#they’re alil old

[satandoesntwannabehere]

HAPPY 9TH ANNIVERSARY UNDERTALE !!!

and a couple silly things from the past couple of months

[keleren]

I’m going to say something about Star Wars: The Last Jedi and about Luke Skywalker.

There’re probably spoilers in this.

I don’t have a problem with what happened to Luke. Hell, it makes a whole hell of a lot of sense to me.

Luke went from being Farm Boy Done Good and the Hero who defeated Darths Vader and Sideous and helped destroy both Death Stars, and he went from that and became a Jedi Master over night by default without the years of training that 25 thousand years of Jedi had. And for all the raw potential and talent and all that Luke had, the hours or days of teaching he received from Kenobi and Yoda, it was mostly:

“Yes, the Force exists.”

“Yes, you can lift big things. You limit yourself.”

“Only you can defeat the Sith and save the galaxy. (I mean, yes, Leia’s over there, but we spent all this time on your story so far, okay?)”

“Don’t underestimate the power of the Dark Side.”

Here’s what he didn’t learn how to do:

How to live with being the Galaxy’s only Jedi in a time of seeming peace

How to adult

How to teach

Because, let’s be honest, Yoda and Obi-Wan weren’t good teachers. Obi-Wan mentored Darth Vader. Yoda trained everyone who let the Sith lead them to the Order’s doom (including Darth Vader). Yes, they also mentored Luke Skywalker--but for far shorter a time than they did Darth Vader.

And here is Luke Skywalker, now Jedi Master and the only Jedi teacher in the Galaxy. And I can imagine he was Happy Luke at first--working with what seemed like a bunch of kids, doing his best to do things like the Old Jedi would’ve done. Probably doing his own take on Luke-as-Kenobi and Luke-as-Yoda.

And he screwed up.

No teacher wants to fail. No teacher wants to destroy their students’ lives. Not unless they’re no longer teachers and are just wardens or monsters.

Maybe Snoke was making Ben Solo seem Dark Sidey-er than he actually was, but to be honest, the first thing he did wasn’t flee with everyone else. The first thing he did was kill those who didn’t want to obey and come with him. Maybe Ben went that Dark that quick. I dunno.

But imagine being Luke Skywalker, and you’re entrusted with a bunch of Force-sensitive kids and teens. You’re entrusted with the son of your twin sister and your best friend. And reader, we know Ben Solo was a handful. Probably not the only one, but he was a special handful. Ben Solo knew he was Anakin Skywalker’s grandson. Knew he was the son of the heroes of the Rebellion and the Alilance. And in that way that Skywalkers seem destined to confront, he quickly became the Chosen One, The Most Powerful (potentially), and so on.

And imagine being Luke looking at your nephew, and you start feeling the same things you felt when you confronted your father Darth Vader at Bespin. Imagine how horrible he would feel. Imagine Luke worrying, “Did I make Ben fall to the Dark Side?” “Sithspit, sithspit, I did it wrong!” “I screwed up my nephew.” “He feels just like dad did when dad killed Obi-Wan and blew up Alderaan.”

Spoiler for The Force Awakens: Kylo Ren helps blow up multiple planets as an entitled mystical space fascist.

“I’ve turned my sister’s son into an entitled mystical space fascist.”

SPOILERS

And as Luke was looking into the future and into Ben Solo’s heart and finding Kylo Ren there, having tantrums and blowing up planets and idolizing Darth Vader’s damn helmet, and as Luke was having to confront having failed his nephew and student as a teacher and mentor and the “Cool Jedi Master” and having instead created yet another Space Hitler with Magic Powers--like his dad--I think Luke did that thing that folks imagine they’d do while standing over Baby Hitler’s crib.

Luke considered killing his nephew. He pulled away from it. His nephew then freaked out--understandably so!--but then proceeded to have yet another Kylo Ren Tantrum and murdered a bunch of children who were Luke’s responsibility.

And Luke Skywalker, no longer the Hero Who’d Saved the Galaxy from the Dark Side was now Luke Skywalker, Jedi Master Who’d Helped Train Kylo Ren. The Luke Skywalker who could’ve killed Ben Solo and could’ve saved the other children.

Luke isn’t just “depressed” or “without hope.” Luke’s got Galactic Civil War PTSD and then more for being partly responsible for the murder of Jedi younglings. Because that’s what Ben Solo did: he killed the younglings, just like granddad did, and Luke blamed himself.

And I can understand that. And I can understand the paralysis that resulted. And I can understand and appreciate how The Last Jedi is very much about Luke Skywalker’s redemption.

And oh my god is this wounded Luke Skywalker a far more interesting and compelling Luke Skywalker than the Always Chipper Always Heroic Luke Skywalker that the EU locked him into being after Return of the Jedi. And if Mark Hamill, god bless him, had to approach playing this Luke as if he’s a “different character,” well, that’s the point. Had The Force Awakens been set five years after Return of the Jedi, maybe we’d have RotJ Luke around to confront some new challenge and to grow. But it’s almost 2018, and Luke Skywalker is a different character now. He has to be.

Now, The Last Jedi has some other problems, in my opinion, but I had fun with the film, and it’s a desperate yet somber film, too. And Luke finally does come forth to save those lives he can. And it takes those who love him, and it takes the new generation (I mean Rey!) to pull Luke from the fugue and paralysis he’s locked himself away within for 34 years.

Let us hope that Rey learns from Obi-Wan’s, from Yoda’s, from Luke’s mistakes--let us hope she can make mistakes and learn from them--so that she can avoid Luke’s fate when she is no longer young and no longer the Hero of the Resistance who helped defeat Supreme Leaders Snoke and Kylo Ren and has to become Jedi Master Rey, Teacher.

[queenarrow]

i seen something go around that chase called thea "sis" now is that a sassy come back cuz she said her brother orrrr. was there more behind that? 2. are Olicity officially back together? I'm alil confused..

I’m thinking Chase’s comment to thea, calling her “Sis” was sassy, the equivalent of me calling you “Darling.” 

It could have a deeper meaning though, and not because Chase is another long lost brother, no. Hell no, it’s enough that Tommy’s her brother. Adding Chase is a mess. 

Adrian Chase– why would Prometheus pick that name? He was born with Simon Morrison, so why the name change? One of the meanings of the name “Adrian” actually means “Dark”. A synonym for Chase is pursuing, or following. And what is something that follows you where ever you go? 

A Dark Shadow. 

Adrian is Oliver’s shadow, the darkness to his light. He was created out of Oliver’s darkness, the evil backwards twin, so to speak. In a way, he is what Oliver could’ve become. Dark with revenge. 5 years of planning revenge, to honor his father. Adrian Chase is what Oliver almost became if not for Diggle and Felicity. 

In the deeper way, Adrian being Oliver’s darkness personified, then that would make Adrian Thea’s brother. Metaphorically. 

As to your second question… They’re starting over. One step at a time. Consider their relationship a house, and they found the foundation cracked and unusuable. They have their correct stable foundation now, built from pure honesty and trust– in themselves and each other. 

Oliver and Felicity are complicated. Their relationship had grown, was almost to marriage. They just needed a roof on it. Now that they’re starting over, Oliver and Felicity can’t just jump back to where they were. They can’t go from terse strangers to fiancee’s in 2 weeks. Nuh-uh. Nope. 

They’re not together but they’re not not together. 

In 3x01, during their dinner and all that time after until the hospital kiss, were olicity together? No. Were they not together? No. They were dating. 

I might be very old-fashioned, but their’s a step that most people tend to skip past. The dating phase. You’re thinking, “Genie, no one skips that phase what are you talking about.” Okay, then. The courting phase. 

Oliver and Felicity aren’t boyfriend and girlfriend. No, that implies their togetherness and they’re not that. They’re starting over. They’re dating. This is before they decide to go steady, to test the waters slowly and not just jump in like they did back in the summer of 2015. Go on a date here. Go for lunch here. Multiple dates equal steady dating which becomes girlfriend/boyfriend. 

This is First Date. This is reconciliation. This is, let’s try again, and make it better. This is making that very firm, very solid foundation before rebuilding their house. But trust me, they’re going to get there eventually. 

[escaped-moonshade]

hey, alill. ☢️☢️☢️☢️

A-A scandal or controversy??? Well... We don’t have very many of those here in the Silvergrove that we don’t deal with swiftly. There’s some controversy though about my mother about how she had cheated on him with an elf who wasn’t a Moonshadow, I think he was a Sunfire, and it was found out when I was really young. It’s why my mom’s no longer around. I don’t blame her though, my dad’s a prick...aaanyway, it leads to a reason why he’s been pretty hard on me since . He doesn’t know if I’m his since I don’t have his or my mother’s eye color. I don’t think a Sunfire would have blue-gray eyes. 

My dad’s also been in a controversy, but it wasn’t proven so he’s still around. He doesn’t get along with most of the community, he was brought in by my mother when they married. She’s from here, and people wish that she stayed while he left, but our codes wouldn’t allow it unfortunately. Anyway he was allegedly involved in the transport of contraband goods to human lands, but this has never been proven. I wish it was so I had a valid reason to ghost the bastard.

Also there was Rayla’s controversy/scandal where everyone thought she deserted and then most of the residents here ghosted her. That was considered a pretty big deal since we’re raised to not break code and to not run unless given the order to do so from the team leader who has made the decision that it was a need for the rest of the team to run before they did. They’re responsible for the safety of their team. It was a pretty big deal especially since she was the sole survivor of a failed mission. Usually a few make it back, and that’s fine, but from the looks of how the other flowers sank...well...it was suspicious to say the least. I made the choice to not go through with it since I wanted to figure out the truth for myself. This choice wasn’t something I announced since it wasn’t the popular choice. I was allowed to make it, but I didn’t want to bring any attention to myself. That would be dumb.

As for a fourth... Mainly those who don’t follow code or fail terribly make big news, but we’re pretty quiet so it’s hard to come up with something. I’m not old enough to be really big into the politics of the place or question how it’s run by our elders. It’s not my place. I just stay in my lane and keep the status of everyone else, the collective, in mind with how I move forward.

[tchildrensguide]

How ISIS Recruits Children

Among its ways of entrench its revolutionary philosophy was to concentrate about the children once the Islamic Condition conquered big parts of Iraq in 2014.

13, Ali, hadn’t attended college in two 5 decades, alternatively getting instruction. Although she might readily shake prayer off her classes didn’t that is common get significantly past learning the alphabet, she stated at an refugee camp at al-Alil where her household had left from Mosul’s northwest.

“By God’s title we venture out, from the title of Lord we are available in, from the title of Lord we sleep she stated, as she described her existence for that previous two 5 decades just as much saying a prayer.

ISIS practitioners in the surrounding towns and also Mosul overran the colleges, making academics while additionally presenting Islamist modifications towards the program to carry on classes, based on interviews with college team and kids, households. Several parents ultimately ripped on their kids in the colleges, successfully stopping their training.

“There were two types of harm,” stated the representative of education in the Ministry of Training, Ali Tahan, presently located in Baghdad. Also to the and “To the college structures [of the pupils.] The harm was grown within their minds.”

At obligatory everyday mosque providers, the militants contacted kids in the same period and in areas, brushing chosen kids become informants and, occasionally and to look at their philosophy.

Inside Colleges

You will find 412 community schools in the surrounding cities and also Mosul, based on Tahan – 190 of these schools have been in Eastern 70 supplementary and 120 principal and basic colleges.

About 50 of the asian colleges haven’t had the opportunity to reopen where they certainly were in selection of mortars since they’re close to the Tigris water and drone hits in the west-side. Vocativ noticed the aftermath of the drone hit simply two blocks while doing interviews inside and noticed.

While some extended operating following the militants got around several of those colleges shut because of attrition. In several colleges, more than 90 percent of pupils slipped out. In others pupils stayed behind, with respect to the will of the parents.

Pupils and academics stated that training program modifications were released progressively. Militants placed spiritual training and eliminated topics like technology. Academics who experimented with miss the fresh substance within endangered or were rebuked. A number of them changed with increased certified personnel and were trashed of the colleges.

“Many of the topics were erased,” stated 16, Hamid Mahmood, talking at an unplanned class at refugee camp. “There was no science, no chemistry, nothing beats that. They place in spiritual coaching and physique practice.”

She referred with children being shown to conquer competitors, to a brand new type of actual knowledge, which common education teacher Mohammed of asian Mosul named “jihadi sports.” the brand new gymnasium regime freely resembled camp instruction.

“They let them know ‘you are lions’,” she explained and might place their base on the bellies.

Four kids from towns around Mosul, aged 14 stated that the militants trained them the right way take and to transport tools, without any live instruction, including knives and firearms, although mainly through presentations.

Insidiously, ISIS published fresh books for topics like syntax and arithmetic reports, full of images of and referrals to attack cars weapons and jihad. Checking bullets for instance trained kids math. Some workouts requested kids to attract wrinkles between guns like RPGs and assault guns and automobiles these guns might possibly counteract.

Mohammed stated that each one of these modifications had an obvious impact on her conduct that was pupils’.

“After these classes, they became ” she explained. “They had such behaviour that is savage. They certainly were continuously battling with one another.”

These pupils whose parents ripped on them out-of colleges likewise endured, as their training didn’t improvement throughout a really formative era for 2 5 decades, based on the manager of the secondary-school in western Mosul, Mohsen.

Students’ thoughts that were “The ceased,” he explained. “We have to repair their minds.”

Outside Colleges

Teenagers and actually children who didn’t attend colleges had lots of chance to encounter jihadi impact elsewhere.

Mosul is principally a Sunni town. Sunnis really are a group in Iraq set alongside the Shiites. As militias declared themselves, doing common accomplishments Sunnis lost control. A few of the populace in Iraq experienced endangered enough to see militants once the location was conquered by them.

The militants performed on several Mosul residents’ normal mosque work, in addition to these worries to distribute propaganda. With people who didn’t attend slipping under suspicion, normal mosque work turned obligatory, in several locations under ISIS guideline. In the mosques, indoctrinate and the practitioners attempted to strategy teenagers and children, based on the parents.

“They invited people to review in mosques,” said Adnan outside a lately-reopened secondary-school in Asian Mosul. We noticed on social networking that the colleges were taken over by ISIS, therefore we slipped out. They needed us to destroy people.”

“When the children are some practitioners arrived at them, at the mosque state you appear courageous, come join the jihad around,” stated Abd al-Haq Abdelkader, who resided until his escape in Jan under ISIS in Mosul. “[ son ] Ayman visited the mosque plus they advised him that. They began brainwashing him.”

Abdelkader stated that there came a fighter to his home about why he didn’t wish to allow his 15-year old boy link up like a fighter. He explained a number of his neighbors were overwhelmed and endangered for not permitting their children to recruit as the militants fundamentally quit his household alone.

Their sibling, 27-year old Saif el noise, who fled with him, stated that the kid soldiers, the alleged Puppies of the Caliphate, often practice for five to 6 weeks before being provided a chance to perform individuals ruined by ISIS of busting their regulations. He explained he privately noticed a child utilizing a glock gun to destroy a ruined person is –ed by one particular delivery.

Some youthful as ten years old, additional kids were used passing based on many refugees in the west-side.

Air Force Dorrian stated that the united states-brought worldwide coalition understands child-soldier recruitment’s exercise. Some fighter corpses, encased by ammo throughout the western 50% of the offensive appeared to stay their teenagers.

Moving Forward

Using the fight to liberate the east nevertheless affected by assault and infrastructural issues and also Mosul however continuing, the town has fought to continue supplying training.

Pupils academics and directors reported about inadequate books, running-water and energy. Pupils informed Vocativ they made substantial utilization of the web to complete the spaces in college substance that was current.

Academics included that they’re not getting salaries and several need to provide their providers free of charge while operating side-jobs that were additional to make money.

“I need to are a taxi-driver,” stated another college general-education instructor, Ghamin.

Tahan, in the Ministry of Training, stated before they may be reintegrated as workers that academics will need to undergo inspections from the Security Support. He explained he doesn’t understand how extended the procedure will require.

Regarding publications, Baghdad lately delivered 75 truckloads of textbooks across many subjects where to normal college work lately Feb,000 children have since delivered more than 125.

Running-water and energy could be more challenging to displace, he explained. Harder nevertheless is to restore the space within the training that is students’.

“I dropped over 2 yrs of my entire life,” said Adnan. “But it’s humorous to become back here.”

from Childrens guide http://www.the-childrens-guide.com/how-isis-recruits-children/

[graciedroweuk]

Iraqi troops battle Islamic State for last town south of Mosul

HAMMAM AL- Iraqi soldiers evolving towards Mosul fought on Sunday going back community quit between them ALIL, Iraq and the Islamic Condition stronghold towards the northern, that will be currently under attack from special-forces battling within the townis western areas.

Sundayis assault on Hammam al-Alil, about 15 kilometer (10 miles) south of Mosul, focused a pressure of atleast 70 Islamic Condition practitioners within the Tigris river city, leader of the Mosul procedures Major General Najm al-Jabouri said.

Jabouri said the attack started around 10 a.m. (0700 GMT) plus some militants had attempted to flee over the water, though others set up large opposition and also the soldiers had thwarted several tried suicide car bombings.

” battle) is essential – it is the last city before Mosul for all of US,” Jabouri told journalists. Iraqi planes supported the military, he explained, supported additionally by planes from the U.S.-brought atmosphere coalition which have been striking Islamic Condition goals within the city for all times.

A record that was military stated safety forces had elevated the Iraqi banner over a government-building within the city, but didn’t state whether it had been completely under their handle.

Associated safety forces and the military try to drive up the southern entrance to Mosul to participate soldiers and special-forces that shattered in to the east in the town taking six areas and making out a grip within the militants’ bastion.

Recapturing the half a home might effortlessly grind -announced caliphate announced by Islamic Condition chief Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi from the Mosul mosque’s pulpit 2 yrs before. Their Islamist team additionally regulates big areas of Syria.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi, talking on the trip to the asian battlefront, stated he introduced “a note towards the citizens inside Mosul who’re hostages within the fingers of Daesh (Islamic Condition) – we shall liberate you quickly”.

Abadi claimed improvement within the almost three-week old strategy, and also the progress into Mosul have been quicker than anticipated. However in the facial skin of intense opposition, that has incorporated sniper fire suicide vehicle bombings and bombs, he recommended that improvement might be sporadic.

“Your causes that are brave won’t escape and certainly will not be damaged. Perhaps within terrorist acts’ encounter acts, you will see some wait,” he explained.

To date the region that the military claims it regulates in Mosul stays merely a little part before State required around in 2014 of the town that was house to 2 thousand individuals. Over 1 thousand stay in the town – undoubtedly the biggest under State handle in possibly Syria or Iraq.

A Reuters reporter within the town of Ali Allergy, about 7 kilometer (4 miles) south of Mosul, noticed smoke rising from western areas of the town on Sunday, while air-strikes, artillery and gunfire might be noticed.

The Un has informed from Mosul of the feasible exodus of thousands and thousands of refugees. To date just 31,000 have now been displaced, which their houses have been already delivered for by over 3,000, stated mind of the Global Business for Migration, Bill Lacy Move.

“The figures aren’t as big as far as have been anticipated. Numbers ‘d be noticed by us completely as much as 700 or 500,000,000,” he told Reuters.

” We Are attempting to make appropriately, however itis very hard to complete backup planning with any degree of precision since we have no idea once they get inside what they’re likely to discover “. As individual guards, the jihadists had obtained countless people in al-Alil, though Jabouri said it had been unclear just how many everyone was left within the city. Before State taken in significantly more than 2 yrs previously, Hammam – Alil had a populace 000, of 65.

In addition to making citizens to stay because they arrived in al-Alil under-attack State practitioners retreating north within the last fourteen days have pressured hundreds as address from air-strikes to march together, Reuters has been told by villagers.

The Un stated the militants moved 1,600 kidnapped civilians from al-Alil towards the city west of Mosul, of Tal Afar and required another 150 households to Mosul in the city 24 hours later.

Citizens were informed by them over kids, particularly kids aged over eight, within an obvious hiring push for kid soldiers at hand, U.N. human-rights speaker Ravina Shamdasani stated.

Jabouri said a guy he referred to as Ammar Ahmed Abu Bakr, a mature Islamic Condition number, was murdered by national authorities – who’re battling using the military in al-Alil – as he attempted to flee by vehicle.

Most of the outstanding militants were low- . “you will find atleast 70 Daesh practitioners within the city. Most are international practitioners, so that they have no idea where you can proceed. They’re simply shifting to put.”

(Extra reporting by Stephen Kalin in Ali Allergy and Ahmed Rasheed in Baghdad; Publishing by Dominic Evans; Modifying by Catherine Evans and Alexander Smith)

The post Iraqi troops battle Islamic State for last town south of Mosul appeared first on dylans down town.

from network 4 http://dylansdowntown.com/iraqi-troops-battle-islamic-state-for-last-town-south-of-mosul/