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grailfinders · 3 years

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Fate and Phantasms #183

Whew, all those racers are finally done! Now we can kick back a bit, all we have to make this time is a literal god.

Anyway, enough self pity! Today we’re making Parvati, one of the many wives of Shiva, but also his only wife, because all the other wives are a part of her, I guess. Hindu gods make our sense of self look vanilla by comparison. She is an Oath of the Ancients Paladin for some godly protection, and a War Cleric for when it’s time to Durga it up a bit.

Check out her build breakdown below the cut, or her character sheet over here!

Next up: Like fire, Hellfire, this fire in my skin!

Race and Background

Like many pseudoservants, Parvati is one half god, one half human, so a Fallen Aasimar will keep that in mind and also let her scare the crap out of people when she lets Kali loose. This gives her +1 Wisdom and +2 Charisma, as well as Darkvision, Celestial Resistance to radiant and necrotic damage, the Light cantrip, and some Healing Hands to help people as an action without having to slit your throat.

“Wife of a god” isn’t a common background, but I assume it’s pretty similar to being a Noble. Lots of politics, deciding the fate of peasants/mortals for them, that kind of thing. that gives you proficiency in History (makes sense-you’re immortal) and Persuasion (you were somehow able to convince Guda to eat an entire cow-sized chocolate in a single sitting).

Ability Scores

Make sure your Wisdom is as high as possible to help take care of everyone’s problems (except for Kama’s). After that is Charisma- she’s the wife of the gods, it only makes sense for this to be really high. Her Strength isn’t that high, but a god who is bad at fighting is still a god. After that is Dexterity. It should be higher to deal with the whole “fighting in a sari” thing, but we needed the other three for multiclassing. Her Intelligence isn’t amazing, but we need everything else more for the build. That means we’re dumping Constitution. Honestly she should be tougher, but one of her big myths involves hurting herself for the sake of others, so that’s going to knock her down a couple points.

Class Levels

Paladin 1: Starting off as a paladin will get you more HP than a cleric, but you also get proficiency in Wisdom and Charisma saves, and the skills Religion and Intimidation. You’re a god, and I’m not sure how you convinced Guda to eat a chocolate cow, so now all your bases are covered. You also get a Divine Sense to suss out extraplanar goodies and baddies as an action 1+your Charisma Modifier times per day. You also also get even more healing thanks to Lay on Hands, which gives you a total pool of healing equal to five times your paladin level per long rest.

Paladin 2: Second level paladins get a Fighting Style, but since you’re not actually that good at fighting we’ll grab Interception instead. While wielding a weapon or shield you can react to block attacks going towards creatures near you, reducing the damage by 1d10 plus your proficiency bonus. You also get Spells that you can cast and prepare using your Charisma. Since you can switch them up every long rest the exact spells you take aren’t that important, but I suggest Detect Evil and Good for more godly senses and Command to put mortals in their place. Alternatively, you can use Divine Smites to add extra radiant damage to your attacks using your spell slots. It’s not lightning yet, but... wait, are we making two lightning-based lancers connected to the Indian pantheon in three builds of each other?

Paladin 3: At third level you get to become the Maid-sorry, Kouhai of Light (mixed up my vaguely sci-fi works of fiction with sprawling and nonsensical worldbuilding there) as a Oath of Ancients paladin. When you take the subclass you get Oath Spells, which are automatically prepared for you. You get Ensnaring Strike and Speak with Animals. The former isn’t that in-character, but there’s enough talking animals in Hindu mythology for the latter to just be an automatic include. Third level paladins also can Channel Divinity once per short rest in two flavors. Nature’s Wrath ensnares an enemy if they fail a strength or dexterity save (DC 8 + proficiency + charisma modifier), repeating the save each turn until they succeed. Weirdly enough, there’s no time limit, so if your magic’s strong enough and they’re weak enough it’ll just last forever. Alternatively, you can Turn the Faithless, forcing a wisdom save on all fey and fiends nearby, forcing them to flee for up to a minute and making it unable to disguise itself. One last thing; your Necrotic Shroud makes you really scary as an action once per long rest, forcing a charisma save on nearby creatures that’ll frighten them if they fail. Then, for a minute afterwards you can deal necrotic damage once per turn equal to your level.

Paladin 4: Use this Ability Score Improvement to bump up your Constitution. Even if there’s a thematic reason for it, it’s just too painful to leave you with a negative health modifier.

Paladin 5: Fifth level paladins get an Extra Attack as well as 2nd level spells! Your freebies include Moonbeam, which does damage and also forces creatures out of disguises, and Misty Step, which lets your teleport around. More in character, you can use Find Steed to qualify for the rider class with a cool cow, or Magic Weapon to make your spear a bit cooler than the rest.

Paladin 6: Your new Aura of Protection adds your charisma modifier to all allied saving throws within 10′ of you for a little grace of the goddess.

Paladin 7: Not to be outdone, your subclass also chips in with its own aura, the Aura of Warding, which gives you and everyone around you resistance to spell damage. Unlike most paladin auras, this one does not require you to be conscious.

Paladin 8: Use this ASI to round out your Strength and get cool new features at the same time thanks to the Piercer feat. Now you can re-roll a die of piercing damage you deal each turn, and critical hits with piercing weapons deal an extra die of damage!

Paladin 9: Your last level of paladin gives you third level spells, like Plant Growth and Protection from Energy. All well and good, but you also get spells that aren’t free, like Create Food and Water so you don’t have to slit your throat next time someone is thirsty and Elemental Weapon so you can finally have an electric spear.

Cleric 1: Being all sweet and motherly is nice, but we also need to be able to channel Durga when we need to. Durga’s a War god, so that feels like a good place to start. War clerics become a War Priest first thing, letting you make another weapon attack as a bonus action if you attack as your action Wisdom modifier times per long rest. Yes, this does mean you’re technically better at fighting than a paladin. Congrats. You also get another set of Spells you cast and prepare using your Wisdom. Grab the cantrips Guidance to be a bit better than everyone else, Spare the Dying to take care of them, and Thaumaturgy to actually appear godly when you need to. You also get more freebies, like Divine Favor for a worse but cheaper Elemental Weapon and Shield of Faith for a boost in AC. Technically you’re fighting in just a dress, so you’ll really need this if you’re playing to character. Also, grab Guiding Bolt so you can actually lightning some fools while helping out the party. Deal radiant damage and give the next attacker advantage.

Cleric 2: Second level clerics get Channel Divinity, and also giving us a chance to talk about what happens when you multiclass like this. You don’t get extra uses of CD, but you can use it in all the ways you get options for. So you can use your one use per short rest to instill Nature’s Wrath, Turn the Faithless, Turn Undead, or for a Guided Strike. The former forces a wisdom save on all the nearby undead, turning them if they fail. The latter adds 10 to an attack roll you make. You’re a nice person, but sometimes you just gotta get Kali on their asses, you know?

Cleric 3: Third level clerics get second level spells, like Magic Weapon which we already went over and Spiritual Weapon, which lets you forgo your not good strength score to attack with a big glowy weapon as a bonus action. If all this bloodshed is getting you down, you can also use Calm Emotions to try to end things peacefully.

Cleric 4: Use this ASI to bump up your Charisma for stronger paladin spells and auras. You also learn the Mending cantrip for some mending.

Cleric 5: At fifth level, clerics can start to Destroy Undead instead of turning them if they’re CR 1/2 or lower, destroying them instantly if they fail their save. You also get third level spells like Crusader’s Mantle for a widespread worse elemental weapon and Spirit Guardians to create those other two Parvatis for your NP. Alternatively, you can cast Life Transference to give some of your HP to your allies. It’s not quite as bad since you resist the damage, but I doubt there’s many people on your team who need health more than you do.

Cleric 6: At sixth level, clerics get a second Channel Divinity each rest, and you can use that to give out a War God’s Blessing, giving +10 to nearby ally’s attack roll.

Cleric 7: For your freebie fourth level spells you get Freedom of Movement and Stoneskin to help with your less than amazing physical stats. You can also use Aura of Life and Aura of Purity to make life around you just a bit nicer.

Cleric 8: Use your last ASI to bump up your Wisdom for better cleric spells and more cleric beatdowns with War Priest. Also, Destroy Undead kills CR 1 creatures, and you get a Divine Strike, adding 1d8 damage to a weapon’s damage once per turn.

Cleric 9: Ninth level clerics get fifth level spells, like Flame Strike and Hold Monster. It might not be a lightning bolt, but any wrath of god is a good wrath of god in my book. You can also use spells like Summon Celestial to phone a family member for some help, or Hallow to make life a bit better in a single place for 24 hours. There’s a lot of effects to pick from, so make sure you check them out on your own time.

Cleric 10: Tenth level clerics get another cantrip, so grab Resistance to buff your saves just a little bit more. You also get Divine Intervention once per day, giving you a ten percent chance of a god saving your ass when you use it. If you succeed you can’t use it again for a week.

Cleric 11: Your capstone level bumps your destroy undead up to CR 2 creatures, and you can cast sixth level spells like Heroes’ Feast. Heal people up and make it even harder for charms to effect them thanks to an empowered wisdom save, what’s not to love?

Pros:

Frontline fighters tend to be pretty bad against magic, but thanks to Parvati’s auras they’ll have a much easier time when they’re fighting near her.

Despite her stats, she’s also not that bad at fighting thanks to all her magical support. Thanks to being a war cleric she can just slap +10 onto an attack to make sure it hits, and thanks to being a paladin she can make that one hit really count. She also gets more hits per turn thanks to War Priest than either a paladin or a war cleric would get alone.

Even with that fighting and regular gish spells, she still has a varied and flexible set of spells thanks to both her classes being prep based and clerics just being good in general.

Cons:

She still only has a strength score of 14, so she can’t use heavy armor well even if she wanted to, and it also eats into her damage a bit when you’re not using smites.

When she’s not using magic she’s really easy to beat up, with barely over 100 hp and an AC of 11. She should probably be in at least chainmail if you seriously want to play as her.

Most of her martial prowess is built into features with limited uses, with Guided Strike only usable twice a short rest and War Priest four times a long rest. Also, stuff like Stoneskin and and Shield of Faith are concentration based, which isn’t one of her strong suits.

#fate grand order #fgo #D&D 5e #DND #Parvati #Paladin #Cleric

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racefortheironthrone · 5 years

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Thoughts on House of X #3

Ah, back to HoX in what feels like the first time in forever.

Death and Memory:

As we might expect for an issue that concerns itself entirely with a special forces mission, the issue starts with an exploration of the psychology of the participants - starting with Scott himself, although the idea of a mission leader who has to overcome his fears and doubts for a higher purpose isn’t particularly novel for the genre.

Throughout HoX/PoX, there’s a significant part of the fandom that has focused on question of consent - which is something we’ll definitely get into in this and future posts - but it’s noticeable that this discussion doesn’t include this segment, where Scott is very careful to describe the mission as done by “people who accept the mission for what it is” who “understand the stakes and the risk.”

I like how the responses from Cyclops’ superiors not only emphasize the themes of the series but also the character of the speakers: Xavier’s response is (a bit too?) intimate, talking about Scott’s thoughts with the first-hand knowledge of a lifelong mentor who is also a telepath, emphasizing the concept of “family” which we’ll see bandied about through House of X #6, and most crucially promising him that “you’re not going to die. I won’t allow it.” As we learn later, Xavier is being quite literal.

By contrast, Magneto’s speech is all high politics, emphasizing the righteousness of the mission, the Achillean route to immortality “by their mighty works,” and the role that national myth plays in turning real people into icons that live on after their death. We’ll see quite a few Krakoan Founding Fathers as the series goes on, from the Five to the Quiet Council. Given the existential nature of the threat that Cyclops’ team are facing down, it’s not surprising that they’re treated with a bit of Nathan Hale hero-worship.

So let’s talk about the team composition. As people have noted, while some of them make a lot of sense (you need psychics, you need teleporters, you need sneakers and fighters), others are a bit odd. Archangel’s an odd inclusion, given the restrictions the mission will place on flying, although to be honest we don’t know what his or Husk’s role was supposed to be, because they never get to do anything.

Focusing more on the broader parameters of the mission: Cyclops is quite up-front about Mother Mold as the proximate danger and Nimrod as the ultimate danger, as well as the no “taking Krakoan fauna with us.” I would agree that Mystique’s body language and dialogue wrt to maybe breaking that rule are quite suspicious here, but if there is any significance to this plot thread, it’ll have to wait for Powers of X #6 and/or Dawn of X.

Incidentally, I don’t buy at all arguments from some elements of the fandom that the X-Men are being mind-controlled or are pod people - we see Archangel and Husk disagreeing with Monet, Cyclops clashing with Mystique...and between Wolverine and Marvel Girl. Prefiguring her role in establishing the Second Law of Krakoa, Jean Grey argues for sparing the “human crew” as non-combatants (”they’re not soldiers in the war...they’re just scientists”), whereas Logan argues that the Orchis crew are constructing “machines to exterminate a species,” making them war criminals as well as military personnel.

Incidentally, I really like the Krakoan flower on the Blue Area of the Moon being used to boost the X-Men’s space capabilities. It’s a lovely sci-fi touch, and one that shows Krakoa as both innovative and outward-facing but also expansionist if not outright colonialist.

Machines Infographic:

It’s really hard to discuss Sentinels without thinking about Hickman’s other infographics about ascending hierarchies of machine intelligences.

It’s highly significant that the Alpha Sentinels are set aside from those above them as non-sentient and non-replicating...hence why they are referred to as “drones,” which suggests an insect metaphor. (Incidentally, the original Alpha sentinels seemed to have some awareness, so there’s clearly some retconning going on.)

the Master Mold is replicating, adaptive, and self-aware, all higher functions that we associate with...well, human beings (and maybe AIs?). And yet the Master Mold is clearly lesser than the Mother Mold, because it “is incpabale of improving beyond its ultimate Sentinel state” - in other words, because it lacks the full range of cognition and imagination.

Mother Molds can not only produce Master Molds, but it can also produce Nano-Sentinels who have no limits to their abilities - it’s all very similar to how Hickman conceptualizes Omega mutants vs. the rank-and-file.

While much of HoX/PoX have focused on the threat that Nimrod poses, I’m surprised we haven’t seen as much discussion about what the way that Hickman describes the Omega Sentinels tells us about Karima Shapandar’s role.

Most importantly, however, we get an info-dump about what Moira learned in her 9th Life (which also shows how Moira continues to exert influence on the plot from behind the scenes): it turns out that “while emergent A.Is are unavoidable, an anti-mutant Nimrod is not.” We don’t know why that’s the case, and I’m really curious whether part of the plan has something to do with creating a mutant or mutant-friendly emergent A.I, possibly through the Cerebro database.

It’s particularly ominous that we haven’t seen any follow-up on what the “incomplete” Nimrod origin files might mean - did the X-Men miss a backup or a failsafe? Did they get the ordering of Mother Mold and Nimrod wrong? Or is it just a dropped plot thread?

One thing that I like is that Sleeping Giant, Moira’s new plan, involves essentially an Orchis protocol for the Orchis protocol, looking for humans reaching “technological thresholds” at the same time that Orchis is looking for mutants reaching their own thresholds.

Project Achilles Infographic:

I’m not surprised that much of the fandom have focused on the nature of the Krakoan legal system, but I am surprised we’ve seen so little focus on the “Project Achilles” legal system.

To begin with, it’s not a good sign that someone who committed crimes in New York City is being tried in a super-max prison somewhere in the snowy mountains. Even more troubling is the discussion of “extra-constitutional requirements” of running this prison.

Finally, while it might be a bit pedantic, there’s osmething really really weird about the Department of State, the branch of government that’s supposed to be involved with foreign policy and diplomacy, running a domestic federal prison. The Federal Bureau of Prisons is a real thing, and there’s a good reason that it falls under the Department of Justice. Again, all this should be troubling.

A Fair Trial?

Things don’t get much better when we get inside the courthouse, where we see an armed judge chatting with an armed and armored Attorney General, whereas the defense is a clearly intimidated civilian.

The facade of justice begins to slip even more when the judge says “we’re charging your client” (judges don’t charge defendants, prosecutors do), and then brings up a “twelve-strike rule” that seems to follow the logic of “felony murder” in that the “intent” of the accused no longer matters.

For his part, Sabertooth is clearly enjoying playing the role of the outlaw, establishing his position that as far as he’s concerned, his physical strength places him above judgement or punishment. Something to keep in mind when we get to the question of assessing Krakoan law.

With her scent if not her reputation greatly preceeding her, Emma Frost arrives on the scene in a characteristic burst of high style and ominous undertones. The Cuckoos’ casual anti-human bigotry, equating humans with “monkeys...using tools...playing at civilization” suggests a poisonous reflection of the old Neanderthal/Cro-Magnon analogy. On the other hand, the White Queen and her “daughters” struggling with the new paradigm of mutant names > human names suggests that building a new, separate, mutant culture is more of a struggle than Magneto would like to admit.

As someone who’s very much interested in the nation-building side of the House of X story, the idea that the nascent nation-state of Krakoa would have negotiated for extra-territoriality is quite fascinating. At one and the same time, we’re shown the need for it - everyone from the judge to the prosecutor to the bailiffs are instantly drawing guns on un-armed defendant counsel and making it very clear that the judge had concluded that “that...thing is a killer” before the trial started - but we can’t ignore the long history of extra-territoriality as an expression of imperialism, either.

Then again, I wonder how much of the reaction of Western readers is due to the fact that we’re not used to seeing the U.S on the receiving end of demands for extra-territoriality. I wonder how people from countries that were formally colonized or made to sign “unequal” treaties feel about this storyline?

In the face of knee-jerk violent responses, Emma gets very personal about her diplomacy. She doesn’t use mind control to get her way, because the State Department has already given her all the leverage she needs by granting diplomatic immunity to “all Krakoans on United States soil.” That being said, as much as Emma is here to make a political point that “mutants won’t be judged in human courts,” she isn’t afraid to push back on Tolliver by threatening to make very clear how little the gun matters in “equalizing power dynamics.”

Omega Cycle Infographic:

This infographic is something of a sleeper - I haven’t seen much if any discussion with regards to Karima Shapandar’s role in either X^1 or X^2 timelines. However, it establishes quite clearly that the process of creating Omega Sentinels is a horrific violation of consent, where a person’s “host systems and organs” are replaced well before the “human host becomes aware of the combine consciousness.” Note the explicit comparison to “recovering from trauma.”

I’ve seen it asserted repeatedly that Karima Shapandar sided with Orchis (or later on with the Man-Machine Ascendancy) because she was excluded from Krakoa, without much evidence cited. This infographic suggests another reason - by proceeding from Union to Adaptation, Karima’s consciousness may have been altered, changing her allegiances along the way.

There are also implications for Ascension in the X^3 timeline - is “integration of host and machine” a process of cultural exchange and preservation or a hostile process of “infection”?

Crossing the Heller-Faust Line:

Before the action kicks off, we get an interesting thesis: “self-preservation is entirely rational...it’s the panic it produces where errors get introduced.” Throughout the next two issues, we see both sides acting in the name of self-preservation, but also constantly making decisions that ratchet up the body-count.

The initial context has a lot to do with Hickman’s fixation on the mechanical singularity and trans-humanism: continuing her X^2 interest in preserving humanity-qua-humanity, Omega Sentinel’s fear is that an out-of-control Mother Mold will result in the grey goo scenario, if the Sentinels’ drive to wipe out mutants leads them to wipe out humans as the source of mutation. It’s certainly easier than fighting the sun.

Indeed, throughout the next two issues, we will see humans wrestle with their fears of their own mechanical creations: Sol’s Forge is set up with failsafes to jettison Mother Mold into the sun, Dr. Gregor doesn’t initially want to wake up Mother Mold until the A.I has passed a test for sociopathy. We’ve seen what it looks like when A.Is fail this test, and it’s not pretty.

At this point, the X-Men arrive and what proceeds is a back-and-forth volley of both sides trying and failing to outflank the other. Both Krakoa and Orchis were “expecting to be fully online before we got their attention” and find themselves thrown into a fight before they were fully ready, and their improvizations make things more violent: first up, Orchis calls in the “drones from Mercury” (again with the terra-forming) who will kill Marvel Girl, all in the name of “a little fight for the survival of their people.”

Next, Kurt teleports onto the station to double-check their information and runs into Omega Sentinel - at this point, both sides are willing to talk, Omega Sentinel recognizes her opponent as a person and seeks to understand the X-Men’s psychology.

By contrast, Gregor and Erasmus under-estimate their foe with “a linear plan for a non-linear foe,” allowing the mutants to bypass the hanger bottleneck. Erasmus responds with the assymetric response of a suicide bomb, but I think there’s a fundamental ambiguity as to whether he’s doing this in the name of “whatever it takes to build a better world” or whether he’s doing it in the name of “don’t let them win.”

And so the X-Men lose their ride home, in what turns out to be only the first of many fake-outs.

#xmen #xmen meta #house of x #hoxpox

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sparda3g · 6 years

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Gintama Chapter 680 Review

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Gintoki can’t catch any break for the past 2 years. It’s apparent that we have two separate scenarios with the present with Shinpachi and Kagura and the past with Gintoki. Clearly, the latter is nothing but a path of depressing outcome. After the remarkable chapter that got fans all riled up, it’s back with a dark conclusion with Gintoki continue to find no closure but the old problem is back to resume the cycle.

It was a gut-wrenching experience to witness Gintoki’s struggle to put an end for the sake of his master Shouyou. It’s as personal as it can get. Sadly, it doesn’t seem like nothing would come to his favor when it comes to settling the past mistakes. As if he is better off to leave it behind and just live to the fullest with the present that is Yorozuya. However, it has been in his mind for so long that he felt the need to be the guy to put an end not only Utsuro but his past nightmare.

The chapter has the usual recap moment in the beginning that you may be aware of how Sorachi writes after a historical twist. Fortunately, it doesn’t take a lot of time away as it still contains enough content to be satisfied and more. Another plus side is how Sorachi evaluated the moment to be monumental, acknowledging the revelation as a huge shock for the fans, and it goes without saying, it was very well received. Lastly, the way how Sorachi recaps to this moment usually boost the hype greatly before the story resumes. It’s a winning formula.

I know we have seen Gintoki being stunned or sentimental before, but the mood of the setting between him and little Utsuro is devastating. Gintoki looked in disbelief to believe that his old master is revived as a newborn. I could already imagine the anime capitalize the scene really well. The fans were waiting for the kid to be confirmed as Shouyou. However you see it, it’s not Shouyou but it’s another kind version that closely resembles him. Honestly, it’s the right call to avoid a bit of cheap ploy, and good enough to be pleased for Gintoki to interact like old times.

For now, I will call him Shouyou until say otherwise. He acknowledges his life to be an endless cycle of many names, many lives, and many deaths. Even though it’s not truly him, it’s satisfying to see him connecting with Gintoki. It’s strikingly deep that no matter how many personas Shouyou goes through, the one that remained connected is Gintoki for he has fond memories of one name. That is enough for him to show his trust. It’s actually pretty tragic the more I think about it.

The part that shocked me from the flashback is how Shouyou once again met his tragic fate. His words were convincing enough that he’s no Utsuro of terror, but his quick action to save Gintoki was heartbreaking. While it may not be the actual Shouyou, his heart resembled very closely to give Gintoki a reaction of shock, fear, and lost. It’s gritty and disturbing to see a child getting stabbed through the heart; if you look outside of the context, this would look like a Seinen manga scene.

I was shocked for a moment because it was Naraku that tried to kill Shouyou, but if they want Utsuro back, why kill him. Granted, he won’t be killed entirely because of immortality, but it felt strange to comprehend the moment. It also reminds me of Oboro’s backstory, which was grim itself. Naraku doesn’t play around, even without their leader. The really messed up part is Naraku was trying to kill him in order to restart his life and hopefully obtained Utsuro of Naraku back again. Yeah, Shouyou’s life is an endless tragedy…

Another grim scene appears with Shouyou removing his heart from the staff. It’s covered with Altana crystal; at least it avoids an actual heart design in motion. It’s sort of distracting to look at a kid trying to say his last words with a dying expression. Seriously, reading this without context will leave you feeling uneasy. It was this moment that Shouyou gave his heart literally to Gintoki because this one wants to put an end to his endless cycle. Out of all people, Gintoki, the man who would love to see his master again, was given this task; his life is becoming an endless suffering.

He now holds the key to end everything including his own nightmare. No heart means Utsuro, Shouyou, or whoever you want to call him would not recover; possibly the only way to stop the cycle. It doesn’t kill him but at least it would stop. I just wish it didn’t have to end in a heartbreaking way. Shouyou before he dies once more said his farewell to Gintoki; probably harmed him than anything. It was short lived but just for a moment, they bonded like the old days. Even if it was paralleled and opposite of their former positions, it was close enough for Gintoki to feel remorse to his death.

Dammit, I knew it was going to end tragedy. Thank God, Gintoki wasn’t the one to remove his heart, but the thought of a kid’s death before him is depressing. It’s a grim moment with or without context. They connected like a new master-disciple relationship and even if it was for a short time, it was heartfelt. With the past connection of the original Shouyou to the newborn self, it made it harder to feel any less sympathetic.

Gintoki has a rough, no matter how much he tried to make it right for his past. The flashback ends as Gintoki closes it with a short recap of what’s the situation now. No heart means Utsuro won’t be revived. Naraku wants the heart to revive him. Most importantly, Gintoki has gone for two years to save Shouyou. That panel with him coming to kill a baby is still powerful. It’s telling how upset he is when he feels that he can only be saved by him, but unable to return the favor. Eventually, he will solve it, but at what cost is what haunts him.

I thought the way how Takasugi more or less taunts Gintoki’s mindset was pretty interesting. Although his words can be seen as mockery, he does have a good point. If Gintoki has the task to end Shouyou’s cycle, why spent two long years carrying it like a precious baby. This compels to me because not only Takasugi can read Gintoki’s mind but we can possibly see where his feeling lies in today.

All of Takasugi’s questions didn’t any answer, so it left us wondering if Gintoki even try to find an end to the problem. Was there really no way to destroy the heart completely? Does Gintoki not want to kill it because of Shouyou? Does he really want to live forever running away from his enemy? Two long years of running and not able to do anything more than carrying the heart is a sad way to live.

It’s worth mentioning how Gintoki got really pissed off when Takasugi suggests that he might as well return it to the body. That was a clear indication that he is most likely aware of Gintoki’s actual desire. He press on further when he is acting like gambling a chance for Shouyou to return would be a great idea. He stops to segue to another piece of revelation, but again, it does interpret that Gintoki may want to save his master and probably keep him around alive and well. Hopefully, there will be a clearer motive on Gintoki’s behalf, even if it is another road of depressing time.

The worst part of Gintoki’s journey is he has been roaming around for so long, believing that Naraku is aiming for the heart, but the real story comes out that all this time, Shouyou’s body is still alive. Good God, give Gintoki a break already. All this time, he has been running for nothing because the problem remains at large. His body was recovered on that very day and placed in a tube where his body remains in suspended animation. While Naraku does continue to hunt for the heart, the real problem lies behind the scene.

There’s still many questions left up in the air and one of them is what happened to Takasugi and the final scene with him and the area with Tendoshuu. Sadly, that continues to be a mystery but it’s highly likely that we will learn more about it very soon, especially now we can say it holds a huge key and reason why this arc or part 3 of Silver Soul exists. The most distraught feeling is Takasugi coughing blood. That made me uncomfortable. I know the characters and such is loosely based on actual history, but please, you don’t have to kill him on panel, Sorachi. It’s not a good sign at all; hopefully, it’s just intended for tension.

The ending is chilling. All this time, the cycle continues for not only Shouyou but humanity itself. Again, it was bold and pleasing that Sorachi didn’t make an end to a war equals happy ending. Now the main story is becoming clearer because the one part of the cycle is Shouyou to be enslaved by people; only this time is Tendoushuu. Now we know what Takasugi’s goal is; get the body back from them. Everyone has a rough. It’s amazing how Sorachi is really going to tie all loose ends and to think Tendoushuu would have remain as nothing after what happened before, now they got in control once again.

It was a very interesting chapter with an emotional end to the backstory. I would love to think Shouyou is innocent without any bad history, but no doubt, he can’t live anymore. It’s upsetting how Gintoki had a chance to relive the old days, even if it’s not truly him, but life can’t go to his way of living. Even when he wants to end it, it’s uncertain on how he will accomplish it. The visual is really good with heartfelt expressions and the dark tone of a kid getting killed before his eye is chilling. The last half of the chapter had a dark turn with the twist to the backstory and establishment of the main villains. The cycle repeats the same mistakes, Yeah, this cycle is awful…

#gintama #chapter 680 #review

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gingilocks101 · 4 years

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A Letter to a Poor Role Model

Dear D,

Sometimes I wish you were more dislikeable, because then when I complain about you, I wouldn't feel the need to clarify that I do like you. You're a lot like a girl I knew in second year in that regard: you're nice, but I have to like you at arm's length (and not just because there are social distancing restrictions in place).

I don't want to go to the pub with you, and not just because there’s a pandemic going on, because I didn’t enjoy going to the pub with you before everything went to Hell in a hand basket. Nor it is because I dislike the pub. I don't actually dislike pubs, but the group of people whose company I would enjoy in a pub is made up of three non-drinkers and two who barely drink at all. And if 5 of you are drinking soft drinks, you're far better off in a café, or a nice restaurant, or just someone's sitting room. It’s a much nicer environment: you can actually talk to each other without having to half-shout over screeching hen parties. No, I hate going to the pub with you because you're just so damn boring! From my perspective, going to the pub with you is either an evening of listening to you discuss obscure Roman history with J, a topic that I can't join in with, or listening to you bang on about politics and how much you hate Jeremy Corbyn. And inevitably, you’ll wind up rambling on about how you’re so autistic that you think people who cry at funerals are just embarrassing themselves, which I know isn’t even true so I don’t know why you’re trying to pretend it is. You're just trying to live a stereotype, and I don't understand why, but you have to stop. And when (if) I am included in your conversations, it's either to mansplain my degree at me, or to use me as a free therapist. Just because you’re interested in history doesn’t mean that you are the sole authority on everything that has ever happened anywhere. And why is it that when J goes to the toilet or up to the bar, you suddenly switch from Rome to going on about your abusive mother and how it's impacted your romantic life? Or how depressed you are because you hate your job, but you won’t find another one unless it’s with the police? Like, holy misogyny Batman! Women don't exist to be emotional crutches for men. Just because I'm a close female friend doesn't mean I'm your emotional outlet, that shit is Super Unhealthy. I love you, but get a fucking therapist, not an English Lit postgrad.

Besides, a lot of what you think you know about me seems to be based on stereotypes of women from the 1970s. I am not your emotional outlet to dump on. I don’t really give two shits about your romantic life. I’m fairly unmoved by other people’s relationships and romance, and I’m certainly not interested in guiding you through a romantic relationship because you don't communicate with your partner. Stop it. Grow up. And it bothers me, because all this shit with your dating life started being annoying when you didn't stop asking me how cute I thought you were with B. Constantly asking me “Aren’t we a cute couple?” whilst insisting you weren’t really dating, doing an odd little dance for six whole fucking months. I didn’t even know B, but obviously in your mind I knew exactly how she felt about everything because I am a woman, and all women are the same. I mean, come on, seriously? Fucking seriously? That attitude is what is embarrassing, not people who cry at funerals. But out of this whole “please jump in and sort out my love life because you’re a female and my abusive childhood has ruined my ability to connect to women” fuckery you keep pulling, the worst moment was when you developed a crush on little Je. You saw a pretty girl who I vaguely knew, and suddenly my loose friendship with her was transformed into some sort of reconnaissance mission to “assess her” as a potential girlfriend for you. That is one of the most fucked up things you’ve done. It doesn’t help that the girl in question was a twenty-year-old in her second year of undergraduate study, whilst you graduated university about eight or nine years ago. I don’t care how mature you think all university students are, you can’t try and date a twenty-year-old when you’re almost thirty. Undergraduates and other people in their late teens or early twenties are off limits to all those in their mid-to-late twenties or older. They’re only just learning how to sail their ships, whilst you’ve been living independently for almost ten years. I know you think you're still a student, babe, but to put it in perspective, when you started uni all those years ago, she was still in primary school. Primary school. Then, when you graduated university, you finished with a degree and a hangover, while she hadn’t even started her GCSEs. And you have to stop intentionally misunderstanding me every time I mention the large age gaps that you seem to pursue, because you only hear “large age gaps are the problem”. You need to open your eyes to the true issue here. Large age gaps aren’t the problem: large age gaps in your twenties are. If you were both ten years older, so you were thirty-nine and she were thirty or thirty-one, it wouldn’t matter. But she isn’t thirty. She is twenty years old, and she is still a student. You even met her in your capacity as a staff member. That’s enough to set off anyone’s alarm bells, but you just shrugged it off and looked for a loophole in the university’s guidelines.

All of which really leads me to the crux of the matter: the fact you still view yourself as a student. I spoke to P yesterday because the uni are advertising for "learning facilitators" and it's right up my alley. I spoke to Is this afternoon, and she agrees. But I'm worried, because I'm scared that if I don't detach from the uni soon, when I try to leave later, the anxiety will be too debilitating. And because, in the immortal words of Good Charlotte, I don't ever wanna be you, don't wanna be just like you... I look at your life, and I don’t want it. I see you boasting on Facebook about getting ID'd whilst buying whiskey, and asking people if they think you look young because you’re trying desperately to still be viewed as a student. I see you trying to date second year undergraduates, claiming the age gap doesn’t matter since you’re “both independent, mature adults”, and refusing to see why others may find it a bit creepy. I see you trapped in a job that you don’t like because you’ve been there too long, been at the university too long, but you still won’t even take steps to leave unless it’s to move straight into your dream job. I see you complaining about how much you hate your job whilst continuing to spend all your time in the university environment, refusing to even entertain the idea of having a social life which is not entirely connected to the university and its student population. I see your life and I don’t want it. I see your life and I am terrified that it’ll be mine.

When H suggested that you do something to boost your CV, like volunteering with the Scouts, a thing you would probably excel at, you said no. You said that adding something else to your social diary would mean that something else had to give, and you couldn’t give up your Monday night because you were always tired from the start of the working week. You can’t volunteer on a Tuesday evening because that’s when you socialise with all your friends (the students) over a homemade meal. You couldn’t give up a Wednesday evening because that’s when the university holds chapel services. Thursday evenings aren’t free because that’s when the university choir has practice. Fridays and Saturdays you spend your nights in the pub, and on Sunday evenings you’re in attendance at the university’s Catholic society. You spend all of your life in the same place, surrounded by the same people, and you won’t give up on any of it, then wonder why you’re always so miserable and hate work so much. And then you claim to be someone who is incredibly self-aware...

I worry about you, but I can't be responsible for you. Nor can I live my life like you. This job would be so good for me: it’s exactly what I want to do in the future, but I can do it now in a department I know very well, and without doing a PhD first. Luckily, P says that as long as I'm as self-aware as you think you are, I should avoid inheriting the curse that seems to plague you. Because if I'm this aware of everything that could happen (I didn't mention that that's an anxiety thing too) before I've even applied for a job, then I should be fine. After all, I don't need to accept the job if it's offered to me, but if I don't apply, then I'll never know. So I'll apply and cross that bridge when it comes (if it comes).

Please don't be hurt by what I've said. I mean it with kindness. You're my friend and I care about you, but you are not forever 21. You’re almost thirty years old, still trying to fit in with the latest crop of 20-year-olds, and it’s really time for you to grow up now. Look into your heart, and you will see that I’m right.

May the Lord bless you and keep you, until we meet again.

Love always,

Hannah

#gingilocks101 #gingilocks writes letters #if your life functions as a warning to others #it's probably time to make a change

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gyrlversion · 5 years

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Jacob Rees-Mogg says Mays deal is better than no Brexit

Jaco Rees-Mogg today signalled he could finally back the Prime Minister after admitting a ‘bad deal is better than staying in the EU’ – but up to 30 arch-Brexiteer Tories are still refusing to budge.

Theresa May is expected to postpone the third Commons vote on her deal this week unless she can convince 75 MPs from the DUP, Tories and Labour to change their minds.

Jacob Rees-Mogg, who has repeatedly defied the PM, is softening and insisted Mrs May’s deal was better than staying in the EU for months or years, ‘however bad it is’.

Mr Rees-Mogg told LBC: ‘I genuinely haven’t made up my mind. There is a hierarchy. No deal is better than Mrs May’s deal, but Mrs May’s deal is better than not leaving. I don’t think we will get another chance to leave the European Union. Delay is denial. The thought that if you get two years for something better is hopelessly optimistic.’

But today more than 20 Brexiteers promised to oppose Theresa May’s Brexit deal to hold out for No Deal while Boris Johnson did not sign their letter but also urged MPs to vote it down claiming it gives the EU an ‘indefinite means of blackmail’ against the UK.

In a letter to the Telegraph the Tories including Lucy Allan MP (Con) Crispin Blunt said ‘No Deal will prove to be the precursor to a very good deal indeed. It is not our fault that we are confronted by two unacceptable choices – but it will be our fault if we cast a positive vote in favour of either for fear of the other.’

Jaco Rees-Mogg today signalled he could back the Prime Ministers after admitting a ‘bad deal is better than staying in the EU’

Mrs May faces an uphill battle to win a vote – if it happens – and needs to convince 75 MPs to change sides

Downing Street has said ministers will want to be sure there is a ‘realistic prospect’ of success before deciding to call a third ‘meaningful vote’ this week on Theresa May’s Brexit deal.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said that if the deal was passed by the Commons she would go to the EU summit in Brussels on Thursday to ask for a short ‘technical’ extension to the Article 50 withdrawal process.

Which Tory MPs have signalled they will vote against the deal AGAIN?

Boris Johnson

Owen Paterson

Priti Patel

John Redwood

Adam Afriyie

Lucy Allan

Crispin Blunt

Peter Bone

Andrew Bridgen

Richard Drax

Mark Francoix

Marcus Fysj

Chris Green

Adam Holloway

Philip Hollobone

Ranil Jayawardena

Andrea Jenkyns

David Jones

Julian Lewis

Craig Mackinlay

Sheryll Murray

Andrew Rosindell

Ross Thomson

Michael Tomlinson

Anne-Marie Trevelyan

If there is no Commons vote for the deal, the spokesman said she would ask for a longer delay which would mean Britain holding elections to the European Parliament.

The spokesman said that if a vote was to be held before Mrs May goes to Brussels, the Government will have to table a motion by the end of business on Tuesday at the latest.

Mrs May has been scrambling for support for the deal – particularly from the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) – in the hope of bringing it back before Parliament ahead of an EU summit on Thursday.

But it is thought the Prime Minister could delay the crucial vote for another week unless she is confident of avoiding a third humiliating defeat on the package, which MPs rejected by 230 votes in January and 149 last week.

She has warned that if her deal is not approved, the UK will have to seek a lengthy extension to negotiations, potentially losing Brexit altogether.

Mr Rees-Mogg said he would wait to see what the DUP decided before finally making up his mind which way to vote.

However, he said that Brexit supporters would need to weigh up whether, if the deal was defeated again, it would actually lead to a no-deal break – as they would prefer – or whether it would see Britain trapped in the EU.

‘Mrs May’s deal, however bad it is, means that we are legally outside the European Union,’ he said.

‘We have got as close to leaving as we will ever get under these circumstances. If it is thwarted now, no-one is ever going to allow us another chance to have a vote.

‘The whole weight of British establishment opinion will prevent that ever happening again.’

He added: ‘As long as people think we can get to no deal, they will vote the deal down. That is my position.’

Theresa May is seen arriving at Downing Street this morning as her deal hangs in the balance and she could delay it. Boris Johnson dealt a heavy blow to her hopes of winning in the Commons after he refused to back it today

Earlier, former foreign secretary Boris Johnson called on Mrs May to postpone another vote on her deal, warning it would be ‘absurd’ to bring it back to the Commons without first securing change from Brussels.

Brexit: What happens next?

What happened last week?

MPs twice rejected Theresa May’s Brexit deal. They also voted against leaving with no deal, and now voted in favour of a delay.

What will happen next?

MPs have supported a delay, so May will have to request an extension to Article 50 from the EU.

Could Brexit be delayed?

If other member states agree to it, Brexit will be postponed, but May has said that this should be for no longer than three months.

If, however, MPs do not support her deal, she warned that the extension could be far longer.

Could Brexit be stopped?

May has warned this is a possibility. While she will not revoke Article 50 herself, she has warned political chaos could see the Government replaced by Jeremy Corbyn or another pro-Remain administration.

Will the Prime Minister face a motion of no confidence?

It is possible. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has insisted he will only call another vote of no confidence if he has a chance of winning – but in January Mrs May precipitated one herself.

Will May just resign after a second defeat?

Unlikely but not impossible. Defeat would be another monumental blow to the PM’s political authority.

Will there be a general election?

There are mounting calls for one. Tory MP Charles Walker said yesterday if the House could not pass the deal, the current Parliament probably needs to be replaced so a new Government can be formed to tackle Brexit.

One of the advantages of an election is it would be much quicker to organise and resolve than a second referendum.

Could there be a second referendum on Brexit?

There are mounting demands for a new public vote – but probably not currently a majority in the Commons for it.

A new referendum would take at least six months to organise and run. This could be optimistic as there is no consensus over what the question might be.

He said that as it stood, the Northern Ireland backstop – under which the UK remains in a customs union until both sides agree a trade deal – gave the EU ‘an indefinite means of blackmail’.

‘Unless we have some change – and at present, in the immortal phrase, nothing has changed – it is hard to ask anyone who believes in Brexit to change their mind,’ he said.

Mrs May’s hopes of rallying Conservative MPs behind her were dealt a further blow by a letter to The Daily Telegraph from 23 Leave-backing backbenchers arguing for a no-deal exit.

”No deal’ will prove to be the precursor to a very good deal indeed,’ wrote the Tory MPs, including former ministers Owen Paterson, Sir John Redwood and David Jones.

‘Our moral course is clear: it is not our fault that we are confronted by two unacceptable choices, but it will be our fault if we cast a positive vote in favour of either for fear of the other.’

However, the Prime Minister received a boost from former chancellor Lord Lamont, who urged fellow Brexiteers to focus on the ‘prize’ of leaving the EU and back her deal.

Writing in the Daily Mail, he said that ‘history will not understand if it is Conservative MPs who prevent us claiming our self-government’.

Negotiations with the DUP were expected to continue on Monday, although Downing Street said a formal meeting has not been scheduled.

The 10 DUP MPs are viewed by Downing Street as pivotal, not just for the votes they provide but the influence of their stance on Conservative Eurosceptics.

DUP MLA Jim Wells told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘We still have a huge difficulty with the backstop, because we see it as a waiting room for constitutional change.

‘We could find ourselves locked in there forever in effect, and once you get in you can never get out. We have to have a mechanism where we can escape the backstop.’

Mr Wells said a proposed ‘gentlemen’s agreement’ that any changes to Northern Ireland’s relationship with the EU would be mirrored by the rest of the UK might prove ‘unenforceable’.

And he denied that the DUP was taking part in a financial ‘auction’ for its support, insisting that ‘money is not being discussed on the table at the moment’.

Mr Wells estimated that as many as 30 Tory MPs will never vote for Mrs May’s deal, meaning that a third defeat was ‘inevitable’ with or without DUP support.

The post Jacob Rees-Mogg says Mays deal is better than no Brexit appeared first on Gyrlversion.

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ourmrmel · 6 years

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Mel Feller Gives Tips For Becoming a Much Better Grandpa by Mel Feller

Mel Feller’s supportive, paradigm shifting, and joyous coaching will forever change the way you approach challenging situations and anything that might block your ability to move forward in life. Mel Feller will help you realize your greatest potential and fully shine – in an environment that is supportive, invested, and dynamic. Experience your best self.

“The journey of looking inward becomes our greatest gift – our most profound adventure. There is no short-cut to doing this inner work, but it is so worth it. The path to peace, and success on so many levels requires deep compassion for the parts of us that feel lost or stuck. This is the foundation from which real transformation becomes exponentially powerful. The exciting part is coming to a place of feeling so truly alive and living your purpose with full strides.” - Mel Feller

That is why Mel Feller loves being a grandpa to his 4 grandkids in Utah. He has two boys and two girls. He spends as much time with them and sharing life and life skills with them every opportunity he gets!

Therefore, here are his tips:

Share your wisdom

I know that knowledge can be taught, but I have always wondered if wisdom can only be gained. I have concluded that it can be taught, but mainly by example. Fortunately, grandpas are all wise just ask us! We can play that role by setting an example and being close by when a child is in need.

Grandpas, when a child needs a listening ear, listen. After you have listened for an hour or so, a child may be open to a single sentence of your wisdom. Never make the mistake of trying to impart any more than that. It will be lost. In addition, teaching wisdom does not mean correcting. That is seldom a Grandpa’s place. When necessary, a quick “don’t do that” should suffice. I wasted many a word with my own kids trying to explain why some behavior is unacceptable.

Issues of right and wrong can and should be discussed, but it is much more effective when done in a quiet moment, after the storm has passed. An experience from your own life would be helpful in such a situation. If you ever made a similar mistake, let them know, then let them know how you learned to avoid making it again. If you never made that mistake, tell them of someone who did. If you can invent a whopper with a horrendous outcome, so much the better.

Get the kids outdoors

Kids seldom play outside anymore. Whenever possible, get your grandkids out of the house, away from the TV, the computer, and the Wii. When we were kids, we just got the neighbors together and played in the backyard. When you have the kids over, take them out in your yard and play soccer, dodge ball, tag, or kick-the-can like you used to.

If you camp or hike, take the grandkids with you. Short hikes are okay, even just to the Dairy Queen, and camping is great even in the backyard. Climb a tree or a rock with the kids, or at least give them a boost up and ooh and aah about how high they are. Walk along a stream. Skip rocks on a lake. Get them swimming in something other than a chlorinated pool. Gaze at the night sky. Find the Big Dipper. Count shooting stars. Contemplate the universe, God, and man together.

Take your grandkids on vacation and show them what mountains, forests, and seas look like. However, do not just get somewhere, experience the journey. Drive them from coast to coast or clear across Montana, Utah or Texas where they can experience wide-open spaces. Show them what nature has to offer.

Get them involved in sports

Kids may love to play sports or they may hate it. You may hate sports, too. Nevertheless, they still merit some exposure.

Kids from kindergarten up today only play “organized” sports. However, organized leagues take no childhood initiative. As a kid, I was the neighborhood organizer. I would go from house to house seeing who was available for football or baseball, so I had to develop my promotional skills.

There may be no better option to organized sports for your grandkids — they should not be left out of modern society, after all. However, you can become involved: Take them to games and practices yourself. Cheer loudly. Coach if you are able. Definitely spring for ice cream afterward.

In addition, teach sports history. Show the kids a picture of yourself in your tight-fitting basketball shorts. Tell them about your heroics. Let them know who Babe Ruth and Wilt Chamberlain were. I once saw an interview with an old man who had played basketball for James Naismith, the inventor of the game. When asked what had been the greatest change in the sport, he said it was the addition of the dribble. I still laugh at that. I would never have guessed basketball was once played without dribbling.

Share Treasured Keepsakes

I got divorced recently, and the experience reinforced a lesson I’d learned earlier: A picture is worthless until it’s seen.

I carried out boxes full of pictures, journals, notebooks, speeches, career mementos, and many other treasures. I realized my grandkids would never see these things until I was dead and my kids sorted through my stuff that is, unless I did something about it.

I am no pack rat. Aside from my photos, there are maybe three boxes of stuff I would like to keep. But what good are they if no one ever opens them? I am not saying you should litter your home with trinkets. Some grandparents overdo it and are accused by people of hoarding.

Display the things you are proud of or that impart a vision of the past — a plaque, a collage of medals, a painting, anything of yours that you would like your grandkids to see. Keep photo albums available on a prominent bookshelf or a coffee table. Your children will most assuredly look through an album featuring them, and grandkids will want to see old pictures of their parents. An album featuring grandpa and grandma as youngsters will be of special interest. Do not wait. If you do not display, you will die depreciated.

Help Them Become Good Citizens

When grandchildren are old enough (typically around 2 months) you should begin to impart your views on politics. If their parents’ ideas differ from yours, do it quietly or out of range, but if the entire family agrees, feel free to harp away on any news item, politician, or unwanted tax, are there any wanted ones?

Let yourself become known as a grandpa with strong opinions, but not a stick-in-the mud. I tell the grandkids that I have the right to complain about taxes, but I still pay them. I tell them we have an obligation to our nation to be honest and to be supportive of its laws, but that we also have methods in place to make changes when we feel it necessary.

It is okay for grandkids to know you have strong feelings on current events. Involvement in politics is patriotic. I am no activist, and I have never run for office. However, I always vote.

Create a Family Language

Every family should have a made-up language of its own, and grandpa can be the main source. In our family, squeet has replaced let us go eat, and squate means I already ate. A grown-up has become a dolt instead of an adult. Come up with your own crazy words and phrases. They will make you unique. They will help you overcome your temper. Best of all, they will make you immortal as your words are passed down from generation to generation.

Many families also have phrases parents use to see their children off to school, or off to dates, such as Remember who you are, meaning do not do anything to disgrace your family. Wanting to be original, but not having the intellect to come up with something more profound, I always said to my kids, do not hit anybody. This phrase has become the standard for my grandkids, too. Unfortunately, on days, the car was wrecked or someone got into a fight, the kids reminded me that I had not said it that day.

Make the most of being a better grandpa! You will never regret the fact that you have such great opportunities to love and be loved.

Mel Feller has over three decades of coaching and consulting experience in diverse industries, which provides a rich framework for his organizational insights and creative solutions. I brings a thoughtful approach to his work, carefully integrating both my coaching and consulting skills and abilities. When consulting, my focus is on “what you are doing” (i.e., goal setting, problem solving, taking action and achieving results). When coaching, my focus is on “who you are being” (i.e., how you are leading, aligning your values and tapping your gifts). As a client, they become more consciously aware of how paying attention to – and balancing both – are critically important to their success.

When you combine Mel Feller’s keen insights and engaging style with his in-depth skills, technical certifications and broad industry experience, the result is a uniquely qualified executive coach and organizational consultant.

So... what kind of coach are you?"

I get this question a lot. Moreover, the answer is… I am a Life Coach, Executive Coach, Career Coach, and Business Coach. I coach teens, business executives, authors, artists, entrepreneurs, retired seniors, busy moms and entire organizations.

“Truth telling, honesty, and candor: I loved you Mel Feller! You have so much energy and knowledge! I truly hope I get another opportunity to be coached by you. I see myself a little clearer now, and it’s not so bad.”

Lisa Mathews

“Mel Feller you added more value than we can possibly see right now. Mel Feller, you are warm, inviting, and accommodating. Thank you for coming alongside us in this transition!”

Vanessa Cavanaugh

“Mel Feller the best education session that we have attended in many years! Thank you so much — I am very excited to put everything you have taught us into practice!”

Michael Randolph

“Mr. Mel Feller, Thank you, thank you, thank you for giving a marvelous keynote at our Symposium! While we have not yet collected the official feedback, the unofficial feedback was that You Were a Hit! I heard nothing but compliments regarding your presentations. Thank you for making such a positive impact on our attendees! ”

Lyle Cunningham VP

"Mel Feller uses his humor, compassion, and direct nature to help bring out the best in me. Mel Feller is committed to helping me live...I mean, really live, life to its fullest."

Jose Rodriguez

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gyrlversion · 5 years

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May on course to cancel third vote and agree a lengthy delay to Brexit

Theresa May could now shelve the third vote on her deal and make her next move asking the EU for a Brexit extension as her own MPs including Boris Johnson refused to back her.

Mrs May’s final pitch to Tory Brexiteers backfired yesterday after saying her opponents are unpatriotic if they do not back her Brussels divorce but warned them: ‘We will not leave the EU for many months, if ever’.

The Prime Minister is said to be willing to call off a third vote on her deal if she ‘had no chance of winning’ and crank up the pressure on her MPs by holding it just days before Britain is due to leave on March 29.

Boris Johnson last night urged MPs to vote down Mrs May’s deal for a third time if it is put to a vote this week and warned in his Daily Telegraph column that it gives the EU an ‘indefinite means of blackmail’ against the UK.

Today crisis talks with the DUP continue and if the Northern Irish party backs Mrs May’s deal a number of Eurosceptic Tories could follow – but a senior ERG source predicts that even with the DUP on board, the PM would lose by 30 to 40 votes.

David Davis says if the DUP moves then she has a ’50-50 chance’ of winning but said still may not vote for the deal while former ministers Priti Patel and Dominic Raab are expected to rebel even if Mrs May manages to win over Arlene Foster’s party.

But Brexit ringleader Jacob Rees-Mogg is softening as he insisted Mrs Mays’s deal was better than staying in for months or years, ‘however bad it is’.

Mr Rees-Mogg told LBC: ‘I genuinely haven’t made up my mind. There is a hierarchy. No deal is better than Mrs May’s deal, but Mrs May’s deal is better than not leaving. I don’t think we will get another chance to leave the European Union. ‘Delay is denial. The thought that if you get two years for something better is hopelessly optimistic.’

Mrs May could now tee-up a longer delay to Brexit at an EU summit on Thursday ensuring Tories who vote down her deal must also accept the blame for a lengthy delay to leaving the EU.

Theresa May leaves church with her husband Philip yesterday as her deal hangs in the balance and she could delay it. Boris Johnson dealt a heavy blow to her hopes of winning in the Commons after he refused to back it today

Mrs May faces an uphill battle to win a vote – if it happens – and needs to convince 75 MPs to change sides

In a direct attack on Mrs May, Boris Johnson paints her and her team as collaborators in the ‘final sabotage of Brexit’ just 11 days before Britain is due to leave the EU.

Brexit: What happens next?

What happened last week?

MPs twice rejected Theresa May’s Brexit deal. They also voted against leaving with no deal, and now voted in favour of a delay.

What will happen next?

MPs have supported a delay, so May will have to request an extension to Article 50 from the EU.

Could Brexit be delayed?

If other member states agree to it, Brexit will be postponed, but May has said that this should be for no longer than three months.

If, however, MPs do not support her deal, she warned that the extension could be far longer.

Could Brexit be stopped?

Will the Prime Minister face a motion of no confidence?

It is possible. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has insisted he will only call another vote of no confidence if he has a chance of winning – but in January Mrs May precipitated one herself.

Will May just resign after a second defeat?

Unlikely but not impossible. Defeat would be another monumental blow to the PM’s political authority.

Will there be a general election?

One of the advantages of an election is it would be much quicker to organise and resolve than a second referendum.

Could there be a second referendum on Brexit?

There are mounting demands for a new public vote – but probably not currently a majority in the Commons for it.

A new referendum would take at least six months to organise and run. This could be optimistic as there is no consensus over what the question might be.

The former foreign secretary urged her to postpone the vote and use a forthcoming EU summit to seek ‘real change’ on the Irish backstop.

Mr Johnson said: ‘It would be absurd to hold the vote before that has even been attempted.’

Despite this pressure Mrs May received a string of major endorsements for her Brexit deal last night that gave fresh hope it could pass within days.

In a significant boost for the PM, former Chancellor Norman Lamont urged his fellow Brexiteers to focus on the ‘prize’ of leaving the EU – and back the deal.

Writing on the page opposite, the Eurosceptic grandee warns wavering MPs that ‘history will not understand if it is Conservative MPs who prevent us claiming our self-government’. Mrs May is hoping to build momentum behind her deal today with an agreement with the DUP that could bring dozens of Eurosceptics on board.

In a major intervention last night, Northern Ireland’s former First Minister David Trimble also dropped his objections to the so-called Irish backstop.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner praised Mrs May for securing ‘substantive’ concessions on the backstop, adding: ‘The chances of the PM getting the deal through Parliament have improved.’ Former Vote Leave chief Matthew Elliot also came out for the deal, warning Euroscptic MPs: ‘It’s May’s deal or nothing.’

But, with the trickle of Eurosceptic MPs declaring their support still failing to turn into a flood, the prospects for the deal remain on a knife edge. Mrs May was last night still deciding whether or not to press ahead with tomorrow’s planned vote on her Brexit deal. Philip Hammond and Liam Fox both said it could be pulled if it looked like it would be defeated a third time.

Downing Street was braced for Boris Johnson to ‘double down’ on his opposition.

And Tory sources said fellow leadership hopeful Dominic Raab was also indicating he would help Labour vote down the deal for a third time.

”No deal’ will prove to be the precursor to a very good deal indeed,’ wrote the Tory MPs, including former ministers Owen Paterson, Sir John Redwood and David Jones.

‘Our moral course is clear: it is not our fault that we are confronted by two unacceptable choices, but it will be our fault if we cast a positive vote in favour of either for fear of the other.’

Mr Johnson said Mrs May’s Agreement would leave the UK ‘in a position of almost unbearable weakness’ for subsequent talks on trade, risking transforming the country into ‘a kind of economic colony of Brussels’.

The backstop arrangement – under which the UK remains in a customs union until both sides agree a trade deal – gives the EU ‘an indefinite means of blackmail’, said the Brexit figurehead.

‘Unless we have some change – and at present, in the immortal phrase, nothing has changed – it is hard to ask anyone who believes in Brexit to change their mind,’ he said.

‘There is an EU summit this week. It is not too late to get real change to the backstop. It would be absurd to hold the vote before that has even been attempted.’

The 10 DUP MPs are viewed by Downing Street as pivotal, not just for the votes they provide but the influence of their stance on Conservative Eurosceptics.

DUP MLA Jim Wells told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘We still have a huge difficulty with the backstop, because we see it as a waiting room for constitutional change.

‘We could find ourselves locked in there forever in effect, and once you get in you can never get out. We have to have a mechanism where we can escape the backstop.’

Mr Wells said a proposed ‘gentlemen’s agreement’ that any changes to Northern Ireland’s relationship with the EU would be mirrored by the rest of the UK might prove ‘unenforceable’.

And he denied that the DUP was taking part in a financial ‘auction’ for its support, insisting that ‘money is not being discussed on the table at the moment’.

Mr Wells estimated that as many as 30 Tory MPs will never vote for Mrs May’s deal, meaning that a third defeat was ‘inevitable’ with or without DUP support.

So far the number of Tories publicly switching positions falls far short of the 75 MPs Mrs May needs to change sides.

Bolton West MP Chris Green told BBC Radio 4’s Westminster Hour: ‘I want to vote against it because I don’t believe when Parliament defeated it by the biggest margin in the history of Parliament that was because it was in any way a good deal, and the substance of the deal hasn’t changed.’

But he added that a shift in the DUP’s position would have a ‘big impact’ and the implications of rejecting the deal for a third time weighed heavily on him ‘because it could lead to a general election, and we don’t know how that will pan out’.

As part of the effort to put pressure on Tory hardliners and the DUP, Chancellor Philip Hammond and International Trade Secretary Liam Fox took to the airwaves on Sunday to make clear that the Prime Minister would not chance a third defeat on her deal.

And Security Minister Ben Wallace, a close ally of Mr Johnson who chaired his abortive bid for the leadership in 2016, urged the former foreign secretary and other Tory Brexiteers to back Mrs May’s deal.

‘I know Boris very well and I know he’s passionate about leaving the European Union,’ Mr Wallace told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

‘If he is passionate about that, he will recognise that voting for this deal is the way to deliver Brexit and the way to deliver leaving the EU … I strongly urge my colleagues to vote for it.’

Some senior figures believe tomorrow’s vote should be delayed until next week, by which time Mrs May is expected to have requested an extension of Article 50. One Cabinet minister urged the PM to delay, adding: ‘Whenever it comes it is going to be incredibly tight. I think the DUP will come across but we also need Boris and Raab and Rees-Mogg to have a chance. Even then, we will need some more Labour MPs to come on board.’

At the start of a crunch week on Brexit:

Philip Hammond angered Eurosceptics by saying it was now ‘physically impossible to leave on March 29’ following Parliament’s decision to back a Brexit delay.

Dutch PM Mark Rutte likened Mrs May to the Monty Python character the Black Knight, who refused to give in even after having his limbs chopped off.

Former work and pensions secretary Esther McVey said she would reluctantly back the deal, but called for Mrs May and other ‘feeble negotiators’ to quit.

David Davis urged Eurosceptic MPs to back the deal, saying it was ‘capable of rescue’ in Brussels.

Mrs May’s deal suffered a record 230-vote defeat in January and lost again by 149 votes last week.

DUP MP Nigel Dodds on Friday denied cash was being talked about in discussions with the Government but insisted his party was keen to support the PM’s deal if they can

Ministers believe they are close to sealing an agreement with her DUP backers, which could see dozens of Eurosceptic Tories reluctantly fall into line behind the deal. Mr Hammond yesterday indicated the DUP could be handed more cash for Northern Ireland if they agree to back the PM’s deal.

He told the BBC’s Andrew Marr show: ‘This isn’t about money. It’s about a political assurance – well, look, we are coming up to a spending review and we will have to look at all budgets, including devolved block-grant budgets.’

Gordon Henderson, a Tory MP who has voted against the deal twice, told the Mail: ‘If the Government can find a formula that satisfies our DUP colleagues, then it will satisfy me.’ Ministers were helped last night by Lord Trimble’s decision to drop his opposition to the backstop plans in the light of fresh legal assurances that it could only be temporary.

In a paper for the Policy Exchange think-tank, he said: ‘The Government has succeeded in securing substantive changes that will affect and limit the impact of the Irish backstop’. The intervention from Lord Lamont, a patron of the hardline Leave Means Leave organisation, could also prove significant.

Yesterday Mr Hammond refused three times to say whether he had ruled out offering the DUP more cash for Northern Ireland in return for backing the deal

The former Chancellor, who served in the Thatcher government, warns fellow Eurosceptics that Brexit could be lost altogether unless they stop their infighting and back the PM.

He said it was ‘wishful thinking’ to believe that Parliament wouldn’t try to stop Brexit once it had been delayed. And he said there would be ‘all to play for’ in the second round of talks with Brussels, as long as the withdrawal deal was passed. He added: ‘To assert as some Eurosceptics do that it is preferable to remain in the EU than to accept Mrs May’s deal is absurd. The PM’s deal is far from ideal. But it has one overwhelming advantage. Under her deal we will definitely leave.’

Tory MP Daniel Kawczynski, a member of the European Research Group of Eurosceptic MPs, said: ‘The mood is changing. People are getting tired of the infighting at Westminster and in the Conservative Party. They expect us to get this across the line.’

Emma Lewell-Buck, who resigned from Labour’s front bench last week to vote against a second referendum, said she and other like-minded MPs wanted to see Brexit delivered with the current deal.

But some Tory hardliners suggested they would never back down. Andrea Jenkyns, a prominent member of the ERG, said: ‘The British spirit is to fight on and not to back down to threats.’

Jeremy Corbyn yesterday warned he was ready to call a vote of no confidence in the Government this week if Mrs May’s deal is voted down again, potentially triggering an election.

He also plunged Labour’s Brexit policy into fresh confusion after revealing he could campaign to leave the EU if he succeeds in forcing a second referendum.

Third time lucky? So, what on earth happens next?

SCENARIO 1: THIRD TIME LUCKY Theresa May’s deal is finally approved. This is how it would play out.

TUESDAY: Prime Minister wins Meaningful Vote No 3 (just) after DUP and most of the European Research Group fold.

THURSDAY: Wins approval at EU summit for short delay to planned March 29 Brexit date.

MONDAY, MARCH 25: Mrs May begins approving deal and – crucially – changing March 29 Brexit date. Commons and Lords vote through the date change.

SCENARIO 2: DEJA VU Deal blocked for third time, but a two-year Brexit delay approved.

TUESDAY: MPs narrowly defeat Mrs May’s attempt No 3 to secure her deal. PM says she will now go to Brussels to ask for more time.

THURSDAY: Brussels summit of EU leaders grants a two-year extension; UK takes part in MEP elections in May.

MONDAY, MARCH 25: Backed by Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour, May wins Commons vote approving two-year delay.

SCENARIO 3: NO DEAL BY SABOTAGE

We leave with no deal after a guerrilla war by Tory Brexit ‘ultras’.

TUESDAY: MPs narrowly defeat Mrs May’s third vote on her deal. PM says she will go to Brussels to ask for more time.

THURSDAY: Brussels insists on two-year extension to Brexit.

MONDAY, MARCH 25: Hardcore No Deal Tory Brexiteers support a no-confidence vote in May.

Move paralyses Government. MPs fail to change Brexit date.

FRIDAY, MARCH 29: UK leaves EU without a deal.

SCENARIO 4: BLOCKED BY BERCOW

TUESDAY: Speaker John Bercow throws a spanner in the works by ruling that putting the deal to a third vote breaches Commons rules over repeated votes on same terms. Mrs May forced to go to Brussels with no approved deal.

THURSDAY: EU insists on two-year extension.

MONDAY, MARCH 25: Mrs May wins resulting votes to change Brexit date.

OR… She loses vote of no confidence. No Deal on March 29.

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