Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 ReMIX, HD 2.5 ReMIX, Birth by Sleep, 358/2 Days, Re:coded, and Dream Drop Distance Soundtracks Receiving New Physical Releases for September 2024!
Since the post I made last night about improving executive functioning was so popular, I figured I should pull these out of my comments and give them their own post, in case it's helpful for people.
I have worked with the publishers of all of the books linked below and can vouch for their psychology books. The publisher of most of them, New Harbinger, is an extremely credible evidence-based psychology publisher.
Obvious disclaimer that everyone's brain is different and what works for someone else may not work for you.
Is there evidence that executive functioning can be improved? Yes. This book appears to be a very thorough overview of the field, and contains both advocates and detractors of cognitive training, for a balanced perspective. From the table of contents, I would really recommend jumping straight to Part 3: Developmental Perspectives for executive functioning (EF) writ large.
Certain therapy modalities are specifically designed for skill-building in areas like impulsivity, decision-making, emotional regulation, and cognitive flexibility, all of which are EF skills or very dependent on EF skills. Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is probably the best field to look at for these - skill-building in those areas is its core goal.
Some DBT workbooks:
The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook: Practical DBT Exercises for Learning Mindfulness, Interpersonal Effectiveness, Emotion Regulation, and Distress Tolerance
The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook for Teens
There are also a lot of workbooks for ADHD that are sometimes more broad but also can help with executive functioning:
The Adult ADHD and Anxiety Workbook: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Skills to Manage Stress, Find Focus, and Reclaim Your Life
The CBT Workbook for Adult ADHD: Evidence-Based Exercises to Improve Your Focus, Productivity, and Wellbeing
The Neurodivergence Skills Workbook for Autism and ADHD
General executive functioning workbooks:
The Executive Functioning Workbook for Teens
Executive Functioning Workbook for Adults: Exercises to Help You Get Organized, Stay Focused, and Achieve Your Goals
Tifa never asked for much, so when she asked to close the bar early, he didn't argue. In fact, he was grateful, for today had been unusually busy and neither one of them really had a moments rest. So when she looked at him with those puppy-dog eyes and asked to call it a day, refusal wasn't an option.
He took a seat on a nearby stool, his legs aching and back sore, while Tifa wiped down the bar, cleaned two glasses, and poured them both a drink.
"Good work today, Cloud." Tifa said, sliding his glass down the wooden table top.
"You too," he replied, catching the glass in his hand. "Though, are you sure you should have a drink? You had a lot of people buy you one tonight."
"Hm? Oh, yeah, it's fine. One more for me and we're good!" She said with a smile.
He watched as she raised her glass to her lips, the amber liquid sliding down her throat, her cheeks flushed a soft pink. It didn't take him long to notice she was already slightly tipsy, considering her movements around the bar this evening were a little less than graceful. So this one more drink, he knew, would have her...more than good.
She sat the glass down and stared at him, a small hum escaping her throat, before she slowly walked around the bar to stand in front of him.
"What is it?" He asked.
"You know," she said, reaching to run her fingers through his hair. "Back then...your hair was more spiky!"
"..."
Tifa let out a small giggle. "Even your hair is losing it's hard edge!"
"Maybe. Or...maybe I just didn't want to be compared to a chocobo anymore." He said, mild embarrassment showing on his face.
"What?! Noooo, you liked it when I told you that your hair looked like a chocobo, didn't you?" She teased, ruffling his hair gently.
"I...wouldn't say I liked it," he muttered.
"Chocobos are cute, Cloud!" She said, poking the tip of his nose with her finger. "Just...like...you!"
"....how much did she drink?" He thought to himself as he brought his eyes up to meet hers.
Tifa chuckled softly before lacing her fingers around his neck, lowering her face to rest her forehead against his.
"You are though," she whispered. "To me you're...more than that. You're the brightest star in the night sky. The most beautiful person I have the pleasure of holding in my heart."
Cloud's breath hitched in his throat at her words, a comfortable warmth forming in his chest. She had told him she loved him in many different ways, but this...this was different. This was deeper. And it took everything he had not to pull her close and kiss her.
Without warning, Cloud rose to his feet. With one arm around her back, the other under her legs, he lifted Tifa from the ground and walked towards the door.
"You, Miss Lockhart, need some food and some rest." He said to her with a tender smile. "It's not like you to lose yourself to some booze."
Tifa chuckled, placing a chaste kiss on his collarbone before burying her face in his neck.
And as he carried her back to their home, he thought that tonight, he'll hold her a little closer.
Let’s rank a Beauty and a Beast couple on a spectrum from the best chemistry to the worst chemistry and even share on what the opinions of the BATB think is the best and worst couple.
Oh, that’s fun. I’m focusing on full length adaptations here, be they film, novel or TV series, because If I start bringing short stories and picture books into it we’ll be here forever. Weigh in with your own top ten list, everyone!
Belle and Beast (Beauty and the Beast, 1991)
Oh, come on. That ballroom number. That sassy tit-for-tat banter. Those heartfelt song-and-dance routines! Those lovingly animated lingering touches and subtly shifting expressions! There’s a reason this movie was advertised as a Date Movie and not just a family film. Top marks for drama and romance.
Beauty and the Beast (Rose Daughter, 1997)
The monster you take home to meet the family. Everyone is very sad, and very oblique and mysterious through most of this book, but there’s still time for our alchemist Beast to show off his murals and to leave Beauty absolutely gasping with sensual overload after what some might deem too thorough an application of healing salve. Points for surprise sensuality!
Julie and Netvor (Panna a Netvor, 1978)
They are already confessing their love for each other by the time she realizes he’s a monster, and even when she knows this, she tries to accept it before panicking and running away. It’s hard to go “whoops, sorry, wrong number!” to someone, even a giant gore-covered carrion bird, once you’ve already led them to your bed and whispered about how you’re dreaming of their kiss. Many points for angst and pervasive dread.
Catherine and Vincent (Beauty and the Beast, 1987)
These two exist to dance a gauzy waltz of earnest longing and society-could-never-understand-our-love-and-possible-psychic-connection usually reserved for teen vampires. Too bad the series couldn’t maintain it and gave them a surprise tragedy baby before they ever had a not-a-dream-sequence onscreen kiss.
Belle and La Bete (La Belle et La Bete, 1946)
A pair of strong but not necessarily likeable personalities might fall flat if not for the pervasive sense of danger and sensuality present throughout their strange encounter. These two are almost more ciphers for the unconscious than they are fully fleshed out characters, but that makes sense in the dreamy, surrealist world of this film. One feels more romanced by the ambiance than by the players.
Belle and La Bete (La Belle et la Bete 2014)
Nothing but sexual tension here. This is almost more of a battle than a romance, between two strong personalities with baggage galore and enough chips on their shoulders to open a food truck. A few breathtakingly sensual scenes (That kiss on the ice, amiright?) don’t rescue the film from a pervasive sense of masculine entitlement, the threat of violence, and toxic romance tropes, but it’s nice to imagine them fitting somewhere into a better story.
Beauty and the Beast (Beauty, 1978)A congenial courtship between a well-matched pair who start off on slightly uneven footing but seem to end up happy enough. Not a lot of sensuality or tension between the two, but a nice sense of muted longing on the Beast’s part. Points for revolutionizing the fairy tale retelling genre.
Lindy And Adrian/Kyle (Beastly, 2007)
Yes, I’m grating my teeth as Adrian/Kyle sadsacks around and mopily compares himself to the Phantom of the Opera, but I’m also smiling, at least a little, as he and Lindy watch The Princess Bride, read poems in the greenhouse and compare abandonment issues. They’re a couple of dramatic high school kids who could really use a parent between ‘em and in the end I’m happy they’ve got each other. Don’t read any of the sequels (except Lindy’s Diary, which is cute fluff) and don’t watch the movie.
Chise and Elias (The Ancient Magus’ Bride, 2014)
(I’m not sure if I can really call this a BATB adaptation anymore, as Monster Lover it is evolving more into its own genre, and the series is doing its own thing more and more, but…) What’s going on with this pair? Will they be husband and wife? Mentor and trainee? Weird codependent magical battery packs? As Chise’s personality grows stronger and her trauma falls further behind her, Elias’ weirdness and weakness come more to the forefront, challenging the Commanding Gentleman Monster facade he first presents. Whether the pair will develop romantic chemistry remains to be seen, but they certainly depend on one another.
Tied for terrible chemistry that makes me upset are Belle and the Beast (Beauty and the Beast 2017) and Belle and the Beast (Beauty and the Beast 1976). Nobody likes negging. Girls aren’t going to start liking you because you make them feel bad.
I need a little more love for Bryony and the Beast from T. Kingfisher’s Bryony and Roses. I never knew how much I needed a sarcastic Beast who was So Over It until I read him.
Okay, Here's my idea if Sora met the Muppets in a KH game.
Sora arrives and is mistaken for the guest star for the muppet show. Between people always being in character, people having their "Cousin" show up in their place, a few times when they had to cancel the show... Sora insisting he's not the guest star leads to the Muppets assuming this is a bit.
This is a minigame style level where button pressing for singing/acting/etc
This is also the muppets so any "Failed" result is funny. Dynamite goes off too early, the wrong muppet enters the scene, singing is now an octave higher/lower, etc. The "Successful" option is the funniest, but nothing bad happens if you fail.
Kermit is supposedly following you around for the BTS subplots. this is the opposite. Kermit is handling everything.
Sora tries to befriend Statler and Waldorf. This fails.
KH plot points are freely mocked and parodied. Sora is casually dropping anecdotes (Kermit: Can you sword fight? Sora: Aladdin taught me! Kermit: ... Did it take 1001 nights?) (I am very bad at jokes but you get the idea)
At the end of it, you unlock either Gonzo or Miss Piggy as an assist. Gonzo is shot out of a canon at the enemies. Miss Piggy... well she's self explanatory.
Miss Piggy doesn't flirt with Sora, btw, but she is using him with a power play against either Fozzy or Kermit.
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