#children’s mindfulness stories

[compassionmattersmost]

The Radiance of the White AH: A Buddhist Bedtime Story of Guru Yoga

On a quiet night, beneath a sky filled with shimmering stars, little Tenzin lay nestled under his blanket. The soft glow of the hearth flickered across the room, and beside him sat his grandmother, whose voice was as soothing as the wind moving through prayer flags on the mountaintop. “Tonight, my little one,” she whispered, “I will tell you a very special story. It is about a practice called…

[dirtytransmasc]

I find it deeply depressing that every adult in Spider's life had children, yet he was never anyone's priority. every adult he could and most likely attempted to match in to. the adults he remembered as the closest things he had to parents since birth (Jake and Norm, even if they weren't acting as his parents, because Spider, genuinely, would not know better). down to his actual foster family (the McCoskers). essentially went out of their way to de-prioritize him.

like I'm not faulting them for having kids, for having a family. but Spider was their first priority. he didn't need to be adopted by any of them, per say, but he was their responsibility. he was their orphan, Jake especially, considering he was the chief of his people, but Norm as well, seeing as he's a prominent figure head of the clan/Hellsgate.

the McCoskers took him in, but over the years, as they had their own children, he was more and more neglected. he was now no longer his actually appointed guardians priority. and that only gets worse and worse as he ages until they become outright abusive (Nash does anyway, cause thats what I'm gonna call violently kidnapping his, throwing him in a room and locking him there, and trying to kill all of them, him included, when they run away. as abuse. and I'll get back to the whole "you have to turn yourself in to the RDA" x2 speech from Jake in a second). they also didn't really accept his culture. with their resentment towards the Na'vi brewing, Spider most definitely faced some heat for being more of the forest than of humans, in terms of culture.

3 times over, Spider came first and was put last. put last by parents who know damn well how much love, time, care, and attention a child needs. who should be able to see when a kid is being neglected. who dialed to advocate and protect him from neglect (instead of calling him a stray).

he was a child and they were his advocates. all three parties failed in their duty as advocates, to protect Spider. to ensure he always had a loving home that made him their priority. that fulfilled all his needs, not just the physical ones. but all put their own families first, and abandoned Spider to the scraps of their love, time, and affection.

imagine being Spider, an orphan who can't even mention his birth parents and is always treated like he is the physical rebirth of his father's sins by half the people around him. every adult in your life has kids and seems like they're such a good parent. you watch their kids being loved and tended to and having a steady home. they receive love and affection constantly. but your fosters pay less and less attention to you as they have babies. and now your a stray to the man you look up to so much. and the man who probably taught you how to put an exopack on has less and less time for you. no one has time for you. you're no one's child. no one's priority. just a stray. a nuisance. and you don't truly belong anywhere.

no one was putting him first. children need to be someone's priority. psychology. they need it.

and then the RDA returns. the McCoskers leave, Spider is expected to leave everything he has ever known, to join the very people he hates and has been trying so hard since he could understand what it meant, to prove that he wasn't like them. Jake, the man he once looked up to, was telling him to leave. sending him away. stripping him of the little amount of family he could somewhatly claim, that being his siblings.

once again, Jake is his chief, should be looking out for him. not even as a father, per say, but as his duty to Spider as his chief. a chief should never be sending away his most vulnerable ward, a child he should consider his own (as all of his clans children should be one with his own children), to the opposing enemy force.

this happens again when they're running away, Jake tells him ever more directly to hide in the forest alone until the RDA stops shooting at everything that moves and then turn himself in so he can his own children could run. once again, putting him last, instead of protecting all of them.

then for a year, Spider has no family. no one. the McCoskers are gone and no one has stepped up to bat for him. he's 15/16 and alone. his the big sibling to the Sully's. those kids are all he has, but they aren't really looking out for him. he's looking out for them. cause he's the oldest. that's just how it is. he is one with the clan. lives with them. does chores. watches out for his siblings, the whole nine. but Jake isn't doing his duty of watching out for his ward. he is once again giving and giving and giving, and not receiving.

and then he is taken, he is taken, and while Jake may not have had the means to go back for Spider, or been able to take the risk of going back for him, he abandons him without a thought for his safety, and puts his children first. it's the language and attitude be poses towards the situation that is wild to me. he has every right to be worried about his children, but he could not spare Spider an ounce of concern, even knowing the danger he was in, and is more concerned about him spilling details then anything else. Spider is, once again, not his first, second, or even third priority. he is a means to an end. a necessary loss.

people only care about Spider when there's nothing else they can put before him.

[lynzishell]

Prev // Next

Reference Post - "It's complicated."

Transcript + Bonus below the cut:

Megan: You really didn’t want a wedding?

Asher: C’mon, mom, you know that’s never been important to me. Our plan was always to elope. Megan: You don’t feel like you rushed it? Asher: [laughs] No, are you kidding me? We’ve been together for seven years; I’d hardly call that rushing. Megan: I just mean it was all so spontaneous. You didn’t want to enjoy being engaged for a while first?

Asher: Why? So you could spend the whole time trying to convince us not to elope? Megan: Hmpf. Asher: Mhm. Megan: Well, we should at least have a reception so you can celebrate with everyone.

Asher: You really can’t help yourself, can you? Megan: What’s wrong with wanting to celebrate with you? Asher: Nothing, but we can do that now, just us. The last thing Atlas wants is some big party where he’s the center of attention. I’m not going to do that to him. Megan: Alright, fine, I’ll drop it. Asher: Thank you.

Megan: You did pick a good one, though. Asher: [smiles] I did, didn’t I? Megan: Have you talked about having kids of your own? Asher: [sighs] A little bit, a few years ago. I don’t think it’s going to happen. Megan: Why not?

Asher: It’s complicated. Megan: Well, a lot can happen in a few years. Maybe it’s worth discussing again. You don’t have much longer to change your mind before it’s too late. Asher: I know. I just don’t want to pressure him, yknow. And I don’t want to go through that process unless it’s something we both really want.

Megan: Is it what you want? Asher: I mean, I’m okay without. Megan: That’s not what I asked. Asher: … Megan: I’ll support whatever you two decide, but I think it’d be worth a conversation. And sooner than later. Asher: [nods] Yeah. Okay.

Just wouldn't be a family gathering without Phoenix randomly smoking indoors... It still takes me by surprise every time lol I could fix it, but this is more fun

[ambigrueity]

Incredibly long post about Trey and Riddle's Relationship that I vaguely said I'd do in the tags of my posts somewhere

Disclaimer: this is not intended to be shipping in any way I very much view them as family, even more so after these updates. To start with I'm going to separate their relationship into 3 distinct stages and focus on their perceptions of each other at each stage. I think their relationship is wonderfully written As usual, I ramble so sorry in advance, but I really want to analyze how complex they are.

Stage one: Childhood: ||Riddle|| A friend: Trey and Chenya were Riddle's first friends. Riddle had spent his whole life knowing the four walls of his home and his mother and both Trey and Chenya were his gateway to experiencing the world outside his windows. As such, they're immensely valuable to him. Under his mother he had no other way to grow socially, so when provided with a logical reason for going out and playing (Chenya stated his grandpa believed play is a form of study) he jumped at it because he wanted that connection. Trey specifically was his ideal. I think he looked up to him a lot. Normal home life. His mother didn't confine or trap him in any way. And he could eat whatever he liked. That's why when Trey said that one or two slices of tart wouldn't hurt, it was good enough to sway Riddle. All his life he'd grown up hearing about sweets being poison. But Trey seems happy and fulfilled so surely it's not as bad. However, breaking his mother's rule made him lose everything. The momentary friendship he'd built and any chance of freedom. It impressed upon him the importance of following the rules because breaking them lead to loss. And on top of that, it left him with guilt. I talk a lot about Trey's guilt in this situation (and I will talk more) but Riddle has his own guilt too that just manifested in a different way. More on that later.

||Trey|| A brother: While Riddle might have viewed Trey as a friend (no doubt because he was an isolated only child with a different perception and a lot of baggage tied to the world family), Trey saw him as a brother. He expressly states in his dream that Riddle was smart enough to identify plants and flowers and had enough magic control to get their soccer ball out of the trees, and he felt proud to have a smart little brother. And this sort of label is easier for him because he comes from a rather healthy family with siblings and has a blood brother around Riddle's age. Instinctively, Riddle became someone he wanted to care for, spoil, and cherish. That's why after knowing Riddle wanted to try a tart he wanted to let him. Later on, he tries to dismiss or come to terms with his actions in various ways, stating that it was not his place and of course anyone would get upset if their house rules and dietary restrictions weren't being respected. He tries to make it out into a joke, saying it's become a family incident of sorts that they just laugh about. "Who gets that mad at children playing." But underneath all those attempts to bury his own trauma, lies guilt. Because he feels, deep down, that as a brother he should have protected Riddle better. And instead, after just 2 months, he had to see everything that made Riddle happy stripped away again. More on this later. Stage 2: Riddle's First Year

||Riddle|| A stranger. Riddle's changed. He's developed some of his mother's anger. He's been confined for years. And because of that one incident with the tart, he firmly believes that growth and by extension fulfillment can only happen under the rules. Moreover, since Trey represents that period of his life where he learned that lesson rather harshly, he ices Trey out, pretending he barely knows him. After all, they might as well be strangers after all these years. Especially since Trey is banned from his house. This is a result of the guilt I mentioned earlier. He failed to follow his mother's rules and the punishment put Trey and his peaceful family that he looked up to in the crossfire. I think a part of him doesn't know how to face Trey after all that, worried that he might hate him. However, he cannot fully erase his own memories. So it is Trey he consults when he asks how to challenge a dorm leader for the seat. Even if he's distancing himself by calling him "Clover-senpai" Trey still remains someone he trusts to a degree. After Riddle takes the throne he makes a decision I find interesting. He doesn't select a vice, instead he leaves it to the popular vote. This could be read two ways IMO. Either, he didn't feel the need to have a vice because he was so confident in his own skills, but was aware that it was customary to have one so it didn't matter to him who it was. Or, deep down, he was afraid that no one would be willing to work with him. After seeing his dream, I do think it might be the latter. All of the darkness versions of his card soldiers showed some form of disloyalty. Willing to go along with the idea that they might jump ship, or that Riddle could be overpowered. It's this insecurity born from his own fear of his mother. He knows he's become a reflection of her, and he's worried how other people might react to it. In the end, he's still chasing those relationships from childhood, but is stuck believing that rules are the only way to keep what little happiness he has which alienates him from Trey to a degree. ||Trey|| A brother still: Despite the years, Trey's feelings about Riddle hadn't changed much other than being swamped with underlying guilt. Upon realizing that Riddle was going to attend NRC, his first instinct was to create a space for him. Trey generally, is introverted but excited to see his childhood friend again, he ends up talking to the people around him saying that Riddle was a quiet but studious boy and he hopes that people will welcome him. That was at least, before he saw what Riddle had become (he ended up fighting Floyd at the entrance ceremony) leaving Trey with the realization that this was not the boy he knew anymore. And worse, he was pretending not to know him. I'm sure it hurt, but even so, when RIddle asked about dueling the housewarden, he did try to accommodate him (after getting over his initial shock). The thing that gets me the most, however, is that Trey still saw the good in him. Trey in the rose maze part of Riddle's dream tells Ortho that the first thing Riddle did when he became housewarden was tend to the roses. To him that was a sign that Riddle was still somewhere in there and he was willing to support that. He would have been resigned to accepting that he was a stranger to Riddle if he hadn't been elected vice, but regardless of how Riddle felt, Trey still felt responsible for him. Both out of guilt and because he was still family.

[fictionadventurer]

I have a germ of a theory that good Christian fiction has stories that are less about shaving down your personality to meet some specific mold of what a good Christian looks like, and more about "how gloriously different are all the saints."

Not that the Christian life doesn't involve fighting against our own sinful nature and conforming ourselves to Christ-like behavior, but I think it makes for better, more realistic, and more universal stories when you also recognize that people have different gifts and flaws and they're going to be called to use their unique personalities to serve the kingdom of God in their own unique way, instead of assuming everyone has to conform themselves to a very specific (often secular-culturally based) image of good behavior. It makes for a much more vibrant story.

[moonshinesonic-moonstarslight]

Time for Tiny Cumplane! '*''\(^^)/``*'

Airplane: You know bro...

Shen Yuan: Hm?

Airplane: *kicks his feet as he leans over the edge of the desk they claimed for mischief planning* Your 'baba' is trying really hard to be good to you.

Shen Yuan: *lowers his brush, leaving messy scribbles on the scrap paper much to his annoyance, curse two years old motor control!* What. Is him not beating a child that annoys him 'being good' now?

Airplane: *snorts* No. But he is lessening his punishments on Bing-ge even when you're not around. So there's that. But I was actually talking about him trying to teach you things.

Shen Yuan: *scrunchies his nose* I don't want to learn from that man. He's awful. Pure scum.

Airplane: *sighs* I know bro. I know. But do realize that he isn't just scum. There is a broken kid in there who is trying to understand why you are so different from him without breaking you. Mostly because the sect leader would fret over the both of you if he tried. But still!

Shen Yuan: *scowls* "But still" nothing! I don't wanna!

Airplane: *sighs rolls onto his back and stares at the ceiling, says nothing*

Shen Yuan: *glances over, wary* What?

Airplane: *hums but doesn't answer*

Shen Yuan: *pulls at the curls falling over the table edge* Xiao Yi~. Tell me~!

Airplane: *whines and reaches up to try to remove Shen Yuan's hands* Owie! A-Yuan~. Owie~! Let go! Let go!

Shen Yuan: *pulls harder, causing Airplane's head to sharply fall over the edge of the desk*

Airplane: *cries out in pain*

Og SQH: *throws open the door to his room, sees the 2yold pulling the 3yold off the desk by his hair* A-Yuan!

Shen Yuan: *immediately lets go at the sound of upset parent*

Og SQH: *storms over, scoops up crying child off the desk before glaring down at the ashamed child on the floor* For someone who doesn't like how his "Baba" treats others, A-Yuan does wonderfully at imitating him.

Airplane: *hides in SHQ'S shoulder still crying*

Shen Yuan: *staring up in shock, eyes tearing up*

Og Mobei Jun: *watching from the bedroom door and silently wondering if killing the child who hurt his would be the best idea, or if he should sit down and talk to the brat about waiting until he gets older for courtship blows so he can properly get is intentions across* (oblivious to the fact his own courting hasn't properly come across to his human)

Og SQH: *sneers before tucking Airplane closer* I will deal with you later. *Slips into his bedroom past Mobei Jun who gives just enough room for the man to pass but still brushes against his robes*

Og Mobei Jun: *glances at the crying child on the floor* Think over what you have done. *Freezes the ink before returning to the room, leaving the door cracked*

Shen Yuan: *blinks away tears, sniffs, and then moves to the far wall where he curls up and buried his face into his knees, guilt eating at him*

(~^^)~ To be continued!~

[meangreennunseen]

Something so painful and sad about Primarch children if you think about concept more.

They were born/acquired against all odds and engineering. They came to be raised by one of the most powerful beings in the galaxy, they came to be loved by something not entirely human and in some circumstances even inherited that sub-humanity. They were raised with love and care, as best as their Father could give them, with Mother either around or no. In some cases their mother was gone due to short life span of humans or maybe due to something humans usually subdue to. But not child of Primarch, because those superb genetics kept them alive.

Heresy happens and suddenly all happy life they knew is gone as it tore their family apart, their father most likely ended up dead/corrupted/missing, no longer there as Heresy took its toll. They, as a child, now have to figure things on their own. Their place, their duty and it's not always easy: depending on what happened with their father, their fate is sealed: A loyalist worthy of Emperor's graces. A traitor who deserved death. Someone who's Father left to pay for humanity's sins.

Slowly over centuries, their people and their legions either worship them as a saint or hate them as a lialability. There is no in between.

Worst they can do is run. How far until they are out of destiny's reach? Or they can stand and face the music: either placed on pedestal as Worthy heir and proclaimed Primarch Secundus or flailed and pushed to worship of Chaos as only means. Or maybe even ignored as Not Good Enough.

At any rate, they, children of Primarchs have their fates written off for them since the day their Fathers planted that first kiss on their little foreheads.

[ananke-xiii]

Okay, I think I can finally share this now.

In my version of "Moriah" Chuck orders Jack to kill Castiel with the promise of bringing things back to how they were before all the mess they're in now, Mary included. Jack starts panicking and crying and is clearly being played but he's in no state to rationalize things so he starts blurting out all kinds of stuff and eventually resolves to actually do it. Sam and Dean are forced to watch by Chuck and are totally incapacitated just like us, hypothetical viewers, are made to watch Jack's tragedy as it unfolds.

But Castiel is okay with that and actually plans to do the deed himself in order to avoid at least this one pain in Jack's life so he comes close to Jack and holds his face in one hand while the other is ready for the blade. He needs to tell him one last thing before the end. They're both crying but somehow Cas find the courage to recite a different type of blessing over the children, one that of course doesn't involve God and it goes something like this:

Jack, don't cry. It's okay, it's okay.

I need to tell you something, Jack and I need you to listen carefully, okay? Okay, good.

Being elected as your father has been the greatest joy and honor of my life. Hey, it's okay, shhh, it's okay, listen to me.

It was a joy so great that I got scared, Jack. I'm sorry Jack but I got so scared. I didn't know it then but it was this gnawing fear of losing it all, of losing you, that made me make... many mistakes. It was this fear that prevented me from understanding who you really are, from seeing the truth. So here it is.

Jack, you were, are and always will be such a luminous, beautiful and important presence in this world. Ah, as a matter of fact, in any world. Because you're... you. And you are... amazing.

No, no, no listen to me now, please, shhh, it's okay: You have to know that whatever happens in your life, I will be there for you. No matter what, I will be by your side. If things will go wrong, I'll be there to give you my energy. If things will go right, I'll also be there to give you even more energy.

You must never forget that you're loved, Jack. Oh, look at you: my son...my son... I love you. So much.

Cas, in an instant, is ready with his angel blade but it's in this moment that the Shadow erupts into the world to take Castiel away: no reasoning, no strategic plan, nothing. The moment of happiness is the moment of unconditional love.

Chuck's frantic because this "unconditional love" thing wasn't in his script and yells that it was not supposed to happen this way, that he gave them the possibility to access everything they ever wanted, the price was just one self-loathing, doomed-anyway angel but it still wasn't enough for them, was it?

It's also the moment where Sam, briefly freed from Chuck's powers, gets his lucidity back and decides to pull the trigger on Chuck (and himself). In the background, Jack's screaming and crying so much that the mere force of his screams is enough to resurrect the whole cemetery but Cas is not coming back to him.

Chuck is wounded by Sam (who's also hurting in return) and is forced to flee. Dean is also wounded beyond repair and is like turned to stone and almost can't breathe because he's living, again, one of the worst moments of his life as we go back to a distorted, more messed-up version of s12 finale and to the beginning of Jack's tragic story.

Jack is spiralling and he's out of control and out of himself as he starts opening woundsrifts after rifts through dimensions and worlds looking for Chuck, looking for the Empty, looking for whatever comes first at this point because he's moved by the dangerous, unpredictable and explosive bomb that is revenge spurred by love. Until Billie finds him.

[im14andivebeen14foramonth]

no way I just saw outsiders kinktober posts

[20001541]

this line makes me wonder how long hori has had their backstory in mind, because in even in 193 afo states that yoichi was the only family he had left.

so I wonder if hori had their backstory in mind from the beginning or if he only had a vague idea of what their childhood looked like at this point.

I wouldn't be surprised if he did have their orphaned as babies backstory in mind here because the backstory explains so much of afo's behavior and the comic book they read was first mentioned here so he had to have some idea of how they stumbled across the comic that changed their lives at the very least ...

[byfulcrums]

I love the soundtrack for the last Agni Kai because it's not epic, it's tragic. Most shows would make an epic soundtrack for one of the final battles that were the key for victory, but not ATLA. It shows that Zuko's victory isn't really something to be celebrated (though the characters would not be wrong to do so). It shows that Zuko and Azula's story is a tragedy. They're both just children forced to fight a war that wasn't even theirs, and they weren't even able to fight it together

[curiositykilledtheradiostar]

How To Train Your Dragon says "come here, we are a normal fantasy children's book series" (we will forever leave a lasting impact on your childhood, and this narrative will haunt you for decades to come)

[rahleeyah]

The phenomenon of people in M's insta comments acting shocked that she's endorsing Kamala is of course insane but it tracks. In a country with an education system in shambles, full of grown adults with no reading comprehension, in a party that especially holds education in contempt, what we have is a metric shit ton of people with essentially no empathy skills. Reading develops empathy, it helps us learn how to view life from different people's perspectives. And when you've got millions of people who don't read, who didn't read as children and now don't as adults, what you've got is millions of people who literally do not have the ability to acknowledge, let alone understand, different perspectives. They don't realize this and they'd tell you that you're lying if you tried to explain it to them but they literally think that they are the default - that everyone knows what they know (and that they know what everyone else knows) and that everyone feels the same way they do, and it is shocking to them when they are confronted with evidence to the contrary. It is shocking and it is scary and naturally their fear pushes them deeper into the echo chambers that comfort them

[athiestpaladin]

if (when) byler becomes canon, i feel like (on full rewatch) it'll end up feeling like the core of the stranger things plot with how much of the story can be seen as parallels or double meanings about them; molded to them

[ford-ye-fiji]

anyway dune part 2 has induced in me a feeling of great anxiety about the next movie. I'm afraid Denis is going to drift away from the the original story, especially with his announcement to only be making Dune Messiah next which is not the conclusion of the story at all (Children of Dune is really the natural stopping point and the “conclusion” of Paul's story) and makes me feel like the focus is being shifted from what Frank Herbert wrote to something else entirely.

[bookshelf-in-progress]

It's a good sign I'm recovering from my creative slump that I was able to brainstorm a story that makes me laugh.