Axel’s Dream
Axel works for the Organization as a dreamworker. His job involves making dreams come true by ensuring the Dream Machine has enough power and that its Dream-o-Meter is fully charged. Axel takes his career seriously and is known for taking great pride in it; he dreams of becoming fancy himself as Fancy Nancy does as an example for others to follow.
However, Axel can also be quite stubborn and volatile. He refuses to accept that Paul coaxed him away from tagging fish in New York City to work for their family business in Arizona, even though this means leaving Grace behind. Additionally, Leo tried convincing Axel that staying permanently would lead them toward taking over their Cadillac dealership, yet Axel refused – going so far as breaking into his shop at night to sleep on top of one with the cat sleeping nearby!
After meeting Kairi briefly on the beach, Axel later finds her again in Twilight Town and receives orders to follow her; instead, he finds himself more drawn towards being with Xion instead of Kairi and takes him away as punishment from Xemnas. Xemnas then decides to send Axel off to Castle Oblivion as punishment.
As they travel towards the castle, Axel learns of plans by some members of the Organization to stage a coup d’etat and plans to eradicate them. He initially agrees but changes his mind when told the people planning an uprising are his friends – making betraying them even harder, yet his duties must take priority over such considerations.
As Axel engages Roxas directly, he utilizes two Chakrams with silver spikes and circles on them for melee weaponry and shielding purposes. Axel can use these weapons effectively against his opponent or perform unique attacks like juggling them against them or throwing them across the battlefield continuously.
The Sense of Belonging
A sense of belonging is an essential human need that impacts everything from our motivation and ability to manage emotions to health and well-being, happiness, life meaning, and reducing mental/physical illness risks. Today, more than ever before, it is increasingly crucial that individuals develop strong feelings of belonging in their daily lives. Technology continues to advance, and traditional social structures have disintegrated, making creating a strong sense of belonging even more necessary.
Belonging is a subjective sense, personal to each person. It encompasses an intrinsic yearning for connection, a need for positive regard from others, and wanting to be understood (Rogers 1951). Belonging is an inborn yet dynamic process influenced by several factors, including quality, meaning, and satisfaction of social connections (Rogers 1951).
The sense of belonging is multidimensional, composed of four interdependent components that interact and reinforce one another across temporal, environmental, and social contexts. Enhancing and expanding upon these dimensions are integral to developing an overall sense of belonging.
Competencies refer to our skills and abilities for connecting with others. These abilities include our communication, interaction, and engagement abilities – these areas often showcase high levels of competency within a person who feels they belong.
Opportunities arise when someone feels supported and accepted by other members of their group, enjoys spending time with these people, has positive relationships with them, and is willing to invest effort into maintaining these bonds.
Motivations are what drive a person to form relationships and interact with other people. A highly motivated individual who desires to belong will look for positive social interactions and connections while disliking negative social experiences and resisting the loss of attachments (Baumeister & Leary 1995).
A sense of belonging occurs within a dynamic social milieu in which biological needs interact with various social structures, norms, contexts, and experiences to form an integral framework for understanding, assessing, and promoting well-being. Therefore, it is crucial that belonging is fostered as an integrative framework to facilitate learning, evaluation, and promotion.
The Power of Love
Love is a powerful force, as evidenced by many songs inspired by it. It transforms people and objects, causing people to either cry or smile, changing an aggressive hawk into an amorous dove, giving life back into nonliving things, or even reincarnating dead people, providing relief in crises.
The Power of Love is related to Heart Beat Down and Care-Bear Stare; these terms encompass positive feelings such as happiness, peace, love, and care for one another. Additionally, Magic Power and Elemental Powers all fall under this heading, yet unlike Lust and Hate, these tend to be positive experiences.
Celine Dion’s version of “The Power of Love” became her debut number-one single in America when it topped the Billboard Hot 100 charts for four weeks in February 1994, also beating Australia, Canada, and the UK charts. Dion included this song during many of her concert performances – Michael Leckebusch directed its music video featuring footage of New York City – as well as on several greatest hits albums such as All the Way (1999), Complete Best (2008), and My Love: The Greatest Hits (2010).
The Power of Friendship
As an increasingly common theme in anime and manga, the Power of Friendship portrays characters overcoming any challenge or adversary through cooperation between themselves. Sometimes, this doesn’t even require physical union; sometimes, all it takes is knowing there are people around who care and support you during tough times.
This can be seen in numerous anime and manga series, particularly Shonen ones, where the hero is frequently supported by close companions who help him or her progress through the story. Naruto used friendship as a powerful weapon against Pain and Obito; many battles were won through its power alone.
Other examples of this include the Sailor Senshi from Sailor Moon’s franchise, who works together to protect Sailor Moon to save the world, and My Hero Academia’s Kuroko, who uses friendship power against opponents and enemies – an idea All For One personifies with his Quirk that allows him to steal other heros’ Quirks!
Note that the Power of Friendship can be wielded both for good and evil purposes, making careful use essential. When used by heroes, however, one must remain wary not to become a Martyr Without A Cause, as well as remain wary of any potential Heel-Face Turn from an adversary who attempts to use this same strategy against them.
The Power of Friendship is an incredible force and one we all need in our lives. In an increasingly cynical world where true friendships have become less frequent and hypocrisy is on the rise, this strength of the company becomes all the more crucial for survival. Friendship’s strong pull can make even complex tasks seem effortless and is essential in keeping to Chumliness’ Paths of Chumliness.
