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beneaththetangles · 2 years

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Summer of SoL: Resting in a Busy World (or Another World)

I have heard it said that slice-of-life series do not engage viewers intellectually, in that they do not have complex plots or go deep like dramas. Yet, this criticism overlooks the fact that beneath the slow and easy-going pace of each episode, slice-of-life anime often center on meaningful themes. But rather than packaging them with heavy action and complex plotlines, they present these themes while maintaining a relaxed feel to the show. And for a genre of shows that are popular among those looking for a way to rest and unwind, it is quite fitting that a key theme that comes up again and again is, well, the importance of rest.

People frequently admire “hard workers” who put in a lot of time and energy to achieve their dreams. Unfortunately, we live in a world where all too often, admiration of hard work turns into disdain for those looking to rest. This leads to toxic workplace cultures where everyone is expected to overwork themselves, both emotionally and even physically. In the worst-case scenario, an unfortunate worker could even work herself to death, at which point she finds herself in an alternate fantasy world where she decides to just take things easy and kill some slimes every day until she becomes a powerful centuries-old witch.

Okay, maybe that last bit is just the starting point of I’ve Been Killing Slimes For 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level, a light novel series with an anime adaptation, rather than a real-life scenario, but it does go to show that the problems in modern work culture and perils of not getting enough rest are pervasive enough for light novel authors to sit up and take notice.

I’ve Been Killing Slimes is just one in a long line of “slice-of-life light novels” or “slice-of-life isekai” that take on these modern-day ills in one way or another. There are also series like By the Grace of the Gods, My Quiet Blacksmith Life in Another World, and several others, enough so that slice-of-life is actually a popular sub-genre of isekai. While they may have some action here and there, the focus of these novels tends to be less on fulfilling some grand quest and more on simply enjoying day-to-day life in a fantasy world.

In fact, after Truck-kun and his compatriots, overwork is the next most common way of sending hapless Japanese citizens on a one-way trip to another world. In other words, death by overwork is pervasive enough to have become a trope.

This is not at all the life that God intends for us.

And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done.

Genesis 2:2, ESV

This verse is one of the most impactful verses of the entire Creation story. Imagine if God did not rest on that day: we could very well be living in a world where we are expected to be working every waking moment of our lives. But with this verse, God sends a powerful message for everyone, regardless of their beliefs about the rest of the Creation story: rest is good.

God is not saying hard work is bad, of course; He did just create an entire universe before resting, after all. But rest is an essential part of our lives as well.

Killing Slimes emphasizes how the protagonist, Azusa, prioritizes finding a proper work-life balance. And each other character starts to live with her for one reason or another, Asuza also encourages them to not overwork themselves either. This is most notable when the dragon girl Laika joins her and works to build an extension on her house, and Azusa has to stop her from working overnight on it.

“When it’s time to rest, you rest. Don’t make a virtue of working too much. As long as I’m around, I won’t tolerate poor working conditions.“

Beyond the idea of not working all of your waking hours, Azusa also makes a point of doing work that you find fulfilling. Obviously, in our modern world this is not always possible when our first priority is putting food on the table, but it does highlight how “rest” includes not just stopping work, but also lightening our mental burden during work, finding ways to lower stress levels even in the midst of busyness. Even Jesus uses the idea of lighter burdens as a type of rest.

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Matthew 11:28-30

This verse is mainly in reference to legalism and the burden of believing your salvation is based on your works. The “easy” yoke that Jesus offers is not a complete lack of work, but knowing that your work is not the basis of your self-worth. Azusa also makes sure that her newfound “family” know that they belong, regardless of what they do for her. Many other slice-of-life series also lean into this theme, with characters who maintain close relationships with each other without caring about whether the other “deserves” their love.

Isekai slice-of-life is not the only place you will find this theme of finding rest. This theme pops up in various other slice-of-life series taking place in the modern world, like The Helpful Fox Senko-san, in which an 800-year-old fox goddess helps an overworked salaryman relax when he gets home. In this case, rather than trying to directly resolve his working situation (at least at first), Senko aims to get the worker, Nakano, to get more rest during his time at home by putting work and other stressful things out of mind and accepting her pampering. The show is a reminder that rest goes beyond simply working fewer hours and includes what we do with our time off the clock.

So how about spending some of that time watching slice-of-life anime?

Even when rest is not a direct theme of a slice-of-life show, most slice-of-life shows have a “restful” feel to them. The characters are shown doing fun and relaxing things while building their relationships with each other. Drama is kept to a relatively low level and any long-running plots are kept simple. They are the perfect type of show for those who are looking to unwind and enter a restful frame of mind at the end of a hard day… watching anime.

And on the seventh day, Senko offered her tail for fluffing.

Slice-of-life anime not only models the importance and value of rest through characters like Azusa and Senko, but also provides a source of rest in our own lives, particularly when we engage with it in a healthy way.

The bottom line is, rest is important. God established as much from the start, and slice-of-life anime can remind us why we need rest in a busy world that so often tries to take that rest away from us.

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I’ve Been Killing Slimes… can be streamed on Crunchyroll, and The Helpful Fox Senko-san, also on Crunchyroll.

#Anime #Christianity #I’ve Been Killing Slimes For 300 Years And Maxed Out My Level #Slime Taoshite 300 nen Shiranai Uchi ni Level Max ni Nattemashita #The Helpful Fox Senko san #Sewayaki Kitsune no Senko san #Rest #Slice of Life #Summer of SoL #Articles #Author: stardf29

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blackwoolncrown · 4 years

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”This essay has been kicking around in my head for years now and I’ve never felt confident enough to write it. It’s a time in my life I’m ashamed of. It’s a time that I hurt people and, through inaction, allowed others to be hurt. It’s a time that I acted as a violent agent of capitalism and white supremacy. Under the guise of public safety, I personally ruined people’s lives but in so doing, made the public no safer… so did the family members and close friends of mine who also bore the badge alongside me.

But enough is enough.

The reforms aren’t working. Incrementalism isn’t happening. Unarmed Black, indigenous, and people of color are being killed by cops in the streets and the police are savagely attacking the people protesting these murders.

American policing is a thick blue tumor strangling the life from our communities and if you don’t believe it when the poor and the marginalized say it, if you don’t believe it when you see cops across the country shooting journalists with less-lethal bullets and caustic chemicals, maybe you’ll believe it when you hear it straight from the pig’s mouth.”

>>Copied here in case anyone gets paywalled when they click the above. The full article is...a lot.<<

WHY AM I WRITING THIS

As someone who went through the training, hiring, and socialization of a career in law enforcement, I wanted to give a first-hand account of why I believe police officers are the way they are. Not to excuse their behavior, but to explain it and to indict the structures that perpetuate it.

I believe that if everyone understood how we’re trained and brought up in the profession, it would inform the demands our communities should be making of a new way of community safety. If I tell you how we were made, I hope it will empower you to unmake us.

One of the other reasons I’ve struggled to write this essay is that I don’t want to center the conversation on myself and my big salty boo-hoo feelings about my bad choices. It’s a toxic white impulse to see atrocities and think “How can I make this about me?” So, I hope you’ll take me at my word that this account isn’t meant to highlight me, but rather the hundred thousand of me in every city in the country. It’s about the structure that made me (that I chose to pollute myself with) and it’s my meager contribution to the cause of radical justice.

YES, ALL COPS ARE BASTARDS

I was a police officer in a major metropolitan area in California with a predominantly poor, non-white population (with a large proportion of first-generation immigrants). One night during briefing, our watch commander told us that the city council had requested a new zero tolerance policy. Against murderers, drug dealers, or child predators?

No, against homeless people collecting cans from recycling bins.

See, the city had some kickback deal with the waste management company where waste management got paid by the government for our expected tonnage of recycling. When homeless people “stole” that recycling from the waste management company, they were putting that cheaper contract in peril. So, we were to arrest as many recyclers as we could find.

Even for me, this was a stupid policy and I promptly blew Sarge off. But a few hours later, Sarge called me over to assist him. He was detaining a 70 year old immigrant who spoke no English, who he’d seen picking a coke can out of a trash bin. He ordered me to arrest her for stealing trash. I said, “Sarge, c’mon, she’s an old lady.” He said, “I don’t give a shit. Hook her up, that’s an order.” And… I did. She cried the entire way to the station and all through the booking process. I couldn’t even comfort her because I didn’t speak Spanish. I felt disgusting but I was ordered to make this arrest and I wasn’t willing to lose my job for her.

If you’re tempted to feel sympathy for me, don’t. I used to happily hassle the homeless under other circumstances. I researched obscure penal codes so I could arrest people in homeless encampments for lesser known crimes like “remaining too close to railroad property” (369i of the California Penal Code). I used to call it “planting warrant seeds” since I knew they wouldn’t make their court dates and we could arrest them again and again for warrant violations.

We used to have informal contests for who could cite or arrest someone for the weirdest law. DUI on a bicycle, non-regulation number of brooms on your tow truck (27700(a)(1) of the California Vehicle Code)… shit like that. For me, police work was a logic puzzle for arresting people, regardless of their actual threat to the community. As ashamed as I am to admit it, it needs to be said: stripping people of their freedom felt like a game to me for many years.

I know what you’re going to ask: did I ever plant drugs? Did I ever plant a gun on someone? Did I ever make a false arrest or file a false report? Believe it or not, the answer is no. Cheating was no fun, I liked to get my stats the “legitimate” way. But I knew officers who kept a little baggie of whatever or maybe a pocket knife that was a little too big in their war bags (yeah, we called our dufflebags “war bags”…). Did I ever tell anybody about it? No I did not. Did I ever confess my suspicions when cocaine suddenly showed up in a gang member’s jacket? No I did not.

In fact, let me tell you about an extremely formative experience: in my police academy class, we had a clique of around six trainees who routinely bullied and harassed other students: intentionally scuffing another trainee’s shoes to get them in trouble during inspection, sexually harassing female trainees, cracking racist jokes, and so on. Every quarter, we were to write anonymous evaluations of our squadmates. I wrote scathing accounts of their behavior, thinking I was helping keep bad apples out of law enforcement and believing I would be protected. Instead, the academy staff read my complaints to them out loud and outed me to them and never punished them, causing me to get harassed for the rest of my academy class. That’s how I learned that even police leadership hates rats. That’s why no one is “changing things from the inside.” They can’t, the structure won’t allow it.

And that’s the point of what I’m telling you. Whether you were my sergeant, legally harassing an old woman, me, legally harassing our residents, my fellow trainees bullying the rest of us, or “the bad apples” illegally harassing “shitbags”, we were all in it together. I knew cops that pulled women over to flirt with them. I knew cops who would pepper spray sleeping bags so that homeless people would have to throw them away. I knew cops that intentionally provoked anger in suspects so they could claim they were assaulted. I was particularly good at winding people up verbally until they lashed out so I could fight them. Nobody spoke out. Nobody stood up. Nobody betrayed the code.

None of us protected the people (you) from bad cops.

This is why “All cops are bastards.” Even your uncle, even your cousin, even your mom, even your brother, even your best friend, even your spouse, even me. Because even if they wouldn’t Do The Thing themselves, they will almost never rat out another officer who Does The Thing, much less stop it from happening.

BASTARD 101

I could write an entire book of the awful things I’ve done, seen done, and heard others bragging about doing. But, to me, the bigger question is “How did it get this way?”. While I was a police officer in a city 30 miles from where I lived, many of my fellow officers were from the community and treated their neighbors just as badly as I did. While every cop’s individual biases come into play, it’s the profession itself that is toxic, and it starts from day 1 of training.

Every police academy is different but all of them share certain features: taught by old cops, run like a paramilitary bootcamp, strong emphasis on protecting yourself more than anyone else. The majority of my time in the academy was spent doing aggressive physical training and watching video after video after video of police officers being murdered on duty.

I want to highlight this: nearly everyone coming into law enforcement is bombarded with dash cam footage of police officers being ambushed and killed. Over and over and over. Colorless VHS mortality plays, cops screaming for help over their radios, their bodies going limp as a pair of tail lights speed away into a grainy black horizon. In my case, with commentary from an old racist cop who used to brag about assaulting Black Panthers.

To understand why all cops are bastards, you need to understand one of the things almost every training officer told me when it came to using force:

“I’d rather be judged by 12 than carried by 6.”

Meaning, “I’ll take my chances in court rather than risk getting hurt”. We’re able to think that way because police unions are extremely overpowered and because of the generous concept of Qualified Immunity, a legal theory which says a cop generally can’t be held personally liable for mistakes they make doing their job in an official capacity.

When you look at the actions of the officers who killed George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, David McAtee, Mike Brown, Tamir Rice, Philando Castile, Eric Garner, or Freddie Gray, remember that they, like me, were trained to recite “I’d rather be judged by 12” as a mantra. Even if Mistakes Were Made™, the city (meaning the taxpayers, meaning you) pays the settlement, not the officer.

Once police training has - through repetition, indoctrination, and violent spectacle - promised officers that everyone in the world is out to kill them, the next lesson is that your partners are the only people protecting you. Occasionally, this is even true: I’ve had encounters turn on me rapidly to the point I legitimately thought I was going to die, only to have other officers come and turn the tables.

One of the most important thought leaders in law enforcement is Col. Dave Grossman, a “killologist” who wrote an essay called “Sheep, Wolves, and Sheepdogs”. Cops are the sheepdogs, bad guys are the wolves, and the citizens are the sheep (!). Col. Grossman makes sure to mention that to a stupid sheep, sheepdogs look more like wolves than sheep, and that’s why they dislike you.

This “they hate you for protecting them and only I love you, only I can protect you” tactic is familiar to students of abuse. It’s what abusers do to coerce their victims into isolation, pulling them away from friends and family and ensnaring them in the abuser’s toxic web. Law enforcement does this too, pitting the officer against civilians. “They don’t understand what you do, they don’t respect your sacrifice, they just want to get away with crimes. You’re only safe with us.”

I think the Wolves vs. Sheepdogs dynamic is one of the most important elements as to why officers behave the way they do. Every single second of my training, I was told that criminals were not a legitimate part of their community, that they were individual bad actors, and that their bad actions were solely the result of their inherent criminality. Any concept of systemic trauma, generational poverty, or white supremacist oppression was either never mentioned or simply dismissed. After all, most people don’t steal, so anyone who does isn’t “most people,” right? To us, anyone committing a crime deserved anything that happened to them because they broke the “social contract.” And yet, it was never even a question as to whether the power structure above them was honoring any sort of contract back.

Understand: Police officers are part of the state monopoly on violence and all police training reinforces this monopoly as a cornerstone of police work, a source of honor and pride. Many cops fantasize about getting to kill someone in the line of duty, egged on by others that have. One of my training officers told me about the time he shot and killed a mentally ill homeless man wielding a big stick. He bragged that he “slept like a baby” that night. Official training teaches you how to be violent effectively and when you’re legally allowed to deploy that violence, but “unofficial training” teaches you to desire violence, to expand the breadth of your violence without getting caught, and to erode your own compassion for desperate people so you can justify punitive violence against them.

HOW TO BE A BASTARD

I have participated in some of these activities personally, others are ones I either witnessed personally or heard officers brag about openly. Very, very occasionally, I knew an officer who was disciplined or fired for one of these things.

Police officers will lie about the law, about what’s illegal, or about what they can legally do to you in order to manipulate you into doing what they want.

Police officers will lie about feeling afraid for their life to justify a use of force after the fact.

Police officers will lie and tell you they’ll file a police report just to get you off their back.

Police officers will lie that your cooperation will “look good for you” in court, or that they will “put in a good word for you with the DA.” The police will never help you look good in court.

Police officers will lie about what they see and hear to access private property to conduct unlawful searches.

Police officers will lie and say your friend already ratted you out, so you might as well rat them back out. This is almost never true.

Police officers will lie and say you’re not in trouble in order to get you to exit a location or otherwise make an arrest more convenient for them.

Police officers will lie and say that they won’t arrest you if you’ll just “be honest with them” so they know what really happened.

Police officers will lie about their ability to seize the property of friends and family members to coerce a confession.

Police officers will write obviously bullshit tickets so that they get time-and-a-half overtime fighting them in court.

Police officers will search places and containers you didn’t consent to and later claim they were open or “smelled like marijuana”.

Police officers will threaten you with a more serious crime they can’t prove in order to convince you to confess to the lesser crime they really want you for.

Police officers will employ zero tolerance on races and ethnicities they dislike and show favor and lenience to members of their own group.

Police officers will use intentionally extra-painful maneuvers and holds during an arrest to provoke “resistance” so they can further assault the suspect.

Some police officers will plant drugs and weapons on you, sometimes to teach you a lesson, sometimes if they kill you somewhere away from public view.

Some police officers will assault you to intimidate you and threaten to arrest you if you tell anyone.

A non-trivial number of police officers will steal from your house or vehicle during a search.

A non-trivial number of police officers commit intimate partner violence and use their status to get away with it.

A non-trivial number of police officers use their position to entice, coerce, or force sexual favors from vulnerable people.

If you take nothing else away from this essay, I want you to tattoo this onto your brain forever: if a police officer is telling you something, it is probably a lie designed to gain your compliance.

Do not talk to cops and never, ever believe them. Do not “try to be helpful” with cops. Do not assume they are trying to catch someone else instead of you. Do not assume what they are doing is “important” or even legal. Under no circumstances assume any police officer is acting in good faith.

Also, and this is important, do not talk to cops.

I just remembered something, do not talk to cops.

Checking my notes real quick, something jumped out at me:

not

fucking

talk

cops.

Ever.

Say, “I don’t answer questions,” and ask if you’re free to leave; if so, leave. If not, tell them you want your lawyer and that, per the Supreme Court, they must terminate questioning. If they don’t, file a complaint and collect some badges for your mantle.

DO THE BASTARDS EVER HELP?

Reading the above, you may be tempted to ask whether cops ever do anything good. And the answer is, sure, sometimes. In fact, most officers I worked with thought they were usually helping the helpless and protecting the safety of innocent people.

During my tenure in law enforcement, I protected women from domestic abusers, arrested cold-blooded murderers and child molesters, and comforted families who lost children to car accidents and other tragedies. I helped connect struggling people in my community with local resources for food, shelter, and counseling. I deescalated situations that could have turned violent and talked a lot of people down from making the biggest mistake of their lives. I worked with plenty of officers who were individually kind, bought food for homeless residents, or otherwise showed care for their community.

The question is this: did I need a gun and sweeping police powers to help the average person on the average night? The answer is no. When I was doing my best work as a cop, I was doing mediocre work as a therapist or a social worker. My good deeds were listening to people failed by the system and trying to unite them with any crumbs of resources the structure was currently denying them.

It’s also important to note that well over 90% of the calls for service I handled were reactive, showing up well after a crime had taken place. We would arrive, take a statement, collect evidence (if any), file the report, and onto the next caper. Most “active” crimes we stopped were someone harmless possessing or selling a small amount of drugs. Very, very rarely would we stop something dangerous in progress or stop something from happening entirely. The closest we could usually get was seeing someone running away from the scene of a crime, but the damage was still done.

And consider this: my job as a police officer required me to be a marriage counselor, a mental health crisis professional, a conflict negotiator, a social worker, a child advocate, a traffic safety expert, a sexual assault specialist, and, every once in awhile, a public safety officer authorized to use force, all after only a 1000 hours of training at a police academy. Does the person we send to catch a robber also need to be the person we send to interview a rape victim or document a fender bender? Should one profession be expected to do all that important community care (with very little training) all at the same time?

To put this another way: I made double the salary most social workers made to do a fraction of what they could do to mitigate the causes of crimes and desperation. I can count very few times my monopoly on state violence actually made our citizens safer, and even then, it’s hard to say better-funded social safety nets and dozens of other community care specialists wouldn’t have prevented a problem before it started.

Armed, indoctrinated (and dare I say, traumatized) cops do not make you safer; community mutual aid networks who can unite other people with the resources they need to stay fed, clothed, and housed make you safer. I really want to hammer this home: every cop in your neighborhood is damaged by their training, emboldened by their immunity, and they have a gun and the ability to take your life with near-impunity. This does not make you safer, even if you’re white.

HOW DO YOU SOLVE A PROBLEM LIKE A BASTARD?

So what do we do about it? Even though I’m an expert on bastardism, I am not a public policy expert nor an expert in organizing a post-police society. So, before I give some suggestions, let me tell you what probably won’t solve the problem of bastard cops:

Increased “bias” training. A quarterly or even monthly training session is not capable of covering over years of trauma-based camaraderie in police forces. I can tell you from experience, we don’t take it seriously, the proctors let us cheat on whatever “tests” there are, and we all made fun of it later over coffee.

Tougher laws. I hope you understand by now, cops do not follow the law and will not hold each other accountable to the law. Tougher laws are all the more reason to circle the wagons and protect your brothers and sisters.

More community policing programs. Yes, there is a marginal effect when a few cops get to know members of the community, but look at the protests of 2020: many of the cops pepper-spraying journalists were probably the nice school cop a month ago.

Police officers do not protect and serve people, they protect and serve the status quo, “polite society”, and private property. Using the incremental mechanisms of the status quo will never reform the police because the status quo relies on police violence to exist. Capitalism requires a permanent underclass to exploit for cheap labor and it requires the cops to bring that underclass to heel.

Instead of wasting time with minor tweaks, I recommend exploring the following ideas:

No more qualified immunity. Police officers should be personally liable for all decisions they make in the line of duty.

No more civil asset forfeiture. Did you know that every year, citizens like you lose more cash and property to unaccountable civil asset forfeiture than to all burglaries combined? The police can steal your stuff without charging you with a crime and it makes some police departments very rich.

Break the power of police unions. Police unions make it nearly impossible to fire bad cops and incentivize protecting them to protect the power of the union. A police union is not a labor union; police officers are powerful state agents, not exploited workers.

Require malpractice insurance. Doctors must pay for insurance in case they botch a surgery, police officers should do the same for botching a police raid or other use of force. If human decency won’t motivate police to respect human life, perhaps hitting their wallet might.

Defund, demilitarize, and disarm cops. Thousands of police departments own assault rifles, armored personnel carriers, and stuff you’d see in a warzone. Police officers have grants and huge budgets to spend on guns, ammo, body armor, and combat training. 99% of calls for service require no armed response, yet when all you have is a gun, every problem feels like target practice. Cities are not safer when unaccountable bullies have a monopoly on state violence and the equipment to execute that monopoly.

One final idea: consider abolishing the police.

I know what you’re thinking, “What? We need the police! They protect us!” As someone who did it for nearly a decade, I need you to understand that by and large, police protection is marginal, incidental. It’s an illusion created by decades of copaganda designed to fool you into thinking these brave men and women are holding back the barbarians at the gates.

I alluded to this above: the vast majority of calls for service I handled were theft reports, burglary reports, domestic arguments that hadn’t escalated into violence, loud parties, (houseless) people loitering, traffic collisions, very minor drug possession, and arguments between neighbors. Mostly the mundane ups and downs of life in the community, with little inherent danger. And, like I mentioned, the vast majority of crimes I responded to (even violent ones) had already happened; my unaccountable license to kill was irrelevant.

What I mainly provided was an “objective” third party with the authority to document property damage, ask people to chill out or disperse, or counsel people not to beat each other up. A trained counselor or conflict resolution specialist would be ten times more effective than someone with a gun strapped to his hip wondering if anyone would try to kill him when he showed up. There are many models for community safety that can be explored if we get away from the idea that the only way to be safe is to have a man with a M4 rifle prowling your neighborhood ready at a moment’s notice to write down your name and birthday after you’ve been robbed and beaten.

You might be asking, “What about the armed robbers, the gangsters, the drug dealers, the serial killers?” And yes, in the city I worked, I regularly broke up gang parties, found gang members carrying guns, and handled homicides. I’ve seen some tragic things, from a reformed gangster shot in the head with his brains oozing out to a fifteen year old boy taking his last breath in his screaming mother’s arms thanks to a gang member’s bullet. I know the wages of violence.

This is where we have to have the courage to ask: why do people rob? Why do they join gangs? Why do they get addicted to drugs or sell them? It’s not because they are inherently evil. I submit to you that these are the results of living in a capitalist system that grinds people down and denies them housing, medical care, human dignity, and a say in their government. These are the results of white supremacy pushing people to the margins, excluding them, disrespecting them, and treating their bodies as disposable.

Equally important to remember: disabled and mentally ill people are frequently killed by police officers not trained to recognize and react to disabilities or mental health crises. Some of the people we picture as “violent offenders” are often people struggling with untreated mental illness, often due to economic hardships. Very frequently, the officers sent to “protect the community” escalate this crisis and ultimately wound or kill the person. Your community was not made safer by police violence; a sick member of your community was killed because it was cheaper than treating them. Are you extremely confident you’ll never get sick one day too?

Wrestle with this for a minute: if all of someone’s material needs were met and all the members of their community were fed, clothed, housed, and dignified, why would they need to join a gang? Why would they need to risk their lives selling drugs or breaking into buildings? If mental healthcare was free and was not stigmatized, how many lives would that save?

Would there still be a few bad actors in the world? Sure, probably. What’s my solution for them, you’re no doubt asking. I’ll tell you what: generational poverty, food insecurity, houselessness, and for-profit medical care are all problems that can be solved in our lifetimes by rejecting the dehumanizing meat grinder of capitalism and white supremacy. Once that’s done, we can work on the edge cases together, with clearer hearts not clouded by a corrupt system.

Police abolition is closely related to the idea of prison abolition and the entire concept of banishing the carceral state, meaning, creating a society focused on reconciliation and restorative justice instead of punishment, pain, and suffering — a system that sees people in crisis as humans, not monsters. People who want to abolish the police typically also want to abolish prisons, and the same questions get asked: “What about the bad guys? Where do we put them?” I bring this up because abolitionists don’t want to simply replace cops with armed social workers or prisons with casual detention centers full of puffy leather couches and Playstations. We imagine a world not divided into good guys and bad guys, but rather a world where people’s needs are met and those in crisis receive care, not dehumanization.

Here’s legendary activist and thinker Angela Y. Davis putting it better than I ever could:

“An abolitionist approach that seeks to answer questions such as these would require us to imagine a constellation of alternative strategies and institutions, with the ultimate aim of removing the prison from the social and ideological landscapes of our society. In other words, we would not be looking for prisonlike substitutes for the prison, such as house arrest safeguarded by electronic surveillance bracelets. Rather, positing decarceration as our overarching strategy, we would try to envision a continuum of alternatives to imprisonment-demilitarization of schools, revitalization of education at all levels, a health system that provides free physical and mental care to all, and a justice system based on reparation and reconciliation rather than retribution and vengeance.”

(Are Prisons Obsolete, pg. 107)

I’m not telling you I have the blueprint for a beautiful new world. What I’m telling you is that the system we have right now is broken beyond repair and that it’s time to consider new ways of doing community together. Those new ways need to be negotiated by members of those communities, particularly Black, indigenous, disabled, houseless, and citizens of color historically shoved into the margins of society. Instead of letting Fox News fill your head with nightmares about Hispanic gangs, ask the Hispanic community what they need to thrive. Instead of letting racist politicians scaremonger about pro-Black demonstrators, ask the Black community what they need to meet the needs of the most vulnerable. If you truly desire safety, ask not what your most vulnerable can do for the community, ask what the community can do for the most vulnerable.

A WORLD WITH FEWER BASTARDS IS POSSIBLE

If you take only one thing away from this essay, I hope it’s this: do not talk to cops. But if you only take two things away, I hope the second one is that it’s possible to imagine a different world where unarmed black people, indigenous people, poor people, disabled people, and people of color are not routinely gunned down by unaccountable police officers. It doesn’t have to be this way. Yes, this requires a leap of faith into community models that might feel unfamiliar, but I ask you:

When you see a man dying in the street begging for breath, don’t you want to leap away from that world?

When you see a mother or a daughter shot to death sleeping in their beds, don’t you want to leap away from that world?

When you see a twelve year old boy executed in a public park for the crime of playing with a toy, jesus fucking christ, can you really just stand there and think “This is normal”?

And to any cops who made it this far down, is this really the world you want to live in? Aren’t you tired of the trauma? Aren’t you tired of the soul sickness inherent to the badge? Aren’t you tired of looking the other way when your partners break the law? Are you really willing to kill the next George Floyd, the next Breonna Taylor, the next Tamir Rice? How confident are you that your next use of force will be something you’re proud of? I’m writing this for you too: it’s wrong what our training did to us, it’s wrong that they hardened our hearts to our communities, and it’s wrong to pretend this is normal.

Look, I wouldn’t have been able to hear any of this for much of my life. You reading this now may not be able to hear this yet either. But do me this one favor: just think about it. Just turn it over in your mind for a couple minutes. “Yes, And” me for a minute. Look around you and think about the kind of world you want to live in. Is it one where an all-powerful stranger with a gun keeps you and your neighbors in line with the fear of death, or can you picture a world where, as a community, we embrace our most vulnerable, meet their needs, heal their wounds, honor their dignity, and make them family instead of desperate outsiders?

If you take only three things away from this essay, I hope the third is this: you and your community don’t need bastards to thrive.

RESOURCES TO YES-AND WITH

Achele Mbembe — Necropolitics

Angela Y. Davis — Are Prisons Obsolete?

CriticalResistance.org — Abolition Toolkit

Joe Macaré, Maya Schenwar, and Alana Yu-lan Price — Who Do You Serve, Who Do You Protect?

Ruth Wilson Gilmore — COVID-19, Decarceration, Abolition [video]

#acab

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sebastianshaw · 4 years

Conversation

RP meme from "Chapter Four: Aspects and Renown" in The World of Darkness Ratkin Breedbook

"What you can actually do is far more important."

"The experience is little more than a challenging contract to prove one’s mettle."

"Not everyone can stand so much isolation and seclusion."

"Along the way, they work whatever scams and schemes they can to survive."

"After all, mavericks are known just as much for their quick wits as their stealth and subterfuge."

"Some do this to escape lives they cannot stand; others quest for ideals they may never achieve."

"If there’s a great place nearby to find food, adventure, or perils that threaten the young, a wise scout or spy will find them quickly."

"Relationships on the road are temporary and superficial."

" A scout or wanderer who hasn’t seen an old friend or lover in years immediately picks up the relationship exactly where it left off."

"Each year, they move from city to city, use and discard temp jobs like old clothes, and evolve a series of personas for different situations."

"Not all of them are impoverished and homeless; as long as you know where to find crash space, you’re never really helpless."

"They are fascinated by places inhabited by other creatures, especially humans."

"Some are smart enough to emulate the people they live near; others come up with bizarre explanations to explain human activity."

"Instead of a straightforward military report on the strength of predators in the area, the data must be condensed into a format even a small child could understand."

"When problems with the physical world grow too great, it’s tempting to just vanish into the ephemeral realms for a while."

"These alternate identities aren’t very flashy, just the sort of quiet identity that no one questions."

"It can also draw attention from police officers, irate merchants, and hostile humans."

"This isn’t my world. I just hide in it. If you’re looking for a place to run, talk to me."

"This isn’t my world. I just hide in it."

"If you’re looking for a place to run, talk to me."

"Seers are the keepers of ancient secrets."

"A human is still a human, and can never be trusted."

"Just because they’re victims doesn’t mean they’re virtuous; they’ll still rip you off when you least expect it."

"They seek wisdom the human race has discarded or left behind."

"They make their lairs in areas where the police fear to go, where the only law in both physical and spirit worlds is survival."

"Her body remains in the physical world; her spirit watches what transpires around it in the spirit world."

"You worry about fighting what you can see. I’ll worry about fighting what you can’t see."

"If they feel strongly enough, they will enforce their beliefs as they best see fit."

"Unfortunately, when passing judgment on their own kind, they have restraints placed on their activities."

"These harsh practices have millennia of precedent."

"They reason that it’s better to have a few small, secure ratholes to hide your equipment and yourself than to go to the trouble of defending a larger turf."

"Many secretly enjoy “pronouncing sentence” on anyone who offends them thoroughly enough."

" Justice is far more important. . . and unfortunately, far more subjective."

"Most know they can’t change the world by openly practicing violence; if anything, they’ve got to be really secretive about their revenge."

"Epic carnage is best left to less sophisticated creatures."

"The threat of one of the local politicians getting killed is usually enough to dissuade them from disagreeing any further."

"They do not disguise themselves when pursuing an assassination, as they will not apologize for what they do best."

"We had a contract. You broke it. Now I’m going to make your life a living hell."

"When rage flows freely, violence reigns."

"Some have the wisdom to choose their battles carefully; others don’t care who dies when battle lust seizes them."

"Peace is nothing more than a temporary cessation of the ways of war."

"Developing martial skill involves far more than just killing things — sometimes it involves crippling them, weakening them, or demoralizing them.

"These soldiers don’t just slay; they also use their knowledge of chaos to confuse their enemies, striking in the night when madness reigns."

"All of them pride themselves on discipline and composure. . . until rage overwhelms reason."

"Warriors of both sexes are mildly insecure, and feel the need to show off their martial prowess."

"What? Just because you’ve got an army surplus jacket and a pipe bomb, that makes you a man?"

"Any fool can pull a trigger."

"Saving the world requires true warriors."

"Technology isn’t evil, after all. It’s just in the wrong paws."

"Many are convinced that if they don’t watch their actions carefully, someone from a local laboratory will capture them and experiment on them to find out why they’re so smart."

"Wherever technology thrives, these rats will move in to scavenge it."

"Humans have a fetish about continually acquiring more stuff, newer stuff and cutting-edge state-of-the-art tech."

"The struggle begins with fierce discussions about technological innovations, and rapidly breaks down into name calling and slander."

"Two machines enter; one machine leaves."

"Whether they tinker with ancient computers or rusting cars, they have an insatiable need to fix anything that’s considered unsalvageable."

"Sometimes, she’ll spend the whole day collecting knickknacks just to see what she can build out of them that evening."

"Genius has its price."

"Each one has a physiological trait that identifies him as the gene freak he is."

"Dark powers tutor them in forgotten arts of destruction."

"He’ll be deposed by forces he’s summoned up, but can’t put down."

"Turn your head and cough. Oooh! I’ve never seen it that color before."

"Not all of them are swashbuckling heroes, but all of them are delusional about their origins and their heroic prowess."

"The conflict of egos can become so intense that bystanders get hurt from the fallout."

"Dueling etiquette demands satisfaction."

"Anyone who hears this tale will swear that it is true."

"My good sir, adventure is my middle name!"

"What? You don't believe me?"

"Keep her pointed in the right direction, and she’ll masterfully eliminate your enemies."

"If you’re not careful, she’ll blow up right in your face."

"Any place populated by the desperate, frustrated or down-and-out is another good choice — not only does it make for a good place to hide, but it has its share of potential allies seeking vengeance. . . or potential victims at which to vent your anger."

"They’ll need a really powerful common enemy to unite them; otherwise, each will suspect the other of conspiracy."

"Many come from criminal backgrounds, broken homes, abject poverty or the sort of banal borderline existence that breeds cynicism and contempt for just about everyone."

"Each one has a surprising degree of truth to it."

"It controls all forces of order."

"The balance of the world will not be restored until we destroy everything that smells of stasis, stability or the status quo."

"Hey, nobody saw me do anything. Besides, he had it coming. . . he pissed me off. What? You talking to me? You talking to me?"

"Hey, nobody saw me do anything. Besides, he had it coming. . . he pissed me off."

"Hey, nobody saw me do anything."

"Besides, he had it coming. . . he pissed me off."

"What? You talking to me? You talking to me?"

"You want a piece of me?"

"Chant the creed, kid, and learn. . ."

"I shall seek revenge against those who prey upon my kind."

"I will survive so that I may breed."

"I must respect strength and exploit weakness."

"I shall grow stronger through conflict."

"I will learn from the mysteries of the spirit world."

"I will revel in the visions the spirits grant me."

"I shall nurture, instruct and aid the young."

"I will trust my own kind before I trust outsiders."

"When someone is responsible for injustice, I will make sure someone pays."

"Legality is a subjective concept at best."

"Fighting to survive is difficult enough."

"What else could heal the world?"

"They’re doomed to self-destruct."

"The day that the buildings come crashing down, I’ll dance in the streets."

"Survival comes first."

"Mankind’s days are numbered."

"The strong breed. The weak die. Does that sound harsh? That’s evolution."

"Instinct will tell you when to kill, so follow it."

"We need an army to overwhelm our enemies."

"I still do not know if this is wise."

"If only the strong breed, then you must prove your strength before you can reproduce."

"Don’t be some addle-witted wharf rat who breeds with any half-dead body in the sewers. You, soldier, are the paragon of your race."

"Such egotism!"

"That is nature's way."

"That is nature’s way. If the population of creatures in any one area is too high, a few can be killed or a great number will starve."

“Property is relative. If I can take it, it’s mine. If you can’t defend it, you don’t deserve to have it."

"They buy far more than they need, go to great lengths to defend what they have, and insist that they have the right to determine who owns what."

"If you own more than you can carry, you’re wasting what others can use."

"Betray others before you betray your own kind."

"We’re running into the world together, kid, so we’ve got

to stick together. You ready to go? Um. . . you first. . .”

"You ready to go? Um. . . you first. . .”

"We’re running into the world together, kid, so we’ve got

to stick together."

"I just feel this rage in my blood that’s been there since the dawn of time. And I just feel like acting on it."

"Show me your true face, and it’s my call whether I want to slash it off."

#rp memes #rp meme #rp starters #roleplay meme #roleplay memes #roleplay starters #ratkin #world of darkness #werewolf the apocalypse #out of shirt #okay to reblog #will answer in morning

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arcticdementor · 3 years

Link

Elites of a crumbling empire falling for an ecstatic cult fixated on a criminal publicly brutalized to death by the authorities, preaching a gospel obsessed with the salvation of the oppressed, whose fervent adepts desecrate the symbols of civic authority.

Are we in fourth-century Rome or the United States in 2020 AD? Would be hard to tell based on that description, wouldn’t it?

The Western mind is like a tuning fork calibrated to one frequency: the Christ story. Hit it with the right Christ figure, and it’ll just hum deafeningly in resonance.

It’s also essential to have the correct Roman centurion torturing our chosen Christ for the story to stick. Consider how up in arms this country has been with the Black Lives Matter movement around police violence, an undoubtedly noble goal. However, the number of those killed in one weekend of inner-city violence in Chicago outpaces the total number of unarmed Blacks killed nationwide by police in all of last year. One can’t help but conclude that the reason for one narrative of tragic violence going hyper-viral instead of another is that, in the America of 2021, the police are the ideal Roman centurions in the Christ narrative, irrespective of the actual source of most violence.

…

It’s an odd reflex when you think about it: most non-Western societies don’t spend much of their headspace finding oppressed categories of people and elevating them into sainthood before seeking to re-engineer society for their benefit in the name of cosmic completion. It’s an odd religion that makes a tortured criminal their symbol of divinity and plasters the cross he was murdered on everywhere, from the tops of their temples to (formerly) classrooms. The physical cross might be less common now than it once was, but the Christ symbol has never been more ubiquitous in our public discourse. We’re inventing new versions of Christ all the time.

…

This seems silly, but is wholly consistent with the regnant moral narrative. The only podium a public speaker can now assume is either that of the cross of victimhood itself, or that of a groveling penitent at its feet repenting for past wrongs. Every time someone begins a public pronouncement with the formula ‘As an X’, where X is some agreed-upon category of revered victimhood, they are snatching the crown of thorns off Christ’s head and putting it on themselves before approaching the microphone. It’s the sine qua non of public discourse among the circles most evangelical in their wokeness, and anyone without such a crown approaches a public forum at their peril.

…

Don’t get me wrong, the moral progression of Christianity has been impressive: from weird martyrology cult to languishing in the post-Roman Dark Ages to finally emerging as a world power that, very imperfectly and slowly, created a kinder and fairer world. It wasn’t Christian societies that invented the slavery they participated in, but it was Christian societies that invented the abolitionism that eventually did away with it. This Christian urge to dignify everyone, even lowly strangers, with moral worth is historically exceptional. Expanding the realm of social concern beyond the usual foci of the strong, the beautiful, and the powerful has created the world we see today. I’d rather live in a society that inherited Christianity’s moral compass, and so too would even most of the West’s critics, almost all of whom condemn the West’s supposed moral horrors while living snugly inside it.

…

Progressives and right-wing Christians aren’t ideological enemies, they’re co-religionists. Seen from outside the Christian worldview, this is a purely internecine conflict. Both avowed Christians and the woke activist agree on the moral script for our world, they merely disagree on the casting. Which Christ figure should we revere, the historical one as refracted by Orthodox Christianity that Dreher believes in, or updated and secularized ones like George Floyd and ‘demisexuals’?

Some part of me agrees with other Christian writers who try to defend the ‘classical liberal’ tradition from within Christianity, but they’re on a fool’s errand. They think they’re fighting some external enemy, perhaps one of the historical enemies of Christianity like paganism, but really they’re not. They’re fighting the very same Christ figure they believe in, just a different and more contemporary incarnation. They have no moral weapons against the New Christians (read: the wokesters), other than vague allusions to either traditionalism or covenantal nationhood, neither of which hold much water outside the pages of First Things or David French’s tweets.

#antonio garcía martínez

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anhed-nia · 4 years

Text

BLOGTOBER 10/8/2020: PELICAN BLOOD (2019)

If you are reading this and the present date is between October 8 and 11 of 2020, please consider buying a virtual ticket to see Katrin Gebbe’s PELICAN BLOOD, available on demand through the Nightstream festival:

https://watch.eventive.org/nightstream/play/5f6e7e78d6a9bf0036613fa3

I am about to discuss this movie and its conclusion in great detail, but it would be much better for a person to come to it in innocence--not because it’s so reliant on anything as gauche as surprise, but because it is so thoroughly excellent that wading through a movie review first would be like letting your dinner grow cold. And, it simply deserves our support.

When I saw PELICAN BLOOD last year at Fantastic Fest, it became one of my favorite movies before it was even over. I might admit that this was sort of a match made in heaven, as this movie checks almost every one of my personal boxes, but I don’t think my assessment of its value is a simple matter of personal prejudice. I’ve been haunted by it all these months, and deeply worried that somehow I might never see it again. When I discovered that it had landed on Nightstream, I was over the moon.

This is writer-director Katrin Gebbe's second feature, a fact that will astonish you when you see it. Last Blogtober, I wrote about her first feature TORE TANZT, which has the troubling english title NOTHING BAD CAN HAPPEN. That intense indie drama concerns a born-again christian punk who wishes for an opportunity to prove his devotion to god, and finds it in the form of a family that invites him in off the streets, and then proceeds to torture him. That's an oversimplification of what actually occurs, but it is a film that's hard to be brief about. It's cheap and a little rough around the edges, but it is deliberate, intense, and difficult to forget. (In fact it's supposed to be based on a true story, although I haven't managed to pick up that trail) When I first saw it, it certainly made me wonder what else that director might be up to, and I was astounded when I found out. 2019's PELICAN BLOOD emerged six years after TORE TANZT, with little in between besides a television episode and a segment in the anthology THE FIELD GUIDE TO EVIL, and yet Gebbe's artistic evolution is dumbfounding. Her themes are all unmistakably present--faith versus doubt, mystical versus metaphorical experience, and physical martyrdom--but exploded into a grand, elegant psychodrama that holds the viewer captive every minute of its two hours.

Celebrated german actress Nina Hoss plays Wiebke, a stable owner who trains police horses to tolerate the frightening conditions of a riot. She lives at the edge of her pasture, raising her tween daughter Nicolina (Adelia-Constance Giovanni Ocleppo) on her own. Wiebke has a talent for healing the wounded, or perhaps it's more of a calling; she raised Nicolina, a bulgarian orphan, into a bright, balanced, emotionally available tomboy, and the two of them joyfully anticipate the arrival of Nicolina's new adoptive sister. When little Raya arrives (Katerina Lipovska), she first presents as sweet, even solicitous, needing only a mother's love to fully bloom. However, as soon as she determines that she is welcome and wanted, she undergoes a disturbing transformation into a violent and unpredictable creature, possessed by an abject hatred. Wiebke recognizes that her new child is seriously traumatized, which activates her sense of purpose, and she pledges herself fully to the child's recovery--despite the admonishments of Raya's daycare, her doctors, and virtually everyone around them, that the little girl is beyond all but clinical help, and even that promises no guarantee of salvation. Refusing to give up, Wiebke makes a series of increasingly dangerous personal sacrifices in Raya's name, until finally she finds herself at the doorway to what some consider another world, but what is to others only madness.

Gebbe won Best Director in the main competition at Fantastic Fest, and it would have been a crime if this were otherwise. Her control over what are essentially forces of nature is humbling. Extracting a profoundly moving drama from a cast of adult actors is challenging enough on its own, but to get these terrifyingly convincing performances from children, evoking deep trauma and physical violence to self and others, is another level. As if this weren't enough, Gebbe adds animals into the mix, giving the story of Raya a parallel in the troubled career of a police horse who is considered a lost cause by all but Wiebke. The training scenes in which Wiebke guides the volatile animal through fire and smoke, while her own lifeforce is being progressively depleted by her new child, are as harrowing as anything having to do with parenthood, and Wiebke seems to take the horse just as seriously as her child. Friendly single dad Benedikt (Murathan Muslu) tries to flirt with the trainer by remarking on her unusual career, but she spits bitterly, "The horses are not the problem," giving us a glimpse of the philosophy that drives her.

Another of my favorite german films is Werner Herzog's 1976 short NO ONE WILL PLAY WITH ME. This funny and poignant story involves a bullied and neglected little boy, and it is preceded by a card displaying the adage "There are no bad children, only bad parents." This is the principle that drives Wiebke in work and life: Those who are seen as failures, have been failed by others. One has the sense that Wiebke sees herself in these wretches. She has no partner, and balks at questions about her relationship history, shying from physical affection even with people she knows and likes. A tell-tale scar graces one cheekbone; when she finally begins to welcome the benign Benedikt's advances, he strokes it instead of kissing her, acknowledging that he can see who she really is.

Wiebke tries to extend this same empathy toward Raya, refusing to let the child bait her into wrath and rejection. However, this show of pure faith and tolerance does not work, and the right approach becomes less clear as Raya begins to blame her mounting acts of vandalism, arson and assault on an evil entity that controls her will. A psychiatrist aprises Wiebke that this is the "magic period", in which the child uses magical thinking to divert feelings of guilt and responsibility. But, after a fashion, Wiebke begins to sense this malevolent presence as well. Is this etheric intrusion real? Or is she beginning to empathize with the child--with the experience of grappling with a damaged part of yourself--to the point of dissolving boundaries?

The title of the movie refers to a fable about a pelican whose chicks die, and she resurrects them by feeding them her own blood. This is a clear metaphor for Wiebke's trial with Raya, that becomes shockingly literal when, after endangering her home and relationships by prioritizing the new child, Wiebke places her own health on the line by taking an unregulated drug to give herself a bizarre advantage. When Wiebke discovers the shocking nature of Raya's original trauma, she experiments with the radical idea of treating the girl like a little baby, hoping to start from square one with her capacity to be mothered, and in the service of this dreadful proposition, Wiebke starts taking a lactation-inducing pill that proves to be an immediate risk to her health, and puts her in an even more perilous position with Raya.

Although it focuses on a preternaturally devoted mother, PELICAN BLOOD recalls what makes movies like HEREDITARY and WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN so potent. We have the idea that in becoming parents, we are perpetuating our own essence, extending our history and celebrating the precious connection of blood, which is supposed to impart an automatic same-ness. Unfortunately, this only shakes out to arrogance for many, denying the quirks of psychology, chemistry, and the unique impact of trauma--even if minor, or explainable as something benign--on a mind too young to fully comprehend the nature of the experience. Even without abuse in the home, anyone can have a child less like themselves than they could have ever imagined, for reasons beyond their own control. In all this, the child is innocent, and it is the duty of the parent to prioritize the child's feelings, over the vanity of wanting an heir to your own best qualities. Wiebke sacrifices not only her vanity, but potentially her very life, to show Raya love. When this blood sacrifice does not work, Wiebke finds herself facing the realm of alternative belief as a last resort.

The introduction of PELICAN BLOOD's folk horror element can seem a little left field, if you haven't noted the clues scattered throughout the film. Before the revelation of Raya's boogeyman, Wiebke begins to discover evidence of an old pagan tradition still being practiced around her proverbial neck of the woods. Soon, she tentatively entrusts herself and her child to a local witch, who puts them through a harrowing exorcism. Though the process is uncertain at first, its impact forces Wiebke into a direct acknowledgment of the entity harassing her daughter. And ultimately, it awakens in Raya a capacity for love.

While the reality of the supernatural in PELICAN BLOOD remains in question, I think the effect of this ambiguity is specifically meaningful. I usually scoff at any type of "was it all a dream?" nonsense, as this is a tactic employed by directors who think their greatest accomplishment should be getting one over on the audience. I don't see any inherent value in simply reversing the apparent meaning of things, just to make people feel stupid--and worse, this has trained modern audiences to try to defensively predict the least likely ending to any story, instead of just engaging with it emotionally as it plays out. For this reality-bending trick to be worth anything, one must be able to answer questions like, IF this was all a dream, THEN what meaning is added to the story?

In PELICAN BLOOD, the unresolved question of whether magic is real is of great relevance to the whole concept of belief. Human beings crave extranormal experience; we're deeply attracted to tales of ghosts, UFOs, mythical creatures, and parapsychological abilities. Even the skeptics among us enjoy arguing about these things, and many regular folks without eccentric interests read their horoscope "just for fun". Most telling of all is the enduring popularity of stories about the strange and unusual, which require no particular belief system from the audience; the fantasy of this extra dimension to our mundane lives is just so satisfying. Despite all the pleasure we get from these ideas, though, we tend to cling first and foremost to objective truth; we tell ourselves that if there is no "proof", then an outrageous thing cannot exist. But, this is actually contrary to many of our lived experiences. On the basest level, we delight at videos of insane parkour stunts, at the same time that we say these guys are "like" superheroes, but are actually just guys. My question is, what's the difference? If a person can achieve physical feats that most of us can never imagine attempting, then what difference does it make that this person was not bitten by a radioactive spider? If a fortune teller in a carnival is so good at "cold reading" strangers that she gives the effect of being able to read minds, then what is the appreciable difference between a carny and a "real psychic"? If a faith healer "just convinces" someone to become free from a chronic ailment, and the patient goes on to live a happier life, who cares if no "real magic" was in evidence? What is the difference between exorcism and hypnosis, if the end result is the same for a seriously disturbed child and her mother? The only difference appears to be some material confirmation of specific mystical forces and substances--which, admittedly, would be exciting on its own--but this would still only be an alternative version of the events that led up to the same "miraculous" result. We only worry about the existence of God and magic because our definitions of these things tend to be limited to what we think of as literal and scientific. But, if the correct effects manifest themselves, then all that is purely cosmetic. Belief is real. Faith works.

#blogtober #2020 #pelican blood #pelican blood 2020 #katrin gebbe #nina hoss #Adelia-Constance Giovanni Ocleppo #Murathan Muslu #Katerina Lipovska #drama #folk horror #witch #witchcraft #exorcism #possession

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ivendarea · 4 years

Text

The Kessem

The Traitorous Descendants

Banner art based on and supported by my Patrons ♥

The Kessem of north-western Atrana make up the majority of the Assadin population of Ivendarea. Led by Zerenda onto the shores of the Nyr’s homeland a little over 500 years ago, the peninsula has become their home as much as it is for the Nyr. Many came not only to conquer, but ironically to also escape the political instability in their homeland Astairus, which shortly after their settling down here fell and broke apart during a civil war. While it is true that war and battle lie in the Kessem’s blood, maybe the Assadin’s as a whole, a great majority of them are not in favour of most past battles fought on Ivendarea’s grounds and violent actions by the Omrai Omvalis.

Table of Contents:

Culture and History

Cultural Heritage

Historical Figures

Language and Dialect

Shared Values

Common Etiquette

Fashion

Art and Architecture

Ideals

Beauty Ideals

Courtship Ideals

Relationship Ideals

Continue reading below or on World Anvil

[Support the Ivendarea Project on Patreon]

Culture and History

Before the fall of Astairus the Kessem were the most influential monarchy of Atrana, with a large nation under their rule and great power over their neighbouring countries and vassals. The Kessem of Ivendarea who never got to know modern Atrana, where Astairus no longer exists and Zerenda’s bloodline has long died out, hold on to this memory of glorious days, striving to recreate this glory in their present. At the same time, they also keep in mind constantly how fragile power can be - and to what great responsibility it is tied.

Cultural Heritage

Kessem children are brought up with the virtues of great warriors and leaders, which go far beyond just physical and mental strength. To move forward in the eternal fight, one needs the ability to think and plan critically and strategically, to be determined and passionate, and to not back down in the face of peril. They are taught to become the best, strongest version of themselves. Conflict, fighting, and war are present in Kessem culture even in comparatively peaceful Ivendarea. Duels are commonplace when one party severely wronged another - in Atrana these duels can be fought to the death depending on the severity of the insult. More commonly though all participants are unarmed or only carry blunt weapons so that pure physical strength and willpower make the difference in the outcome of the fight.

Symbolic fights are also carried out as a coming of age rite. Even in Atrana they are evolving into more of a symbolic ritual with no real stakes, but in ancient days actual fights were carried out between young adults who had to challenge a seasoned warrior to prove that they were ready to face the responsibilities of adulthood.

The outcome of these ritualistic fights wasn’t and still isn’t what mattered though. It was important only that the young adult was ready to face this intimidating challenge on their own, demonstrating initiative and the capability to make tough decisions. This is one of the main reasons why the arena of Westpoint is particularly popular among young Kessem. While battles to the death are forbidden, many young people love to fight to demonstrate their strength on these proving grounds, earn decent coin in tournaments, and bathe in the cheers of the watching crowd.

Historical Figures

Within Ivendarea’s borders Zerenda is without a doubt the most famous Kessem: he is the conqueror of Ivendarea. As the youngest of three siblings and prince of Astairus he always felt misplaced and not in his father’s favour. Rebelling a lot against the king’s authority he received an ultimatum: to conquer Ivendarea for Astairus. Zerenda though had his own plans, and instead of handing over the conquered nation he decided to keep it himself, renouncing his father’s authority and the continent Atrana as a whole. He is an outcast, a rebel, and a symbol of hope and new beginnings to those who followed him.

Since then Zerenda’s descendants sat on Ivendarea’s throne, the current ruler being Leoros. He is the first Ivendarean ruler to marry a foreign monarch, in this case princess Therstina of the neighbouring nation Darthonis. Leoros’ older brother Alund was actually his predecessor, but he died when Leoros was still an infant. Alund led the Assadin forces against Iovana Rava during the the Revolution War and emerged victorious, securing his people’s regency in Ivendarea.

Ulden, father of Alund and Leoros, was famously murdered by the Omrai Omvalis led by Erraia and Aella Panthil’y; his murder in the long run caused the Revolution War and Maan Garth’s split from the mainland of Ivendarea.

Language and Dialect

Like all Atraneans the Kessem’s native language is Azash. The majority of Kessem in Ivendarea are also fluent in Trade, but only people coming from an educated background speak more languages than that.

Shared Values

Coming from a continent shaped by war, many of the Kessem’s traditions and customs revolve around the so-called “eternal fight” that must be fought. In Ivendarea war is much less commonplace and so much of the Kessem’s old rites of passage involving fighting and physical strength aren’t as commonly practised anymore. They have evolved into symbolic, ceremonial rites signifying important steps taken in their lives.

The “eternal fight” is, in the simplest way, life and survival. The struggles an individual faces growing up, taking on new responsibilities, facing challenges in the shape of people with clashing opinions, personal tragedies, disasters, disease, but also the many small victories in everyday life are part of the eternal fight.

The Kessem are sometimes seen as very stubborn, but also immensely enduring of even the worst of peril and challenges, because every setback they treat as a means to test their strength, an obstacle they are willing to overcome at all costs.

Common Etiquette

Kessem are open and upfront, they are not in favour of intrigues and secrecy. Their keen sense of honour is reflected in the way they lead their interpersonal relationships and the way they fight their battles. Winning a Kessem’s trust is difficult, but once it is earned, they will honour and hold on to it - they are the most loyal friends and allies one could wish for.

Fashion The Kessem stem from a portion of Atrana dominated by desert, with little water and vegetation but rich mineral veins buried in the earth. Since most of them are at home in Ivendarea’s warm south, their clothing is light and airy. Colours are bold and warm, and their clothes often feature sharp geometric shapes reminiscent of their bold attitude.

Similarly their jewellery clashes with the long, airy tunics, resembling armour almost, as it is forged from shards of metal, woven from fabric scraps, and then pieced together to create a varied mosaic of shapes and textures.

Notably, many Kessem also wear body- and face paint or are tattooed. Body paint is often applied for religious and other ceremonies, or simply for aesthetic reasons. Common symbols are forces of nature, such as the sun, or paints are layered thickly on top of each other until they crack, resembling the dry earth of their old homeland Astairus. Tattoos, being permanent changes to the body, often bear much deeper and personal meaning, such as overcoming a grave tragedy or achieving a great victory. They might also show allegiance to a certain family or faction, but those tattoos are more commonly seen on Atrana nowadays, not in Ivendarea.

A middle-class Ivendarean Kessem donning face and bodypaint depicting a radiant; an inhabitant of Maan Ganyr or a surrounding village as her lightweight clothes suggest.

Art & Architecture

The Kessem are not necessarily known as artists or scholars, but instead as outstanding engineers. The love for mathematics is reflected in geometric patterns found on clothing, in floor tiles, roofs, paintings, or tattoos.

Ideals

Beauty Ideals

Like many Assadin the Kessem pride themselves to be talented warriors. An athletic and strong physique is commonly promoted and favoured, no matter the gender. Most Kessem have thick hair, from straight to pronounced curls and everything in-between, and they prefer to wear it long while putting a lot of care and effort into keeping it healthy. Long, natural hair to them symbolizes nature’s beauty - and they honour how nature created them by letting their hair grow freely.

Reasons to cut one’s long hair short may vary overall. According to legend, Zerenda cut off his hair, even shaved his head, after renouncing his allegiance to Astairus and Atrana. Similarly, after severe changes in one’s life people may symbolically cut their hair - the more impactful the event, the more hair is cut off. Another reason can be the donation of one’s hair at a temple. Hair as a religious sacrifice can express the hope for a good harvest, giving up a part of oneself to show allegiance to the forces of nature, or might be an expression of gratitude for great personal luck or accomplishments. Depending on which temple the hair is donated to, it can be treated differently. A Sun Temple might simply burn it in a sacrificial ritual. The priests of a Rain Temple often offer the fabrication of wigs for people who lost their hair due to accident or illness. In a Stone Temple or Tree Temple items of everyday use are created, for example fine brushes, rope, fabric, and so on.

Courtship Ideals

An aspect of business and social standing is an ever-unchanged part of Kessem courtship. It isn’t unheard of that parents find partners for their children and arrange unions for them, but in Atrana this is much more common than in Ivendarea. Courtship is polite and never too personal, honouring personal space. To outsiders it may sometimes appear stiff or cold, but it is considered common courtesy to not get too personal until both parties involved have agreed to deepen the relationship.

Relationship Ideals

In Atrana and Ivendarea alike it is still common practise to pursue long-term relationships that further an individual’s own social standing and connections. Particularly when it comes to marriages, they are mostly treated like a business relationship rather than an emotional bond. Both parties must gain something from the marriage that brings them further in life - love can be a part of a marriage, but it isn’t essential. Hence, even if it isn’t common, it is socially accepted even for married partners to have one or several lovers on the side.

In Ivendarea marriages out of love are more common than in Atrana, but they also mostly occur among people of lower social standing with less influence. A marriage is always a bond between two people, a contract is written beforehand and signed by both parties who have equal rights and standing in the relationship - hence why it can be used as a steppingstone to a higher social standing for the socially or politically lower-ranking partner. It is not completely unheard of that individuals are married to several partners at once - all with their separate contracts - but it is a rare occurrence tied to a lot of bureaucratic effort. Terms and conditions in marriage contracts vary - they might revolve around politics, number of children (if any) to result from the union, business relationships, money, worldly possessions, and so on, and are as individual as the people involved themselves. Also, if desired, marriages can be agreed upon for only a limited amount of time, until a specific goal is reached - e.g. a certain amount of children has been born or a specific wealth has been reached, etc. - and then end with the partners going their separate ways or extending the contract. In the same manner both partners have the right to annul a marriage at any given point and by this divorce their partner.

Thanks so much for reading ♥

Read more about Ivendarea on World Anvil

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#original story #fantasy setting #worldbuilding #fantasy #fantasy writing #article: peoples #the kessem #the assadin

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portraitoftheoddity · 5 years

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A Fic Writer’s Guide to Cold Weather Whump

Maybe you got “Hypothermia” on your hurt/comfort bingo square. Maybe you want an excuse for your OTP to cuddle together for warmth. For whatever reason, you’re writing a fic where the cold is the enemy for your characters. But... maybe you aren’t especially familiar with the perils of cold weather.

I rambled a lot about hiding tracks in snow in this post and got some feedback from folks who had never encountered snow, which made me realize that this guide might be handy for writers who live in warm climates!

(Please note that I am not a professional and this information is presented for writing purposes, not actual medical or survival advice)

What Are We Dealing With - Exposure Conditions

The two biggest dangers for characters stuck out in the cold are Hypothermia and Frostbite.

HYPOTHERMIA -- the condition of dangerously low body temperature. Normal body temperature is around 98.6 F (37 C). Hypothermia occurs as your body temperature falls below 95 F (35 C). Usually hypothermia is a danger in freezing temperatures, but it’s possible to get it in the 30-50ºF range if you’re wet or not dressed properly for an extended period of time. Basically, any time your body loses heat faster than it produces it, hypothermia can happen.

Three main ways to lose body heat (apart from regular heat loss through radiation) are:

Direct Contact with something cold -- A character chained to a cold stone wall, or a block of ice, for instance. If you’re in contact with something that is very good at conducting your body heat away from you, rather than insulating, you’ll chill down faster. (Important for characters with cybernetics or metal limbs! Lookin’ at you, Winter Soldier...)

Water/Moisture -- a character taking a dunk in ice water, even for a matter of seconds, is in a serious situation. You can freeze to death very fast in cold water, and even if you’re just wet, moisture conducts heat away from the body. Clothes made of cotton that are wet from snow (cotton is the enemy in winter!) or damp from sweat are also going to contribute to heat loss; a character that’s been sweating from exertion will get chilled quickly once they stop moving.

Wind -- Wind whisks warmth away from your body, cooling you down faster. In cold climates, you often have a weather forecast that includes windchill. This is because, even if the ambient temperature is, say, 25ºF, with 25 MPH wind, you could lose body heat as fast as if you were standing in an ambient temperature of 9ºF (this would be a windchill of 9ºF).

So your character locked in a walk-in freezer will lose heat through radiation, but it will take them longer to become hypothermic than say, a character who fell through the ice of a frozen lake, or a character wandering through a snowstorm with no coat -- even if the actual temperature is the same in the freezer, the water, and the snowstorm.

Other risk factors for hypothermia include age (young children and the elderly may fall victim to hypothermia faster), exhaustion, malnutrition, and alcohol (booze makes you feel warm, but it also makes your blood vessels expand so you lose heat faster!).

So, what happens when you’re hypothermic?

Symptoms of mild hypothermia (core temperature of 95ºF) include shivering, and rapid pulse and breathing, minor clumsiness. Your character may also start to experience low blood sugar, exacerbating other symptoms as they develop.

As your character gets colder, moderate hypothermia symptoms may include confusion, slurred speech, and loss of coordination. At a core temperature of 91ºF (33ºC), amnesia/memory loss can happen.

No longer shivering, and decreased heartrate, pulse, and blood pressure are signs of severe hypothermia. Reflexes may no longer be present, eyes are dilated, person is incoherent/irrational, and hallucinations can happen. At 82ºF (28ºC) a person will likely lose consciousness, and can expect a heartrate of 30 beats per minute.

Below 70ºF (21ºC), profound hypothermia occurs, and potentially death. (The record for the lowest body temperature at which an adult has been known to survive is 56.7ºF (13.7ºC))

In moderate-to-severe hypothermia, paradoxical undressing can happen -- this when someone abruptly feels warm and starts to pull their clothes off, often speeding up the process of hypothermia to a fatal conclusion. Another strange behavior that happens in severe hypothermia is terminal burrowing -- a primitive, instinctual urge to find and curl up in an enclosed space like a hibernating animal in some last-ditch effort to survive.

A severely hypothermic character may appear dead. They may be rigid, blue, and curled up in a fetal position. Another character can determine if they’re alive by trying to open their arm up from the fetal position; if it curls back up, the person is alive. Dead muscles won’t contract!

Because hypothermia inhibits brain function and causes confusion, people with hypothermia often don’t realize they’re hypothermic, and then proceed to have poor judgement, further endangering themselves. If you think that REALLY STUPID decision to go back out in the blizzard is out of character for your protagonist -- not when they’re hypothermic, it’s not!

But cold weather danger doesn’t stop with hypothermia. When you’re cold, your body will prioritize keeping your brain and your core warm by shutting off circulation to your extremities. This increases your chances of survival, but it also puts you at greater risk of:

FROSTBITE -- tissue damage caused by extreme cold, either from the formation of ice crystals within tissue or loss of circulation. Frostbite typically affects fingers and toes, though it can also affect ears and the tip of one’s nose.

Frostbite is a risk when a character is exposed to severe cold for a long period of time, when a character is out in the elements and there’s cold plus wind, or if they’re at high altitude. If you’re committed to realism but don’t wanna have to write your characters dealing with frostbite, consider giving them adequate gloves and boots!

First degree frostbite, or frostnip, is a mild condition that is reversible without lasting damage. When you have frostnip, your skin turns white or red and cold to the touch, and may begin to feel numb or experience a prickling sensation. It hurts like a bitch on rewarming (you might have some swelling and redness for a while), but it should be fine within a few hours, as long as there’s no further exposure. It’s possible to experience peeling, such as with a sunburn, in the following weeks. If your character is out in extreme cold that they aren’t dressed properly for, frostnip at the very least is likely (I’ve gotten it just from trying to dig my car out of the snow with bare hands for 10 minutes on a really cold day).

Second degree frostbite, or superficial frostbite is more serious. Skin might start to change color, turning red, or very pale and waxy, or even blue-ish. The area might be hard to the touch and swollen, indicating the formation of ice crystals in the skin (you know how your body is 70% water? Guess what water does when it gets real cold!). Rewarming is painful, and will result in some really nasty fluid-filled blisters, which are at risk for infection. You can recover fully from superficial frostbite, though it’s also possible that the affected area may have enduring cold sensitivity, pain or numbness.

Third/fourth degree frostbite, or deep frostbite, is when we start losing body parts. At this stage, not only is the skin affected, but also the underlying tissues. Skin will look blue-ish and mottled, the affected area will likely be numb and not move properly. This is when tissue death and permanent damage happens. On rewarming, there’s a risk of blood clots, and the frozen area will be black and hard and may require eventual amputation. Severely damaged/dead tissue may fall off on its own (auto-amputation) within a couple months.

Frostbite is treated with rewarming, but only start rewarming if the tissue won’t be refrozen again! More on treatment below.

(Side note: if you ever find yourself with either second or third degree frostbite, please seek medical attention immediately!)

Cold and Other Injuries & Illnesses

What if your character is already hurt before they wind up in a winter not-so-wonderland?

Well, hypothermia is a pretty big deal for trauma patients, and adding hypothermia on top of a serious injury reduces survival rates significantly. Part of this is due to the double-whammy that the body’s vascular system is now enduring, with stress from injury & blood loss as well as from cold. Another part of it is that hypothermia can impair clotting mechanisms, leading to more internal bleeding. A character who has suffered from physical trauma is also more likely to develop hypothermia before an uninjured character, as shock impedes the body’s ability to control temperature.

The stress of cold on the body can also exacerbate sickness. Frostbite and hypothermia weaken the body and its immune system, so a character already dealing with illness or infection will likely get worse, even if the cold itself isn’t going to make them ill outside of hypothermia. (Being chilly isn’t going to spontaneously give you pneumonia).

Surviving in the Cold - Staying Warm & Alive

So the temperature is getting pretty cold. What should your characters do?

If they’re prepared, they should be wearing layers of appropriate warm clothing and have plenty of gear. But since we’re talking about fic and we’re all here for the drama, let’s just assume these idiots are unprepared and are therefor gonna be having a bad time.

If they’re outside in the elements, their priority should be finding shelter. They want someplace ideally warm, dry, and out of the wind -- though I’d recommend starting with out of the wind above all else. If they’re in the wilderness and there’s no convenient abandoned cabins, a natural cave, or a pine tree with lots of low, thick branches might form a shelter. If it’s snowing, they can also build a snow cave or snow shelter -- fresh snow is actually a really good insulator, and while a snow cave isn’t exactly toasty, it’s a lot better than being out in the wind!

Once shelter is achieved, your characters will probably want to make a fire, if possible, to warm up by. However, if there’s nothing dry and flammable around, a fire might not be possible, and if bad guys are chasing them, either the light or smoke from a fire might give away their position (though if they need rescue, that might be a good thing!)

If your characters aren’t in the wilderness, they’ll still want to look for shelter that’s out of the wind if they’re outdoors, and any possible means of insulating body heat. Layering as much as possible is good -- if they don’t have enough layers of clothes, they can layer newspaper or plastic bags between what clothes they have to create extra insulation. Plastic is a good insulator, and also protects them from getting wet (though they wanna be careful about wrapping too much of themselves in plastic in case they start to sweat -- that’s also dangerous!). I’ve definitely worn plastic bags as liners inside my boots to protect and insulate my feet in winter. If your characters need to sleep in the cold, finding some insulation between their bodies and the cold ground will help them.

Your characters are also going to have to worry about food and drink. The human body uses up a LOT of energy trying to stay warm, so your characters may be suffering from low blood sugar on top of everything else. Dehydration is also a concern. Melting snow is an easy enough source of water, but you’ll want to have them melt it before drinking, instead of just eating snow. Eating snow chills you from the inside and uses up valuable energy!

Warming Your Characters Up - Treatment

Once your poor frozen darlings are out of the elements, they’re gonna wanna warm up!

If your characters are in wet clothes, they’re going to want to get out of those -- if possible -- to dry them off. Wet clothes -- especially cotton -- leech away precious body heat. (If your face just lit up at the idea of getting your characters nekkid, my friend, it gets better!)

Getting a hypothermic character out of the cold is step one, but warming them up is step two. Placing them somewhere warm and dry and wrapping them with blankets to trap their own meager body heat against them will help -- google “how to make a hypothermia wrap” for directions on how to turn your character into a toasty blanket burrito. If their own body is seriously chilled, adding external warmth might be needed (note: warmth, not heat. Too much direct, intense heat can cause a shock to the system! Hot baths are a BIG NO) --

If they have access to warm hot compresses/chemical heat packs, placing those in the groin, neck and chest areas will help rewarm a person.

Consider giving one of your characters a metal canteen or water bottle -- they’ll be able to fill this with snow and then stick it in their fire to melt the snow and warm it for drinking and a source of heat they can hold to their body. Sipping warm water will help them warm up internally!

In absence of other options: NAKED CUDDLING. Another person’s direct body heat via skin-to-skin contact will help warm up your character (and makes for great UST).

If your characters have been hospitalized and have severe hypothermia, they may be treated with blood rewarming (pumping the blood out of the body, warming it up, and pumping it right back in) or warm intravenous fluids.

Hypothermic characters should also be kept awake, if possible, until safely warmed. Feeding them is also going to help! Give them calories to burn, and hydrate them up!

If they are severely-to-profoundly hypothermic and are struggling with their breathing, rescue breathing timed with the hypothermic person’s breathing can provide supplemental oxygen and, more importantly, heated air going directly into the person’s body core (rather then the cold environmental air).

For characters with frostbite -- there’s the temptation to have them rub warmth back into their extremities since we seek heat from friction, but they may damage themselves further this way. Rubbing a frostbite-affected area will cause additional injury. The best way to warm frostbitten skin is with lukewarm water, though you can also warm frostbitten fingers by tucking them into your armpits to warm them with your own core body heat, or blowing warm breath on them. Intense direct heat from heating pads or a fire are NOT a great idea. Since the tissue is numb, frostbitten patients may experience burns from direct heat sources without realizing.

If your character is frostbitten badly enough to have blisters, they will want to loosely and gently bandage the affected area if possible.

Frostbitten skin should only be rewarmed if there’s no risk of refreezing, since freezing and thawing repeatedly is gonna really hurt your character (or, I dunno, maybe that’s part of your whump plan, in which case -- go for it!!)

Obviously, you can write your whumpfic as realistically or as unrealistically as you damn well please, and you can choose to have your characters make bad choices that go against conventional wisdom and medical recommendations. This guide mainly provides suggestions if you wanna incorporate realistic details one way or another, but ultimately, it’s your story to tell however you want. Have fun, and stay warm!

Additional Resources:

Windchill chart: https://www.weather.gov/media/safety/windchillchart3.pdf

Frostbite calculator: https://public.tableau.com/profile/adam.crahen#!/vizhome/BabyitscoldoutsideWindChillFrostBite/Brrrrrr

How to Build a Shelter: https://adventure.howstuffworks.com/survival/wilderness/how-to-build-a-shelter.htm

#long post for mobile #hypothermia #whump #fic resource #writing resource #cold weather #frostbite

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inthefallofasparrow · 4 years

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Article via Medium

“I was a police officer for nearly ten years and I was a bastard. We all were.”

“This essay has been kicking around in my head for years now and I’ve never felt confident enough to write it. It’s a time in my life I’m ashamed of. It’s a time that I hurt people and, through inaction, allowed others to be hurt. It’s a time that I acted as a violent agent of capitalism and white supremacy. Under the guise of public safety, I personally ruined people’s lives but in so doing, made the public no safer… so did the family members and close friends of mine who also bore the badge alongside me.”

“But enough is enough.”

“The reforms aren’t working. Incrementalism isn’t happening. Unarmed Black, indigenous, and people of color are being killed by cops in the streets and the police are savagely attacking the people protesting these murders.”

“American policing is a thick blue tumor strangling the life from our communities and if you don’t believe it when the poor and the marginalized say it, if you don’t believe it when you see cops across the country shooting journalists with less-lethal bullets and caustic chemicals, maybe you’ll believe it when you hear it straight from the pig’s mouth.”

Article via Medium

(click link through to Medium or ‘keep reading’ to continue)

“WHY AM I WRITING THIS