thechroniclesofwriting

[thechroniclesofwriting]

‬If anyone has time, please take a look at Ellen’s story. As a sufferer of endometriosis myself, I would like to say I understand her pain. But the reality is that I don’t. This level of distension is almost unheard of, and she must be in agony. Excision surgery is hard enough to obtain as it is, let alone in pandemic conditions.

I’d like to think that one day, if I asked for help, it would be given. I’m appalled that someone needs to request money for a surgery in Australia. Especially one like this, which is so life threatening. Make no mistake, this will be causing serious damage in her body.

I can’t donate a grand, I can’t change government policy, and I can’t fight for her from within a hospital (yet). But what I can do, is share her story on every platform I have. Please, if you have time, do the same. If you have a spare $5, it would be greatly appreciated.

EDIT: I don’t actually know Ellen. I’ve never met her. I simply read about her story, and once I verified it, I was heartbroken for her.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-fund-ellen039s-endometriosis-surgery?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=m_pd+share-sheet

[thechroniclesofwriting]

literally all of online “stan twitter” language is just aave that’s been popularized and generalized by nonblacks to the point where black people are the ones who look out of pocket for using words we came up with because funny internet persona #23904378 wants to use “deadass” and “finna” in every other sentence

[thechroniclesofwriting]

Hot take: anyone who is refusing to wear a mask, follow restrictions or socially distance, is ableist. Health is a privilege, one that lots of people, both young and old, are not graced with. It is wildly insulting to the disabled/chronic illness community, and incredibly entitled to assume that you’re young, healthy, and will be able to fight Covid off.

I’m utterly dumbfounded by some of the reactions I have heard about. Why on earth would you put your health on the line? Why would you even consider that? Do you not realise how much of a precious commodity your health it is? Do you have no idea what it’s like to have your health taken away from you? Because it’s not pretty and it’s not fun - to watch, or to experience.

So believe you me, if I could have prevented my fibromyalgia, my endometriosis, my depression, I would have, no matter the cost. Good lord, if something a simple as a mask could have reduced my chances of becoming ill...I would be wearing several. Chronic illnesses are hell, and they steal away your control and your agency. No one wants that. Wear a goddamn mask, wash your hands, and stay six feet away from me.

[thechroniclesofwriting]

TW: racism, bullying, brief mention of my own ED.

A couple of days ago, I was thinking how I originally got involved in the BLM movement. I remembered this story, which was my turning point, and I wanted to share. I want to say that this is not me tooting my own horn or saying I did a great thing. I did a decent thing for family. More than anything else, this is about my insurmountable white ignorance before this happened to me.

tl;dr: Had an insight into the bias of the world that POC live in. It made me a better person. So POC, I am asking you to call me out. I’m going to work really hard on making myself better, and the burden of that is on me. But if you’ve got something to say to me, say it. You’re helping me evolve, you’re helping me to better support you. I want to be the best ally I can possibly be. It will not be taken with offence, it will be taken with thanks.

For context, I am the oldest child of all my cousins (there are eight of us), by about 6 years. One Christmas, I told one of my cousins, a girl (exactly) a decade younger than me, that I would be there for her, no matter what. I mean, they all knew that, but I really wanted to reiterate it to her. I think that every older cousin has one younger one that to them, that is their absolute baby. P was that for me. Sure, I love and adore and would happily care for (for free) all of my cousins (even the 5 y-o), but despite the age gap, we just...clicked. I knew P was having a hard time at school, and I shared my own stories of bullying and eating disorders and all sorts of other awful things. I wanted her to know she wasn’t alone. I never really expected her to take me up on it - she was beautiful (like, crazy stunning), sociable and clever. At that age, I was short and busty, had cystic acne, greasy hair, untreated endometriosis, glasses, braces, my hobby was reading and I was quick to react when provoked. Put simply, I was an unattractive nerd. But she was tall and lithe, clever and calm, blessed with perfect skin, teeth and eyesight (drat her). In my ignorance, I assumed that she’d be one of the pretty girls that succeeded in sociability, *as well as* academics. And oh fucking boy I was wrong.

P rang me about two months later from her mum’s phone. She‘d stolen it, and was hiding under the bed, in her bedroom. We chatted for a bit, and then, after a moments silence, she whispered down the phone that she was being bullied. Her voice was so scared, it was awful to even listen to. As I gently asked her to talk about it, I realised why she was scared. She wasn’t being bullied like I was (I was a nerd, and I went through puberty before all my friends - meaning boobs and extra weight). Her type of bullying was so, so much worse. Her bullies were picking on her smarts, sure, but their main target was her skin.

Her mother, my Dad’s sister, is a specific type of Irish white - we burn when we think about the sun.

But her dad is Indian. He’s one of the most generous, kind, and intelligent people I have ever met. But these kids had packages that down into one thing...his brown skin.

She was 8 years old.

The girls from her school were telling her to ‘go back to the streets where she belonged’. They were following her on her walk home after school, because they ‘couldn’t believe that she lived in a house’. They told her she was ugly and dirty because she was brown. But the worst part, was that she didn’t want to tell anyone because she was *ashamed* of her own damn skin and her own damn heritage. I was utterly heartbroken for her. I wanted to drive the 3 hours to her home just to hug her. I also wanted throw those tiny bitches out a window. I couldn’t, as I was pretty ill myself, but let me tell you, rage is a good motivator to get well. Incredibly, I was okay enough to drive to see her two weeks later.

When I eventually got there, I had a secondary quiet chat with her mum (I had called her after I had hung up with P, to give her a heads up). She had dealt with the whole situation. Personally I think she was much calmer than I ever could have been - I was seeing red. I think that she too was furious, but she’s always been good at keeping her emotions in check. The situation had been resolved with the school, and the girls were seriously reprimanded and given a weeks worth of curriculum on racism. But the whole thing stuck with me. I think it was because though we are so similar (she’s also a sarcastic asshole) my bullies had never said anything like this. No one had ever picked on my *colour* (lest I was sunburned). I realised that if I was a POC, my torment could’ve been so much worse, and that’s what my baby had to endure.

That was my wake up call. That was the day the concept of privilege hit me square in the face. The irony of the situation was, her parents are incredibly well off. More so than my own. Her dad is thrice a doctor (he graduated in India, had to retake his exams in both England, where he met my aunt, and again in Australia, where they live now) and is a highly sought after radiologist. But even that that still didn’t protect her. The day I heard her little voice break down the phone line, is the day I realised no POC was safe until we had systemic change.

Next year, they’re moving from their town, which is three hours away, to the town my family and I live in. I’m really excited. It’ll be nice to pick the girls up from school, to treat them to McDonalds on the way home, and to look after them when their parents are away. I’ve got a little fold out bed in my tiny apartment for one of them, and the other can sleep on the sofa bed. I’ll get to shower then with love because I’ll be *present*. But mostly I’m excited because, for the first time ever, our weekly check-in chats will be face to face. I’ll be able to hug her on the spot. I’ll be able to hold her if she cries. I’ll be able to congratulate her on her achievements, rather than woo-ing down the phone line. And yeah, I’ll also be close enough to throw any prospective little turds out the schools cloisters windows.

Actively wanting to learn about racial injustice, changed my life. I can’t imagine feeling like my skin colour was a target of hatred, even in Australia. It terrifies me that one day, my babies might go to America, but I know I can’t wrap them in bubble wrap.

So here’s my pledge. I know I don’t know your pain. I certainly don’t feel your pain. I am still an outsider looking in, and I always will be. But I want to help. I want to learn. Please push me, please correct me, please call me out. I think that I am very lucky in that this is personal for me but I am so very privileged that this comes without danger to my own being.

Today, P is 14, her sister is 11, and they’re both strong and clever and beautiful and wicked funny. They’re just at that age where I’m old and uncool, but that’s okay. I like being embarrassing. Even if they don’t know it, they’ve given me a gift. I’ve been given a tiny, horrible, painful insight into *every* mother and father and sister and brother and cousin and grandparent and spouse and friend and colleague who is scared for someone else in the US (and beyond) right now.

I want to be better. Help me be better. I don’t think that if I follow the usual politically correct limitations, I’m fine. I want to be more than fine. I want to be voting for women of colour and marching with the movement. I want to be more that a black tile on an Instagram page. I desperately don’t want to be the girl who assumes that bc my best friend, and cousins, are POC, I’m immune. I’m not. I want to be an ally, one who passes the mic, who steps aside, who says that ‘it’s not about me’.

So this is my rant and this is my promise. I promise I will learn. I promise I will take criticism. I promise that I will choose from POC businesses over cheaper options. I promise that next (Australian) election, I will vote for a person of colour. I promise I will protest and make signs and send politicians letters and sign petitions. I promise will actively search out new information to educate myself with. I promise I will fight past this trend, past a black tile on social media. I promise I will not walk away. Followers, please hold me accountable, always.

Having said all of this. I truly believe in voting with your wallet. So, if anyone knows any POC run organisations, businesses, stores, political movements, protests, artists, designers or anything else, I would be forever grateful if you could link me to them. I’m a weirdly organised person, and I’ve started Christmas shopping. This year my family is only doing Christmas presents that are made/created/run by POC. I know there’s a chance that we’ll all find one website and ordering from there, which is great, but I want to broaden my gift-giving horizons. If you’re a creator, I really really want to see your work. Thus far, I have one painting, by an indigenous Australian artist, for my mum.

[thechroniclesofwriting]

Does anyone else get the feeling that he wants someone to sweep in and say ‘oh sweetie, don’t worry, we’ll sort it all out and we’ll make them be nicer to you’

No, Trump, it’s not that the SCOTUS doesn’t like you. It’s that they are patriots, committed to upholding our Constitution and our Democracy. Not a bad thing for them to “like” our Constitution more than they like you. We need more smart, courageous, and principled patriots to save our country. 

[thechroniclesofwriting]

Has anyone else ever thought about *how much* Lily Potter had to calm herself down between Snape dying and seeing Harry?

Like, either the dude hadn’t made his way into the afterlife yet, or she has inhuman control on her emotions (which I wouldn’t be surprised about considering her husband and her husbands best friend/other husband).

If you don’t think that she was ready to beat the utter shit out of her childhood friend, you are *wrong*. Snape almost definitely rocked up expecting a hug or some thanks for protecting Harry, and Lily almost definitely launched herself at him punching and kicking and biting and slapping because he spent THE LAST SEVEN YEARS ACTIVELY BULLING HER SON.

Dude even laid hands on him, do you know what my mother would do if a teacher laid hands on me? M u r d e r. If he wasn’t already dead, Lily would’ve killed him. And you can bet your cute ass that Sirius was cheering her on. Because let’s be honest, he knew that this day was coming from the second he saw the way Snape treated Harry. His first thought was ‘how dare you treat my godson like that’ and his second though was ‘man I hope there’s an afterlife because Lily is going to whoop your ass’.

BUT THEN she has to go from Lily-Evans-rage-monster to Lily-Potter-loving-calm-mother. Assuming the Harry Potter afterlife runs on an approximately similar scale of time to reality, she had what, half an hour to compose herself? Less than five minutes to realise what Harry was about to do? Man if someone treated my kid even half as badly as Snape treated Harry, I’d be picking them out of my teeth for weeks.

The only other possible explanation is that Dumbledore hung around at the station to meet Snape too. He was like hey, great that you’re here, but the Potters have got some shit to do and Lily says she’ll deal with you later, so just chill on the train for a bit. Then Dumbledore greets Harry, they have their chat, and he goes back to Snape. And Snape is all ‘wait why is Lily dealing with me’ and Albus looks him dead in the face as says ‘you helped to save him, yes, but you didn’t seriously think that there wouldn’t be consequences for the way you treated her son, did you?’

And then Snape gets to spend a lovely train ride with Dumbledore absolutely shitting his pants, because he, more than anyone, knows how powerful and painful the wrath of Lily Evans and Potter can be.

[thechroniclesofwriting]

If you will not do it for the Brotherhood, then do it for me.

[thechroniclesofwriting]

I love the idea of a Marauders afterlife. Purely because

A) there are a lot of people who have a lot of very violent things to say to Wormtail. And if you think Sirius is the one he should be scared of, you are INCORRECT. It’s Lily, followed closely by Mrs Potter, then James, then probably Tonks honestly, but more because I reckon Mr Potter is chill as hell and she’d take the betrayal of her cousin/maurader-in-laws very seriously.

B) Wormtail tries to butter up Fred. ‘I’m Scabbers, see, look, we’re family’. He wouldn’t even comprehend that Fred is one half of the Weasley troublemakers, a giant Harry Potter supporter and a full blooded redhead. Fred punches him in the face, a) for betrayal, b) how dare a middle aged man sleep in the same bed as his younger brother

C) Alice and Frank Longbottom! Finally passing away! Regaining their lost and broken memories! Talking to old friends! Seeing Neville happy! Reminiscing with the Potters about their boys! Lily telling Alice that don’t worry, I’ll fill you in on everything, we watched out for him too!

D) Tonks. And. Lily. I don’t care if you’re canon or shipping but imagine. Lily knows all their darkest fears and their most humiliating moments. There is literally NO ONE more likely to convince Tonks to turn into Snape at any random time and just pop out around corners. Not that she needs much convincing.

E) Snape. Gosh you think Wormtail is in trouble? Wait til James get his hands on Snape. I DONT CARE THAT YOU LOVED HER HOW DARE YOU BULLY MY SON LIKE THAT. Sirius stands there, smirking, because he knows James terrifies Snape (also imagine that James was what, 19? 20? when he died. Sirius looks younger in the afterlife, so what does Snape reverse to? Is he an old, gaunt man or a skinny 25y-o?). But he knows what’s coming next is so much worse, and that’s Lily slapping him cold across the face. No firey temper or sharp tongue. No reprimands. Just stone cold rage.

F) FRED AND THE MAURADERS. Imagine he comes through the veil, sees some friends, is comforted blah blah and the he sees James and he’s like

‘Harry? You can’t be here!’ All in a panic and James just goes

‘Nah mate I’m Prongs’ with a shit eating grin on his face. And he watches Fred put all the pieces together - he’s seen Lily, she’s easy to pick with the hair and Harry’s eyes, and he knows Sirius and Lupin and Tonks but this bloke looks like Harry and he’s holding Lily’s hand and it clicks

Padfoot, Moony, Wormtail and Prongs. Harry’s patronus. Harry’s dad is Prongs. Sirius turns into a dog, Moony is a fucking werewolf pun. A dude just turned into a rat claiming he was Fred’s family. And he immediately goes ‘oh Harry you fucker’ followed by

‘OI YOU TWO FUCKERS‘ directed at Lupin and Sirius and Lily is like

‘Whomp there is it’ grinning her head off knowing that there is a fourth Maurader for a bit. At least until George gets there.

(When George arrives, before he can greet anyone, he drags his brother off by the collar and points the Mauraders out with the kind of venom that can only come from waiting 60 years to tell your twin such important information)

F1)

Fred: ‘this is amazing! Tell me all your stories!’

James: ‘Sure when you tell us the flying-car-jail-break story bc that looked bloody legendary’

G) *sing song voice* Dumbledore’s in trouble, Dumbledore’s in trouble.

I expect there are people that want to say things to him. Very nasty things. His mother and sister for one. Probably Lily and James for two. Definitely Fred for three. Then Lily again.

‘You dropped my son off? On a doorstep?’

H) Regulus in NO WAY expects to be greeted warmly but what do you know. When he finds his brother, Sirius kind of just appraises him and goes

‘Well look maybe you aren’t all that bad’ *voice gets very soft, Sirius looks away* ‘sorry for always assuming you were a dick’

James, from like, a kilometre away, yells

‘SORRY WHAT DID YOU SAY? WAS THAT AN APOLOGY? DID SIRIUS BLACK JUST APOLOGISE?’ And he completely ruins the moment but also diffuses a lot of tension.

I) ANDROMEDA LOVING TEDDY TO PIECES AND SEEING TONKS AFTER AND BEING SO HAPPY AND TONKS JUST BAWLING HER THANKS. Lily is not present for that conversation, because that should have been what her son got, too.

J) Narcissa getting a relatively warm reception? And it’s so odd? Lily meets her at the train station and shakes her hand? And it’s this weird, mutually respectful relationship. It’s not forgiveness, per se, but it is a shared understanding of what a mother will do for her child.

K) Going all out, good grief, imagine the hell Petunia gets when she gets there. Oof.

L) LILY AND JAMES THANKING ARTHUR AND MOLLY AND HAGRID FOR BEING HARRYS FAMILY NO MATTER WHAT. Lily and James eventually meeting Rob and Hermione and Lily just falls into Ron sobbing bc really Ron was the mum friend, and James is crying while he hugs Hermione so, so tight. And neither of them are expecting it, they were just...raised well. And Harry is their friend. And they didn’t even realise it was such a big deal (mostly bc they were so young). Arthur and Molly do. They always, always do.

L1) James to Arthur: tell us the flying car story!

Everyone: *groans* not AGAIN

Molly: I’LL TELL YOU ABOUT IT

Lily: actually I might like this perspective, proceed

M) And finally, 893 years later when Minerva agrees that yes, maybe the afterlife sounds nice now (we all know Death comes for her and she tells him to go away for another century. And he listens.), she arrives. Greeted with Sirius, James, Lupin, Lily, Tonks and Fred, all standing there, waiting for her. All these kids that she probably taught, most of whom were in her house, all of whose lives were cut far, far too short. These young people who she loves so dearly, but was also constantly deeply exhausted and exasperated by. And they’re all grinning at her, waiting.

She tries to get back on the train.

[thechroniclesofwriting]

the concept of how sir arthur conan doyle was as a person always sends me into fits. imagine making the most famous literary character of all time but you hate the character so much you try to kill him off. but everyone is so horny for this asshole detective they make you bring him back. even your own mother gets mad when he’s dead because she likes him. raising your prices to ridiculous rates to avoid writing holmes stories backfired and now you’re rich. it’s absolutely a pain because it’s keeping you from your true passion which is spiritualism despite how one of your good friends harry houdini keeps telling you it’s bullshit. you consider your best novels to be historical ones but they’re well over shadowed by the nemesis of your own creation sherlock fucking holmes. some fake photographs from some kids convinced you faeries were real and you wrote a whole book about it. you started writing stories in medical school. and yes, also you are a doctor. after you’re dead, they erect a statue of sherlock holmes across the street from your birthplace, causing you to probably roll over one hundred eighty degrees in your grave and scream into your casket pillow.

[thechroniclesofwriting]

i think its very sexy how millennials are very anti-ad. like. ads were invented to encourage us to buy stuff. but me and all my friends? if we see an ad for something it fills us with rage. a pure hatred. if you interrupt my twitch stream or my stupid TV show for you stupid product i will hate you product for the end of time. i will spit on it whenever i see it. your ad doesn’t work on me. it doesn’t make me want to buy your shitty thing. it makes me want to piss on your shitty thing. fuck you ad companies. 

[thechroniclesofwriting]

True chaotic energy is the one child at Hogwarts who eventually figured out that every spell is in Latin and trying every Latin word they know as a spell until something sets on fire.

[thechroniclesofwriting]

All people with blue eyes can be traced back to one person who lived near the Black Sea less than 10,000 years ago. Source Source 2

[thechroniclesofwriting]

A reminder that in the movies, Harry doesn’t have a public audience to explain everything to Tom Riddle, to everyone. So theoretically, Ginny and Neville and a whole bunch of other people had NO IDEA how or why Harry died/came back to life. If you think that Harry Potter wasn’t hunted down by his friends who wanted to know what the EVERLOVING FUCK HARRY JAMES POTTER you’re lying to yourself

[thechroniclesofwriting]

dumbledore: oh, to be young, and to feel love's keen sting

snape: sir when you were young the person you were in love with wanted to massacre half the world

dumbledore: details

[thechroniclesofwriting]

[thechroniclesofwriting]

if the jokerman ever said to me “you wanna know how i got these scars” or whatever i would just be like no

[thechroniclesofwriting]

bellatrix: sup fuckers i'm here to burn your house down and kill your godfather and you're all out of godfathers