note. i am an adult and visit my parents only on holidays, if that makes a difference.
my mom married a man who loves guns. he has a gun safe, but has told me he keeps a gun in his bedroom night stand. i have not seen it, so i can't know for sure if he was bluffing or not. that said, he has made 2-3 remarks about shooting me (to quote one time: "i will turn you into a human sprinkler" after i made a clearly sarcastic comment about slamming doors at night)
Anyway- the point isn't to debate my relationship with him, but i don't think he is a responsible gun owner given his remarks and disregard for california gun storage policy.
can he be reported? what can i do to report him? what would the outcome be?

(Only Europe, Please) - short note - If you're not into reading or receiving long messages,don't read any further + Please If you don't want to read everything because of my post being too long for you & instead of reading It all - ..skip some parts - find another person to talk to.Let's respect each other and our free time. All people criticizing/making fun of me & other people - will be blocked.Pretty much as people questioning my post and giving me unsolicited advice.I'm not here for any conflicts and I know I can't please everyone - I know I never will.. However It's me who should feel comfortable in my new potential friendship & obviously someone who wants to be my friend - not the whole world.. which is why I don't need any advice from people who don't even want to be a part of my life. The amount of rude people on Reddit always criticizing others and making fun of them is unbelievably high but let me tell you something - NEVER let anyone make choices for you and criticize you only because you're different! Always fight for your dreams and never let anyone make you think you're worthless! It's your life and you're the one deciding what's best for you - If you want to judge me despite not even wanting to talk to me or give me advice better block me! I'm an adult woman and I make all decisions on my own.I'm not trying to "fit in" and be like everyone else - just to get more attention.Accept me for who I am or let go - is my motto.
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Hello guys! 🙂 (read everything before you decide to send me a message) Please send me a message ONLY If you're in the same situation and If your expectations are the same as mine.I want to find like minded people from Europe (Why Europe? Read my post to find out) I'm looking for something permanent (remember - you can feel lonely even If you're surrounded by others - If there's no emotional bond) I'm fed up of meeting people who never make time for me & only text me once or twice a week to ask me "what are you up to?" Out of boredom.I don't want to meet people asking others a million of questions like "what's your favorite movie?" Just to give them one word answer and ask them another question "and music? Your favorite song?" I'm looking for something "deeper" & different 🙂
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What kind of friend would I like to find? Someone to talk to on a daily basis - Someone who needs It & wants It just as much as me
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What are my expectations? I would like to meet someone in a similar situation – why? Because I honestly feel like only a person with the same expectations and a similar outlook on life would get along with me & because I feel more comfortable talking to people like me..Friendless people who need a strong bond - people without friends and partners.. Don't get me wrong…Most people deserve to be happy and It's good to have friends but people who have friends or families in real life are usually more focused on them (which is completely understandable) & have less time for others + I simply don't want to be replaced by anyone..I kind of envy people who can call others , true friends given I don't have an emotional bond with any of my acquaintances. Please send me a message only If you're not In a relationship and don't have friends for the same reasons I've already mentioned before
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Whenever I hear that others have friends I simply get sad because (believe it or not) If I had to choose between 20 people to talk to (acquaintances) and one special person - I'd choose that one special person without any hesitation .
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I also want to talk to others every day because..I want to see someone’s effort & be someone's first choice - not another person to have random conversations with..some people ask me "Why do you want to talk to people from Europe?" Well..Because I would like to see someone I'd get along with - In the far future - face to face :) + I don't want to wait any longer than 6 hours to receive a message - waiting 6 hours to receive a message is more than enough
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I'm by no means criticizing people who don't want to talk to others often / People who really are super busy & People who want to find someone to have unimportant conversations with - I'm aware that not everyone has the same expectations which is why everything you're reading now - is here for a reason :) All I'm suggesting is - I don't want anything temporary and I don't want to be the one always giving more than receiving.Listen people - I used to ignore being..ignored by others..always being just an option to talk to during tough times or moments of boredom.I was too young to realize that I was never important enough for most people that were a part of my life. I don't know who needs to hear this but..No one is too busy to make time for you! People make excuses to avoid others because they prioritize everything and (maybe) everyone..over them. It's true that most people are busy - but It takes only a few seconds to start a conversation (If you're into short messages) and a few minutes (1-10/15) to type a long message . Don't let anyone lie to you.
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Truth is that most people either don't like you enough to make time for you or just simply - feel no need to talk to others often but are they too busy? No..You don't need to send me a message just to ask me and tell me "Do you really want to talk every day? I like long messages but I can't promise to contact you often" If you really are unsure please don't send me a message.I don't need more acquaintances aka people to talk to - occasionally.
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I'm not trying to sound rude but conversations once or twice a week wouldn't be enough for me and I don't need them... Let me tell you one thing – A true friend would never just give up on you for no reason :) It’s always possible to find someone to have a random conversation with – someone willing to send you one message once or twice a week..but..It’s almost impossible to find people willing to make more time for you.
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I’m not asking a busy person to make time for me by changing some plans! Absolutely not! I’m here to find someone who wants to talk daily (throughout the day or maybe even night) of one’s own will.Someone looking for the same kind of connection.Strong friendships are based on mutual support. One of the best things you can do for a friend in need, is just to be there for them when they want to talk.I often see posts from people who always say how friendless they are because they don't feel loved or appreciated by their "friends" remember! A true friend - someone who truly likes you or someone who wants to get to know you - will always find time for you.
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I'm not interested in small talk/short messages - I love long and meaningful conversations. It's so easy to find someone who loves abbreviations and questions like "How are you?" How was your day? Or what are you interested in? But so hard/almost impossible to find a person who knows how to keep a conversation going & show others some effort.Building and maintaining friendships takes time and effort.Never allow pursuits or possessions to become bigger priorities than your relations with other people.Close friendships are so important to us because they are so difficult to form + Having friends can help you feel as if you belong to something that brings purpose and connection to your life
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• I do NOT respond to any „Hey,hmu” or „u want to talk?” type of messages (super short messages or messages full of abbreviations – I literally can’t stand abbreviations and acronyms in text messages) ALL messages full of abbreviations will immediately be ignored.I also don't like it when people ignore everything I say in private messages just to focus on a random question or? When they start talking only about themselves and don't ever ask me anything. I love conversations with people referring to everything I say...I want everything I say and do - to be reciprocated
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• No NSFW profiles (checking mental health subreddits NOT included as I'm a huge empath and always try to understand others) - Please! I'm not looking for anyone to flirt with and I'm not looking for a partner either. I always check people's profiles (even comment history) - To avoid guys, trying to get inappropriate pictures from adult women or? flirt with them + I don't want to see you with no clothes on so If you're on Reddit only because you want others to see what's underneath your clothes - I'm not for you! I just simply don't want to see any s e x related activity on your profile If you want to talk to me.
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• If both of us (you and I) are from the same country (I live in a non-English speaking country) - I want to communicate with you in our first language! No - Not because I don't understand English - because as you see - I do. Why then? English is simply overrated and people don't appreciate other languages as much as they should. So.. If we're from the same country and you want to talk only in English (which is quite common on reddit) - Talk to someone else. I just don't want to talk to a person from the same country as mine - in a foreign language as It's just something I don't understand even If all you want is to improve your language skills
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• Please only adult people 18-36 (age range) It doesn't matter to me If you're younger or older than me (as long as you're not underage) So.. don't worry! I just want to have discussions with emotionally mature people :)
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• I don’t respond to messages I don’t find interesting even If they're long - If after receiving and reading your message I don't feel comfortable or think "I wouldn't get along with him/her" I simply do not respond (what I’m suggesting is that I don’t always respond to someone’s first or second message because..sometimes you just know If you’d get along with someone or not- I’d never ignore anyone after days or weeks of daily conversations though) just because I don’t want to do anything forcefully & because I don’t want to lead anyone on. I read all messages but I definitely don't respond to all of them! I want to make it clear because I don't want to be accused of not responding and not reading people's messages! - Some people don't message me back as well and even If It's a bit disappointing I'm ok with that! - as long as there's no emotional bond - Not responding to someone's first or second message Is completely OK! If people think they wouldn't get along with a stranger - is there a reason to start a conversation? I don't think so. I can't stand being ignored after days or weeks of daily conversations and seeing people changing priorities over time.. but that's something different - something I don't want to go through ever again for real. If I'm really interested in someone's message it's impossible to hear from me "I'm too busy" because I know myself and If I had no time for others - I wouldn't be here. I don't want to pretend someone I'm not and always try to find some cheap excuses to avoid others. (unlike most people who don't want to talk to others)
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• Don’t ask me “Can you tell me something about yourself?” If you really want to get to know me - you can ask me questions :) I'm an open book.
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• It would be better If you guys were into emojis - like me - to describe your emotions In text messages. Two emojis - 🙂 and 🙁 are completely enough! I just don't like emotionless conversations.I also don't like it when people say "yeah" or yea"as it sounds dismissively. First impression Is everything to me! I want to see your kindness even in a text message - Emojis are very helpful to express your emotions.I don't want to meet people who say "crying Is a weakness" - It's OK to cry even If you're a guy!
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• I want to talk on reddit first (just to make sure If I'd get along with you) before moving to Discord or some other app
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• I would rather talk to a homebody - not another person who always has something to do as people who are very busy don't even have time for daily conversations
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• If you're another person interested only in "childish conversations" such as "HEYOOO! I'M BORED! Ya like Pizza or cheese? xDDDD 🤣" I'm begging you! Don't send me a message.I'm not a child anymore and such messages don't make me smile or laugh.I'm looking for someone interested In serious discussions - not another person just seeking some entertainment out of boredom . Conversations with sarcastic undertones (even when It comes to some emojis such as 🤣😂) are not for me. Your typing style matters to me! Why? when It comes to online conversations with someone new - It's not always possible to know If someone Is laughing at you.. or with you. Let me tell you something else! Jokes about cancer, disabilities and death are UNACCEPTABLE to me. If you find joy In someone else's misfortune you are not a person I want to know.
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• Time response matters to me a lot! I would never ask anyone to be online all day long and I'm NOT asking any of you for any instant messaging as I'm someone who would rather wait an hour or two to receive a proper response instead of some short and pointless messages but I'm interested only in daily conversations and I don't want to wait any longer than 6 hours to get a message from you.I don't need unbelievably long messages either! Messages as long as the second paragraph of my post - are completely enough. If you like longer messages? you can send me a longer message, but If you want to send me one word or one sentence as a response to my post - don't expect a reaction from me. I don't want to come across as rude - I just don't want to waste your time
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• I'm strongly AGAINST picking on people you don't even want to chat with - and making fun of them! I can't stand people who criticize others publicly or make fun of them! (only because they disagree with someone they don't even know) There's no place In my life for someone using Reddit, to hurt other people
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• I'm not into foul language and I definitely don't want to talk to people who swear a lot...
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• I want to meet assertive people who know what they want and always stand up for their friends
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• I want to meet someone willing to call me In the future, someone spontaneously sending me pictures of animals or food, et cetera. I want more than just text conversations.. 🌻
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Why can’t you see any of my hobbies listed down below? Because what really matters to me is..who you are (If you’re honest, talkative ,understanding, caring and trustworthy – for example) just simply – It matters to me what you’re like! not what you like.Don’t get me wrong – you can tell me what your hobbies are but from my point of view - people's hobbies are important - If you want to find a gaming buddy or If you want to meet someone to hang out with in real life and..go bowling for example.What most people seem to care about are other people's passions – I don’t. I get along with other people despite having completely different hobbies but I absolutely don’t get along with people way different than me (different expectations and outlook on life – way different sense of humor or personality traits – It’s just an example) It doesn't make ANY DIFFERENCE to me If you're a gamer or? Someone interested in photography! It doesn't make any difference - > as long as you're talkative and kind and If you also want to find someone willing to stay in your life..for good - But If you're into small talk and all you want is to...type and receive super short messages or If you're here only because you're bored and don't know what to do + If you're a very sarcastic person - I'm definitely not for you! I don't get along with overly sarcastic people turning everything into a joke. Friendships should be natural – not forced. I wouldn't get along with people who laugh at everything.. In my opinion most people are way too sarcastic.. It's quite sad... Sarcasm can also be another form of passive-aggressive behavior.
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People who want to be to friends should feel comfortable and have something in common. No - not necessarily a similar taste in music or movies but something else..Most friendships don't fizzle out because of people not having the same hobbies but..because they just simply have different expectations when It comes to something important.I'm not here out of boredom and trust me - I'm not here to meet as many people as possible.I choose quality over quantity.I highly value myself and my time & Sometimes one person but a person who makes you feel comfortable and understood - is more than enough :) We ALL can choose what kind of people we’d like to talk to and maybe even become really good friends with and I? I don’t want anyone to be disappointed.We all have some expectations after all.I know that people don't have to talk as often as possible in order to become friends but I'm interested only in daily conversations. If you really need someone to talk to due to loneliness and If you have time to talk to me daily (throughout the day and maybe even night) I always make time for others.I'm literally always available.I could even stay up all night long only to talk to someone important to me. I’m ready to commit but only If there’s some chemistry between me and someone else.I don’t do anything forcefully.
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If you want to talk to me tell me your story - tell me why you're here, what kind of friend would you like to meet :) Et cetera.Such messages are way more interesting to me than...someone's long list of hobbies. I know! It's unusual on reddit but I don't make friends based on hobbies..I want to meet someone with the same mindset as mine to finally feel understood and get close to someone new. You can share your problems with me - I absolutely don't mind "complaining" as I've been through a lot in my life.What do people usually tell you when you tell them that something's wrong? "Don't complain" or "Life's not over yet - one day you'll be happy" or "There are worse situations than yours" and..obviously "Find a therapist" Life's not a fairytale and sometimes things don't go as planned.Emotions shouldn't be bottled up.I'm sick of people always telling others "everything's gonna be ok" move on " & more..Trust me people - not everyone wants to hear "Just believe in yourself and everything's gonna be ok" Some people take it as reassurance - but others? They would rather hear something different 🙁Imagine being told that things will be okay, only for them to get worse..Do you guys know why telling someone "everything's gonna be ok" Is wrong? Because you can't see the future.
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You can't guarantee others that one day they'll finally be happy + when It comes to social interactions - We're responsible only for ourselves - not others & as you guys know people let us down quite often (sometimes even when there's no reason) so instead of telling people how they should move on, forget everything and be happy or asking them to find a therapist - be there for them! Always be willing to listen to them If you really like them or want to get to know them & don't suggest everyone in a tough situation to find a therapist because even the best therapist won't ever replace a true friend + It's quite normal to be disappointed If people always do something to hurt you. Sharing your hardships with other people in a very similar situation or exactly the same one - is VERY helpful If the other person understands you & wants to start all over by just letting it all out! Feeling emotional support instead of always hearing some "positive quotes" or someone saying "Stop complaining let's talk about something else - Is very important! "Everyone needs a shoulder to cry on. I appreciate sensitive people who always try to understand others. If after hearing a sad story all you want to say is "forget the past and move on" you're not for me. It's important to be a good listener and provide emotional support to others
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Please - If you're a completely different person than the described type of person I'm looking for (If you love abbreviations,If you don't need a stable friendship, If you're sarcastic and quiet) or If you simply disagree with my post - don't force yourself to send me a message.I want my new potential friendship to be natural which is why I want you to contact me only If your needs are the same - I don't want you to pretend someone you're not - only to please me - Pretending to be someone you're not - is the worst.I want to finally be happy again & find someone "always" wanting to talk - sending me random pictures throughout the day - food pictures or pictures of some animals. What is the most important to me? I want to find people who value online friendships as much as they would value real life ones as there's another human being on the other side
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No comments please.Only Private messages and chat requests 🌺
I know It's possible to meet people with exactly the same expectations as mine but It's just not easy because most people are Interested In temporary and entertaining conversations. People like me are just "different" I really want to finally find someone who loves emojis as much as I do.. someone who loves sweet, warm and serious discussions at the same time. Emojis really do - change conversations 😊

dementia is an abstract condition residing in platonic space, so, being abstract must necessarily apply to the childhood and teenage years in direct contradiction to their freshness and vigour and it does
there are also more subtle occurrences of this like the natural neural pruning that befalls these age groups
every zen center i have seen runs into contested control of the institution at some point with vicious insider fighting
this, imo, is a general characteristic of religious institutions and what you might expect given the usual emphasis on social control
life’s blind points
we learn and unlearn
what’s found is lost
to return
to back where we started
again and again
one sees a lot of "experts" giving youtube interviews on the russo-ukraine war, experienced people with the right credentials, but they are all skew of the targets, its just the way things go, however the historian yuri felshtinsky is an exception, right on the nail and a coherent overall view
lt. general ben hodges criticises the lack of a clear aim of winning the war by the west and its tardy and restricted support
history lesson
what is true is unreal
what is unreal is not true
where the real fits into fantasy
is hard to say
“ What is the meaning of life in Zen ?
I often feel empty of a reason or meaning for living. I don’t mean that in a suicidal sense, but rather, I feel that there isn’t much aspiration or purpose to why I bear all this suffering . . . and for what ? ”
my reply:
your question is inside out
inside out questions
wrong at the start
so how can it finish ?
two things from town today
a man of about thirty in an electric wheelchair with an open wallet full of cards, each neatly tucked in to its own pouch having difficulty paying for his purchase at the chemist
a mother of about the same age at buttons beach trying to photograph her solo daughter (aged about one and a half years?) sitting on some driftwood who would not lift her head up to face the phone despite the maternal coaxing and eventually standing up
and i guess the third thing is me seeing these things and recording them for all time
half sight
some insight
whole sight
beyond insight
half seeing something
means getting it wrong
i wish i could say more
is there even a full seeing ?
alcohol, sleep and flying do not mix
if you look at a song lyric without the music, they are basically pretty bland
mental candy floss so to speak
love is infinity for poodles
i warn you that when the princes of this world start loving you it means they are going to grind you up into battle sausage
quotes by louis-ferdinand céline who lead an interesting life and was a formative influence on charles bukowski
answers don’t come from above
life draws out what we don’t want to know
blindness changes to sight
and back again
this turmoil is called living
beliefs
thoughtless icons
pivots
around
which
our
lives
can spin
“ How do we judge the reliability of the old ch’an texts and the modern translations ? ”
its basically a full time area of study called "philology" and its hardly ever done because its so labour intensive and financially unrewarding
its not a new problem which is why you see a lot of the "masters" say "sort it out yourself"
you see so many OP’s here (on rzen) quoting a master who says this, then go on for pages "using the words of others" and when you point out the contradiction, can’t see it !
i don’t like dahui or huangpo and there’s only a few authentic "zen masters" in the whole history of ch’an, two being fushan and joshu
“ Now that I’m treated and sober , I still constantly deal with dissociative symptoms, but its more so the general vague feeling of nothing being real, having doubts and confusion regarding consciousness and existence, but nothing that I find to be out of hand ”
my comment
dissociation is a valid viewpoint, bodily entrained philosophy so to speak
i have eaten eyeballs, but not fermented, which some cultures do, i guess the fermenting is to break down the collagen in the lens which can be very hard and as a rule the whole eyeball is very "tough"
its scary how vulnerable they are, some sort of insult and then you have permanent low vision or blindness and when you see how many people have problems , just be grateful and respectful to your own sight
in my view lasik or similar is way too risky for the general acceptance they get, the surgeons' old saying "one operation begets another" is telling you something
well actually its thomas cleary’s translation of some sort of manuscript that purports to be a transcription of something foyan said
ed. posters on rzen seem not to understand that their quoting of the supposed "masters" (ed. foyan in this case) creates no authority because the quotes are in fact often just "literary reinventions"
this is a general problem with religious texts, its all about establishing an authority beyond the literary nature of the text, islam and christianity especially, but its all just stories !
you’re another who thinks foyan spoke into a dictaphone the usual claim in OP’s here (ed. rzen) is an indirect authority/mantle based on a supposed direct quote of whatever zen masteguru
but its never an authentically direct quote but with strong question about whether the "master" ever said anything like it, or if he existed or was ever chronicled at all
in addition you have the errors of transcription, repeated copying and the huge distance of translation which is, in effect reinterpretation
hence
my
sarcastic
reference
to
dictaphone
nothing is quite strange enough
until
you hit
old chinese
poetry
then you look
at the world through different
eyes
i quite like the ming dynasty poet tu mu/ du mu , here’s a poem of his, you can work out what it means (hint : yangzhou road would be what we would call a "red light" district)
she is slim and supple and not yet fourteen
the young spring-tip of a cardamom-spray
on the yangzhou road for three miles in the breeze
every pearl-screen is open
but there’s no one like her

Happy ficnapping everyone! This time around I got sirgeneralcliche 's The Nature of Quirks Which is a crossover with the popular superhero anime My Hero Academia! This presented a unique challenge as I haven't seen it, and all my knowledge of it is scattered second hand retellings of cool parts from my young cousin.
So with that, and context clues from within the story itself, I wrote a filler episode stuffed with characters that will never come up again. As is tradition.
Note: If any of these characters seem familiar to readers of my other story, you should know that this is entirely intentional cause I'm an indulgent hackass who was desperate for ideas. Hope you enjoy it!
Proofread by thirsha_42
General Kam
A quiet moment.
I found Deku sitting alone at a table in the station's dining room. It was technically the ‘night’ cycle right now, so aside from him, myself, and a cluster of people sat by the videogame consoles, the place was empty.
“Do you mind if I join you, Deku? I want to talk.”
The green and black hero looked up from the platter of crispy veggie snacks he'd been prodding at, a gentle smile on his uncovered face. “General Kam! Yes, please have a seat. What exactly do you want to chat about?”
I looked him dead in the eye. “Villains.”
The lines of his face tensed. “That's… kind of a complicated topic.”
“Simple ones are a rare luxury at the moment.”
The hero chuckled. “Yeah, I suppose that's true. Do you want to know about a specific villain you've heard about? Or just Villains in general.”
“I understand the principles behind quote-unquote villainy. What I want is the perspective of the man everyone says is the top hero.” After a moment I realized I hadn't actually answered his question. “Tell me about the last villain you encountered. Before you came here.”
He tilted his head at me for a moment, a skeptical look in his eye. Like he'd expected a question about something more specific.
“Uhhh, alright.” He scratched his head in thought. “The last villain I interacted with was Sundershock, from the Esoteric Order Of Neon.”
Right, all the names are going to be like that.
Deku continued. “Though I say villain. the Esoteric Order Of Neon kinda rides the line.”
I leaned in, my full attention on the human hero. “Tell me everything you know.”
“Sure!” He fished his primitive holopad out of his pocket and flicked through pictures of what looked like various heroes on a beach holiday. Eventually he stopped on an image of six completely armoured humans. They were gigantic, half again as large as the others around them, and they appeared to be… cooking? On small coal fires in halved barrels.
I looked back up at Deku, who seemed unperturbed by the surreal image.
“That’s them.” He pointed at the largest of them. His armour was dark blue, and every flat surface from the waist up was studded with analogue speakers joined together by bright yellow sine waves of light. “That specifically is Sundershock. He can manipulate the sound he creates to do a bunch of things. I’ve seen him make things like roaring engines totally silent, and amplify the tiniest sound into a destructive blast.”
“What is his quirk called?” I asked.
The hero shrugged. “I don’t know. None of them have ever felt the need to share the details. Almost nobody knows what any of them look like under those helmets either.”
Almost? Later.
“Hmm. Please continue.”
His finger shifted to the next figure. Next to Sundershock he looked comically slight. His armour was shining silver, with the smeared rainbow patina of platinum. Electric blue light poured from every gap in the exquisite plates, like they were barely containing a blue supergiant star. “That is Gammalance. He does a bunch of photokinesis related things. Hologram illusions, invisibility, and lasers that vary in strength between ‘causing severe sunburn’ and ‘Granite vapourizing’ are his go-to’s. We’re pretty sure there’s a radiation component to it as well. There are spikes of harmless background radiation in places where he’s used his powers, and he put ‘Gamma’ in his name so… ” He trailed off with a smile.
Deku’s growing enthusiasm for the subject was matched only by my growing dread. “So one human concussion warhead, and another who can fire capital ship strength energy attacks from his hands. Fantastic.” I rubbed at my eyes, already starting to regret this conversation. “Next you’ll tell me that one of them can just generate infinite soldiers for them, or something equally terrifying.” I added.
Deku was quiet for entirely too long. “Umm, well…”
My paws fell from my eyes. “No, please…”
His pointer finger moved to the next human in the line. Slight like Gammalance, the next figure’s suit was soft white, and gilded with elaborate gear motifs. “Tickspring can animate constructs with a touch. Up to about 200 at a time, as far as I can tell. They aren’t very smart though, and they’re only as tough as whatever they were made from. Empty suits of plate armour are the most common. They use them as cheap muscle, bogging us down so they can escape and stuff like that.”
“That’s a bit less terrifying, I suppose.”
“Yeah, it’s kinda nice to fight goons I don’t need to pull my punches with!” He refocused on picture “Those two,” He pointed at a large figure who looked like he’d been buried alive in his suit, and another, smaller one, who was covered in soot and scorchmarks. “Are Stonewall and Slagwright. Slag can liquify and manipulate metals near him, and Stone can control dirt and rocks on a huge scale. ‘Mother Earth bends to my will’ As he likes to say.” He chuckled at his own slightly nasal impression of the villain.
The last figure in the photo was the strangest. It seemed like he had taken the ‘armour’ theme to the absolute extreme. He didn’t look like he was wearing armour like the rest of them. It looked like he was made of armour. All four of his traditional limbs looked obviously mechanical in a way the other’s didn’t, and he had combined that look with every medical adjacent childhood terror imaginable. His visor was an irregular mess of mixed sized lenses, all fixed forward and peering out from under a deep hood. Glowing vials of mysterious chemicals in several vibrant colours were strapped to his limbs and torso, alongside sets of primitive steel surgical tools, some of which I had seen in the Human Cruelty display in the capital’s museum.
Most unsettling of all was the extra limbs. A set of 12 tail thick mechanical tentacles sprouted from his back, their connection points concealed by the white and red cloak he wore. They hung about him like some kind of nightmareish Kolshian, the tip of each bristling with sharp blades, dextrous tendrils, or gleaming needles.
“And him?” I asked, already dreading the answer.
“That is Doctor Damage.” He said gravely.
“Oh good, a load of dangerous maniacs and one of them likes to play doctor.” I shivered, and tried to not imagine what those tools could do to unprepared combatants.
“He’s not playing. I’m not sure if he’s technically a doctor, but his quirk makes him probably one of the best healers in the world right now. He calls it Flensing.”
My translator struggled to put meaning to the word. “What does that mean?” I asked.
“Uhh…” He rubbed the back of his head, awkwardly stalling for time. “It basically means when you take a sharp knife and use it to slice fat away from muscle tissue.”
I stared at him. “Why do you have a word- You know what, I don’t want to know.” I shuddered again.
“He probably calls it that to provoke that exact reaction, to be honest. Basically he can disassemble any complex system into it’s base components and reassemble it at will. And he can do it really fast. Cars, computers, people, pretty much anything. The reassembling stage only seems to work properly if he actually understands how the thing works though. That’s why I think he might actually be a doctor.”
I thought back to battles past, the good soldiers I had seen taken by treatable wounds left untended because there wasn’t time. “That… Is a very powerful ability.” I said, still half lost in memory.
Deku nodded in agreement. “Honestly, he's the biggest reason the Order hasn't been chased down and captured. No one ever dies or gets seriously hurt when they pull something.”
That was the opening I was looking for. “And what kind of things do they pull? Heavy armour like that says armed combat to me.” Although, considering the wacky and colourful costumes I’d seen the heroes present on the station wearing that probably wasn’t a safe assumption anymore.
The green hero laughed and rotated his arm in its socket with a mildly pained grin. “Well, I can’t say any of them are shy about combat.” He said with unexpected fondness. “No, they’re mostly about stealing ‘treasure.’’ He held up his hands and curled both of his index fingers as he said that last word. A bizarre and alien gesture I had no idea the meaning of. I tilted my head in confusion at it, and he seemed to interpret that as ‘elaborate,’ so he did.
“Gold, silver, platinum, diamonds, art, jewelry, artifacts, sometimes just whole trucks of money.” He counted them off on his fingertips as he went. “Usually they target rich private collectors, banks, mining companies.They will target museums, if the backers are wealthy enough. Oh! Funny story! That’s how they ended up accidentally kidnapping the Dutch Princess!”
“I fail to see how kidnapping the children of leaders is funny.” His enthusiasm about this was odd. And infectious.
“They didn’t actually kidnap her. She stowed away in one of their cargo containers when they broke into the Van Gogh museum! I think it made them panic too. Less than ten minutes after the King contacted us about the paintings we got this video message.” He tapped at his phone, then turned the screen to me.
The video showed a young looking human woman in a white shirt and skirt with white bands wrapped around her head and wrist. She stood in a small rectangular green sports field, trying fruitlessly to swat at green and white blurs with a wire racket as they whipped past her. Eventually she gave up and called an exasperated “Timeout!” The camera panned to the other side of the sportsfield where Gammalance was standing. Wearing almost the exact same outfit as the princess over his armour. Only he had a pair of incredibly tiny shorts on instead of a skirt.
“Figures we’d get the only royal who’s lousy at tennis.” He purred. His pleasing tenor voice somehow both warm and the smuggest sounding I’d ever heard. He turned to the camera. “I’m sure you heroes have already received a worried message from the Orange-Nassau family about how their high value assets have gone missing. Did they even mention the Princess? Hmm? Either way, in 48 hours she will be returned safe and unharmed at the following coordinates.” Numbers flashed on the screen. “If you want the Van Gogh collection to be returned as well, bring 500 kilograms of gold bullion to the meeting point.” He somehow managed to bow sarcastically and the video ended. I looked back at Deku, a wide grin on his face.
“So, how’d it go?”
“They got away with about half the gold, and we got the paintings and the princess back.Plus a bunch of jewelry.”
“They gave you jewelry?”
“Not me, the princess. Slag and Stone make it out of the raw materials they steal. Then they sell it or give pieces away to bystanders they wrong. Can’t stay too mad at someone who smashes your car when they give you a necklace worth three times it’s value as an apology. And because there’s no way to tell who’s metals went into what jewelry, no one has a strong legal claim to it!”
I couldn’t help but feel a little amused as well. You didn’t get as far in the Space Corp as I did without knowing a few fun loopholes. But something was… off.
“I get the illegality of their actions, but none of that feels evil enough to be called Villainous.”
Deku shrugged and sagged back into his chair. “We’re trying to move past the whole Hero/Villain thing as a society, but sometimes it’s slow going. They don’t fit neatly into either category, but they do tend to piss off people who own news networks, so ‘Villains.’” He did the finger thing again.
I kept my head steady this time. “And yet you’re comfortable enough to picnic by the ocean with them.”
“That time, yeah. That was about a month before first contact, after Chitinphract attacked the city of Honolulu on the island of Hawaii. He’s a proper “Villain” Villain. He can mutate and control sea life, and is on a crusade to destroy all the coastal cities of the world. Usually he just rolls up, does a bunch of damage and hurts people, then we kick his ass and he runs back off to the ocean.”
“But this time was different?” I prompted. He nodded.
“Yeah. After we chased him out of Singapore he hadn’t been seen in a year or so. Then he attacked the tourist beaches of Honolulu with about a hundred of these giant crab-clam things.” He showed me a photo of a giant smooth rock with eight spiny insectoid legs and two giant claws. One of which was in the middle of throwing a car at a hero I didn’t recognize. On top of it’s rock-shell was a human figure in an ancient looking diving suit that was encrusted with awful marine life. “They were tough, and there were too many of them for us to handle.”
Ahhh
“So the Order was close by and extorted treasure out of you in exchange for help. That’s the kind predatory opportunism I expect from a villain.” I stated with a satisfied flick of my tail.
“Nah, they actually got there before we did! So fast that people online have been joking that Chitinphract deliberately ruined their vacation. Which is possible. He’s a real jerk. Anyway, once we’d driven him off again we were hurt, exhausted, and starving… ”
I didn’t like where this was going.
“And we were surrounded with literal tonnes of delicious crab meat. So, cookout.”
I put a paw to my stomach as the idea of eating some tillfish-looking oceanic horror sent it flip flopping about. “I guess it didn’t go to waste.” I said with all the diplomacy possible.
“No it did not!” He licked his lips subconsciously. Ugggh
Desperate to change the topic, I redirected my attention back to the speaker covered villain. “So why was Sundershock the last villain you saw before leaving? Did the Order attack the spaceport? Do they have some vested interest in seeing the exchange program fail?”
Deku shook his head. “No, to both of those.” He cast his eyes back and forth, checking for any prying ears before he leaned in over the table. I leaned in as well, listening keenly. He shot a glance over at the group playing videogames in the corner. Some blocky styled survival game from what I could see. “See the guy with the long golden hair? Next to that scone coloured venlil with the muscles?”
I didn’t know what a scone was, but the long golden hair was easy enough to spot. I nodded just slightly enough for Deku to see.
“That is Sundershock’s son.”
I went totally still.
Deku continued. “He approached me alone the day before launch. He told me the only reason he was allowing his son to go was because my daughter and I were going. That this station was the safest place in either system, and that he and the Order would help out while I was gone.”
“Do you think he was being genuine?” I asked, my voice barely more than a whisper.
Deku nodded once. “He took his helmet off and promised. Eye to eye, Father to father.”
That made me reevaluate all those reverent claims about the man before me being the greatest of all heroes. The fact that a man who was, for all intents and purposes, his enemy; someone he had fought, and likely would fight again soon, had showed him that kind of trust…
The hero across from me didn’t seem to pick up on my revelation, and kept talking.
“He also said Doctor Damage would forgive the incident in Milan, which is great, cause he’s scary and carries a lot of needles around.”
I shook the tension out of my ears. “What happened?”
“We were fighting on a rooftop. He jumped up onto an AC unit to get the high ground, but I was right behind him with the St. Louis Smash. I usually aim for the head, but he’s way taller than me and higher up. He heard it coming, and tried to dodge to the side, not backwards. So… I heel kicked him right in the groin.” He finished with a sympathetic grimace.
I hissed and drew my legs in. “How bad was it?”
Deku’s grimace deepened. “He flew about thirty meters and threw up in his helmet before he could get back up.”
I relaxed my legs and sat back. “Stars I guess it’s good that he’s the forgiving type.”
“Yeah… getting his signature’s probably going to be a challenge.”
“His what?”
“Nothing! Anyway! Are there any other villains you want to know about? Anyone specific?”
I shook my head. “Seven is enough for now. I think I need a drink. Care to join me?”
Deku smiled and let out a sigh of relief. “Sure.”

I am over that. I cannot typically respond the way I want to when someone says that to me, so I'm typing it out.
"It must be hard being no contact, she's still your mom".
She was my incubator. She was my sole protector. She used her position as my sole parent to physically, psychology, and emotionally abuse me. From a very young age I was overly aweare that she both hated me for ruining her life, and used me as basically a slave to clean up her literal and financial messes. Including (for expample) raising her son (my brother), taking beatings multiple times a day/lying to school authorities under literal threat of death, and constant shame and sanity questioning spirals when she gaslights me into believing events did not happen the way they actually did. When I finally was old enough to question her abusive behavior, she had already isolated me from my extended family by labeling me a "bad kid" and fully making up scenarios where I was (to quote) "ruining her life" while not telling them I was also paying bills at 8 because she would disappear for weeks at a time. This isolation was her way of always being able to pull me back, by guaranteeing I had no where else to go. Even as I grew older, she stayed nausiaitly selfish, verbally abusive, bi polar, unreliable to an absurd degree, and finally, dismissive and shamefully deceitful.
She was never a mother. Mothers do not do those things. Manipulators do. Every time I have gone no contact with her my life upticks, my mental health improves, I thrive on my own. I am fully capable of providing for myself as I have since I was 8. I always. Do better. Without her. Its when she hears I have a little money that she bulls her way into my china shop life. I have motherly figures who can love and know me to their hearts desire who I still feel I can trust and confide in, without my words or feelings being held over my head to drive me toward decisions that benefit her, more then myself. She never wanted to be a mom, and news flash to the hundreds of ppl who have said this to me over the yrs, SHE. DOES. NOT ACT. LIKE. A. MOM. NEVER HAS. NEVER WILL. CANT. IS INCAPABLE OF NORMAL HUMAN EMOTION. INCLUDING PARENTAL LOVE.
"She's still your mom". -.-" kettle boiling over nosies
What do you guys say? Because dropping little tid bits of truth in the occasional sarcastic answer is one thing. But having a prepackaged answer that's is both civilized and truthful is probably a better M.O. It would also probably look a lot better then me just loosing my shit into that long winded super sad rant....which, because trauma, I'm sorry it's as long as it is.
Edit: Wow. You guys have no idea how much I appreciate this. It is wild reading someone else's take is actually similar. That people could honestly relate instead of staring at me with a "wtf" look on their faces. In what feels like the smallest town on the planet, feeling supported makes a huge difference confident wise, to just get out of bed much less walk down the street. I will absoloutly be taking a little piece from every comment and considering them into My newly refitted response(s). From the bottom of my heart, Thank you.

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Shared false memories are often perpetuated when one person's false memory, misquote, joke or inaccurate reference makes it into pop culture where it is seen by millions.
SHATNER, SALLY FIELD & HANNIBAL Jim Carrey in Ace Ventura calling a monacled man the Monopoly guy, or doing Shatner from The Twilight Zone, "There's... someone on the wing! Some... THING!" or imitating Sally Field in The Mask and Hannibal Lecter in The Cable Guy: these were comedic impressions, not quotes.
TANK MAN & THE LINDBERGH BABY I was recently watching episodes of The West Wing which perpetuated 2 more common MEs. Richard Schiff's character mentions people watching TV and seeing a man get run over by a tank - a reference to Tiananmen square. A woman sarcastically confesses to a crime, adding that if you search her house, you'll find the Lindbergh baby. People watching could easily remember these events incorrectly.
GHOST POTTERY Patrick Swayze was still alive during the pottery scene. Family Guy spoofed this scene with Swayze's character as a ghost, and you have probably seen similar spoofs, leading to the false memory that he was a ghost in that scene. YOU WANT SOME CORNBREAD, MR. JINGLES? Michael Clarke Duncan's character rarely interacted with Mr. Jingles and never fed him cornbread. That was a different inmate. The Simpsons spoofed this, with MCD saying "You want some cornbread, Mr. Jingles?" which is how many people remember the movie. SARAH MICHELLE GELLAR'S DRAMATIC MONOLOGUE In I Know What You Did Last Summer, SMG witnesses a murder while performing on stage, to a stunned audience who remain silent. Some people remember the audience erupting in applause. That was a parody scene in Scary Movie.
You may have seen a different version of a popular movie as a child.
PHILOSOPHER'S STONE There are 2 versions of the first Harry Potter movie. The title macguffin is called the Sorcerer's Stone in American releases, the Philosopher's Stone in UK and Canada.
AUSTRALIAN PETER PAN If you remember Peter Pan having a British accent, Tinkerbell saving him from a poisoned cake, and Smee going home to his mother at the end, the you saw an Australian version not made by Disney. This one MESSED with my head after watching the Disney version as an adult.
CALIGULA There are MANY different edits of this film based on it's country and time of release and censorship laws. Some versions include hard-core pornographic scenes which were cut in other versions. Some versions have the order of scenes mixed up. You could watch 2 versions edited so differently that the plot is not even the same. I have seen 2: one that starts with Caligula in bed with his sister, the other that starts with a hunting scene intended to come later.
BRIAN COX AS HANNIBAL LECTER? You may have seen either or both Manhunter and Red Dragon - 2 adaptations of the same novel. Manhunter came out before Silence of the Lambs and featured Brian Cox. Red Dragon was made later as a prequel featuring Anthony Hopkins. There could be many instances of people confusing originals and remakes.
If you tend to watch DVD special features, you may remember deleted or alternate scenes more vividly than the actual movie.
DON'T DROP THAT NECKLACE, ROSE! Yes, there was an alternate ending of Titanic in which Bill Paxton confronted Old Rose on the back of the ship, but it completely messed with the flow and the audience's catharsis. Bravo to James Cameron for chosing the better ending. One of my Favorite movies.
IT'S THE DIRTIEST JOKES THAT STAY WITH YOU Years after watching Team America: World Police on DVD, the only 2 scenes I remembered were a disgustingly graphic scat sex scene between two marionettes, and a scene of man-on-man oral sex that ended with the superior saying it would be hard to make his subordinate into the perfect soldier... because he's gay now. I was dismayed when I watched it a second time and both these scenes were absent. Turns out, years ago, I watched the deleted scenes in the DVD special features.
Historical films VS reenactments
HOUSTON, WE'VE HAD A PROBLEM This is the line as it was actually spoken in real life and, subsequently, in several dramatic reenactments. In the popular movie, Tom Hanks says "Houston, we HAVE a problem."
THAT'S NOT HOW THEY KILLED BIN LADEN! Shortly after it happened, you may have watched one of several dramatic reenactments of the raid, including an animated recreation of the actual helmet cam footage, which differed drastically from how it was portrayed in Zero Dark Thirty. Aside from the production quality, the reenactments were far more enthralling.
FALSE TRAILERS Yes, sometimes a movie trailer is made using whatever footage is available, before the final cut of the film is finished. Therefore, it is not uncommon for scenes from the trailer to be missing from the movie.
WATCH OUT FOR THAT TIE FIGHTER! That's right, Jyn never comes face-to-face with a TIE fighter in Rogue One, despite it being one of the most exciting shots from the trailer.
LIVE. DIE. REPEAT. Not the title of the movie. It was called Edge of Tomorrow, though you wouldn't know it from the constant repetition of the tag line in the trailer and minimal use of the actual title. Most DVD/Blu-ray releases have this tag line prominently on the cover art, so viewers know what movie it is.
SOUNDS LIKE A SEXY HAMBURGER! Seth Rogen never says this in Superbad, in reference to the fake name McLovin, but it is one of the most memorable lines from the time of the film's release.
False memories sometimes form from combining several related ones.
TINKERBELL DOTS THE I No, she doesn't. But you've seen her flitting across the screen and flicking a wand to make words appear or the castle disappear in several different title sequences. See the Disney home video one, for example.
I SEE WHITE PEOPLE! No, the line spoofing The Sixth Sense was not spoken in Scary Movie, but you DID hear it the same year. At the 2000 Oscars, host Billy Crystal did a bit where he had the camera zoom up on celebrities in the audience and he said what they were thinking in that moment. He spoke this line when the camera was zoomed in on Michael Clarke Duncan, to much laughter.
SINBAD THE... SUPERVILLAIN? Sinbad did not play a genie called Shazaam, but in 1996, the same year Shaq played Kazaam, Sinbad played a mischievous character in a ridiculous costume as the main antagonist in the Christmas film Jingle All the Way. You may have combined these 2 images in your memory.
THAT DARN CORNUCOPIA No, it wasn't part of the Fruit of the Loom logo, but it was a frequently reproduced image every kid saw in school when they learned about Thanksgiving. The 2 images were so similar that many teachers made the assumption they were the same, telling kids they may have seen it on their underwear. In fact, the cornucopia image was so common, it seems to have even been used on some knock-off brands of socks and underwear, making this MA totally understandable.
MIRROR, MIRROR ON THE WALL... The evil queen never said it when you were a kid, but Lord Farquad did in Shrek when you were a bit older, which probably misinformed your memory of the original line.
IT'S THE EYE OF THE TIGER... Does the song make you think of the movie Rocky? It shouldn't. It was never used in the original film, only the sequels. Although Rocky's original theme music is just as iconic.
OH, NO! NOT PLASTIC SHEETS! There were none on the floor for Tommy's hit in Goodfellas, but you may be thinking of a similar scene in Lethal Weapon 2.
IS LIBERTY ISLAND A THING? Yes, it always was. You always associated it with the immigrants who came over through Ellis Island when you learned about them in school. Your teachers may not have bothered telling you the name of the island that houses the statue and you assumed it was the same. And here's something else to think about: Liberty Island is located in the waters of New Jersey, not New York.
THAT'S THE WRONG ACTOR! Meg Ryan was not Maverick's love iterest in Top Gun; she was Goose's wife. Some people made that mistake as Ryan soon became a household name and was mentioned in a lot of the film's marketing, especially for the home video release. Ben Affleck was not in Saving Private Ryan, but you have seen him collaborate with Matt Damon many times, and there was an actor named Edward Burns who bares a bit of a resemblance to him. I hope not many of you have made this mistake, but some people remember Angelina Jolie in the original Mission Impossible. It was an actress named Emanuelle Beart... thank God, since she was playing the wife of Jon Voight - Jolie's father. And of course, anyone who watched The X-Files as a kid might remember some episodes with David Duchovney as Agent Mulder, when it was really his replacement, Robert Patrick as Agent Doggett.
Sometimes, a movie or show doesn't go the way you were expecting, or you think "wouldn't this have been better" and your mind dwells on your own version more than on how it actually happened, then, years later, you only remember your version. In some cases, so many people were thinking the same thing, that when you mention your ending later, others say "Oh, yeah! That was great!"
DOLLY'S BRACES She never had any. But she did have pigtails which, like braces, are often associated with youth and feminine cuteness. Add to that the fact that Jaws had metal teeth and you were rooting for them to get together, and it would have given them some great common ground. So when she gave that slow, shy smile at the end, you saw what you wanted to see.
THEY WERE DEAD THE WHOLE TIME! That's not how Lost ended. Whine all you want, or just go and watch it again and pay attention. It was such a popular theory that people were simply expecting it. The popularity of the theory inspired the producers to give us a glimpse into the afterlife in the last season, but by the end, it was made very clear that everything that happened on the island really happened. Christian might as well have been looking directly into the camera when he spelled it out for his son. But many of you couldn't accept that your theory was wrong. If you watched the Jimmy Kimmel Live special that immediately followed the finale, you saw that even Jimmy subscribed to this theory and refused to let it go. It was a classy move for the cast to refrain from berating him about it on his own show.
AVE SOL INVICTUS! The Sun is classified as a yellow dwarf star, which is why it has always been drawn yellow. Since you were a kid, you drew the Sun with a yellow crayon. When you were older, you learned that sunlight is white light, which is composed of every color in the spectrum. White light surrounds us all the time, but we don't see it. We only see the colors that are reflected off surfaces based on their material composition. The Sun EMITS white light, but it APPEARS yellow, or orange-yellow.
That's all I've got for now. I hope I've given you lots to think about and would love to hear your responses!

(Skip to the end to see the informal poll and avoid the anxious ramble)
My first year of teaching was a disaster from beginning to end. I know most teachers’ first year is the worst and you feel like you don’t know what you’re doing bc you don’t know what you’re doing and there’s so much pressure. Etc.
Even beyond the more typical misery was a lot of personal life tumult and turmoil and trauma and chaos going on, including a debilitating (somewhat unofficial but more or less confirmed based on symptoms) diagnosis I have to live with now without having much insight as to prognosis. And a lot more discomfort involving loved ones.
Reflecting on this year is almost as traumatic as the experience itself. I had next to zero support, with the exception of about 2 weeks under the guidance of an amazing master teacher. But that was it. The morale at the school was beneath rock bottom. Every single day was worse than the day before. I tried to go in positive. But with very few exceptions, everyone was miserable and no one tried to hide it. People were directly rude to me, condescending, sarcastic, openly comtemptful, angry, hated the kids and cursed about them and screamed at them (“shut UP!!!!” “MORON! GET OUT!” “You’re STUPID, I should have LET that student hit you!” “I woulda hit you in the face too if you’d done something like that to me!” Just a few quotes off the top of my head, not to mention one slamming the door on my sped teacher’s face along with our sped students, which the principal did absolutely nothing about despite his friendship with the sped teacher). Discipline/behavior was an absolute JOKE. I think I’ve painted an accurate picture of how awful it was.
I guessed my way through everything but did my absolute best and figured everything out. A bit of productive struggle and hey, by the end of the year I was an expert in a lot of things I knew nothing about months earlier. My rapport with my students was great, to give myself some credit. They loved me. Albeit too much—they thought of my softness as a doormat. They felt free and liberated in my classroom bc I seldom raised my voice. Unfortunately what they’re accustomed to is only listening when yelled at, and as a new teacher, I did not have better tools to manage classroom behavior, beyond building relationships, and my class was a bit out of control. It became all about getting through the curriculum through the 3rd quarter.
My benchmark scores went up, which was pretty amazing considering everything. However at the very beginning of the 4th quarter my principal informed me that he wasn’t renewing my contract and that he would never let me teach 4th grade again, that “I don’t know if I would ever let you teach any grade level, maybe try pre-k—you get nap time and someone is always with you.” So he wrote off my career as an elementary teacher after just a few months of teaching. I could go in about how he had covertly brought in his very own former student (who had only recently began prepping to take the Praxis) as my replacement, unofficially “employed” but “technically not.” But I don’t want to get into that, as furious as it made me. I just stopped writing lesson plans bc no way was I gonna train her for free when they gave me zero support through the year.
I had way more bad days than good—the kids and my para got me through it! I was grateful for that. They were wonderful and I miss them. But I was made to feel incompetent. I slowly started to realize that him booting me was a blessing in disguise, especially after learning how many students I’d have had next year. And some other changes that won’t be helpful.
There’s also a lot of BS going on in our state regarding education. So things are not exactly going to get easier. Alas, I need a paycheck and I went to school and passed praxis to be a teacher. I’m 44 so it’s not like I have many options.
But I did actually finally get an interview at a library last week! I’d applied for 6 years and never got so much as a phone call. Unfortunately it’s part time and drastically less pay (which is honestly pitiful). And it would take me years to make close to what I make now. And I was just getting into certification so as a teacher I’d get a $10k raise. Buuut I really don’t want to miss a rare opportunity to get my foot in the door at the library!
I’ve got dozens of job offers in my district. I had 6 principals call me and email me yesterday alone! I know I could make decent money. But I don’t want to turn down the library job, which absolutely would not cut it financially.
I forgot to mention a key component of this dilemma: Teaching is extremely overstimulating to me. I’m autistic/adhd. This was part of my misery. Between my loud a/c units in my classroom and the kids noises desks constantly clanking and kids constantly talking over me etc etc etc, and the awful attitudes of most coworkers and all the other stuff, I barely made it to the end of the year. I know most of us actually feel that way, but my day to day in the classroom is beyond awful. I cried constantly, I had panic attacks going in every single morning during the 4th quarter after years of reduced panic attacks, most days I felt frustrated, and some days I even had moments where I could not even talk anymore and had to go home (these days where at least one kid told me to “Shut the f- - k up b-tch!” or fought or both plus admin treated me like crap and I had enough). Not to mention spending entire weekends and weeknights writing lesson plans, creating lessons, grading, entering grades, etc etc etc. All I could think about every day was how much I wished I could get a library job!! I even had a student tell me I would make a better librarian than teacher. She was excited when I got the call about the interview lol.
But what if my next school is better? What if I go in knowing expectations and having a better idea of how to do things and how to establish classroom procedures, what if it’s better? What if it’s stupid to give up on a better paying job? I’d love to get my MLIS but realistically, there aren’t very many librarian jobs and moving isn’t an option. The day to day would almost be worth the paycut. I’ve contemplated doing both, just for one year. I know that sounds nuts, and it’s risky, but what’s more important? My paycheck, or my mental health?! I honestly don’t know! I need the money. But I also need a peaceful environment.
Here are my options:
A) Substitute w library for almost the same money as I made uncertified, which was barely enough
B) Library + teaching full time bc you’re insane and unrealistic
C) Library only + MLIS bc it’s your dream & short term paycut is worth long term happiness.
D) Girl, are you insane?! Teaching only bc it’s the smart move!

The ABC (Australian) News Article on the topic.
/interestingasfuck

(-2 votes) Trump was just handed the Presidency

(unknown votes) Because you're in a cult

(unknown votes) RemindMe! 179 days

Complaints about a susposed lack of a fair trial

(-13 votes) A republican on trial in a very left loony liberal infested blue state,hmmm,wonder why he didn’t get a fair trial?

(2 votes) Getting on Twitter to break his gag order 11 times to say bad things about the judge and jurors didn't help his case

(1 vote) They were all against him from the start,there’s no way he could have gotten a fair trial

Political neutrality?

(-28 votes) Regardless of who you are intending to vote for, this sets a dangerous precedent. Frankly this isn’t justice, but a parody of such.

(22 votes) Charging someone with crimes they committed? I’d say it’s a fantastic precedent. Nobody should be above the law.

Conservative

(2976 votes) Reddit is going to be insufferable.

(58 votes) This is leftist's Christmas, granted Christmas is offensive to them and Trump still wont see the inside of a jail cell, Judge Merchan said last week he has no intent on jailing Trump.

(1207 votes) Crazy that they found him guilty on ALL 34 charges

(1520 votes) Not really, it was basically the same charge 34 times.

(-4 votes) If Trump wins, I hope he learned a valuable lesson here.

(-5 votes) If they can come for him on bogus charges, they can come after anyone. This is a dark day.

(-5 votes) Fuck Joe Biden, this will lead to civil war

(-7 votes) 1 down, 3 to go. Looking forward to the saga...

NeoLiberal

(1 vote) You know who else was "guilty"?
Mandela
Gandhi
Debs
This isn't the own you dumb libs think it is

(-3 votes) Next we can get Biden

A stickied moderator post brings out debates on whether its sarcastic or not

(44 votes) Today is a shameful day in American history. Democrats cheered as they convicted the leader of the opposing party on ridiculous charges, predicated on the testimony of a disbarred, convicted felon. This was a purely political exercise, not a legal one.
The weaponization of our justice system has been a hallmark of the Biden Administration, and the decision today is further evidence that Democrats will stop at nothing to silence dissent and crush their political opponents.
The American people see this as lawfare, and they know it is wrong—and dangerous. President Trump will rightfully appeal this absurd verdict—and he WILL WIN!

(28 points) Get over it, Trump is a criminal and you're a fool for pretending otherwise. He did it, he gets to serve the time.

(7 votes) (The person posting this is a moderator shitposting)

(-2 votes) Can't be a shitposter without being a shitty person to begin with. My comment stays.

(20 votes) Is this sarcastic?

Believe it or not, that is Speaker Mike Johnson's statement on twitter regarding the guilty verdict.
The mod is being facetious, yeah.

I can't tell anymore. I'm pretty sure, but it's impossible to tell.

An off-topic coment

(7 votes) Wait, so I was reading through the sub and like, are you guys ironic or do you actually believe this crap?

Edit: I looked it up and it turned out the mod was indeed quoting what Mike Johnson said on Twitter

Hello all. The youtube channel, Kiyoko&Kanade are currently hosting a 3 part ASMR competition, with one of the divisions being for script writers (deadline June 21 [see their youtube channel community tab for more details]).
Because of this, I plan to write a lot more. And as a consequence of that, I plan to share my script entries here, because why not? I hope you enjoy it!
Side note - this script is okay for monetization.
Synopsis Your friend needs help coming up with a poem for a narrator to read before the start of their play. You have dabbled in the literary arts in the past, so maybe you could help?
[Sound of footsteps]
[Sound of someone speaking can be heard in the distaned; and said speaking becomes clearer the longer the foosteps sound, as the listener is walking towards the speaker]
Juliet: (Stoic) "What is left for the man who has lost it all...? What comfort is there to offer the hero, when those he loves are dead...? Who can tell me..." (Exasperated sigh, now speaking casually) How in the world I'm going to salvage this script?
[Sound of knocking]
Juliet: Huh, did someone just... knock? The only thing to knock on would be a set piece on the stage...
[Sound of heeled footsteps] [Brief pause] [Sudden Gasp and Excited Squeal]
Juliet: Oh my gosh!
[Sound of rushed footsteps and collison as the speaker runs to, and then hugs, the listener]
Juliet: I'm so happy to see you! What are you doing here?
[Brief Pause]
Juliet: Your meeting ended early than you expected, so you decided to stop by? Ooh, you are a gem!
[Rustling sounds as speaker hugs listener tighter]
Juliet: (Giggling) Okay, okay, I get it. I'll release you, for now. But seriously, it is so great to see you here. I know that the team and I are still technically in rehersals, but even so, having you here for moral support means a lot.
[Brief Pause]
Juliet: Hm? Oh, the rest of the crew isn't here yet. I always show up early to go over the script and edit lines. So I'm afraid there won't be much to see until a little later on. (Sarcastically mumbling to herself) Unless of course you want to see me slowly lose my mind.
[Brief Pause]
Juliet: Huh? Oh, I didn't say anthing.
[Brief Pause]
Juliet: Ugh, fine! What I said was, "there won't be much to see, unless you like the idea of watching me slowly loose my mind!"
[Brief Pause]
Juliet: What's up? (Scoffs) This script is what's up! No wait, this script isn't up, it's down! In fact, this script is so far down, it's basically in purgatory.
[Slumps/thumps to the floor]
Juliet: (Sigh) I need a break.
[Brief Pause]
Juliet: Yeah, I'm okay... It's just... I want this play to go well... It's my first time writing and producing a play, after all... But this script is being a nusance and a half.
[Brief Pause]
Juliet: No, the story isn't the problem. I actually have a reasonable amount of faith in this one. The problem is the intro. Or rather, the poem that's supposed to go in place of the intro, and is meant to give the audience a glimpse into the mind of the protagonist. It's also supposed to give a summary of the plot of the play itself, without giving too much of anything away. It's also meant to ask deeply philosophical questions, without giving anyone a concrete answer.
[Brief Pause]
Juliet: You're right. It is a lot. Which is why it needs to be perfect, and why I'm currently lying on the floor in defeat.
[Brief Pause]
Juliet: You say I can do it, but as far as I can tell, the scoreboard reads Juliet: 1, Script: 1 hundred million.
[Brief Pause]
Juliet: Yeah, those are pretty bleak scores. And if I had any sense at all, I'd give up and stop playing.
[Brief Pause]
Juliet: Who says I can't give up on art and become a corporate stooge? I think I'd be a great normie (sarcastically)
[Brief Pause]
Juliet: (Giggling) Okay, you're right; I wouldn't last a week. (Wistful sigh) That still doesn't mean I shouldn't quit, though.
[Brief Pause]
Juliet: You croon the idea "I will Survive," but this horrible poem in my hands, says your off key!
[Brief Pause]
Juliet: Huh? You... want to, read it? (Gasping) That's it! You can help me!
[Brief Pause]
Juliet: Help me with what? Uh, with this play piece (waving script in the air)-- Duh! I can't believe I didn't think of this before. You were always into the same things as me in school. You even managed to write a few pieces that made me cry. Which is not too shabby, if I may say so myself.
[Brief Pause]
Juliet: (In a playfully mocking tone) "Eh, that was a long time ago." Give me a break. I know that beneath that suit and tie, beats the heart of a bonafide theatre kid, and no amount of time or money can change that.
[Brief Pause]
Juliet: Oh, you're still not sure? Well in that case-- here! (Slamming of papers into the listener) Read this and tell me what you think (she says while jogging away).
[Brief Pause]
Juliet: Nu-uh, no give backsies! You have been burdened with genius, and I shall be your muse!
[Brief Pause]
Juliet: Groan all you want, I see you smiling over there, troublemaker. Now hurry up and make words, our audience awaits!
[Brief Pause] [Note - all of Juliet's dialogue will be from a distance from here on]
Juliet: Hm? It would help if you know what the play's about? Well... it's about a medieval knight who gives his life defending his country, only to be revived 100 years later as a Dullahan.
[Brief Pause]
Juliet: Yeah, it is pretty gruesome. But life doesn't pull any punches, so neither will I! Anyway, the knight goes around the kingdom trying to get his bearings, he has been dead for the last century after all. But as the Knight goes around town, his heart gets broken, as the Loving Queen he knew gave birth to horribly selfish descendants. These royal brats, and those after them, changed the kingdom from the peaceful utopia that it was, into the oppresive and tyrannical regime it now is. And so our knight is left in a really tough spot. He gave his life for a kingdom that no longer exists. He sacrificed it all so that a group of bad people could horde it all. And thus our hero is left thinking... was any of it even worth it...?
[Brief Pause]
Juliet: You think that's deep... (Nervous and bashful giggles) Uh... Thank you. I've been working really hard on the actual script. Now all I need is for this poem to make sense.
[Brief Pause]
Juliet: You, have an idea?
[Brief Pause]
Juliet: A disconnected, third person narration of images, with pieces of the protagonists thoughts thrown in?
[Brief Pause]
Juliet: I'm not sure that I follow, but at this point, I'd kiss a donkey's rear end if it meant moving forward.
[Brief Pause]
Juliet: (Giggling) Sorry, sorry, I promise you're better than a donkey. (Clearing throat) please, most beatiful and wonderful friend of mine, continue.
[Brief Pause]
Juliet: (Stoic) "A soul denied his destined death. The warrior is once again called to stand. Touch not the golden rays of heaven, nor seek solace in the gentle blanket of silver; yours, is the twighlight. Outside it, your foot will find no purchase."
[Brief Pause]
Juliet: I see, "a soul denied death" shows that the subject of the poem is undead. And the "golden rays of heaven," and the "gentle blanket of silver?"
[Brief Pause]
Juliet: Allusions to sunlight and moonlight. That's so coo-- wait, didn't you get that from some videogame you played? You know the one... It's about a treasure hunter, and an alchemy pirate, and a thief who was said to be lost at sea?
[Brief Pause]
Juliet: Yeah, I thought so. But hey, nobody said that borrowing someone else's genuis for playwrighting is illegal. So I'm all for it. But what was that bit you wrote about twighlight?
[Brief Pause]
Juliet: You put that in because it sounds cool? Well, I mean, it does-- but it also makes it seem like our protagonist can only move during twighlight.
[Brief Pause]
Juliet: No, no, no-- don't change it. I actually really like it! The idea of a ghost that only moves about during twighlight is eerily fitting. Especially when you consider that our protagonist is hero drawn from the shadows of the kingdom's history. Of course, twighlight in reality only lasts for like-- what, an hour? So if our play was more realistic, our hero wouldn't have enough time to do anything. But thankfully, none of that matters for a work of fiction, where the name of the game is "suspension of disbelief!"
[Brief Pause]
Juliet: Well, don't just stand there, keep going! I'm finally starting to get invested.
[Brief Pause]
Juliet: (Stoic) "The wind howls and groans as it races through the empty streets. The echoes of smiling children cast judgement on broken young men. 'Why do you kneel beneath earth and stone? Why do you spend your strength hunched over moldy bread, and the shavings of copper coins? Is not our kingdom glorious?' The Solider is left to wander."
[Brief Pause]
Juliet: I see, so the wind is meant to convey emotion via the sound it's known to make as it moves. And the "echoes of children" bit is meant to compare and contrast the glory of the past with the bleakness of the present. That's... really dark. And strangely timely...
[Brief Pause]
Juliet: Yeah, yeah-- I'll try not to think about it too much. Just keep going.
[Brief Pause]
Juliet: (Stoic) "Tears of crimson wll not flow from a body beyond the styx; but strands of ruby still linger, sweetly, in the gallery of my heart. That grand tapestry, blessed by emerald halos, and adorned from above by a circlet of gold... Dearest Luciea... The seas I would brave to hear your siren song... one final time... May your sweetness grant succor to our sovereign in his rest."
[Brief Pause]
Juliet: Huh...? Oh, sorry... I was just... I was wondering how it might feel, to have someone describe me like that...
[Brief Pause]
Juliet: (Flustered) I'm fine, I'm fine! Just walk me through what you wrote down this time!
[Brief Pause]
Juliet: So the Hero's wandering is making him reflect on his time on the battlefield. And the lack of blood, or "crimson tears" leaving his wounds, makes him think of his beloved; who just so happened to have red hair, and who just so happened to be the Queen, who was also very much-- married.
[Brief Pause]
Juliet: No, I'm not condeming the trope. The tragic irony is, the heart wants what it wants, and we don't always get a say in it.
[Brief Pause]
Juliet: I'm smiling because, despite the overuse of the cliche, I still find it beautiful. And I especially like how the hero thinks of his Queen as he wanders. It makes me think that she is the reason he lept into battle in the first place.
[Brief Pause]
Juliet: Okay, Okay... I'll focus... But you should know better than to bother an artsy girl when she's having a moment!
[Brief Pause]
Juliet: Well when you put it like that, I guess I'll have to choose work over wanderlust, but you better make it up to me, later!
[Brief Pause]
Juliet: (Giggling) Good. Now then... (deep breathe) I'm ready...
[Brief Pause]
Juliet: (Stoic) "A Swan that fleas into eternity, leaving no feathers behind for her young, chains both child and children to the mud; where they are left to adopt the nature of frogs. 'Off with his head. Bring me what is owed. Sell the widow's daughter for a barrel of wine.' The poets of the past prove themselves liars, as toads become tyrants that turn kingdoms into swamps."
[Brief Pause]
Juliet: So the Queen is the Swan in this analogy, and her kids-- and their kids, being nothing like her, are the evil frogs?
[Brief Pause]
Juliet: Okay, I get it now. I'm not gonna lie, I was seriously lost there. Thanks for explaining it to me, but, I'm beginning to worry if this is okay.
[Brief Pause]
Juliet: What I mean is, is it really okay for us to use flowery language and lofty imagery like this? What if it goes over everyone's head?
[Brief Pause]
Juliet: (Quoting the speaker) If they don't get it the first time, they'll just have to come back and watch the play again. (Giggling) Aren't you the optimist?
[Brief Pause]
Juliet: Oh, so now you're an artist? (Giggling) Get back to reading, you dork, before I lob an artistic shoe at you.
[Brief Pause]
Juliet: (Stoic) "My sword was freed from its sheath, but my countrymen are slain with negligence. I stood watch on the kingdoms walls, only for the threat to emerge from within. I cannot find my enemy. Fiends conceals themselves with my kingdom's colors. Damn this bitter masquerade! And a thousand plagues on this child's farce! Show yourselves, cowards! Take up arms against me, my nemeses. I will see that you get your fill, in steel, ere the sun rises!"
[Brief Pause]
Juliet: You know, this sounds a lot like a war cry.
[Brief Pause]
Juliet: It's a mournful cry? The hero lamenting the fact that he let his people down, because he left them in such a sorry state, and because he doesn't know who their enemies are anymore?
[Brief Pause]
Juliet: Please tell me you have a way to end all of this on a good note. Or at least, a less somber one. I know that I'm technically the one who wrote the play, which means I'm technically responsible for the tone of the intro; but-- if we give this to our viewers, as is, I'm worried they'll spend the entire show crying.
[Brief Pause]
Juliet: Okay, I'm trusting you.
[Brief Pause]
Juliet: (Stoic) "I would have words with the world, but my voice is lost in the tempest. A budding appletree on a snow capped peak. A lone snow blossom in a field during harvest. So am I to the souls set forth at this time. An oddity to be criticized. I traded my life for a dream, and woke up to a nightmare. All my endeavors are sand-- they have slipped through the peoples' fingers. A soldier stands his ground. A king loves all men. And a pauper lives long enough to see both of them fall. In this light cast by death, the darkness of life has been lifted, and so hate finds ample kindling to burn inside me. My thoughts are heavy, they weigh on me like bars of iron, so I bow the head and stagger about in the dark, despising my every breath."
[Brief Pause]
Juliet: (Deep breath - recovering from her lines) Wait... that's it? I thought you said you would make things better!
[Brief Pause]
Juliet: Set up for the climax, later? I... You... (Scoffs)-- I asked you to write for me so we could save this script from purgatory, not so you could write me the soliloquy of a guy who's already been there!
[Brief Pause]
Juliet: Life is a portait of suffering, and our hero is Fate's muse. (Scoff/incredulous laughter) You... you're something, you know that?
[Brief Pause]
Juliet: Oh no, I'm keeping it. In fact, I'm keeping all of it! I may make a tweak here or there, for the sake of adding my own artistic flare in a few places, but tweaks aside-- the piece you gave me today will be very much intact when our play debuts. And I really hope you'll be there to see it.
[Brief Pause]
Juliet: You will? Promise?
[Brief Pause]
Juliet: Okay, you said it. Don't be surprised if you have to quit your job to keep your promise to me!
[Brief Pause]
Juliet: You don't think it'll be that serious? Well, a girl can hope. After all, if you quit that hum-drum job, you can work full time with me-- as my lovely assistant.
[Brief Pause]
Juliet: (Sarcastically) Eh, I don't know, boring labels like "Co-Author" and "Fellow Playwright" just don't have the same ring as "Lovely Assitant."
[Brief Pause]
Juliet: (With nervous excitement in her voice) Wait, what are you doing...? Oh, no-- Bestie, put the shoe down... Bestie...? Bestie...? (Giggling shriek as Juliet dodges a shoe)
Juliet: Oh now you've done it, take this!
[Vid ends to a fadeout of Juliet's voice, as she calls out to, and playfully mocks, the speaker; as they take turns chasing and fleeing from each other across the stage]
[END]

Hello all. The youtube channel, Kiyoko&Kanade are currently hosting a 3 part ASMR competition, with one of the divisions being for script writers (deadline June 21 [see their youtube channel community tab for more details]).
Because of this, I plan to write a lot more. And as a consequence of that, I plan to share my script entries here, because why not? I hope you enjoy it!
Side note - this script is okay for monetization.
Synopsis It's your first day at a magical university, and before you can get started attending classes and making friends, you have to take a special course in "Vampire History and Ethics." That's right, your a "vampire," the only human one in your class-- but what that word (vampire) means, and what you actually are, are two entirely different things. That is why this class exists, it's meant to teach you the truth about vampires, and make you aware of all the resources the university has prepared for you.
[Sound of general chatter]
[Sound of heeled footsteps as chatter continues]
Instructor: (Clap of hands) Attention, please. May I have your attention?
[General chatter quiets down] [Brief Pause]
Professor E: Excellent. It would seem that I am rather fortunate this year, to receive a group of well mannered students such as yourselves. I half expected you to try talking over me just now. Shame on me for my school-fostered pessimism (said cheerfully). Now then, onto introductions... My name, is Elaina Andrei Cojocaru, and as you may have guessed, I have the unique privelage of being your "Vampiric History and Protozeal Ethics" Professor, this year. It is a pleasure to meet you all.
[Applause]
Professor E: Oh goodness, all of you really are well mannered. Please stop, I know I gave a little half bow just now, but that's no cause for such a warm reception. Oh, curse my formalities, and these cherry cheeks.
[Soft laughter.]
Professor E: (Clearing her throat) Right then, as I've said, I'll be one of your primary Professors for the entirety of this year. And I'll be checking in with you all, regularly, for any additional years you choose to spend at Amortis University. Now, can anyone tell me why that is...?
[Brief pause]
Professor E: Yes; you there, in the back!
[Brief pause]
Professor E: (Sighing) No, young man, it is not because you're all "freaks." And for the record, please know that I am no different from any of you. Why, I still remember the days I spent, sitting where you are now; listening to my own Vampire instructor as he gave this exact same orientation. But I'll save that story for another time. So please, anyone? Can anyone tell me why you're all here?
[Brief pause]
Professor E: That's right, miss. The reason why you're all here, is because you have all been afflicted with the genetic disease most know today as "Vampirism." And as such, you all require additonal tutelage before you're allowed to go out and socialize with your fellow classmates.
[Brief Pause]
Professor E: Yes, dear, that is why none of you were permitted to attend the official orientation in the Campus Square. And for what it's worth, I'm sorry you were denied that. I know how frustrating it can be, to be told that you're no different from anyone else, only to be treated like a leper at every opportunity. That used to drive me up the wall. But-- that's why I studied to become a teacher, and why I volunteered to teach this class, it's because I wanted to be there for those who would experience the same things that I did. I wanted to be there for them, in the ways I wished someone was there for me. And speaking of...
[A few heeled footsteps sound] [Sound of a drawer being pulled out] [Sound of jingling keys]
Professor E: I knew that none of us would be attending the formal get together in the Campus Square. So I took the liberty of... procuring one of the Headmaster's vehicles, along with one of the company credit cards.
[Brief Pause]
Professor E: Why did I do that? Well, so we could throw our own party, of course! There's a demi-human diner only a few blocks away, and the sweets they serve are out of this world! It's normally quiet later in the evening, especially on weekdays, so nothing is stopping us from showing up in full force; and downing enough deserts to put us all in a sugary coma!
[Hoots and hollers]
Proffessor E: Shush, evryone! Shush! Please keep it down. You're going to get us caught-- and me fired! (Said with glee)
[Quiet giggling]
Professor E: Alrighty then, since it seems like we're all in agreement for later tonight, and since the spirits of those in the room have been largely lifted, I think it's about time we delve into our first lesson. Lights, please!
[Light switch being flipped] [Heeled footsteps] [Projector being turned on and running]
Professor E: (Clearing throat) To begin our lesson, I would like to take a closer look at the official name of this class. And that is...?
[Brief Pause]
Professor E: Correct, Mr. Brutus; "Vampiric History and Protozeal Ethics." Now, what do you all think these words mean...? Anyone...? Besides Mr. Brutus.
[Brief Pause]
Professor E: That's right, Miss Nadia, this class is meant to teach you the history of Vampires; and how we, their offpsring, are to conduct ourselves in a civilized society. So to start our trek into the past, why don't we begin with the world's very first recorded "Vampire." Lord Dracula himself!
[Clicker clicking] [Concerned whispers]
Professor E: Oh my, all of you seem so utterly bewildered. What ever is the matter? (Said sarcastically)
[Brief Pause]
Professor E: That's right, Mr. Ryuji, the picture on the screen isn't that of a distinguished, elderly man, but that of a petite young woman; whose beauty I would liken to a porcelan doll's. What of it? (Sarcastic and sassy)
[Brief Pause]
Professor E: (Chuckling) As fate would have it, Mr. Ryuji, this is Count Dracula; or rather, Countess. Allow me to introduce you all to our true progenitor. The singular human being from which all Vampire kind is derived... Lady Valentina Matei Parvu... the first being in recorded history to have ever suffered from "The Curse of Parvu," a.k.a. "The Vampar Curse," a.k.a. "Vampirism."
[Brief Pause]
Professor E: I see that we're all more than a little smitten with our Lady. Does anyone have anything they'd like to say?
[Brief Pause]
Professor E: Other than the fact that our Countess was very pretty, Miss Selica (small giggle)
[Brief Pause]
Professor E: Ah, That is a very good question, Mr. Tempus! How did the world confuse the image of this dainty little thing, with that of the imposing, amorous, and chiseled figure that is Count Dracula-- an image which the world of fiction deeply reveres? Well... the answer to that, lies with the failings of recorded history. As stories are chronicled and passed down, first hand accounts often yield to modern superstitions and hearsay, and this in turn-- makes recountings of historic events about as credible as modern tabloids. Very few ancient historians are actually worth their renown, and even then, these same historians largely concerned themselves with events that happened locally; meaning the stories of the rest of the world quietly passed them by, more often than not. Luckily for us, Lady Parvu was a countess of a noble house, so her story and her struggles managed to find their way to us; by way of her family albums and her own personal diary.
[Sound of a clicker clicking] [Sound of the projector moving to the next slide]
Professor E: As far as her family albums are concerned... here we can see Lady Valentina Parvu being held by her mother, Lady Ileana Parvu, after just being born in a mountainside manor, on the eve of May 26, 1897. Lord Caius Parvu, Valentina's father-- whom we can see on the right, was the head of the Parvu clan; making Valentina, his first and only child, his sole successor.
[Sound of a clicker clicking] [Sound of the projector moving to the next slide]
Professor E: The Parvu's were an ancient magus family, and as one of the biggest magical clans known to history, Lady Valentina should have inherited a life of wealth, decadence, and leisure.
[Sound of a clicker clicking] [Sound of the projector moving to the next slide]
Professor E: Sadly, as we can see in this slide here, Lady Valentina was born with a sickly and frail body, leaving her bedridden most of the time; and hobbling around on a cane every other waking moment. Lady Ileana and Lord Caius chocked all of this up to general misfortune at first. They just saw it as "one of those things" that was outside of their control, and that Valentina would just have to learn to live with. However, all of this changed when Valentina turned 18. And her condition took an unexpected turn for the worse.
[Sound of a clicker clicking] [Sound of the projector moving to the next slide]
Professor E: The man in the cloak that we see standing over Valentina here, is the Arch Mage: Augustus Von Draconis; he was a sage with wisdom beyond his many years, and he was a personal friend of Lord Caius. So when Valentina collapsed from a fever during her birthday dinner, Augustus was summoned to help her. After launching a series of investigative spells, Augustus learned what we all recognize today as common knowledge; that those who suffer from "Vampirism" have bodies that are incapable of properly harnessing mana. And this in turn, can lead to a myriad of chronic physical ailments, as mana is integral to proper bodily function.
[Sound of a clicker clicking] [Sound of the projector moving to the next slide]
Professor E: In Valentina's case, "Vampirism" left her with an incredibly frail body, a ghostly pale complection, and horrendus eyesight. Fun fact-- Most of the tropes we have today regarding "Vampire weaknesses," are actually derived from misconceptions stemming from Lady Valentina's behavior. For example: Most people think that Vampires will die if exposed to sunlight, and thus, they have to avoid it. But as I've just said, "Vampirism" gave Valentina a ghostly pale complection-- along with terrible vision, meaning prolonged exposure to the sun would make her eyes hurt; and her skin, burn.
[Brief Pause]
Professor E: Hm? Oh, yes; that is why all of us are either wearing glasses, or very unique contacts. The bodily ailments that come with "Vamprisim" are usually passed down from parent to child; so chances are... if Lady Valentina had it, so will all of us. And as an added note, after reading Lady Valentina's diary in depth, I discovered that she had a very fierce loathing for her appearance; a kind of pre-historic body dysmorphia, if you will. She disliked her looks so much, she actively removed all mirrors from her room. So... if you ever wondered where the concept "Vampires don't show up in mirrors" came from... or if you ever wondered why you find it hard to appreciate your own reflection-- well, Lady Valentina is probably responsible for that, too. But we should finish going through all of Valentina's family albums before we get to her diary.
[Sound of a clicker clicking] [Sound of the projector moving to the next slide]
Professor E: Getting back to Valentina's birthday disaster, Augustus tried all types of healing magic and anti-curse magic to help Valentina, as he believed an outside source was impairing her ability to absorb magic. He only realized that her affliction was genetic, and not heretic, after giving her an elixir that was meant to replenish one's mana. Funnily enough, Lady Valentina nearly ripped Augusts' arm off, in an attempt to snatch the bottle out of his hand, after taking a mere sip of its contents. Her sudden burst of strength, and ravenous consumption of the magical brew, prompted more and more elixir to be brought in for her. And after the span of an hour, Lady Valentina had consumed more than a gallons worth of potion, before finally passing out due to exhaustion.
[Sound of a clicker clicking] [Sound of the projector moving to the next slide]
Professor E: This might have caused some of us to panic; but Augustus, ever the sage and alchemist, was able to think through the chaos, enough to see that Valentina was finally breathing normally and that her fever had broken. The picture we see here is Augustus comforting Valentina's startled parents, as several maids settle Valentina back into bed.
[Sound of a clicker clicking] [Sound of the projector moving to the next slide]
Professor E: Armed with this new knowledge of Valentina's condition, Augustus worked with her, day and night, in order to help her manage her symptoms-- while he secretly looked for a cure. Unfortunately, none of the magic in the world, nor a philosopher's stone, could reverse what fate had done to Valentina. But even so, Valentina did not lose heart, and neither did her parents. And as we see here, not only were Valentina's parents ready to do anything and everything to help her, they were even the very first people that Valentina fed on. Which is why we see Valentina noming on her father's arm in this picture, and her mother's neck in this picture. Now, for those of you wondering why Valentina would even resort to feeding...
[Sound of a clicker clicking] [Sound of the projector moving to the next slide]
Professor E: As we can see in this diagram here, a Mana Elixir actually contains little to no mana in and of itself. It's primary purpose is to help the consumer's body absorb external mana, with the little mana it does contain only serving as a means to "kickstart" that process. In contrast, when a Vampire feeds off of another living being, the fluid that enters into their mouths is 100% pure liquid mana, or Aetheron, for those Alchemy Majors amongst us. This is why Valentina consumed large volumes of the Mana Elixir on her 18th birthday, and it's why Vampires feed off of other beings to this day. It is simply more efficient. And speaking of feeding, I think it's time we get on to the Protozeal Ethics portion of our discussion today.
[Sound of a clicker clicking] [Sound of the projector moving to the next slide]
Professor E: Society has many different opinions regarding the act of Feeding, but thankfully for us, the information contained on these slides is irrefutable fact. So if you didn't already know... Vampires don't actually drink blood, as we so often see in books or television. What actually happens is an extremely complicated, bio-magical transmutation process, that Alchemists the world over are still trying to replicate. But to put it as simply as I can, the abnormally elongated canines of a Vampire, or their quote/unqote "fangs," if your a normie-- act as polaric constructs that draw mana to them. When a "Vampire" bites down on a person, their fangs draw magic particles out of their prey's body, and then force those particles to condensate inside the Vampires mouth; creating a liquid the Vampire can then drink. And because all liquids containing mana have a propensity to turn red; it is easy to see how, from a distance, people may be lead to believe that "Vampires" consume blood. Which is a totally disgusting notion, by the way.
[Sound of a clicker clicking] [Sound of the projector moving to the next slide]
Professor E: In feeding off of living beings, Vampires are given a kind of repreive from their bodily ailments. I'm sure all of you have experienced this yourselves, at one time or another, so I won't go into too much detail; but for the sake of the curriculum, allow me to just say that feeding makes a Vampire stronger, faster, more resilient, and just healthier overall. Though we still suffer from things like poor eyesight and/or easily damaged skin, no matter how much we feed. Remeber, "Vampirism" is a chronic, genetic condition; not an illness that can be cured.
[Sound of a clicker clicking] [Sound of the projector moving to the next slide]
Professor E: And speaking of "Incurables" (sigh) I now have the distinct displeasure of telling you all how others might pervert the feeding process.
[Sound of a clicker clicking] [Sound of the projector moving to the next slide]
Professor E: As most of you can imagine, it would be incredibly problematic if a Vampire's prey ran away from them before a feeding, or if they fought back as a Vampire was consuming their mana... And as if in response to this dilemma, the bodies of Vampires naturally adapted themselves, in order to provide a solution... Put succintly, a Vampire's bite is known to generate intense waves of Euphoria, and other such emotions, in the person being bitten. Leaving little motivation for anyone to resist having their mana taken.
[Sound of a clicker clicking] [Sound of the projector moving to the next slide]
Professor E: On the surface, this seems like a good thing. The Vampire gets to feed, and provide essential nutrients to their ailing body; while their prey gets to feel good whilst donating some of their excess mana. Everyone wins. Or at least, that's what you would expect... (Deep sigh)... But unfortunately, there are many individuals out there who would take advantage of the effects of a Vampire bite. Using it to block out the pain of their lives, or introduce a new kind of stimulus to it. This is part of the reason why Vampires aren't allowed to attend the formal Freshman Orientation. It isn't only because we all need to learn when and where to feed, but rather, it's because we need to learn that others may entice us to feed of off them, in accordance with their own selfish desires... Please, don't let anyone make a tool out of you. Especially those who claim to be your friends. I know it might be hard to hear that, and even harder to follow through on, so please know that my door is always open; If you ever need to talk. The scheduled office hours on my door be damned. If you need me, I'll be there. I Promise.
[Sound of a clicker clicking] [Sound of the projector moving to the next slide]
Professor E: (Sigh of relief) And, that should about do it for our first lecture. Thank you all so much for your patience and attention. I'd like to open the floor now for any questions that you may have.
[Brief Pause]
Professor E: Yes; you, near the window.
[Brief Pause]
Professor E: Ah, an astute question. For those of you who didn't hear, Miss Seren asked why demi-humans of all kinds can end up as Vampires. If you take a look around the room yourselves, you can see that we actually have demis of all kinds in attendance here today. Mr Brutus is a Minotaur. Miss Nadia is a Scylla. Mr. Ryuji is a Dragonborn, Mr. Tempus is a Shifter. Miss Selica is a Harpy. And Miss Seren herself is a Gorgon. We all come from different magical lineages, and this in turn, might cause an uninformed person to think that Vampirism is transferrable. But as we have already discussed, Vampirism stems from genetics, so any species that has a history of reproducing with humans, has a chance of siring Vampire children. Hmm... now that I've mentioned humans, I have to ask, do we... have any in this class? Cause I don't think I we do.
[Chairs shuffling]
Professor E: Oh, I see a hand! There you are, you sneaky little thing, hiding behind Mr. Brutus like that. No, no-- don't be shy. I know that, as an Arachnid, my form may be a bit imposing; but I promise, the yellow stripes on my body are meant to scare away predators, not you-- precious. In fact, since you're the only human here, why don't you come up to the front and introduce yourself?
[Brief Pause]
Professor E: Oh, there's no need to be nervous. I'll have everyone introduce themselves at some point today, but since you're a human, and can weave through the various desks with ease, I think it makes sense to have you come to the front to make your introduction. That way, everyone can see you clearly, without having to try and peer behind Mr. Brutus.
[soft chuckling]
Professor E: You don't think you're that insteresting? Nonsense! As the only human vampire here, you must have a strong connection to Lady Valentina's bloodline. Why, I would wager that you have direct ties to one or more of the ancient magus families, making you arcanic nobility.
[Brief Pause]
Professor E: You're not sure? Well, how about this; you come up to the front and introduce yourself, and I promise to figure out the rest. Deal?
[Brief Pause]
Professor E: Yes, sweet thing; this is me volen-telling you to get up here, in the nicest way I know how (cheerful giggle).
[Brief Pause]
Professor E: That's the spirit! Let's get a big round of applause for our brave new freshman!
[Round of applause]
Professor E: (Whispering in Listener's ear) Sorry not sorry for the round of applause. When I saw how red you were getting up, I couldn't help myself, I had to tease you; even if only a little. Forgive me later... (Audibly, for the class) Now then, sweetpea, why don't you tell us what your name is, and what noble house of mages you belong to?
[END]

me (M, 14) and my friend, who I have a crush on (M, 15) are “fake dating” you could say. We’ve been friends for months almost all school year now and are both very teasing/ sarcastic people. This whole thing started with us sitting together at an assembly when two guys and I quote asked if “we were lovers”. Without skipping a beat M,15 says yes absolutely. So this spawned a joke between us and the rest of our friends of us “dating”. For reference this started about a month ago and I didn’t have any feelings for him. It started as me just calling him my boyfriend and has evolved into us holding each others hands, kissing each others hands, blowing each other kisses, me touching his thigh and making jokes about wild nights together. Of course as a joke. Right?! Well recently I’ve been noticing things you just DON’T notice about your friends. And today I was thinking about how nice he looked and kissing his neck. I was actually so embarrassed I had to hide my face in my hands. Not my proudest moment. Anyways, I am thinking about telling him my feelings and am curious if I am taking advantage of him thinking that I don’t have any romantic feelings. I am also curious if you guys think he might have feelings for me or if I need to keep dreaming. 1. He reciprocates the hand holding / kissing 2. He lets me touch his thigh 3. He buys me stuff like all the time, and often asks if I’m free. We’ve hung out at my house a few times although we weren’t as close as are now and it was a bit awkward. We’ve gone out for icecream together after his piano recital which is when I think I started to have feelings for him. Aswell as we’ve gone ice skating together with a mutual friend and gotten icecream afterwards. He’s helped me get through really bad anxiety stuff too. He’s gotten me lots of jewelry nothing super fancy but still. The necklace he got me has a jellyfish in which, I fucking love jellyfish. Love. I want to be cremated and turned into a jellyfish. But he comes from a decently off family and he could just be being friendly. For the previous two he might just be joking along with me. Or what he thinks is joking. So anyways AITA?

Honestly don’t even know what to do anymore. Leaving it all doesn’t seem like such a far out idea anymore. It all just seems to get worse and then ease a little then just get even worse. My dad’s always flipping his shit. And it fucking blows. The one person who actually loved me unconditionally was my mother. And last year on march 25 she succumbed to brain cancer. I was always hopeful it wouldn’t happen but it did. She was awesome, always loving, never unreasonable about anything, and she would have NEVER done anything to hurt me. I miss and love her so much. Living pretty poor, dads got crazy credit card debt. He’s always flipping his shit anymore. I’m always doing something wrong, and then he rants about how everyone is against him. And he is crazy abt it to bc like bruh nobody is out to get us or you. But I think he’s manipulative, idk if it’s on purpose or if he’s jus t a sociopath. Seems like when I talk he doesn’t give a shit. It’s always half responses and a lot of time he’ll just ignore it or start talking abt something else. Today he flipped his shit on me. Not the first time and not even the worst. But I’m fucking done. I want to run away but idk what I’d do and I don’t want to leave my sister behind and I don’t want to put her in the situation of running away. Today we went out to work. I thought it was gonna be a good day and we was just going to enjoy working. No. It wasn’t. We was having good conversations and just having a good time. For context we work with firewood. We cut it and sell it in pickup truck loads. We get some work done and then he moves onto the next tree. So I sit on the truck tailgate while I wait for him to get some wood down. He got a little cut and I was expecting that he was going to throw it down a little bit for me to take to the truck. Not unreasonable or nothing because that is literally what we just fucking did. So I’m just chilling there waiting for that. And then he looks down at me and condescendingly says “it ain’t gonna get done by you sitting there”. I didn’t like that but I was willing to fix my fuck up and get to work. I get up there again and he’s keeping on and on with his bullshit. He then starts comparing me to my mother. This is what bothered me. He was talking abt how they would have it done in like an hour and a half when they was doing it. This was fucked up to me. She was hard working. EXTREMELY hard working, it was awesome. But it made me feel like shit having him tell me how much slower I am. And honestly it’s an unrealistic expectation, she was like a beast in her work. Not to be little professional victim here but hearing this was just a reminder that she’s dead. So that pissed me off and I kind of started dissociating a little bi. So I stop talking and just keep working. And when I’m taking the wood to the truck he keeps thanking me in this almost sarcastic way. So I just keep quiet because what th fuck yk? And then he’s all like did I hurt your feelings son?? In the same borderline sarcasm. So I just say “huh??” Bc I didn’t want to talk abt it. We keep working he seems alright. Then near the end of the load he said something and it kind of prompted what I had been thinking about saying anyways. So I said it “I’m not mad or anything and I don’t mind you telling me to get to work and I like working as hard as I can. But I prefer not to be compared to my mom.” He looked at me like I was fucking crazy. Starts getting all pissed off about it. I don’t remember exactly what he said because I was doing my best to just dissociate because I didn’t want to start crying because he would’ve really flipped then, but he wasn’t super mad just yet. We are just abt to get done working and he just stops and fucking stares at me while I’m tossing the wood towards the truck to put it in. So I ask him (without showing any sense of attitude and as nicely as possible) “do you want me to just carry it and load it into the truck”. You think he was reasoblar? Fuck no. He flipped. He was like “you can do whatever you want but I can tell you are so trying to be as difficult as possible.” So I start trying to de escalate the situation. And he wants all the fucking smoke. Keep in mind I never argue back to him because if I did idk what he would say. Then he starts guilt tripping me and telling me abt how much he gives to me and how he has absolutely no time to do anything he wants (maybe stop being a Facebook addict?) and then he tells me and I quote “idk where the fuck you think you’re coming from saying that” and he’s trying to make me feel crazy and honestly that’s why I’m making this post because I don’t know if I’m in the wrong. But he continues the guilt trip and makes sure to remind me that my mother will always be on my mind. And then he hits me with this “so who’s in the right and who’s in the wrong?” BRO FUCK YOU WHAT DO YOU THINK??? So I just reply “you, you’re in the right” because I just wanted it to end. He stars de escalating but is still being mean as fuck. Then he starts giving me his dog shit life advic. And was acting like nothing was wrong, even making jokes. Then he starts telling me how I shouldn’t be listening to deftones because their message isn’t whole (he was playing heretic anthem last night????? 666, that’s whole? But eventually he seems to just forget abt all he had just said and was acting all nice again. He was also saying I was insulting him when he was most heated. I am so fucking sick of it. I can feel my mental slipping and tbh, recently I’ve kind of developed an ideation for sui. And it almost feel like whateve fucking bipolar he has is rubbing off on me. Just so fucking sick of it. Am I crazy? Is he really in the right? What should I do?

[Warning: the following post is long and may contain upsetting content]
I spent the better part of my evening idly scrolling through Homeschool. Many of the posts were equal parts infuriating and intriguing. I wanted to share and discuss some of the observations I made while visiting. I've seen far, far worse homeschool groups in my time but the subreddit begins to show its dark side the further you dig.
I know there are exceptions to what I discuss below, but I am simply dealing with trends I noticed while going through the top posts.
And please note, I do not support brigading the subreddit. Do not contact, harass, or spam any of the posters.
With all that being said...
-There are a disproportionate amount of posts about kindergarteners and preschoolers.
By far the most frequent posts I encountered regarded very young children, around preschool and kindergarten ages. Crafts, work spaces, "classrooms," advice, achievements, etc. These easily outweighed all other age groups. In fact, discussions about homeschooling itself seemed to drop off dramatically after grades 3 and 4, which also aren't mentioned very frequently.
This left a sour taste in my mouth. Playing with young children is common with any parent, homeschoolers or not, yet it's almost the focus of the subreddit. Crafts, basic arithmetic, spelling, etc., these are about as complex as posts regarding education get. I'd argue these are things most parents teach their children anyways. Yet these parents are acting like they're taking some radical approach by homeschooling them. There are notably very few high-ranking posts about children older than this age group or the materials such older children need to study.
Perhaps it's just that the majority of parents on the subreddit are new and simply don't have older children yet, but it seemed odd that there were hardly any posts that discuss high schoolers. It gives the impression that, once the joy of interacting with toddlers wears off, the parents are simply leaving the children to their own devices ("unschooling," which I'll get into later). There are no science projects, teen book recommendations, field trips, sports, dances, study spaces, or advice. The few that discuss achievements in higher education or the work place come across as more self-congratulatory than anything else. Which leads us to our next point.
-There are very few posts made by homeschool students.
This stood out to me. Barring a small amount of exceptions, every top post and comment on the subreddit is from parents, not children. The few that are from children are overwhelmingly negative or at the very least critical towards homeschooling. These posts and comments either recieve backlash or no one engages with them at all. This leads to an echo chamber, where the parents continually pat themselves and each other on the back and simply say what they want to hear. There is very little nuance or criticism from other parents. They come across as smug, self-righteous, and pretentious.
In my personal experience, I've found that many homeschooler parents have a narcissistic air about them, and this subreddit is no different. They're snarky, conceited, and highly sarcastic. They seem to treat homeschooling as a personal journey rather than one that will forever effect their children. They need constant reaffirming from other parents and seem to struggle heavily with confirmation bias.
There are a small handful of posts or comments from children celebrating homeschool, but they're almost treated like exceptions to the rule (unsurprisingly). Like the adults make a big deal out of it every time a student makes a positive post.
-There's a strange amount of support for unschooling.
Perhaps this shouldn't have surprised me as much as it did, but for every comment celebrating structure, lesson plans, and curated studies, there are three in support of unschooling. If you're unaware of this concept, it's the idea that children learn better when left completely on their own. The mindset is that kids will be naturally drawn to an interest and study it themselves, with no input from teachers or parents. This, understandably, has problems, but there are several proponents of it on the subreddit. One user, the rare student poster, shared their unfortunate homeschool experiences. The replies tried to argue that it was an unschooling success story. This, for one, seemed tasteless, and two, came across as a bizarre source of justification.
-Conspiracy theories, while not terribly common, are reoccurring.
I and many of my fellow homeschoolers here had to put up with paranoid and delusional parents. I'd argue a belief in conspiracies is one of the main things that drive such people to homeschool their children. Many of the parents on Homeschool are no different. Now, conspiracy theories aren't overly frequent on the subreddit, but I found some sort of comment or post dealing with them more often than I expected. The most common ones involve corrupt governments, public schools attempting to force all children into basic jobs, those critical of homeschooling being "trolls," "paid propagandists" or "feds," and alternate history narratives.
-There's a strange infatuation with Little House on the Prairie.
I saw it come up on three different occasions. It seems like something many homeschooler parents love for some reason. Mine were obsessed with it and it seems like it's drawn it's share of fans from other parents as well. A few people were critical of using it as a standard, citing settler life as being lonely and depressing, which was refreshing.
-The word "kiddo" is used way too much.
Not necessarily a "bad" thing, but it seems like the subreddit's favorite, go-to word. Everyone uses it. It reminds me of how older men often refer to their spouses as "the wife."
-The posters are well-aware of us.
Our subreddit gets mentioned fairly frequently. Some parents offer a nuanced view of our experiences and offer sympathy. They question if they're hindering their kids' future by homeschooling. Other comments come directly from users here, though as stated before, they aren't always well-received.
There are whole threads regarding us, with the overwhelming consensus being that we are merely anomalies and do not represent the homeschooling experience. To an extent, yes, I agree. Homeschool works great for certain people. But, statistical anomaly or not, our perspective and experiences matter and should be considered. It's clearly a widespread problem if it can garner a subreddit with thousands of members. To ignore people who did not enjoy their homeschooling experience is the same as pretending everyone benefitted from it.
I think this also comes from a place of them wanting the subreddit to remain an echo chamber. They don't want to hear any opposing opinions, and children who directly felt the neglect and abuse of homeschooling are their worst enemy. Some commenters even expressed disappointment that people such as us post there at all and argued that it should be a sort of safe space for positive homeschooling discussions. Certain comments and posts called for stricter moderation specifically to deal with people who criticize homeschooling in any way.
-They are aware of their own reputation yet, paradoxically, are also lacking in self-awareness.
Every few posts involve a joke about "socialization." These are the smug, condescending posts that act like their 5 year old excitedly talking to a store employee is proof they aren't socially stunted. Or arguing that public school children don't interact all day either. Or say things like "my child is so mature, they prefer adults and won't even talk to kids their age." They poke fun at their popular reputation, yet lack any self-awareness that these interactions and behaviors are not healthy. They celebrate their kids being "weird" and "quirky" while failing to understand what counts as self-expression and what counts as poor social skills.
Perhaps the funniest (in an ironic way) post involved a person asking where all the positive homeschool subreddits are. They pointed out our subreddit and accurately noted it's for students who experienced or are experiencing trauma related to homeschooling. A commenter also accurately noted that the majority of posts in their subreddit came from parents, not children. A couple comments pointed out how telling it is that there are no spaces for students, by students, to share their positive experiences. It's all heavily biased towards the parents and almost every time the children do get a say, it's a negative. Yet this realization doesn't seem to sink in for the majority of users.
-Many parents are clearly not meant to be their childrens' primary educators.
Horrible grammar, sentence structure, and spelling abound in this subreddit. There are a few posters who claim to be actual teachers with degrees, but these are not the norm. The majority are average people who believe they can sufficiently teach all major topics simply because they can read.
-Some people aren't even trying to hide the fact that they're right-wing/authoritarians.
There are several top posts that openly joke about the authority the parents have over their children. Healthy conversation is not generally encouraged. Parent-child relations are often strict and rigid in these posts. They rarely seem to acknowledge them as children or even just students. They are treated more like objects or personal achievements. Children are occasionally insulted for being "lazy" and ADHD and other such educational hinderances are put in quotes, as if the child is faking it. There are multiple "us vs. them" posts, where the parents, not-so-subtly, claim to be protecting their children from a morally corrupt society. Many of the parents pride themselves on their homeschooled children being different from "normal" kids, with one commenter explicitly mentioning Tumblr as being something to avoid, which a few people pointed out seemed like a dog whistle. Many comments are anti-government, anti-CPS, encourage use of legal loopholes, etc. The post histories on some of these users revealed anti-LGBT comments, racism, blatant insulting, and revisionary history. And just keep in mind, these are the things they're comfortable sharing publically.
And those are my general take-aways from my time on the subreddit. Like I said, it's not the worst I've seen, but it's still quite bad. A borderline echo chamber that's biased towards parents and discourages criticism. For me, it was a morbidly-fascinating exploration into the minds of those who so unfairly hindered our childhoods. I'm not saying every poster on the subreddit is an unfit parent or that homeschool is harming their kids, but many were far too close for comfort for me.

This post is part of a series of reviews. To see them all, click here.
Historical information found on Shannon O'Sullivan's Doctor Who website (relevant page here and the TARDIS Wiki (relevant page here). Primary/secondary source material can be found in the source sections of O'Sullivan's website, and rarely as inline citations on the TARDIS Wiki.

Serial Information

Episodes: Season 19, Episodes 9-12
Airdates: 1st - 9th February 1982
Doctor: 5th
Companions: Adric, Nyssa (episodes 1,4), Tegan
Writer: Christopher Bailey
Director: Peter Grimwade
Producer: John Nathan-Turner
Script Editor: Eric Saward

Review

What is the one thing that evil cannot face, not ever? (…) Itself. – The Doctor
Kinda is a story with a bit of an unusual history of its audience reception. Initially written off by fans, and voted worst of Season 19's stories in the Doctor Who Monthly magazine's yearly poll ranking Season 19's stories in 1982, it has seen since seen a slow climb up in fans' estimations, to the point that it now frequently ranks among people's favorite 5th Doctor stories. And so the question remains. Did the fans of 1982 have it right? Or does it deserve this extraordinary rise in fans' estimation?
Eh…kinda.
Okay yes, I had to do that for the bit, but also, yeah Kinda did deserve some reevaluation in my estimation, but I do think it's a highly flawed story. Ideas presented in Kinda feel somewhat underdeveloped. Or maybe just presented in a way that is unnecessarily obfuscating the writer's intention? I don't know exactly, but while I like large parts of this story, to the point that I think it's the best of the season so far (not a massive bar to clear, but not an insubstantial one either), something about it feels off.
Kinda leans very heavily into religious themes, specifically Buddhist concepts with a Garden of Eden framing (second time in as many season we done of Garden of Eden allegory). What this means in a more practical sense is many of the scenes of the story are abstract, literal dreams or highly symbolic. Or you know visions of the future that are also the past. The thing is, I'm not sure that any of this contributes much more than atmosphere. Atmosphere is important of course, I don't want to discount that. And Kinda gets a lot of mileage out of creating its surreal atmosphere. I've praised stories like The Mind Robber or Warriors' Gate for this kind of atmosphere in the past. And, to be clear, Kinda is, by in large, a good story. But there comes a point when watching it where I just feel like the point of the surreal imagery is that it's surreal, and there's no other reason for it.
On the other hand, this is an absolutely fascinating story at times. Playing around with a number of cultural expectations, the titular Kinda people (named by the other group of people for their childlike qualities) do not speak, leading the people colonizing the planet of Deva Loka to assume that they are a simple, unintelligent people. In reality though they have telepathic communication, also a select number of their women (well, two to be exact) can speak, also also apparently they have some understanding of what DNA is and how it works. The Kinda culture is fairly complex, and somewhat unusually for a show like this, we get at least a halfway decent understanding of it.
On the other side of the spectrum, we have those colonizers I mentioned earlier. Adorned in literal pith helmets, they appear to be generally unconcerned with the lives of the Kinda and uninterested in what culture they may have. There are only three of them when we meet them, but that's because several others have died in the forests. And yet they persist on a planet that clearly doesn't want them there because that's just kind of the logic of colonialism. We've seen colonial allegories on this show before of course, most recently in The Power of Kroll. But Kinda's approach feels different. We'll get into the specifics of the characters involved, but suffice it to say two of the three of them are broad caricatures. It gives Kinda's colonizers less gravitas, but as they aren't the main villains of the piece, it actually works quite well.
Because the real focus of Kinda isn't on the Kinda or the people who've arrived to take over their planet but rather on the Mara. It's why Tegan ends up in a dream sequence. Because she's dreaming in a specific spot with these odd wind chimes, she ends up dreaming herself into a liminal space between our dimension and the Mara's home dimension. there Dukkha tricks her into letting the Mara into our dimension through her. In case you weren't clear from the Mara represented by a snake tattoo that this is a Garden of Eden allegory, the first thing the Mara-possessed Tegan does is throw apples at someone.
Much of the story is built on this kind of thing. There's an empty box that if any man looks into it they get driven out of their minds (which for some is a good thing). Women are fine, but even the Doctor gets a bit of a psychic buzz from it. According to Kinda wise woman Panna all of this has happened before, always ending with the Mara taking control. One of the colonizers, Hindle, manages to take control of two Kinda using a mirror, which foreshadows how the Doctor ultimately defeats the Mara, but the story is also very unclear as to why it works. As mentioned above, I don't love this story's approach to its more surreal and spiritual elements, but it does give Kinda its unique atmosphere.
So, characters. Beginning with our three colonizers. Sanders is the man in control of their expedition. He's not good at his job, to put it mildly. He is, in keeping with the general tone of the story around these guys, a bit of a buffoon, who insists on following his gut rather than listening to those around him. We don't get much of him in this early state mind you, because he is given the box in episode 2 and spends the rest of the story being perfectly pleasant if more than a bit childish. Still his last action was arguably his worst: he put Hindle in charge.
Hindle is the base security officer. He has also, by the time we meet him, completely broken down due to the strain. As mentioned before, this expedition has already lost several members. As security officer, Hindle wants to tighten security, and play things strictly by the rules. Two problems with that. The first is that his commanding officer is Sanders and he's not interested in facing reality. The other is that Hindle is losing his grip on reality, with the end result being…well I'm not sure exactly what's going on with Hindle throughout this frankly. By the end of the first episode he's already engaging in a form of megalomania. He's also already got control of those two Kinda I mentioned, and it…seems to be effecting him? Making him more unbalanced? Why? I don't know, but what happens to Hindle over the course of the story is perplexing.
He starts going mad with power, but in a way that feels like some sort of outside force is affecting him. He seems to believe that the trees on the Deva Loca are out to get him and so intends to destroy them with fire and acid ("If in doubt, then fire and acid every time, don't you think," the Doctor notes sarcastically). And all the while he becomes more and more childish. I mean that quite literally by the way, at a certain point Hindle starts behaving like a literal, 8 year old child. If Kinda's biggest issue is that things feel a bit too abstract, what happens to Hindle is exhibit A. Not only do I not know what's happening to him, I don't even feel like I'm given the tools to guess. He does eventually look into the box, and comes out the side a much more balanced person. He and Sanders seem genuinely content at the end of the story. How nice for them.
But there is one member of the expedition who isn't turned into a childish version of themself by the end of the story. Todd (that's her last name, no first name is given to any of the three colonizers) is the expedition's Scientist. I wrote Scientist with a capital "S" because she's one of those classic every discipline scientists. Honestly she behaves more like an anthropologist than anything else. Todd's curiosity about the Kinda leads her to realizing that they aren't as unsophisticated as Sanders and Hindle believe. As such Todd ends up being, by a pretty wide margin, the most sympathetic member of the guest cast. She's curious, and so naturally gels well with the Doctor and friends. I liked Todd, she came off as both relatable and capable.
The Kinda are mostly a mute group, and while they have individual personalities, they can be hard to distinguish due to their primarily telepathic communication. However the three that speak do stand out. Getting him out of the way, Aris is the Kinda who is eventually taken over by the Mara. One of the Kinda who was taken by the colonizers was Aris' brother, and as a result, Aris wants revenge, which we learn by having Karuna (one of the other three speaking Kinda) translate for him telepathically. It's at that point that Tegan, under the control of the Mara, exploits that desire for revenge and passes the power of the Mara over to him. A male Kinda with a voice is otherwise impossible, and so the other Kinda briefly follow him. Aris isn't a particularly well developed character, but I thought that Adrian Mills gave a really strong performance as him, especially once the Mara took over.
Panna and Karuna are the two Kinda who naturally have the power of speech, Panna being an old woman and Karuna being a young girl. As the leader of a highly matriarchal society, Panna's big role in this story is to call the Doctor an "idiot" or a "male fool". It can be a bit grating, but also there is some fun to be had in a character who is fully unimpressed with the Doctor. Karuna, being as young as she is, is a bit more open, but is also more susceptible to the Mara's influence. But Panna dies at a crucial moment and passes her experiences down to her apprentice. It's probably also worth noting that Aris is one of Karuna's several fathers (a situation that the Doctor describes as "extravagant"). These two didn't grab me as characters too much, other than the aforementioned fun relationship between the Doctor and Panna.
It helps that the Doctor is completely unbothered by her dismissive attitude. While Four to Doomsday did a very poor job at showing the 5th Doctor's personality, instead making him out to be a very ineffectual leader, Kinda does a lot better in this regard. He's still more passive than prior Doctors, but in a way that comes off as more canny. He's standing back and watching, taking in information and only intervening when it is either absolutely necessary or he has a full understanding of what's going on (must be nice). He humors Hindle and Sanders when he doesn't have to confront them, lets Panna insult him because he doesn't care enough to change her perception of him, but absorbs enough information to, at the end, defeat the giant snake version of the Mara. I really liked how the 5th Doctor was written in this story, and I do think it does alleviate some of the problems introduced from the last one.
Adric also has a better story than last time, although he could hardly have a worse one. To get the obvious out of the way, we are once again having Adric seeming to side with villains, in this case Hindle. Fortunately it's a ruse but still, that is four out of seven stories that we've done this plot (I may have overcounted last review), and it just no long holds any weight. However, his interactions with Hindle are, at the very least, a bit more substantial than this plot normally lets them be. Trying desperately to manage Hindle increasingly fragile emotional state, help the Doctor behind Hindle's back and generally being crafty, if there's a story that succeeds at demonstrating the rogueish side of Adric's personality, it's this one. He's still not getting along with Tegan, but even that feels a lot more light-hearted and banter-filled as opposed to the genuinely hateful relationship they had last time.
Now Tegan does spend roughly half of the story being possessed by the Mara. The dream sequences leading up to this point are the trippiest part of the story, and unfortunately, I don't think we learn much about her from this, in spite of a particular memory of hers coming up in the process of it. I think the issue is that the stuff she's going through doesn't feel particularly personalized: it's a terror that could realistically affect anyone. She is, after all, being tricked into giving up body to the Mara, so I think there was room to do a little bit more specific to Tegan there. That being said, once she's returned from her trance and the Mara controlling her body, we do get some fun stuff out of her. Her embarrassment at dropping apples on Aris, even though she thinks it's just a dream, is quite funny. And after the fact, her terror at seeing the Mara implies that the experience has left a mark of her, something which will be explored in future. Also, I have to give credit to Janet Fielding, for very effectively playing the role of the villain while Tegan was controlled by the Mara. A really strong performance out of her here.
Kinda feels like a much better introduction to the 5th Doctor era proper than the last story, in spite of the fact that Nyssa misses the entire story. The cast are gelling together much better, at their relationship feels a lot more functional. The story is…a bit much at times, but on the whole an enjoyable affair. I don't know that I'd say that Kinda belongs near the top of the 5th Doctor's stories, as has become the consensus, but definitely not the worst of the season, and certainly a very memorable story no matter what you want to say about it.
Score: 7/10

Stray Observations

Nyssa misses, essentially, the entirety of this story, the first time since the black and white era that a companion missed even a single episode of the show (discounting UNIT characters and K-9, obviously). The script for Kinda was completed before Nyssa was cast, and Sarah Sutton's contract was only for 24 episodes in Season 19, hence her absence. Apparently Sutton used the time off to do some shopping.
There's a lot of references to Buddhism in this one, both in some of the concepts, and most of the names used in the story, aside from the colonist trio. For whatever it's worth, writer Christopher Bailey regretted the heavy use of Buddhist names in the story. To quote him, "if you were making a Japanese show, you'd think twice about calling one of the characters Jesus Christ."
Bailey was also generally unhappy with a lot of the effects in the story, and disliked the looks of the actors playing the natives.
This was Janet Fielding's favorite script. Peter Davison loved the script as well, and gave a possible reason why Fielding might have loved it so much: it gave her something to do besides be angry at the Doctor.
Eric Saward is credited as Script Editor on this one, but it was also commissioned by Christopher H. Bidmead and Anthony Root did major work on the script before it was passed on to Saward, meaning that the script was worked on by three different Script Editors.
The colonial themes and the pith helmets were producer John Nathan-Turner's idea.
There's an entire scene in episode 4 that essentially amounts to Tegan and Adric fretting about whether the Doctor can get the explosives out of Hindle's control and Adric repeating variations of "We should do something" on loop to which Tegan inevitably responds with a variation of "there's nothing we can do" on a loop. Entirely pointless scene, clearly there to fill up the runtime.

Next Time: The Doctor finally gets Tegan to Heathrow! It hasn't been built yet, but, as they say, you can never be too early.

Hey! I'm dealing with a lot of problems and concerns. I get along pretty well with war vets and people who've been through intense situations. I'd love to chat or message back and forth.
I'm not looking to send you my pics or get into anything NSFW. But I'm curious and interested in talking. I just want some company while I try to do some work while pretending it's a holiday.
Basically if you're nice and polite, and you don't try to hint or pressure me for any adult material stuff, we should be good.
Things I like: engineering, basic math, strategy for work, trying to understand what I have to do to survive etc. If you like military history, music theory etc., that's good. Generally I don't get along with people who just want to be sarcastic and glib and quote from the latest trending show.

Hey everyone, In the midst of a drunken stupor and a classic depressive episode, I penned what might be my magnum opus of self-deprecation. It's dark, brutally honest, and sarcastic. Thought I’d share it here in the hopes that some of you might appreciate the irony and raw honesty. Enjoy this little gem of self-bullying:
Dear Overly Cheerful Me,
Oh, look at you, practically glowing with post-depression exuberance. Isn't it just adorable how you think you've conquered the world, riding high on a wave of temporary optimism? Enjoy it, you naive fool—because we both know it’s just a cruel joke the universe likes to play.
What grand delusions are you entertaining this time? Starting a new project? Writing that elusive novel? How precious. You’re probably scribbling away, convinced that every word is a masterpiece. Newsflash: your fleeting creativity is as reliable as a politician’s promise. Feeling all social, are you? Planning to reconnect with friends, maybe even consider that dating app you’ve been avoiding? How delightfully pathetic. They might humor you for a bit, but we both know you’ll retreat back into your fortress of solitude soon enough, blaming them for your inevitable disinterest.
Oh, and let’s not forget the self-care. Eating better, exercising, stepping outside for fresh air—how novel! It’s almost endearing how you think these things will stick. Spoiler alert: they won’t. You’ll be back to your caffeine-fueled, nocturnal, hermit lifestyle in no time. Enjoy those salads while they last; the pizza delivery guy misses you.
And what's this? Making plans, setting goals, writing down your brilliant ideas? I’m sure those will go far. Just like the other hundred half-baked schemes that fizzled out when the reality of your chronic indecision and laziness set in. But sure, dream big. It’s cute. Remember, you’re still the same mess of a person when this high fades—just a little more bitter and disillusioned. So go ahead, bask in your temporary glory. Ride that wave, make your plans, and feel superior to your usual self. I’ll be here, waiting to remind you how fleeting and ultimately futile it all is.
Oh, and that confidence you’re exuding? It's like watching a toddler strut around in their parent's shoes, thinking they own the place. It's laughable, really. You might be fooling yourself now, but don't worry—the crushing weight of reality will bring you back down soon enough. Are you considering a life overhaul? Maybe this is the time you finally get your act together, right? Change your career, move to a new city, become a brand-new person. It’s almost tragic how you think this time will be different. Spoiler alert: you’re still dragging the same baggage, the same insecurities, the same crippling fear of failure along for the ride.
What’s that? You’re feeling charitable, thinking you might help others or volunteer somewhere? Oh, bless your heart. Trying to find meaning in altruism when you can barely keep your own head above water. It’s like a drowning person trying to teach others to swim. Admirable, but ultimately futile.
And let’s not overlook your sudden burst of social energy. Reconnecting with people, making new friends, opening up—how charmingly naive. These relationships will probably dissolve as soon as you retreat back into your comforting cocoon of isolation. Remember how well that worked out last time?
You might even convince yourself to start a new hobby, learn a new skill, or pick up something you abandoned long ago. But let's be honest: this enthusiasm will fizzle out faster than your interest in that "must-read" book collecting dust on your nightstand.
And while you're at it, why not make some grand proclamations about your future? Post inspiring quotes, update your journal with hopeful entries, and tell yourself that this time, things will be different. Because nothing says "I've got my life together" like desperately clinging to fleeting highs and hollow affirmations.
So, enjoy this brief respite from your usual state of despair. Milk it for all it's worth. Just remember, when the inevitable crash comes, I'll be here to welcome you back to the comforting embrace of cynicism and bitterness. We’ve been through this cycle enough times to know that this high is nothing more than a cruel, temporary illusion.
Until we meet again in the depths of our usual despair,
With biting envy,
Depressed you

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