#“I'm mechanic not a electrician”

[cheeseknives]

Everytime I feel useless, I think about how our neighbors' Skoda has its own WiFi

[l48yr1nth]

i want to draw so many things i think i am coming back

[huldrabitch]

I feel like Reyes probably got a lot of hate when the game was trending, but she's one of my favorite characters. She has a kid to get back to and a ship full of young adults and red flag old men with unrealistic theories that have little fact backing them up. I would also be upset and mad when people die around me, then blindly believe the 20 year old who's actually really scared and just trying to act toughy for the benefit of the others.

[johnnydany]

I'm Here Because You Broke Something Funny Mechanic T-Shirt

Get yours now: https://www.teepublic.com/t-shirt/39324611-im-here-because-you-broke-something-funny-mechanic

[ajaegerpilot]

maybe i have anxiety but sometimes i'm like *takes out the tim horton's hot chocolate mix and an instant coffee mix and puts them together to make a mocha with the best convenience/taste ratio* and i say to myself i'm really going to miss this in the post-apocalypse when we're all scrapping for resources and all the hospitals are non-functional

[sol1056]

My father was the son of a carpenter (no HS degree) and a nurse (associate’s degree). His parents couldn’t afford college for him, but he scored high enough on college exams that a state school offered him a scholarship. He ended up enlisting for three reasons.

One, he lost his scholarship (D in history, geez, Dad). Two, with a draft afoot, enlisting was the only way to make sure he had any choice (however slim) in what he’d do and be. Three, the military paid for his bachelors, his master’s, and his doctorate -- and that education is what got him out of that small southern Georgia town and into teaching at some of the most prestigious universities on the US’ eastern seaboard. 

Enlisting has always been trade-off. If you come from middle class or higher, then you probably don’t need major financial assistance for your education, or a down-payment on a car or house. Even if you're legacy military, once your family’s middle-class, the tangible benefits aren’t as great, relatively.

But if your parents are farmers, factory workers, miners, or similar labor-intensive blue-collar workers and it’s looking like your only choice is to follow them down that same road or learn to be a waitress? The military has been, for several generations now, your best ticket out of a dead-end town, job, or life.

A lot of the time, it’s your only ticket.

The whole point of the GI Bill was to make enlisting worth the risk of dying in a foreign land for some rich man’s war. You put in so many years of your life and (assuming you survived), you'd walk out well-trained or even well-educated, with good job prospects and a social network of fellow former military to help you land softly. You’d have decent healthcare, a good pension, and access to a fair home loan. (And if you didn’t survive? The VA provides for children & widow/ers, so at least your family would see the benefits.)

Yes, to everything @johnbrownfunclubofficial and @natalieironside​ said above, because all of that is true. (Hell, it’s not much better when you’re a dependent, although the enlisted-wives and officer-wives bullshit is lot better than it used to be.) But it’s also true that depending on where you’re coming from, sometimes that trade-off is worth the price.

But we have to unpack that to see the real problem: we have no other consistent and reliable means for people to hoist themselves out of a lack of generational wealth or skills. There’s no broad-based funding for kids in poorer counties or states to get solid training or education (let alone with room & board provided plus a small stipend!).

The challenge of “if you want to do X, go learn how to do it” doesn’t work, if you’re coming from that far down. Learn it? From whom? And you pay for that training, how? And who pays for you while you do it? Education of any kind costs money and time. You may have the time, but without the money? It remains a pipedream.

Does the military take advantage of this? Absolutely. Blocking all other options for kids with minimal/limited prospects is by design. The US military complex absolutely wants those kids to see no way out except to hope they can survive that war in a foreign land fighting on behalf of rich men who couldn’t give a damn what those kids did, and will, sacrifice.

But now we come to a parallel truth.

This is a less-discussed but important contributing factor in the pushback on universal basic income. The Pentagon (and American imperialism and its wealthy cronies) are fully aware that, given any other choice, the average blue-collar, labor-raised, lower-class kid would not join the military. In short: basic income would cause enlistment to plummet.

It’s not difficult math. Beyond even the truth of the internal tyranny of the DoJ and the UCMJ and just the sheer madness of the insular culture known as ‘living on base’, most human beings prefer careers where “high chance of potentially being killed” is not in the job listing. And I’d be willing to bet an even larger number of human beings, given any other choice, would want nothing to do with a job that requires “potentially killing other human beings.”

As for those who would, they can just go be cops.

One time in Army we got into a big nerf gun fight inside our building and a bunch of people got really mad and decreed that all kinetic weapons including nerf guns fit the legal definition of firearms under the UCMJ and made us go secure our nerf guns in the armory.

I hid mine tho. I said this is goddamn America and we got a second ammendment.

[pianokantzart]

I am very hyped for BrotherShip, and you seem like someone who is also hyped. Please vent about everything we know so far, so I can live vicariously through your rant.

Uuuh jeeze where do I begin.

Love how hard they're going with the "brotherly bonds" angle. I don't think I've seen a game synopsis that focused this hard on the bond they have. Then there's fact that their physical touch seems to literally generate some sort of interdimensional power!?

How? Why? What's going on? I want to know. I want to know so bad. The world they get teleported to is called "Concordia," which means harmony/agreement. There's also the fact that the aesthetic theme of the game is centered around electricity, so maybe all powers revolve around flow/connection, which would be in line with introducing a mystical power generated by the brothers' emotional bond.

Speaking of electricity! I've seen these goons for five seconds and I am intrigued:

It looks like they're going to be reoccurring foes. And while the allies are plug/socket themed, these three enemies are wire/plug themed. The purple guy at the front has a stereo plug for his hair piece and a jack for his hand, and their hands are designed based off of fork spade wire connector.

So I'm going with a theory that the friendly residents are generators/guardians of a strong source of magical energy, while the Extension Corps and their affiliates are out to harness/steal that energy.

Then there's who I'm presuming to be the big bad in this game:

He was in the trailer for half a second, so I assume Nintendo is trying to keep him mysterious for now, but from the little I saw of his design two things stuck out to me: He's equipped with what looks to be a stylized pair of electrician pliers, and his hat has a green and red wire sticking out of the top.

So THAT doesn't bode well

Bowser's going to be there too, but I'm not yet sure if he's going to be a hesitant ally, a small-scale villain, or a final boss who takes advantage of the new villain's failures like in Mario & Luigi Dream Team. At this point it could be anything.

I DO like that Princess Peach is having more of an active role! In the past few Mario & Luigi games she's either been captured to move the plot forward (as is tradition), or has been quietly pulling strings from the sidelines to help out, but it'll be fun seeing her running around and exploring with her own group of misfits.

Also!!! The Luigi "L!"!

My main theory is that, every so often, Luigi is going to come up with a new mechanic depending on what we've encountered over the course of the story, and these new mechanics will be used to overcome obstacles and get into secret areas.

Then there's the central hub world!!! Of all the Mario RPGs I've played (two of them) that's usually my favorite aspect: having a main area where you can hoard all the random nonsense you've stumbled across and get a few extra perks. Looks like we're going to have that same thing here, and they aren't going slouch on the "exploration" angle of this game

I'll stop now, but I've got one last quick theory I'm gonna scream about: Apparently "electrical bonding" is the process of connecting multiple conductive components that are not intended to carry a current to a grounding system, so that if something goes wrong (like an electrical surge or a lightning strike) there's a lower risk of someone getting electrocuted.

So maybe Mario and Luigi are NOT meant to be conduits of this sort of bond-power, but they're unwittingly connected to it in order to prevent tragedy and create stability? (I may be looking into it too closely. I am not an electrician, but that's my theory until I see evidence suggesting otherwise.)

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for ghosting my mechanic?

A year ago my car's cruise control broke. I called the auto electrician who installed it and booked my car in, he said he needed to order a part and he'd call me in two weeks.

Two weeks passed, then a few more because I was busy until I called to check in and they were still waiting on the part and he promised to call me in two weeks to update. He never did. I would call every three weeks, they'd promise to call me back and they didn't, etc etc.

eventually my car's air conditioning gave out and the repairs for that were gonna cost more than what the car was worth, and I needed a bigger car for work reasons so we decided to sell my car to the wreckers once I got a new car (with functioning aircon and cruise control!)

Now as I pass the anniversary of my first car getting sick I realised I never got a call from the auto electrician. Ever. As far as I know they still have the part on back order. I feel like the right thing to do is let them know the car isn't mine anymore and I don't need the part but I'm also a bit annoyed they never called me. AITA for not calling them?

[dandorime]

On a mission deep inside a secret Zoraxis facility...

Reginald: Anything suspicious yet, agent?

Phoenix: Not a damn thing. All these machines are in excellent condition, and there's OSHA-compliant signage and safeguards everywhere... Are you sure this is even a Zoraxis factory?

Suddenly the lights turn on, and a voice booms over the PA system...

???: Good evening, comrade Phoenix.

Phoenix: (◎_◎;) OH SHI-

Reginald: Strange, I don't recognize that voice... This could be a new Zoraxis operative. Be careful, agent! (｡ŏ_ŏ)

Phoenix: Alright, you caught me. Now show yourself! (૭｡•̀ n•́｡ )૭

???: But of course. Since we're not on company time...

With the flourish of a large picket sign, a woman in overalls and a teamsters t-shirt steps out of the shadows onto the catwalk overhead.

???: A pleasure to have you on site, Agent Phoenix.

Phoenix: Who are you?! ಠ_ಠ

???: I am... The Rep.

Phoenix: ...what?!

The Rep: ...The Rep. Union representative. Zoraxis Workers United #73.

Phoenix: ...huh... (°-°?)

The Rep: You need to wear a hard hat at all times on the factory floor, even when the machinery is powered down. It's a contractual obligation. 🫱⛑️

Phoenix: Oh. Uh... Thanks. ⛑️

The Rep: And don't forget to clock your overtime on the puncher in the locker room when you leave.

Phoenix: (•᷄‎ࡇ•᷅ )Um... Listen. You realize I'm an EOD agent, right? That I don't actually work here...?

The Rep leans in close, placing a hand on Phoenix's shoulder as she does so.

The Rep: And you realize that your shenanigans produce a living wage for close to 10,000 unionized welders, electricians, plumbers, carpenters, stonemasons, miners, and mechanics under Zoraxis Industries, right? (σ-`д･´)

Phoenix: ...oh.（・□・；）

The Rep: *pat pat* Keep it up. ദ്ദി ˉ͈̀꒳ˉ͈́ )

[labyrinthofsphinx]

Just out of curiosity, with the gradual information we’re getting about Drift’s past (at least in the Murder Partners AU), are there gonna be any similarities between what we know in the stats/transmissions verse and what’s yet to be revealed? If this has already been asked/you can’t say too much or if it’s spoilers feel free to ignore lol, just so excited to see where you go with this! Love your AU/fics on AO3, thank you for sharing them with us!

First off, oh my gosh, Anon. This just totally just made my day! <333 Was just in the middle of finishing up the next chapter of Transmission too, so this was a absolute pleasure to see <3

Second, I guess a bit of talk about Drift's past. I guess some spoilers for my fic series starting with Statistical Outliers, and minor hints about Murder Partners AU:

The short answer is there will be some similarities, mostly because I wanted to keep where he was from and the general family structure the same. However, Drift from stats/transmission died in the 1990s while Murder Partner's Drift is alive during a historically inaccurate 1930-40s, Great Depression era, meaning he 'grew up' some time 1920s-30s. So they're from the same area, but, partly because of the time difference, they've had very, very different experiences.

As you've probably read from Stats (which omg thank you for checking it out!) Drift is about twelve in that verse. He has very strong ties to his paternal grandfather, who actually served in WW2 as a pilot, and his paternal grandmother, who was an army nurse. It's not been explicitly said, but his grandfather is very much the reason why he's an 'old soul', always showing off the older movies, music, and so on.

Annnnd as you've probably also read from Stats, Drift is in Hell for a hit and run...then died very shortly thereafter to, well, a hit and run. After I was done with Transmission, I had an idea for a fic where we actually meet the man Drift murdered....and the one who murdered him. But Drift's life in Hell is somewhat reflective of his life in Murder Partners (though Drift's age in Murder Partners is intentionally vague). They've both essentially been just surviving for a lonnngg time.

As far as their personal family lives go....well, that's where things changed quite a bit, and it kinda informed how their lives and personalities ended up afterward. They both had a father, mother, and three older brothers but...well, their relationships are very different. It's not really been said yet but it's also not really a spoiler either, but Stats/transmission Drift lived with his father and brothers up until he died, and they're mostly the reason he can fix just about anything. His father was the town handyman, and his adult brothers all specialized in different things like carpenter, plumber, and electrician. His grandfather, after the war, became a mechanic and he's also the reason Drift loooveed cars. His mother hasn't been in the picture for a while but...all of his family is still alive as far (as he knows).

I won't say too much about Drift's past from Murder Partners because that'd be spoilers ;) Just know that he had a similar set up, father, mother, and three much older brothers. And that, like he said, after his mother died, his father got rid of the 'weakest link'. His past is a plot point in Murder Partners, so I really can't go too much into it at this time.

But, I will toss out a bit of a hint here: both verse's Drifts are from a very small town in Kansas ;)))

I'm so, so happy you're enjoying the comics and the fics<333 And thanks for the ask!

[notasapleasure]

Wild hopes for Andor S2:

Oh, apparently blorbo *might* be in the trailer? Riding a speeder on Dantooine you say? Aughhhh don't toy with my emotions like this!!

So for posterity, before anything about s2 does actually become clear, my vague hopes/'if I got to write their story' headcanons for my Ferrix badasses are a jumble of the following:

I don't see them immediately going back to Ferrix, they're recognisable (Bix is known to the Empire, Wilmon will be known by association with Salman, Bee is known as Maarva's droid, they had an eye on Brasso as 'the big guy' even before he fucked shit up with the funerary brick...and I can't remember Jezzi doing anything specific but she'll have been seen round Maarva's home and funeral), and riot or not, I'd say the Empire will be in the mood to make an example of Ferrix rather than to go 'oops our bad we'll leave you in peace'. So it seems a bad idea for the fugitives to return there for their rebellion as soon as they've left.

On that ship we know there's a skilled electrician (Wilmon) and mechanic (Bix), and I've always presumed Brasso must know his way around a ship well enough to be able to take it apart, and that Jezzi has some similarly Ferrixian industrial skill. I thought it would be very sexy if they all got involved in making/repurposing tech for the rebellion. In my heart of hearts they're patching together the first fleet of X-Wings.

Orange. Ferrix orange (Brasso's felt jacket orange) and rebel pilot orange. And there's the shot of Cassian in an orange pilot's suit in the trailer. I just. I just have hopes. And dreams. And colour was so significant in Rogue One (the red of the force/rebellion...there was an awesome post on here pointing out way more examples than I'd noticed, but I always think of the lining of Jyn's vest). Maybe it's reclaiming Narkina orange, even? But the look of the Ferrix clothes reminds me so much of the OT aesthetic, I think that's got to be the more likely connection.

Bee? Kay? Do they meet? ಥ⁠‿⁠ಥ trying to suppress the thought 'what if Bee helps to make Kay possible?' but the thought has been thunk. (ETA: NOT into the theory that they're the same person that's not what I mean. I'm talking hardware donation. Wires and chips. Not personality)

Dantooine. Dantooine base. After all this time!!!! What Legends book did I first read about the base on Dantooine in?? idek but if I'd ever written the epic angsty plot follow-up to that one fic (only ever just one night) it would have involved the Ferrix gang making X-Wings work on Dantooine :') I have feelings about Brasso the wrecker learning to make things instead :))

It should go without saying that I want to see Bix channel her healing into getting stuff done and fucking up the Empire.

I guess my feeling is that if we're time-skipping over a five year period in a, what, 12 episode season? There's not time for a huge arc for all the Ferrix characters alongside everything else the show needs to cover. My cautious assumption is that this either means a load of them get killed off/sidelined early, or they're kept together in the same setting so their stories are interlinked, but presumably with focus remaining on Bix (and Bee). Dantooine/wherever the rebel base is beforehand/the move to Yavin struck me as a good place for this, where they can still be brought in and out of episodes through whatever time-skips happen because it's a place the title character is going to be coming and going from regularly, like Ferrix is in S1. Naturally it is a selfish thought to want to recreate the S1 dynamic :)) because I want my blorbo(s) to get to be relevant and a part of Cassian's life still, but if that suggestion about Brasso on a speeder on Dantooine in the trailer is remotely accurate then I will cry happy tears.

Who knows, if they get to survive, maybe all those heart-pulverising fics and fanarts about Cassian's (glass) stone being laid on Ferrix will find a place at the end of the series?

[abcd-em]

Hey Em! Still not over Forever was a sentence!!! Love love love! My question is, since it is your longest fic and was written over such a long period, did the outcome of the story ever change or did you have it preplanned out?

Also, any hints to any new Peter/MJ fics or are you focusing on unfinished ones?!

Thanks for all the hard work! I know we all appreciate it!!

I too am still not over forever, I'm still there mentally and I miss them so dearly already!!! They are my children!!!!!

The original chapter count for Forever was 26, which is insane to think about given where we ended up, so a lot was added and moved about and pushed back. However, the ending remains the same as it always was with Peter defeating the big and PeterMJ having a tentative idea of what their relationship is going to look like going forward but not unafraid of the uncertainty of it. The ending was always intended to capture that feeling of 'now I'm glad I get forever to see where you end' with it being applicable to them as individuals looking at themselves introspectively and looking at the other.

The epilogue nearly got cut because I knew i wanted to circle back to the Gwen of it all but only had Peter's scene at her grave in mind.

The actual mechanics of WHERE all that took place was dependent on vibes as I was writing.

The majority of what changed was the journey there with the biggest change being Peter & MJ weren't meant to hook up in LA originally, that was meant to happen later in NYC with more of a 'will they/won't they', but with where they were in the LA chapters, they were just demanding to fuck.

I contemplated having Peter’s ending be that he go into teaching but I'd grown fond of construction/electrician!Peter & liked the open ending of 'he's doing this for now, might not be what he always does'.

In terms of new fics, I'm trying to re-work some deleted fics; working on a couple one-shots and then just trying to update ongoing WIPs ♥️♥️

[shintoinenglish]

Professions list

I'm planning on making a list of professions and which kamisama are considered to be their patrons (so to speak). This is not to make a 'correspondence list' but to help people who feel lost about which kamisama to worship. Please send me any professions you don't see listed below the readmore that you'd like me to include via ask, submission, or reply!

Alcohol Maker

Artist

Astronomer, Astrologer

Athlete

Banker

Bartender

Businessman

Construction

Cook/Chef/Food Service

Craftsman (general)

Dancer, Stripper

Delivery Person, Mailman

Electrician

Factory Worker

Farmer (general), Gardener

Fashion Designer

Firefighter

Fisherman

Florist

Hair Stylist, Makeup Artist

Hotel Clerk

Hunter

Janitor, Cleaner

Jeweler, Jewelry-maker

Judge

Logger, Woodworker

Machinist

Mall worker, Department store worker

Mechanic

Medical Professional (Doctors, Nurses), Pharmacists

Merchants

Metalworker

Meteorologist

Miner

Musician

Oil Drilling

Paper-making

Photographer, Videographer

Physical Labor (general)

Pilots, Cabin Attendants/Flight Attendants

Plumber

Poet

Post Office Worker, Deliveryman, UberEats, Doordash

Potter

Professor or Teacher

Retail, Cashier, Customer Service

Researcher

Rice farmer

Sailor, Shipbuilder

Scholar, Researcher

Scientist

Sex Worker

Singer

Surveyor

Teacher

Television Reporter and accompanying staff

Textile workers

Veterinarian

Writer, Reporter, Journalist

[esosage]

This is more so mentioned stobotnik, if you squint. But its sorta there so i though i'd use the tag regardless.

Anyways, heres a fic of robotnik not picking up on the fact that he's being flirted with:

Yes i work wood!... i'm a carpenter.

Robotnik was currently on a very important mission: social networking. A task he'd usually leave his assistant to take care of; but, considering the two of them needed money after his latest and greatest defeat stranded them in green hills, he'd have to do some of the work himself.

And working he went. He had already made several business cards for the handy service’s he had planned to provide, pinned down a social gathering where he could be given a chance to promote said business, and thanks to one annoyingly stupid deputy, he had gotten an invite.

It was a post wedding party where all invited guests were allowed to bring a plus one, and since Wade lacked a girlfriend, he was invited as his plus one.

Now all he had to do was socialize… which was immediately harder than he originally thought.

How stone could ever stand doing it was beyond him.

Robotnik was currently at the far end of the table the others were eating and drinking at, thinking. Planning a course of attack.

His last attempt to include himself in the conversation was a massive failure, with him having to go completely silent out of embarrassme- tactically retreat, but, it didn't dissuade him.

He was dr. Ivo fucking robotnik, a genuis, a revolutionary of the feild of robotics, hed figure it out… hopefully.

All he had to do was observed, plan, and strike when the time was ri-

Suddenly he felt a tap on his shoulder.

“Hey-”

“Ah!” Robotnik yelped, swirling around to see just who dared to touch him. It was a blond women, who looked to be somewhere in her 30’s. She was wearing a quite revealing black dress, and holding a glass of wine that looked untouched.

The two of them stared at each other for a moment.

“Are, you okay?” She queried.

Robotnik scoffed.

“More than fine.” He huffed, straightening up a bit as he smoothed out the lapels of his jacket. As much as he wanted to scream at her, he needed business, and she had come to him willingly… something he could definitely use.

For some reason she found his reaction funny as she chuckled a bit.

“Right…. Hey whats your name?” She looked him up and down.

“Uuh” robotnik struggled to think up a fake name. “Ee-vo.”

She snorted.

“Ee-vo huh? How exotic.”

Robotnik blinked at her for a moment.

“I suppose it is.”

The woman leaned in.

“Say, where are you from?”

The question caught robotnik off guard, as it was strangly personal, but this was the best conversation hes had for the whole party soo…

“ireland.” He lied.

“Oh so your a foreigner?” She raised an eyebrow, a smirk playing on her lips.

“uh, Not necessarily, no. I was born in Ireland, then raised in the United states.” He hoped his attempt to cover up his shitty lie didn't seem too suspicious.. and apparently it didn't as the woman leaned in closer, her hand holding her head up.

“Wow.” She slightly whispered, now taking a sip of her wine. “and what do you do for work?”

Robotnik paused, now wondering if she was a government spy sent by G.U.N, because of all the personal questions she was asking. But..

“Woodworker, plumber, electrician, mechanic, you name it, I do it.” He recited, finally glad that he got to use that stupid slogan stone made him make.

For some reason this made the woman grin.

“So you're good with your hands.” She said rather cheekily, taking a sip of her wine.

It was a rather odd question… but- “oh please, i'm more than just good, im perfect.”

“Oh Really?”

“Yes really. I've been in the game for decades.” He hoped listing his track record would make her more likely to hire him.

It worked like a charm, as the woman seemed to perk up a bit more at his answer.

“Can you prove it?” She asked with a raised eyebrow.

Robotnik tapped his chin. Shit, he simply couldn't let this chance slip by him… but, then again, how could he prove it?...

“I could show you.” He said in another, regular, moment of brilliance. “Give you a proper hands-on experience.”

The woman giggled at his offer.

“Oh my, and where would that be? In my bedroom?”

Robotnik blinked, and then blinked again. The people in this town were weird.

“Well.” He trailed off, tapping his chin. “I suppose if I could get my power tools in there I could make it work.”

The lady looked confused for a moment, but after a while, she seemed to perk back up. A massive grin on her face when she did.

“Wow, getting… “tools” involved so soon?” She snorted. “I like it. See you at my place at 12.” She winked, handing him her number on a piece of paper.

Honestly, robotnik didnt know what the fuck she was going on about, about “getting tools involved so soon,” but buissness was buissness.

He handed her his business card.

“See you then.”

The lady, rather quickly, snatched the card out of his hand and stuffed it in her bra. Robotnik was going to say something about it, but before he could, she was already gone like the wind. Giving him a little wink before she completely vanished.

“Weird.” Robotnik muttered to himself, before going back to planning on how he could convince more people at the rundown little party to hire him.

Not realizing he was going to have a loong conversation with Stone about what just happened afterwards.

[johnnydany]

I'm Here Because You Broke Something Funny Mechanic T-Shirt

Get yours now: https://www.teepublic.com/t-shirt/39325118-im-here-because-you-broke-something-funny-mechanic

[mrhaitch]

Hello there again,

(X-files anon)

My partner is also a full-time teacher that works almost exclusively in supported learning, but he leans more towards physical and intellectual disabilities rather than behavioural concerns (though he has experience).

My question is, do you experience compassion fatigue and burn out? If you do, how do you handle it?

My partner tends to take on all of the weight from work and it hangs over him pretty bad, he can’t seem to shake it. Especially as it gets closer to the end of the year.

Would you also have any advice for me about providing better assistance at home when he’s feeling like this?

I feel as though i’m there physically for him, cooking and cleaning among other things, but emotionally it’s a little tricky as I am also studying two degrees simultaneously and we’re both utterly exhausted by the end of the day.

Thanks.

Sometimes - especially where individual cases are overwhelmingly bad and it feels like there's no seam to grab onto. Every student will have some crack in their armour, or something solid and stable to hang onto even if everything else is shit.

Unfortunately, for a lot of my students this isn't the case. Some of them are in care, some of them are estranged from an abusive or violent or neglectful parent. Some of them are in the orbit of gangs or have previously been involved with gangs. Some have substance abuse issues, others have cripplingly bad mental health issues and it's a coin toss whether they can hear you when you try to reach out to them.

In a single class I had a student confess they were homeless, that their dad is violent, their mum is taking money from their account, and a whole myriad of stuff.

You do get tired, at the end of the day. Especially when you've spent that whole time being calm while a bunch of kids with conduct disorder are yelling at you because you've decided today's the day they need to work on their spelling when they just want to be plumbers or electricians or mechanics.

Fundamentally what helped me was setting a boundary: I can't help them from home. I don't have access to our safeguarding systems, I can't talk to them, etc. outside of my working hours. From the start of the school day to the end - that is my window to make a difference. In the time between school days I need to take care of myself. I need to go to the gym, read books, work on my novel, spend time with my wife - do anything I can to make myself whole again so I'm ready to be there for them when they need me.

Of course, you'll still find yourself thinking about those students during your downtime and it's important not to beat yourself up for it - but also to keep things practical. Nudge the thoughts towards actions: what am I going to do? What can I do? Rather than going round and round thinking about how shit things are for them.

How to support someone who has to deal with that? The little things. A touch, a cup of coffee with a smile, making two minutes to talk to them about how they're feeling. Those little comforts can really help you step out of your head and remember you're not facing those challenges alone, in the same way that those things make all the difference to students with a difficult life. In a few weeks I've managed to take a bunch of unmanageable students and get them working and progressing just by being calm, praising them when they dig in and work hard, and not browbeating them for being themselves.

They'll be okay.