person that Tanjirou loved so much was any indication, he had. “You’re sad.”

Tanjirou can tell immediately from the frustrated scent of the other that Zenitsu was likely reprimanding himself for the insensitive statement. Of course he’s sad, he imagined the blond internally screaming. He couldn’t begin to imagine the amount of despair in his being but if it was anything like the scent of rotting flesh and crushed dreams, Tanjirou knew he must’ve sounded bad.

So he tries to smile anyway to reassure. “Yeah. It’s okay though-”

“It’s not okay. Don’t say that.” Zenitsu frowns. He holds out a worried hand, the own bandage wrapped around his yellow head seeming like a paper cut in comparison to the wound in his boyfriend’s spirit. The other doesn’t hesitate to take it. It’s fascinating to Tanjirou just how affected Zenitsu was by the tone in his voice. “There’s no way you’re okay.”

Despite the context, Tanjirou finds himself blurting out. “What do I sound like?”

Zenitsu takes pause at this. Their fingers intertwined, the blond squeezes them with a wistful smile. “Like red poppies.”

“That’s-” Tanjirou gasps out. It’s such a strange phenomenon. It’s almost as if the admission itself was enough to break the dam. The anguished memories, that he tried so hard to shove down, return. “That’s beautiful, Zenitsu.”

“Oi, don’t do that.”

“Do what?”

“Stop holding back. Cry, scream, whatever… it’s okay to be sad.”

“I can’t. I- I’m sorry.” Tanjirou didn’t know how. Ever since the first time it happened, ever since he first walked in to a house full of dead bodies, he’s found it so difficult to truly be angry or depressed about it. There was no time. He had to save Nezuko. He had to help all the suffering humans and demons. The world didn’t have time for Tanjirou to be sad.

“Hey,” Zenitsu snaps his fingers in front of him with his free hand. When hazy amber eyes follow the motion in surprise, he sighs. “Follow me.”

Tanjirou isn’t sure what to expect when he hears that. His wounds were already treated and healing. His sword wasn’t broken. His report was already sent ahead of time on the Kasuga crow. There wasn’t much else left to do but answer to any lingering questions from the higher-ups and maybe rest. About the last thing he could anticipate is Zenitsu ripping out a wooden instrument from beneath a cloth. Its head was long, its body delicate yet the blond held it with a confidence that Tanjirou knew he had when handling a blade.

It’s mesmerizing. Since when did Zenitsu know how to play an instrument? So when the boy motions him to sit on the grass, his own seat on the platform overlooking the garden occupied, Tanjirou obeys without protest. He waits, attention dispersed somewhere between how peaceful his boyfriend looked and the practiced gracefulness of pale fingers on the string.

Sure enough, the first note that rings almost has Tanjirou weeping.

It’s sad. It’s such a sad song. Children rapt with confusion over why their parents were unmoving, hands reaching out in silent plea for help before the life fades from lively eyes, the crushing sense of helplessness when he digs them out from beneath furniture. Rushing them into the outside, they’re gone before he even has a chance to lay them on the grass. The demon was dead but at what cost?

It was then that Tanjirou realized that Zenitsu succeeded. He was sad. The music guided him here and now it was hard to breathe. There was a crushing weight of something horribly foul on his heart. It was awful. Why did anyone want to stay like this all the time?

Before Tanjirou can bury himself in the utter gloom that the melody brought him, the tune lightens. It was quiet, chilling before, but now it strengthens in volume and nearly consumes the entire yard. The notes stumble in rhythm as if tripping but getting back up over and over. And maybe, just maybe, the pungent mass in his chest lessens.

When it’s over, Zenitsu finally opens his eyes. He looks down at Tanjirou but the other teen is frozen almost still. Amber eyes stared at him in awe. It was like Zenitsu held all the stars within his fingertips and Tanjirou just couldn’t help wanting more. He notices the blond flushing, not sure how to read his look. “Y-You asked me what you sounded like right now. That was it.”

“Can-” Zenitsu flinches when he hears just how choked Tanjirou’s voice sounds. “Can I have a hug?”

Even with all of the embarrassment in the world to stop him, Zenitsu wouldn’t deny him. Tanjirou knew that. The nod only confirms it. He’s on him in mere moments, practically pouncing on the yellow-clad body as he buried his face in the older boy’s shoulder. Then with all barriers down, Tanjirou cries.

The only thing that anchors him is the sweet scent of citrus and the hand holding his own.

That’s when Tanjirou officially decided that he couldn’t take anymore of this. Zenitsu was too much.

And he loves him so, so much for that.

[yogaadvise]

Start Here! 5 Meditation Styles for Beginners

Beginning a reflection method can be both amazing as well as challenging. If you asked 10 different people what style of meditation they practice, you may obtain 10 different solutions. It's usual to feel overloaded and unpredictable regarding where or how to obtain started.

The ideal means to begin is to acquaint yourself with some of the different sorts of reflection to see what resonates with you. Right here are a few of the much more typical designs that are fantastic for beginners.

Guided Meditation

Guided meditations have come to be increasingly preferred in the previous few years. A led reflection is led by a person else, either personally or via a recording, that will generally (although, not always) have a motif and relaxing songs playing in the background. Guided reflections generally last anywhere from 10 to 15 mins, depending on the function or style, as well as they come in all designs-- including healing, materializing, and also going within to discover your function. Due to the fact that assisted meditations are led by another person, this design of meditation is fantastic for novices and those who may deal with resting still for more than simply a couple of mins at a time. They are likewise valuable if you would like to improve your existing technique or concentrate your energy and interest on a certain result.

If you want this kind of reflection, take a look at Deepak and also Oprah's 21-Day Meditation Experience, an on the internet program where participants are sent a new recording of a led meditation every day. This program is used several times each year, and also is complimentary and also easily obtainable to everyone. You can likewise download and install a guided reflection application on your smart device, like Understanding Timer or the Chopra Center's Ananda app. Reward: There's even a guided meditation app for children, called Ananda Kids, developed by the Chopra Center!

Another option is to see if there are any kind of assisted meditations being offered in your community where you can most likely to practice meditation with like-minded individuals. Many yoga studios and also wellness centers use daily led meditations, which can be a great method to relieve into your reflection practice.

Visualization Meditation

Visualization reflection is a powerful way to make use of the mind to influence the body and also can additionally be an empowering method to manifest preferred end results in your life. Deepak Chopra shows that what we position our attention on expands stronger and what we take our interest away from will certainly begin to reduce. The subconscious mind is incredibly effective and also it functions really well with imagery.

One typical visualization method is focused around health and wellness. By imagining your body-mind as being healthy and balanced, dynamic, and energized-- or based, tranquil, as well as tranquility-- you can start to elicit these points both emotionally and physically. Another method is utilizing aesthetic images for innovative objectives. By building a picture in your mind of what your life may appear like after having actually accomplished a goal and actually seeing yourself having already achieved it is a way to start living in ways that sustain the indication of your desired outcome.

To practice meditation making use of aesthetic imagery, exercise the following:

Identify your desired result. Do you desire to feel more grounded as well as at peace in your mind and also feelings? Or would you like to visualize your physical body as being healthy, vibrant, and strong? Or are you wishing to create art, compose poetry, be in a brand-new relationship, or take a trip abroad?

Create an inner representation of what this looks, sounds, as well as feels like. Make it as real and as engaging as possible.

Enter into an introspective state by relaxing and taking some deep breaths as well as after that bring the picture right into your understanding. Associate on your own into the photo by tipping inside it and sensation as if it has already happened.

When it's time to come out of reflection, just enable the image to fade off right into the distance and also give up any kind of add-on to outcome.

Meditate in this fashion anywhere from 10 to 15 minutes each day.

Japa or Mantra-Based Meditation

Japa meditation is a mantra-based meditation path that is among the earliest, most adored classical strategies known today. Words "mantra" equates to mind vehicle or mind instrument. Japa reflection has the practitioner repeating a word or phrase throughout of the reflection, with the concept being the prime focus throughout.

During the method, whenever you drift away from the rule to other ideas, seems, or physical feelings, you just assist your focus back to the rep of the concept. Consider it as a dancing to and fro in between mantra and also thought. Some concepts have a details meaning and it's said that by duplicating the rule, you are attaching to the energised essence of its objective. Various other mantras intentionally have no definition as well as are designed to help access much deeper levels of silence. In this approach, eventually the concept and also ideas will certainly cancel one an additional out. When this occurs, your aware awareness goes beyond the numerous hours of the mind as well as reaches higher states of consciousness.

Popular styles of mantra-based reflection are Primordial Sound Meditation as educated by Deepak Chopra as well as the old-time technique of the So Hum meditation. Both of these techniques are quickly learned personally or online for your convenience.

Loving-Kindness or Metta Meditation

Metta meditation, additionally referred to as Loving-Kindness reflection, is developed to cultivate four high qualities of love: friendliness (Metta), compassion (Karuna), appreciative joy (Mudita), and equanimity (Upekkha). The quality of Metta, or kindness, is expressed as a real concern sent with the purpose of surrounding ourselves and also others with loving kindness. With all that is taking place worldwide today, Metta reflection is a worthwhile technique for each people to spend some time in every day. This style of meditation additionally functions well as an entry point for the method of forgiveness and also can be an effective device for lessening the fee of unfavorable feelings we have towards those who have wronged us.

While there are numerous methods to Metta meditation, this audio clip on Loving Kindness Meditation is an extensive and also well-spoken version.

Another variant will have you think quietly to on your own, " May I be loaded with caring generosity. May I be well. May I be relaxed and at simplicity. May I be absolutely delighted." You would after that bring someone else into your mind (a person you enjoy and/or a person who you are feeling tested by) and also state silently, ' May you be filled up with caring compassion. May you be well. May you be serene and secure. May you be absolutely happy." You may after that bring all of humankind right into your understanding and send out the very same intent bent on the collective-- to all sentient beings, " May we be full of loving generosity. May we be well. Might we be calm as well as at ease. May we be absolutely pleased."

Once you have done this reflection a couple of times and you keep in mind the process, you can begin to do the reflection by yourself without listening to the audio file. Select whatever language you choose to utilize and practice this meditation for an amount of time to see how it resonates with you.

Breath-Awareness Meditation

Breath-awareness reflection is a basic practice of locating a comfortable seat, closing your eyes, and also positioning your interest in the inhalation and also exhalation of your breath. Breath awareness is an effective way to develop higher mind-body link and to decrease anxiety. This sort of meditation can be your preferred meditation method each day and it is also extremely beneficial throughout moments of stress in the office and at home.

Once you have actually attempted a couple of different sorts of meditation, you will have a far better suggestion of what reverberates with you as well as what doesn't. One of the most essential point to keep in mind is that there is no right or wrong reflection, there are many courses that all bring about the same location, and the elegance of life is that we obtain to select our very own path.

Keep it easy at the beginning as well as just feel out some different techniques. When you locate one that you enjoy, the following action is to allot 15 to 20 minutes daily to grow your meditation practice. From there, have a tendency to your method daily as well as you will certainly experience a variety of life-altering benefits.

Discover the simplest, most effective means to bring right into clear emphasis who you really go to our signature reflection and also yoga resort, Seduction of Spirit featuring Dr. Deepak Chopra.

[m-bacchus]

Miley Cyrus And Concrete Walkways Moncton: 10 Surprising Things They Have In Common

A very well-produced walkway or backyard garden route not only stands approximately years of challenging use, it enhances the natural landscape and complements a house’s exterior features. While common walkway elements like brick and stone have normally been prized for both of those physical appearance and longevity, most kinds are quite expensive and sometimes tough to set up.

We had a demo of our enclosed patio with a cracked concrete foundation which was replaced by a wonderful new patio roof with recessed lights and supporters. The job came out better than we envisioned so we chose to allow Pure House Transforming to carry on with landscaping for the entire again garden. We experienced some concept of what we desired but didn't have the ability to begin to see the way Emil does in the region of architecture and exterior design. If you wish to operate with a person that values marriage more than endeavoring to create a sale and a real interest to the nicely-getting of All your family members and residential then I hugely advise Emil. I've had my one spouse and children home for over 10 a long time now and fulfilled quite a few Challenge Administrators from different building companies but none have arrive near to Emil from Pure Household Remodeling. We've got not only discovered a whole new Pal but a firm that we are going to carry on to use for all of our construction and home advancement needs going forward.

Examine more details on how ornamental concrete was applied Within this job. See extra photos from this contractor >>

At a bare minimum, companies must pass their credit rating and legal background checks, and also have small shopper issues. This is actually the explanation why no corporations on our web site have a score fewer than A-! Silver

No weeds will grow via a stamped concrete walkway, which makes for a far more aesthetically satisfying and Protected route. Stamped concrete is significantly less prone than other supplies which include stone pavers to your heaving in the frost-freeze cycle that is certainly frequent in colder climates. A stamped concrete pathway is usually developed atop an existing sidewalk, which can lessen the time and cost of your undertaking. Concrete is very strong and might withstand Repeated targeted traffic and heavy vehicles.

I'm a respected Experienced organization providing great services to my buyers. Terminate

However , you don’t want to invest a lot of money for this project. I'll explain to you this astounding Do it yourself concrete walkway challenge you can do in 4 effortless steps. I child you not After i say “four Effortless STEPS.”

When creating your stamped concrete walkway, you can Pick from a number of colors which includes tan, brown, walnut and various shades of grey. Attractive stamp sample choices contain: Ashlar slate

Products like walk makers or concrete walkway molds are selling like hotcakes for the reason that people today want their lawn to glance wonderful. But in the event you’re like me and need to save lots of a huge selection of bucks in business landscaping, then this Do-it-yourself concrete walkway job is just the task for you.

Besides the cost with the stamped concrete, household and home entrepreneurs might have to pay For added connected costs such as the excavation and elimination of an present sidewalk, removing of trees or tree roots in how on the walkway, or the installation of a drainage process to make certain that no ponding occurs around the walkway.

Landscaping or, mason firms will most often improve price ranges on Stamped Concrete Walkways — preserving your back again and extra costs of Stamped Concrete Walkways, so shop around, request your neighbors if they will recommend someone.

A good portion of the price of the poured concrete patio will be the supplies themselves. No matter if installation is dealt with by an expert or even a homeowner, these products will continue to be the identical, While Experienced corporations may be able to source decreased-cost merchandise when they get in bulk.

Doing work in easy even strokes, drag The underside fringe of a flat metal trowel backwards and forwards over the floor to clean the cement.

By legislation, we're needed to advise you that you choose to consent to becoming contacted about your task after finishing the form. We will never Speak to you with the rest.

[commanders-sole-braincell]

1) Are they woodier or leafier? Succulent, deciduous, evergreen?

honestly I've never thought about if much, but Ford's a weird sort of mid ground at the minute. Body wise he's more a softer leafier texture, but hair wise it's a toss up. His hair at the moment is mainly thorns but I’ve been imaging lately that if he grew it out it'd be more deciduousleaf that evergreen needle. So deciduousI guess 

2) were they modeled after a specific plant?

If not, what was your inspiration? Ford was honestly based off of a cat, I've always loved chimeras and other mutations - especially in how they present!

The only sylvari I have that's actually based off of a plant is technically Alasthaine - who's based off of albino plants! 

3) what kind of climate are they most comfortable in?

Ford's mostly comfortable when it's slightly warmer out, not blistering hot like the desert, but the general warmth of Caledon. Due to his dark and light patterning, extreme hot and cold occasionally flatten him a little more and it throws him off kilter

Muirghra will scream if you throw snow at him. He's not about that cold shit, give him desert or give him death 

 4) what kind of climate are they least comfortable in? 

 Accidentally answered Ford's in the question before! And Muirs.

If you put Gio in the cold, legend has it you'll learn new swears and see five invented and reinvented in two minutes! 

 5) what’s their relationship with gender?

(warnings, I'm dumb about gender and honestly still figuring out all of the cool ways to explore it! So if I say anything ignorant, my bad and please tell me so I can correct it!)

Ford identifies as non-binary, but largely uses male pronouns at present - he sees himself as a non-binary man, if that makes sense. (I actually wanted to explore intersexism with him due to the correlation that can be found between intersexism and chimeras, but was struggling to find resources, after chatting with some helpful folks, non-binary felt right, and it totally fits Ford to a T!) 

 6) what’s their relationship with the Pale Tree?

Ford believe his Mother has the sylvari races best interests at heart, but has emotionally cut herself off from her children for fear of them dying or turning. He understands her more as he grows, but occasionally doesn't agree with her methods or tone. He still behaves a bit like a child trying to get their parents attention around her though 

 7) how do they react to Mordremoth when they first hear him?

Ford felt dread since he knew all the information we know at the start of HoT. He was pushy and aggressive to be around and just, so scared that people would think he'd gone Mordrem or turn on his brothers and sisters, that'd he'd fail them 

Albuinn genuinely thought it was just some weird intrusive thoughts at the beginning, so he just sorta, shrugged off a dragon 

 8) during what cycle were they born?

Night cycle: Taihneford, Nuallslan, Lasairlugh

Dawn cycle: Albuinn, Ainlyne, Loefell, Giolladhe,

Noon cycle: The Quad, Bairnwen, Fionhuine

Dusk cycle: Murighra, Addryin, Mirfirth, Laoirech, Maevyn

 9) what are their opinions on Trahearne?

Ford had a big ol'crush. It started off in admiration for his big brother, and slowly as it crept more towards HoT, he caught serious feelings. He planned to confess once they got Trahearne out the jungle.

Giolladhe never met him, but always felt sorry for the Firstborn everyone had seemingly already buried 

 10) would they take selfies? 

Ford would attempt it and probably adore the stickers. He'd never post them though. 

Giolladhe would have an entire Instagram, tumblr and twitter dedicated to his selfies. He has mastered the artform complete with stickers and emojis. It burns people's retinas but they love it 

 11) random headcanon!

For the first month or so he was at the Vigil, Ford was desperately lonely, and had to largely rely on sympathetic people, older sylvari like Laranthir, and nearby villages for company, as he struggled to connect with the other soliders massively. He's still not close to anyone in the Pact really. Dragons Watch are essentially his first real friends 

The Quad have formed a bond with that child in the village below the wizards tower, and if anyone passing through harasses the kid, they have to deal with four mercenary siblings 

 12) how old are they? 

Ford's about 7 years old at this point! 

Mallus is the charr equivalent of someone in their 40s or 50s, and is the first to admit that retirement doesn't suit him 

 13) what does their love life look like, if they have one? 

 Ford makes eyes contact with them once then never goes near them again cuz he's a weenie. He relies on watching and listening to Kas and Jory for a guide to romance (they have no clue they're the Commanders guide to romance) 

Loefell loves his partner dearly, and is surprisingly practical for his age. He might be young and head over heals for tall, dark and brooding, but he's not quite as stupid as people seem to think. He would go to the ends of the earth for him though 

 14) what did they see in their Dream? 

 Ford saw Mordremoth, a white stag, and mainly his sister - they didn't react with much else till they merged and got yeeted out into a fight with the Court

Giolladhe saw gold 

 15) favorite thing about playing your salad? 

Ford is real dumb, and also very kind so it's a nice combo! The fact I can let the angst rip at any moment and have comedy the next also is just /chef kiss. In game I need to beef his ass up though, going all out burn wasn't my smartest idea! Albuinn is my old main, and boy do habits die hard! I can autopilot on him no problem! It feels nice to see his anxiety lessen and him grow character wise 

 16) what armor set are they currently wearing? 

Ford’s currently got a mix of Vigil, Tier 2 sylvari cultural, and Elonian - and a helmet that’s name escapes me

Stat’s wise it’s an absolute condition damage focused mess

 17) do they have a favorite major city? 

Ford loves the Grove, its home! 

Nuallslan used to love Lions Arch, don't think they'll let him back in though! 

 18) what’s their favorite food?

Lemon sherbets. Ford usually has some on hand and they just help with everything. 

 19) least favorite food? 

Omnomberries - Ford ate them constantly in Orr and has developed an absolute hatred of the things. It’s the one thing he won’t eat

20) their biggest secret?

I had one for Ford but I forgot it but this also came to mind 

Ford low-key wonders if anyone wants him around, and wishes once or twice that he’d simply, passed on during the Departing - duty and Aurene were what drew him back, not an overwhelming desire to survive. He’s doing way better now! (Going into War Eternal he was a ghost of himself) And he’d never act on such thoughts, especially not now, but they surface now and again

Also if you run your hands through his head thorns he’ll practically fall asleep then and there

Gio’s been eyeing up the higher ranks of the Court, and has slowly been using the fact he’s the more ‘fun’ and morally aligned (in his eyes) teacher, to low-key build enough for a coupe in the Court. He wants that metaphorical throne

[unfortunate-rp]

Congratulations, LIV! You have been accepted as your desired character, AVA COLEMAN. I especially loved in your app the amount of detail you went into the Anything Else section to show what makes Ava Ava. Please be sure to complete the steps listed on the NEW MEMBER CHECKLIST and send in your account within the next 24 hours.

Well, young lady, have you been good to your mother?

OOC        Your Name: Liv    Your Age: 21    Your Pronouns: She/Her    Time zone: EST    Activity Level: 5; I’m in grad school-enough said there. I can be on pretty reliably a bit each day though.      Tumblr account (for contact purposes): ooopsydaisy or thatparkinsongirl    (If applying for second character) Characters played: NA    (If applying for second character) Will you be able to handle a second character?: NA    How did you find us?: The lsrpg tag I think.    Triggers: None IC    Character you’re applying for: Ava Coleman    Why did you choose this character?: Before I even knew if Sybil’s wife would be a playable char I was fascinated with the idea of her. Right out of the gate, there’s so much potential for her. Ugh the angst, the character development, the mystery sh’s now caught up in.    Secondary character preference: Ruby Cohen! If I have time I’m apping her too.      A sample in character: The cats, Rosalind and Aslop, were crying in their carriers in the back seat and eventually Ava started too. With every mile, every turn she drove further and further from home; no, that wasn’t right, 667 Dark Avenue wasn’t home, not really. Home was Sybil. The truck was packed full of their life together, at least; every scrap of paper, every trinket, Ava didn’t dare get rid of anything or even place it in storage. Anything could be a clue, a message, an answer. She’d been around enough grieving families though by now to know that answers were a bandaid on a gaping wound and it was a gaping wound. Days after the funeral, but before the whispering of her own guilt began, Ava had woken in their bed to a noise in the kitchen, just the cats, but for a moment, sleep still clinging to her, it was any other morning, Sybil puttering around the kitchen as the coffee brewed. The car crash impact of realization, of remembrance, knocked the air out of her lungs, left her gasping alone in a bed for two, knees drawn up to her chest, trying to lessen the stomach deep pain. No one had ever explained to her how physical an emotional wound could hurt you. Pulling into the driveway of her new house, Ava tried to see it with Sybil’s eyes. It was charming enough with the view of the lake, butter yellow door, shutters, and creeping ivy. Some of that was detracted by the perpetual gray skies and the mist rolling in off the lake. It would’ve been a nice place to get away for a vacation but Sybil had always liked being in the city, in the bustle of things. Ava’s only instructions to the realtor had been for a small place out of the city, anything to get away from the whispers about her guilt. She’d have to endure it still at work, particularly where the motto was, it’s always the spouse, but at least here she was far enough from any neighbors. She slid out of the truck, grabbing the cat carriers first, Rosalind had finally settled down, having given in to her circumstances, but Aslop had switched from mournful meows to low hisses. Sybil had always joked about how each cat took after them. “We’re gonna be all right,” she murmured quietly to them, praying it wasn’t a lie. She shoved her way through the door, stopping just inside. It was so horrifically empty, bare walls, nothing but open space. The room opened straight to the living room, hard wood floors everywhere, and the kitchen tucked in the corner beyond her. At least here where Sybil had never been, she didn’t see phantoms of her everywhere-laughing over the stove as the pot of spaghetti boiled over everywhere, on the couch, cello laid out before her, carefully tending to the strings, at the desk in the study, poring over her commonplace book, a small wrinkle between her eyebrows. Ava wanted to cry, to just give into the sadness. Instead she knelt down carefully and opened up both of the cat carriers, letting them both slink off to explore. One box by one, she dragged everything in, leaving them all in haphazard stacks against the wall. She’d carefully labeled each and every box to ensure the smoothest unpacking but even still, it would be a long process. The boxes with Sybil’s name on them glared back at her. The only piece of furniture she bothered with for now was the disassembled bed, the wooden slats deposited in the one bedroom and the mattress on the floor in the living room until she could find the energy to get it down the hallway. Collapsing onto it, she rolled onto her back and stared up at the ceiling. Her heart ached for home, fruitlessly, uselessly. Eventually, as day faded away around her, the room growing dark, she felt the pressure of small cat paws against her chest. Eyes still on the ceiling, she reached a blind hand out, expecting to meet Rosalind’s furry head; instead, it was Aslop, and her one nub of an ear. Aslop had always been the more independent of the two cats, always exploring, sneaking outside even sometimes. And yet, here in an exciting new place, she curled up  on Ava’s chest and started purring loudly. Ava let out a shaky breath, loud in the silence.    What headcanons or plans do you have for this character? (Please take any current plotdrops into consideration):

Mostly just vague ideas at the moment. I feel like the direction I go will have a lot to do with her interactions with other people and with the development of the plot. That said, in my mind Ava’s always been one of the more background members of VFD, she joined late, she’s more into research than fighting on the front lines. Poor girl’s asthmatic and petrified of planes and quite simply not that type of person. BUT, god is she desperate to know what happened to Sybil, I think it’ll be very interesting for this desperation to push her outside of her comfort zone, to slide more into the action. OR alternatively, again a lot of this hinges on where the plot goes, I love a good moral quandary, Ava either making a fishy, not great deal with a firestarter for information or even her finding something out in her investigation that makes her doubt the holy mission of the volunteers (particularly since many of them even ones she considered friends doubt her innocence). I think her connection with Adam will be very interesting to explore. His doubt in her, their workplace relationship, his lack of knowledge about VFD. Super excited. Her and Lauren’s connection should be super fun as well. Nothing like a good arch nemesis plot. I kind of can’t wait.    Do you want any additional connections for your desired character that you’d like us to add to their bio?: I didn’t see either of them in any of the characters and I don’t know if you had something planned for them down the line but I’m very interested in Ava’s sister in laws, Clara and Isabella. I think it would be nice and heartwrenching for her to still have a family of sorts even after Sybil’s death. I mean plus they both just sounded super interesting.

   Anything else?:  A few valuable, factual details,   Ava, a young girl, curled in the old green armchair in the sitting room of her grandmother’s house.The heavy book in her lap was too old for her and boring moreover but it was a better alternative to staring out the window, watching, waiting for two people who wouldn’t be coming back (Ava had known it was the last time during the last time her parents came, she could feel it in the air, in the lingering kiss to her forehead her mother bestowed, her father tucking her in that night. Every movement whispered goodbye. It was a good thing she had this experience-it meant she knew how to recognize nonverbal goodbyes.). In a month’s time, Grammy Ellie would take pity on her and make the trek up to the attic to bring down her daughter’s, Ava’s mother, childhood book collection. She never could stop watching though. Wanting. It didn’t take long for her to read every book of her mother’s twice over. The library two streets down from Grammy’s was a small affair, homey, with not enough shelves for all their books. It was love at first sight. If she wasn’t home, she was guaranteed to be there. She didn’t play at the playground like the other children, didn’t run and scream up down the street. She was largely alone as a child; no one else understood her and she didn’t understand them. They had no interest in anatomy and chemistry and constellations, didn’t want to listen to her excited explanation of what black plague did to the body. It was okay; she didn’t even know she was lonely (that would come later). Primary school was merely a series of disappointments. Medical school might have been as well if not for that fateful taxi drive. The VFD was full of people just like her, full of that gnawing yearning for knowledge, for importance, for saving the world. It was a group of people who had as children all been told at one point or another to tone down their excitement about something. She made her first real friends there, her family (she discovered just how lonely she’d been all along). Friends she was desperate to protect in any way that mattered; for her that was using her medical skills to patch up the members of the VFD risking their lives on the front lines. A year after joining, she’d graduated from med school as an internist. Having a purpose among her family filled her with joy. Ava was often called into headquarters to patch someone up, small burns and other minor wounds mostly. That was until the panicked, late night phone call from one of her friends. Ava rushed across town her heart beating in her throat, hearing the words, poison, oh god, Ava, what do I do, I can’t lose him, over and over. She got there just in time, just in time to watch him die. She was still performing fruitless CPR, his wife sobbing on their kitchen floor, when the ambulance arrived. It would not be the last death. Going back to school for a residency and then fellowship in forensic pathology was an easy decision for her. If she couldn’t save her friends’ lives then she would do her best to respect and speak for them after death. Sybil had once asked how she could possibly bare it and Ava, unsure herself sometimes, had told her that she saw it as being a translator of sorts, passing on the last words of the dead to the family. Sybil, staring back at her, leaned up and kissed her forehead and it felt so much like a goodbye that Ava had whispered, please don’t put me through that (she would, of course, and there was a part of both of them that knew Sybil would). Sybil Holloway was a tornado carving a line of destruction through her from the first moment to the very last. She was Ava’s first everything, first friend, first kiss, first date, first time, first love. From the very moment Ava laid eyes on her, Sybil at a party, playing her cello for a small group, the music bleeding out of Sybil like a tide, she knew Sybil was special. They were as many people told them a disgusting couple, eyes following each other, soft touches, easy companionship, trust, support. Understanding. That, more than anything else was what Ava thought people were searching for, understanding, to hear an answering echo of your own spirit in someone else. Even so, it wasn’t a perfect relationship, no that would require perfect people and neither Ava or Sybil were that. Sybil never hesitated from taking on dangerous work for the VFD, dangerous, secretive work. Whispered conversations, late nights poring over notes she didn’t share, and sudden trips she claimed were just for searching out antiques. Ava knew this wasn’t the full truth and though she wanted to give Sybil her privacy she was terrified too—so many of their friends had died lately.

They fought over it occasionally when Ava’s worry became too much. Sybil accused of her of not trusting her, of acting like Sybil was just never going to come back one day just like her parents. No one could hurt you quite like someone who knew you well. They fought about it publicly at a small VFD gathering a week before the fundraiser and though they later made up at home that night, Ava knew that fight was still ringing in people’s ears as they looked at Sybil’s vacant fragile dead body sprawled on the sidewalk.

[elusivepeacecom-blog]

Raising Emotionally Intelligent Kids

Your Emotional Competence Makes A Huge Difference In How Smart Your Kid Will Be When you are emotionally competent, you can accurately name your emotions, consciously control them, act appropriately, and manage your distress. You can read the emotions of others (especially your children), reflect back those emotions with a "you" statement (affect labeling), and build resiliency. Scientists have actually found that emotionally competent moms and dads raise kids that shine in school and have strong social bonds with their peers, despite socio-economic backgrounds. On the other hand, mentally oblivious moms and dads raise kids who do not constantly carry out well academically and might suffer later on in life. The Four Styles of Parenting Think about how your moms and dads raised you. As you reflect, which of the 4 parenting designs did your moms and dads embrace? And, have you embraced a comparable parenting design with your kids? The Emotionally Invalidating Parent The mentally revoking moms and dad treats their kid's sensations as trivial and unimportant. Feelings are a problem, and unfavorable feelings are not endured. Because they disengage from or ignore the child's feelings, the emotionally invalidating parent is the extreme opposite of the emotionally competent parent. These moms and dads desire the kid's unfavorable feelings to vanish rapidly. They see the kid's feelings as a need to repair things. Moms and dads will lessen their kid's sensations and minimize the occasions that resulted in the psychological experience. These moms and dads will not problem-solve with their kid, thinking that the passage of time will fix most issues Effects of emotional invalidation on children: Children learn that their feelings are wrong, inappropriate, and invalid. By the time they are ready for adult relationships, they have no skills or tools to navigate their emotions. The Judgmental Parent These parents judge and criticize their child's emotional expression. They think that emotions make people weak, and children must be emotionally tough to survive. The Judgmental Parent sees negative emotions as unproductive and a waste of time Results of Judgmental Parenting on kids: Same as the Emotionally Invalidating Parent, just even worse. The Let-It-Be Parent The Let-It-Be Parent freely accepts all emotional expressions from the child. The Let-It-Be Parent does not help his child solve problems. Results of the Let-It-Be Parent on kids: These kids do not discover to manage their feelings. They have problem focusing, forming relationships, and agreeing other kids. They might struggle with low scholastic accomplishment, end up being loners, and have actually made complex relationships later on in life. The Emotionally Competent Parent The Emotionally Competent Parent worths her kid's unfavorable feelings as a chance for intimacy. She knows and values her feelings. The Emotionally Competent Parent either is not distressed about her kid's extreme feelings or can self-soothe her own stress and anxiety. She sees the world of unfavorable feelings as a necessary arena for parenting. The Emotionally Competent Parent does not satirize or play down his kid's unfavorable sensations. He does not inform his kid how to feel and confirms his kid's feelings. The Emotionally Competent Parent utilizes psychological minutes as a time to listen to the kid, feel sorry for calming words and love, assist the kid label the feeling she or he is feeling, use assistance on managing feelings, set limitations and teach appropriate expression of feelings, and teach analytical abilities Effects of the Emotionally Competent Parent on children: These children learn to trust their feelings, regulate their own emotions, and solve problems. They have high self-esteem, learn well, and get along well with others. The research study develops that being an emotionally competent moms and dad is a requirement to raising healthy, clever kids. How do you become emotionally competent? Actions to Improve Parenting Emotional Competency Establishing emotional competency is neither quick nor easy. It is a life time undertaking. Here are the very best practices for ending up being an emotionally competent moms and dad. State of mind Establishing emotional competency needs the proper state of mind. Carol Dweck, a Stanford University psychologist, has actually specified 2 state of minds. Fixed Mindset: " In a fixed mindset, people believe their basic qualities, like their intelligence or talent, are simply fixed traits. They spend their time documenting their intelligence or talent instead of developing them. A fixed mindset is a belief that intelligence and skills are fixed and can not alter. Individuals with a fixed mindset examine whether they have the ability or not. They will turn away from anything that allows them to grow if they discern that they do not have a skill or talent. Here are some statements about a parent with a fixed mindset:. -" I've got to toughen up my kids because life is hard.". -" Emotions are weak.". -" Spare the rod and spoil the child.". -" Discipline is the only way to keep kids under control.". -" Kids should never have negative feelings.". -" Telling your kid to shut up and behave is good parenting.". -" Sending your kid to her room for crying is the right thing to do.". -" Kids should be seen and not hear.". Growth Mindset. " In a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work-- brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment." (Dweck, 2015). A parent with a growth mindset understands that raising children is hard work. He is particularly interested in learning as much about his children's emotional development as possible. Statements about a parent with a growth mindset include:. -" Parenting is challenging and hard work.". -" Parenting is a process of continuous self-reflection and improvement.". -" Kids are emotional and need coaching to learn emotional competency.". -" Praising effort is better than praising outcomes. No gold stars.". -" Validating my child's emotions is the most powerful gift I can give.". -" I accept that I make mistakes with my kids and learn from them.". -" Consequences should only be talked about after I have de-escalated my child.". -" Modeling emotional competency is the most powerful teacher for children as they are natural imitators.". How To Develop A Growth Mindset Towards Parenting. Here's how to work on developing a growth mindset as a parent. - You don't have to be perfect. - Be a detached observer. - Study brain science. - Choose difficult tasks. - Be persistent and patient. - Acknowledge your frustration. - Recognize that developing a growth mindset is not easy or fast. - Monitor and evaluate your parenting to identify how you can do better. - Too much parenting is reactive and instinctive, rather than thoughtful. - Acknowledge your faults and look for ways to overcome them. - Look at challenges as opportunities. - Replace the word "failing" with "learning.". - Redefine "genius" too. Being a genius requires hard work. It's not some unobtainable talent. - Seek criticism as positive too. - Enjoy the ride, not the outcome. - Self-reflect. - View improvement in your parenting skills as separate from failure. - Set goals for your parenting work, daily, weekly, monthly, annually. - Be willing to fail and admit it. - Be a beginner at something hard to master all the time and model it to your kids. Parenting With A Growth Mindset. - Praise effort, not talent "You worked hard to achieve that goal," vs. "You're so smart.". - Create a safe space to make mistakes. - Give honest, specific feedback when asked for it. - Embrace and talk about struggle. - See failure as opportunity. - Emphasize the power of Yet "You are not there. Hang in there and keep trying until you succeed.". Learn About The Difference Between Emotions And Affect. Emotions are cognitive constructs created by our brains. Emotions serve important functions. Emotions concretize affective experience into consciousness. Second, emotions allow us to seek cause and effect relationships (" What is making me angry?"). Third, emotions are essential to our decision-making. Fourth, emotions inform us what to do next. Emotions allow us to communicate our feelings to others. Babies are not born with emotions; they are born with affect. The brain's emotional centers, located primarily in the limbic system, do not mature until 18 months. From 18 months to five years, children have the task of building up a database of emotions. Suppose the child's job is thwarted because of an Emotionally Invalidating, Judgmental, or Let-It-Be parent. An emotionally competent adult knows the basic neuroscience of childhood brain development. This knowledge helps you coach and guide your children through the pivotal developmental years of 18 months to five years. Listen Your Child Into Existence. Listening your child into existence is the phrase I use to describe affect labeling. The emotionally competent parent will read the child's emotions and reflect them back to the child with a "you" statement. Here are some examples:. -" You are angry.". -" You are frustrated.". -" You feel ignored.". -" No one is listening to you.". -" You feel sad.". -" You are excited.". -" You are happy.". -" You are feeling all alone.". -" You don't feel loved.". Brain scanning studies have established that affect labeling calms the over-active emotional centers of the brain and reboots the prefrontal cortex. You are helping her build her emotional database when you listen your child into existence. This is one of the crucial roles parents should be playing with their children. Label Your Own Emotions. Learn to label your emotions. As you learn to label your emotions, your emotional competency will grow dramatically. Learn About Your Child's Developmental Processes. It takes years for kids to develop a mature understanding of emotions. Children are works in progress. They are still trying to figure out their own feelings. Develop Empathy For Others, As Well As Your Children. Cognitive empathy is the ability to read another person's emotions and reflect those emotions back to the speaker. Affective empathy is the ability to feel another person's emotions and reflect them back to the speaker. Affect labeling (listening others into existence) is a practice of cognitive empathy that leads to faster, more efficient affective empathy. Emotionally competent people understand the difference between sympathy, compassion, and empathy. Compassion is a feeling of non-judgmental concern for the distress of another. Compassion may or may not motivate you to take action to help, depending on the circumstances and your relationship to the distressed person or animal. Compassion emerges naturally with empathy and is not a skill that can be learned. Sympathy is expressed by people who have no clue about how we are feeling, what losses we have suffered, and what pain we are in. Sympathy generally soothes the anxiety of the sympathetic person without validating the pain of the distressed person. Sympathy also allows you to remain emotionally distant from the distressed person. An emotionally competent person with use empathy and compassion and never sympathy. Emotionally incompetent people will use sympathy and never get to empathy or compassion. How Sara Coaches Jonah: An Example of an Emotionally Competent Parent in Action. Three-year-old Jonah reveals to his mom, Sara, "You are the meanest mommy, and I dislike you", and after that kicks her after Sara informs him that the playdate is over-- it's time for Liam to go home. Label Your Emotions. Sara feels furious and wants to yell at Jonah, "You are the most unappreciative kid ever! Liam has actually been here for 2 hours and I have actually put aside whatever I required to do to monitor, make cookies with you, set up the coloring, and so on, and so on. It's never ever enough!". She understands this will not teach her kid anything and will simply increase both of their distress. Sara de-escalates her intense emotions by saying to herself, "I'm angry, frustrated, and furious. Label Your Child's Emotions. Sara remembers that, at 3, kids are driven by their feelings. Her objective is to help Jonah deal with life's disappointments and frustrations. Sara's self-confidence helps Jonah manage his intense feelings. Set Limits And Offer Options. Kicking hurts other people. Your option is to take a break where you can soothe your mind and body, or you can help put the carrots into the salad for supper.". If Jonah can't get over his anger, Sara will go about her business, showing that she can endure his dissatisfaction. She is showing him she trusts he can relax himself. This leaves Jonah with the option to remain upset or pull himself together and socialize with his mama. Effective Parenting Requires Emotional Competency. Emotionally competent parenting is not simple, easy, or quick. It is essential if you want to raise resilient, healthy children who themselves are emotionally competent.

[lawyerracing53]

Will Writing - Just How To Select A Professional Firm

Directory Site Of Solicitors As Well As Will Writers

Content

If You Don'T Wish To Make Use Of A Lawyer

Indication Your Will In Front Of Witnesses.

To Identify Who Will Care For Your Minor Kid

Key Documents To Have Alongside Your Last Will And Testimony.

When Should You Get Lawful Guidance To Prepare Your Will?

Making Older Individuals'S Voices Heard.

Complete An Inheritance Tax Type.

What To Anticipate From Your Solicitor

A 2nd common objection to these designs is that it is questionable whether such indeterminism might include any kind of worth to consideration over that which is currently present in a deterministic globe. Libertarianism keeps a principle of free will that calls for that the agent have the ability to take more than one feasible course of action under an offered collection of conditions. The problem of this argument for some compatibilists lies in the fact that it requires the impossibility that a person can have picked besides one has. For instance, if Jane is a compatibilist and she has actually just muffled the couch, then she is devoted to the case that she could have continued to be standing, if she had so wanted. However it complies with from the repercussion argument that, if Jane had remained standing, she would have either produced an opposition, breached the laws of nature or transformed the past.

If You Don'T Wish To Utilize A Lawyer

Therefore, compatibilists are devoted to the presence of "extraordinary capacities", according to Ginet and also van Inwagen. David Lewis recommends that compatibilists are just committed to the capacity to do something otherwise if different conditions had in fact acquired in the past. On one hand, humans have a solid feeling of liberty, which leads us to think that we have free choice.

Carson verifies that God has the ability to experience, however argues that if he does so "it is due to the fact that he chooses to experience". God's eternity might be viewed as an element of his infinity, talked about below. , where it claims that God "is not offered by human hands, as if he needed anything".

A variety of event-causal accounts of free will have been created, referenced below as deliberative indeterminism, centred accounts, as well as efforts of will theory. The first 2 accounts do not need free will to be a basic constituent of the universe. Regular randomness is attracted as supplying the "breathing space" that libertarians think needed. An initial common argument to event-causal accounts is that the indeterminism might be harmful and also can therefore lessen control by the representative rather than give it.

What makes Will invalid?

If the court finds that fraud or undue influence were involved in the creation of your will, it will be deemed invalid. Common situations could include: A family member getting the testator to sign a will by pretending it is just a general legal document that needs a signature.

Christian beliefs regarding the origins of enduring worldwide and also exactly how to respond to this trouble differ. However enjoyment has deeper definition and also considerable ramifications for humankind's connection with other pets. Enjoyment adds inherent worth to life-- that is, value to the person that feels it regardless of any perceived worth to any person else.

Sign Your Will Before Witnesses.

What is better a will or a trust?

Unlike a will, a living trust passes property outside of probate court. There are no court or attorney fees after the trust is established. Your property can be passed immediately and directly to your named beneficiaries. Trusts tend to be more expensive than wills to create and maintain.

This argument entails that free choice itself is unreasonable, however not that it is incompatible with determinism. https://colnbrook.trusted-willwriting.co.uk/ calls his own view "pessimism" yet it can be categorized as difficult incompatibilism. Deliberative indeterminism insists that the indeterminism is restricted to an earlier phase in the decision procedure. This is planned to supply an indeterminate collection of possibilities to choose from, while not risking the intro of good luck.

The various other advantage of a mirror will is the ability to alter it.

That adaptability is one of the factors financial experts like Dave Ramsey suggest mirror wills.

If you as well as your partner usage either of these wills, your family will likely end up in Headache City.

With today's innovation, it's a whole lot simpler to produce a will online and conserve your household the feasible distress and also irritation.

If you get it terribly wrong, it can even mean that your will is void and also the law determines that your cash as well as property should most likely to.

Usually, mirror wills state that the enduring partner acquires the estate as well as looks after the kids, but other information may be various.

A joint will is a document developed by two individuals who leave their stuff to each various other.

That's why it is necessary to get with a monetary consultant so you can see to it all your bases are covered within the will.

This can be essential if you remarry or experience a separation.

In it, the pair agrees that when one partner dies, the other acquires the whole estate.

To Establish Who Will Take Care Of Your Minor Children

Many scholars see Alexander as the initial unambiguously 'libertarian' philosopher of the will. Wayne Grudem suggests that "if God likes all that is right as well as excellent, and also all that complies with his ethical personality, then it must not be surprising that he would certainly despise whatever that is opposed to his moral personality."

What do I need to think about when making a will?

Making a will and planning what to leave 1. Make a list of who you want to benefit from your estate. 2. Write down your assets and roughly what they're worth. 3. Think about how you want to split your money and property when making your will. 4. Check if Trusted-WillWriting official website 'll have to pay Inheritance Tax. 5. Think about protecting your beneficiaries.

Secret Files To Have Alongside Your Last Will As Well As Testament.

The love of God is particularly emphasised by followers of the social Trinitarian college of theology. Kevin Bidwell argues that this institution, which includes J��rgen Moltmann as well as Miroslav Volf, "purposely promotes self-giving love and liberty at the cost of Lordship and a whole selection of various other magnificent characteristics." Louis Berkhof states that "the consensus of opinion" through a lot of church background has actually been that God is the "Incomprehensible One". Berkhof, nevertheless, argues that, "in so far as God exposes Himself in His attributes, we also have some understanding of His Divine Being, though however our expertise is subject to human restrictions."

The option process is deterministic, although it might be based upon earlier choices established by the very same process. Deliberative indeterminism has been referenced by Daniel Dennett and John Martin Fischer. An obvious objection to such a view is that an agent can not be designated ownership over their choices to any higher degree than that of a compatibilist design. Event-causal accounts of incompatibilist free choice typically rely upon physicalist models of mind, yet they infer physical indeterminism, in which specific indeterministic events are claimed to be brought on by the agent.

When Should You Get Legal Advice To Compose Your Will?

Does a will override a living trust?

Key Takeaways. A will and a living trust are both part of a comprehensive estate plan, that sometimes are inconsistent with one another. When there are conflicts, the trust takes precedence. A will has no power to decide who receives a living trust's assets, such as cash, equities, bonds, real estate, and jewelry.

As well as it is anyways usual to typical Jewish, Christian, as well as Muslim theologies to keep that humans can not transgression in paradise. Nevertheless, standard Christian theology a minimum of preserves that human persons in heaven are totally free.

If we are dedicated to the Categorical Analysis, after that those preferring to defend compatibilism appear to be devoted to the sense of ability in 'has the ability to break a law of nature' along the lines of the strong thesis. Lewis agrees with van Inwagen that it is "incredible" to think humans have such a capability, yet preserves that compatibilists need only interest the capacity to damage a legislation of nature in the weak sense. Essentially, Lewis is suggesting that incompatibilists like van Inwagen have actually stopped working to adequately encourage the restrictiveness of theCategorical Analysis. A final significant number of this period was Alexander of Aphrodisias, one of the most important Peripatetic commentator on Aristotle. In his On Fate, Alexander greatly slams the placements of the Stoics.

In those instances, as well as numerous others, the matching regulation was able to properly explain the choices of individuals. This equation is able to make up all of the different means researchers have actually come up with for transforming the high qualities of the two selections. This consists of amount of food, high quality of food, delay to food, and much more. It is impossible for us to understand the sources of our selections and also desires.

What does a simple will cost?

The average cost of a simple will is about $300 to $1,000 in the US for 2020 according to multiple trusted sources. According to Nolo, “It's very common for a lawyer to charge a flat fee to write a will and other basic estate planning documents. The low end for a simple lawyer-drafted will is around $300.

What sort of freedom remains in sight below, and also just how does it relate to ordinary liberty? 2 good recent discussions of these questions are Pawl and Timpe and also Tamburro. An excellent discussion of these debates in tandem and tries to point to appropriate disanalogies between causal determinism as well as foolproof foreknowledge might be located in the introduction to Fischer. However, effective treatment worldwide does not call for that our actions be causally unknown, so the 'liberty is logically presupposed' disagreement can not be introduced for such an understanding of freedom.

How do you prepare a trust for a will?

Here are five things you should do before writing a living trust: 1. Make a List of All Your Assets. Be sure to include make a list of your assets that includes everything you own. 2. Find the Paperwork for Your Assets. 3. Choose Beneficiaries. 4. Choose a Successor Trustee. 5. Choose a Guardian for Your Minor Children.

Daniel has a Bachelor's level in Psychology and Philosophy, as well as just recently earned his Master's level in Psychology. He is currently a PhD prospect at West Virginia University examining choice and timing of non-human animals. In the world of sporting activities, the proportion of 2- vs 3-point shots attempted by college as well as NBA basketball gamers matches the success rates of those shots. Furthermore, college football coaches call for rushing as well as passing plays according to the average yards obtained by those phone calls.

This is because to be responsible in some circumstance S, one need to have been responsible for the means one was at S − 1. To be in charge of the means one went to S − 1, one should have been accountable for the way one was at S − 2, and so on. Eventually in the chain, there have to have been an act of source of a brand-new causal chain.

The term initial wrong describes the belief that transgression went into the globe when the very first human beings, Adam and Eve, consumed the forbidden fruit in the Yard of Eden. God figured out that the fruit had actually been consumed and also told Adam and also Eve that they would certainly currently experience as a result of this wrong. Some Christians now believe that all people are birthed with this original wrong. According to this idea, all humans are born with a tendency towards evil as well as the capacity to cause suffering. Wickedness as well as suffering can often make individuals question their religious beliefs.

These concerns precede the very early Greek stoics, as well as some contemporary philosophers lament the absence of progression over all these centuries. Free will is the capacity to pick between different possible strategies unobstructed. If it is true that God keeps our ability to be certain of his existence for the sake of our freedom, after that it is all-natural in conclusion that people will do not have freedom in heaven.

Physical determinism, under the presumption of physicalism, indicates there is just one possible future and also is consequently not suitable with libertarian free will. Some liberal descriptions involve conjuring up panpsychism, the theory that a quality of mind is connected with all bits, as well as infuses the entire universe, in both stimulate and also inanimate entities. Other methods do not require free choice to be a fundamental constituent of deep space; normal randomness is attracted as providing the "breathing space" thought to be needed by libertarians.

Satisfaction seekers have wants, needs, wishes, and lives worth living. Some scientists, such as the American neuroscientists Jeffrey Burgdorf as well as Jaak Panksepp, think that lifeforms might experience certain feelings more extremely than humans do. For instance, when Cabanac had individuals dip their hand in a container of cold water, they reported the experience as positive if they were really feeling hot as well as unpleasant if they were really feeling chilly. Pets too show alliesthesia, which additionally puts on tastes. In making forecasts and judgments under uncertainty, individuals do not appear to adhere to the calculus of opportunity or the analytical theory of forecast.

Utilizing A Solicitor To Write Your Will

On the other hand, an intuitive feeling of free will can be misinterpreted. making will underlying inquiries are whether we have control over our activities, and if so, what sort of control, as well as to what extent.

All of these artifacts reveal that Asherah was a powerful fertility siren. Timpe, Kevin Free Choice in Feiser, J and also Dowden, B (Eds.) 'Internet Encyclopedia of Viewpoint'. In non-physical concepts of free will, agents are thought to have power to interfere in the physical world, a sight referred to as agent causation. Supporters of agent causation include George Berkeley, Thomas Reid, and also Roderick Chisholm. Descriptions of libertarianism that do not include dispensing with physicalism need physical indeterminism, such as probabilistic subatomic bit behavior-- a concept unknown to most of the early writers on free choice.

Instead, incompatibilists usually offer among the adhering to two bases for sensible idea in flexibility. A few of these stem from the physical sciences as well as others from neuroscience as well as psychology. Many philosophers supposing regarding free choice take themselves to be trying to examine a near-universal power of mature humans. But as we've kept in mind over, there have been free choice skeptics in both ancient as well as modern times. ( Israel 2001 highlights a variety of such doubters in the early modern period.) In this area, we sum up the primary lines of debate both for and also versus the truth of human flexibility of will.

What To Expect From Your Lawyer

This is often related to God's self-existence as well as his self-sufficiency. Asherah as a tree icon was even stated to have been "chopped down as well as burned outside the Holy place in acts of specific leaders that were trying to 'cleanse' the cult, and concentrate on the praise of a solitary man god, Yahweh," he included. Stavrakopoulou bases her theory on ancient messages, amulets as well as porcelain figurines discovered largely in the ancient Canaanite coastal city called Ugarit, now contemporary Syria.