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See, that’s what the app is perfect for.

Sounds perfect Wahhhh, I don’t wanna
deadryn
animentality

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odinsblog

EYE remember. They sicced the police and the National Guard on us. For exercising our constitutionally protected right to assembly and protest.

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And I also remember how, especially under cover of darkness, cops became particularly nasty and brutal.

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We protested to say Black Lives Matter,

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People protested to Occupy Wall Street, the police brutally attacked them.

Water protectors protested at Standing Rock, police and the National Guard pepper sprayed them.

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The police are attacking and killing unarmed protesters right now today at Cop City in Atlanta. So please let’s knock off the “imagine if people in the US protested like that” nonsense. Sometimes it feels like we stay protesting, like since before I was even ever born.

In addition to all the innocent and unarmed Black people they routinely murder, the police also did things like shoot protesters directly in the head with tear gas canisters, at point blank range. I remember police wilding out on students who were protesting at UC Davis campus to protest tuition hikes. I remember the police tear-gassing a young girl named Sarah Grossman. The cops gassed her in the face and she died from it. And the media even tried covering for the police by parroting their version of events that she had asthma.

I could continue…

But I do not begrudge the French protesters. Like, not at all. They are right to protest Macron’s callous neoliberal ass, and I hope they get what’s theirs. I hope they win. We are on the same side.

#Solidarity #PowerToThePeople ✊🏿

But yeah, let’s not divide and conquer by pitting “our” protests against “their” protests. Let’s not memory hole lived reality and dishonor all the protests that really truly did occur, and are still ongoing even as we speak.

deadryn
natalieironside

Being a mom and an anarchist and trying to figure out the whole "parenting" song and dance from that perspective makes me think 8-year-olds have about got it figured out. I hate school. I hate tests. I hate bedtime.

cuetheviolins

No like here’s the thing: children are an oppressed class. I mean that 100% sincerely. Children m are an oppressed class. They quite literally do not have the right to be free human beings.

Reposting from my twitter here, but: you wouldn't prevent an adult from speaking to their friend or eating when they were hungry. In your personal life that's abusive behavior, in the work sphere a suppression of workers' rights. Other places these rights are violated include: prison.

In Education and Peace, Maria Montessori describes the culture of war and identifies it as originating, on a personal level, in the struggle between the adult and the child that begins as soon as the child is born. This is the very first conflict. The adult subjects the child to their own wants and needs and completely disregards the needs, development and personhood of the child. This struggle continues throughout childhood, between both parents and children and other adults and children:

“Both the adult and the child are unaware of their own characteristic natures. They fight one another in a secret struggle that has gone on for countless generations and is becoming more violent today in our complicated and nerve-racking culture. The adult defeats the child; and once the child reaches adulthood the characteristic signs of the peace that is only an aftermath of war—destruction on one hand and painful adjustment on the other—remain with him for the rest of his life.”

This conflict positions children and adults relative to each other as two distinct classes, one with power and one without. Of course, there are other conflicts at play here—race is a huge one, gender another. And that’s not to say children can’t have power over parents, etc. But one of the most fundamental class conflicts is between adults and children.

Children exist in a state of war from day one. Their environment is completely unsuitable to them; they’re treated as if that’s their fault. They’ve literally been alive for less than a decade. Any action they take is done as a result of class conflict.

natalieironside

I vibe so hard w/ this

derinthescarletpescatarian

I work in childcare and multiple parents have been MYSTIFIED that I’m able to handle their “difficult” children (this includes both neurodivergent children and children who are just rude/mean/violent) and it’s impossible to get them to understand that 90% of the average kid’s behaviour “problems” are just frustration at having a lack of autonomy in their own lives. Some kids do have complicated problems, yes, but so many parents are confused by perfectly understandable reactions! Of course your child is acting out; they have no self-determination or right to their own resources and it’s the only avenue they have left to assert themselves! Of course your child just yelled at you and stormed off -- you were just bullying them! I heard you doing it! They were responding extremely reasonably to being bullied!

I swear half the people in this world -- including those who live with these kids 24-7 -- somehow manage to forget or conveniently ignore that kids are, in fact, people, and will act like people in response to situations.

cherrych4

there is no reason a child should not be able to eat when theyre hungry and not eat things they dislike. if they dont like vegetables then teach them how to make it a way they do like. if you wouldnt yell at and hit your grandparents for not finishing their plate why would you do that to a child. they learn from you, not from what goes through your head while you punish them.

natalieironside

I gotta say the notes on this post have been really heartening b/c "Children are people and not property" has historically been one of my more controversial opinions

shrimp-dicked-fuck-nugget

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naamahdarling

School though. I was always EXTREMELY offended by being told how to use my child body. I should be able to shit and piss when I need to, I should not be forced into physical activity or be nude around peers or adults, if I need a drink or a snack, I should be allowed to go get that if the timing is convenient.

And I should not be forced to endure bullying from adults simply because they are my teachers. If I am bullied by peers they should suffer consequences, and if they violently assault me, they should be expelled. If I have a difficulty learning or understanding I should be accommodated. I should not be forced to get up at 7 am and go to school and after school shit, then come home and do more school shit, taking away time I need to grow and learn and play.

Yes, a certain amount of making kids do things is logistically unavoidable. You can't leave a six year old at home while you run errands. Kids need to contribute to housework, and cooperate in their education. But the degree of entitlement shown by adults towards controlling the minds and bodies of children is honestly repugnant.

naamahdarling

A while back I was watching a video about a woman who works with "problem" horses and helps them overcome, usually, trauma and neglect. And she did it very gently. Yes, she established boundaries with them and there were things they were not allowed to do. But at one point a stallion was behaving in an agitated way and she pointed out his combination of anger and fear in his body language, and she backed off and said something like "This behavior is all right. It is healthy. It isn't what I was hoping he would do, but that doesn't matter right now. What matters is that he feels threatened, and he is right to let me know that."

And then she said something that just stabbed me in the heart. She said, and I do remember her exact words:

"He is allowed to defend his body."

It was a watershed moment for me both in thinking about how I approach animals, but also in how I suddenly understood my own trauma from childhood that occurred in school, home, and in medical contexts, and how I suddenly understood my adult reactions to my ongoing and neverending retraumatization at the hands of the medical and psychiatric professions.

I have the right to defend my body and my core psyche. And I had that right as a child as well. That wasn't well acknowledged then, and still is not, I live in a very toxic and controlling environment because I am disabled and mentally ill. Not being allowed to draw your own boundaries and decide your own fate fucks you up, man. It's literally killing me.

So yeah, a ton of this, now that I think about it, applies to disability as well.

soracities
betharmons

“At the bottom of her heart, however, she was waiting for something to happen. Like shipwrecked sailors, she turned despairing eyes upon the solitude of her life, seeking afar off some white sail in the mists of the horizon. She did not know what this chance would be, what wind would bring it her, towards what shore it would drive her, if it would be a shallop or a three-decker, laden with anguish or full of bliss to the portholes. But each morning, as she awoke, she hoped it would come that day; she listened to every sound, sprang up with a start, wondered that it did not come; then at sunset, always more saddened, she longed for the morrow.”

Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary

“Sometimes I wonder if my whole life will pass by this way: me waiting in the shadows, waiting for something to happen. Waiting for someone else to make it happen. Something new or different or crazy and amazing. I‘ve been there for so long, letting everyone else figure it out for me, floating along without much direction or conscious thought. Reacting.”

Sarah Ockler, Fixing Delilah

“I had to decide what I was going to do, and what I was going to be. I was standing there, waiting for someone to do something, till I realised the person I was waiting for was myself.”

Markus Zusak, Underdog

I ask god to send a swordsman / and god says ‘look at your hands’

Melissa Broder in “Problem Area” from Last Sext

uraniumbunny
denrathivy

my secondary job is teaching eng lit to grades 5-12. something I've taught my students, that I think could fit here, is the 3X3 method. I have made this up, and it works really well as a basic skill for describing the scene/characters/or other.

3 things you obviously see

this is your direct approach to the description!
ie. tall grass; snowy mountain peaks; heavy mist touching the tips of the verdant forest; a thick scar above their lip; reddish rugged beard -- think of what you literally see right in front of you

3 things you can assume based on evidence

this is your indirect approach to describing!
ie. my pants stopped fitting in the spring; no matter what, he couldn't open a book without being put to sleep; the sickeningly sweet smell of fallen leaves made her nose crinkle in disgust -- think of what you want your reader to deduce from your descriptions

3 things you want to add (realistically)

now, what are the things that fit in the scene that you want to add that might be a little less obvious
ie. the characters don't see a figure watching them; the scene changes suddenly for the worse; what are the characters thinking?; how do they assess their surroundings?

Usually, I give my students a picture, and I ask them to use the 3X3 method. Something like this:

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3 things I obviously see: a man in a boat, a body of water, the setting sun

3 things I can assume based on evidence: he's spent all day fishing (the rod in the back), far away from land (an island in the back), could rain soon (clouds creeping in)

3 things I want to make up (realistically*): the man is worried he won't make it back in time, there's a creature watching him, the man is exhausted

And the descriptive paragraph could go something like this:

Time passed the lake mindlessly, and before long, the orange haze of the setting sun painted the sky, and everything it touched, a pumpkin hue. The small waves rocked the man's boat, which pulled him from his slumber. It was then he realized how far he had drifted out from the safety of his home. He frantically reeled his bait in; the whizzing sound of the wire burned against the guides as he set the hook safely at the highest notch. He pulled the oar from his feet and shoved it into the lake, splashing the water up against him. He paid no mind, steering for home. The warm summer sun made him so tired, but how could he fall asleep knowing the stories of these waters?
He had been debating their legitimacy when something bumped the belly of his canoe. He stilled, waiting and listening to any movement in the water.
Then suddenly, he was submerged in the dark depths of the water; no cry could be heard as the liquid muffled his screams.

This is just how I efficiently/effectively write descriptions! Try it out and lemme know <3

*When I say realistically, I mean to say not adding something unrealistic like "rubber duckies in the sky" -- this might also just be something for young students ahaha!

Enjoy~

youknowyourebritishwhen
youknowyourebritishwhen

Today marks 100 years since the start of the Battle of the Somme.

The Battle of the Somme, 141 days of horror, is considered one of the bloodiest battles in WW1. 

The first day on the Somme was that in which the British went ‘over the top’. This meant largely untrained young soldiers left their trenches to run the stretch of no-mans-land, for many this was their first and last time on a battle field. This first day resulted in roughly 57,000 casualties, 19,240 of those died. 

The Battle of the Somme resulted in 1.3 million casualties, and for many people is the battle which symbolises the horror of warfare in WW1. 

didi-deer
didi-deer

I've seen a lot of PJO/SOA headcannons that Nico and Will are the reincarnations of Achilles and Patroclus. I've even seen fics about Chiron telling Nico and Will about training Patroclus and Achilles.

Hot take: Gay Dads Patrochilles who aggressively ship Solangelo

Nico has known Achilles in canon ever since the whole "swim in the Styx Percy it's totally safe" thing. And we know he spends a lot of time wandering around the safer parts of the Underworld - that's how he found Hazel.

Imagine he's visiting Elysium, catching up with old friends, and he runs into the legends themselves.

Achilles is moderately indifferent about it - at most Nico's that annoying kid who dragged him away from his eternity with Pat to ask about his mom (awkward). But Patroclus takes one look at this depressed boi and says "is anyone going to parent this sad gay child?" "Pat, that's Hades' son." "Not anymore."

And because it's Patroclus, he goes out of his way to get Nico to warm up to them. He makes point to talk to him and give advice and is genuinely glad to see him in a way that Nico never got at camp wasn't used to.

Achilles isn't surprised because Patroclus always had a thing for strays. The girls he rescued during the war, the dogs he snuck snacks to beneath the dinner table, even the younger demigods hanging around Elysium. Still, he pouts whenever bae pays attention to anyone other than him

"-we never got to have children Achilles, this could be our chance-"

Achilles melts

Admittedly Achilles has a lot in common with Nico. Both demigod princes burdened by prophecy, who often felt isolated from others due to their parentage. It's no wonder Pat likes him. And Achilles finds himself relating to this boy more than he expected.

Nico has no idea that he's been adopted. He's just more comfortable around the dead, that's all. That's why Pat is so easy to talk to and Achilles has warmed up to him - he's the King of Ghosts it's definitely some latent son of Hades ability that makes them like him.

They're actually part of what makes him consider leaving camp for the Underworld permanently. He never said it out loud, but the easy acceptance and care they offered was everything he'd been craving.

It makes the choice easy - until Will finds out and flips his shit.

"Will? Who's Will?"

Nico flushes and mutters something about Apollo and war paint and satyr babies before melting into shadows. Achilles turns to Pat with amusement "he takes after you philtatos."

The more they hear about 'Will' the more excited Pat is. He's a healer - he's making Nico eat healthier - he nags him about hiding injuries - he makes Nico smile. Every point seems to check a box in his favor.

Achilles is hesitant - even if Apollo reunited him with his love, he did so by killing him. And if anything hurt Nico, Pat would be devastated and furious ("-like you wouldn't be too Achilles just admit you like him-"). Nico tells him about Will's supersonic whistle and he's reluctantly impressed. Still, he's reluctant to grant blessings.

Achilles insists that Nico needs to bring Will to them to "judge his suitability as a therapon"

Pat smacks his head and reminds him that "-we're dead Achilles, he'd have to die to meet us-"

"-all the better to prove his devotion-"

"Achilles!"

Eventually Will does meet them, either because Nico escorted him to the Underworld or Nico summoned their spirits. Once meeting him, Achilles has a total change of heart. It's hard not to like the kid when he and Patroclus immediately start rambling on enthusiastically about different medical techniques and how Chiron's lessons have changed in the past few thousand years.

Achilles watches fondly as Pat beams at the sun child, who's gesturing wildly while explaining something called 'neurology'. There isn't much use for healing in the Underworld so his love rarely gets to indulge his passion like this.

A glance at Nico shows an equally soft expression on young prince's face and he thinks "alright this could work"

The deceased lovers immediately began ploting some way to bring the two together. Obviously they're limited as they can't leave the Underworld, but Nico visits so often that its easy to slip in some subtle hints - and even outright statements (Achilles' brand of subtlety isn't very subtle) - that they would be good together.

Nico is well aware of what they're up to and is both embarrassed and pleased by the support. This doesn't effect his relationship with Will much except giving him a much needed confidence boost that ended with him, pink faced but steady, asking Will to see the fireworks with him.

Nico's next visit to Elysium was announced as he tripped and stumbled out of the shadows, rushing up to a stunned Achilles to beg him for advice

"-and he said yes and I have no idea what to do-"

"You're asking me? I'm a warrior, not a charmer young prince"

"Yeah, but you still charmed Patroclus somehow so you must have done something-"

Achilles looks frantically at Pat for help, but his love is bent over in hysterics, struggling for air he no longer needs

... happily ever after?

This was longer than I thought it would be. So many people fanboy about Patrochilles, I just love the idea that they fanboy about someone else for once. And Nico needs a pair of supportive gay dads

Edit:

Nico: I can't believe I was adopted by Achilles and his boy toy

Zagreus: First time?

Nico: ... ????

Zagreus: Also, I'm pretty sure Achilles is the boy toy

(Nico also deserves a bamf poly/pan big brother)(and look Achilles has one in storage)(he enjoys cuddling with his various lovers)(long walks through the Fields of Asphodel)(and kicking the ass of the king of Athens)