#as well as things like age and compassion or lack thereof etc.

[softgrungeprophet]

sometimes "the curtains are blue for a reason" means things like my deliberate decision to have dr. warren use latex surgical gloves vs donald using nitrile gloves

[twothpaste]

some PSI headcanons

Ness' PSI developed from a very young age, but never grew powerful enough to do anything particularly impressive 'til he went on his journey. A little bit of clumsy wimpy telekinesis, usually dropping stuff in the process. Mending small cuts & scrapes. Talkin' to dogs. Nothing too flashy, almost mundane even. His efforts to practice or show off usually ended in goofish blunders, or incredulity from others. While his best bud Porky flip-flopped between jealousy and dismissal. So Ness grew up feeling sort of insecure about his abilities. Meeting Paula & Poo was kind of a game changer for him, realizing he really wasn't a lone psychic weirdo.

Paula was well-known for her PSI in Twoson. Practically Ness' opposite, she was a natural child prodigy. Loved to show off her abilities like party tricks, much to the delight and amazement of her community. Her mother encouraged it, kinda parading her around (vicariously soaking up the praise & awe). She's never been ashamed of her powers, but did grow to feel misunderstood & a little taken advantage of when she realized most folks (her mother included) just saw them as a novelty. Her visions of Ness are actually a rare precognitive ability. However, Paula can't exactly provoke visions on command, and can't tell whether or not the futures she sees are set in stone. Since she's got so much proud finesse over her offensive PSI, having little control over her precognition actually frustrates her to no end. Meeting Ness & Poo humbles her, and comes as a huge relief when she finally has fellow psychics in her life who really get it.

Poo's trained with fellow psychics all his life, but was taught only to use his powers under formal discipline. When he meets a little fat kid who telekinetically juggles chicken wings, and a snarky girl who uses PK Thunder for static electricity pranks, he's kind of blown away. The freedom granted by using his powers loosely & Teleporting around the globe cannot be understated. Dude lowkey develops a bit of a rebellious streak, finding crafty ways to employ PSI for fun. He can definitely read minds, which probably unnerves his friends at first. I like to imagine he can't learn PK Fire 'cause it embodies a sort of brazen fury that just isn't present in Poo's character - whereas Thunder and Freeze are more focused and composed.

Lucas n' Claus had latent psychic abilities from birth - but contrasted with Ness' flashback where he was using telekinesis as a baby, I get the impression they were comparatively late bloomers. Maybe due to their hometown upbringing; Tazmily's defined at its core by such a profoundly repressed peace, after all… They could communicate with animals, and assumed everyone else could too (adults lackadaisically humored their babbles about whatever Boney was sayin'). They had a strong telepathic link with each other, and assumed that was just a normal twin thing. It's interesting how trauma, urgency, and an implied survival instinct is what "awakens" their true potential. I could probably make a whole post about that alone, oh no, I'll go on instead.

Since he didn't grow up actively using PSI, Lucas tends to forget he has it, and often overlooks or forgoes its practical applications. He rarely uses telekinesis, he cleans & bandages wounds before recalling he can use Lifeup, he doesn't often consciously employ his empathic abilities. Said empathic abilities are extremely potent, though. Kid picks up on everybody's feelings all the time, and can never quite tell if it's a psychic thing or his anxiety or just his natural compassion for others. He can't actually read the minds of strangers though - the mere possibility is deeply unnerving to him. He can passively hear Claus' thoughts (or ominous lack thereof 😶). And he's at least sorta sensitive to the thoughts of other folks he's grown dearly close to (Kuma, Duster, Flint post-reconciliation, etc).

The Masked Man's powerful PSI is all just tightly-channeled fear and rage and love and despair, so warped beyond recognition that neither he nor his handlers can correctly identify it. Fassad trained him through dubiously brutal methods, forcing him to inflict pain, conditioning his subconscious mind to relish what little power it could wield over its surroundings. My post-canon Claus goes through a long phase where he swears off PSI, afraid of its potential, convinced he doesn't deserve it. Only for it to re-emerge from his fingertips anyways in moments of stress or concern (oops, sorry little dude, it is a fundamental part of who you are). Once Lucas n' Kuma show him how to use it in a healthy way, Claus does a 180, eager to reclaim it. He's got all of the same abilities as Lucas (including Lifeup & Shields, which'd been thoroughly repressed along with the rest of his compassion, before). His empathic capacity is literally the same too - but since Claus ain't nearly as emotionally intelligent as his brother, and his head's usually rattling with his own mess of feelings, he can't often make much sense of other peoples'. It kinda just forms a layer of background noise, which he tends to tune out. As his disabilities progress with age, he grows more comfortable relying on telekinesis.

Kumatora's such a natural psychic, she was literally having telekinetic fire-breathing tantrums as an infant. Which is the main reason why the Tazmilians passed her onto the Magifolk, knowing they'd be able to raise her better than a bunch o' amnesiac bumpkins ever could. Though not exactly structured or formal, her training was baked into her upbringing. Thus, PSI's baked into her everyday lifestyle. It's hard for Kuma not to use her powers casually, to fetch writing utensils from across the room, or heat her tea with PK Fire, or overhear your thoughts and respond to them aloud. (Probably a hilarious challenge when she was posing as Violet). She was the only human psychic she'd ever known, right up until Lucas rolled up packing new powers he was mildly to severely frightened of. It's only thanks to Kuma that he learned how to handle himself with care and confidence. And only thanks to Kuma that the postgame world's got any proper knowledge about PSI. I like to imagine she offers tutelage to any new psychics that may emerge. The one person who's left to bear PSI's history and proper training methods, carrying on a tradition passed down by her guardians…

I headcanon all psychics have telekinesis, but some are better or worse at it than others. And they all have some degree of telepathy, though very few are focused & skilled enough to straight up read minds. Communicating with animals falls somewhere relatively low along the same scale. They can learn techniques from each other (a la the adorable explanation given for Ness & Lucas' Smash Bros movesets) - but it takes a long period of dedicated one-on-one teaching, hence why we don't see it happen during the fast-paced storylines of the Mother games. Though PSI is very uncommon, it isn't really hereditary, and can manifest in literally any rando. But it does appear more often in some locations / populations than others (ie. Dalaam as a place of longstanding psionic spiritual traditions, Nowhere as a blessed place sitting atop a draconic embodiment of the Earth's power, you get the idea 🤷‍♂️). I like to portray it more as a cerebral brain power than a 1-to-1 with fantasy magic. It does have a wishy-washy hippie sorta vibe to it though. Something that comes from a connection to Mother Earth, a way to channel emotions and love and the gift of life itself.

(I personally find M1's explanation for PSI's origin incompatible with the other two games, which both present a much more grounded, ancient, and Earthly take on it. Which is fine, since M2 plays out more like a reboot than a sequel anyways. But in an earnest effort to try and connect the threads, maybe PSI is simply a kind of power that exists within every planet? Thus, when George "steals" the secrets of PSI, he's learning how humans can unlock the powers granted by the Earth, the same way aliens presumably unlocked the powers of their homeworlds?? Who knows.)

[sol1056]

wuxia: a general yet probably too verbose introduction to the genre, pt2

and now we get to the actual conventions -- although more accurately, these are just the ones that I either noticed the strongest or had the most difficulty adjusting to, when I was first getting into wuxia. 

Not all stories have these elements, and of course in a genre as varied (and as old) as wuxia, there are twenty exceptions for every rule. What’s more, one story’s mild admonishment (”well, X is frowned on, but I guess if you’re just low-key about it”) can become the next story’s worst taboo (”omg you did X, you must be shunned! SHUNNNNNNNNNNed.”). 

Like any other living genre, authors will shift/tilt convention as needed to drive a story’s conflicts. 

btw, it’ll probably be a few days before I can do an introduction to MDZS, which should give time to @guzhuangheaven, @atthewaterside, @dramatic-gwynne, @the50-person, @drunkensword (and anyone else) to point out everything I misunderstood, over-emphasized, misinterpreted, or just plain missed. 

--- --- --- --- --- --- ---

1. Hierarchy still matters. A student’s respect for their teacher, a child’s respect for their parents, younger siblings/students to elder. You’ll see this in how people are called (ie 3rd uncle, elder sister, 2nd brother), but this doesn’t mean everyone goes around dutiful and obedient. Err, wuxia is actually more of the opposite. I mean, a good story requires conflict between characters, and what better way than someone overturning (or at least appearing to overturn) the hierarchy?

In that vein, creating new relationships that take precedent over old relationships is anywhere from disrespectful to a full-on violation of natural law. As in, learning from someone other than your teacher, joining a new family in lieu of your birth family, running away to get married -- hell, just running away! -- are all potential sources of trouble. At the same time, wuxia has a really strong comedic streak (all the martial arts also make for great slapstick). Squabbling families with headstrong, misbehaving kids who break the rules, well, that’s a classic that can be played for melodrama, comedy, or both.

2. Swordsmanship is the pinnacle (or the most prevalent) of martial arts. The protagonist is either going to be (or end up) the best swordsman (or swordswoman) ever, or they’re going to use a weapon that’s unlike any other -- and if the latter, they’ll either be reviled for it, or lauded.

3. Despite the fact that swords are heavy and a real pain to carry around, characters carry their swords. All the time. Everywhere. In historical dramas, swords hang from belts, but not wuxia. Plus, characters will place swords on the table, across their lap, lean them against chairs, put them on the floor, and it doesn’t seem to map to whether they’re among allies or enemies, on guard or relaxing. The sword goes with them everywhere, and is always within reach. (And again, this general convention can go strict in some stories, like MDZS, where the failure to carry a sword is seen as a major breach of etiquette.)

4. The general term for ‘members of a sect’ or ‘people who study martial arts’ is ‘cultivators’. To cultivate is to grow something: cultivating [internal or spiritual] fields to gain a [skillset] harvest. Cultivation isn’t just going to the practice hall and swinging a sword three hundred times; meditation, study, even copying out texts are also ways to cultivate. 

5. Wuxia characters may also be called swordsmen/swordswomen, wandering heroes, or martial heroes. If the story pivots on getting into a sect (or achieving some rank in a sect), then the characters will be considered cultivators (of a given path). If they’re introduced as just swordsmen, that seems to indicate it’s a story where sect politics plays less of a role. Or both terms may be present, to differentiate between sect-members/students versus people who defected (or are self-taught). 

6. Wuxia as a genre is remarkably egalitarian. Expect women martial artists to throw down with (and hold their own against) male opponents. Learn to fear the older women in wuxia; they’re often the most dangerous. Not to say there aren’t damsels in distress in wuxia, just that there are usually as many female warrior characters, too.

If the story has multiple sect leaders, usually at least one is a woman -- and if not, one of the men is married to a woman that everyone knows is the truly powerful/skilled one. Near-equal cast percentages are common, too, both in the foreground (and not always for the sake of pairing off for romance), and in the background, when you catch shots of the rank-and-file sect members.

Basically, you can expect the average wuxia to pass the Bechdel test with flying colors. It may not always pass all the other gender tests, but conversations (and deep friendships) between female characters are usually on-screen (not just implied), and often a strong part of the storyline.

7. The super-hero-like skills -- leaping from or to an extreme height, tossing someone a great distance, getting thrown far and getting up again -- are a good map to things like gunslingers who can shoot a playing card at eighty paces blindfolded. Or Robin Hood getting a bullseye through the arrows of someone else’s bullseyes. Wuxia tends to expect even superlative skills at a beginner’s level (so you’ll see student-characters doing such), but it’s all just ways to say, these characters have studied the sword while the rest of us were waiting for the translation team to release the next episode.

8. Those skills are not magic, which occupies a different category. Whether shown or implied, wuxia’s ‘martial arts’ (if exaggerated and unrealistic) are still studied. When magic shows up, it’s often derided, because it’s a shortcut. There’s an insincerity, a kind of bad sportsmanship. The reaction in-story is much like real world reaction to athletes using performance-enhancing drugs. It’s cheating, and it’s disrespectful towards your opponents, that you refused to match their efforts with equal effort of your own.

9. Every story has its own definition of what is, or is not, ‘magic’ and thus a shortcut. Wuxia is usually pretty good about making clear what the story considers ‘orthodox’ or ‘right’: look for characters introduced as authoritative voices in the story’s world, and what they do is probably a good indication of accepted skills (that is, not-magic). Well, unless the character cackles a lot, in which case they’re probably an example of magic/unorthodox approaches.

9. Qi -- energy -- is the root of a character’s power (or lack thereof). Plenty of wuxia only reference this concept in passing, but some codify it into a necessity -- as in, some people have the ‘right’ kind of qi, and some do not. Or that it takes years to develop so the hero is permanently behind until they finally get to doing the work. Whether nature or nuture, this qi is how a cultivator can leap high bounds while the background farmer or merchant characters must scramble to find a ladder.

10. Over the years of television, ‘manipulating qi’ -- shoving energy at someone through the hands/feet, a sword, a musical instrument, something else -- has developed its own set of stylized movements. It’s a lot of arm-waving and finger twirling and whatnot (often circular). I think of it like riding an invisible bike to charge the generator; releasing it means the TV has the juice to kick on. Or the tazer can release, or whatever.

11. There are a bunch of virtues being promoted by wuxia, from a tangle of daoism, buddhism, and confucianism -- things like loyalty, sincerity, honesty, humility, respecting one’s parents (or teacher), benevolence, and justice (or righteousness). Plus a disregard for wealth or glory for personal gain.

The good (or enduring) wuxia stories seem to be the ones that find a way to make a virtue into a point of conflict -- as in, loyalty to what/who, questions of what it means to be righteous in this circumstance or that, and so on. The virtue is still at the heart of things, the conflict lies in how it’s interpreted or applied.

12. Wuxia predates Confucianism and Buddhism (and possibly Daoism), so it’s got a long history of cherrypicking to mix and match as it pleases. Some things you might see, and the influencing source:

horsetail whisks, used for purifying a space and removing evil influences, traditionally carried by Daoist priests as a sign of their rank. 

an emphasis on Yin and Yang as driving opposing energies (sometimes good and bad, sometimes required to be balanced), also a Daoist concept.

most mystical elements are also Daoist influence: like qigong (coordinated posture and movement to increase/improve health, spiritual strength, and martial prowess), alchemy, astrology, etc.

mudras (hand gestures, cf Naruto) are predominantly Buddhist, meant as a way to focus oneself. When these show up in wuxia, the origin is still ‘to focus oneself’ but being wuxia, the result is usually a burst of visible power.

if a story revolves around learning to forgive/forget and to have compassion (over vengeance), that’s the Buddhist influence showing.

if filial piety, the observance of rites, or questions of ethics/morality are significant themes, that’s probably confucianism’s influence.

The lines are way blurrier than I’m going into, here. After all, the three perspectives have competed and coexisted for hundreds of years. There’s a fair bit of cross-contamination, as it were. 

13. A lot of wuxia -- and I mean a lot of wuxia -- can be boiled down to coming-of-age stories: a young hero faces trials and tribulations on his (or her) way to finding a place in society. Sometimes it’s working their way up through the levels to claim the top spot; sometimes it’s being rejected from the school they wanted, and continuing to fight that fate until they’re accepted and demonstrate they deserve to be there.

This focus on younger heroes also means that wuxia is rife with idol dramas, where the majority of the cast are young/first-time actors, chosen for their looks and their similarity to the character (so as to not require too much of a stretch for them, acting-wise). On the other hand, this does often mean the pretty is almost overwhelming, since it’s looks and not long-time acting experience that set the bar.

14. Compared to other Chinese literary genres, wuxia is somewhat unique in its emphasis on individualism, but this isn’t to say you should expect full-throated american-style rugged individualism. I’d say it’s less about the individual breaking free of social rules, and more that the individual must find a way to interpret those social rules and forge a compromise between what they’re required to be vs who they want to be.

The best illustration I can think of is a parental dictate of “I want you to marry and have a family,” that sets off the story’s conflict. By the end of the story, the now-adult child realizes the message wasn’t meant literally so much as a way to say, “I want you to grow up, have a place in this world, surrounded by people who love you.” The error wasn’t in the parents’ blindness to the child’s needs, but in the child’s interpretation of the parental message. 

(Unlike historical or modern dramas, which often have a lot of daddy issues -- thanks, Confucius -- wuxia is relatively free of that. Child-parent conflict is common, but truly dysfunctional on the level of modern melodramas, not quite so much.)

15. The fights are balletic and acrobatic; they’re meant as an abstract representation of a fight. You want reality, go watch an HK or Korean action movie/show. Wuxia is where you go for the twirling, the leaps, the spins, all the kinds of moves that no decent fighter would ever do, ‘cause turning your back on the enemy gets you killed -- but wuxia isn’t about that, it’s about the cool visual factor.

16. Historically and aesthetically, the costumes are closest to the Ming dynasty  -- layered and belted ankle-length robes with long, flowing sleeves. Partly because the Ming dynasty seems to be a favorite setting (for whatever quality of actual time period a story even bothers to identify), but also (at least, my theory is) because those big sleeves make for dramatic gestures when swinging a sword.

17. There are newer wuxia that show some Game of Thrones influence (or, in the movie adaptations like The Four, some grimdark-slash-steampunk influences) but for the most part, wuxia is rather brightly-lit. My theory is that it was traditionally designed to be visible on (literally) smaller TVs, out in rural villages and whatnot. Frex, the darkest things get in wuxia, visually, is a day-for-night blue, since filming at night for real makes for an awful dark screen. 

This is changing -- I’ve seen a lot more wuxia that are genuinely filming at night -- but the same show may also do day-for-night just cause they’re on a tight schedule and can’t sit around until it’s dark again to shoot the next scene, so they make do. 

18. Older filming styles still dominate in wuxia, and the one you may notice the most is a particular move where the speaking character turns away from whomever they’re talking to, walks towards the camera, and speaks in the direction of the camera. It’s just not something people normally do, but it happens all the time in wuxia.

I think it comes from the days of only having one camera, so either you took the time to reshoot to get reactions (not really possible on shoestring budgets with tight deadlines), or you made sure the frame could include the speaker and the listeners. (Or it might be coming from the stage, where the actor must face the audience to be heard.)

The basic blocking, lighting, and so on sometimes reminds me of afternoon soap operas from the 80s, done with videotape rather than film. Not cheap so much as lower budget. 

19. If you want historical authenticity, this is the last place to look. The costumes will be flashy, especially for the hero and his love interest: layered and embroidered, with modern fabrics in bright, sometimes neon!, shades and combinations (Nicholas Tse, I see you).

Older wuxia, the characters rarely got dirty, a wound from a fight was represented by a streak of clearly-fake (and somewhat diluted) pink syrup, and plenty of times a character will go through an entire battle and not even be sweaty or dirty. (Game of Thrones is changing this, too, though -- I’m seeing more dishevelment, though it’s still relatively minor compared to post-battle LotR or GoT.)

20. You can tell the budget from two things: how many costumes and how many wigs. A lower-budget wuxia (or one made at rapid pace) means characters go to bed in their day-clothes, with headpieces still on. Wigs are expensive, and a quickly-made wuxia means you get one wig, and that’s what you’re always wearing, rather than a wig for sleeping and another for waking. Same goes for showing characters in their day-clothes versus what they’d wear for night, or when relaxing, or whatever. (Or having two versions of the same costume, one pre-battle and one post-battle.)

21. About that historical bit -- at least up to the Qing dynasty, Chinese men usually wore their hair in a top-knot once they reached adulthood. Wuxia’s aesthetic is for everyone -- including elderly men -- wearing their hair mostly down with only a small top-knot to pull back their bangs. This just isn’t how anyone wore their hair, but it’s a massive visual clue that the story takes place in the jianghu, where normal society’s rules don’t apply.

22. I think I mentioned the Ming dynasty -- not sure why, but it seems to be the most favorite target. (You’d think it’d be the Qing, since they were outsiders, but nope.) The literary precursors of wuxia had a strong streak of ‘the government is corrupt and/or full of idiots, we’re better off doing our own thing over here,’ which led to various dynasties cracking down on wuxia as a kind of rebel literature.

It’s kind of ironic that wuxia’s history of overturning the natural order confucian principles (that is, treating individualism as an equal virtue, and elevating commoners to hero-status for *gasp* leaving their place of birth to wander around and do good deeds) is what made wuxia immensely popular during the cultural revolution, when China was busy deconstructing (often violently) so much of its cultural past. Wuxia stood apart, as something that had been quietly deconstructing all along, and thus shot up in popularity for finally being in tune with the zeitgeist.  

(Wuxia in all its forms has always, perhaps unsurprisingly, been massively popular among the common classes. Wuxia is not, never has been, a high literary form; watching wuxia means you’re watching the latest iteration of an ancient yet truly pop-as-in-popular-as-in-common culture.)

I get the impression the chinese authorities have an uneasier relationship with historical dramas (which can walk a fine line of implying that imperial past as a good/positive), whereas wuxia’s place in the mythical jianghu diminishes its ability to threaten via social commentary. This isn’t to say wuxia isn’t in dialogue with the social and political environment in which it’s made; all literature is, by virtue of being of its time. It’s just a bit more coy about it, and its loudest political-type trait -- of dismissing the imperial system/capital as corrupt, evil, or otherwise contemptible -- fits with a desire to see the dynastic past as something to be discarded and/or dismissed, not emulated.  

23. Oh, and one last thing: wuxia is very, very, very chaste. A lot of the romantic relationships are almost entirely implied -- a lot of longing looks, maybe the exchange of a significant gift, I mean, we’re talking a genre that considers holding hands to be pretty daring. I’ve seen entire series where you know those two will end up together, but if you can’t read the visual cues, you’d think they were just close friends (if not socially-awkward acquaintances).

That said, when wuxia breaks that so-chaste rule, it’s like having a table dropped on you. There’s a drunken makeout scene in The Legends that had my jaw on the table because holy smokes, that was unexpected. Mad passionate wild abandonment just isn’t a thing in wuxia.

[ETA: don’t get me wrong, wuxia in general is hugely passionate. Just not on a sexual level; it’s on the emotional level that wuxia will go to eleven, repeatedly.]

...okay, that wasn’t even in the neighborhood of brief. hell, it wasn’t even in the same state as brief, but I did warn you. Wuxia’s a huge genre, after all. An entire book might still only scratch the surface, but hopefully this suffices as a general introduction.

[diveronarpg]

Congratulations, DIANA! You’ve been accepted for the role of DIANA. Admin Rosey:  There is a freshness and charm that Daphne brings to everything - her interviews, her conversations, her reasoning. This decision was not at all an easy one because both applications highlighted different aspects of her that we love and adore. But ultimately it was this voice, this distinctly Daphne voice that brought the decision to a close. She makes you fall in love with her that much more. I can't to see what she does when you bring her to life on the dash!  Please read over the checklist and send in your blog within 24 hours.

WELCOME TO THE MOB.

OUT OF CHARACTER

Alias | Diana

Age | 21

Preferred Pronouns | she/her/hers

Activity Level | y’all know, but I’m about to graduate college + be unemployed for a bit, so I’ll have writing time.

Timezone | PST

How did you find the rp?  | Div Stanning since 2017.

Current/Past RP Accounts | Castora’s account.

IN CHARACTER

Character | Daphne Adèle Allard / Diana

What drew you to this character? | Heavy is the head that wears the crown. Daphne knows this, even if the crown she wears is a halo of thornless roses – and she fucking loves that halo, no matter what the cost is. What draws me to Daphne is that even though she’s an impeccable pickpocket, even though she loves power, and even though she’s got plenty of vices despite her cherubic features,  Daphne loves. She knows what it’s like to suffer (even if it’s not like what others have gone through) and she wants to do something. She wants to help, but how much of that is her ego and how much of that is genuine is ambiguous. There’s that line between a good person and someone who does  good deeds that’s very blurred when it comes to Daphne, and that fascinates me. She looks like someone who would get chewed up and spit out by the mafia, but her light shines brighter. In some ways, she’s like an anti-Marie Antoinette; she’s got that aesthetic, but she’s too bright to do a “Let them eat cake” moment (even though I know she didn’t actually say that) or play peasantry at a fancy cottage. She’s privileged and beloved and smart enough to know how to combine the two.  I also find it fascinating that she almost wishes that she was that princess in an ivory tower – so everyone could be safe – and that while she embodies a little of that trope, she’s this really interesting reversal, where she’s both the princess and the dragon. There’s this interplay between the corruption of power and the trope that the people who don’t want power are the ones best suited for it; Daphne is not as angelic as she looks. She wants to save. She wants to be a heroine. She is hesitant of the power she wants to wield because she knows herself too well. But at the same time, there’s nothing wrong with wanting power. Power and goodness is a zero-sum game, especially in Verona. There’s also something relatable about Daphne that I really like, as her experience with getting bullied is reminiscent of my own. She’s incredibly beautiful, incredibly rich, incredibly powerful, and incredibly adored, but she’s still relatable, or at least, knows how to manage her image so that she comes across as aspirational and human, as well. Also, I adore that she’s 31. She’s got some naivete, but she’s a grown-ass woman with her own ambitions. In addition, her mob name is my name, and I’m shallow.

What is a future plot idea you have in mind for the character? | (1)  A CROWN FOR YOUR PRINCESS – Daphne doesn’t look like it, but she’s got ambition. Right now, she has not let the fact that’s sees a member of organized crime taint her. She is deified, but there is yet to be blood on her hands. I think it would be interesting for Daphne’s mask of heroism to be pushed when she has to do something truly horrible, truly unforgivable in the name of the Capulet’s. Her desire to do good with her desire to get (and keep) her power at war with one another is interesting to me, and I think pushing her to define her moral compass (or lack thereof) and figuring out where she wants to go in the mob power structures could be interesting to play out. (2) A HEART FULL OF LOVE? - Daphne is a lover. She wants love. She wants it to be real. But she’s also engaged to a man that she doesn’t love and is fascinated by Renzo to the point that he’s described as her Achilles’ Heel. Beau can help her get everything she wants – on the paper, they are a fairytale couple – but he doesn’t inspire passion in her yet; at the same time, she would be upset if he were to step out on her. I think it could be interesting to see Daphne’s own feelings for Beau become more real and have to deal with the implications of real love. Because Daphne wants power. She wants to be a heroine. She wants to be adored. But all she’s let the world see is a mask, a symbol. Not a real woman. And it’s impossible to love a symbol; you can be cherished and adored, but never truly, heartbreakingly loved in the way that she wants to be. (3) O, DEATH – Something about Daphne’s bio that fascinated me is that it describes Beau as an Apollo figure whom Daphne sees more like Hades – a man of death, of isolation, and of riches. She’s darkness where there is light. But Daphne is more of the same – she is Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty, but she has her own affair with the darkness inside of her. She is a Persephone and her own Hades. She knows she’s capable of great horrors, and that she could destroy Verona if she wants to. It would be interesting to see Daphne be pushed to that darker place where she wants the city that she adores to burn. People want to destroy beautiful things. Daphne and Verona are both beautiful, and ripe for rot.

Are you comfortable with killing off your character? | (Devastatingly) yes.

IN DEPTH

Please choose between the interview or the para sample (or both, if you like!)

In-Character Interview: The following questions must be answered in-character, and in para form (quotations, actions written out if applicable, etc). There is no minimum or maximum limit for your response - simply answer as you would if you were playing the character.

What is your favorite place in Verona? She smooths down her hair, subconsciously rearranging the artful brown curls. Daphne doesn’t need to double or triple check in the mirror whether her lipstick is perfect or her eyeliner is crisp. She knows her angles. She knows herself. And she agreed to this interview. Not to talk about her love life, but to talk about the shelter she had just joined the board of. “I’m a Verona girl through and through,” Daphne laughs. “You’re a Verona native, too – right, Signora? You know that this city can be a lot, putting it mildly. And you know I’m just not being facetious when I say that it’s hard to pick a favorite spot. Hmm…but if I had to pick, I’d pick the Castelvecchio Bridge. For so long, it was a symbol of unity in our divided city. My parents used to take me on long walks around the city when I was little, and I remember stopping and looking out over the river. I just have fond memories of Verona at that bridge. And it’s so horrible what happened – the explosion. To have that bright for the city get taken away, it’s just horrible. I’ve been working with the Verona’s Children Relief Fund to help civilian parents who’ve lost their jobs due to the explosion. They’ve been working with families hurt by Verona’s mob war for over a decade, and really, they’re work is incredible. For example, Carlotta Alberti. She’s a single mother living in Borgo Roma with the cutest 12-year-old ever. Give me a sec –” Daphne pulls out her phone and shows the interviewer a picture of her posing with Carlotta and her son, Leo. “The warehouse Carlotta worked in was damaged during the explosion and it hasn’t been rebuilt. She’s got bills to pay. She’s got a kid to provide a future for. Through the Relief Fund, we’ve managed to set Carlotta up with an entry-level position at Falco & Company that has full benefits and room for her to grow.”

What has been your biggest mistake thus far?

Daphne grits her teeth. She knows the interviewer means no harm with this question. It’s a chance to show that she’s vulnerable and that even though she’s been blessed to the Heavens with fortune, good looks and renown, Daphne Adèle Allard still has it in her to be a woman of the people. And a woman of the people is good, and kind, and loving, and doesn’t think badly of others. Still, the first thought that pops into her head is Beau. Arrogant, useless, cold-hearted man, Daphne thinks, careful not to let her absolute frustration with her husband-to-be show on her face. “That’s a hard question to answer,” Daphne starts. “Not because I haven’t made mistakes. God knows that I have.” Her heart thunders. Daphne Allard could never escape the feeling that she was on the precipice of destruction – not of herself, but of destroying others. “It’s just that I’m a perfectionist, you know? When I do something, I need to do it right because people are counting on me. A mistake is a ripple that can turn into a tsunami.” The interviewer nods, seemingly embarrassed at having to draw attention to the fact that Daphne avoided her previous question. “But if you had to say?”

Daphne only smiles. “Not coming back to Verona sooner. I love France with all my heart, but Verona is my home. I was away for quite a while. There’s this French saying – Petit a petit, l’oiseau fait son nid. Little by little, the bird makes its nest. And I really want to make my nest here.”

The lady nods. “So, are you excited for marriage then?” “You have no idea.” You really don’t.

“Have you talked about kids, yet?” “We’ve discussed it,” Daphne responds coyly.

What has been the most difficult task asked of you? When in doubt, pivot to the wedding – Daphne had learned this at a young age. Everyone adores a blushing bride. “This is a ‘I need to check my privilege’ moment, but can I say planning a wedding? There’s so much that goes into it. Finding a good venue, good security. Finding a dress when you’ve got curves is not as easy as Say Yes to the Dress makes it look. Beau and I are trying our best to plan a sustainable wedding. We haven’t announced the list of charities yet, but we intend to do a no-gift policy. Instead, we’d like to ask our friends and family to donate to an organization on the yet-to-be announced list.” Beau and Daphne had discussed no such thing….at least, not in earnest, but no one needed to do that. “Okay, but in all seriousness – one of the hardest things I’ve been asked to do is forgive. I was bullied a lot as a child because I dared to be fat. I looked different from the other girls at school, and they let me know it. I remember every taunt, every oink made behind my back, every time someone tried to put me on a crash diet. It took a toll on my self-esteem. Every insecurity I have got magnified. And I really hated those girls. And hate really hurts you; generally speaking, it hurts you more than the other people. Since my engagement, a few people who were not the nicest to me reached out to see how I was filling out my bridal party.” “Seriously?” She asks. “Seriously. For them, the past didn’t matter. But for me, it did. I couldn’t look in a mirror for a year, and even though I’ve moved on, and I love myself and I love my life and I found someone who loves me for me –” Oh, how she wishes that were true. “ – There was still this resentment in my heart that I struggled to let go of. Forgiving those small deep cuts when there’s no apology, no remorse, nothing, was difficult. But I had to do it for myself. Those girls – maybe they’ve changed; I’m an optimist who thinks people are capable of that. Perhaps I’m a bit old-fashioned? Regardless of who they are, I don’t have to go back to being that sad, lonely little girl because they messaged me.” She pauses and adds,  “I’m lucky, you know, that these are the extent of my problems.”

What are your thoughts on the war between the Capulets and the Montagues? Everyone and their mother wants to know the answer to this. Daphne has been answering this question for years. The Allard family had long ties to the Capulets, but Daphne was not going to go about advertising that or her own role in the mob. “The rivalry has been going on for years. There’s a lot of wounds on both sides,” Daphne starts. “I want peace for the people of Verona who’ve been caught in the cross-fire.” That’s why I am an emissary for the Capulets. To help, she thinks. I am a relatively high-ranking Capulet emissary because I want to be. She thrived in the darkness, in the cold, just as much as she thrived in the light. A lie. She shone in the darkness, but she craved the light. How badly Daphne Allard wanted to be bright, and shining, and good. “I’m just thinking about the Festival of Love,” Daphne starts, subtly pointing fingers at the Montagues. “So much chaos that didn’t need to happen.”

Extras: If you have anything else you’d like to include (further headcanons, an inspo tag, a mock blog, etc), feel free to share it here! This is OPTIONAL.

Her favorite movie is Amelie

Daphne patronizes numerous charities, but has no set one up in her own name yet. She wants to set up something that could help with homelessness in the city.

She is a Virgo (born August 29th)

Daphne is an ENFJ

She enjoys watching Bon Appetit videos

PLAYLIST (as in, a playlist Daphne would have on her Spotify account)

La Vie en Rose by Edith Piaf

Pavane for a Dead Princess by Maurice Ravel

Primadonna by Marina & the Diamonds

Petite Suite by Claude Debussy

Here Comes the Sun by The Beatles

Spring (Four Seasons) by Antonio Vivaldi

Waking Up Slow by Gabrielle Aplin

Elegie by Gabriel Faure

Can’t Help Falling in Love by Elvis Presley

Mother Goose Suite by Maurice Ravel

Non je ne regrette rien by Edith Piaf

[qqueenofhades]

Do you think society as a whole understands and values history? I don’t think they do. And I don’t understand why.

HoooooWEEEEEE, anon. What follows is a good old Hilary History Rant ™, but let me hasten to assure you that none of it is directed at you. It just means that this is a topic on which I have many feelings, and a lot of frustration, and it gets at the heart of many things which are wrong with our society, and the way in which I try to deal with this as an academic and a teacher. So…. yeah.

In short: you’re absolutely right. Society as a whole could give exactly dick about understanding and valuing history, especially right now. Though let me rephrase that: they could give exactly dick about understanding and valuing any history that does not reinforce and pander to their preferred worldview, belief system, or conception of reality. The human race has always had an amazing ability to not give a shit about huge problems as long as they won’t kill us right now (see: climate change) and in one sense, that has allowed us to survive and evolve and become an advanced species. You have to compartmentalize and solve one problem at a time rather than get stuck in abstracts, so in that way, it is a positive trait. However, we are faced with a 21st century where the planet is actively burning alive, late-stage capitalism has become so functionally embedded in every facet of our society that our public values, civic religion, and moral compass (or lack thereof) is structured around consumerism and who it benefits (the 1% of billionaire CEOs), and any comfortable myths of historical progress have been blown apart by the worldwide backslide into right-wing authoritarianism, xenophobia, nationalism, racism, and other such things. In a way, this was a reaction to 9/11, which changed the complacent late-20th century mindset of the West in ways that we really cannot fathom or overstate. But it’s also a clarion call that something is very, very wrong here, and the structural and systemic explanations that historians provide for these kinds of events are never what anyone wants to hear.

Think about it this way. The world is currently, objectively speaking, producing more material resources, wealth, food, etc than at any point before, thanks to the effects of globalism, the industrial and information revolutions, mass mechanizing, and so on. There really isn’t a “shortage” of things. Except for the fact that the distribution of these resources is so insanely unequal, and wildly disproportionate amounts of wealth have been concentrated in a few private hands, which then use the law (and the law is a tool of the powerful to protect power) to make sure that it’s never redistributed. This is why Reaganism and “supply-side”, aka “trickle-down” economics, is such bullshit: it presupposes that billionaires will, if you enable them to make as many billions as possible without regulation, altruistically sow that largess among the working class. This never happens, because obviously. (Sidenote: remember those extravagant pledges of billions of euros to repair Notre Dame from like 3 or 4 French billionaires? Apparently they have paid… exactly not one cent toward renovations, and the money has come instead from the Friends of Notre Dame funded by private individuals. Yep, not even for the goddamn cause célèbre of the “we don’t give a shit about history” architectural casualties could they actually pay up. Eat! The! Rich!…. anyway.)

However, the fact is that you need to produce narratives to justify this kind of exploitation and inequality, and make them convincing enough that the people who are being fucked over will actively repeat and promote these narratives and be fiercely vested in their protection. Think of the way white American working-class voters will happily blame minorities, immigrants, Non-Murkan People, etc for their struggles, rather than the fact of said rampant economic cronyism and oligarchy. These working-class voters will love the politicians who give them someone to blame (see: Trump), especially when that someone is an Other around whom collective systems of discrimination and oppression have historically operated. Women, people of color, religious minorities/non-Western religions, LGBT people, immigrants, etc, etc…. all these have historically not had such a great time in the capitalist Christian West, which is the predominant paradigm organizing society today. You can’t understand why society doesn’t value history until you realize that the people who benefit from this system aren’t keen on having its flaws pointed out. They don’t want the masses to have a historical education if that historical education is going to actually be used. They would rather teach them the simplistic rah-rah quasi-fictional narrative of the past that makes everyone feel good, and call it a day. 

The classic liberal belief has always been that if you can just teach someone that their facts are wrong, or supply them with better facts, they’ll change their mind. This is not how it works and never has, and that is why in an age with, again, more knowledge of science than ever before and the collected wisdom of humanity available via your smartphone, we have substantial portions of people who believe that vaccines are evil, the Earth is flat, and climate change (and 87 million other things) are fake and/or government conspiracies. As a medievalist, I get really tetchy when the idiocy of modern people is blamed on the stereotypical “Dark Ages!” medieval era (I have written many posts ranting about that, so we’ll keep it to a minimum here), or when everything bad, backward, or wrong is considered to be “medieval” in nature. Trust me, on several things, they were doing a lot better than we are. Other things are not nearly as wildly caricatured as they have been made out to be. Because once again, history is complicated and people are flawed in any era, do good and bad things, but that isn’t as useful as a narrative that flattens out into simplistic black and white.

Basically, people don’t want their identities, comfortable notions, and other ideas about the past challenged, especially since that is directly relevant to how they perceive themselves (and everyone else) in the present. The thing about history, obviously, is that it’s past, it’s done, and until we invent a time machine, which pray God we never fucking do, within a few generations, the entire population of the earth has been replaced. That means it’s awfully fragile as a concept. Before the modern era and the invention of technology and the countless mediums (book, TV, radio, newspaper, internet, etc etc) that serve as sources, it’s only available in a relatively limited corpus of documents. History does not speak for itself. That’s where you get into historiography, or writing history. Even if you have a book or document that serves as a primary source material, you have to do a shit-ton of things with it to turn it into recognizable scholarship. You have to learn the language it’s in. You have to understand the context in which it was produced. You have to figure out what it ignores, forgets, omits, or simply does not know as well as what it does, and recognize it as a limited text produced from a certain perspective or for a social reason that may or may not be explicitly articulated. The training of a historian is to teach you how to do this accurately and more or less fairly, but that is up to the personal ethic of the historian to ensure. When you’re reading a history book, you’re not reading an unmediated, Pure, This Was Definitely How Things Happened The End information download. You are reading something by someone who has made their best guess and has been equipped with the interpretive tools to be reasonably confident in their analysis, but sometimes just doesn’t know, sometimes has an agenda in pushing one opinion over another, or anything else.

History, in other words, is a system of flawed and self-serving collective memory, and power wants only the memory that ensures its survival and replication. You’ve heard of the “history is written by the winners” quote, which basically encapsulates the fact that what we learn and what we take as fact is largely or entirely structured by the narrative of those who can control it. If you’ve heard of the 1970s French philosopher Michel Foucault, his work is basically foundational in understanding how power produces knowledge in each era (what he calls epistemes) and the way in which historical “fact” is subject to the needs of these eras. Foucault has a lot of critics and his work particularly in the history of sexuality has now become dated (plus he can be a slog to read), but I do suggest familiarizing yourself with some of his ideas. 

This is also present in the constant refrain heard by anybody who has ever studied the arts and humanities: “oh, don’t do liberal arts, you’ll never get a job, study something worthwhile,” etc. It’s funny how the “worthwhile” subjects always seem to be science and engineering/software/anything that can support the capitalist military industrial complex, while science is otherwise completely useless to them. It’s also always funny how the humanities are relentlessly de- or under- funded. By labeling these subjects as “worthless,” when they often focus on deep investigation of varied topics, independent critical thought, complex analysis, and otherwise teaching you to think for yourself, we therefore decrease the amount of people who feel compelled to go into them. Since (see again, late-stage capitalism is a nightmare) most people are going to prefer some kind of paycheck to stringing it along on a miniscule arts budget, they will leave those fields and their inherent social criticism behind. Of course, we do have some people – academics, social scientists, artists, creatives, activists, etc – who do this kind of work and dedicate themselves to it, but we (and I include myself in this group) have not reached critical mass and do not have the power to effect actual drastic change on this unfair system. I can guarantee that they will ensure we never will, and the deliberate and chronic underfunding of the humanities is just one of the mechanisms by which late-stage capitalism replicates and protects itself.

I realize that I sound like an old man yelling at a cloud/going off on my paranoid rant, but…. this is just the way we’ve all gotten used to living, and it’s both amazing and horrifying. As long as the underclasses are all beholden to their own Ideas of History, and as long as most people are content to exist within the current ludicrous ideas that we have received down the ages as inherited wisdom and enforced on ourselves and others, there’s not much we can do about it. You are never going to reach agreement on some sweeping Platonic ideal of universal history, since my point throughout this whole screed has always been that history is particular, localized, conditioned by specific factors, and produced to suit the purposes of a very particular set of goals. History doesn’t repeat itself, per se (though it can be Very Fucking Close), but as long as access to a specific set of resources, i.e. power, money, sex, food, land, technology, jobs, etc are at stake, the inherent nature of human beings means that they will always be choosing from within a similar matrix of actions, producing the same kind of justifications for those actions, and transmitting it to the next generation in a way that relatively few people learn how to challenge. We have not figured out how to break that cycle yet. We are an advanced species beyond any doubt, but we’re also still hairless apes on a spinning blue ball on the outer arm of a rural galaxy, and oftentimes we act like it.

I don’t know. I think it’s obvious why society doesn’t understand and value history, because historians are so often the ones pointing out the previous pattern of mistakes and how well that went last time. Power does not want to be dismantled or criticized, and has no interest in empowering the citizens to consider the mechanisms by which they collaborate in its perpetuation. White supremacists don’t want to be educated into an “actual” version of history, even if their view of things is, objectively speaking, wildly inaccurate. They want the version of history which upholds their beliefs and their way of life. Even non-insane people tend to prefer history that validates what they think they already know, and especially in the West, a certain mindset and system of belief is already so well ingrained that it has become almost omniscient. Acquiring the tools to work with this is, as noted, blocked by social disapproval and financial shortfall. Plus it’s a lot of goddamn work. I’m 30 years old and just finished my PhD, representing 12 years of higher education, thousands of dollars, countless hours of work, and so on. This is also why they’ve jacked the price of college through the roof and made it so inaccessible for people who just cannot make that kind of commitment. I’ve worked my ass off, for sure, but I also had support systems that not everyone does. I can’t say I got here All On My Own ™, that enduring myth of pulling yourselves up by your bootstraps. I know I didn’t. I had a lot of help, and again, a lot of people don’t. The academy is weird and cliquish and underpaid as a career. Why would you do that?

I wish I had more overall answers for you about how to fix this. I think about this a lot. I’ll just have to go back to doing what I can, as should we all, since that is really all that is ultimately in our control.

[palemoonpersephone]

Some things I want to see (more of) in fictional characters:

 People having realistic bodies and physical conditions. E.g. someone who lives rough or in the woods etc. is going to look rough and may well have an illness from exposure, parasites and lack of care. In fantasy/historical settings especially, there were certainly methods for cleanliness and achieving a certain aesthetic but time has to be taken to research/decide what these were and how they would have been managed/who would have had access to what. 

Characters being badass/sassy/capable without being cold, distant or callous. I’ve seen this happen considerably more with female characters (the typical femme fatale trope) in my experience, where they just seem so one dimensional and we don’t get any time to get to know them. Sometimes because there’s nothing more to know but that doesn’t matter cos they’re super hot... I want to see more characters who have all these great capabilities and have a heart of gold, or at least a wholesome balance of good and bad qualities. 

Characters who don’t have to suffer through hell in order to grow and become respectable. E.g. when Sansa Stark basically justified all the abuse she endured from such a young age by saying she would have been that ‘little bird’ forever without it. This is such a poisonous mindset. There is a colossal difference between characters growing through trials and hardships and being put through torrents of abuse, only to defend and almost thank their abusers for the lessons learned. No, no. Also, being a ‘little bird’ isn’t actually this terrible thing...

Characters who are vulnerable/shy/meek/docile/insecure and portrayed well. This needs to happen more for all kinds of characters. I’ve gotten so bored of those characteristics being portrayed as weaknesses that the character must must overcome and get rid of to be worthy and likable. These aren’t weaknesses, if anything they’d make that character stronger as they have more internal challenges to overcome. I’d love to see a character who is very shy or timid but still rises to challenges at a really pivotal moment in or throughout the story but doing so doesn’t delete/contrast their former personality. I know from a lot of experience that docile people can be the kindest souls who are so loyal and trustworthy and who definitely are not pushovers; insecure people can be so encouraging and supportive to others and it’s heartbreaking that they can lift other people so high but not spare anything for themselves. I believe there’s so much depth in qualities like those and a character can really be taken on a dynamic journey 

Female villains with more dynamic motives and backgrounds. With most stuff I’ve seen, a woman’s villainy is somehow connected to a man, or lack thereof. We’re fed the trope that a woman on her own with no masculine influence is evil - take our Disney movies, for example. The Evil Queen, Maleficent, Ursula, the Wicked Stepmother, they’re all women independent of a man/male influence. I’d love to see a female villain who has real conviction in their motives, who maybe isn’t all that bad if you alter the perspective a little and maybe does have redeeming features that are addressed. 

Male/Female friendships and non-romantic love! We’ve all heard the men and women can’t be friends bullshit. When you look at it, it all comes from a pretty toxic place. I’ve seen a lot of male/female friendships that are only held secure by reasons such as one of them is gay, or already in a relationship or certain feelings aren’t reciprocated. There are these ideas that the only kind of relationship that can grow between a man and woman is a romantic/sexual one, which I feel takes away from both people, it just dumbs them down to their sexualities, and it all draws from the position of hetero-normative thinking. If a lesbian can have close friendships with women without anything sexual/romantic arising, then so can a straight man. There have been so many missed opportunities for complex, deep relationships between male and female characters because of this way of thinking. 

Women who are ambitious, strong-willed, in positions of power without being power-hungry/power-mad tyrants. *Cough* Dany *Cough* (she deserved better). This all comes from the age old aversion to women in power which remains ingrained in our societies today. It’s time we saw some female characters who were in positions of power and influence and had qualities like generosity, compassion, wisdom, political tact, and who used their power to help others, for some kind of good. Even if they’re morally grey or do a bit of shit stuff sometimes, this doesn’t automatically make them an evil tyrant and shouldn’t overshadow everything good about them. 

Girls and women who aren’t considered bitches or crazy psychos for getting angry and/or standing up for themselves. Fuck ‘bitches be crazy’. A person, fictional or real, should never feel guilty for having their own back, for standing up to someone and refusing to be a doormat. Basically someone who takes the amazing step of breaking an abusive cycle. A woman isn’t a bitch for calling someone out on their bullshit or proposing her own ideas and opinions with confidence. She isn’t psycho for getting pissed off, and showing it, for legit reasons. Again, it comes from a toxic place and characters should be shown to subvert that load of crap. 

Men who don’t conform to masculine standards and ideals. Toxic or otherwise. Femininity in men is nothing to shame or shun. Of course this is operating within gender-norms but I think it’s a brave push to make those more flexible or show that a ‘subversion’ of them isn’t the catalyst of the apocalypse. Gimme some men who don’t like to get their hands dirty, who like nature and pretty things, who are sensitive and really in touch with their emotions. It would also be really interesting to read about a fantasy society/culture that didn’t have the same norms as our own.

Feel free to add more to this list if there’s stuff you’d like to see (more of) in characters/stories :) 

[gurguliare]

Hi, I'm not sure if tumblr swallowed my ask, so to be safe: how do you think utena would work if the characters had non-conditional immortality? As in death from old age simply wasn't a concern both within and without Ohtori, an equivalence to Tolkien's elves or, say, vampires (which is a bit different). Idk, I'm just wondering how it would mesh with Utena's concerns with adolescence and the acceptance of change/lack of eternity, as well as like, adding a degree of plausibility to Anthy and Akio

Hey, sorry—your other ask wasn’t eaten, I just couldn’t think of an interesting answer. Here are a few reasons why I think this AU wouldn’t work:

First off, I’m not sure “plausible” is the word you want here. “Internally consistent” is probably closer.  This isn’t (just) me being a pedantic douche; plausibility in one direction threatens to obscure plausibility in another. By which I mean, “teenagers held in thrall of some bullshit they KNOW makes no sense but which is insidious in part because it is, on its face, nonthreateningly absurd” … is not a scenario unique to shoujo allegory. Regardless of what you think of Akio and Anthy’s supposed backstory, the inbuilt vampirism of Ohtori and its pet myths is already literal. Impossible things happen at Ohtori, but not in a way that offers the viewer analytical distance, by safely encoding the characters’ struggles in escapist fantasy violence. If you try to reframe the garbage into worldbuilding, you miss the point that inconsistency is a manipulator’s game, and is a significant chunk of what keeps the cast engrossed in pointless attempts to “learn” his language, which doesn’t actually exist.

Am I making sense? Craft discussions of the supernatural in fiction often dwell narrowly on suspension of disbelief, to the point that earning belief can seem like the end-all and be-all of fantasy, and fantastic fiction divisible into two classes: fantasy which is immersive because rule-bound and predictable, and fantasy which is immersive because deliberately mysterious, in a manner that does homage to the mysteries, the unexplainable errata, of human experience or the natural world. According to that view of the genre, fantasy has to seem authorless to succeed. If that’s true, Utena isn’t fantasy. Fabulous occurrences in Utena have an author. Utena is a story about fantasy, and about fantasy as it exists everywhere in the real world: a tool of predatory deception, which dangles rules only to break them, making an addictive treadmill of the search for authentic meaning. (Footnote here that some magic in Ohtori seems to have been appropriated by Akio, rather than invented by him; or it originates with other people as a genuinely self-protective response to his dominion. I’m not out to tell you that Anthy isn’t magic. But it’s once again a case where viewer response, and consistency, feel kinda irrelevant.)

There’s another element to this, which is Utena’s interest in change and death. I say “death” rather than “eternity” because eternity as a keyword in Utena is incredibly vague, which is a clue that it’s being invoked in negative reaction to something else, and, yes! that something is death. Tolkien’s work derives a lot of tension from the screwy interactions between love and fear of loss, and takes as its essential premise that the world is redeemable and has yet to be redeemed. Because of that, it’s useful for him to consider multiple failure modes, in the form of elves, humans, Valar, etc.; fakey-fake hypotheticals allow him to block in and define his ideal reality (and its ideally well-adjusted inhabitants.) But Utena isn’t interested in grappling with the validity, or lack thereof, of human desire to escape death. Despite the revolutionary patois, Utena only cares about the world that exists. Death is an important presence in the story because the fact of death is what makes self-delusion a legitimately appealing alternative. It’s not that anyone likes spouting crap about shiny things, day in, day out. It’s not that people can’t see that the system is broken. But the hope is that a higher plan will show you something your own reason couldn’t, because all your reason showed you was oblivion. The devouring need to believe that exceptions exist, that the inevitable doesn’t apply, drives a lot of unlucky teenagers into the arms of—well—shirtless night drives. 

More correctly, someone like Akio encourages and cultivates the devouring need, turning it from the first reflex of shock into a habit, and a self-sustaining narrative. Also it goes back and forth, once fantasy has been set up in opposition to supposedly unbearable reality; characters start to nurse their trauma as justification for seeking comfort, which embeds it more deeply into their identity, which creates a stronger impetus toward the only form of escapism they’ve encountered, even as that separation from reality also hurts them in other ways (and damages their ability to speak honestly.) And, you know, part of the horror is that it happens to Utena, even though Utena has, of all the characters, the healthiest second-order response to grief—but that doesn’t immunize her. Having experienced real compassion, she remains as vulnerable as anyone else to solipsism and fear. 

My concern with making everyone vampires is that a sense of intensely hollow futility is not preserved if death and loss are elective, or if anyone is ultimately outside death’s reach. The story blurs its own lines if Akio has something besides fantasy to offer as a sop to his victims. 

(If Akio’s and Anthy’s immortality worries you, it may also be worth noting that Anthy was a child when Utena first met her. Okay, so six thousand years have passed from Anthy’s perspective in the meantime; is that really a surprise?)

[parabcllums]

⌜   DIEGO LUNA, CIS MALE, HE / HIM   |   the war by syml, melancholic, the jester   ⌟    ⏤   blink and you’ll miss CLINTON FRANCIS BARTON, the hero for hire that goes by HAWKEYE ! last i heard, they’d settled down and had children with BARBARA MORSE, though apparently they’ve SEPARATED. they’re a professor of ARCHERY & GYM at paragon academy in addition to being a SHIELD AGENT ASSIGNED TO CAMPUS, and i’ve always found them to be pretty INNOVATIVE & BENIGNANT, though i’ve heard that they can also be really UNDEPENDABLE & OBSTINATE. do you think they’ll give me an autograph? you can check out his stat page HERE and his pinterest board HERE.

  CONGRATULATIONS,              on the mess you’ve made of things.

SECTION ONE OF THREE : BULLET POINT HISTORY. trigger warnings for talk of child abuse and death.

clinton francis “clint” barton was born on june 18th, 1974, in waverly, iowa. his mother was edith, and his supposed father was harold - an abusive, alcoholic butcher shop owner who always kinda knew that clint wasn’t his kid, and let his feelings about that out with his fists. his older ( half ) brother was charles bernard - also known as “barney” - and over his early years, he would become the most important figure in clint’s life. as mentioned, harold was wildly abusive ; both to his wife, and to his sons. clint hated him, and he hated his mother - a weak willed woman who even now he harbors some degree of contempt for, left over from a childhood of her turning the other way and allowing harold do what he did.

he suffered through a lot, in a very short amount of time, and hospital visits were numerous for the youngest barton - coming to a head when one night, his father’s attack on him left him partially deaf in one ear. he didn’t want to invest in helping clint, so barney took it upon himself to not just teach clint some asl, but also to teach him how to protect himself. in his words, teaching clint to think of everything like a weapon - something to hit harold with, when he came knocking. the boys would hide out for hours at a time on the roof of their home or in the barn, and as both got older, tried to go toe to toe with harold on more than one occassion. things would have gotten worse for them, if it hadn’t been for the accident.

harold crashed the family car into a tree on his way home one night. edith was in the passenger seat. the two of them died instantly, and clint and barney were shuttled off fairly quick to a foster home. and then another. and then another. you get the picture. if they weren’t sent away because of being generally unruly, the boys found a way to run. eventually, that led to them running into a literal circus, which they proceeded to join, seeking out the family that they had never really have.

clint was obsessed with it all - the glitz and the glam isn’t exactly the right turn of phrase, but he lived for the adrenaline rush. he was a talented gymnast, and he eventually came under the wing of the original swordsman and trick shot, who built on barney’s earlier lessons of self defense, but honed his skill with weapons. he was good with a sword. he was better with a bow. and when barney tried to sway clint into caring about his future - into doing his GED, like him - they would argue. their relationship, deteriorating a little more each time.

eventually, clint discovered that the swordsman was embezzling money - and his moral compass, though dusty, kicked in. he would’ve turned him over to the police, had it not been for him proceeding to get the shit kicked out of him, and barney choosing to turn his back on him once and for all. barney joined the army and left - and after witnessing heroes on the news, clint decided that maybe he could use his talent ( at this point being a star attraction at the circus ) for good. he donned a costume, he went out making an attempt to fight crime - and the local authorities confused him with an actual thief, which only led to him deciding that if that was what people were going to view him as, he might as well be one. the black widow - natasha romanoff - enlisted him as a partner, and the two clashed with the betterknown costumed heroes on multiple occasions.

soon enough, clint got tired of that life, and he approached the avengers with a proposition. he would use his talents for them, instead, and... feel better about himself in the process? unclear. tony stark vouched for him, he joined a team with steve rogers & wanda and pietro maximoff, and though they were thought of as being lesser than the original avengers team... they all, clint included, proved themselves.

he fought with steve, resenting that he was leader and clint was not - but over time, learned to respect him. he operated as goliath, he left the avengers a couple times, he did a bunch of stuff and saved the world tons, and then on one such leave of absence where he became the security chief for cross technological enterprises, he was kidnapped ( alongside bobbi morse ) by crossfire as part of a master plan to kill the avengers ( first by killing him, and then by killing the rest when they showed up for his funeral ). the plan was to use hypnotic ultrasounds to force the two of them to kill one another, but clint stuffed a sonic arrow of his own creation into his mouth in a brief moment of lucidity and managed to disrupt the ultrasounds by deafening himself even more - allowing him to knock bobbi out and defeat crossfire, once and for all. this was a pivotal point in his life, not just because of being rendered 80% deaf and being forced to readjust his life to this. he also fell for bobbi, who felt responsible for what had happened to him and wanted to try and help. they met, they loved, they married within nine days - and their relationship, or lack thereof at times, has been continuous ever since.

he led the west coast avengers, he got stranded in ancient egypt, he fought his own brother who then died and cam back and died again ( and came back ), he and bobbi broke up, they got back together, it was revealed she was a skrull, the real bobbi apparently died, he took a break from being a hero to mourn, he rejoined the avengers, got killed by an exploding kree ship ( thanks wanda ), came back to life thanks to an altered universe, died again, came back again ( thanks wanda ), operated as ronin for a time after the apparent assination of captain america,  found bobbi safe and well ( ok, after a whole big skrull thing ), learned that his beloved ( ex ) wife had wanted to divorce him before she had gotten replaced by a skrull, became leader of the new avengers, saved the world a bunch, made mistakes, joined a new team, started sharing the hawkeye monikor with kate bishop, almost went blind, joined the secret avengers, started to lead them, fought against the x-men due to the whole phoenix force / hope summers thing, sacrificed himself for scarlet witch so that phoenix powered emma frost wouldn't kill her, almost died, got healed, moved into an apartment in brooklyn with a brand new purpose in life and.. that's kind of, really, more where we sit. there was a bunch of other stuff ( like all the civil war business, etc ), but i like to kind of ... come at things from a point after matt fraction’s hawkeye, where clint took on russian thugs and ended up buying an apartment building. not in that exact order. also with more details thrown in.

SECTION TWO OF THREE : HEADCANONS. trigger warnings for talk of miscarriage, depression and ptsd.

currently, clint is still in his... rediscovering exactly what he wants to be stage of life, and working for shield as an agent assigned to campus works for him. he still considers himself an avenger, still works under his alias and is still, you know, doing what he’s gotta do - but he’s taking days as they come

he and bobbi have a nine year old son named lark sein morse, and he’s... pretty much clint’s whole reason to get up in the morning, though there is a feeling that he’s closer to his mother than he is, him. they ( clint and bobbi ) are not currently together, and haven’t really been so as long as lark has been alive - though they were on again, off again a lot over the years, and clint will always sort of class her as the love of his life... even if they aren’t married. bobbi suffered a miscarriage early on in the first version of their relationship to one another - lark is their rainbow baby.

he suffers from post traumatic stress disorder from his childhood, and from... a lot of the things that have happened to him, over the years. he’s also heavily depressed, and has only really recently begun to seek out the kind of help that he really needs ( the fact that shield offers free therapists to people working for them? a huge plus )

 he has a dog named lucky who he absolutely ADORES, but who gets swiped semi regularly by kate.

he’s also... actually pretty well off, though you would NOT know that just from looking at him. clint owns his apartment building in brooklyn and has a lot of money saved up from over the years. he could live a high class life, if he so chose, but he prefers to live modestly.

SECTION THREE OF THREE : WANTED CONNECTIONS.

friends :(

also . believe it or not. clint has been... a huge ladies man for a very long time, so by all means - past flings, past serious relationships, the whole thing.

bobbi morse !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

also nat romanoff

his two kids. they’re between the ages of 17 - 26, and he doesn’t know about them, though it’s ENTIRELY possible that they know / have been told who he is / to them, and i am rly into the idea of getting to play it out. 

[comfortablynumbonthepuzzle]

Mike/Will Season 2, Episode 1: A Shot by Shot Analysis

Ok, here it is! The first installation of my shot-by-shot analysis series! 

Some things to know before reading: 

This series will go episode by episode and each post will discuss scenes that I think are relevant to understanding Mike and Will’s relationship. I’m publishing them as I write them, so I might miss things. If I do, I’ll be sure to include them later. 

This analysis focuses on what I think the Duffers’ intentions are as far as this pairing and what the Mike/Will scenes in season two could indicate about season three. It’s not always going to reflect that Byeler is endgame, because as much as I love Byeler (and I really do), I just don’t think it’s going to be canon, at least not in the way that we hope. Don’t despair, though. 

If you haven’t, read my Is Will Byers Gay? post first! It basically establishes my thoughts about Gay Will. Give it a reblog if you’re so inclined :) Note that I wrote it BEFORE I knew about the stranger things bible clipping which basically confirms it, which you can find here.

These are just my thoughts/opinions! Feel free to disagree, and please do! Just do so respectfully :) I wrote this because I love Stranger Things, something we ultimately all have in common. If you have negative/nasty opinions about this analysis or are offended by the suggestion that Will Byers is gay, I ask politely that you keep them to yourself. 

I couldn’t find gifs for everything I wanted :/ if someone knows a better way to do this, I’d appreciate the help!

Anyway, thanks so much for reading! I hope you enjoy! (Also: I’m tagging @packupyourthingses @leondrmccoys @we-dance-like-marionettes who (I think?) asked to be tagged, and @thebandersnatchoftheshire who expressed an interest in the post a while back.)

EPISODE 1: MAD MAX

Let’s start off with some general observations. 

In the first season, Will is missing, leaving his three best friends and Eleven to recover him. In the second season, Will is back, Eleven is gone, and Max has joined the party. Obviously, each of these changes makes a significant contribution to existing group dynamics. Mike, for example, changes significantly in the wake of Eleven’s departure, while Lucas and Dustin are overjoyed at Max’s arrival.

In season 1, storylines are segmented by age group. i.e., the kids, teenagers, and adults all embark on separate adventures that ultimately converge. As we would expect of a second installation, narratives in season two reflect character and story arcs established earlier. As a result, the groups are not so neatly divided. Ergo, Steve hangs with Dustin/Lucas/Max, Mike/Will end up with Joyce/Hopper, etc. 

Crucially, the core group of boys is divided into pairs. Mike and Will spend most of the season together, as do Dustin and Lucas. The use of these pairs, which are established almost immediately, is an unmistakeable narrative device all throughout the season.

1. Arcade

The arcade scene is the first in the season of all the boys together. They spend the first half of it together playing video games, arguing with Keith, etc, and the second half divided into pairs. This begins when Will is transplanted suddenly into the upside down and steps outside the arcade.

Lucas and Dustin, at that point, are preoccupied with divining MadMax’s true identity. Because of this, it’s Mike who comes out to check on Will, and likely the one who noticed he was missing in the first place. This is the first clue as to the extent of the closeness between the two. It’s deliberate: as we see here, and throughout the season, Will/Mike and Dustin/Lucas are partitioned, and their individual friendships are developed.

In the scene, Mike comes outside and finds Will. He then makes sure he’s okay, puts his arm around him, and guides him inside. This gesture, to me, reads as pretty innocuous physical affection (of course, you’re welcome to disagree). It was, however, a conscious stylistic choice, made by the duffers with the intention of communicating a number of things. In this scene, we begin to learn firstly that Mike and Will are close, and secondly, that Mike is protective of Will, concerned for his wellbeing, and (probably) an important source of emotional support. The arm gesture underscores Mike’s key character traits: his protectiveness, his characteristic warmth and compassion for others, and his ability to take charge when the situation calls for it and help those in need. 

Here’s why that matters: Mike’s behavior in this particular scene is especially interesting in the context of his recent character development. Eleven’s disappearance has clearly affected him profoundly, and in the first three episodes of the season, we learn just how much. Earlier in episode one we see him stealing from Nancy, and in a later scene with his parents, we learn that he’s acted out in a number of ways over the past year, all indicating that Mike’s moral compass, distinct and venerable in season 1, has weakened somewhat. Same goes for his trademark positivity and determination. This season he’s sullen, irritable, apathetic, and in [my paraphrasing of] Finn Wolfhard’s own words, “not as much of a leader.” 

And yet, Mike manages to be there for Will in that moment, to take note of his presence (or lack thereof), to guide him, to help heal him. It would appear that, in Mike’s moody “post-eleven period”, it is in his relationship with Will that he has remained his best self. 

The question is, WHY? In the first episode of Beyond Stranger Things, Finn Wolfhard remarks (and the Duffers agree) that in Eleven’s absence, Mike needs “someone to impress” and therefore “tries to impress Will”. I also agree with this interpretation. Romance aside, Mike and El’s relationship is (among other things) characterized by a deep mutual admiration. Will, who’s obviously vulnerable, is an opportunity for Mike to be important to someone again, to be needed. Because of this, Will in particular has assumed a new level of importance in Mike’s life post-eleven, because in a way, Will helps Mike cope with the trauma of his loss. And, of course, Mike is very important for Will, who needs someone compassionate, sweet and understanding to help him cope with his trauma. They’re bonded by shared horrifying experiences from season 1: Will going missing; Mike losing El. They are, for all intents and purposes, “crazy together”. 

I can’t say with certainty that their relationship has a new dimension/purpose/function in the wake of all that’s happened, because Will was missing for the entirety of last season and we saw basically nothing of their friendship, so it’s impossible to make a comparison. But, I predict that in the aftermath of season one, Mike and Will’s (already close) friendship matured and deepened, and it wouldn’t surprise me if the change in their friendship had an effect on Will and how he sees their relationship. 

What are the implications of this? It’s worth it to consider:

The effects of this close relationship on Will. How does he feel about his closeness with Mike, new or not? How does he feel about the reemergence of Eleven? I predict angst. Lots of it. 

The potential of a love triangle. There are a bunch of amazing posts about this, find some here and here. I’m not convinced we’ll get one, but it’s interesting to consider in the context of this analysis. Remember that Will and Eleven have never interacted (which I think is also deliberate). How will Mike balance his emotional responsibilities to both Will and Eleven? How will Will and Eleven adjust to each other, when each of them is emotionally significant to and in some form, emotionally reliant on, Mike Wheeler? (Not suggesting Eleven needs Mike, she obviously doesn’t need a man, but it would be silly to deny how much he means to her, and vice versa.) Consider also, that there are SO MANY parallels between Will and Eleven. SO MANY. There are a lot of posts already analyzing this, I’ll link one here.

That being said, I do think Mike and Will have always been close. There are hints to this even in season 1. Exhibits A and B.

2. Mr. Clarke’s room

The next shot we see of the boys is in Mr. Clarke’s classroom, just before Max is first introduced. They sit in two rows of two: Dustin and Lucas in front; Will and Mike in back. This, if just visually, emphasizes the “pairs” theory I discussed earlier. Dustin and Lucas look at and whisper to only each other. 

3. Will gets in Joyce’s car while Dustin, Lucas and Mike watch from a distance

The physical set up of this scene again is deliberate. Mike is in front, with Lucas and Dustin behind him. (If you think this is grasping at straws, try picturing the scene with Dustin up front - it changes the mood). All the boys are concerned; Mike especially so. The exchange is as follows: Lucas asks, “Do you guys think he’s okay?”, to which Mike says, “I don’t know, he’s quiet today”. Lucas responds, “He’s always quiet.”

Then, the camera zooms in on Mike’s particularly troubled expression. We, the audience, KNOW that all is not well. We KNOW Will had an episode the night before, which explains why “he’s quiet today”. Lucas dismisses Mike’s uncertainty, but WE know that Mike is right. This is supposed to tell us that out of the group, Mike is the most intuitive/perceptive when it comes to Will, and that Lucas and Dustin obviously care very deeply for Will, but don’t know him like Mike does.

4. Lucas and Dustin at the arcade.

In this scene, Lucas and Dustin are at the arcade, trying to figure out if Max is MadMax. Will isn’t there because he’s at Hawkins lab, but where is Mike? Mike is uninterested in Max from the beginning (and so is Will, for that matter, beyond wanting to figure out if she’s MadMax. I don’t think we ever see them interact directly). 

Mike is unessential to the scene, so there’s no real reason to have him there, but I thought it was interesting that they weren’t all hanging out. This scene demonstrates that Lucas and Dustin are a pair. They have shared jokes, a witty banter, and now a shared goal, which is to befriend Max. That goal bonds them and frames their eventual storyline of setting a trap for Dart.

5. Will drawing in his room

(Sorry guys - I couldn’t find a screencap of the line I wanted; if you find one where Will says Mom, Dustin, Lucas, Everyone” PLEASE let me know!)

When Will takes Jonathan to task for treating him like a baby, he implicates “Mom, Dustin, Lucas, everyone”. The only person he doesn’t mention is Mike, which is interesting, because so far, Mike is the only one of the friend group we’ve seen express concern for Will in any capacity. This is ABSOLUTELY on purpose. Again, it emphasizes their close relationship and alludes to a symbiosis: later in the exchange, Will says “It doesn’t help. It just makes me feel like more of a freak.” Perhaps he doesn’t feel alienated by Mike’s help because Mike has been through something similar, which makes him also a freak.

It’s worth it to mention that Will has no screen time alone with any of the other characters. I think it’s probably because the writers felt the only relationship of Will’s they needed to emphasize was with Mike. 

SO...

That’s it for episode 1! Let me know if there’s anything I missed! 

[scrambledgegs]

A Perfect Storm

     In the context of the Philippine situation particularly, the COVID-19 Pandemic is a Perfect Storm epitomized. Everything that could go wrong – has, and in synchronous, epic proportions. As this storm rages on in torrential rains, we are nearing neck-deep in water in an extremely problematic situation, rooted from, or exacerbated by other bad decisions (or the lack of thereof). For others who are worse off, they are already drowning – and desperately reaching out for something to cling onto, even for a while. This pandemic has also further exposed and brought out into the light, the country’s vast and decades-long web of entangled and interwoven complex problems – poverty, the inaccessibility and lack of education, as well as miseducation, the government’s abuse of authority, incompetency and corruption, poor infrastructure (including internet connectivity to allow us to work optimally at home), insufficient public and private health resources, bureaucracy, crisis management and crisis communication – you name it, we got it all.

     We do not even know if we are in the eye of the storm, or if the storm is merely a-brewing. Could it be true according to experts in medical and economic fields that the worst is actually yet to come? I would like to be hopeful in my personal belief that a vaccine is on the way and will be ready by the third or fourth quarter of 2020, as finding a cure for this nasty virus is the only way the world can regain any semblance of normalcy. As for the cures of our other problems – I do not know if they can be cured, at least not in my lifetime.

     As I have mentioned in a previous post and can’ t help but say again - is that many things to mitigate the spread of the virus could have been done by the Philippine government early this year such as, by already banning flights to and from China since January 2020. This is not a recommendation made in 20/20 hindsight, as this was the vehement clamor from members of the private and public sector back then already. Tragically, it has been one bungle after another since then. It always makes me wonder just what kind of sweetheart propositions that the President must receive from the Chinese government in exchange for his pro-China decisions. They must be quite the fat paychecks for him to constantly sacrifice the welfare of his own countrymen. Kapwa niyang Pilipino.

I doubt there will be any sort of reckoning for as long as Duterte is in power. It pushes me allude instead to Dante’s Divine Comedy, where Dante describes how traitors end up in the lowest layer of the Inferno in the after-life, along with souls like Judas.

As for the Chinese government, still no accountability at all from their end, and they furthermore have the audacity to point fingers at other nations like the United States.

Pasa Load

     Another recent and very bothersome update in this unfolding, bleak COVID-19 saga was Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque’s pronouncement last Monday, May 18, 2020. He said “that the government still has no plans to carry out mass testing to detect COVID-19 infections in the country, adding that authorities will leave such efforts in the hands of private businesses” (CNN Philippines).

     We’ve all known how unreliable our government has always been. Hence, it comes as no surprise that the government is placing the burden of ensuring health and safety of employees (disinfection, proper training, protective gear, etc) onto the private sector. However, the portion where they also pass on the colossal and costly responsibility of mass testing to the private sector is the point of concern and major frustration.

With President Duterte at the captain’s helm during this Perfect Storm, steering through unchartered waters as it is, it seems as though he has chosen to just abandon ship. It is statements such as [above] which confirm some of our worst fears – that he still has not, and does not seem to have any plans whatsoever of constructing a concrete battleplan to fight COVID-19. His only “plan” is to lockdown identified high-risk communities, enforce social distancing though the police and military, and then for everyone to passively wait for a vaccine from a developed country to emerge. Whatever happened to the hundreds of billions PHP “War Chest” that his administration has long been discussing and even boasting about? Is it to be assumed that this Fund has also mysteriously been depleted? Couldn’t his administration at least consider structuring a somewhat shared collaboration with the private sector for these testing costs?

I was stunned with disbelief and anger as I read this full article. Moreover, to add insult to injury, the DOLE has the nerve to spew out incredibly hypocritical lines like “for the sake of our economy we encourage them (businesses) to dig deeper into their vast reserve of charity and benevolence so that their workers and the communities can continue to further weather this crisis…” The DOLE need not solicit such a phony appeal to the private sector’s conscience and integrity. What do they think businesses have been doing this all time? Many private corporations including SMEs, have shown much compassion and a value for human life during this time – for instance, by releasing full salaries regardless of days worked and zero to minimal revenues, but they are also not invincible.

DOLE instead should take a long and hard look into the mirror, so they can actually practice by example what it is to really “dig deep.” I surmise, they have only scratched the surface.

Certain Uncertainties

Now on the nth day of Metro Manila’s ECQ and all modifications (I have also heard of the term MMECQ – Matirang Matibay ECQ), I have received various messages from weary friends saying that after all of this, they are seriously considering uprooting their families and moving to a more progressive country. This pandemic and the subsequent meek efforts to contain infections and address its consequences has convinced them that the Philippines is, and perhaps will not ever be, a liveable country in the next couple of years. Myself, being the usual the optimist and patriot, found myself sadly agreeing on some points.

Another big problem close to my heart is the future of our children’s education. As much as I applaud and deeply admire our relentless and kind-hearted educators for doing their best to continue online classroom learning, this educational BCP should only be a temporary solution. Children deserve to be learning with other children in classrooms. Yet, our schools too are in a tough spot, as education or any concrete back-to-school initiatives do not seem to be a priority right now by this administration. They are not given much guidance or support.

It is during these days that I get flashbacks of the time when President Duterte and his lackeys won the 2016 Elections. Exasperated by the results, including when Bong Bong Marcos closely trailed behind VP Leni Robredo, I became convinced that we Filipinos, across all generations and walks of life, just do not learn. I took a break from writing until 2019. I let Duterte supporters all around me say their ridiculous pieces, and I didn’t attempt to engage in debate. What for? I thought. A part of me was hoping though that Duterte would prove me wrong.

Sadly, he has never proved me wrong or others who voted otherwise wrong. In fact, his administration is gradually unravelling by the day. It is a clear “I told you so moment;” however, at the expense of the Philippines. It took this pandemic to finally open the eyes of many to see just how literally fatal it was to elect someone like Duterte into the highest position in the land. I still ask myself though – will we all really learn from this experience? History has shown us just how ignorant and stubborn we Filipinos can be. I am also not surprised that there still remains a large number of Duterte supporters who still go to great lengths to justify all his actions and express their undying loyalty.

Search for the Silver Lining

     Many nights, I ponder on the fate of the Philippines and the rest of the world, and like everyone else, all these uncertainties keep my anxieties running high. Last night however, I felt an air of comfort to hear senior-aged family members talk about how they have lived to withstand greater crises throughout their lives such as, Martial Law and the economic meltdown and nationwide bankruptcies that erupted during the years after Senator Ninoy Aquino’s assassination in 1983 up to post EDSA People Power Revolution in 1986. The peace that followed was short-lived as well, as coup d’ etats further rocked Metro Manila in the early 1990s. These wise boomers also discussed the global problems of the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, and over a decade later, the Financial Crisis in 2007-2008. Yet here they are today, driven with the same determination to weather another storm, this COVID-19 pandemic. Certainly, these boomers still have a lot to teach us Millennials and GenZs.

It felt good to hear from wizened, older minds that there is Hope.

So, I thought to remind myself today and everyday moving forward, not to get too troubled about these times. Yes, there is much to worry about, but many things are beyond our control. We must keep our mindsets in check everyday if we are to get through all of this. Prayer and faith must also never be taken out of the equation, as well as counting our blessings and paying them forward. As I’ve also said in a previous post, acts of kindness (and humor) during these dark times happen everyday – we need not look far to witness or feel it.

As I began to reflect more, I remembered that rainbows appear after a storm – the more disastrous a storm, the brighter and more vivid is the rainbow. I am holding out for that rainbow to emerge (hopefully soon) after this vicious Perfect Storm.

[tipsycad147]

Alexis J. Cunningfolk

During these hot summer months, cooling herbs are key allies for our health and wellbeing. There are a number of cooling herbs we can befriend, including Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis), Rose (Rosa damascena), and Aloe (Aloe vera). One of my favourites is Burdock because it has such a wonderful way of balancing heat in the body, is mild in taste, and is one of those herbs (like Oats) that act as much as food as it does medicine.

I created this profile for the students who attend The Plant Sabbat but thought it would be fun to share with you, too.

What are your favourite ways to use Burdock? Let me know in the comments below. If you're looking for all my plant profiles click here and you can learn how to connect with any plant with the Plant Ally Project. Enjoy!

Common + Folk Names : Bardane, happy major, hardock, hareburr, cockleburr, clotbur, love leaves, hurt burr, beggar’s buttons

Element : Water

Zodiac Signs : Taurus

Planets : Venus, Jupiter

Moon Phase : Waning Moon

Parts used : Root and seed.

Habitat : Native to Eurasia and grows throughout North America. Thrives in damp areas, disturbed soil, and roadsides.

Growing Conditions : Self-seeding and relatively easy to grow. Prefers full sun and moist, rich soil.

Collection : Collect the root of a in the summer or fall of the plant’s first year or the spring of the second.

Flavor : Bitter, sweet

Temperature : Cool

Moisture : Dry

Tissue State : Dry/Atrophy, Damp/Stagnation

Constituents : Vitamin C, calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, zinc, polyacetylenes, chlorogenic acid, taraxosterol, arctigen, inulin, lactone, volatile oils, flavonoids, tannin, mucilage, resin, pectin.

Actions : Adaptogen, alterative, antibacterial, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, anti-candida, antitussive, aperient, aphrodisiac, cholagogue, demulcent, diaphoretic, diuretic, expectorant, febrifuge, galactagogue, mild laxative, nutritive. The seed is alternative, anti-inflammatory, depurative, diaphoretic, diuretic.

Main Uses : Burdock is a clearing herb. It draws toxins out of the body, especially from the gut, the tissues, and the liver. As a blood-purifier, the herb helps to support the work of eliminatory organs like the liver and kidneys. It is a traditional remedy for kidney stones. As a cooling and moistening herb, Burdock is especially useful for issues that arise from excess heat including inflammation (especially when inflammatory skin conditions are an issues), fevers, and illnesses such as tonsillitis or dry coughs. Acting on the liver, Burdock helps with the secretion of bile and stimulates the actions of the gall bladder. The herb is indicated for poor glandular function in general including the lymph system, pancreas, endocrine glands, prostate, and spleen. As for most liver herbs, Burdock can be helpful for those in recovery from alcohol addiction. It is good to use cleansing Burdock with diuretic herbs such as Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) to make sure that you are pulling out toxins from the body effectively.

The heat and pain of arthritis and gout are alleviated by Burdock as the root breaks down excess uric acid in the joints. Some indicators for Burdock can seem contradictory - excess internal heat can result in a dry digestive tract (constipation and dry fecal matter are indicators) but it can lead also to weepy skin conditions. This is because hot and dry internal heat has pushed all moisture and oil in the body system to the extremities. Of course, to keep things interesting, Burdock can also be strongly indicated in the case of dry and scaly skin conditions. Remember, you are looking for excess heat and how it is manifesting the body when considering Burdock.

Traditionally, Burdock has been used since the Middle Ages for the treatment of cancer including by famed herbalist and mystic Hildegard of Bingen. Modern research continues to look at Burdock as a useful ally in the treatment of not only cancer but HIV, alerting us to Burdock’s immune-boosting qualities.

Burdock combines well with other nutritive herbs such as Milky Oat (Avena sativa) for creating a restorative tonic for undernourished body systems. Insulin rich, Burdock acts as a prebiotic in our gut, helping to cultivate healthy flora. It also helps with the digestion of fats and oils. Enjoy the tea 30 minutes before a meal for best results. Another indicator for Burdock is a sweet tooth and maybe even sugar addiction for those who rely on the quick fix of sugar for energy. There can be a deeper emotional tie to pleasure (or lack thereof) in life and the use of sugar as a quick but ultimately unsatisfying replacement. Approach all diet discussions with nuance and compassion, being sure to examine your own relationship to food and prejudices about size and appearance. Use the essences of Burdock, Crap Apple, and Pretty Face for help.

Brigitte Mars offers an interesting insight into how Burdock is especially useful for city dwellers:

“During the Industrial Revolution, burdock was used as a medicine to help people cope with pollution or, as John Kelton said in 1870, ‘the constant deterioration of the blood from impure air and exhaustion by day, bad ventilation at night and want of attention to ordinary requirements of life.’” (The Desktop Guide to Herbal Medicine, 67)

Burdock has a low amount of estrogen content which means that it can be useful for folks experiencing menopause when combined with stronger estrogenic herbs such as Dong Quai (Angelica sinensis) and Wild Yam (Dioscorea villosa). Use with practitioner support for supporting transgender and gender variant transitions on the transfeminine spectrum.

External uses include using the oil and leaves as a poultice for skin inflammation and rashes including psoriasis, eczema, glandular boils, and ringworm. Make a hair rinse of the root for remedying dandruff and preventing hair loss. Use in after-sun care. Useful for case of hot and red acne that has not come to a head. Made into a facial toner, the root helps to regulate the excretion of sebaceous glands in the skin, making it especially useful for those with oily skin. Use as well for swellings, sprains, and tumours. Skin conditions are especially connected to deep seated emotional imbalances - use flower essences along herbal remedies. The tincture can internally to successfully treat external symptoms, too. “In the Native American healing tradition, the plant was used by the Malecite, Micmac, Ojibwa, and Menominee for skin health. Further, the roots were dried by the Iroquois over a fire and stored for food for the following year.” (1)

Burdock root is quite edible and pleasant in flavor. It’s a popular addition in Japanese, Hawaiian, and New Zealand cuisine.

Magickal Uses : Burdock is considered a protective herb and the root can be buried at the four corners of the home or powdered and traced around the home. The dried root can be cut and made into small button like beads as a protective amulet. The flowers are symbols of abundance. Use the burrs to help the magick stick to something. Use the plant to help you connect with Bear energy - Arctium comes from the Greek word for bear.

The Burdock Personality : The Burdock personality is very good as masking their emotional suffering, but eventually their physical suffering comes to the surface. They embody burnout - their internal heat has burned them up from the inside out. They tend to be anxious and worried about rocking the boat - until they find themselves so angry they can’t not express their anger. Irritability, crankiness, and explosive outbursts can follow and can feel especially overwhelming as this has not been their typical pattern. Burdock helps them to access the liberating powers of their anger. Anger on the surface goes after those we love and has a tendency to wreck relationships. Deep anger that is given space to come to the surface and allowed to breathe and burn off can be healing. The anger of a Burdock person is often from a much earlier period in their life when they weren’t able to safely express their anger then. Burdock helps them get the chance they never had to be angry - it clears the path for a clean, transformative burn.

Contraindications : Avoid use during first trimester of pregnancy - herbalist Anne McIntyre recommends avoiding throughout all trimesters and during breastfeeding. Avoid with insulin and other hypoglycemic medications. Needs careful monitoring of blood sugar levels with diabetic patients. Be aware that Burdock and Rhubarb leaves are similar looking but Rhubarb leaves are toxic.

Dosage : Standard dosage - 1 tsp per 8 oz water; Adults 30 - 60 drops tincture or 1 - 10 drops for drop dosage.

Burdock + Dandelion Toffee

by Julie Bruton-Seal & Matthew Seal from Backyard Medicine

Dig several roots of burdock and dandelion, in spring or fall. Strip the root bark off, and clean and chop up the inner part. Weight out 3 to 4 ounces of each. Load into a saucepan and cover with a pint of water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes. Allow to cool.

Simmer again until the roots are tasteless (i.e. have surrendered their content to the liquid). This reduces the mixture by about half. Strain and add 1 tablespoon butter and 12 tablespoons of sugar. Boil for 5 minutes then simmer for 20 minutes more. It will become toffee-like. Test the toffee by pouring a drip of it onto a cold plate, as you would in testing jam: when it crinkles into soft threads, it is ready. Pout it into a buttered shallow tin. Before it sets totally, mark out squares and save the toffee slab in greaseproof paper: or stretch it out by hand into taffy: this is ale and pliable, ideal for balls, plaits, etc.

(1) Quoted from https://www.mountainroseherbs.com/products/burdock-root/profile but the original source can be found here: Moerman, D.E. 1998. Native American Ethnobotany at http://herb.umd.umich.edu/.

http://www.wortsandcunning.com/blog?offset=1563117120516

[crunchy-nipples]

Argument with my ex on “Rape”

My observance:

In every society in the history of the world, if there are no laws and no sanctions, there is chaos which brings murder and rape among many other things. Those two just happen to be some of the most well-documented side effects.

Only in societies where there are or have been sanctions for murder and rape is it/was it under control. Whether through old documents, or a religious reason.

In any place and anytime in history, if society is left to its own devices without penalty or a global groupthink, before the age of communication, rape and murder were common, why?

Because there were no negative consequences and they were not taught empathy from birth. They only learned to survive and do what their hormones wanted them to do. Especially in tribes or small groups without languages. The complete opposite of a society with sanctions in place, where fathers, mothers, and society taught that empathizing for other human beings was the right way. And the child will grow up that way, having compassion for people they do not know.

In well-documented cases of feral children, if the child is not reared from the age of somewhere from 1-3 they never reach the potential of their counterparts in the ability to think abstractly or empathize with others. Some feral children were found walking on all fours and pounced at small rodents ripping them apart as an animal would.

In ancient times (or even in the last few decades in some societies) people sacrificed humans, some mothers even killed their own child. Some that ate their own children. They were taught this. They were raised this way. 

In Nazi Germany during the time of war, the nation was filled with willing and excited people to see Jews killed and taken to concentration camps. They would treat them like sub humans, beat them, spit on them, etc.

Again, in every single one of these societies where there was not a negative sanction against it or a punishment from the greater society, rape was an epidemic like no other, millions of women raped. Millions of people murdered for reasons completely unjustified but selfish emotion and feelings. Feeling that naturally come from our own bodies, our socialization, our world understanding or lack thereof, our hormones to reproduce, hormones to do anything to survive and feel good with instant gratification. Never being taught to think of people or animals outside of ourselves. 

My point, in short, if a human being, is left to their own devices, they will act chaotically, inhumanely (Until sanctions and proper rearing are put in place).

I said this is the reason rape is not socially acceptable. We are raised to love our fellow human being. We are taught that the way we feel is the way other people feel too. That the way we care for our brother and sisters father and mothers is what keeps us civilized, or what would keep us from killing another human being simply because we are upset or want something that they have. That’s what keeps men in our society from overpowering women and simply taking what they want. Love, through empathy, through proper child rearing, and societal sanctions.

Her Observance:

I am using bias reasoning, I think like a rapist, and I am a rape apologist. 

[sociallyinsmmagency]

RESTAURANT MARKETING FOR BEGINNERS: THE ONLY GUIDE YOU NEED 2 SUCCEED

Restaurant marketing: who knew it could be so complicated?

RESTAURANT MARKETING FOR BEGINNERS: THE ONLY GUIDE YOU NEED 2 SUCCEED

Convenience, fast and friendly service, and delicious food are obviously going to make your restaurant stand out from the crowd.

However, unless your customers can look into the future or read your mind, they're not going to magically know what you offer, where you're located, or even what kind of food your restaurant has to offer.

And unfortunately, restaurant advertising can be expensive, so a lot of restaurants, (especially those that are just getting off the ground) are going to be crossing their fingers and jumping into the organic side of the restaurant marketing gig first.

And that's where this guide will become your compass. 🧭 Are you ready to dive in and start learning about all of the well-known and little-known restaurant marketing ideas? Let's go!

What is Restaurant Marketing?

Restaurant marketing is the art and science of brainstorming and creating an in-depth strategy for drawing customers in, letting them chow down on your delicious food, and analyzing the results of your campaign to see where and how you can improve for better, faster ROI.

Before social media became the lifeblood of our daily lives, restaurant marketing was a fairly simple practice.

Now it can be a death sentence to use the "tried and tested" old practices- basic TV commercials (do people even still watch traditional TV?), the classic billboard, and MAYBE a Youtube ad if you're really "new-age".

Today, 72% of customers are looking to social media for guidance on where to take their next bite, with over 99% of those individuals being GenZ or Millennial.

This means that if your brand isn't taking advantage of restaurant marketing on social media and across the web, you're probably experiencing thousands of $$$$ in lost revenue every year. But don't worry. We can help. Just keep reading!

Why is Social Media Such an Integral Part of Restaurant Marketing?

For the same reason that the old methods don't work anymore. We've innovated and overcome to create a more inclusive, customized experience for diners, and part of that is making sure a target customer makes it into the right location.

But there are other reasons, too. Let's take a look at them.

1. It gives your restaurant the opportunity to be found online

2. It gives your customers a good idea of what to expect- less surprises equal less complaints!

3. Opens a communication line between each location and it's local customers, making it more likely that they'll enjoy a customized experience and feel comfortable

4. Gives customers a glimpse at what they're missing with yummy food pics, videos, and the setting itself, which is often just as important as the food aspect!

5. Adds an air of professionalism to your restaurant brand as a whole

6. Allows you to share special events, exclusive deals, and coupons with your followers to drum up excitement

There are, of course, plenty of opportunities that restaurant marketing can provide that we've missed, (we'd never have space for every benefit!) which is all the more reason why you should start experimenting ASAP!

How to Start Restaurant Marketing Like a Pro: Restaurant Marketing Ideas to Slay the Competition

We've worked alongside brands like Edible Arrangements and TGI Friday's to create compelling, beautiful social media images and marketing campaigns in the past, so we definitely have some amazing restaurant marketing ideas up our sleeves that we're super excited to share.

However, first things first: you'll need a restaurant marketing plan.

Creating a Restaurant Marketing Plan for Beginners

Without a plan, you won't know if what you're doing isn't working.

Or even more importantly: if it's succeeding.

So without further comment, here are seven steps to creating the perfect restaurant marketing plan!

Step #1: Assess the Situation

Starting from scratch? Picking up where a friend left off? Been winging it and ready to step up your restaurant marketing game?

Wherever you find yourself in the process, the first step is to assess where you are and take notes of what your business and customers need from you.

Step #2: Set an Objective

There are lots of objectives that you can set for your marketing plan that will help determine the road you need to take to get to a particular destination.

Are you looking to specifically expand your online reach? Maybe you're looking to boost engagement, grow your following, or even all of the above.

Each of these objectives will require different things, which is why it's imperative for the success of your brand to narrow down what you *want* from your restaurant marketing plan before launching your restaurant marketing plan.

Step #3: Set Clear Goals

This might sound like the exact same thing as objectives, but it's actually slightly different.

Think of an objective as a very broad generalization of what you're aiming for in the long term.

The goals are more detailed. For instance: "In six months, we'll have doubled our followers" or "10% increase in online orders".

Setting goals can help keep you on track in the long term and keep the success momentum going so that you don't lose your confidence when things don't always work out.

Step #4: Set a Restaurant Marketing Budget

Before you can put your goals and objectives into action, you'll need to set a hard line for spending.

A budget can help keep spending in check when it comes to faulty campaigns and less than fantastic copy, images, videos, and more.

In short: not every effort you make will be successful, so a budget allows you to adjust without spending too much before it's too late.

Step #5: Determine Who Your Ideal Customer Is and What They Need From You

Other than the obvious: food, what does your target customer need from YOU?

You can easily figure this out, but first, you need to find out who your target audience actually IS- what does your ideal customer look like?

This depends on not only the type of restaurant, but the type of service you provide, where you're located, and even how connected your dining rooms and other eating areas are. Things like WiFi can be a huge determining factor for younger customers, business teams, and professionals.

When you're taking down information, don't leave out important factors like interests and most active times on social media. These can come in handy later when you're targeting customers for your restaurant marketing plan.

Step #6: Get Ready to Test. And Test. And Test Your Restaurant Marketing Efforts

Unfortunately, restaurant marketing isn't as easy as setting it up and leaving it to run forever. It takes a lot of hard work, optimizing, testing, more optimizing, more testing, and on and on forever.

The plain and simple truth is that your brand's restaurant marketing efforts will never be the best they can be because the landscape is always shifting, and thus forcing your brand to shift with it.

In addition, you don't want to be stagnant. You want to be moving and improving. Staying the same is surrendering yourself to failure before you've even begun.

Remember: there's ALWAYS untapped potential in the social media space. Even when you've found a successful approach.

Step #7: Putting Your Restaurant Marketing Plan Together

Now it's time to combine all of your new restaurant marketing ideas into a single, nearly fool-proof restaurant marketing plan.

Will it be perfect? No. Will you have to continue improving it?

Yes. Does having a plan mean a higher ROI, a more engaged network, and more customers in the long run? YES!

So what are you waiting for? Let's start building that restaurant marketing plan! 🤘🏻

The Exhaustive List of Restaurant Marketing Ideas

Competition is always tooth and nail in the food marketing business. And that's why it's so important to put your best foot forward online: front and center for your customers to see.

We're hopeful that you can utilize this exhaustive list of restaurant marketing content ideas and general restaurant marketing ideas to take your restaurant to new heights on social media. (And don't forget that we're always here to help!)

#1. Establish and Promote a Unique Brand Identity

You want your restaurant brand to stand out, right? You want your audience to recognize your content the second they see it. You want your brand voice and tone to be familiar and authentic. Part of this is establishing a unique brand identity.

This might include a logo, the way you relate to customers online, your sense of humor, (or lack thereof), your brand colors, etc.

When you've determined what makes your brand truly unique, you can let it spill out onto the web. And this will help make your audience feel more at home, boost brand recognition, and drive people to your brand.

Sounds like a win-win-win to us!

#2. Embrace the Food Porn Mentality

Food is amazing. One glance at Snapchat, Instagram, and Facebook will tell you everything you need to know about whether or not the practice of snapping fave food pics is still "in". Hint: it is.

One of the most powerful ways to draw people into your restaurant is to show them what they're missing and then providing an experience THEY will want to share.

That might look like taking some amazing pics of your food, like these amazing photos we took for Beef 'O' Brady's. You can view the whole case study and portfolio of photos and social media graphics HERE.

#3. Send Out a Newsletter with Exclusive Perks

Everyone loves cheap (or even free!) food every now and then. The newsletter can be a great way to drum up excitement around a brand new menu item, gift cards, sweepstakes, employee highlights, and more!

#4. Encourage and Utilize User-Generated Content

Everyone loves getting some attention online. Let your customers excited about potential features and creative UGC opportunities and see the free content pour in!

#5. Show Off the Staff

Showing off your staff is a great way to help customers feel more connected to your restaurant brand and see it as more of a family experience and less of a business transaction.

This also helps foster inclusivity,

Always Monitor Your Social Media Presence

Share the Positive Press

Respond to Comments

Keep the Website Functional

Utilize Social Paid Advertising

Frequently Asked Questions

We know you probably have a laundry list of questions, so we'll do our best to answer the biggest ones. Ready? Let's read.

Why Should I Consider Utilizing Paid Ads for Restaurant Marketing?

Paid ads can go significantly further than traditional organic restaurant marketing. You won't be limited to your followers, only your targeted audience.

So if you're looking for customers in a particular age range or region, restaurant marketing can be significantly amplified with paid advertising.

Do You Have to Have a Restaurant Marketing Plan?

Short answer: yes and no.

We wouldn't demand that someone have a plan, but if they're working with us, we'll ALWAYS have a plan.

Why? Because having a restaurant marketing plan is a key to the success of your efforts.

What are the Restaurant Marketing Best Practices?

Nobody says you have to practice every restaurant marketing best practice, but we do have a few pointers you can utilize to make your results that much more awesome.

- Respond to comments, both negative and positive. Let your customers and audience know you can hear them

-  Add reservation links to your social media pages and Google.

-  Consider utilizing Retargeting ads for customers who visit your website.

-  Consider utilizing an influencer campaign to spread the word and get customers excited about your food and atmosphere.

What if I Don't Have the Money to Implement These Restaurant Marketing Best Practices Yet?

For one, marketing is all about slow and steady community building, thought leadership, staying true to your brand identity, and engaging customers. Just work on it slow and get help where you can!

How Much Does Restaurant Marketing Cost?

This is going to largely depend on your objectives, goals, timetable, resources, expertise...

In short, a lot of factors. But typically, it can run anywhere from a couple of hundred bucks to thousands depending on several determining factors.

Restaurant Marketing: The Wrap

In the end, marketing your restaurant online isn't incredibly difficult, but it does require a pretty substantial investment of your time, budget, and energy.

Why sweat the small stuff? Let us handle the details and watch the magic unfold on your brand's social media channels while customers fill your feed with online orders.

The post Is  RESTAURANT MARKETING FOR BEGINNERS: THE ONLY GUIDE YOU NEED 2 SUCCEED appeared first on the Sociallyin Insider blog.

[kadobeclothing]

How to take care of our kids emotionally during COVID-19

We are all currently feeling a little lost, a lot of overwhelmed and definitely uncertain… It’s not easy dealing with a worldwide pandemic and knowing how to take care of our kids emotionally during COVID-19 may seem daunting when we feel as if we aren’t even able to cope ourselves. I asked Salome van Wyk BEd(UP) BEd Hons(UP) MA Psych(NWU), play counsellor and founder of Flourish, to share her top tips for taking care of our little ones during this trying time. I truly hope the following tips will prove useful to parents all over the world ensuring we create a calm, safe haven for our children as we guide them through this moment in history. Before going any further please understand that reactions to the pandemic may vary… Children’s responses to stressful events are unique and varied. Some children may be irritable or clingy, and some may regress, demand extra attention, or have difficulty with self-care, sleeping, and eating. The impact that the coronavirus might have on children will vary and their responses could be influenced by factors such as gender, social support, age, inherent resilience, and level of exposure to the virus. What remains evident is that children tend to rely on parents for their emotional needs. Thus, parents (and any primary caregivers) will play a crucial central role as a child’s sources of safety, security, and information during this time. Now, how to take care of our kids emotionally during COVID-19…

How to take care of our kids emotionally during COVID-19 FREE printable. 1. Create structure by having a predictable yet flexible routine Children are seeking predictability and control in a world that feels increasingly uncertain. Young children thrive on continuity and routines, doing the same thing daily, or reading the same book over and over again. Try to create predictability, even if it’s just with a daily walk or dinner routine. Performing everyday activities as far as possible is vital, as this routine provides the structure that children rely on. By maintaining familiar schedules, based on age, gender and culture, children can establish normalcy, which will reduce their anxieties. Ensure your child or teenagers follow the daily routine by involving them in the planing thereof.  (FIND our FREE DIY daily schedule HERE) 2. Answer your children’s questions with age-appropriate information Avoiding discussions may increase fear and anxiety. Answer your children’s questions and engage in open conversations using language that they understand. Questions to be expected range from issues of safety, access to medical care, recovery, death, schooling, friends, teachers, pets, etc. Parents should respond to their children’s anxieties (emotionally, by providing reassurance) AND to the question itself. Children can ask difficult questions, but parents should not shy away from answering. Do not give a child false information. Rather provide reassurance and let your child know that you will look up accurate information and share it with them. Children’s questions are essential. Questioning permits children to exercise their right to participation on matters concerning them. Children tend to rely on their imaginations when they lack adequate information. Adults’ decisions to withhold information are usually more stressful for children than telling the truth in age-appropriate ways. 3. Monitor exposure to media Continuous repetitions of COVID-19 news in any form risks re-traumatising or causing secondary trauma to children. Protect your children from what you think would exacerbate their anxieties and that which is unhelpful towards their healing. Adults should limit children’s exposure to media coverage, social media, and adult conversations about the pandemic, as these channels may be less age-appropriate. Ongoing access to news and social media about the pandemic and constant conversation about threats to public safety can cause unnecessary stress for children. Help build resilience in your children by facilitating play, nurturing care and celebrating survival with them on an on-going basis. Resilience can go a long way post-COVID-19. 4. Create a physical and emotional safe environment Provide reassurance to children about their own safety as well as the safety of loved ones.  Tell them that it is an adults’ job to ensure their safety. Be open and listen to your children as they look to you for support. Accept how they feel and comfort them. 5. Stay in contact with close relatives and friends Children should stay in contact with the important people in their lives. It will give them reassurance and joy. Arrange video calls as often as possible, with grandparents, family, friends and even teachers.  For younger kids – provide “something to do” to help them to talk to their friends. They could play a game or share their favourite doll. Virtual tea parties are very “in” at the moment too. Rediscover the lost art of letter writing or think of something special to drop at a friend’s gate. 6. Keep your children “busy” When children are bored, their levels of worry and disruptive behaviours may increase. Adults can provide options for safe activities (e.g., outside play, blocks, modelling clay, art, music, games) and involve children in brainstorming other creative ideas. Children need ample time to engage in play and other joyful or learning experiences without worrying or talking about the pandemic. During this stressful time, it’s also tremendously helpful for children (and adults) to get ourselves out of our heads and into their bodies. Whether it’s using Kids Yoga, or simply doing jumping jacks – movement/exercise can be very helpful. Nature helps stabilise human emotions, so get outside. And don’t underestimate the importance of messy play. Very young children use messy play to physically explore and work through their emotions. All of the above mentioned will be helpful! 7. Stay positive Children need to feel safe, secure, and positive about their present and future. Adults can help by focusing children’s attention on stories about how people come together, find creative solutions to difficult problems, and overcome adversity during the epidemic. Talking about these stories can be healing and reassuring to children and adults alike. 8. Look after yourself too Children pick up on their parents’ stress, and it can make them feel unsafe. Young children might not understand what you’re talking about, but that makes it even scarier. They absorb our emotion and tone, worry and anxiety. Try to be aware of your own level of stress and anxiety and be kind to yourself. Take 15 minutes in the morning to have coffee by yourself. Split the heavy household burden we all carry with your partner if possible. Even an extra few minutes in the shower can be comforting. Your well-being is imperative to your children’s wellbeing and recovery, as children sometimes regulate their own emotions based on the emotional response of their parents. Parents MUST take care of themselves so they have the internal resources to care for others. REMEMBER: When children see you modelling healthy behaviour, they will begin to do the same. Children tend to do what children see. Your children will feel better because you feel better. BUT you are allowed to show your feelings and talk about it… If you need some time alone, tell your children you feel overwhelmed and needs 10 minutes on your own. NO NEED TO BE PERFECT.

Most importantly:

Connect with your children, as often as possible

Stop your child’s nervous systems from going into fight, flight or freeze mode by connecting with them daily. Increase “connection” time by being physically close and creating special, one-on-one time together. Do this for each of your children. Keep it to 20 minutes, or longer – it’s up to us. It can be at the same time every day so children or teenagers can look forward to your “date”. Giving children options will also build self-confidence and provides a feeling of control. So ask your child what they would like to do. Laugh together, play or just enjoy a good snuggle. Actively listen to your child as he/she tries to make sense of the things happening around them. The ability of parents/caregivers to actively and intently listen to their child is crucial. Listen to them, look at them. Give them your full attention.  REMEMBER: Kindness, love and compassion is what children need to feel secure. It is very basic and true.

Acknowledge and reflect your child’s emotions

When your child shares their deepest feelings with you, it is a gift. It shows trust. It also gives you the chance to help them cope with their emotions—one of the most important responsibilities as parents. So, when your child tells you what’s on their mind and in their heart, tell them how happy you are that they shared their thoughts and feelings with you.  This will reinforce that you will always be there for them and can handle whatever they may be experiencing. When you recognize and acknowledge your child’s emotions, you let them know that they are not alone and that you understand and accept them completely. This helps your child gain the self-acceptance and self-awareness he/she needs to recognize, own and manage their feelings effectively, far into the future. When we can talk about our feelings, they become less overwhelming, less upsetting and less scary. Acknowledge that our world has changed a lot over the past few weeks and that change can be hard. Share that you are also adapting and that we are all in this together.  Avoid jumping to the reassurance that all will be well when your child expresses difficult emotions. When teachers and friends are missed, instead of responding, “Don’t worry, you’ll see them again soon!”, start by acknowledging the experience and emotion: “That makes a lot of sense. You love your school friends and teachers. It’s hard not to be able to play with them and that makes you feel sad.” Then move to empowerment, by, for example, brainstorming ways your child can stay connected to teachers and friends by scheduling video chats, drawing a picture or dictating an email to send to loved ones.

Know that your child may show regression

Regression – moving backwards in their development – is a very common reaction to stress and is to be expected right now. Regression means that the child is not able to cope in as mature a manner as they have recently mastered, because they feel too overwhelmed. At the moment, like for many of us, our children are also struggling to manage everyday tasks and challenges. This may lead to more challenging behaviours. You may see your child get frustrated more easily, become excessively clingy, have more potty accidents, experience sleep disruption, and, have a change in their eating patterns. Some children use more baby talk or pout and cry when they can’t have what they want. Older children and teenagers might ask for more help than usual with their homework. They may also be volatile or lash out. Do not use shame. And please do not tell your child they are “acting like a baby” – this will have a profound negative effect. It is an attack on their sense-of-self which leads to more acting-out behaviour. Rather validate your child’s experience. Because we love our children so deeply, it is hard to see them struggle. We just want to make the “bad” feelings go away because we think it’s harmful to them to feel sad, angry, or scared. But ignoring or minimizing feelings doesn’t make them magically disappear, they just get “acted-out” through behaviours. Recognize the regression as a sign of stress and increase your support, even if it seems like babying them or giving in to childish demands. Recognizing your child’s need for extra comfort. “Baby” them more, rocking and singing to them as you once did.  Be patient, ride it out. This too shall pass.

Allow for enough FREE PLAY!

Play is a child’s language. It’s how new information is processed, how they experience and make sense of it all. When a child is overwhelmed by something in their internal experience they utilize toys, art, dramatic play etc. to express their feelings. That’s why it’s so important to give our children the space to play out these themes. Don’t criticize them even if play seems a little morbid or aggressive. As long as it is done through play, and they aren’t actually hurting anybody allow for this natural process to help bring about a better understanding as well as healing. Themes that children might be playing currently includes: separation, death/dying, illness, medical care, being stuck or entrapped, losing or missing things, being in control, superheroes and saving, scary things or being scared. Playing out the various scenarios will help with solving problems and give a feeling of being in control.

Emotional and behavioural changes in children are to be expected during a pandemic. Everyone is adjusting to a “new sense of normal”. If children show an ongoing patterns of emotional or behavioural concerns (e.g., nightmares, excessive focus on anxieties, increased aggression, regressive behaviours, or self-harm) which does not resolve with supports – Then professional help may be needed. Thank you once again to Salome van Wyk BEd(UP) BEd Hons(UP) MA Psych(NWU), play counsellor and founder of Flourish for this insightful article.

For more COVID 19 resources for parents have a look HERE and HERE.

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[razorblade-eyes]

How to Talk to Your Client About Their Birth Experience (and Why It Matters)

Not all mothers identify strongly with motherhood, just as not all mothers give the birth of their child much thought after the fact.

However, for a large number of women, birthing a baby is one of the most transformative moments of their life: it is when a new part of their identity is revealed, that of becoming someone’s mother.

Birth itself is a process that can be physically demanding, exhilarating, unnerving, joyous, heartbreaking, life-changing, frustrating, happy, unpredictable, empowering, and so much more! There are as many descriptions of birth as there are mothers on the planet.

Women make up to 75 percent of all training clients and, in the U.S. alone, 85 percent of all women will be pregnant at some point in their lives.

As a coach and trainer, if you work with women, it is extremely likely you will have at least a few women clients who have given birth.

Enter, the Birth Story

One aspect of being a mother that isn’t as readily discussed yet in Western society is how the act of birth itself can impact a woman.

Birth story refers to the recounting a woman does of the birth of her child. In this narrative she may describe not only the medical and physical processes, but also her feelings, her thoughts, the challenges she faced, from her own unique perspective.

Some birth stories are hilarious! Others are heart-wrenching. There is no right or wrong birth story — they each serve a multitude of purposes, out of which the most important might be helping the mother contemplate and make sense of the experience she has gone through.

Storytelling has been an essential thread in the fabric of humanity for as long as humanity has existed.

Across millennia, through stories, humans have passed on teachings, lessons and cultural identity, and fostered community, bonding, communication, and survival. This may explain why many women volunteer their birth stories as soon as they found out their friend is pregnant, or why birth stories abound each time mothers of young children unite, such as in infant playgroups.

Community, bonding, communication, survival — the very fabric of humanity at work!

Why This Is Relevant to Fitness Professionals

If you tend to compartmentalize clients’ lives and assume that other areas of their life do not directly impact the training and coaching you do with them… we’ve got news for you!

Let’s flesh out some of the ways in which her birthing experience may be impacting your client’s training experience. The following points are equally applicable to brand-new moms as well as women who had their children years or even decades ago:

Physically

Did your client visit a pelvic floor specialist at any point after the birth?

Ideally every woman client who has been pregnant or has given birth should visit a pelvic health physiotherapist and be cleared for exercise.

Does she have any scar tissue, pelvic floor or core issues, dysfunction, incontinence, diastasis recti, pain, or discomfort?

If existent, the factors above will come into play as you design a program for your client, and will need to be taken into consideration during training sessions.

Is she nervous, hesitant or fearful to try certain movements in the gym?

If so, you can probably imagine this will directly impact the work you do together.

Mentally

What does she think about herself as a result of her birth experience?

Think of a client who perceives themselves as a failure. Now think of one who holds a can-do attitude. How she thinks of herself will surely have an impact on how your training experience goes, and birth can be one reason why this self-perception is altered, either positively or negatively.

What does she think about her body, its abilities and disabilities, its potential, its strength or lack thereof?

Similar to the point above, the experience of giving birth and how a woman internalizes the process can play a big part in how she views what her body is capable of accomplishing.

How is she coping with her physical and mental recovery?

If there are follow up appointments, physical therapy to pursue, how is she managing the follow-up work with a newborn (or, potentially, with the grief of loss) in tow?

How is she coping with what happened or was done during the birth?

It is often said “At least you have a healthy baby!” in response to a woman’s difficult emotions toward how the birth played out. This is dismissive and reduces her entire person to one outcome.

Of course women want healthy babies, that goes without saying! But this doesn’t mean your client doesn’t get the right to voice and work through any feelings of anger, frustration, disrespect, sadness, or despair that may have arose as a result of her birth experience.

Emotionally

How are her feelings of self-worth?

Does she have feelings of success or empowerment?

Does she have feelings of inadequacy or failure?

Is she facing any postpartum PTSD, postpartum depression, anxiety, or depression as a result of the birth experience?

Some births are traumatic: scary life or death situations in which the woman  or her baby’s life are in danger. However, a birth doesn’t have to be a medical life-threatening emergency in order to be traumatic — many factors and each woman’s unique lense will make it out to be the experience it is for each.

What Is Obstetric Violence?

Obstetric violence is a term coming to light recently, and it encompasses a number of human rights violations women can encounter during pregnancy, delivery, and postpartum. It is considered an intersection between violence against women and institutionalized violence, and it manifests in a number of ways:

Disregard of a woman’s needs and pain

Verbal humiliation

Physical violence

Denial of a treatment

Coercion and forced medical interventions

Invasive practices

Dehumanizing or rude treatment

Detention in facilities due to failure to pay

Discrimination based on race, economic, ethnic or educational background, gender nonconformity, age, HIV status, marital status, etc.

Each of the above represent a violation of human rights, including right to freedom from discrimination, right to information, right to reproductive autonomy, etc.

It is very possible that some of your clients will have encountered instances of obstetric violence. By being informed that such a phenomenon exists you are already helping in some way.

For some women it can be very helpful and comforting to know they are understood in the pain they have endured and that others believe and grasp the gravity of the situation. You may not be able to take away the pain of how your client was treated, but by understanding this term and what it means you may help lessen her suffering.

How to Talk To Our Clients About their Birth Story

1. Prepare Yourself

The work starts with you, coach: before you even think about asking a woman about her birth experiences, check in with yourself and make sure you are ready to receive all that may come your way.

Will you be ready to listen and hold space if the story turns for the worst?

Are you prepared to be present in case the story describes miscarriage, stillbirth or infant loss?

Can you remain receptive and compassionate to the potential of birth trauma playing a role in her current life?

Are you ready for nitty-gritty details, perhaps the kind that most people would find highly personal, embarrassing, shameful or “TMI”?

Will you be OK with women who choose not to disclose any information at all and refuse to talk about the topic with you?

Do you have referral information at hand in case she could benefit from seeing a professional, i.e. a counselor, therapist, pelvic floor physio, or other specialist?

Above all, are you ready to remain judgment-free for the women who share their stories?

Some of the things they will describe may conflict with your own personal values and beliefs; but this isn’t about you and what you would have done in their situation. This is about them and their story.

Your only role as a coach is to honor the information shared and find the best ways to help your client in the measures available to you.

2. Ask Open-Ended Questions

“Tell me about what this experience was like for you?”

“Do you notice any differences in how your body feels now vs. before?”

“What thoughts commonly come up when you think about your birth experience?”

“What else would you like me to know about your birth?”

What we are looking for are clues and insights. This includes physical symptoms that may impact her training, of course, but also mental state around the event and emotional processing of what happened, since all of it could play a role in how she relates to her body now.

3. Empathize, Empathize, Empathize

We cannot say this enough: when going down the path of something as deeply personal and potentially triggering as childbirth, you must first and foremost come equipped with your utmost empathy and compassion.

Do your best to tap into what your client is feeling as she describes her story. Voice back some of her key statements so she understands you are listening attentively. If her story is mired with difficulty and complicated emotions, seek to connect:

“I’m so sorry this happened to you.”

“I feel deeply for what you went through.”

“I can see how hurtful this was for you.”

“How incredibly difficult, I’m so sorry.”

Tears may flow as these narratives take over; some will be happy tears, others will not.

Don’t be afraid of being human and letting your own feelings show — often this display of shared humanity is exactly what our clients need in order to feel seen and heard.

In Conclusion

Talking with our women clients about their births can shed light into important physical, mental and emotional insights about them, which are very valuable to us as wellness professionals.

Aside from how this knowledge can be applied in our practice for her benefit, by giving them a space where to share their birth stories, which are often intimate and deeply personal, we are also fostering profound connection and meaningful, long-lasting relationships.

The post How to Talk to Your Client About Their Birth Experience (and Why It Matters) appeared first on Girls Gone Strong.

from Girls Gone Strong http://bit.ly/2RWHveV from Fitness and Nutrition Hacks http://bit.ly/2SQcVIn

[parabcllums]

⧼    diego luna, cis male, he & him   /   the war by syml   +   the beep of a coffee pot set to start at six am ( and the bitter taste of cold coffee poured hours later ). the feeling that blooms in your chest when you call your dogs name and hear the pitter patter of their four huge paws on hardwood floors, coming to greet you. bandaids and bandages and the fading greens of the deep bruises peeking past them, just now beginning to heal.   ⧽   ━━   let me tell you a thing or two about CLINTON FRANCIS “CLINT” BARTON. the hero for hire that goes by HAWKEYE is a professor of ARCHERY & GYM at paragon academy, and has sometimes been referred to as THE JESTER. they’ve always seemed very INNOVATIVE & BENIGNANT, though i’ve heard they can be pretty UNDEPENDABLE & OBSTINATE, too. they’re probably here to keep an eye on the kid they had with BARBARA MORSE. do you think if i ask real nice, they’ll give me an autograph? you can check out his stat page HERE and his pinterest board HERE.

 CONGRATULATIONS,             on the mess you’ve made of things.

SECTION ONE OF THREE : BULLET POINT HISTORY. trigger warnings for talk of child abuse and death.

clinton francis “clint” barton was born on june 18th, 1974, in waverly, iowa. his mother was edith, and his supposed father was harold - an abusive, alcoholic butcher shop owner who always kinda knew that clint wasn’t his kid, and let his feelings about that out with his fists. his older ( half ) brother was charles bernard - also known as “barney” - and over his early years, he would become the most important figure in clint’s life. as mentioned, harold was wildly abusive ; both to his wife, and to his sons. clint hated him, and he hated his mother - a weak willed woman who even now he harbors some degree of contempt for, left over from a childhood of her turning the other way and allowing harold do what he did.

he suffered through a lot, in a very short amount of time, and hospital visits were numerous for the youngest barton - coming to a head when one night, his father’s attack on him left him partially deaf in one ear. he didn’t want to invest in helping clint, so barney took it upon himself to not just teach clint some asl, but also to teach him how to protect himself. in his words, teaching clint to think of everything like a weapon - something to hit harold with, when he came knocking. the boys would hide out for hours at a time on the roof of their home or in the barn, and as both got older, tried to go toe to toe with harold on more than one occassion. things would have gotten worse for them, if it hadn’t been for the accident.

harold crashed the family car into a tree on his way home one night. edith was in the passenger seat. the two of them died instantly, and clint and barney were shuttled off fairly quick to a foster home. and then another. and then another. you get the picture. if they weren’t sent away because of being generally unruly, the boys found a way to run. eventually, that led to them running into a literal circus, which they proceeded to join, seeking out the family that they had never really have.

clint was obsessed with it all - the glitz and the glam isn’t exactly the right turn of phrase, but he lived for the adrenaline rush. he was a talented gymnast, and he eventually came under the wing of the original swordsman and trick shot, who built on barney’s earlier lessons of self defense, but honed his skill with weapons. he was good with a sword. he was better with a bow. and when barney tried to sway clint into caring about his future - into doing his GED, like him - they would argue. their relationship, deteriorating a little more each time.

eventually, clint discovered that the swordsman was embezzling money - and his moral compass, though dusty, kicked in. he would’ve turned him over to the police, had it not been for him proceeding to get the shit kicked out of him, and barney choosing to turn his back on him once and for all. barney joined the army and left - and after witnessing heroes on the news, clint decided that maybe he could use his talent ( at this point being a star attraction at the circus ) for good. he donned a costume, he went out making an attempt to fight crime - and the local authorities confused him with an actual thief, which only led to him deciding that if that was what people were going to view him as, he might as well be one. the black widow - natasha romanoff - enlisted him as a partner, and the two clashed with the betterknown costumed heroes on multiple occasions.

soon enough, clint got tired of that life, and he approached the avengers with a proposition. he would use his talents for them, instead, and... feel better about himself in the process? unclear. tony stark vouched for him, he joined a team with steve rogers & wanda and pietro maximoff, and though they were thought of as being lesser than the original avengers team... they all, clint included, proved themselves.

he fought with steve, resenting that he was leader and clint was not - but over time, learned to respect him. he operated as goliath, he left the avengers a couple times, he did a bunch of stuff and saved the world tons, and then on one such leave of absence where he became the security chief for cross technological enterprises, he was kidnapped ( alongside bobbi morse ) by crossfire as part of a master plan to kill the avengers ( first by killing him, and then by killing the rest when they showed up for his funeral ). the plan was to use hypnotic ultrasounds to force the two of them to kill one another, but clint stuffed a sonic arrow of his own creation into his mouth in a brief moment of lucidity and managed to disrupt the ultrasounds by deafening himself even more - allowing him to knock bobbi out and defeat crossfire, once and for all. this was a pivotal point in his life, not just because of being rendered 80% deaf and being forced to readjust his life to this. he also fell for bobbi, who felt responsible for what had happened to him and wanted to try and help. they met, they loved, they married within nine days - and their relationship, or lack thereof at times, has been continuous ever since.

he led the west coast avengers, he got stranded in ancient egypt, he fought his own brother who then died and cam back and died again ( and came back ), he and bobbi broke up, they got back together, it was revealed she was a skrull, the real bobbi apparently died, he took a break from being a hero to mourn, he rejoined the avengers, got killed by an exploding kree ship ( thanks wanda ), came back to life thanks to an altered universe, died again, came back again ( thanks wanda ), operated as ronin for a time after the apparent assination of captain america,  found bobbi safe and well ( ok, after a whole big skrull thing ), learned that his beloved ( ex ) wife had wanted to divorce him before she had gotten replaced by a skrull, became leader of the new avengers, saved the world a bunch, made mistakes, joined a new team, started sharing the hawkeye monikor with kate bishop, almost went blind, joined the secret avengers, started to lead them, fought against the x-men due to the whole phoenix force / hope summers thing, sacrificed himself for scarlet witch so that phoenix powered emma frost wouldn't kill her, almost died, got healed, moved into an apartment in brooklyn with a brand new purpose in life and.. that's kind of, really, more where we sit. there was a bunch of other stuff ( like all the civil war business, etc ), but i like to kind of ... come at things from a point after matt fraction’s hawkeye, where clint took on russian thugs and ended up buying an apartment building. not in that exact order. also with more details thrown in.

SECTION TWO OF THREE : HEADCANONS. trigger warnings for talk of miscarriage, depression and ptsd.

currently, clint is still in his... rediscovering exactly what he wants to be stage of life, and working for shield as an agent assigned to campus works for him. he still considers himself an avenger, still works under his alias and is still, you know, doing what he’s gotta do - but he’s taking days as they come

he and bobbi have a nine year old son named lark sein morse, and he’s... pretty much clint’s whole reason to get up in the morning, though there is a feeling that he’s closer to his mother than he is, him. they ( clint and bobbi ) are not currently together, and haven’t really been so as long as lark has been alive - though they were on again, off again a lot over the years, and clint will always sort of class her as the love of his life... even if they aren’t married. bobbi suffered a miscarriage early on in the first version of their relationship to one another - lark is their rainbow baby.

he suffers from post traumatic stress disorder from his childhood, and from... a lot of the things that have happened to him, over the years. he’s also heavily depressed, and has only really recently begun to seek out the kind of help that he really needs ( the fact that shield offers free therapists to people working for them? a huge plus )

he has a dog named lucky who he absolutely ADORES, but who gets swiped semi regularly by kate.

he’s also... actually pretty well off, though you would NOT know that just from looking at him. clint owns his apartment building in brooklyn and has a lot of money saved up from over the years. he could live a high class life, if he so chose, but he prefers to live modestly.

SECTION THREE OF THREE : WANTED CONNECTIONS.

friends :(

also . believe it or not. clint has been... a huge ladies man for a very long time, so by all means - past flings, past serious relationships, the whole thing.

bobbi morse !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

also nat romanoff

his two kids. they’re between the ages of 17 - 26, and he doesn’t know about them, though it’s ENTIRELY possible that they know / have been told who he is / to them, and i am rly into the idea of getting to play it out.