it is totally okay to be hurt and tired and fed up with the american schooling system but i need you to understand that we need to be better about loudly and routinely defending public education.
yes, many teachers suck, many schools utterly suck. i also got bullied and was absolutely not given the right support for my needs. i am not defending public education because it was kind to me. i am defending it because it needs to exist.
right-wing republicans do not want an educated population. they want kids to be homeschooled or in private school. there is a huge religious undertone to this.
the most common argument is that despite high costs, the "result" is not "good" enough. they point to failing schools as proof that public education is just never going to work out. there will be arguments made here that you actually agree with: that teachers can be bullies, that we taught online for 2 years and still charged the same amount of tuition, that we have no recourse for students to actually have agency or a voice, and that schools are now unsafe for kids due to risk of illness and gun violence.
these are all placing the blame in a fraudulent way, one intended to get your parents to homeschool you. the less kids in a school, the less federally-awarded funding for that school, the less any school succeeds. they will not mention the fact it is their legislation that takes away important funding opportunities, that teachers are living at or below the poverty line, that buildings are not kept up to code, that administration is overpaid and forces specific curriculums, that corporations like (my personal enemy) Pearson Education control certain classroom goals because teachers can't afford other options. they pretend to be ignorant of the gun violence and say "oh just get a gun" - but these are the same people who will be sending their child to a private school with a bulletproof backpack. they don't care if your kid dies, though. they "don't believe" in covid, but they did get their kid vaccinated, because of course they did.
it is a closed loop. conservative parents hear the fearmongering and remove children from the system. frequently these parents are also deeply religious. the kids are raised without access to other media & learn to parrot their parents. you have now created a new generation of conservatives. additionally, one of the parents/caregivers must stay home and homeschool the children, usually for free. i will give you 1 guess which parent tends to stay home to homeschool the children. these parents are encouraged to have many, many children. those children are most likely not getting access to safe sex ed.
we might laugh at fox news suggesting teachers are forcing children to use kitty litter but: first of all, there is kitty litter in the classroom. it's part of an emergency kit in case children are locked in due to a shooter. so that's fucking dystopian, and the fact they've completely reimagined the scenario to somehow make the teachers look bad when it's instead a fucking huge symbol of our failure as a country to protect our children.... it feels a little intentional.
secondly: don't just dismiss the situation. because, yeah, obviously, no teacher is encouraging kids to be a catboy. but the actual undertone that fox news is trying to sew is an outright distrust of teachers and of public education. they rely on the dehumanization of trans people as a common touchstone to hide the fact they're pushing two agendas at once. (which is ironic. because the thing they accuse teachers of. is pushing. an agenda.)
whenever someone tells you they want you to read less, you should be suspicious of that. when someone tries to separate you and your education, you should be suspicious of that. i don't even like incel rhetoric nor would i want my kids exposed to it - but i would not take away my child's (age-appropriate) access to the internet. i would just provide more educational materials, not less. the difference here is that i believe we can resolve ignorance with knowledge; whereas conservatives believe that ignorance is bliss.
they misappropriate funding and demonize teachers. they pull the same trick each time - the same thing we are seeing with anti-trans rhetoric. they do not want you to have access to safe sex ed, so they act horrified, claim sex ed teaches you how to thrust deep, claim that we have no idea what "age-appropriate" means. since the mid-nineties, the united states has spent at least 2 billion dollars on abstinence-only education, even though to quote the above link: "a preponderance of studies has found no effect of abstinence education at reducing adolescent pregnancy". conservatives want you to think less of any person struggling with addiction so they can continue their racist "war on drugs", so they spend up to $750 million dollars a year on the DARE program which has absolutely no effect. acting like teachers "must" be "grooming" children is just the same thing - so they can demand that funding either goes to their causes or the funding doesn't "exist" ("i'm not paying for our kids to learn that thing!")
and they want you to feel uncaring about this. they are aware that you will hate some parts of your school experience. pretty much everyone does. they want to lean into the parts that you hate so that you don't put up a fight about it when they take it away for not being "good enough."
i know i maybe sound like a conspiracy theorist. but truly. truly. it is beneficial for conservatives to reduce your faith in the american public schooling system.
one of the explicitly stated campaign promises of the conservative party: to axe the Department of Education in 2024.
i know we are all tired and burnt out and there is so much else wrong with their entire platform. but maybe just - pay attention to this one.
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uhhhhhh can we think about siffrin and bonnies relationship for a second please. can we think about how bonnie probably latched on to sif pretty hard after they joined the party? how he was the one to find them when they were lost and afraid and alone and how that wouldve impacted their bond? can we think about how much bonnie trusts them in general, even if after the eye incident, and even for small or silly things? like trusting sif to know whats really an adult issue and whats not? and to take their word in whole and to barely question it because siffrin said so and siffrin would know whats best for them? can we think about how bonnie still very specifically remembers the conversation the others had to have with them about how siffrin didnt like to be touched? on the point that it probably felt very important to them for them to remember it like that, but also that the change likely meant something to them as well? knowing that bonnie, as a child, and as the character who was most open to touching sif post ending, is probably very touch-dependent? can we think about how during the events of the game, even as bonnie “hated siffrin”, they still thought to make food special for him, to include him in jokes and teasing (what i would imagine to be a love language of sorts), etc etc? can we think about? can we
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DC PROMPT #1:
So you know how Billy’s last name is Batson? Well think in terms of Norse naming schemes and it’s Bat son.
I want a fic where people think Billy is Batman’s son.
Batman knows who Captain Marvel is, and sometimes Billy has a tough day. Sometimes Batman comes to help out in Fawcett City and happens to run into scrawny kid Billy. So he helps/offers emotional or physical support.
And Billy is a little shit, and also magical as fuck so he’s got Weird-Vibes (TM)
People see this strange, obviously not normal child. People see Batman, the cryptid, whom shadows cling to and is quieter than the night he dwells in.
Yeah that black haired kid is obviously some magical spawn of batman.
And then they learn his name is Billy Batson? Yeah, that’s definitely Batman’s son, didn’t know Batman was norse though?
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still boggles my mind that in the year 2024 most players still ignore anora's character just to reduce her to a lying backstabber, when she only goes against you if:
you reveal her identity to ser cautherine and howe's soldiers, defeating the entire purpose of her disguise and also ignoring what she told you literally one minute before about how they can't know she's escaping with you - thereby betraying her first
you ignore her completely in denerim after she asks you to come talk to her, and only show up to the landsmeet
you bring up loghain's fate, and when she tells you that she would rather him be spared if possible, you tell her to her face that her father has to die
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I so badly crave more insight into your Michelin stars AU regarding Alastor and lilith
ESPECIALLY since I saw that one doodle(?) You made of Lilith next to Alastor while he's covered in blood 😭 forgive me for any mistakes as I ask,
Were/Are Lucifer and Lilith married? Did Lilith run a brutal food industry, with Alastor and vox underneath her (you mentioned the two worked together before they split)? Is Alastor some strange hitman guy??? What’s keeping Alastor loyal to Lilith (is it their moral code? Or is there blackmail or something)??
FKRIDHCIQJD THIS AU IS SO GOOD I ALWAYS EAT UP WHATEVER YOU MAKE OF IT
Hehe, lemme cook 🍽 ( sorry for slow service though, I'm focused on commissions this month but I actually finished the script for 2nd part of Chapter 1 )
• Yes, Lucifer and Lilith were married. Until their relationship started to stray, what happens then- u guys will know soon ::)
• (Past) Vox and Alastor worked in the same industry but not under lilith. (Past) Lilith had a different job, but supports Lucifer's dream ^.^
• Alastor is under a contract that keeps his name clean.
A little insight to Vox and Alastor
• They used to be VERY close
• There's a reason behind the person they are today ( present time in the AU )
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