#between her popularity her magic and the other boons her father left her

[desiderium-eden]

Useless Headcanon of the Day:

Due to Alexandre's reign being a PR nightmare, once Vlasily ascended to the throne, Navka agreed that it was probably best to distance themselves from him. So they removed his name from the family tree. They're not denying his existence. More like disowning him. Post mortem. Unfortunately, this applies to his kids as well. So Dmitri and Lazuli have no legitimate political power. Their blood will only be considered for the throne if everyone else has died. They are still permitted to stay in the castle and be called royalty due to the mercy of Vlasily (and Lazuli's influence over the people). But they are prince and princess in name only. However, they still have unofficial influence over the Volodymyrr due to their amicable relationships with the royals. (Some of the Navkan nobles do wish to exile Dmitri. But doing so would anger Lazuli and she has too many pieces for them to risk losing.)

[irksomeirene]

The End

So I sat down to write something for my fics aaaand... this fell out of my head instead. I’m so sorry. There’s got to be a screw loose somewhere. It’s posted on AO3, too.

The End.

Gwen had seen these words printed in elegant, painstakingly scrawled ink at the end of nearly every book her mother and father had ever given to her and heard them ring out at the end of every single bedtime story she had ever managed to stay awake to the end of. Now, curled up on her bed, dressed in fine black with a book in her lap and her nurse maid crying in the other room, Gwen traced these letters with contemplative fingers.

Gwen liked to think. She liked to think about grand puzzles no academic masters had yet solved (“What turns the world?” “What brings drought?” “How do the stars hang in the night sky but vanish in the day?”) and about neglected every day things (“Where does the slug call home?” “Does the one eared mouse in the kitchen mind his missing ear?” “Does the tree she likes to climb in get hungry? Does it tire of her scrambling about in its limbs?”). She liked sword play and riding nearly as much but thinking had been her first passion. Her mother had always understood this, perhaps because, Gwen only now began to realize, her mother was rather the same way. They would sit in outward silence, Gwen staring off into infinity, her mother reading or working fine embroidery, speaking only every once in a great while to ask a question that seemed to come from nowhere. Sometimes the answer was simple and the silence soon fell again, other times it was not and they talked easily for hours, more and more questions and thoughts piling up with each new answer or idea.

No one but her mother could stand her long, unyielding silence. They did not understand the babbling brooks and stormy seas of mind that filled the silence for her. They did not understand the comfort her mind gave her or the unending curiosity within her. Not even her father understood. All too often, when he was about at her mother's side, her mother would present Gwen with a question or a puzzle or an idea (Gwen liked these most of all because she knew her mother was supposed to present these ideas as fact but the queen always did it with a little rise in the right corner of her lips, a secret little glimmer in her eyes, and far, far too much innocence to mean anything but utter mischief. Gwen lived for these ideas her mother presented to her with the express intention of having the child question them utterly and to devastating effect.) only for her father to chastise the grown woman with a gentle “she's much too young for that, my dear.” Gwen strove each and every time to prove her dearly loved father wrong. But adults, with their mind set in stone, did not see her answers as right or even worth while.

“This is simply the way things are. No use thinking about it.”

It frustrated Gwen so badly, she would occasionally throw fiery, shameless fits. Her mother did not approve and scolded her for them always, but she understood her daughter. The queen understood her daughter in ways no one else seemed capable.

And now she was dead.

Which brought Gwen to “The End.” She could not recall a single story where “The End” seemed a truly appropriate phrase. Her mother and her father told her very different sorts of stories. Her father told her the gentle stories of his gentle lands. They ended all quite happily and simply with a princess marrying a prince for duty and love (either upon first sight or growing after their acquaintance). Gwen was of the unspoken opinion that “and they lived happily ever after” was quite the laziest (and most boring) way to possibly end a story. Her mother told her the not so gentle stories from her not so gentle lands. These stories spoke to Gwen and felt quite a bit more real to her. Mistakes were not magically unwritten with true love's kiss. Husbands were not always kind, wives were not always sweet. And even taking every right step, doing everything as told and taught, did not always end well for characters. Many good people died in these tales. Many bad people lived. Of course, they were not all dark and dreary. In fact, most weren't. But there were good lessens in them. Don't always trust a man because he is beautiful and appears kind, his sweet words might be poison. Don't always scorn the filthy beggars or roughly spoken strangers. Mistakes will always happen, there's no use hiding from their outcomes. These stories were stories worth thinking about.

But even her mother's stories finished with a simple “The End.”

Which was foolish. Utterly foolish. Because every time Gwen thought on it, she knew to her very core that it was not “The End.” Just because the beautiful princess married the handsome prince did not make it “The End.” No, in fact, it made it a beginning. Where was the story about the pair of dafties consolidating power between their lands? Where was the story about their first children? About heirs and lineage and all those stupid questions Gwen herself had heard at court more than once when her mother's brother (mother constantly scolded her to call him uncle but Gwen was quite content in their mutual dislike for one another and loath to call the man something as familiar as “uncle”) visited and set about his habit of demanding to know how her father planned to continue his line without a son. (Apparently her mother's home country did not allow queens to rule without a husband to rule for her. If there was a word stronger than “foolish,” Gwen desperately wanted to know it for “foolish” seemed barely to touch on her mother's brother's foolishness and supplementing the difference between the work and the evidence before her with eye rolling strained her eyes and made her dizzy with the turning of them. Not to mention the stinging in her arm from her mother's subtle swatting when the queen caught her daughter being so blatantly disrespectful of the man.)

Gwen knew first hand that her mother and father's wedding had not been “The End” for them, even if they were quite in love and quite happy with each other. The “The End”s of her mother's tales were perhaps even worse as Gwen was nearly always quite enthralled with the characters in those. So the prince had died and the princess was left to weep over his body? That's hardly “The End!” The princess must find a new husband or take the throne for herself. There would be great upheaval if the prince was an only child! How would popular opinion effect the princess? What enemies that her prince had made would come to strike at her? Which of them would try to turn oily tongued in win her favor to manipulate her in an unfamiliar land? Would the princess see through these tricks or fall for them? If the prince was not an only child, the princess would need to know her marriage contract very well to determine whether the marriage was truly voided or if she defaulted to the next brother. “The End” rarely ever seemed an accurate description of where these tales chose to be left off. They had always frustrated Gwen a little (not enough to stop requesting bed time stories, but enough to think on in the morning). Gwen often dreamed of the events after “The End”ings. The practical matters that come after long adventures and quests.

Congratulations, you've slain a dragon. What about the body? Can't just let it rot there, taking up valuable land and possibly spreading disease in its decay. Can't cut through its hide, either (wouldn't have been half as interesting trying to kill the thing if it was so easy to dismember). And what of its horde? If the kingdom is small, a horde like that could be a great boon but would undoubtedly draw larger enemies to the gates to seize the treasures. Do you hire mercenaries (costly and not at all faithful), hide the treasure throughout the land? Spread the wealth with loyal allies? Gwen's dreams were full to bursting with logistics. It often greatly amused her mother to hear them the next morning. Her mother had often called her “the most fanciful practical child I have ever met” through her laughter and it had not felt like a quite insult, as many things people said to her often did. Instead, Gwen had beamed and puffed up her chest, taking pride in being “fancifully practical” even if she didn't quite understand it.

But now... now there was no one to tell her dreams to. No one to take amusement in her detailed planning of dragon corpse removal or detailed contract negotiating of the marriage contracts of mourning princesses or the difficulties of heir visitation between merfolk and humans.

Because the queen was dead and Gwen was finally beginning to understand the meaning of “The End.” It was not, she held firm, perhaps as final as it sounded. For things continued on (she, herself, continued on despite the missing bits in her now) but they were not... not quite the same. The story and adventures of Queen Isolt had ended and that—Gwen thought with iron clad firmness as pain seared through her and tears started down her face again and the fine lines she traced her finger over that turned “The End” into a work of art in its own right began to blur through the salty water filling her gaze—deserved a big, bold, painstakingly detailed inscription on its very own page at the end of the book.

Whatever happened next would not be the same. Every day, every minute, every moment of life after this would not be the same as the days and minutes and moments that had been full of her mother. Another book was already being written, another story forming (hers, her father's, her kingdom's) but they would not be the same. They would not be the same story as the stories that held her mother. And it was not fair that she would never hear her mother's voice or see her face or play with the soft strands of her hair but no one had promised her fairness. Fairness was a human invention, its definition changing constantly from one land to the next, from one human to the next. So it would hurt. It would hurt for the rest of her life. And she would spend years crying over it, whether her eyes shed the tears or not. But her mother's story had ended and, Gwen conceded, it very much deserved a “The End.”

[raviport]

8 Helpful Tips To Kick-start A Fresh Virtual Academic Year!

8 Helpful Tips To Kick-start A Fresh Virtual Academic Year!

Another year has gone by, only this time with more bittersweet memories!

A big shout out to all the parents! For successfully going through this year while beating all the odds of the academic year for your children.

Trust us, we all have been through this! You and your children deserve applause for the perseverance and calmness that you have tried to maintain. 

On the other hand, digital education can be said as one of the best breakthroughs in technology. Can we envisage the pandemic if online education wasn't available? We are still nowhere near a conventional in-school system for this and maybe, for later years too. 

The preparation for the regular start of the digital academic year of schooling differs on various fronts. Here are a few tips to start with another virtual academic year based on the profound experience we all had in 2020! 

1. Scheduling is Important

The most critical is to maintain a plan for everything happening at home. Maintaining the schedule closest to the "school time-table" is the best bet you have. Experts suggest to follow a sleep schedule and distributed hours for every activity as per regular school life is also paramount. Good predictability of what happens next will keep everyone on track for their respective responsibilities. Encourage the children to make/ write their schedule themselves or participate while making their time-table for the day. Knowing the routine beforehand will help them in adhering to it with self-discipline.

2. Offer exciting Brain Breaks

Prepare a list of brain breaks that suit your children's needs, temperament, interests and age. The kids will themselves sync their routine with the set schedule for the lucrative brain breaks. Brain breaks in post-school-hours help to perform better in terms of homework, projects and additional school work. Weekly shuffling between various brain breaks will help the kids to stay occupied and fascinated with activities. Everyone faced the same issue that left you helpless last year - how to keep the children engaged constructively and adhere to online learning? These brain breaks will not only incline them to look forward to some fun but will allow you time to do your work/job/chores without too much interruption. 

(Check our blogs for more details on brain breaks)

3. Positive feedback and Appreciation

Extracting motivation and positivity from the last academic year is equally important to start with the new digital academic year on an assertive note. Discuss the progress of your children with the teachers. Likewise, discuss the issues, opinions, interests and overall situation of home-schooling with your kids too. Bestow them with genuine and honest appreciation while keeping the appropriate checks they need to take care of. Regular teacher-parent meeting, assessments, results will encourage them to move forward and accept the new normal with an improved perspective. Rather than only correcting and chastising the kids, we need to focus, with even greater intent, on finding their strengths and play with them.

4. Observe, adapt, implement

For younger kids, parents had to be present in person while online classes were broadcasting. The parents have had the chance to closely monitor their children and their reactions to subjects, activities, topics. It's a boon to know if he/she is facing difficulty coping with the course speed or understanding any concepts. The parents now understand better about the subjects your child likes and what interests him/her over other topics. These observations can be discussed with their teacher at the beginning of the academic year. Incorporate flexibility for subject-topics that are difficult and schedule additional classes for them at later hours. For the concepts that are not clear, ask the teachers to keep the video recording to be viewed again after school hours to avoid undue pressure on the kids. For particular concepts, rearrange the classes or shift the timings to a slot when children are more attentive, preferably in the morning hours. It is all about observing and adapting, from the beginning, to get the best results out of new methods on virtual learning. 

5. Staying in touch

Not going to school should not intervene with general socializing that our children need for their generic development. Offer the best possible opportunity for your kids to meet with their friends, have play-dates, or have video calls to keep in touch with their peers. Of course, all of the socializing has to be done with safety measures in place. A few hours in the open space during mid-season breaks or holidays keep them rejuvenated for a better start to the upcoming term. Video play dates are also one of the popular options where the parents want to prevent endangering kids in the current situation. Darsh, a father of 5 yo from Chennai, said, "After this period of social distancing, our building society decided time and rules for children to play. The parents have to monitor that no kids are without a mask. The kids play games (that maintain distancing) in the slots decided for their age group and frequent sanitizing. The effect of moving out of the house on the behaviour of our daughter is so gratifying!" 

 6. Virtual classroom  

Creating a designated space for schooling is an effective way to roar-start the new virtual academic year. It is not mandatory to have a separate room for the same as Indian Households do not have the concept of a separate room for everyone. A designated table, an individual screen-device, a nook in one of the rooms is good to go. The children should feel that just like their school, they have a designated seat for their classes. The conducive environment has a conscious psychological impact on their minds about classroom discipline. It is imminent to design a place that is not the regular spot for their regular games or watching television. Just like your work-from-home set-up having a school-from-home set-up will improve their performance and concentration.

7. Impress upon Off-screen time

Digital education is synonymous with the use of screens. The villain of the life of most parents has become indispensable with the online education system. It is even more necessary to take and strategize for lesser screen time. Resisting and forcing screen-offtime would only do so good. Motivating your children to involve themselves in fun, skill-enhancing, and physical activities is the only way to cut down on additional screen-time. For school activities, and classwork try to obtain print outs and let the kids complete them physically to avoid screen use. Now with adapting to changes, teachers are sending hard copies for classwork and projects. Offering hobbies and extracurricular activities towards which the kids are naturally inclined will prompt them to avoid screen-use on their own will. 

8. Prepare like before

Prepare for the new academic session with all the arrangement like normal. New books, a few new stationery, a set of new clothes or uniform can bring the experience as close to normal as possible. Your children must understand that not attending school in person is not equivalent to vacation, and they are expected to adhere to prepare for everyday school like always. Packing books as per periods on the time table, ironing the uniform, bathing on time before the start of school, these regular activities that commensurate with the original school routine will help them to gain confidence and tune their biological clocks to this new regime!

The teachers are bearing additional efforts to bring online teaching as close as possible to traditional schooling. However, an equal responsibility has been put on the parents as their guidance and presence has become indispensable. 

The children, especially the primary class ones, are affected by this shift of base with innumerable distractions at their hands reach.These points are not magical tips that will remove the pressure in a flick of a wand but will surely help navigate through another year of online learning.

Please do share your views and experiences in the comments below. Help other parents to face their personal situations and concerns of virtual learning. 

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