#and I think it positively reinforces breaking the bad habit | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

monin1ca · 1 year

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Hello!:) May I request for an angst with Chamber x Reader (might end up happy haha) but was thinking in a way of a reader having a crush on the agent but seeing him flirt/or getting flirted with another agent - seeing them and closing off to Chamber! (Hopefully it is not super complicated! and of course if you don't want to that is okay <3)

Thank you!! Your stories are a really nice read:> and sorry if it is a bit confusing english is not my first language and it is my first time sending a request haha >.>

Word count: 1.3k

Warnings: Cursing, Slight Red Flag Chamber ( But that's ok, hes a red flag and were the flag poles... *wink wonk*), sad and tired reader (female), I didn't really follow some parts of the request forgive me≡(▔﹏▔)≡

Synopsis:"A-are you sure? I thought you had eyes on Viper-" "I don't know why I do these things; perhaps it's my bad habit." The male lies; he knows why.

"Viper, you must let me take you out sometime. Dinner, dancing, I know the perfect place~"

"Chamber, I would rather drink my own poison."

You were in the distance, watching this interaction go down; The French man’s thick and caramel-like voice rang through the earpiece. Your heart aches; you want to be in Viper’s place. Receiving all the flirting and playful banter, you’ve thought of millions of responses to all his classic pick-up lines. It sounded like you were a lovesick puppy following its master because it was true.

You clutched the ghost in your hand; the thing would break in half if you weren’t aware of your strength. Neon immediately noticed your mood gone sour, she looks over at the place you're staring at and rolls her eyes. "Hay nako (Oh my gosh), don't mind him. As much as you fawn over him, you need to focus at the mission on hand." The duelist remarks, "Get to your position," she points her lips to the backsite. "We're about to start." You trudged slowly to the area, setting up your gadgets.

Unbeknowest to you, Chamber was watching your reaction. He left his earpiece open for you to hear. He chuckles at his actions, he shouldn't be showing signs that he didn't want you. It was the opposite. He wanted you badly, so badly. Chamber himself was confused why he was doing this. Perhaps it was the habit of this fake persona he's made.

"Many sightings of enemies going to my site, please send reinforcements." Your voice pierced through the earpiece, catching everyone's attention. "Roger that, your 'lil gadgets should hold 'em back right Y/N?" Phoenix jokes, "Shut up and get over here." "Woah... Someone got up on the wrong side of the bed."

The mission took forever the finish, you were sleepy and tired. Your backpack was extra heavy, because your gadgets were destroyed by the enemy team; plus the samples Killjoy begged you to put in your bag. You were practically stumbling on your way back to the helicopter. " You alright, Y/N?" Phoenix inquires, "No," You whine. "I'm so sleepy and tired and-" You slump down on the floor, "My bags extra heavy! I can't move anymore..." Neon sighs, "Akin na bag mo (Give me your bag)." You drag the heavy bag to Neon. She lifts it up without much effort, "The fuck? What's in here? Rocks?!" "I'll carry you then, after all you held down an entire site on your own! You deserve it!" Phoenix hums, as he lends you a hand. You mumble a small thank you and grab the mans hand. He carries you piggyback style, and the team continues to walk to the designated rendezvous point.

"Brimstone said the 'copter wasn't clear for take-off," Viper sighs, "Why, tho?" Phoenix chimes. "Let me finish my sentence." The controller states coldly, "The reason why is because there was 'air traffic.' Bullshit." "Ah, Viper! My offer still stands," Chamber hums, "I know this place very well. Let me treat you guys to dinner!" The Frenchman pulls out his phone and promptly orders a cab for all of you.

You all arrive at a great place with gold and diamond chandeliers intricately decorated on the ceiling. Rhythmic music plays in the background, setting the mood. Loud chatter and laughter overlap with the music. "Uh- I feel underdressed." You say as you gawk at the place; many beautifully dressed females with pearl necklaces and expensive purses eyed your party with judgemental eyes. With only Chamber dressed for the occasion. "Don't worry, I do too." Neon groans, "I think we all do." Phoenix sighs. The waitress comes and helps you with your table; you sit beside Chamber because "coincidently," there was no other chair available.

One look at the menu and you wanted to faint. "20 DOLLARS FOR ONE TINY LOBSTER??!" You screeched in shock. Chamber snickers as he wraps an arm around you. "Don't worry my friend, It's my treat after all ~" "This is a scam, fam..." Phoenix breathes out shakily, who was also flabbergasted at the prices. You all hesitantly order your food, and some small talk begins at the table.

"So that's how your tattoos work?!" You say, intrigued at Chamber's abilities. "But- Does your trademark also work the same way?" You stop; Chamber was staring at you. With a soft smile on his face, you immediately cover your mouth. "I'm Sorry- I must be annoying you-" "Ah, don't worry, Cheri. After all, I love talking about myself." He giggles as he places his hands on his palms. Chamber feels a slight tap on his shoulder, "Uhm- Hey there, sexy," A well-dressed woman drawls. You internally cringed at her approach, "my friends and I thought you looked absolutely ravishing... We were just wondering if we could get your number?" You thought Chamber would allow his ego to get stroked and entertain them, but no. He turns them down politely and looks back to continue explaining his abilities. The lady looked like she was bitchslapped across her face, clearly not accepting Chamber's rejection. "I will have you reprimanded, young man! Do you know who I am?" "You're an entitled bitch that can't handle rejection." You scoffed, and Chamber was surprised. He hasn't seen this side of you before; perhaps you didn't like how she flirted with him. "Now, excuse me, you're blocking the way of my food." You dismiss her, waving your hand away to shoo her off. The embarrassed woman runs back to her seat, holding off tears. The whole table laughs, and you begin eating.

The night ends well, and the helicopter arrives soon. You all leave the restaurant and go back to the pick-up point. You were at the back of the group with Chamber. Relishing the feeling of being with him, your fatigue catches up with you, and your legs begin wobbling again. Chamber offers to carry you, and you accept graciously. 'Chamber smells so good.' You thought you felt his muscles flexing under his suit and tie. You were gushing so much over his figure you didn't even notice he stopped walking. You only came to your senses when he said, "Cheri, I like you." Panicking at the sudden confrontation, you buried your head in the crook of his head. The air was cold, yet you felt so hot. You shakily breathed out, "A-are you sure? I thought you had eyes on Viper-" "I don't know why I do these things; perhaps it's my bad habit." The male lies; he knows why. "But I'm willing to do anything to make it up to you." That's the truth; he would burn down this godforsaken world for your happiness. He puts you down and faces you, slowly caressing your cheekbones.

"You think they're alright?" Phoenix whispers to Neon as he stares at the two sentinels at the back. "Yeah, I'm sure they are." She chuckles as she witnesses the party kiss. "Jeez, she took long to say it; I don't know how long I could bare their tension." Viper gags, and the firebird shouts. "Ay! Could yall hurry it up?! I know you're having a moment, but Brim says the 'choppers there now!"

Author's Note: HEY AGAIN, JUST GONNA FINISH MY REQUESTS FROM LAST YEAR!! I SWEAR I'M GETTING IT DONE... (I'm lying im trying to farm for Yelan ok（；´д｀）ゞ) ANYWAYS SEE YOU AGAIN TILL THE NEXT ONE<333

#valorant #valorant headcanons #valorant x reader #valorant chamber x reader #valorant chamber #chamber valorant #chamber x reader #valorant neon #valorant viper #valorant phoenix #vincent x reader #vincent fabron

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barachiki · 2 months

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Here's a story because I mentioned the coffee I had:

In university, I used to be really addicted to caffeine. Like full blown shakes and teeth grinding and migraines and anxiety if I didn't get it. I had my own espresso machine, and I had a café right below my dorm where I'd get cheap triple shot lattes every day before class. I was so bad that I usually needed at least a little coffee to calm me down enough to sleep.

There was this class I took, Psychology of Adjustment. I have no idea what it was about anymore, but I do remember this one assignment. We had to break a habit using a method we had learned about, scientifically describe the process, write out the successes, failures and if you were using positive or negative reinforcement. We had three weeks to do this.

My friend Tony did his study on stretches. If he did his physio stretches before noon, then he'd get a piece of Halloween candy as a treat. A simple positive reinforcement.

Sleeping in was the habit I wanted to break, so my plan was that each day I slept in, I wouldn't be allowed my favourite thing: coffee. It was supposed to be a negative reinforcement study.

The thing is, I didn't know how addicted I was to coffee/caffeine. As well, I was horrifically depressed and I've been an insomniac since I was a kid, so I never got the sleep I needed. The task was impossible.

First thing I did was sleep in the first two days. So no coffee for me. I did the negative reinforcement for those two days... but by the third day, I was so beyond irritable, nauseous and headachy and shaky that I snuck some coffee even though I still slept in. Then over the next week, I was practically hallucinating without the caffeine, so I was shaking and making stupid bargains ('I only slept in a half hour so I should get half the coffee', 'Maybe I can just try again tomorrow and have a mocha tonight,' that kind of thing). With classes going until 9pm and trying to get up for 6am, I was fighting a losing battle with both sides of the study.

I quit even trying after nine days.

By the time I had to write up the study, I had no data, no results and nothing to show other than my failure. So I lied. I made up data, I fabricated these tables, notes and explained how I broke my habit and now only take coffee occasionally and I wake up on time cheerfully every morning blah blah blah.

My prof, who was not an idiot, asked me for my handwritten notes. I panicked and said I kept my laptop by my bed and wrote down the notes on my computer. I know he didn't buy it. He was a Psychology prof, who has seen a million of these assignments. But my writeup said all the right things, and it showed that I understood the concept, so I got a C instead of an F.

I realized later that not everyone was 'successful' with their studies, but still got good grades. I knew then that if I had explained how badly I failed my study in the assignment and why (discovering I had a caffeine addiction), I probably would have aced the assignment. After all, it wasn't about breaking the habit, but the process.

I think of this every once in a while, that it is possible to be perfect and still fail, but also it is possible to fail and still be perfect, if you take my meaning (or some other philosophical garbage like that...)

I also know now that denying an insomniac university student her coffee was ambitious and idiotic. I should have just done the stupid Halloween candy thing.

#just blabber #barachiki recalls a moment from the paaaaast!

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dee-morris · 5 months

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An Overdue Rant and a Christmas Fic

I wrote this Hallmark AU last December. It was supposed to be a jokey little one-shot, but man it ate my brain. My average daily word count is 500-1k words a day, and I think I was doing 2k to 5k a day until it was done. I couldn't fuckin stop, and it was glorious.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/43616245/chapters/109670092

This is very important to me, because I came to fanfic like a dying traveler comes to an oasis. After the pandemic I became deeply depressed and I developed chronic writer's block. Marketing was an uphill slog, and not being able to go out and socialize at events made it unbearable. When I did go out, the anxiety I felt about COVID made it not fun. I wasn't sure if I was ever going to write again.

Writing fanfiction was a welcome reprieve from all that: no deadlines! No SEO! No depressingly tiny royalty statements! Positive reinforcement with no dollar signs attached! So it was nice, it was fun, but I didn't really get my groove back until I wrote HallMark. That wasn't just fun. That was drive. That was passion. And it was glorious.

After it was done and posted, I couldn't forget about it. I had to know what it was about that story that grabbed me by the brain cells like that. So I went back and read it again, and I read the comments (thank you all kind people you're the best), and I realized that it was about Aziraphale and Crowley, but it was really about my feelings towards how children are raised.

*I'm not going to completely spoil the fic here, but feel free to go read it before we get further bc I'm about to discuss some thematic elements.*

Crowley is raising the Antichrist to be the destroyer of worlds on the surface, but underneath it he cares about the world, and he cares about Adam too. And that is the side of him that Adam responds to, and why he turns out the way he does. And that's what parents don't understand about children. They are only kind of listening to your words. What they respond to, and what nurtures them, is your behavior towards them and towards the world you're raising them in. If you tell your kid that Jesus loves everyone and we should help the poor, but you vote for people who will cut welfare bc you think you'll get a tax break and a new boat, your kid sees you. If you tell your kid that it's a sin to judge others but you glare at a tall woman going into the ladies room bc you think she might be trans, your kid sees you. They might grow up to be an asshole or they might grow up to think that you're one, but either way you lose.

And if you tell your kid that his destiny is to destroy the world and that living things are fit only to be ground under his heels, but you make him sandwiches and worry about him when he's out of your sight and buy him stupid Christmas crap because it makes him happy, your kid might not turn out as evil as you thought.

(don't actually tell your kid he's the Antichrist, btw, this fic is hyperbole for symbolic thematic purposes and not a parenting guide)

Anyway, my point is if you love your kid and treat him right, if you treat other people right, and give him a stable home and maybe a dog if you can afford it, he'll probably turn out pretty much okay. The rest is just flavor.

Parents stress too much about things that don't matter, but it's not our fault. You have to run the gauntlet a couple of times before you can filter out stuff that matters from stuff that doesn't, because the books and guides and parenting classes will just try to scare you about everything. Let me assure you that your baby does not give two shits if you feed with breast or bottle. But your child will remember whether you were happy, and whether you took pleasure in their presence in your life.

So what sucked me in about this fic was the reversal of what I've seen in the real world. My brain conjured a fantasy of someone who's a good parent despite themselves, instead of a bad parent with a church habit and a fat bank account. Of course I had to bring that fantasy into the world. It's how things become real.

#fanfiction writer #fanfiction #good omens #aziraphale #crowley #ineffable parents #parenting #children #ao3

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ofstronghold · 7 months

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chris evans. 40. cis man. he/him. ┊┊ CARTER DENECOUR, better known as agent STRONGHOLD has been with cerberus corp as an eo since 2011 and is LEVEL I. BEING TRAPPED UNDERNEATH RUBBLE FOR 24 HOURS has gifted them SUPERHUMAN STRENGTH, though AT THE COST OF CONSTANT MIGRAINES has also been noted. when they aren’t protecting the tri-state area, they are fond of WORKING OUT AT THE FACILITY GYM and are never seen without A PICTURE OF HIS YOUNGER BROTHER. civilians think they are VALIANT & BRAVE, but some of the other agents see them as RIGOROUS & RELENTLESS. cerberus corp should consider the fact that their last mission status was A TRAINING MISSION WITH A TEAM OF LEVEL II AGENTS when giving out the next one.

( tw – smoking , loss of family member )

001. GENERAL

name carter denecour nicknames agent stronghold / car ( heavily advises against this ! ) age forty date of birth august 6th, 1983 zodiac leo place of birth austin , texas current residence new york , new york gender cis male pronouns he/him sexuality bisexual occupation level i agent for cerberus corp

faceclaim chris evans height six feet , one inches tattoos none piercings none distinguishing features scruffy beard ( unless cerberus corp's pr team makes him shave it off ) positive traits valiant , brave , optimistic , charming , courageous , considerate negative traits rigorous , relentless , stoic , repressed , wrathful labels / tropes the backbone , the caretaker , the leader , the fighter , the prodigy likes the scent of strawberries , books , the ocean , wine , doing mission reports , cats , saving people dislikes hurting people physically , fighting , chocolate , social media , cooking , pranks , generally any mean thing fears tight spaces ( due to his nde ) , losing more family members , hurting people with his superhuman strength , rats hobbies working out at the facility gym , volunteering at food pantries , meditating , participating in yoga habits cracking ( his ) knuckles , scratching face apprehensively , crossing arms , smoking cigarettes ( even though he's the leading face for every anti - smoking campaign ) , hums in reply rather than using words

002. EXTRA ORDINARY

near death experience… in 2010 , carter's watching his younger brother ( dylan ) and dylan wants to go hiking ! carter wholeheartedly agrees because the kid wants to go explore the world – who is he to stop him ? so they go hiking a little outside the city limits where the rocks are piled high and it's starting to get a little windy , the sky starts to dim into a dark blue-ish color . a storm is coming and carter didn't check the weather before the hike , so when the storm starts and rocks starts to become wet and slippery due to the rain , dylan slips – dylan falls down the rocky path and carter's unable to save him because his foot gets caught in between rocks in this heavily rocky path and carter's now stuck alone with no cell phone reception or his brother . then , the storm gets so bad that rocks start to shift , slide around until he's caught in the path of heavy boulders tumbling down his path . bruised and stuck , carter finds himself stuck underneath rubble for ( what he finds out later by the news reports ) 24 hours before he's considered dead upon arrival . but , a miracle happens and carter finds himself waking up in a hospital bed hours later having brought back to life after being resuscitated but unfortunately the good news came with bad , his brother is still not found .

power… carter has the ability of superhuman strength ! carter is able to strike foes with superhuman force , lift massive objects and throw them with ease , create makeshift weapons and tools out of basic objects by physically manipulating them , break through reinforced barriers with relative ease , use his strength to leap great distances , and take minimal damage through his strong exterior .

drawbacks / vulnerabilities… due to his constant use of superhuman strength , originating as early as 2010 , using his power puts a continuous strain on his mental – developing reoccurring migraines that could last for weeks after strenuous use of his super strength . due to his migraines , carter then becomes agitated easily , sensitive to sunlight , and has can exude random angry outbursts .

cerberus corp… carter is a level i agent for cerberus corp – he started as level iii and worked his way up the ranks quickly ; he was actively recruited by ji-young han , one of the founders for cerberus corp , during a group therapy session for losing family members , an event that carter had attended to weekly . ji-young had sought him after it had been reported on national news that carter had saved a child from a household fire using his superhuman strength , the kind of power ( and pr ) cerberus was shooting for when creating their structure back then . carter had always craved to be a hero – to be there when people needed it the most – and with little convincing , and mutual shared experiences with similar powers , carter had joined cerberus in 2011 with a hard vouch from ji-young . carter is an excellent field agent , serving as one of the training coordinators for cerberus for level ii and level iii agents , and enjoys working with team members despite the many who seem to dislike working with the cookie cutter agent . he is a stickler for the rules on missions and follows them through and through !

codename… stronghold was given to him by the fans / public ! before he was recruited into cerberus , he had saved a child from a housefire where he had lifted heavy debris so the child could escape – national news lapped up that story to where the public had started calling this mysterious person the nation's stronghold . cerberus , especially the pr team , loved the idea for carter to keep that nickname and so , continues forward as agent stronghold . he doesn't particularly mind if people use stronghold as a nickname , he neither likes it nor dislikes it .

003. HEADCANONS

a lot of the paintings in the facility are actually there to hide the fact that carter has punched some of those walls so hard due to his anger issues , it's basically unfixable .

he reads every fan letter he receives because it makes him think of his missing younger brother .

carter cannot cook to save his life . he once burnt spaghetti in his house once , tried to extinguish the flames by covering the pot with the lid , smashed the lid through the stovetop , and had to get cerberus to pay for a replacement .

volunteers at foot pantries once a week – not for pr purposes , just because he enjoys them .

004. CONNECTIONS

someone he's trying to ' fix ' ?? carter is a Good Guy™ and there are people here who's ... not ?? so he makes it a mission to fix them , whether they like it or not !

reliable partner , as in someone he works with a lot . whether they're good or bad , they seem to be paired up with each other the most and they kick ass together !

people who are under his guidance ( level ii and / or level iii agents ) since carter enjoys doing training missions , he will often to seen training other agents .

the ' power couple ' that the public ships hard – pr encourages this fake dating troupe rather than extinguish it . carter is a big pr guy so he lets this fake dating troupe go on .

best friend , self explanatory . they are each other's ride or die .

ex-relationship(s) , whether it was broken up to due carter's anger issues or dedication to the job , or something else entirely ?

training partners – carter will use himself as a training dummy for people to practice their powers on because he's big , Strong man .

can add more or plot something else entirely !

#cc.intro #* // CARTER ⟶ introduction.#oof .. ig i went a lil crazy w this one

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ecargmura · 5 months

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Dog Signal Episode 11 Review - Positive Reinforcement

Dog Signal returns from a one week break due to the holidays in Japan. While the issue with Hana and Mrs. Asanuma concludes on a good note, another problem arises. I take back what I said about Mrs. Asanuma being the most infuriating dog owner in this show because Miyu’s ex-girlfriend Yuko usurps that title by a long shot. Man, she’s so selfish.

Niwa tells Mrs. Asanuma that because Hana gets so stressed from eating, she believes that if she eats, she gets scolded. That’s the reason why Hana refuses to eat. In order for her to get used to eating, Hana needs positive reinforcement and no discipline. Niwa shows how its done with Ourson. Ourson always seemed like the perfectly trained dog, but, like people, dogs have their own set of issues as well. In Ourson’s case, what he is bad at is toilet training. Ourson used to be bad at peeing on the pad as he got older because of his size and belief that if his paws are on the pad, then his whole body is on the bad. That’s why he had the tendency to pee on the side of the pad and not on it. I actually learned a lot from this segment because my dogs tend to pee on the side of the pad to and not on the full area.

Niwa didn’t scold him out loud for the peeing issues, but Ourson could sense Niwa’s frustrations which was why he became stressed and developed urinary cysts. Because of this, Niwa changed his methods. He tolerated Ourson’s toilet behaviors and would praise him whenever he did it right. Ourson can pee normally now, but because of the past issues, it took a toll on his psyche, which was why he never smiles whenever Niwa praises him for peeing. I think this opened my eyes a bit. Now, I feel bad for scolding my dogs for making peeing mistakes on their pads at home. I’ve been trying to be tolerant these days, but I’m glad that Niwa proves that this does work.

I’m glad that the story helped Mrs. Asanuma understand that she has to be tolerant and patient. I’m also glad that she still loves her dog that she’s willing to change her disciplining methods. From what Miyu said at the pizza party, Mrs. Asanuma calls frequently to tell them about Hana’s eating habits, which have changed positively. I’m amazed that stubborn dog owners like her are able to change like that.

I do like that Miyu and Niwa help each other in ways that they lack. Niwa isn’t the friendliest or liveliest person, so he has a hard time being too excited to praise Ourson. Fortunately, Miyu is there to help out with that as he was the one who danced around and praised Ourson for peeing, which worked! Seeing Niwa hug his dog and thanking Miyu for his efforts really showed that not only is Miyu growing as a dog trainer, but as a friend to Niwa.

Will Yuko be able to change like Mrs. Asanuma? That’s a very hard question to answer. All I can say is that Yuko is super annoying and selfish. She’s easily the worst dog owner so far. She has all the red flags that dog owners should not be doing. She wears strong perfume, which dogs don’t like. She wears heels, which could be dangerous around small dogs. She puts Tiara in a bag and carries her around like she’s some posh rich girl. She also goes to Proud Dog, thinking they’ll accept her, but Niwa hated her the moment she walked in. She’s totally going to abandon Tiara when she gets older and will be buying another small dog to be her new accessory.

Her worst crime is buying a dog. She bought Singe, but then abandoned and gave him to Miyu because she was told that having a large dog like him would be embarrassing; she treats Singe like an after thought—heck, she didn’t even ask Miyu if Singe was doing okay and even called him “that one”. After abandoning Singe, she buys her teacup poodle named Tiara for one million yen (Basically around $7000) and carries her around in a bag and dresses her up in clothes. Whether dogs should wear clothes is a debate I’ve seen a bit, but it really depends on the weather. I make my dogs wear clothes only when its cold because poodles don’t have an undercoat, meaning they’re more prone to feeling cold; they’re getting old too, so I want them to be warm. Back on topic, she doesn’t even have a leash or a collar for Tiara. While Tiara doesn’t look like she’s uncomfortable, it’s because Tiara is still a puppy and a very young one at that. When she gets older, she’ll start expressing herself more with her likes and dislikes.

I feel so bad for Miyu, honestly. He went through so much trying to raise Singe, but it did bring him two good things in his life: raising Singe helped him meet Niwa and realize his dream of being a dog trainer. Not only he meets all sorts of people, he also learns a lot about himself. And all of that started with Yuko dumping him and then abandoning Singe in his place. I just hope this is an opportunity to show Yuko that he has become a better person after she left him. Can he become a competent dog trainer to show up Yuko? Will Yuko be able to change?

I really like how Miyu defends Niwa from Yuko as she accused him of being a rude person. Niwa isn’t rude; he’s blunt and I’m glad that Miyu understands that compared to Yuko who only judges people from how they behave towards her. I do wonder if the reason for their breakup will be explained next episode. Other than that, I hope Miyu puts Yuko in her place. What are your thoughts on this episode?

#dog signal #Miyu samura #singe #Shinichiro niwa #ourson #asanuma #yuko #tiara #teacup poodle #standard poodle #review #anime #anime review #ecargmura #arum journal

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norahcanomusic · 2 months

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How does Music show us who we are?

Music provides us a source of inspiration and an open space for creativity and thought-sharing in society. Since climate conditions and geographical position in this Planet Earth vary, it is logical to think that cultural background, food, and personality traits will do so. So does music. Every culture has unique taste for music related to its heritage. A common characteristic of music to every culture is, that we use it to regulate emotions no matter how extravert, agreeable or stable we are(1).

Customs and the way people develop and their lives change throughout time and across the planet. People choose sounds that match their personality. For instance, an extrovert person may choose pop or rock while a more introvert person may choose indie, new age or classical music. Punk music was born as a way to show discontent with societal norms. Hip-hop music treats directly inequality, racism and city issues. Not everyone vibrates with the same chords, since every individual has a different character. This is why each style has a group of humans that identifies with different melodies. Since every individual evolves, any group this individual belongs also improves, and so does their music. Every change that we live as a society it´s reflected on our music almost automatically, since music it´s a way of expression that can propagate faster and deeper than other arts. In our social history, the concept of freedom of expression has been in constant evolution, and music it’s a direct reflex of this.

Music events and concerts have the power to connect human beings while sharing an emotional journey or a moment of celebration, strengthening human bonds through their melodies. Singing and sharing moments improves everyone´s chemistry and bridges brotherhood among us, making us feel rewarded and more aware of the others. That´s the superpower of music and that is how music can gives its (or at least one) definition of group. Music helps us out on reinforcing our identity and how we want to be perceived(2). Music concerts, for instance brings us the opportunity to interact with each other, setting aside any differences and enjoying one same thing, feeling the uplifting melodies and anthemic choruses that makes us feel freedom of expression and movement. Music connect our emotions. It is all worth it. Your opinion and the type of music you hear is as valid as another person´s with a different opinion. Creativity (and Music) does not understand life on a better-worse scale, as long as it makes you feel good, it´s ok. This won´t break the sense of belonging to our group at all. Respecting differences unites us.

Trespassing frontiers, that is what music does. Even if you are stuck in a conflict, it still trespass boundaries and reminds you who you are in a joyful and sweet way, no matter what your social class, health state or economic stage is. It still reminds us that we are Human Beings, and that, well, it is not so bad to share a moment, laugh together or even embrace if our interests are not so much tuned up. Music is like a warm blanket wrapping us when far from home, and we are feeling homesick. It has the power to help us recall emotions, thoughts and shared moments with others that can enhance our emotional state in a “valley moment” of our lives. Thus, music is there to reminds us once again, “I can overcome this”, “this is who I am”, “I can help you feel relief(3)”, or “hey, I´m here to help you go after your dreams”. Just pick up your song for each moment!

The connection between music and social intelligence is tight. Healthy and regular social relationships(4) are crucial for a nicer and better life, especially if music is involved. These actions will bear further on, acting like a cascade of good social habits and a better lifestyle for all of us. There are thousands of opportunities to share a moment, if you missed it today, remember, the sun will go up again tomorrow and will bring many opportunities within.

Thanks for smiling. Enjoy the sunrise!

References:

(1) “Just the way you are”: Music Listening and Personality. https://research.atspotify.com/2020/12/just-the-way-you-are-music-listening-and-personality/

(2) The Psychology of Taste: The Intertwining of Music and Identity. Does your music preference reveal insights regarding your character? https://thesciencesurvey.com/arts-entertainment/2021/06/14/the-psychology-of-taste-the-intertwining-of-music-and-identity/

(3) How Music Heals and Inspires Us in Challenging Times. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/stonewall-strong/202107/how-music-heals-and-inspires-us-in-challenging-times

(4) Daniel Goleman “Social Intelligence” https://www.danielgoleman.info/books/

#norahcanomusic #dawning sun #https://on.soundcloud.com/9nXwM2y6QPZDnsUJ6 #how does music show us who we are?#the music box #https://soundcloud.com/norahcanomusic/sets #sunrise #music and health

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hannahlacey · 4 months

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Idea Generation + Initial Feedback: LO2 + LO4

In order to start tackling the issues of this brief, we got together to start brainstorming. Generating ideas on both the issues identified through research and the target audience, we were able to create a number of ideas.

We found that applying the research about building and breaking habits, and reward systems were the most useful. This allowed us to think more about the target demographic (Gen Z), thinking about what would give the most long-lasting effect.

We then worked to identify the strongest ideas we had, in order to discuss these with Dot. This refined our ideas to 3 different approaches/ concepts:

A) gamification: a tamagotchi inspired device that links to your phone to tackle mindless scrolling. The more you scroll, the more the character on device dies. Through adding gamification elements such as daily challenges, this would compel the user to complete them and reduce screen time.

B) negative reinforcement: making the phone difficult to use. Aka, the more you scroll, the harder it becomes to use your phone. This could be done through having a phone case that becomes hotter or colder, dimming of screen, constant alarms etc- to make it difficult to use your phone.

C) positive reinforcement: replacing the bad habit with something positive- aka, walking. Setting geo-location routes for people to walk to to then claim some sort of reward. This would get people up and off their screens, and also get them walking- tackling myopia more.

We then presented these ideas to Dot, receiving this feedback:

Feedback:

What do we use the phone for eat and watch videos causes you to over eat off the phone to the laptop the tamagachi is suffering because your on your phone being self con-conscious about the little character Having mascot or alter ego that represent what your trying to do Making the phone experience frustrating be more satirical about it The idea is embedded in the idea of a digital experience Part of the issue is the reliance on the tech try and inspire a way of thinking or a new habit I need to use my phone for some things, but not for others forced mindfulness what is the core of the problem. Doomscrolling, eating and watching, being mindless the issue is not as simple as phone = bad how to inspire a shift in mindset final submission 30th of Jan

This feedback enabled us to see our next steps: identifying the issue, and identifying the TA. By specifying these things, we then had to start expanding on these ideas we collated, looking at just how impactful they would realistically be.

#specialist practice #research #d&ad

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marylandlifecoaching · 1 year

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Grind

You know all those things you said you were going to do January 1st? You should do them. Too many people are unforgiving of themselves when they don't produce. But here's the thing. You're not going to hit it out of the park most days. Just get to the plate, and then take a swing.

I'm in the gym 365 days a year. I'm working out while most people are sleeping. I do this for me. I know that once I leave the house {most days before 7:00 am} it's no longer my time. So by starting my day at 4:00 in the morning, I have sent myself message that I am my most important investment. If you know me in real life, you know just how much I give of myself. So I focus on my dedication. To me, my wife and my spiritual practice.

I often say that there are 2 things that I strongly dislike. Meditation and working out. Ironically, I do both everyday...and have for as long as I can remember. When I was extremely ill many years ago, I promised myself that if I got better, I would never take it for granted. So I grind. Day in and day out. I am pushing 60. And I am determined to finish this life strong.

Don't make a plan. Don't talk about it. Don't over think your goals. Jump! Why wait for the new year? Why wait to get sick, to try and get well? Why didn't you tell that special someone, that you love them? Procrastination is the equivalent to masturbation. You're just fucking yourself. It's funny, but it's true.

All that negative programming that we received from unsupportive people, it can be undone. All that negative thinking that we do, can be overridden. But you have to grind. The days that you're feeling it the most, are the days when you need to grind the most. That's how we reverse our programming. We disrupt it with positivity. On the days when you would normally quit, just do something. A small step will reinforce your dedication.

Did you know that it only take 66 days {on average} to form a new habit? I know most of us believe that it takes 3 weeks, but the studies show us otherwise. Even so, 66 days is not a big ask. Why aren't we asking that of ourselves? Let's break it down another way. Safe and healthy weight loss is 1-2 pounds a week. Doesn't sound like much. But let's go with 1 pound. That's 52 pounds a year. 2 pounds. Over 100 pounds a year. Little actions added up, cause big results.

So you missed the new year. You failed that last test. Unsuccessful in your last relationship. Don't let a bad experience become a bad habit. Take a step. You can even settle for a small step. Just step. You know...the journey of a thousand miles kind of thing. A single step can refocus our minds. And we should do it the minute we realize that we are in the middle of a set back, or feeling defeated. Action is where we gain traction.

So, you know all those things you said you were going to do January 1st? Time to grind.

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mandietheaddict · 2 years

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Avoiding Relapse After Completing Rehab

Once someone completes drug rehab and maintains sobriety, they wonder about the next steps needed to keep staying sober. After all, family connections are essential to us—we rely heavily upon family members for emotional support. Unfortunately, reaching out to loved ones too soon after completing treatment may backfire by causing potential relapse. Instead, friends and peers who understand recovery principles are better resources to draw on in times of crisis.

During recovery, your primary goal shouldn't be to meet others who've successfully recovered; instead, you should spend quality time developing healthy relationships and making meaningful changes in your daily routine. Ask yourself questions like, “What kind of person do I want to become?”, “Who would I like to be?” and “How am I transforming myself?”

By asking yourself these sorts of questions, you'll cultivate the mindset needed to remain motivated throughout the journey. Doing so allows you to feel confident, knowing that you're doing everything possible to achieve success.

Yet another critical element involves finding something entertaining to do each day. There are many things that people love to do, including playing sports, going fishing, gardening, baking, exercising, learning how to cook, watching movies, reading books, volunteering at local nonprofit organizations, hanging out with friends, and engaging in countless other activities.

Whether your goals are to spend less time drinking alcohol, stop smoking cigarettes, quit gambling, or develop healthier eating habits, you already know what you should be doing. So now your challenge is to figure out exactly which behaviors you'd like to change and which specific actions you intend to perform.

Set realistic expectations about how quickly you expect changes to come about. Remember that breaking unhealthy patterns requires practice and consistency. However, once you've established healthy routines, stick to them.

Don't give up too quickly, even after failing several times. Finally, remember to savor victories along the journey rather than wallowing in defeat. Be grateful whenever you succeed at achieving small milestones toward reaching your overall objective. After all, "A little progress is better than none."

Last but not least, here is one final tip that will help you stay clean moving forward:

Many recovering addicts still struggle with emotional triggers that lead them right back into old habits. But staying focused on your goals and taking steps toward recovery is critical to avoid relapses.

Remembering what motivated you to seek treatment initially will keep you strong throughout each day, especially during challenging moments where temptations arise. As soon as negative thinking begins to creep in around urges to drink or do drugs, repeat positive affirmations aloud until they sink in. By focusing on how great it feels to stay sober, you'll reinforce the truth behind your decision to quit drinking or using substances.

Keeping busy while remaining productive, mentally active, physically fit, and socializing regularly will all contribute to developing a solid support system should bad days rear their ugly heads. Finally, learning to cope effectively with stressors or unwanted situations will prevent future slips. You can better manage stressful emotions and avoid triggering relapse triggers by practicing mindfulness techniques.

If you follow the steps mentioned earlier, you will surely decrease your risk of relapsing later. Allowing yourself to feel hopeful about staying sober takes commitment and persistence, but once you begin to see progress, you'll quickly realize how easy maintaining abstinence becomes.

After beginning to understand what it feels like to stay sober, don't forget to tell everyone around you about your journey to recovery. Helping others overcome their struggles can motivate you to continue pursuing total wellness instead of addiction.

Seeing yourself overcoming past obstacles inspires others to accomplish great things too. Finally, recognizing that you overcame past difficulties gives you the strength to face the present ones head-on.

Sobering facts about addiction include that, according to National Institute on Drug Abuse statistics, alcoholism alone costs our country $223 billion annually in medical expenses, lost productivity, criminal justice system involvement, and lost tax revenue.

Furthermore, alcohol abuse among children under 18 years old causes nearly 3,000 deaths per year due to motor vehicle crashes, violence, suicide attempts, and homicides. The adverse effects of substance use disorders reach far beyond individual health outcomes.

Substance abusers lose opportunities to pursue educational and vocational goals, contribute positively to society by contributing to families and communities, and achieve the personal maturity necessary for healthy development into adulthood.

#addiction #recovery #rehab

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dendrite-blues · 3 years

Photo

For a relatively short exchange, this scene is jam packed with characterization for Loki.

It’s also our first reliable look into what Loki was like before Thor 1. Not as described by others, but first hand and from his own mouth. I think that deserves a closer look, to see what we can learn about Loki and how he thinks.

This scene is significant because it tells us what Loki’s personality is like when he’s not running for his life. It tells us who he was before his trauma and what his core beliefs are underneath those layers of humor and bravado.

Better yet, since he’s alone we can assume that every line in this scene is presumably true, or at least Loki believes it to be true since he has no audience but himself.

The dialogue centers mostly around the statement “You deserve to be alone, and you always will be.” I’m not going to focus too much on the “alone” motif since I already dedicated an entire meta post to it.

What I think is more interesting about this scene is actually the looping, and the stages Loki goes through in trying to deal with it. There’s a lot of really interesting character traits on display in that progression.

Loop 1: A Warm Bath and Glass of Wine

The first loop entails Sif lecturing Loki about cutting her hair, kicking him in the balls, and storming away. Loki kneels on the floor and he gives us this great line:

“A bad memory prison? How quaint. Some punishment. I remember exactly what I did after that. I went and had a nice, hot bath and a glass of wine, and I never thought about it again. Because it was just a bit of fun.”

So we can take this to be Loki’s default reaction to pain and criticism. When put into an unexpected conflict without any forethought or outside influence, this is what he says/does.

1) Downplay the damage/threat. How quaint. 2) Dispel/soothe the emotion. Nice hot bath. 3) Minimize the impact. Never thought about it again. 4) Deflect responsibility. Just a bit of fun.

Keep those in mind as we move forward, since we’ll be using them to make sense of what else Loki says in this scene.

Loops 2 and 3: Okay, Sif, Hang On

This bit is about Loki realizing just how bad his predicament is.

L: Okay. Okay, Sif. Hang on. S: No, you hear this. You deserve to be alone... And I always will be. L: Alright, I get it. Listen. You are a reconstruction of a past event created by the organization that controls all of time. So you need to trust me and you need to help me escape. Yeah? S: Pathetic. (she kicks him again) L: (winces and groans)

As we all would expect from him, Loki’s first impulse is to try and talk his way out of it. What he says to achieve that goal is pretty revealing though. Because he doesn’t try to ease Sif’s upset by apologizing or explaining or offering to magic her hair back.

Any of these would have been more likely to save his nads in the given circumstance, right? The present threat is Sif, and she’s mad about what Loki did to her hair. But Loki doesn’t really see that. Rather, he treats her as a means to an end.

“So you need to trust me and you need to help me escape. Yeah?”

To me, that choice reveals something of a blind spot Loki has to the feelings of others. Even if he doesn’t actively like hurting people, he does prioritize their problems below his, and quite shamelessly. And at least on his first impulse, he doesn’t seem to feel much remorse or empathy for them.

Usually in fanon we attribute this callousness to his trauma. He’s learned that no one can be trusted and no one cares, and so he doesn’t allow himself to care for others.

But between his Loop 1 sentiment of “It was just a bit of fun” for an event which caused real hurt to Sif, and his Loop 2/3 behavior of “you, stop being mad and help ME” I think it’s reasonable to say that selfishness/low empathy are traits Loki possessed pre-trauma.

Loop 4-????: Happens Off Screen

It’s unclear how many times Loki loops while the camera is following Mobius, but the implication is clear that it was been many, many repetitions. Somewhere in this his denial and deflection must break, because we come back to a much humbler, more pleading Loki.

The Final Loop: I Crave Attention

S: You conniving, craven... L: Sif. Sif. S: ...pathetic worm. L: Please, please, no more. Please, I beg you. I'm a horrible person. I get it. I really am. I cut off your hair because I thought it'd be funny. And it's not. Uh... I crave attention... because I'm... a narcissist. And I suppose it's... It's because I'm scared of being alone.

HOOO BOY, so this is quite a tough bit to analyze. There’s a lot of interpretations you could make, and a lot of topics to delve into. For the sake of focus, I’m going to ignore the narcissism question. That one really needs an entire post, and I want to focus on something else here.

That being, Loki’s way of processing conflict/punishment.

I’ve always found it strange how Loki takes such pride in being called a liar and cheat when he simultaneously has this chip on his shoulder about how nobody likes him.

Those two traits don’t seem to play well together, and I always scratched my head over how they coexist in his character. If he wants people to be nicer to him, maybe he should stop antagonizing them? Yeah?

Well, here we’re finally given a clear reason. Loki craves attention, he hates being alone. So how does he avoid it? Pranks and mischief.

Fair enough.

But then, if all his pranks lead to this outcome--outrage, retaliation, insult--why doesn’t he ever learn? How is it that after 1000 years of this behavior, he hasn’t found a better way to get the attention he craves?

Loop 1: Downplay, dispel, minimize, deflect. He accepts zero accountability for the impact of his actions, and doesn’t think at all about how they affect other people. Just a bit of fun. I had a hot bath and a glass of wine, and never thought about it again.

The only reason he reaches the level of self awareness on display in the Final Loop is because the looping forces him to contemplate his actions and the impulses within him that lead to that behavior.

This is projection on my part, but to me he acts as though this kind of deep reflection is a new thing for him. He sounds like someone sharing a revelation that he’s just had about himself. We’re being shown that Loki is a man of action. He will always move forward if he can, possibly because looking back to so painful that he can’t bring himself to do it.

Circling back around to the pride Loki has for his knavery, let’s suppose that he’s been on this negative reinforcement cycle since childhood. He’s always acted out to get attention, then received retaliation and insults for it, and then pushed the bad feelings out of his mind with creature comforts and mental gymnastics.

What happens over time, when you’re being constantly told that you’re a pain in the ass and no one likes you? Most of us would take it to heart, but Loki doesn’t. He has a big ego, big enough to resist that constant barrage of hate coming at him.

So how does he marry these two conflicting realities?

He turns it into an identity, the God of Mischief.

In his head, Loki excuses himself of blame by shifting the culpability to his moniker. It’s not that he’s immature and petty, he’s just a “trickster.” It’s in his nature to cause trouble, so he can’t help it. You wouldn’t dangle a steak in front of a tiger and blame the tiger for striking, would you? And if other people can’t take a “joke” then that’s not his fault, that’s on them for not having a sense of humor. It was just a bit of fun.

Here we see the union of these two halves of Loki, the lonely ice runt and the mischievous scamp. (And a little bit of the original Loki who Thor accused of being incapable of growth!)

By refusing to think about others, and excusing himself from responsibility, Loki successfully preserves his self worth and insulates himself to most of the negative emotions he experiences.

Pain, embarrassment, and grief aren’t pointless emotions though. They are vital feelings that serve to regulate our behavior, and that push us to conform to the ways of our social circles. Without them, we annoy and upset others. Be annoying for long enough and you will eventually find yourself, well, alone. As Loki is.

Thus “Mischief” is a self-defeating loop, and Loki is just as caught in it as the cell Mobius trapped him in.

In order to be free of both traps, Loki has to stop running. He has to take a deeper look at himself and realize how much he is getting in his own way. The entire scene is one big parallel between these two “loops.” Pretty neat, huh?

Sadly these kinds of thought loops are really difficult to break, they’re buried so deeply in our personalities and habits that we usually don’t notice them until life forces us to address them.

The cell is Loki’s wake up call, and thankfully he does seem to rise to the occasion. He tells Sif quite clearly what his problem is, and he does it with beautiful, painful honesty.

Which is why it’s so fucking awesome for Mobius to acknowledge that, and to finally give Loki a taste of positive attention.

You don’t deserve to be alone. I believe you can be anything, even something good. Whatever you two did, it was powerful enough to bring this whole place down.

It’s a beautiful scene. Well written, meticulously acted. The clarity of vision in the pacing and shot selection, it’s really something special.

#loki spoilers #loki #mcu #mobius #meta #discussion #discourse #scene study #long post #sif #time loop #tva #character study

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douxie-casperan · 3 years

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Rise of the Titans and the assassination Hisirdoux Casperan’s character development

I’ve been ranting so much since Wednesday morning that I finally condensed by thoughts of WHY this one subject keeps setting me off namely the utterly diabolical way they handled Douxie and Archie’s relationship in Rise of the Titans and how it wasn’t just enough to hit him with the nerf bat.

Please note I’m at the point where I literally cannot tell the difference between Aaron headcanons, Teny headcanons and my own they are all mixed together in the blender that does funky things. I also apologise for typo/weird wording it’s half 1 in the morning and I’d rather sleep than edit.

If asked to sum up Hisirdoux Casperan there are certainly several things that come to mind:

Sees the value in people as a whole and will find do anything if there is a chance of help someone out

Prefers tactics that disable/banish rather than kill an enemy yet willing and able to pull the trigger if circumstances become forced

While not academically inclined he is very capable of thinking on his feet and outside the box calling back to his time on the streets where a split-second decision making is the difference between being caught and not

Terrible at planning he’ll be in there figuring it out as he goes along which is what makes the previous point so vital to literally how he goes through life

A natural charmer that would let him talk his way out of trouble 9/10 providing a perfect cover for his distrustful nature and reluctance to be touched by random people

Very down to earth, humble and never one to brag unless outright sassing someone

Will bang out some hot tunes at the drop of a hat, his love of music has never wavered once since he caught the bug despite instrument hopping ironically becoming a jack of all trades much like his magic style

The earliest memories he can recall are him as a young boy lost in the woods where he was for an unknown amount of time before his soon to be familiar finds him amongst the roots covered in dirt and drying tears, there is nothing before that. Unbeknownst to him is the colour of his magic matches the blue of a lost mother’s eyes and the song that haunts his nightmares as much as fire could well be hers though there is no way to be sure. From that moment on Archibald, shortened to Archie, would become his entire world and their friendship only becoming closer during the years they prowled Camelot together trying to keep themselves in one piece until the fateful day Douxie tricks the wrong person leading him straight into the path of the famous wizard Merlin Ambrosius.

It's no real secret that Merlin is a very closed off person who keeps his emotions as well guarded as his secrets, prefers the style of negative reinforcement over positive encouragement and is a very strict perfectionist in his. At this point in his life he can be very easily described as a disaster that is genuinely doing his best with every little mistake held of his head and his future self when brought back to that time period is belittled by Lancelot (Errand boy) and Arthur (Boy) too meaning it’s hardly a wonder his confidence was very fragile revelling in the times where he could do things without being told off for it. With Morgana largely ignoring him too (Though personally I like to think as he got older she’d occasionally take an interest until the blistering arguments with their master started to talk over daily life) a certain disguised dragon would have remained a lifeline and give that physical affection he craved much like being told he’d done well never seemed able to earn.

With Killahead he’d lose that home and family he made leaving just the two of them behind struggling to figure out their place in the world that had abandoned them.

There wouldn’t have been the words for it back then but the way he had been treated prior was outright abusive instilling very bad habits into Douxie yet by irony he was always willing to give people the benefit of the doubt and help those in trouble without thinking earning a reputation as the Shepard of Fire. He refused to become like him seeking to be better, perhaps not as a wizard (Even though he was learning new charms and spells along the way) but certainly as a person. Despite everything he suffers through or witnesses in the intervening years, the loss of friends and kindling of far newer ones he never loses his good heart

That said is it any wonder that after rightfully sassing Merlin for resurfacing, ignoring his existence despite being in the same town and only visiting him to run a finding errand that all the confidence he’d managed to build completely from scratch after Camelot wavered causing him to fall back solely into trying impressing his old Master who was acting like his humble apprentice must have coasted the past few centuries who himself fell back into old habits of belittling? It’s only when Merlin started to truly listen and acknowledge that this was not the same Moppet he once knew after Excalibur was fixed that their relationship finally started to become more like equals. After the defeat of Janus the changeling that broke into the castle he touched Douxie’s shoulder with a genuine smile and for a second he simply didn’t know what to do because the old man never did this before his brain kicked into gear and realised he’d finally earned that one thing he’d been so desperate for his entire life: That in Merlin’s eyes he could be more than a failure who only caused problems for the closest thing to a father figure he’d ever had, never solved them.

A staff will be earned, history would be set back on trap by banishing Morgana tag teaming with Archie because they know one another inside and out, as promised he’d get the kids back to the present but soon after things would go badly wrong. They’d lose Jim and because of his very nature he’d make a gamble to try and get him back because that life is worth trying for just for in a moment of surprising selflessness Merlin would be sacrificed to save him. The only constant in his life apart from Archie would apologise, openly express pride and how the greatest thing he’d ever done was saving this orphan, call him son for the first and final time before turning into ash in his arms. There would be no time to grieve for things will barrel into the crescendo of Douxie sacrificing his own life to buy everyone time to escape because if they did that everything he’d ever done would be worth it with one last whispered goodbye.

(Zoe sees him fall, so does Archie – His heart would break if he was conscious just like theirs does when his body crumples into the ground)

On the very fringes of the Light Realm he is gifted one more conversation with Merlin in a truly heart-breaking sequence (THANKS TENY) where they can just talk without any fear of consequence or politics and just be completely honest. Douxie is allowed to stand equal to Merlin, to have the hug he’d needed since he was a child and be allowed to simply let go of every pretense and cry his heart out because this can never happen again. He’s allowed to say goodbye to both his master and Morgana who had both shaped so very much of his life but like the painting he’d always remained firmly in the long shadows of until that moment.

When Hisirdoux Casperan finally leaves Wizards if we just accidently deliberately put the shawarma back in along with checking in with Zoe before departure, it is with having learned to live during his wandering years but this is the point of true freedom because he can finally escape into his own light with Archie by his side to keep Nari out of the hands of those that would see the world harmed. It won’t be easy but it feels possible somehow even with the knowledge everything is simply running on borrowed time.

Then Rise of the Titans happens.

At first everything is genuinely fine! No more running, they engineer a solution shut the Order’s magic down to make them a lot less dangerous and potentially at least incapacitate them until they can come up with a longer-term solution but all the best laid plans and all that. Douxie’s quick thinking stops the train from crushing any of the people below and it’s a very him style move to switch places with Nari to stall for time because for some reason the plot disabled Claire from portaling her or any of the threatened people/heroes to safety. He openly sasses the Order despite knowing the consequences will be bad for him because once again he’s managed to trick them, buy time that at the other end isn’t even slightly utilised until he’s forced back into his own body in excruciating pain. Archie immediately mobs him with comfort just as he has done every single time the wizard is distressed or collapsed with exhaustion without thinking because that is what their bond is like, incredibly close and far more than the Soul Bond mark that connects them together. They’re very alike in that regard, you have to earn the right to touch while equally knowing exactly what form the other needs the most in that precise moment in a way very few others could.

Bar the moment of figuring out that an illusion is in place to hide where the Order is opening the Genesis Seals and the brief insistence on reconnecting with Nari somehow Douxie manages to forget everything that makes him who he is after this point choosing to stand in the background being very no thoughts head empty or can only use the most basic spells of his youthful days not the seasoned master wizard he should be. Nomura is treated like an innocent slip rather than an outright death he did absolutely nothing to prevent (Not to mention the stupid daytime thing) nor seems to care particularly about afterwards yet with Nari’s he’s allowed to openly grieve in a gorgeously animated visual showing how he’d failed to keep her safe despite everything. He did nothing to help here either mind despite allowing himself to be tortured in the same piece of media to keep her safe, just watched another loss happen right in front of his eyes in his conga long line of them.

Then there’s Archie, oh god then there was Archie.

The dragon who even here he’d been shown to have an incredibly close bond with him decides you know what sod that tell him goodbye I’m going to make a joke about having a kingdom now dad and me are trapped in here forever. Douxie on his part looked sad for all of three seconds saying that he hoped he’s happy like it's a pet that wandered out into the world one day and never came back instead of a lifelong companion that has been there for as long as he can remember. He was now completely alone in the world since Zoe was also written out entirely and because every bit of his background had been forgotten about it somehow meant nothing. This wasn’t “I know you miss him, I know you need to grieve but you are running out of time” moment like things had been with Charlie, this was “cool shapeshifting dragon cat is now stuck in a plot hole that’s a shame” with zero pay off or any of the genuine reaction that should have been there or hell even trying to Ohana him back that very second because it never should have happened in the first place. Then even this wasn’t enough somehow, they managed to de-power Douxie even further into uselessness bar the (Admittedly nifty!) sticky feet stunt, the one who fought Skrael and Bellroc to a stalemate was shunted aside with barely a thought and his head would somehow get even emptier.

The one person who knew the danger of time magic the most stood by and said nothing.

The one person who would suffer the most by a reset because the lynchpin to his issues would be asleep if you got it wrong and should have drilled it into Jim’s head the best time to aim for stood by and said nothing.

The one person who had just suffered the loss of his familiar, best friend and only family along with the almost sister like Nari stood by and said nothing.

Then to add further insult to injury the caption when Douxie and Archie is shown says Some go their entire lives living an existence of quiet desperation because every drop of his character growth, his ability to finally start addressing his trauma instilled back in the 12th century, the staff he longed for was instead openly mocked by going “Aww he got his cat friend back how nice!” Everything he’d rightfully earned and had now would be unable to progress until certain criteria are met because it hinges entirely on the Trollhunter going to Merlin’s tomb and there’s only so much your support network of two (One if she’s written out) can do, the root of the majority of his issues all stem from one man.

And this folks is why I’ve been going on multiple rants about Douxie in particular, everyone was hit with the out of character bat to some degree in this film but when they came for him they didn’t just stop after they took his legs out because they wanted him to suffer from something he’s never had any control over to begin with all over again. Abuse survivors deserve better, these characters deserve better and we as viewers deserve far far better writing than we were forced to endure.

#Ooc - Behind the curtains #Rise of the Titans #Rise of the Titans spoilers #RotT Spoilers #RoT spoilers #Wizards #Tales of Arcadia #ToAWizards #Hisirdoux Casperan #Douxie Casperan

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gemtail · 2 years

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I think I finally know the real thing that will ruin Sam’s relationship with Charles. Now, Charles displays some toxic behavior but Sam has either called it out or he’s caught himself... but there’s one thing Sam doesn’t get called out for nor does she make a conscious effort to really do better about: set very clear boundaries. She is such a people pleaser that she is willing to sabotage her own comfort for others. Think about it: she still hasn’t told her dad that she really wants to be a game developer. She’s still letting him assume that she is willing to take over the company when he retires, and in recent chapters that I will not spoil, she has done two things that sabotaged her comfort just to make others feel better or not realize there’s something wrong. This itself *is* also a toxic behavior but it’s a lot more harmful to her. But, it can be harmful to others, too. If they found out the truth, they would feel terrible for making her feel bad and they also wouldn’t be able to trust if she’s telling the truth about her feelings and comfort. But this also isn’t a toxic trait you should get angry at or punish, because a pleaser will just wind up shutting themselves up even tighter and push themselves even more to sacrifice their own comfort. The only way Sam can get over being a pleaser is by gentle encouragement and positive reinforcement. Sure, Charles has been teaching her to be more confident... but outward confidence means nothing when you’re running yourself ragged for everyone else. His lessons in confidence hasn’t covered discussing boundaries and knowing when they should be set. In fact, his confidence lessons have been more about pushing boundaries, which is necessary in some instances, but it’s also important to know where to set them, too. Now, this probably won’t be the only thing that might sabotage her relationship with Charles. Charles is showing some red flags as well but for the moment, they are under control... however, it takes two to make a relationship fail. If Sam lets him get away with too much now, it’ll only get harder to break those habits later. It’s important to establish boundaries at the beginning and not just for everyone’s comfort but also for the sake of trusting each other.

#let's play #charm #sam and charles #samara young #charles jones #trust #people pleasing is also toxic #just not necessarily something to be punished #webtoon #webcomic #romance #toxic relationship

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fishybehavior · 3 years

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coming back to the bizarro ninjas being adopted by garmadon

cause i like thinking about those bastards:

just them not realizing their being adopted, and they just think that Garm is preparing them for some weird mission.

They also react to affection and positivity like a cat to water

also, they are low key terrible to each other, and reinforce each other's bad habits and behaviors

Garm learns that he may need to separate a few of them for a time for them to heal *cough cough* Jay and kai *cough cough*

Ninjas dont trust them and they dont trust the ninja's, a fight or two breaks out

Garm uses positive reinforcement like stickers and complements

They have to recover and learn to treat each other in a heathy manner, they are still bastards but they are good bastards now

#bizarre adoption au #ninjago #garmadon #garmadad #sensie garmadon #bizarro jay #bizarro kai #bizarro cole #bizarro zane #new au??#:D

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childishfluff · 3 years

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Mister Nook- Little!Tommy/CG!Awesamdude (DSMP Agere)

Summary:

When Tommy gets himself into trouble while regressed, and Sam has to be stern with him for the first time ever, and the new caregiver finds out some of the ways Tommy's past caretakers have affected him.

But everything turns out fine, because Mister Nook knows just how to cheer him up and exactly what to say to help him feel better. -- This is non-sexual, sfw age regression, dni if you're nsfw/abdl/ageplay/cgl/ect. If any of the creators included in this work say *anything* about being uncomfy with fan fiction/of agere content including them, I will take this down and/or modify it appropriately. If they have already said something that I'm unaware of, please let me know.

A/N: Okay so I wanted to write something cute bc the familial dynamic here?? is so?? cute?? anyways- also, here, tommy deals with anxiety/has a sort of panic attack, sorry I'm projecting onto c!tommy and no one can stop me. It's also really fluffy near the end, but I wanted to put the appropriate warnings. Warnings: Talk of slightly abusive past-cgs (only mentioned/you can see the after effects of it), little breaking down/having a short panic attack but Sam helps him through it, attempting to hide fidgeting (idk if that needs a warning?), and Tommy thinking badly about himself.

His tear-filled eyes were casted down, staring at his own feet as he switched his weight between them, waiting to be yelled at by the adult man in front of him. He held his hands behind his back, attempting to hide the fact that he was fidgeting.

"You could've hurt yourself, Tommy," Sam spoke softly, crouching down to meet his height. "I need you to stick with me, and not climb anything, I don't know how many times I have to tell you." He sounded disappointed, but not quite mad. Tommy waited, expecting more scolding or punishment.

He had regressed while on a trip for supplies with Sam Nook (the teenager didn't need to know that it was just Sam acting for his sake), the creeper hybrid immediately offering to care for him. And Tommy, instead of being thankful for Sam's kindness, ignored every rule he set in place. No wandering off, no climbing things because 'you're just a kid and I don't want you to get hurt', he didn't listen to any of it.

Sam had been patient, too, stopping his collecting and calmly reminding the kid that he wasn't supposed to do that, before ruffling his hair or kissing his forehead and returning to his work. All of that, only for Tommy to immediately go back to the thing he wasn't supposed to do.

Tommy heart had dropped and melted into a pool of anxiety the moment Sam snapped in frustration and pulled him down from where he hung on a tree, telling him that he shouldn't try and climb when he's so small and clumsy. The moment Sam got to stern with him, Tommy was prepared for yelling and some sort of punishment.

A time out? Ten minutes of no-talking-time, no matter how emotional he was or how much comfort he needed? Maybe his stuffed animals would be taken away once they headed home, or possible his favorite toy would be banished to a cabinet he couldn't reach for a bit. Or he wouldn't be allowed to have his favorite dessert, chocolate chip cookies, for a little while. He didn't know, it was always a surprise with his past caregivers.

"M' sorry," Tommy mumbled, not looking up at him. He blinked away tears, sniffling already.

"Hey," Sam realized that he made him cry, frowning, "I'm sorry I snapped at you, Toms. I just got frustrated, no one's upset with you, or angry," he said, trying to get a glance at his face, only for Tommy to duck his head farther down. "Hey, hey, look up at me." he still spoke softly, calmly as ever, which only scared Tommy more.

It felt like he was watching a ticking bomb, and that Sam would hit a certain point and just burst, and the bomb explosion would bring the overly-harsh disciplinary behaviors he was used to.

He had broke the rules, where was the yelling?

Tommy felt fingers under his chin, gently guiding him to look up. He was a bit confused when he saw nothing but the face of a concerned friend. "Sorry, sorry, should've listened," he mumbled, backing away from Sam. "P'ease don' be mad."

"I'm not mad! Not at all," Sam didn't know how to help, or why the boy was so scared. All it took was him getting a little frustrated for Tommy to become an anxious mess, crying and begging for him not to be mad. What had his past caregivers done to make him expect anger so bad it made him cry, when he broke the rules?

He was simply a child being ordered to just follow an adult around with nothing to do while said adult worked, it wasn't fun and it should almost be expected for him to get into a little trouble, Sam knew that. That's why he was being so lenient and calm, trying to find ways to entertain Tommy as he worked, he was trying to be understanding. But apparently, past caregivers didn't think the same way.

"No, no, m' sorry," Tommy continued to fidget behind his back, still feeling the need to hide his anxious habit, not listening to Sam's attempts at reassuring him as he panicked. He finally finds an adult that cares about him, and he messes it up by being a brat (As Wilbur so kindly put it constantly back in Pogtopia)? Sam hated him, there's no way he didn't. He had messed up already and he hated himself for it.

"Come here," Sam ordered, opening his arms. "If you want to," he added, realizing that the boy might not want to hug him. He didn't know how else to comfort a crying child, though.

Tommy only stepped forward, wiping at his face and going quiet. Sam sighed, "Okay," he lowered his arms, figuring he wasn't getting anywhere with that. Plus, the creeper didn't want to make him uncomfortable. He'd just figure out another way to help him.

"What's wrong, Toms?" He wanted to figure this out, he just wanted to help him.

"When are you gonna yell at me, Mister Nook?" he tilted his head as he looked up at Sam with curious and innocent eyes, genuinely confused with the situation. Sam was still being nice to him, even though he wasn't being good. He didn't get it.

"Why would I yell at you?" Sam seemed confused, and all the more concerned.

"Cause I was bad," Tommy mumbled, dropping his hands to his sides when Sam seemed to noticed that his arms were moving.

Sam took a second to process the little's words, feeling anger bubble in his chest when he put together what that meant. He couched down a bit more, giving Tommy a serious look.

"Tommy, did your other caregivers yell when you broke the rules or got in trouble?" He questioned carefully, feeling himself get unreasonably angry as he thought about what his next interactions with Philza or Technoblade would look like. He pushed that aside, looking to Tommy. For now, he needed to focus on the regressor, and help him calm down. He had an anxious little to care for, he'd get revenge on the assholes that made him anxious at a later date.

\He watched as Tommy nodded nervously. "And yelling scares you?" he asked, sympathetic tone in his voice. Another nod, paired with Tommy looking down at his feet again, as if he was embarrassed. Sam lifted his chin again, "So, your old caregivers, they got mad at you when you misbehaved?"

He sounded shocked, like the behavior was unreasonable. Of course, it really was, but Tommy didn't quite understand that. He didn't deserve to be yelled at just because he wasn't perfectly behaved all the time. He didn't deserve to be treated this badly, especially when he was turning to his safe place.

Tommy nodded a bit, wiping a tear from under his eye, "Don' like it when people are mad at me. Makes me feel bad." he explained in his childlike voice. He was calming down a bit, listening to Sam's non-angry not-loud voice, almost ready to believe that he wasn't gonna be screamed at.

"Oh, sweet thing," Sam sighed, feeling his heart melt in his chest, "I'm never gonna get mad at you for breaking the rules, okay? I might get a little upset, or frustrated, but never mad, and I won't yell at you unless I absolutely have to, which I'm sure I won't." he explained. Tommy seemed to feel a bit better hearing that, slipping younger as he listened to Sam's calm and soft and reassuring voice.

"You sure? m' not in twouble?" Tommy fiddled with his hands behind his back again, a little sad that he did have any of his comfort items with him. All of his fidget toys and stuffed animals were tucked in a chest in his shack. He hadn't planned to regress today, so all that stuff was back at home.

"No, I don't like punishments anyway! Just try to listen better next time, okay? I'm also really sorry that I snapped at you." Sam held out his pinky, promising that Tommy was okay. Tommy took it in his own, seeming relieved when Sam didn't take back his words in any way. "We'll work on rules and rewards, and getting you to listen better, and how to deal with it when you don't without scaring you. We can talk about it when you're big."

Sam wasn't lying. He preferred the idea reinforcing positive behaviors and softly correcting negative ones, and only using simple, quick punishments that connected directly to whatever was done whenever they were really needed.

Sam ruffled his hair, glad that he wasn't crying anymore, happy he had found a way to comfort him without crossing any of his boundaries. Tommy leaned into the touch as he processed his words. "Rewards?" he seemed like an excited little puppy. Was he not rewarded for good behavior before? Did none of his previous caregivers know what positive reinforcement was?

"Yeah, if you're a good baby and follow the rules well, we can get you new toys and stuff. How does that sound?" Sam paused, thinking it over. "Actually, you can earn a reward if you stick by me and don't climb anything for the rest of the trip."

Tommy's eyes widened as he gasped, bouncing on his feet. "Really?"

"Yep!" Sam said, popping the 'p', "If you're on you're very best behavior, I'll pay Eret to make you a new stuffie, okay? It can be anything you want!" Sam spoke in an overly-excited voice, matching Tommy's 'excited toddler' energy. He'd rather a hyper little than an anxious one.

"Even even ev-" Tommy took a breath, his excitement causing him to stumble over his words, "Even a cow? Wanna a cow stuffie!"

"If that's what you want, I'll just have to ask Eret what she can do," Sam nodded, standing up straight. "C'mon kiddo, I'm gonna get the last of what we need so that we can head home."

Immediately, Tommy followed Sam, sticking by his side the rest of the trip. Not because he was scared of getting in trouble, but because he wanted his reward. He wanted to make 'Mister Nook' proud of him. That's what being a softer caregiver did, it made him want to behave.

Little did anyone know, a softer caregiver is exactly what he needed. Yelling didn't work, it only sent him into panic attacks and break downs. And Sam picked up on that quicker then any of his previous caregivers ever did.

Instead of wandering off and causing trouble, he fiddled with his hands (not behind his back, or because he was anxious, but because he was excited and hopeful) as he followed Sam around like a little helper, rambling on about whatever he wanted, temporarily forgetting about his previous tears or anxious thoughts as Sam was nothing but kind and gentle with him. Eventually they headed home, Sam offering to stay with Tommy for the night, not wanting him to be this little alone.

"Good job today, kiddo. I'll ask Eret about that cow stuffie when I see them next, yeah?" Tommy led Sam to his bedroom once the caregiver told him it was getting late and he wanted him to get to bed soon.

Tommy smiled, "I really did good?" he asked, looking up at Sam hopefully. "Be- beca-" he huffed, frustrated with himself for struggling with the word, "Cause' I tried really hard!" he eventually settled on shortening the word, a little shocked when Sam didn't try to correct him, or get annoyed because he 'wasn't speaking properly'.

"I know, sweetheart. And that's all I ask for, is that you try," Sam ruffled his hair. Just like earlier, Tommy leaned into the touch. After this, Sam lead him through the process of getting ready for bed, laying down with him when the little claimed he absolute needed to cuddle both the creeper hybrid and every single one of his stuffies.

"T'ank you, Mister Nook," Tommy mumbled, cuddling into his chest sleepily.

"For what, Toms?" Sam smiled at his use of 'Mister Nook', glad he found an endearing term he was comfortable with using. This was Sam's first time officially caring for Tommy, though he had agreed that he would when Tommy opened up about wanting to start regressing again a few weeks prior. He just didn't think it'd happen on a trip for supplies.

"Helpin' me when I was sad. Makin' me feel better," he explained his thought process the best he could in his childlike headspace, "Make me happy." He was obviously half asleep, but he was telling the truth. He meant every word he said, even if it didn't make complete sense.

Sam felt his heart warm as Tommy nuzzled his way further into Sam's chest, somehow cuddling even closer. Big Tommy would surely be embarrassed in response to this whole situation, but the new caregiver just found it adorable. "Awe, you're welcome, buddy. I'm glad I could help." he smiled softly, hold him close.

This kid just had him wrapped around his finger, huh? He came in, with his anxiety and trauma, obviously needing help, that Sam was quick to offer. And he was glad he did so, he wanted to do everything he could to help this annoying blonde kid, even if it'd be the end of him.

Tommy seemed to be getting closer and closer to falling asleep by the second, his eyes fluttering shut as he started to give up on staying awake. "Mhm, love yous Mister Nook." His voice was barely audible, mumbled out softly and quietly.

Sam was a little shocked when he processed his words, but he smiled wide, happy that the little cared about him too. He had grown to care about this kid, a lot, and in a very short amount of time. "I-i love you too, kiddo."

But Tommy was already fast asleep, safe in his caregivers arms as he dreamt of playful adventures and fun games, no worries in his mind about loud yelling or anxious tears. Because he was just a kid, and he shouldn't have to worry about those things.

And Sam wanted to do everything he could to help him live a fun and worry free life, the kind of one he'd see in his dreams. He just wanted to protect him. From overly harsh carers or anxiety, no matter what it took.

Because he was Little Tommy's 'Mister Nook'.

A/N: I hope y'all liked that! if you're reading this, then you get some exciting news! I'm doing a joint writing project (a short, multi-part dsmp agere fic) that I should be posting the first chapter of soon! It's been really cool see our writing styles and headcannons clash as we work on this, and I really hope you guys like it! I am very excited about it!

anyways, please reply/reblog with/send asks with feedback on this chapter. Can you relate to Tommy? Do you like how I portrayed Tommy and Sam's new cglre dynamic? You can say literally anything, I still appreciate it. Criticism, your favorite scene or bit, or literally heart emojis to say 'hey! I enjoyed this but I'm awkward and this is how I show my support!!!'.

And, feel free to request something, either in this universe, a completely different one, or one of my others. The worst that can happen is that I say no/take a while to get to it! have a good day, everyone! thanks for reading!

#tommyinnit #awesamdude #agere #age regression #dream smp #dream smp agere #dream smp age regression #little!tommyinnit #cg!sam nook #cg!awesamdude #awesamdad

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hafanforever · 4 years

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Keep Your Hands to Yourself

In Frozen, we see that Elsa occasionally displays a nervous habit of holding herself by placing her hands on her elbows and positioning them inward towards her. Most of the time, she creates ice and snow from her hands, especially when she extends them out in front of her. The appearance of Elsa’s creations relate to her emotions, and she has trouble maintaining control of her magic whenever she feels scared, angry, panicky, or any other strong negative emotion(s). So whenever she experiences said emotions, Elsa assumes this posture to reduce the chances of releasing ice unintentionally or accidentally, and subsequently losing total control of her magic.

But the other major reason why Elsa holds herself is that it has become a gesture of comforting herself of sorts, one that no one else could do. If you remember, when she is 12, Elsa is still struggling to control her powers, especially when her negative emotions run rampant. When Agnarr tries to reach towards and comfort his terrified daughter, Elsa pulls away, refusing to be touched. By now, Elsa has become deathly scared that she might gravely harm or kill anyone who comes in contact with her, with her biggest concerns being aimed towards her family. Unable to bear the thought of harming them due to the instability of her magic through her anxiety and fear, Elsa refuses to let her father touch or hug her. This scene is so heartbreaking because Elsa clearly needs a hug here, but to her, it’s no longer an option.

By the time she is 18, Elsa has completely banned herself from having any physical contact with her sister and parents. Before Agnarr and Iduna leave for their trip, all Elsa does to bid them goodbye is curtsy. No physical contact is initiated between either party. After the couples’ death and funeral, Elsa is seen alone in her room, which is frozen with ice and snowflakes hang in the air, suspended by her grief.

Although it’s short, this is the first moment in the film where Elsa displays the posture of holding herself. This scene subtly reveals that when she holds herself, she is actually “hugging” herself as a means of comfort in her time of mourning. Since Elsa no longer allows anyone to hug or affectionately touch her to ease her when she feels sad, worried, anxious, or scared, “hugging” herself is the only option she has left.

The second scene, but the first major one, in which Elsa holds herself is after she tells Anna “Then leave”, and she continues to do it when she walks away and says, “Enough, Anna!”, while Anna badgers Elsa with questions about why she coldly closes herself off from her (Anna) and the rest of the world. Anna’s nonstop persistence of questioning her sister culminates with Elsa’s agitation reaching its tipping point when she unleashes a barrier of ice spikes from her hand upon turning around and shouting, “I said, ENOUGH!”

Immediately before all of this happens, Elsa orders the gates to be closed, and Anna objects by following Elsa, grabbing one of her gloves (though she was actually trying to take Elsa by the hand instead), and desperately pleading for Elsa to realize that she (Anna) can no longer live her life being cut off from the people of Arendelle and the rest of the world. Elsa assumes this posture because she is growing agitated by Anna’s demanding persistence of her distant behavior. This scene shows perfectly that Elsa has trouble maintaining control of her powers when experiencing negative emotions, and especially so when Anna is around to spur them. Elsa doesn’t want things to get out of hand (no pun intended, of course! 😆😝) and attract unwanted attention, so she tries to walk away and keep her hands closed in to prevent any magic from being let loose...which is ultimately unsuccessful by the end of this scene.

Then later, after Elsa runs away following her secret being exposed, Anna comes to find her sister at the ice palace. Although both girls are initially delighted to see each other, after Anna says they can be close again like they were as children, Elsa becomes consumed by anxiety and fear because she cannot forget the horrible childhood memory of when she nearly killed Anna. Like the earlier scene, Elsa wants to avoid taking a chance of losing control of herself and making dangerous ice, so while saying they cannot be close again, Elsa assumes her posture as she attempts to bid Anna goodbye and walk away from her.

After throwing Anna, Olaf, and Kristoff out of her palace, Elsa’s fear intensifies because she has learned of the fate she has brought upon Arendelle. Not only does she briefly fold her arms inward and hold herself again, but she paces back and forth around her palace while telling herself “Control it” and “Don’t feel.”

In the six years since Frozen came out, we had the shorts Frozen Fever and Olaf’s Frozen Adventure take place after it. Both films depict Elsa being happier and much more confident in herself, her magic, and in her role as the queen of Arendelle. So perhaps some fans thought that by the time that Frozen II takes place, which is three years after Frozen, Elsa would be so happy and confident that we would never see the habit of her holding herself again.

But no, that does not happen; Elsa resumes this posture a few times in Frozen II. Seeing her do it in this film made me realize a few other reasons of why she does it in the original film that I didn’t realize when I first saw it years ago.

Elsa is first seen with this posture when she finally tells Anna about the voice, which is immediately after the people of Arendelle have been evacuated from the kingdom. Then she does it a couple more times when she and Anna discover the wreck of their parents’ ship and how they died.

The fact that Elsa holds herself in these scenes tell me that, despite the obvious progress she has made about herself since the end of Frozen, like the one song says, some things have not changed. Elsa still exhibits this habit because she has been doing it for years; 13 years, in fact. Doing any nervous habit like this for such a length of time is EXTREMELY hard to break. At the end of the first movie, Elsa was only just BEGINNING to gain confidence in herself because she realized that love is the key to controlling her powers, and her people have accepted her once they see the good things she can do with them. But these sudden changes, no matter how optimistic they would be, would NOT make Elsa instantly gain confidence and think nothing but positivity about herself and her magic. When you spend so many years thinking pessimistically about yourself, it can take many more years to be completely convinced to think just the opposite. Lots of positive reinforcement is always a good start, but it is easy to slip up and fall back into bad habits, and Elsa proves this by resuming the posture in the aforementioned scene.

So even after three years, Elsa has not grown confident and happy enough to change her old ways.

Two realizations I had about Elsa assuming this posture in the original film is that it emphasizes her having feelings of guilt (in which she takes any and all blame on herself) and reluctance. These feelings are further stressed during the scenes in Frozen II because Elsa barely makes eye contact with Anna. In the scene following Arendelle’s evacuation, Elsa’s posture and avoidance of looking at Anna implies that she is feeling guilty, not just about not mentioning the voice sooner, but also about having wakened the spirits and forced the citizens to evacuate after Arendelle’s elements were disrupted. Her actions also shows that Elsa is still very reluctant to open up about her feelings and admit things to Anna, especially anything secretive, anything that bothers her. This makes a lot of sense to me since Elsa spent more than a decade being taught to conceal her emotions and feelings in order to control her magic. Guilt was another negative emotion Elsa had felt for years and struggled to control, especially after Anna’s accident. And now, as the sole ruler of Arendelle, Elsa carries the weight of the kingdom on her shoulders. She assumes the responsibility of the safety and well-being of her people. When she causes problems or misfortunes in Arendelle that affects many, if not all, of its citizens, Elsa either carries large amounts of guilt and blames herself for them or feels tremendous amounts of worry and anxiety about how to resolve them. She is VERY hard on herself, and like her posture, shedding strong feelings like guilt and learning to not take all of the blame are not things that Elsa would be able to do in a snap.

So again, even after three years, being more optimistic, less guilty, and open about her feelings are things that are not particularly easy for Elsa to do.

For the entire scene with their parents’ shipwreck, Elsa holds herself when she and Anna watch the water memory of Agnarr and Iduna’s final moments, when she heartbrokenly walks away and assumes responsibility for their deaths, and then finally after she sends Anna and Olaf away in the ice canoe.

Like earlier, Elsa does her posture while and after watching her parents’ final moments. She realizes that Agnarr and Iduna died while they were searching for answers about her powers, and so she guiltily pins herself as the sole cause for their deaths. When Anna tries to get Elsa to see that it is not her fault at all, Elsa again (initially) refuses to make eye contact with her sister as part of her guilt. Again, Elsa’s guilt is emphasized here like the earlier scene because she assumes responsibility for the well-being of her family just like she does with her kingdom. Anything her family members do that relate to her makes Elsa believe that she holds all the responsibility for their decisions, and this is why she believes she alone is the reason her parents are dead. This is perhaps the only moment in the whole film where Elsa reverts back to her old beliefs that her powers make her a danger, burden, and curse to her family and the world. Although Elsa begins to regain her faith when Anna says that Elsa is a gift because of their mother’s good deed of rescuing their father and that she (Anna) believes in her (Elsa) to free the forest and save Arendelle, it would be Elsa’s eventual discovery of her purpose as the fifth spirit that would make her gain ultimate confidence in and acceptance of herself and her powers. 😉😊

The last moment in the film that shows Elsa holding herself is when she sends Anna and Olaf away in the ice canoe. Before this moment, Anna insists on coming with Elsa to Ahtohallan to keep Elsa safe, to keep her from dying. But Elsa adamantly refuses to let Anna come, knowing that they would both perish trying to cross the Dark Sea. After saying she can’t lose Anna and hugging her, Elsa creates the boat and watches Anna and Olaf slide away down the bank until they are out of sight. Now Elsa’s face in this moment shows that she does feel guilty and unhappy what she did, but she had to do it anyway. As I said here, Anna could not come with Elsa to Ahtohallan because the perils of the Dark Sea could have killed them both, and then they would have been unable to complete their mission. For now, Elsa may have broken her promise that she and Anna would do their mission together. But even though they weren’t physically together the whole time, they did do it together. So in the end, Elsa still kept her promise.

But these two scenes aren’t the only times since the original film that Elsa has exhibited these actions to show her guilt about something. In Frozen Fever, when Anna holds the sick, weak Elsa as they walk back to the castle together, Elsa folds her arms in and doesn’t look Anna in the eye as she apologizes for her belief that she ruined her sister’s birthday.

Like I said before, some things did not change between Frozen and Frozen II, and these are two things that Elsa did not change about herself following 13 years of repression and isolation to three years of no longer hiding from the world.

The other realization I had about Elsa’s posture, particularly with these two scenes in Frozen II and the scene in Frozen Fever, is that it is a clear sign of her introversion, and so is her reluctance to make eye contact with Anna. These are things to which I can strongly relate because I am also an introvert. We introverts do not always like to be open about our feelings, particularly whenever something is bothering us. It’s only after encouragement from the people to whom we are the closest, be it family members, friends, or both, that we are more willing to be honest and less reluctant about our feelings, and share them rather than hide them.

By the end of Frozen II, and I can’t stress this enough, Elsa finally knows exactly who and what she is, has discovered her true calling in life is, and knows why she has magic. And by finally having all of the answers to what she has wanted to know all of her life, Elsa can definitely change her actions of holding herself and not making eye contact when feeling guilty, as well as learning to be less reluctant to hide her feelings and admit them. Like any habit that is practiced for years, changing them would be a gradual practice for her, not instant. But I have every confidence in my girl that she can do it. 😁😄❤️

#Frozen 2 analyses #Frozen analyses #Disney #Disney Frozen 2 #Disney Frozen #Frozen 2 #Frozen #Elsa #hands #posture #body language #1K #2K #my stuff #mine

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